Jelly and ice-cream and candle shopping here we come for our amazing ONE year olds!

[beaditAli]

Hope this covers it! Not sure what cakes we'd all be making so kept that out

it has gone very fast. and more importantly we all survived!
off to chester zoo tomorrow- weather permitting. we have bought them a few bits and pieces. toys for the bath, building blocks, in the night garden playset (they both LOVE It and sit mesmorized) etc. not gone mad.

unfortunately dp's nan died last night (his dad rang literally 5mins after i posted this morning) so we will have a funeral next week. not sure what to do, as i have babies . i cant take them and will need my mum to have them but that will mean taking a day of her hols- which she does too much of already and i know she is saving them for when the baby comes. the alternative is mil. she is divorced from dp's dad and they dont speak.

Sorry about DP's nan Sassy Send him my sympathies!

Aw Chester Zoo is ACE! We are members - we live literally 10 mins away. Shame its the twins birthday day out or I could have come and introduced Olly to you!

Have a lovely day.xx

Chelle that's exactly what grace has been like, I'm sure it was seperation anxiety as it hit's at around this age. We've had to feed her back to sleep a few times too, sometimes even that didn't work I've been totally exhausted.

Sassy so sorry about your dp's nan I hope he's ok! Have a lovely day tomorrow!

Chelle that's exactly what grace has been like, I'm sure it was seperation anxiety as it hit's at around this age. We've had to feed her back to sleep a few times too, sometimes even that didn't work I've been totally exhausted.

Sassy so sorry about your dp's nan I hope he's ok! Have a lovely day tomorrow!

Sassy Sorry for your loss pet. Happy birthday to the dynamic duo!!
Chelle Phoebe has been the same!! Which is strange cause she was really good at heading to bed and and just nodding off. She just seems strung out or something. Im dreading 2 weeks time. DH has been off for the summer so its been so easy but once we are back to work we work opposite hours to each other so catch glimpses of each other round midnight and in the morning until sat or sun. Then he wants to catch up on cycling and fishing and the tug of war begins!! Ugh!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISOBEL AND JACOB

I can't believe how fast this past year has gone

sassy, sorry to hear about your DP's gran. I hope you all have a lovely day at the zoo, despite the sad news..

chelle those are really long hours your DP's been working, you must both be knackered. It's funny how LOs have a knack for timing things. Hope Olly settles down and gives you a better night tonight.

Happy birthday Isobel and Jacob!! Have a wondeful day, hope it's nicer in Chester than it is here.

Sad news about dp's nan sassy34264, glad he managed to get home in time to see her though.

Luke had a phase of that too SeaChelles, I just sat next to his cot not looking at him and he managed to settle himself and then I left. Shortened the time I sat there and now I can put him down as usual. Have you got any friends you can invite over for a or ?

Off to a wedding today and I'm very excited! Posh clothes for my little men and lots of romance, lovely. Shame it's pouring down here! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend. Luke is 11 months today!!!

Happy Birthday Jacob and Isobel

I hope you are enjoyimg Chester Zoo. I would love to go again but 5 hours driving is too much these days.

Have made Lucy's cake and got the party food in for tomorrow. Just have to keep dd2 and ds away from it all. looking forward to tomorrow, got her a few toys, she plays with dd2's mostly

Happy Birthday (for tomorrow) Lucy xxxxxxxxxxx

Sassy Hope Jacob & Isobel have enjoyed their day. Sorry to hear about your dps nan.

Please note the name change! This week I have made lumpy potato, lumpy cheese sauce and lumpy gravy! I quit! I'm the lump queen! Good job the boys are too young to realise!

Having a really tired day today! 2 1/2 weeks of being woken up at 5am has taken its toll! I'm praying it ends soon!! I'm starting to worry about how I'll function when I'm back at work. I normally get a break when dh is on lates but thats when we were away so no such luck! My turn for a lie in tomorrow!

Chelle Long hours are crap. dh used to nearly always work 9am-10.30pm when he's on lates to get in the overtime. there hasn't been as much lately which is good for my sanity, not so good for the bank balance. Its very lonely! I'm always available for a fb chat if you get bored!

Just waiting for my pizza to be delivered and about to pour a have a good sat night all!

Happy birthday Lucy! Hope you all have a fantastic day and there was some food left or the party Debs75!

We had a wonderful time yesterday and I clubbed at the vows and speeches! Luke was so good, in fact all the boys were. I'm knackered today we got home at 1.30 and just as I fell asleep Luke woke up crying, he did sleep until 7.45 but still wasn't enough! Off to a birthday party soon, what an exciting life I lead ;)

of course! Why doesn't ;) work?

happy birthday lucy. x hope you are having a lovely day.

thanks for the birthday wishes yesterday. we had a really lovely day at chester zoo and i managed to get around with little bother. was shattered in car on the way back though, could hardly speak. we havent been for 5 years and the layout as changed a little bit, also saw some animals ive never seen before. dp decided to frighten the life out of me and chloe in the bat cave too , i really thought one had landed on my head! i was screaming my head off until i heard dp laugh- he got a right thump! pig.
babies were brilliant as always. they didnt even fall asleep and we were there 6 hours. they found the meerkats the most facinating.
back to earth with a bump today tbough as dp goes back to work tonight. he should be back earlier than normal though cos of the funeral and then he his off again for 2 weeks again. i cant tell you how much i want him to get reduandancy, think i will cry my eyes out if he doesnt get it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCY!

Happy Birthday Lucy!

Happy Birthday Lovely Lucy

Im having such a crap time! Phoebe used to head to bed at 7 give her a bottle and a hug and that was it! Now I have to sit in there for up to 3hours. If I leave at all she wails the place down. Which has to happen when I am putting the boys to bed. Its painful! Im on my own half the time cause of DH and his bloody hobbies but in two weeks its just me and the kids monday to friday. Im dreading it - really dreading it. All the juggling etc is bad enough but if I cant get her back to her usual sleepy self I will be rightly scuppered.
Also became clear today that I am a door mat! DH is a good man but honestly between fishing and cycling hes out most of the time. Esp the minute the kids are in bed or something and then Im left on my own again. Have had such a crap summer and am just no good at arguing. Wish I was more assertive! Sassy - dont suppose you could send some 'sass' my way? Ok moan over.

I know what you mean MammyG, I totally respect that dh works very hard and deserves a break but it would be nice if he WANTED to spend some of his spare time with us rather than me often feeling like I have to force him. He has a gym in the garage which is a bug bear because its his space and nothing that normally goes in a garage can go in there, where's my reading/relaxing/embroidering room?!? He goes out there 3-4 times a week for an hour or so and the rest of the time he's on a variety of websites so even when he's here he's not really. I don't want to feel like I'm depriving him of his free time but it's very frustrating when you're tired and not getting that free time of your own. Several babies are not being great at going to sleep, could it be separation anxiety? Luke had a spell of not settling well and waking and would really work himself up unless I sat with him but it never took 3 hours to settle him. I'm very lucky that ds1 sleeps through absolutely anything so don't have to worry about Luke crying if I think he'll self settle in a few minutes.

Thans everyone. Lucy had a great time.
She got a my first pram walker, which she is scared of, a musical duck, a dashing pony, a caterpillar sorter, a mobile phone and somr bath toys.

We didn't have a big party just my sis and her kids and my mum. The kids played loads and then they all demolished the buffet I did. DD2 and dn kept asking for cake. Poor dd2 helped me ice it this morning and has been saying all day that the cake was ready and that hse wanted some. When we blew the candles out she was very excited. Am looking forward to her birthday next month now. Lucy is getting tired now so will be time for bed soon. Last night she was so zonked she went in her cot, for 3 whole hours, of which I hardley slept. Still it is a start.

Cinnamon and MammyG dsis had this problem with her dp when she had dn. She had been a single mum foir 13 years before her so was used to doing things on her own. She felt it was fair of her to let dp do all the lad things he had done before dn was born so he continued cricket and darts and football and 1 night at pub a week. She put up with it too long and he was happy to spend their money keeping up her hobbies whilst she struggled with money. Luckily now he is better but the truth is she will happily go without so the kids are happy so he then thinks he can do what he wants with his share of money or time away from the kids.

Happy Birthday Lucy

MammyG sorry you're not feeling the best at the mo hope things get more fair for you...... i'd definitely have a chat with him if you're feeling so down about how he spends him time. Sending
I'm in the middle of searching MN for allergy advice so wondering if you can help??
Jack's appointment for his egg allergy testing finally came through for middle September...... only 5 months after he reacted! ..... anyway..... he has small patches of eczema on his shoulders that seems to come and go and now i'm thinking it might be food related? Is that possible? He has eaten a few bits of spreadable cheese and mozzarella this week and he seems more irritated by it than normal.
Am I being daft/over thinking to think that if he's allergic to egg that the cheese could cause a problem with his eczema even though it's not a hives reaction like the egg was???

Sorry MammyG .....didn't mean for that to sound like I was asking you only for advice! Forgot to start a new paragraph!

It isn't a specific allergy but dairy does tend to inflame eczema beaditAli. One of mine children has asthma and eczema and he loves cheese and his mum I always trying to cut it down but it's wry hard as he's quite fussy. I don't know how or why it does but IMO dairy is too important to babies/small children to cut it out because of mild eczema. Luke has some patches but since it's been warmer he hasn't been wearing a vest/bodysuit under his clothes and that has made it much better. I did get cream from the dr but it brought him out in a rash! Ds1 had it quite badly as a baby but it's much better now and is always worse in the winter, double base works a treat on him but makes Luke's redder so maybe he's just very sensitive.

oh mammyg so sorry dp is being so selfish. im afraid i am sassy and my dp gets told, but i have been through it with my dp too. i distinctly remember being at the end of my tether with him going out every weekend with his mates. (dont forget we have only ever seen each other at weekends except for when he takes hols) we had a big argument and i told him if he wanted to act like he was single then i suggest he pack his bags and give me chance to find someone who wanted to spend time with me and chloe. much to my surprise he didnt go out that night- we had argued alot about it in the beginning and he just used to go out anyway. i wouldnt argue now. i just tell him calmly- i do also like to through in some guilt. perhaps you could just ask him why he doesnt like to spend time with the family or you on your own. id probably say something about not wanting to stop him from enjoying hobbies but perhaps he could spilt the time more evenly. too be truthful, i personally wouldnt say that- id say, "you do realise that if we spilt up from your lack of help/support/ company, it would be much better for me as i would have less washing/cooking/ironing and you would take all 3 children off me regularly for contact time and therefore i would get a break to do some hobbies of my own. isnt it stupid when men make themselves dispensible?" but this doesnt cause my dp to go mad, he knows its me and secretly loves my feisty bitchiness. i wont go into details but i had the most horrible violent controlling relationship with chloes dad and i refuse to ever be walked on again and it makes me very intolerant to being taken advantage off. so ill send you some sass but not that much!

sorry beaditali i have no experience with allergies. glad jack has an appointment at last though.

also, forgot to say that mine have been playing up at bedtime too. they sleep through still but both are screaming with no signs of stopping when i put them to bed. ive had to go and pick them both up, but them on a knee each whilst sitting on the bed and calm them down until they sre sleepy and then i put them back. it was so bad on their birthday that i just give up and went to bed at 8.30pm thinking they would settle if they saw i was in the room but noooooo. i ended up sitting on the floor inbetween their cots, not speaking and just stroking their legs through the bars until they fell asleep- took 30 mins. i had a feeling it was something to do with the swap to cows milk though so i boiled it to death last night and they both went to bed with a little crying (isobel was nearly being sick the night before cos she was crying that hard) but fell to sleep in less than 10mins. im really hoping it works again tonight, as im back on my own again- boo.

Sassy & MammyG thats exactly what Olivers been like. he won't settle very wel for his naps but will go eventually but bedtime is horrendous! Just as you've described Sassy unless I am actually physically touching/stroking him he screams blue murder. Friday night I gave in & rocked him, sat he was ok & last night I gave him calpol. I hope he doesn't do it this week as dh is on lates so I'm on my own. I wondered if there was a cows milk link! He did it a couple of weeks ago when he went to bed on cows milk cos I was away and didn't have formula but then was fine. We switched completely last week. Fri it was quite cold (the milk!) sat warm, last night cold! hmmm I'll try it hot again tonight see if that helps! Sorry, thinking out loud! Kind of!!

Beadit Allergies can definately trigger eczema!

Its ds1s birthday tomorrow! Everythings ready, pressies wrapped, cake baked, cards written! He's excited but hasn't got a clue what a birthday is! I think I'm more excited! Is it bedtime yet!?