Feb 2011: the one where the babies are destruction machines

[ChestnutsREASTIEingOnTheFire]

...or is that just mine?

Poor little one is fast asleep.

ponyo yay for your sister! Oh so excited about the new series of walking dead

borg If you were closer I would look after Nate so you can have your tv day.

Morning ladies,

Happy birthday Archie / Arsey hope you have a lovely day Four4 . Claudia is with her Nanna today but since the weekend has started to be v nonchalant about people singing happy birthday to her. She does love doing 'cheers' with her tippee cup tho.

Borg sorry but am laughing at N in the shoe shop, how funny! I am sure C will be the same.

Blizy hope you had a pleasant evening.

Ledkr hope DSis is OK.

reastie yes re shoes, I can only manage the velcro ones with Claudia at the moment, and she is only gettng more wriggly not less.

MizK et al we are still in grobags and probably will be for a while yet, but daytime sleeps are just blankets. Have to tuck her in properly tho as she rolls from one side to the other with her legs in the air and would end up with no blanket if they were just 'on' her rather than restraining tucked in around her. Can't see us moving to duvet for a bit simply because she's too wriggly, but the gro company do 'stay on bedding' with zips and
velcro et al, is expensive as everything they do is, but a clever idea. You could probably do the same yourself actually if you got a bit handy with some stick on velcro etc.

D

americanexpat Anna is size 4.5 and like the other two has unfeasibly [sp?] wide feet . Yup one pair of shoes is equivalent to a national debt here but that's where Nana Wiggles steps (see what I did there) in, first pair of shoes = Nana pays - Irish tradition .

We took the girls into H&M this morning to get new shoes for Bronas christening next week, it was like pink sparkly heaven, much more respectable £5.99 spendage, I'm very jealous of Sofias pink shoes with the bows at the back. Actually I'm jealous of all of their clothes, that makes me a bad Mummy doesn't it

Sofia is at a friends house this afternoon, I dropped her round but fear I may have made a school social faux pas - I left a bag of cakes, biscuits etc and a bottle of wine in for the Mum, it may have tipped her off that I believe an afternoon with 5 six year olds is hell only bearable with the promise of chocolate and alcohol after they all go .

Olivia is chillin' with a dvd wearing only her underwear (she was dressed earlier) and Anna is asleep in the car - I am with her Definitely lax Mummy of the week award there.

wiggles at your goodies you dropped off on the playdate, but you do realise she could very well be thinking the wine/chocs etc. are for now...to get through the afternoon?

D if I had the brood of children at my house that she has this afternoon I'd have been necking the wine from 10am, I mean I did mention that they are all obsessed with Bruno Mars and one specific song over and over and over and over etc.

Olivia told me in the car yesterday that Bruno Mars sounded like Justin Beaver , I almost crashed, oh and then she asked me why Jesus wasn't a Saint ie Saint Jesus because he was the boss of all the other Saints . Now where did I hide the vodka ?

Happy birthday Archie and Claudia!!

wiggles your girls do come out with some classics (especially O) live the Jesus comments you sound very lovely taking the other mum wine, bet she'll appreciate that later on!

Blizy meant to say, your wedding photos are beautiful. Hope poor little baby mindee is alright and not crying too much

I'm still in shock at how much shoes cost, do you have to buy them from Clarks?! Borg I'm sure N will learn to love them eventually

I'm on my phone and can't remember what else has been said, apols

A fell asleep having a bottle so I thought I would take advantage of that and have her sleep on me on the settee - I miss these sleepy cuddles!

Happy birthday Archie and Claudia! Hope you've have wonderful days.

Loving the shoe anecdotes. Nate sounds hilarious borg. Nowhere where I live fits shoes. You have to drive all the way to Portland(four hours and over the mountains) to find somewhere that does!

Exciting news about your sis ttc, Ponyo. Glad those days are behind me, would struggle to muster the energy to dtd! I'm in awe of four4 and ledkr with so many! (Are you on four too, Mizk? Apols if I've missed you out.)

Love wiggs' stories about the girls and music. Anna hasn't really discovered it yet as I don't think they are at school long enough. I'm sure that will change in September when she goes full time. At the moment, we have to go round and collect loads of money from all the people who ordered girl scout cookies from her.

Speaking of espresso machines, expat, do they have drive through coffee shacks where you are in America? I absolutely love them!

Sending good eating vibes to all the babies and to wiggs's friend!

Thank you for the birthday wishes, a massive Happy Birthday to Claudia . Archie has had a lovely day, enjoyed his presents and we had a party for him this afternoon. pizza, chips and garlic bread, jelly, ice cream, squirty cream and sprinkles yum yum yum....

Hope that everyone has had a god day, wonder if there is any news about ledkr's dsis we may have a new baby yeah, fingers crossed.

Ponyo - I miss the sleepy cuddles too. I accidentally rocked L to sleep the other night because I was enjoying the cuddles too much.

wiggles - just the thought of that playdate has me racing to the wine. I hope the mum appreciated your gesture.

blizy - is it too early to test?

tad - no coffee shacks but they do have drive-through liquor stores. I love GS cookies, hoping my mum bought me a few boxes.

Thanks all for birthday wishes everybody, Claudia is officially a spoilt little madam, she has basically had a whole new wardrobe of clothes from various people, and a car...honestly, you would think it was Paris Hilton's birthday, everyone went a bit mad.

Lovely though!
Dx

I got 100 boxes of them in the garage, expat!

Glad the birthday boy and girl have had great days.

Happy Birthday babies.
Im glad im a shoe slattern and just dont buy them until walking all over the place.
I did laugh at baby borg hating his new ones and anna walking like Frankenstein in hers.D takes everything off her feet as soon as it goes on.
americanOnly joking re the boasting,id love love love a posh coffee machine.
blizy So how did it go? Taps foot with folded arms across bosom.I am older so entitled to ask you know.
No news from sis but she is defo in slow labour,i told her she can be one of those annoying women that tells you she was in labour for "5 days"
wiggs Ells is amassive Bruno fan too,she sings his entire Album word for word.He is touring this year.
Well i braved the science museum today.I could start an aibu but cant be arsed,but for the love of God why cant people control their kids.Poor Ella was playing on stuff and 4 yr olds push in and spoil it for her and nobody wants to make their dc get off an exhibit so another child can play,happy to leave them on for hours whilst a queue builds grrr.Dilly was tricky and didnt sleep once then i took them to a poncy pizza place where she threw food at people then had a paddy when i put her in the pram.I then drove back 45 miles to find i couldnt get off at my junction as it was closed,D was crying and me and Els were singing pink songs at the top of out voices.
ponyo and borg Walking dead is Monday i think and can i draw your attention to Ghost Town on mtv,absolutelky fecking hilarious.
Which brings me to my question for the Feb jury.Please dont agree with me if you dont.
Right.I have spent half term on my own as dh has worked.It has not been easy especially with my dd's age gap (see above) I am tired and a little down in the dumps.Dh is off sat sun mon and tues and im back mon and tues so wed back to being alone for 6 days. Today pils asked dh if they can come for the weekend.I was really looking forward to having a few days off,i want to doss about lay on the sofa not get dressed eat shit and watch bad tv,swear fart etc etc. I do not want to go shopping for extra food,clean up,spend all weekend cooking or loading the dishwasher,have the tv OFF (FGS) and sit side by side formally on the sofa. Dh is working Fri till midnight so it will all fall on me.I have told him how i feel and he says its fine but i can tell he is pissed off and also said he doesnt know what to tell them.
I have invited them down for Easter,I just wanted some down time before back to work and school on Monday. AIBU??

Ledkr- no yanbu, you deserve some time out to do as you please. Besides Easter is not too far away.

In answer to your question it was functional fun. Fingers crossed though, I think I have ov'd and now onto the dreaded 2ww..........

Now it's my turn for the Aibu. Fil has booked a holiday leaving next week, which means he will be gone for Zoe's birthday/ anniversary. Now it is no skin off my nose but Dh is very close to him. And could do with his support as I just know he will spend the time worrying about me. I know if it was my child going through this I would want to be here for them. So Aibu?

Sorry but I forgot what everyone else posted, I'm on
MY phone and cant check back.

Reastie- how are you?

Morning all
Ledkr, yanbu re weekend, it's up to dh to tell pils that you had both wanted a weekend as a family as he's missed out on half tear with you all, and Easter is not that far away. Also totally agree with parents leaving their kids to annoy others, I'm almost unfair to Ben sometimes with moving him off things and making him share.

Blizy, yadddddnbu re FIL, how selfish. I would want to be there for anyone who had gone through what you and dh have. What are you doing for Zoe's birthday? Maybe just have some quality time for the three of you. With Noah's birthday next Monday I have been thinking 'oh this time last year....' etc etc, so can only imagine that you have been doing the same. I have my special Zoe candle out ready to light for her.

Delia, C has a car???? Glad she had a good day.

Wiggles, Ben loves Take That and knows all the words to the Patience album. He's even been known to make up dances to their songs! You sound very sweet (and understanding) to give the play date mum those goodies! I'llhave your girls for a play date anytime!

Noah was such a whinger yest morning, i had both boys ready and out of the house by 9am as he was sooooo annoying! We went into town and stocked up on art stuff for Ben from Wilkinsons. He was so sweet choosing the things he wanted.

Have good days. I'm off to dsis house with the boys ths morning. See you all later

ledkr gl to your sis. Btw keep meaning to ask how you're managing with the long commute to work and if annoying colleague is back yet? IMO YANBU. This may not be what you're hoping for but could they come next week end or would DH go for a day at the week end and take Dilly so you get quality time with the murderous one . I think your DH should understand and not sulk about it. Men eh, I'm having similar issues (see below)

blizy definitely NBU at all. If FIL had booked a holiday I would have thought it expected he would have checked with your DH first to check that was OK as a minimum expectation - how very thoughtless - is your DH OK about it or is he ?

ems love how Ben likes Take That - doing a good job brain washing him into good musical taste there . Alice still loves the Potiphar song from the joseph soundtrack. She giggles when I put it on and we have a special dance to it now we do together

delia a car???? What will she get when she hits 18......

Wiggles how the things your LOs come out with, and a little at supermodel annas shoe size - Alice is measured at barely a size 2.

Well, I nearly came on here last night to do an upset rant re: DH but I have held it in until this morning . What is it with these men at the minute . I've been feeling DH and I have been going through a bit of a rubbish patch recently, and it feels like it's getting worse not better, so last night I spoke to DH about it and he said he thinks everything is normal and fine . Anyway, he asked what I want him to do and I just said to take an interest in me and care about me. Not too much to ask for is it?? It would be nice to be asked how I'm feeling, if I slept well, a thanks for the dinner, taking an interest in what I've done that day etc. To me this is just basic behaviour expectations and I feel that I have to bring it up but it really does get me down. DH just makes me feel I'm being ridiculous for asking and that I knew what he was like when I married him (he wasn't this uncaring and generally rude btw). I've given up making an effort with things as I never get anything back and it never makes a difference in how he behaves, so now neither of us are bothering, I'm feeling like he doesn't care and he thinks everything is hunkydory . Maybe iabu . Sorry for rant [blush

Just a quick message to Reastie. My dh is exactly the same, I don't know if a lot of men are, they can just be quite thoughtless. Whenever I speak to dh about problems I think we're having he always says he thinks we're ok, tho surely the fact that I never want to dtd should be a big hint that things aren't ok!

Hopefully some of the other ladies will come on and say the same so we don't feel it's just our dopy dh's who are crap!

OK I have come to the conclusion that Feb ladies can just not be unreasonable..... reastie Ledkr & blizy you are all NBU!

Ledkr I can sort of see how it would come across to him like you just don't want them to come, but sometimes I find it better to be positive and assertive at the same time, i.e. DH would get p'd off if I said 'no I don't want them to come this weekend', but he would be fine if I said 'Yeah it will have to be next week tho because I have to do x y & z this weekend and you're at work'. The result is the same, they come a different weekend, but he doesn't get p'd off.

reastie I def think you are NBU, marriages succeed and fail on just this kind of thing, each making time for the other and being considerate of the other. Me & DH have been a bit aggro at each other this past week or so as he is v stressed at work and I have been stressed over my job situation, and we didn't seem to be 'connecting' (bleurgh I know that sounds v ridiculous and therapy-like but hopefully YKWIM) at all. Sometimes DH also thinks things are fine, and it takes me pointing stuff out for him to realise. It's too easy to fall into the trap of being housemates & co-parents rather than actual partners. I said to him the other night he hadn't made me a cup of tea in two weeks, and he said b0ll0cks but after I assured him it was true, we had a talk and he realised we both needed to try a bit harder. No real advice or anything, so this is mostly a useless paragraph, but YANBU.

blizy I agree booking a holiday at this point seems not only inconsiderate, in that DH might need them, but also horrendously insensitive, I mean why pick now to go away, which is let's face it, meant to be a fun & enjoyable experience. YADDDDDDNBU and they are being, well pretty shockingly bad really. Again no actual advice, I'm full of unconstructive indigation today clearly!

D

reastie my DH is exactly the same. I could have posted that word for word a few years ago. It bothers me occasionally still but TBH I have kind of accepted him the way he is, accepted that he does love and care about me, even if he does f all most days to show it. Our marriage is by no means what I expected, or wanted, if I'm honest, but it works, we rub along together and are happy most of the time, I'd say. He does certainly have his issues and problems, but I kind of see that it's HIS problem, not my fault, and look for approbation elsewhere if I need it. Sad perhaps but an honest reflection of our marriage, and I reckon many other people's too. One thing I do believe (controversially perhaps), is that we cannot expect our partners to make us happy, we have to make our happiness ourselves.

blizy hmmm. Tricky one. From what you said FiL is an ignorant knob and doesn't care or understand much about anyone, so I wouldn't be surprised he booked a holiday now. He probably hasn't even realised it's Zoe's birthday. So YABU to expect him to be a nicer person than he is I think :( I hope DH is ok. You are a truly lovely person to care that FIL will not be there for DH when he might need him.

ledkr YANBU. Sorry run out of steam for explanations!

Thank you ladies. It's sort of reassuring yet rubbish that other people find the same thing. I certainly never saw my parents' marriage ever like this though which is really the only other marriage I have alot of close proximity to IYKWIM. I just look at how my mum has bought me up to be and behave towards others and look at how DH treats me sometimes and actually want to cry! deb I think you have a sort of oddly healthy attitude to things, but I don't know if it's my issue for not putting up with or expecting more or his for not realising this isn't acceptable . argh, gtg, alice is whiney central and I've spent the entire morning trying to do 20 minutes of exercise

Hello ladies! This is knitta. P is ill and asleep right now on top of me so i get the rare chance to say hello. Can't believe we are again in Feb. What a year! Happy birthdays to those that have had them, do you remember how late p was? Mid march actually, ridiculous. I'm actually dreading his b'day. How sad. So are all the babies walking? P isn't yet. Phone is going to die now, dam.

Hi peas! Hope all good with you? The year has whizzed by, hasn't it?
reastie I do feel for you, it sounds like you are trying with him but maybe he could try harder with you? I actually loathe it when people use the line - you knew what I was like when we met - because babies and commitment kind of demand that you change a bit? DP uses that as his excuse for his life revolving around football, but it cuts no ice with me as I point out that when we met I used to go out every weekend and go on dates with lots of lovely men, so perhaps I needn't change either :) Hope Alice stops whining soon!
blizy YANBU, but actually maybe if he were around he would be a hindrance not a help. Could be a blessing in disguise?
ledkr No, YANBU either. Half term is knackering, so why should you have to be on best behaviour all wkend? You deserve to be able to lounge around in PJs all day if you so choose, not making endless meals and stilted conversation!
Just back from buying C's first shoes.... raspberry pink T bar type things - she kept raising them to admire them mid step.... they take a little photo of them in their first shoes - too too cute. made the mistake of going to the Pizza hut buffet with DCs - they are in carb comas as we speak, the little piglets.

Hello everyone, quick check in. Will properly read through your aibu this evening when I have some more time, but YADNOTBU.

Happy birthday to Romilly!! Yeah have fun.

Hi to P

Busy day, have been to the cinema with T, J and A to see the Muppets while Im has had the morning at nursery. Home for lunch and meeting a lovely lady at soft play this afternoon, she has a 7 yo ds and a baby boy (March '11) who has got Downs syndrome. My midwife/hv team put us in touch when she had him. So the big boys and Im can burn off some steam and we can have a chat and coffee.

See you all later. X

Reastie - I really feel for you, I have no words of wisdom bu I just want to offer my support.

Peas- hi, I'm glad your back! Hope P feels better soon.

mizk- at your munchkins in a carb coma.

Happy birthday Romily, hope you are having a great day.

44mw- enjoy your coffee, hope the kids tire themselves out running around.

Have started new thread but can't get it linked , someone younger better please try