dec 2008- Who will stonk it in & be crown queen of the thread?

[HRHvagolaJahooli]

He we are ladies though I may need to change my name as royal title may be stripped.

JJ that is so sweet, thank you . Beans: I too am rubbish about keeping baby things. Though we still have some baby toys lying about and the DSs like hearing about how they played with them as babies.

ZJ: for sink troubles I swear by soda crystals and boiling water. White vinegar should help too.

Ooh I would love a camping trip. I'd have to sneak it past DH as he views the prospect of having to talk to anyone on holiday with horror .

Library today!

Morning all!

SL - how are you feeling this morning? DD1 has headed off to nursery after doing another castle poo this morning. But she is much happier than she was. Her key worker gave her a leaving present this morning - she's not going til 10th August, but it was so sweet of her. A dressing gown and slippers set. Unfortunately it's age 12-18 months. While DD1 is small, she's not quite that small. BUT it'll fit DD2 beautifully!!! She's such a lovely girl, the key worker. I wish we could take her with us. She has an identical twin sister, who is just as ace. They are stunningly beautiful too and make me feel really elderly.

Up 7 times last night with one or other of the girls. That too is making me feel elderly. Think I might have to retire. Actually, will have a snooze at lunchtime today as am off to see HARRY POTTER IN 3D TONIGHT! I know I'm sad to be excited. But I am SO looking forward to it!

One last thing, then promise I'll shut up for a little while... How am I going to cope with DD2 for a while??! She is going through a hell child phase. It's probably her teeth etc, but she rarely stops crying and is just really difficult to love at the moment. She constantly screams and shouts and has tantrums. I feel like I'm going slightly insane. I was very lucky with DD1 as she was so easy going. But this one, God. I am struggling. And am SO tired too. Bugger. Any tips? Am going to have a sleep at lunchtime today to try to get beyond the exhaustion a bit!

So, here i am trying to post off an ipad for the first time, excuse silly typos etc, may have to do lots of small posts in a security sort of way!
First of all, new baby's name is Emmeline! Her mum and I were borh womens' officer at college in successive years, so I reckon they like the name anyway, and then according to my calendar she was born on Emmeline Pankhurst day :) she's doing great and we're hoping to meet her soon.

Sl hurrah for big boy beds :) hopefully we'll get the meet up with WG sorted and see the lovely G. How's the tum? Maybe you need to lie down and get dh to cycle your legs and get your parps out ;)

Sparagus - ir's great to hear that you phobia is so much better, you must be v proud of yourself. Latitude sounds great and your pics are fab. Boooo to the pox though. How many people are left whose dcs (like s) haven't managed to have them yet

Just been called by childcare office to discuss fees when E starts. Gulp. It's truly terrifying, and that's even when s gets early years funding and it's a susidised nursery. Though they did put the fees up by 10%this year

Anyway where was i...?

Trace you are a wise woman... The differene in perspective on things from one day to the next (or middle of the night) can be huge...

Beans you are an awesome runner! That is massively impressive.

ZJ wonderful news about the super-chubby baby! Good luck withnbreaking the news to family.

E just stirring from her morning nap so will share our sleep news - last night started badly, put her down at 7 and she was up crying at 9 and again at 11, mooked her both times, she woke again at 12 at which point i thought, you're defi itely not hungry. Did about 45 mins shushing and patting, she would be quiet but when i stopped, started crying again. In the end i gave her boob, she fell asleep after about 3 mins and i went to sleep on the sofa woke up 4 hours later and she hadn't stirred... So we know she can do it! My boobs like rocks of course! so hoping she might be getting the hang of it a tiny bit...
Back later ladies :)

Asparagus - how is your DD1? I hope she finds a few immune friends to have over on her birthday to cheer her up. Loved the Latitude photos!

Beans - Fab run time! Hope your ankle improves soon.

SL - bad luck on missing the big meal out. I hope your tummy is feeling better today. So lovely and intrepid of your DD to try to take your mind off your suffering by taking her first steps. Yay for the big boy's bed. My DS has just moved into the lower bunk of the new bunk beds.

JJ - Glad to hear your friend's baby girl is doing well. Hope you and DD2 get more sleep.

DB - have a lovely time camping and behave yourself on/near the sea. How embarrassing if Prince William had to rescue you in a helicopter! Also, hope that DD's playtime trials soon blow over. But v sad for her and you.

Our house is all newly painted now and we have new carpet in the sitting room and hall/stairs/landing. Just the last push required to finally get the house on the market. Not that we know where to move to. DH's prospective job move has been put (I suspect permanently) on hold as the new law firm is set to merge with another one and, as we want to stay in the new house for a long time, we are in the weird position of considering where we want to send our DCs to secondary school.

In other news, DS's potty training is not going well. Still no potty action and when asked about it he says that he is my baby...

Those with Roombas - I am v . Groupon have offered me a half-price robot vacuum cleaner (sadly not a Roomba) and on reading the blurb it says it comes with a virtual wall. What is that and is it a good thing and is one enough?

Vag - meant to say that I asked to be your friend on Facebook. My initials are A and H. You did send me a message which I failed to answer as Facebook refused to let me without answering some technical messaging questions that I couldn't cope with at the time. Sorry.

JJ Neither of my boys have had chicken pox. Despite about 5 of the children in DS1's class having it over the year.

DS1 bought all his school work home today. Loads of pictures he's made etc and his name. Every morning they have to go in and find their name and put in the box. I have no idea why but I cried and cried My baby is growing up and it's so sad knowing he'll soon be there all day.

Can I please ask a bit of advice as you are all much wiser than me?

First is a bit TMI, but I have just booked my first smear test. Do they hurt? I've seen so much about not being able to shower before but that sounds quite yukky to me. Is that true?

Also we are looking at other houses as the one we wanted has had an offer accepted so it's been taken of the market. Would you spend a bit more money on a house that needs no decorating? Or spend a bit less on one that needs every room decorating and needs a garage door and a garden gate?

Thanks for listening/reading my ramble

Kayz - don't worry about the smear. GPs and nurses who do them are so used to them that they won't bat an eyelid at whatever is going on down there. Just have a shower in the morning and get thee to the surgery. It'll be over in 5 mins then hopefully done for ano 4 years.

Houses - I wd always go for a house that was cheaper which needed a bit of work rather than one where everything was already done. More chance to make £££ and it doesn't sound as if it needs much major doing to it. How exciting. Don't worry about feeling sad about your children growing up. I am almost in tears at the thought of DD2 leaving nursery and will be a wreck on Friday. When she was in daycare, every time a staff member left or was goingn on ML I howled. Very embarrassing. I find my kids get more interesting as they get older but I have loved each stage with all of them.

Can feel myself filling up now so will offski to Tesco. Hope you are feeling better Summer.

Oh and smears are generally uncomfortable but not painful IME. You chat to your GP as if you were at the hairdressers except with your knickers off. Quite bizarre really.

Argh still fell awful. Feel like if I could have an ENORMOUS poo it might sort it out. Jj I actually did try cycling my legs!

Kayz did you have internal exam or sweep with your dcs? Smear kind of similar. I don't find it hurts and I have always showered as normal!

Our house is all decorated and finished,was when we bought it. But we dont know how long we will stay here and didn't want to spend all our time doing diy. Also we did anlot of work on our last house and not sure we made the money back. But decorating and new garage door and fence doesn't sound like TOO much work

Jj hurrah for emmeline, lovely

Beans your dd1 and her poos! Cracks me up - castle poo! Sorry no advice on screamy dd2. My dd is v chilled at the mo - but she has no teeth so we may have all that to come.

Yeah I had internal exam with both and a sweep with DS2. It doesn't sound too bad then.

I have no idea what to do with the houses. The one that needs decorating could be brilliant but it's just having to strip 1970's flowery bright green wallpaper from almost every room. That is slightly off putting.

Kayzr - although I see that what Sybil says makes financial sense, do consider whether you want to be decorating with 2 small children (perhaps another on the way). We will definitely be looking for something modern and in good decorative order when we buy (watch this space though when reality sets in and we discover that all we can afford are old wrecks).

Nolda that is my biggest problem. If DP didn't work away then I'd go for it. But because he is away either I'd have to do most of the work which will be hard. Or live with awful decor.

Awww ds thinks when he does a wee on the potty that he gets a "chocolate bottom" rather than a chocolate button!

SL SS, coming up 19, is moving out a week on Sunday so that he can move on with his life. He's a couch potato of epic proprtions (in every sense of the word) and is in the deepest rut I've ever seen. DH gave him an ultimatum three months ago, SS didn't remove digit from orifice, so he's off down to his mum's so that she can spoonfeed him. Ironically he's been a great deal more cheerful and in the bozooom of the family since he decided to go to his mum's, and tho it was all at DH's behest he is being very hard to live with just atm - failure, stress, concern, will miss SS etc. Sheesh. Re your comment about losing posts and writing offline first, I write all my posts in gedit as I go along then paste in at the end - helps me keep track of everything I want to reply to without constantly yo-yoing up and down the page 'tween posts and reply box. Feel your pain on public transport - it sucks round here. Took me four hours to go into Hereford for a 45m appt, and that was with being dropped off at and collect from the station.

JJ glad little Rumpelstiltskin and mum are doing well. The bowls club do was quite fun - a few quizzes, including one of those incredibly hard 'which year' multiple choice ones. DD won a lovely home-grown salad basket in the raffle so she was easily pleased very happy.

Asp is that emetophobia? 6m CBT is amazing. I had my meeting with the mad nurse on Monday and then just skipped the second session of the crap course. I asked about CBT or Mindfulness after she asked what I would have if I could, but I'd need to be much worse than I am. In their estimation I'm such a mild case I hardly register. I might get back to her and explain, but given her explanation that CBT is available only to those far more anxious/depressed than me (I'm neither, I just over-react to everyday things as I am, to quote the mad nurse, "on a constant state of high alert", which does capture it pretty well) I doubt I'd get anything more. It's worth asking though. In the meantime I have two Mindfulness books on order from the library including Mindfulness for Dummies Sorry to hear about poor DD, that sounds rotten. It's always such a shame when not only are they ill but they miss fun things. Latitude sounds good fun - am assuming it's a festival of some kind - am a total ignoramus about festivals. Good timing about the pox but a pain too.

Trace I'm keeping up with the online Mindfulness course but though it's interesting and is permeating my thoughts, I can't say I notice a lot of difference, I just spend lots of time thinking about Mindfulness, which I don't think is the idea.

Kayzr SS' driving test is on the 29th too! 8.40am poor kid,m so at least we'll know early.

Beans well done on such a good time. Have been having to haul myself up the stairs hanging onto the bannister today, dunno why, but couldn't imagine running!

Ye gods, DH is being a pain in the bum. I was about to post this when I saw him coming into the house (the office is in the garden) but I didn't even get a chance as he was in moaning on about something and we both ended up in almighty huffs! Kids are in the bath so I have a few mins to keep on catching up. Okay am going to have to stop there to extract DC from the bath and put Ds to bed. Still have loads of posts to read - must try catching up more than once a week!

Kayz I'd go down the do the house up option IF you could bear to live with the green wallpaper while things get done. I wouldn't relish decorating with a littlebaby but if DS1 is at school in September and is DS2 starting nursery/pre-school in the New Year? Then you will have some time to get stuff done.

Oh and smears, not the best thing to have done but one of lifes necessities. A little uncomfortable but its fine to shower. Take it from me I had to have 3 last time! Felt like I was permenantly wandering around the GP's surgery with my knickers off!

trudy Keep going with the Mindfulness course, I'm sure its helping even if just a little bit. Somehow. I'm also sorry to hear DH is a bit moody at the mo. Has SS always lived with him? I expect tonights moan was probably because he is sad SS is leaving, even if it was his doing.

summer have you had a poo yet? In all seriousness it sounds bloody painful and I hope you are better soon.

Oh and JJ hooray for Emmeline. What a beautiful name. I do wonder why I didn't think of certain names when pg with DD

Beans that kind of thing would bother me too - about your dad's comments I mean, but I'm realising that a large part of the compensation of getting old is being selfish. MIL never ceases to amaze me on that front, and my own mother never worries about being out part or even all of the day if DS is over there - it's my father who does 99% of the caring for DS when they have him. I often think about the looking back thing too but age must do odd things to people's POV. My parents are very helpful etc, esp my dad, but as you say it's with conditions or on their terms. Like you I want to be the kind of grandparent who is always open and available to my GC. I must say though I'm learning that older people (my parents both coming up 70) do find smalls very tiring, more than perhaps we realise. Re potty poos just yuk, I hate emptying a potty full of poo. I was thinking of making the side next to the downstairs loo all interesting so that M would rather sit there for a dump than the potty. I love ironing, it gives me tremendous satisfaction to create order out of crumply chaos

Vag that word 'repatriated' makes is sound like your friend is going against her will - is that so? It's always sad to have to say goodbye to good friends. Your reference to her being American made me think of this painful American woman I got chatting to in the playground yesterday, newly come to the school so I was all prepared to be friendly etc but my god, competitive parent doesn't come into it. I learnt, in the space of 10 mins, that her son is a "musical prodigy", is going to be doing Eton entrance exams (we're just a little village primary school, nothing swish!), has had all sorts of jaw-dropping musical offers and then she spoke to them in three languages!! Impressive in its own way of course but deary me. She didn't ask a single thing about me or my children.

Deids the whole playground thing can be heartbreaking. DD is nine, going to be in Year 5 after the hols, and she's tying herself in knots over who she plays with at breaktime. Of course it wil all blow over, but her feelings still need sensitive handling in the meantime. Thanks for DH sympathy. Bad went to worse earlier and then he asked "are you still miffed with me?" so I told him I had no desire to be miffed with him and we had a mini talk and I think everything's okay now. I feel quite bad for him really, but that's easier when my head is still attached to my shoulders.

Aww SL, first baby steps so cute. I remember both of mine finally flying solo. Hope your tum calms down soon, that sounds horrid. Snigger at Beans' comment about duvets on ceiling! I actually LOLled at "chocolate bottoms" DS calls them "chocolate eyes", aww.

DS had a first earlier - he feel asleep in front of the TV at lunchtime. It was very cute and he was jolly when he woke up instead of being really grouchy, as he has been earlier. Prob was he had no nappy on and he's not dry when asleep so the sofa took a direct hit. Today has generally been bad for accidents, not sure what's go into him all of a sudden, but then maybe it's connected to him falling asleep on the sofa.

Hello,

Just stopping in quickly.

SL How bad is the pain now? Did the GP rule out kidney stones or a gall bladder problem? Sounds a bit extreme for needing a poo or fart, no matter how big.

Db I had a poo earlier I just want a BIG one. I think it is intestinal related somehow. Doc doesn't think gallstone or kidney related as no swelling or tenderness or basically any external symptoms just me moaning!
However I took some anti ibs medication and since I have done lots of farts and feel a bit better. Hopefully I will be able to sleep and wake up feeling well.

Diedre the only room I'd insist on doing is the bathroom. The bath, sink and toilet are turquoise/aqua. That plus the green wallpaper would make baths slightly vomit inducing. But I'd happily live with the rest of the house.

SL hope you get a decent sleep and wake up feeling better.

DS2 has been spectacularly(sp) grumpy today. He wanted to go to bed then didn't want to then wanted to go to bed. I love his cute versions of words but sometimes I wish he could talk and tell me what's up.

SL that pain sounds nasty, its not around your CS scar at all is it? Love the chocolate bottoms. And walking wahay, very exciting.

Trudy, its the opposite of expatriation. Her husband worked here with Shell and they bought them over from the US, now they are sending him back as they have a role for him at their Houston base. They are from Austin so basically going home. It does sound a bit like they are being extradited though. Poor DS1 is devastated, and I'm sad, we have made a life for ourselves where we will often have to say goodbye to good friends and it is hard on the boys, but by the same token they will have friends all over the world. That women does sound annoying, my eldest understands 3 languages but its nothing to do with me, its his dad and his school. Well maybe I can take the credit for his impeccable English . But seriously those sorts of people bug me big time, I'm pleased if other kids do well but really unless they are mine, or are a close friends or family I don't really care.

Beans I just did a huge long run and was averaging about 6.5 minute kms, I worked out your average in your from your run the other day and you were doing just over 5.5 minute kms, very very fast. My legs are gonna hurt tomorrow as about half the run was on sand. I hope your ankle is ok, it is doing what my ankle is doing since I sprained it. I find the beach running really helps but I guess its a but tricky for you to find a big patch of sand.

JJ is it Emmaline as in clothes line or as in lean. There was a song by 'Urge overkill' called 'Emmaline' (lean), I loved it and the name but it was a bit of a sad song.

Trudy I need to do your type as yoi go system. I keep lurking and then can't remember anything I've read.

Poor DH has to go to Stockholm for the day tomorrow to interview a couple of guys for his Swedish team, he leaves at 5 & will get home close to midnight he's rushing around now trying to sort out his suit. I'm a bad housewife and don't iron anything so he has to do his shirts.

Only 3 more sleeps and we are off to France. If anyone wants a postcard from condom message me your address. I will sadly lose any chance of reigning over the thread as I will have no internet :(

Kayz, we are more into buying houses that don't need work, mainly because of the boys and also DH is so busy we would have to get someone in to do the work. I also worry that there might be more than we realise needs doing. That said if its just cosmetic then you might be able to do it spurts when your fiancee is on shore leave.

Right must be orf and into bed night night.

Oops cross posted with SL & Kays, what is the ibs meds, there is a great anti fart med called colpamine DH used to get horrendous wind when he did swimming training for tris (he used to swallow a loud of air when he took his breath). He would take one after his session and fart merrily all the way home.

Summer Just skimmed but what you described, sounds exactly like what I had / have. I recently had another attack of it on Sunday but milder than normal. When it's here it lasts 24-48 hours I'd say and pains come in waves like when someone is crying in pain having contractions from early to late stages - (I think ) I hope you get to the bottom of it. DH said after the last I may have an ulcer with a combination of lack of sleep, stress, fatty food and wine (it only ever happens after high fat foods which i rarely eat) Who knows, but my next time I plan to go and get checked out. I do hope you feel better soon and yay for cute lil H and her baby steps

Beans I feel your pain, but I must say, my parent's would make yours look like saints. My brother (in particular) and I (more recently) have struggled with the exact same thoughts, although i must say, its a much smaller scale, and if my parents EVER wanted that "morning time" just with the kiddies without it forced upon them i'd be jumping for joy. your family has been through a bit recently, I suspect they just want to catch up. They sound like lovely people with very good hearts, so don't worry.
Loving the poo descriptions!
Vag, think it's the US over France basically due to lack of organisation and dh's fam really wants us to come plus it's much easier and cheaper so we've taken the easier route. That said, we decided on it last night, and thought we'd go Fri but after a few discussions i think it's more likely Monday we'll go and not for very long as DH is swamped as per usual.
I would love a PC from Condom! You should visit Brest and send one from there too
Missed loads I wanted to say, but before I close, Jam your reduced posting hasn't gone unnoticed young lady, and I'd like you to offer an explanation and then a solution as to what you plan to do about it
Apols for lack of anything else.... Shattered from non-stop-ness recently

Oh and also, SL I had been wondering the same about sitters.co.uk as I just haven't a clue how it works and how I'd feel whn they have to put them to bed. My littles aren't used to strangers doing that at all so although I've wanted to, I've baulked.

Lady did you get my text? All a goer for Blenheim Aug weekend x