April 2011 - Hello Grindstone. Nose here, reporting for duty.

[DairyBeetle]

Plumps comfy pillows, shakes warm fluffy blankets, passes them round, sleeps

:( Fizz That's rubbish.

They don't deserve you Fizz

Oh Fizz

Anyway, I need to get my flexible working request in. Anyone done one before? I need to answer in what way will my reducing my hours affect my colleagues and employer. As things have changed since I left I really don;t know how to answer that. I'm guessing "I don't care" isn't the kind of answer they are looking for.

That's shite fizz. I can't help but have a mate that can. Let me know if u want her details.

Now T is poorly with what DS1 had. Horrid cough, gallons of snot, plus his teeth are really bothering him.

3rd feed since 8pm...

And now DH is snoring! Raaah.

P won't settle either. I think her teeth are troubling her so have given her Iboprofen and am trying to feed her to sleep.

I feel shocking though. Shaky, achey and sick. Urgh. DH is out tonight too - why do the really crap nights happen when I'm home alone?!

sorry to hear about the job, Fizz

And sorry you're feeling rotten, star

Up here too. Just had an explosive poo requiring complete pjs change (thankfully not me or sheets). Trying to feed to sleep too, although I'm expecting to get bitten.

We've been up every hour here. Medicine and milk aren't helping, so not sure what's wrong. She currently not crying so I've dumped her in her cot and can hear her singing away to herself. We're going to feel rough in the morning...

DH came home after an SOS message but even his magic touch hasn't helped her back to sleep. God, babies are frustrating sometimes!

Hope you achieved a bite free result Buck!

Eugh, wishing good thoughts to those with snotty babies and that's rubbish Fizz

I went out to schmooze in my new capacity of cochair of the parents' group last night. Burnt my cake for the refreshment stall, immediately cocked up by assuming the mayoress was the mayor's wife (he's gay, she's a friend he asked to be his mayoress) and I burbled my speech.

Cycle I'm sorry but I had a little giggle at that At least you have broken the ice now!

Sympathies to those with bad nights and poorly children. DS2 was latched on pretty much all night, it seemed to help his breathing and stop him crying about his teeth. DS1 slept through and is downstairs with DH now. dS2 finally in his cot and I'm in bed about to have a snooze and then we are Christmas tree shopping later

An eventual week all round in the Cycle household then!

Yay for Christmas tree shopping Ali. Think we'll put ours up sometime next weekend. I'm excited already, even if it is inevitable that P will destroy the blinking thing!

P finally did a three hour stretch of sleep from about 5.30. Urgh - I feel exhausted this morning. She on the otherhand is full of beans and smiles. I think she just didn't want to be in her room on her own last night. Mischievous little imp!

Fizz that's crap about the job . I had to do a flexible working request form so I can dig mine out and email it to you if you like. They're a bugger to fill out because you feel like you're stating the obvious!

Bad nights all round by the looks of things, S ended up in with me and DH went to the spare room. I think it was all teeth related because he wasn't taking much milk, just sucking. Which would be fine if it wasn't so cold last night - I ended up with a very cold boob!

Star my sympathies with the feeling crapness, I'm still feeling rubbish (I hate having a cold, I will admit I'm as bad as DH when I'm ill!) so we're having a pajamas day. On the plus side S seems to find me blowing my nose hilarious!

Cycle I'm sorry but I did laugh! But like Ali said you've broken the ice well and truly (And I'm sure people will have made the same mistake about the mayoress before).

Another crap night here too. Waking at least every 2 hours, then wide awake 4am-6am and back to sleep til 8.30 :( both DH and I are knackered. Naps have been rubbish again today, partially due to my parents being here to distract her.

To add to this I'm having boob issues too :( it feels very tender on one side, like the blocked duct last week but without the lumpiness. Feeding doesn't hurt, just when I touch it (so I'm trying not to poke it). Has anyone got any ideas what it might be? A blocked duct that's cleared, but it's just healing? Bra too small? - I've changed into a sleep bra today just in case.

Hope everyone, and babies are feeling better today.

Chilli Sorry, no ides re sore boobs

Ali Hope you got a nice Xmas Tree, we are putting up ours tomorrow !

Star Hope your feeling a bit better.

Fizz Sorry u didnt get the job, hopefully something better will come along with more money !Is the kitchen almost sorted ?

GGF I too must have a dirty mind, i read as Gau Gash fiend too, ha ha

Arch was telling my DP about your email and he couldnt stop laughing, we were on the train and everyone was staring at him ! Which in turn got me laughing like a madman too !

Cycle Huge Congratulations, hope the day was everything you wanted it to be ! x

JKS Thanks for Mooncup link, i was wondering what everyone was talking about, quite like the idea and am gonna give it a go, once AF decides to return.

MrsWajs Hope your dad is getting to go home soon and is on the mend, Im also a daddys girl and hate that i cant make things better if anything wrong. Any news on your SIL ?

Sorry if ive missed anyone.

DI & I are just finished getting over our colds which we got from DP, im a terrible sick person & always feel really sorry for myself but now Di is here you just gotta get on with it, and itr broke my heart hearing her coughing and wheezing when feeding but she is all on the mend i took about 2 weeks to be 100% better. Sounds like everyones been hit with it here !

We got to see our underwater photo's & they are amazing !! DI looks so gorgeous the picture quality is sooo good, DI look like a little dolly. So we now have to splash out and buy all the pictures :)

I has my first big night out yesterday with DP whilst MIL looked after DI, i put her to sleep and then we left and she didnt wake so she didnt notice and i surprisingly didnt have a hangover this morning, it may have been the chips and paracetamol i had at 2am before bed and my wonderful girl decided to sleep 13hours till 9.45am so had a great sleep so the night was a great success.

On a crappier note, DP or not so D, just P is proper taking the piss, i thought he was making an effort to change. Told me back from work at 7pm tonight, i call him at work to ask what he wants for dinner to be told he left a while ago and upon calling him he has met the boys at the pub to watch the football ! Apparently he didnt say he was working till then just thats when he would be home, im so mad, he could have come to DI swim class but obviously he preffered the pub so was sneaky about it. He apoligised and i thought maybe instead of staying out now he will come back to make up for it but no, im sure he will walk in at 7pm on the dot. He is such a ~?/%£*%&. Im beyond angry,. I wouldnt care he went, we had a family day yesterday and are also having one tomorrow but to be so sneaky about it, makes me feel like im some kind of cow who doesnt let him out.

Anyhow had to get that off my chest, thats actually made me feel better.

Hope everyones having a great weekend, we are decorating the house tomorrow so im super excited for that !!

DI up from nap so its feeding time here. Chat Later

Get well soon to all those under the weather.
Sorry no great advice on the boob chilli Try a hot/cold compress, that might help a little bit.

Easy mistake to make Cycle. I would have expected a gay mayor would have his partner as his plus one (wonders what title you could call them as mayoress ob. doesn't apply).

I've bought my secret santa present, hopefully it should just squeeze through a letterbox (forgot to get the jiffy envelope to pack it in though [insert useless smiley here]. My santa also won't be very secret, it will be covered in Guernsey stamps

We took P for her first swim today, with all 4 of us going in the pool it seemed like we had enough baggage for a fortnight's holiday! I'm now searching for places to hang all the wet towels.

I'm home!! Its a disarray zone! (that should have been disaster but phone thought disarray was better!) dad was putting the last door on when I got home. we still need the painting flooring and tiling to do but it looks fab!

Driving home was interesting. B usually just sleeps for the 2 hours. Not today. just as we passed dundee he started screaming. so I had to stop. gave him teethin gel and some calpol. I quickly checked his nappy and thinking it wad just wet decided to change him in the car. I was very wrong. a poonami and a poosplosion all in one. I had to strip him in the back of the car. With no change of clothes(bag of clothes in the boot under the pram and travel cot) I just had yo put him back into his snowsuit just in his nappy. Poo everywhere !

Oh dear sorry to hear of all the lurgified babies and parents sending get well soon thoughts!

Fizz hurrah for the new kitchen. I'm sure it will look less disarrayed soon!

GGF I know what you mean about not being very secret. I wish I had a clever way to reroute it to disguise my identity. Yay for swimming though.

Aussie photos sound beautiful. Your notsoD P less so! I would be very annoyed too.

All fine here, except DH inexplicably deciding to cook dinner (20mins prep max) at 6.15 when we usually eat nearer 7.30. He's now confused as to why, after an hour of boob and trying to settle M won't sleep. That would be because it's not bedtime yet! So we have completed the entire routine well over 1hr early....and M is playing in the salon. DH's excuse is that he was tired. Right then.

D be cross too Aussie, that's sneaky and naughty! Coal in his stocking methinks...

Sympathy Frak, DH (teehee) doesn't get the need for timing either sometimes.

H is also a snotty baby, he woke at 4.20am and refused to go back down. DH took over at 7 as I was starting to go mental (think semi shouting 'just go to sleep'), I got up again at 9 to feed him, he went to sleep and napped for two hours! I'd gone back to bed again so feel almost human. Am off to bed at 9pm though, yaaaawn.

Aussie - that is not on. I hate being made to feel like a nag too.

Had a good weekend away, well just one night. DD was a star, DS2 got up at 4am, yawn & DS1 didn't settle until 10.30, not ideal.

Anyway, got some last Christmas bits to sort out over the next week, everyone else ready?

Aussie - I would be mega-cross about that, not fair.

Cycle - check you with 'DH'

Frak - better early than 'oh have you put the roast in already darling, I was going to do that', precisely one hour before we needed to be eating!

I am now officially fed up with having poorly children. T is a snot creature, and he's got a horrid cough plus teething something awful, poor child.

On the positive side, the tree is up and looks fab and I have ordered myself a lovely knitted red dress to wear on Christmas day

Will my sore throat ever go?
Will baby I ever sleep through?
Will I ever have everything crossed off of my to do list? .......

Apart from the above, we all had a lovely weekend. A birthday party on Saturday, then yesterday we went to a Christas Fair at Jimmy's Farm then to my parents for lunch.

We spent a disgusting amount of money in the farm shop at Jimmy's, but their meat is amazing - and I'm not a meat lover.

Baby I has decided he will settle with his daddy in an instant, however we me he pisses about. If this carries on, when dh is off work over Christmas We may be having another operation cot - I will settle him in his cot in the day without a nipple going in his mouth!

I have ordered one of these teething necklaces , I am also hoping it proves distraction enough so he stops nipping and pinching my boob - which btw is driving me NUTS.

Ali I'll join you with wanting freedom from snot. I'm almost over my cold (well except for blocked ears) but S has another cold! We had all of 3 days with a reduced amount of snot and we're now back to buckets of the stuff! I can't remember what he looked like without slug trails down his face!

Cycle ooo get you and your 'DH'ing

Aussie My DH did a similar thing once. He was flying back from a conference so I'd had S all week on my own and was climbing the walls in need of adult conversation, but on the way home he decided to stop at the flipping pub! He got the very cold shoulder that night (but I couldn't stay angry as he was actually stopping in to speak to a very good friend of ours who had just passed his PhD viva) and hasn't tried that since.

ILike Let me know if the necklace works, S is currently twiddling my nipples like mad. Last night he fell asleep doing it!

JKS Christmas? Sorted? Ha! Though we do have our trees up! Yes we have two, when DH let slip he'd never had a real tree I insisted we went and bought one

Right, the ILs are here and they've very kindly said they'll drive me to Hobbycraft...They may not realise just how excited I get there!! >manic

I shall now add DH to the snot list (again)...