July 2010: Warning, this thread contains offensive language; 1 wedding, --d--jogging and some Creme Eggs (although we don't know why). Oh and some babies who are nearly 1 year old.

[CakeandRoses]

See? Panicking works!

too right wss

TSC is it wrong that that makes me feel slightly better?!

WSS, I'll have to remember that!

Just realised that I didn't do my own survey, which seems rather unsporting, so here goes:

How many of you have dishwashers/ tumble dryers and how often do you use them?
-Neither, although DH has finally agreed to the tumble dryer. As we don't have a garden, and generate lots of mess, it really isn't practical to dry everything on airers. The one proviso is that if I get the TD, I have to go back to using Terry nappies, which I'm happy to do

What do you consider your "treats"? (I mean things which you indugle in regularly, but not little things like mars bars) Baking? Bikini waxes or salon treatments? A legion of domestic staff?
-Baking yes, but not often at the moment as I'm trying to lose weight. I always bake something nice to take to my knitting group on a Thursday evening. Bikini waxes also, because I hate being untidy "down there" lady gardening is the only kind of gardening you'll ever see me agree too! The last one is knitting stuff- there are so many wonderful knitting shops in London, so I find myself buying a lot of yarn/ books and fancy supplies.

How many days per week do you go out (either to stay and play/ sing and sign/ lunch with friends) and how many do you stay in?
-I generally have at least one social engagement per week, usually lunch or tea with a friend, sometimes more. I usually do one baby activity p/week, either NCT group or rhyme time, again, sometimes more. There is usually some errand which requires a trip into town, which is a nice outing becuase my journey home takes me past Trafalgar Sq, Whitehall, St James' Park, Westminster Abbey etc, but I don't think it really counts as it's more of a solitary walk with just me and Gwiffle.

Do your DPs have standard responsibilities WRT childcare, Ie: first nappy of the day/ bedtime, or do they help out as and when?
-He always has her on a Thursday evening while I'm out and usually keeps her occupied while I'm setting up for dinner. Otherwise he just jumps in when I need to.

How often do you clean your kitchen floor?!

• oh dear. Not as often as I should. I sweep most days, but definitely don't mop as regularly as you others do!

re lady gardens... I had my bikini line and underarms and chin "lasered" (said dr evil stylee) a few years ago so no cringey, ouchy waxing needed. twas plenty cringey and fucking ouchy at the time tho

Oooh, I never told mine and DH's getting together story either, if you'd all indulge me a little romantic nostalgia...

I moved to London in April 2009. My Fiance of 5 years, who I'd met at uni was living with his parents in Hampshire. I'd tried to end the relationship several times over the last couple of years, but it had always been a nightmare- his usual tactic was to shut me in a room and literally not let me out until I'd changed my mind. A couple of times he hurled abuse at me and slapped me, and then generally made me believe that I was a bad, bad person, and somehow we'd just stayed together.
I belong to a club which is effectively a drinking and social club for those of the vintage persuasion and we meet once a month at a pub and take it in turns to give a speach on a subject we find interesting. We've had everything from fairies and folklore to the military career of the Duke of Wellington and I've got some really close friends I've met this way. In July 2009 the presentation was a preview of a play which one of the members had written for the Edinburgh festival "Broken Holmes" a Sherlock Holmes parody. The writer brought all his friends along and one of them was DH. We chatted for a while afterwards, and as I left my head was completely spinning, I was so smitten however because he was 14 years older than me (and an international bestselling author!), I asumed nothing would happen.
The following Saturday was the club's summer party and I was thrilled when he turned up. We chatted all night again, but left without swapping numbers, so I was convinced that he wasn't interested. By this point i was completely desperate to end things with my fiance.
The following Saturday was an event called the Chap Olympiad (The vintage social event of the year, dontcha know) and there he was again. This time I left with no confusion over how he felt and resolved to end things with twatboy (as he's now known) asap. DH and I spoke on the phone every night and then the next time I saw twatboy, I told him it was over. He carried on in much the usual way, but this time when he realised that his usual tactics weren't working he left, raining down all manner of threats upon me. H called as usual that night and I told him what had happened. Once I'd convinced him not to murder my ex, we agreed to dinner the next night andhave been inseperable ever since. I was pregnant within 3 months and married within 7.

I didn't know it at the time, but after the first night he'd met me he'd been talking to some friends and told them that he intended to marry me the first chance he got and had been pursuing me like crazy, cancelling auditons and rehersals all over the place and driving up and down from Leicester to get to all the parties. He'd also had a girlfriend at the time, and had broken up with her straight away.

Not as heartwarming or cheerful as the other stories I know, but I felt left out not telling it!

Cake I'm going to get mine lasered, but because you can't have it done while pregnant/ breastfeedign, I wont have time over the next few years between babies. I don't mind waxing though tbh and I always seem to end up with lovely waxers, so generally enjoy the whole process.

Sounds pretty romantic to me needle :)

Mini survey:

Dishwasher? yes, and goes on everyday
Tumble drier? yes. Use it when its wet and to need to get things dry. I use washable nappies and get thru do many clothes btwn us I don't think I would ever het on top of the washing without

Treats? Coffee with a friend on her day off (seriously that's it)

Going out? Mon church group (but only made 1 this term and can only make 1 b4 I go back to work. Then food shop Mon or tues (E at nursery Mon & Tue) WED E at a diff preschool and I meet a friend for coffee if she's not working, then we take our youngests to playgroup. Thurs we might meet my mil and go to town, or see the neighbours. Fri am is ballet the we either go home or out somewhere for the afternoon

Dh's responsibilities? Helps with bedtime if home (usually E's) and does nursery run min & tues

How often do I.clean the kitchen floor? Not as often as I'd like! Swept every couple of days and topped once moat weeks (though if honest doesn't always get done)

mlic, you can, but it hurts more when you're pg!

I'm so irritated with myself. I caved last night and fed him. ARGH! He woke about 2.30 and wittered for half an hour then started crying so I offered him water and he had a bit but started really crying so I picked him up and he was seriously rooting about with his mouth open trying to latch onto my chin. He was properly upset so I fed him but it's made me really cos he doesn't need it at this age, I just didn't have the energy to fight it at 3am. He's got this horrible screeching shriek that goes straight through me. L didn't make the same noise and I could ignore her shrieking but S's is horrendous when he's angry. He obviously wanted it with his rooting but ARGH!

needle do you never sleep? Your story is very romantic btw, I love love at first sight stories :)

my friend had hers waxed while she was in labour!

Oh - I have a walker! L has been taking a couple of steps on his own for two weeks and on Sunday started doing 10 at a time. Yesterday all he did was practice his walking (when he wasn't in the pushchair) I thought he'd be there when we get back from hols, but he decided to do it before. Hope that doesn't mean I need to get him some shoes before we go...

Oh - do any of you ladies with older dc's remember if they were effected/ill after having the mmr? Have an early one booked for L tomorrow (due to the measles epidemic in France where we're going on Sunday) but am a bit concerned about it making him ill so close to our holiday

L was very ill for 2 weeks, could hardly move for 3 days afterwards, came out in a huge rash that lasted ages. Sorry to say it but it was awful.

Yay! My wedding made it into the thread title only 10 days to go!!

How many of you have dishwashers/ tumble dryers and how often do you use them? I have both, use the dishwasher regularly (every 2-3 days) but never use the tumble drier, costs far too much money, I just hang things on the airer/doors/radiators.

What do you consider your "treats"? (I mean things which you indugle in regularly, but not little things like mars bars) Baking? Bikini waxes or salon treatments? A legion of domestic staff?
Having my eyebrow and hollywood waxes. Ill be having lots of treats soon because of the wedding i.e nails/hair/make up so they'll be v nice.

How many days per week do you go out (either to stay and play/ sing and sign/ lunch with friends) and how many do you stay in?
I go out every day, whether its meeting friends, going to groups, even just going round town on my own.

Do your DPs have standard responsibilities WRT childcare, Ie: first nappy of the day/ bedtime, or do they help out as and when? He works full time also but he'll do a poo nappy if D does one in the evening, he helps with bathtime and helps out more at weekends..

How often do you clean your kitchen floor?! Thats DPs job, it gets done about every 3-4 weeks.

Hmm, that's what I thought. I think E wasn't well after hers either. Better do more research. Just don't want L to get measles as my brothers and I had it and we were all really ill - nearly admitted to hospital. Think only stayed home because gp (also a pediatrician) came every day.

chulita I know I say it every time, but we run on theatre time, so midnight is only really about 8o clock for us, but we get up later than most people. I had chronic insomnia for most of my youth too, so I still sleep less than most people.

I've got some peaches to use up. Does anyone have any good peach recipes?

Peach crumble or peach upside-down cake.

melissa mmr reaction is always going to be 'better' than getting measles imo, you just have to make a decision on when to do it/how risky it will be for him while you're away.

Ok, I'm driving myself crazy here, you know those cheap-ass pgcy tests that are just dipsticks? There are 3 sections to them if you look at them, the raised coloured bit that you hold, the thinner/flatter bit in the middle where the control line pops up and the fatter bit at the end that you dip half of into wee - still with me?
Where should the test line show up?
According to the pic it's just under the control line in the thin bit but the diagram's not to scale so does it show up in the thicker end bit or in the thin middle bit?

How many of you have dishwashers/ tumble dryers and how often do you use them?
I havent got a tumble drier, I live right by a laundrette which is always empty so If I cant dry anything I go there.We have a dishwasher, It came with the house the last time it was used was xmas day, waste of space if you aske me, take way too long to clean dishes that take dh 10 mins to do!!

What do you consider your "treats"? (I mean things which you indugle in regularly, but not little things like mars bars) Baking? Bikini waxes or salon treatments? A legion of domestic staff? I used to have nails, brows etc donr but just have hair done every 8 weeks now, I like to bake but dont often anymore due to being a fatty boom boom.

How many days per week do you go out (either to stay and play/ sing and sign/ lunch with friends) and how many do you stay in?
I go to look after my nan on a Monday and then I go for a nice lunch to a tea rooms after with my mum, wednesday I meet my support group ladies, and every other friday I go to a family group, I walk every day with L, I enjoy it, he loves people watching and looking at animals and trees, but I couldnt manage baby groups all the time all the noise and watching that L isnt bashing a child wears me out and I have to clean and cook!!!

Do your DPs have standard responsibilities WRT childcare, Ie: first nappy of the day/ bedtime, or do they help out as and when?
He helps me bath L every other day, he does bedtime routine, last bottle and bed, if he is home for teatime he feeds L and at weekends he gets up and lets me sleep in, feeds, dresses and takes him out for an early walk.

How often do you clean your kitchen floor?!
I sweep twice a day and mop every other day at least, with a crawler and a dog (and slight OCD) I have to!!

Yesterday I came home to find the dog had jumped up and took a new box of fruity baby porridge off the side and ate the lot!!!! So I had to clean all his bed, cages, floors, then I made a quiche, apple and sultana loaf cake and a pie for tea, L wouldnt settle for bed again last night, dh had been at work since 4 and had to leave at 4 again today so he was struggling to stay awake, so in the end we out him in his cot and he only criend for 5 mins before dropping off, was expecting it to be hours!! he woke at 6.30, gave him a bottle and he woke again after that at 8.10!!!!!
we are having a day intoday, will have a walk later as I need a lettuce!! I went into the depths of the fridge and fouind 3 boxes of indat eggs so was thinking a fritata to use up some but what would I serve it with, I would be happy with a salad, but dh wouls want something wet with it as his idea of a salad is 1 slice of each item!!

I don't know, but I think you only have to worry unless there are two lines, because one either means not pg or not working, if you follow?

Could I have the peach upside down cake recipe when you get a minute?

needle the upside down cake is just slice peaches in half and place skin side up in an ovenproof dish, sprinkle over some muscovado sugar and a bit of water (I sometimes use maple syrup instead cos it tastes nicer) pour a simple sponge mixture over the top (same weight of egg, self raising flour, butter and caster sugar) and bake til cooked. That's what I do with any spare fruit but I'm sure if you googled you could come up with a fancier upside down cake recipe:)

I've got two lines but one's in the wrong place iyswim, I might try again tomorrow with my last cheapo and see what happens.

Oh, you can sprinkle cinnamon on the peaches too but I don't cos DH doesn't like it.

that is romantic needle why can't you laser whilst bf?

i must get round to properly describing dh and my first meeting etc, i cba the other night

agree with chul re mmr melissa, sorry to say F had a very bad reaction to it too but when we discussed it on here a few weeks ago, not everyone else said their DC did have a bad reaction. we're now considering France too (sigh...) but i think we'll probably risk A not having the MMR yet as she won't be coming in contact with any children or anyone much really

chul re S's night feed - not sure if this will make you feel better? I decided to experiment with not dream feeding A last night (i usually wake her for it if she doesn't wake by midnight herself). She didn't wake til 1.30am and seemed starving, she had a massive feed and then went back down til nearly 8am. I'm going to carry on with the dream feed a bit longer. Although it's probably partly habit for her she did seem genuinely hungry as she had a proper feed both sides.

do you think you might be pregnant then chul?!

have you used that type before? i've not seen the ones mlic linked to so i can't help at all

cake I was thinking I might start dreamfeeding. If I feed him around 10 he usually doesn't wake until 5.30 ish but if I don't he'll sometimes sleep through, otherwise he'll wake anywhere between 1 and 3. I think it's the sometimes sleeping through that throws me off.
I'm not pg, I've not used those before but it doesn't look anything like that link. I'm not going to test until I start throwing up. I've just got odd things going on but I've googled it and sometimes apparently when bfing you don't get your period back all at once, you can get semi-periods for a few months while your body gets back into the swing of it. With L I just got it back one month but maybe with S it's going to be a longer intro. Driving me mad though!