Dec 08 Mums - Introducing our new joiners, TrudyV and Al Fresco...

[Beans33]

Hope this is ok? Thought it was subtle enough for the wider MN and not offensive!!

Effie, we are buying bunks as well. I saw some good ones on Amazon. Do you have hot water now?

Right - am going, am going!

Yesterday, DD1 picked up the baby nail scissors off the table and said "These scissors are shark Mummy". Heart melted.

make that 76 posts......
Oh Lady my Mum would love it - but honestly, if you think I ramble you would see where I get it from, even I can't get a word in!
DS has just woken so just waiting for dd then I'm off to get some stuff done.
I meant to also say Rudy so glad you like it here, feel free to call me Rubes, Rubena seems so formal

Lady - The assembly was on the colours of the rainbow. DS got a laugh for shouting out in a quiet bit, "There's DD! Hi, DD!" [looks confused as mother shushes him]. I'm also looking for a summery jacket so let me know if you purchase.

Vag - we paid £568 for the two canoes, 2 paddles (that divide into 5 bits) and a pump. Having looked around on the Internet we found it was cheapest to purchase from the chandlery in Lymington! Did you get the Sevylor Tahiti? Thanks for the tip on the seat.

Rubes, such a sweet story about DS saying goodnight.

Beans - Good luck with the house.

Effie - we are thinking about bunk beds for our two. We have been thinking a while but no action as DH has been muttering about cost. I suspect we have blown the bunk bed money on canoes [oops].

Nolda: IKEA do bunk beds for just under 100 quid, minus mattresses though. Looked at some recommended on MN - only about 600 quid just for the frame .

Hot water intermittent - the immersion heater works, but the boiler doesn't seem to be operational. We are bleeding radiators to igbt in case that helps.

Leggings agent doing quarterly inspection tomorrow and thanks to plumber it is in a complete state! Best get back to it while boys distracted by Dangermouse.

Beans lovely new thread title thank you.

Lady, hooray for hmrc. Finally they come good.

Vag how's the ankle?

Effie hope the plumbing is sorted soon

I'm currently sat waiting to see the dentist and.praying I haven't permanently buggered my teeth. I feel a bit sick.

That's pretty good Nolda. Yes our is the Tahiti, that only come in the flouro green. We decided to trade practicality for fashion in that purchase, they were the best option for the money & were reduced by about ?40 each, I think because no one wanted to buy the colour. They are similar to yours but I think the big difference is yours is double layered so less likely to get a puncture. So it means you can drag them around without fear. Did you get the double action pump (DH loves that name, dirty old man), it takes no time to pump them up. Those paddles sound good we got cheapy paddles, but that's because we spent a small fortune on life jackets. I spent more on my life jacket than I would on an item of clothing, but we are all very safe now, and if nothing else look very professional. I think I put a picture of DH & DS1 on our maiden voyage, on FB.

Pubie, I'm on the cabbage soup again, I thought I would take the opportunity to cut back on the carbs & hit the soup again whilst I have the foot up. I made apple & cinnamon muffins this morning with DS2 but so far have only had a small one with a coffee. When are you family coming over? I'm getting quite excited about going home in December but in total we'll only be in Australia for 3.5 weeks, already it feels so short. I could make it longer but then that would cut into the 2 weeks we have in Malaysia, bit naughty when we could have more time with family, but I'm blaming the wedding. The nice thing is some friends from home are thinking about coming over to Malaysia with us for the first week that we are there which would be lovely.

Bunk beds are great, DS1&2 usually end up in the same bed either top or bottom but they are happy. It also doubles as a climbing frame .

Oh DB I crossed with you, thinking of you my lovely. Are you still in a lot of pain, has the swelling gone down.

My ankle is still quite swollen, it is also a quite fetching mix of deep purple, green & yellow. It looks a bit like a Turner painting.

Just back from a rather civilized popping out! Only required one flapjack, some rice crackers (odd child can be bribed with almost healthy stuff ) a 5 min sit in the drivers seat while I put DD in the car and groceries, plus another 5 mins in drivers seat at home. I even managed the bank in the next village!

Vag, my Mum and her friend are coming mid to late Aug, (but her friend going to Scotland and Mum staying with us) their other friends coming just 1-4 Sept and my Aunt / Uncle coming last week Sept.
I'm still umming and aahing about my high school reunion. It would be a real blast from the past in more ways than one as it's at the Hyatt where I once worked while at school Just don't think I can go with dh and the kids as he will have too much study to do, so I might just nip over for a couple of days on my own as I still have those Upper Class tix to use so could sleep the whole way
Oop gotta go....

good luck deids

£144 bastard quid to fix my gnashers. Apologies for my french I'm really cheesed off... guess it could have been worse. He couldn't do anything today still too swollen and he thinks there may be a small crack in one of the roots judging by the Xray. But he thinks it will heal in a week or so, so he'll re xray again and all being well can fix the chips. It is still a bit painful but the sweeling is going down. I no longer have elephant lip!!

Just been for a run to release some stress but started out too fast and just ran out of breath! Still managed 5K but took about 40 mins - rubbish. Sorry Vag I shouldn't whinge what with you being laid up and all.

Right must wash the DC's, and then might drown my sorrows with some Apprentice & Cheerfulness.

Promise to be more CHIPper in my next post...get it chip (teeth gag...) Ahem Deids don't give up the day job!!!

It's ok Deids, get out there. Though did think longing to get out running thoughts while I read that. Sorry about the pricey dental work. BIL is a dentist and I'm hoping one of the DS' will follow in their uncles footsteps, that should keep me in my old age.

DS2 didn't nap today so has been channeling a banshee all afternoon. Every teeny tiny thing has had him screaming. At one stage I got so used to the screaming I didn't realise he was in actual distress as he had managed to get himself inside & stuck in a hessian bag. He came out gagging on bits of hessian.

DH has just been out to see our old neighbors, he fixed their laptop for them and was dropping it back. They are very grateful and wanted to give us something in return. The wife is actually the sister of our old landlord who STILL hasn't paid us our bond back & is not returning any emails or calls. So DH politely asked if she could tell her sister to get in touch with us ASAP, as a way to say thank-you for the laptops repair. It's quite annoying not just for the non payment but also it makes things uncomfortable with our old neighbours who we quite like. Anyhoo, on a brighter side, her DH who is a builder is going to help us with some bits we need done around the house here, and her daughter who is our babysitter is on holidays from her course now until September and is looking for childcare & cleaning work so I might be able to. get her in to do some regular day time babysitting with DS2.

Deids, sorry about the cash sich. I prescribe a big glass of and I shall be joining you with the Apprentice, we are recording as well as we missed the first one, however we have a sky plus clash as we also have Greys A and DH recording cycling.

Well I won't be listening to any HV too much. She assured me I should keep pushing for DD to try mushy food rather than pureed at her age, and I have done so well with stuffing her face today, so i did what she said and v slowly introduced a Stage 2 from the lovely Ella, gave her no more than half a teaspoon, and she got all wide eyed, gagged, and brought up the entire contents of her stomach which I'm sure included her lunch and last bottle. Couldn't believe she could have actually had that much in her tummy. All my hard work was undone with half a teaspoon 2nd time in as many days. So she then had a bit more of her usual safe pureed stuff and it was bath, and then 3/4 of her milk, so not holding out much hope for tonight.

Vag - wish our Dec trips coincided as we could have gone together.

Feeling better now, bath and some food. Its not that pricey for dentalk work but they are only minor chips. But he is going to remold something or other to give me back that winning smile

Rubes how old is DD again? I can remember DS not taking to anything like a lump until he was around 9/10 months and even then it was a very slow process to get him used to lumps...I remember my HV told me to give him a thicker consistency of puree so that it was quite hard for him to swollow and he would have to use his tongue to move the food around his mouth . It never worked, I really think that she will take the lumps when she is good and ready.

Oops, posted on the old thread before realising there's 2 pages on here. Fortunately I c&p so I can put it here too, don't want to talk to myself ... Way behind, so will keep reading

Well here I am trying to catch up on my phone, so I apologise if I'm all over the place, will try to make sense (at least, as well as I can)

Lovely to hear that both your bean and your little niece are doing well Urbs

Not so lovely to hear of those in the wars, sounds very painful Vaj and Deids

I am impressed with your sideline, RudyTrudy, but suspect I'd be a proper wriggle bum if it was me and would be sacked immediately. Well done for going to the Drs, that mindfulness sounds interesting and actually something that we could all employ on various occasions

I have to say, I'm a bit of those suffering working mother guilt, DD is completely unconcerned about where I am. This morning MIL arrived to take care of DD and I was having a quick chat when DD pipes up "bye Mummy, time to go to work, NOW" and I was practically pushed out of the door. Invis' idea of putting it as a good thing to do for society sounds really sensible, if DD does ever ask then I think I'll use that angle. She does get really confused with DH, somedays he's on the farm and can pop in and out of the house, other times he's away for days at a time with his consultant hat on, and when he's trying to make phone calls or do paperwork she can't understand why she can't sit on his knee. Just saying 'Daddy is working' is too confusing for her because it means so many different things. Love 'house of comics' Arti!

No jumping here either, although DD does think she's got it off to a fine art and looks very funny when she shows off her lack of skill

Your DD and DN is a bit odd Deids, nothing else to add but I think your plan sounds like the best solution

I have Nine from love film at the moment and it's been sat on a shelf for a little too long, where I suspect it will stay following LadyTs review. Mind you, wafer thin plot is probably right up my street! Isn't Judi Dench in it? She's normally my indicator for something pretty good. I love strawbs with pepper, DH thinks I'm a freak

Those of you who are tackling TT, directly or indirectly, how quickly did your little ones get their first hit on the potty? We got a potty in the new year and let DD sit on it a few times and since Feb/Mar I've put her on it for about 10 minutes every morning nearly everyday. Yet in all that time she has not once done anything, although she often runs off to wee in the corner or asks for a nappy. Should I start being a bit firmer and physically sit her on the potty when she wees, or will that turn it into a battle?

Right DD settled now, so back once I've had some tea. Ta ra

Thanks for the thread Beans - tres subtle .

Vag, , despite the obvious pulchritude of your limb, you must get it checked out.

Deids hope your gnashers are ok.

Hurrah for IR, Lady, that must be a huge relief, albeit frustrating to have waited so long at the hands of a bunch of numpties.

B's night from hades definitely teeth, he would barely drink today and he's dribbling for England. Unfortunately ibuprofen and paracetamol barely touching the sides so gearing up for another night of hideousness. In perfect timing, DP also has a killer migraine so suspect your truly will be on call.

Our flight keeps morphing Pubes. We are back to flying with a major carrier rather than AirAsia as we don't want to ruin our trip by dragging all our jetlagged selves back from Paris. The difference between the trips is about ?300-400 which is a decent amount but not sure its worth the hassle. We also think that the kids & I will fly over about a week before DH. It's going to be hard for him to take 5.5 weeks off work and as is with 4.5 weeks off he's still going to have to do some work from over there. I think the boys & I will leave on the 6th December.

Blimey it's busy on here lately! I think partly down to the lovely Nudey. Good to see the red carpet being rolled out for you in the thread title, even though in typical Beans fashion she's managed to cover it in poo. Loving all the stories by the way - the graveyard one especially. Oh and Trudy she is probably too modest to mention it but LadyT has also written a novel, and our very own spot is a published author. Fancy!

urbs fab news about scan.

trace STEP AWAY FROM THE IRON

ZJ we've had the potty out for aaaaages (maybe 9 months?) but it's only in the last few months we've been actively encouraging it. She did get the hang of it pretty quickly, but it's just consistency we're lacking. I would put your DD on the potty when she wees, yes.

Deids/Vag sympathies on the teeth/ankle - ouch.

LadyT haven't tried strawbs & pepper but it's just made me think of strawberry risotto which is apparently delicious (made with vodka I think). Was it you who was raving about the Mesrine films ages ago? Have just bought them on Amazon, £5 for the pair. Bargain. Have also got the Colm Toibin book but not read it yet. And hooray for cash in da bank. You going to treat yourself to a little something to celebrate?

Effie how's the plumbing situation? You are welcome to come to mine if you need to.

Bunk beds - DP keen but what do you do about bedtime stories? DS still very much at an age where he needs to see the pictures. DD & DS's beds are next to each other with a chair in between and I harbour fantasies of them both one day lying down quietly while I read them a story. Ha.

spot/Rubes/MoM what's the plan for Friday? I haven't got MoM's contact details - has anyone else?

Oh and would anybody be up for an evening meet-up on Thursday 9th June?

Yikes, it's past Apprentice o'clock.

Thanks poison and boy, am completely star-struck now! I had a book deal when I was at university but the company went and sodding folded so bang went the book deal but I got to keep the advance I'm hoping that once M is at school I can start writing seriously, if I have any brain cells left by then, that is.

M more or less trained himself, but obv I was the one who took the decision to ditch the nappies and go for it. The potty lived in the bathroom from when he was pretty small but he gave it short shrift til he was 18 months or so, and then he'd use it sometimes. On Christmas Eve, a fortnight after we'd moved house, he suddenly decided the potty was it - great timing little fella We got to a point where bare-bummed he was 100% but the first time we went for it properly and ditched the nappies it was a disaster. A couple of months later we went for it again (ie put him in pants and trousers and went out and about normally) and after a couple of days of accidents he really got the hang of it and we haven't looked back. It's been about two months now and in that time he's got far better with taking his trousers down. Often the first thing I know about him using the potty is that he reappears with his trousers round his ankles He's been a million times better than DD, I'm still scarred years later from TT her!

Sorry the gnashers were so pricey Deids, that sort of pain is harder to deal with.

vag hope the ankle is still hanging by a thread.

Btw, given the soubriquet I have acquired, you might be amused by this, which I made for a very silly competition I'm taking part it

PS Hope it's obvious it's a cake!

Trudy that bra seems quite ill fitting, think a trip to Bravissimo is needed.

What a shame about the book deal, Hooray for the advance.

On the TT front we have been leaving a couple of potties around the house and leaving DS2 with nappies off and sometime undies on when we are at home. I can't be doing the asking him every 5 mins if he wants to use the potty so I just leave him to it. So far he has taken himself off to the potty for 80% wees for the last week. The times he has missed have been when he is busy playing. He gets a little choccies Easter egg (we have a few left over) when he is successful and we all make a big deal out of his wee. He is quite obviously very proud of himself when he does it. So far he hasn't been keen to do a poo despite his knowing there is a larger egg in the fridge waiting for him to deposit a nugget. He seems to wait until he has his nappy back on, although today his spiderman undies received a little package. If we go out he has nappy or pull ups on. But so far hasnt let on that he wants to use the potty while out. Though we haven't been out at all this week. Anyway we are just taking it slowly. I too had a traumatic experience first time around Trudy.

Can't believe I posted and then discovered I am 5 pages behind! I'm now trying to be a little more succinct ...

Welcome back Summer, us northern ladies need to pick your brain. Did you stay in Skipton last year, when you came over to meet us? That is where we might be meeting, but don't know of any toddler friendly places. Did you find any? I think you need to tell DH what you plan to do re BF, sod his opinion, they're your boobs. Also with you on slagging off weddings - DH's aunt had a bit if a mutter at ours, but fortunately she's not a bitch, just loony and doesn't know when to stop talking. Her idea of a compliment to the bride is "you look nice but could do with a necklace"!

I agree with Spot on sleeping/waking, I never found a link between the two. For DD it was more to do with physical activity and tiring herself out. Hope you get some better sleep tonight

Hurrah hurrah for money LadyT

Too cute about your DS climbing into DDs cot Rubes, and good one getting work sorted

At least your teeth are fixable Deids, but that cost is steep. Ratbags, as my Mum would so politely say

Nice baps Trudy!

Phew, got there in the end. Exhausted now, time for bed

Hmmm, think I just need patience, DD has never asked for or taken herself to the potty, just gets further away from it. But the problem is she's taken to standing with her legs wide wide apart to wee so it runs down her leg instead of into her nappy. Will see how she takes to being manhandled once, she might not mind. Why can't children just be born already TT'd?

PD, MoM and Rubes - plus anyone else who fancies a jaunt down to the seaside on Friday: just looked up the forecast and it's meant to be cool but sunny. How would you fancy coming here first for coffee and then heading out to a local park for a picnic? Or could do fish n chips on the pier? Or if you fancy staying around the house and it proves easier, I can rustle up some finger food. Let me know what sounds good. Not sure i could run to vodka strawberry risotto though.
Also, what time were you thinking of coming over? I just remembered we'd arranged to view a house at 10am on Fri so will be home by 10.45am, it's v local.
Are you all on FB? If so can arrange plans there without boring the thread.

Still can't hear you all on the TT front. Lalalalalalalalalala. I'm waiting for T to initiate it. Is this ever likely? He normally runs screaming when potties are mentioned and apparently nursery keep offering him the chance to go if he wants and he is vehemently against so am taking it as a not ready sign.

Good Trudy

Spot DS2 did show interest, DS1 on the hand didn't and it was hell with him so do not start yet. I think watching his brother wee, though not in the potty is what has prompted this.

I'm thinking sleeping all night thoughts for you Spot. Also I so wish I could come for a cuppa at yours.

ZJ I have an image of your DD standing legs astride hands on hips, actor from a musical-style, whilst letting a cheeky bit of wee trickle down her legs.