Dec 08 Mums - Happy New Thread, You Beauties!

[beans37]

Come join me....

[Nolda]

Lady, I have a friend with 3 DS, one is named after WW2 PM, one after boy scouts founder and one has a judge's surname as first name, begins with d and ends in ing. The boys are fortunately quite feisty. Their names have grown on me over time.

Arti, one of my culinary adventures ended with DS bursting into tears and asking for normal supper. Your meals sound yummy. Talking of meals, I'd better cook DH something.

[ShadyLadyT]

I know which judge you are talking about Nolda - I know his descendants in RL . Ha. They (grandsons or maybe great grandsons, I never know) are simply called Mark and Paul!

Vag, you sound like you are looking quite muscly and buff I love it when Australians say bogan. I had never even heard the word until I read The Slap. Which reminds me, Hugo was once one of my faves but the kid in that book who is called that is such a brat.

I have eaten SUCH crap today - Manchego and cream from the tub

[ArtigeneAuberchoke]

Stop press! The aubergene parmigana was a huge success. Both DDs had seconds and when DH got home and ate his he said it was delicious. I end my cooking adventures on a high.

Who is the judge Nolda? It's driving my crazy. DH suggests Denn ing, is he right?

[poisondwarf]

Beans hope your bum photoshoot went well. I had a colonoscopy a couple of years ago and I thought my insides looked really rather beautiful in my woozy state. The worst part was the sedative - silly nurse kept just jabbing at me and alternately giggling & blaming me for her not being able to get the needle in. I ended up nearly passing out and they had to get someone else to do it in the end but it seems to have given me some kind of needle phobia as I ended up nearly passing out when I went to give blood and they told me I wasn't allowed to give it again!

Vag I've been to Vondel park before - it's lovely. I haven't been to Amsterdam for yonks but the last time I was on my own for work and it was really sunny and I spent lots of time wasted on park benches and outside cafes. It was fab. I might just bob over anyway even if nobody else can. Who does the cheapest flights? I really hope they find your friend soon by the way - has there been any news?

Rubes exciting about the move. On the school front at DS's school there were 3 new children (out of 60) after the first half term of reception but none since then. From what I've been told there seems to be quite a bit of movement early on but it can be a struggle to get into popular schools if you leave it later. Love cart tart, not heard that before!

LadyT yes Italian is lovely and you'll find that it makes Spanish a doddle to learn when you get round to it as it's like an easier version of Italian. And yes I do still have my mysterious Spanish property. The mystery being why we ever thought it was a good idea to buy it. Seriously, it makes me cringe to think about it so I kind of blank it out of my mind until somebody asks. Hey, who fancies a weekend in Spain?

On the weight loss thing I second the calorie counting apps - it has come as a great surprise to me as a bit of a diet cynic that calorie counting actually works (for me anyway). It is quite pitiful the amount of food 1200 calories a day comes to though I have to say (not that I manage to hit that very often but still).

Vaguely on that subject Arti you mentioned a while back about DH's cholesterol & stuff - about a year ago I had mine tested and it was pretty high, which was a bit of a shock to me (mainly cos I'm a vegetarian and although I'm not particularly active I do cycle to work & stuff). They told me if I lost even a bit of weight it should affect it significantly and it has - my cholesterol was down to the normal range last time I had it checked. My BMI was about the same as your DH's at the time and it's now about 22.5 or something, so not anything drastic. I also cut down massively on saturated fat (am a bit of a butter and cheese maniac if given the chance) and ate lots more fruit & veg & porridge, and also took plant sterols & high dose niacin (my cholesterol stayed low even when I stopped taking them). I also suspect swimming twice a week might not do the trick if he is sedentary most of the rest of the time - I keep reading about how harmful a sedentary lifestyle can be even if you exercise regularly. Oh and aubergine parmigiana - yum. My all-time favourite. But aubergine is one of those things that only tastes nice if somebody else has cooked it. Bit like other people's crisps.

Boys' names - I must admit I found finding a name for DD much harder than DS. My vote also goes to Robin. I also like Sebastian although I wouldn't use it (hate Seb). Alistair is lovely, as is Gabriel. I also LOVE the name Idris for some reason. For plain names I actually quite like Paul - it's one of those names that's underused and due a revival I think. Joseph is nice (family name). I'm not a big fan of most of the "posher" end of the name spectrum tbh. I wouldn't count William as posh btw (although it's not classless either in my book - I can't think of any who are not middle class or up).

Oh isn't it lovely to be having a chat about names again? Thank you Arti!

[JumpJockey]

I should have read the last thread but am gathering quite quickly that Arti is having a boy hurrah! He will be doted upon by his big sisters :)

Names - I like Arthur because it's my Dad! William is a really timeless one, lots of nickname possibilities as well, not sure how DH can disagree on that... I love Felix and Edmund, E's god-brother is a Felix and so is S's best friend at nursery. Jasper I like except for me that rings pet bells as it was our cat's name (as was Hector!) other names round here/ at nursery are Daniel, Nicolas, Thomas, Reuben, Timothy, Alfie, Alex. Has anyone mentioned Benedict? I like that for being a bit different to Benjamin. We played a lot of "Oxford Dictionary of Saints" when thinking of names for the girls - open at random and choose a name. I give you Bettelin, Beuno and Billfrith. Oh how about Dunstan? That's west country though not preposterously Welsh. What's your due date and I can tell you who it would be?!

Beans hope your bottom has performed well today.

Rubes re napping, S was always a 3 hours a day girl (!!!!!!!) then when she dropped her nap, it basically went from all to nothing but she slept much better at night and for longer. Might that make a difference with dd? How is she at nights these days? There were some weeks of awful evenings until she got used to going to sleep quickly and not waking up at stupid oclock, but then it all settled down.

Is everyone genuinely keen for a weekend away sans kids and men? I could set up a doodle poll to find when and where would suit (arrange sooo many meetings at work this way!) and we could try and actually do this. There are lots of you I have yet to meet apart from on FB so frankly I think you're actually hairy-handed truckers.

Right time for tea. Mmmm pasta with mushrooms and cream, it's got veggies therefore counts as a health food. Just ignore the mountain of parmesan

[Nolda]

Arti, your DH was right and wins these .

[JumpJockey]

Oh Amsterdam, I had a lovely singing week there a few years ago and would love to go back. There was a fabby cafe in the red light district that did super sandwiches and cake!

Lady ciao! Come stai? Abbiamo un poco di Italiano, non parlo molto ma ascolto gli opere sulla radio! Ahem. my listening test when we did basic Italian classes was all "io prendo un bicchiere di vino rrrrosso" "un bicchiere di vino rrrrrrosso?" "si, un bicchiere di vino rrrrrosso". :)

[poisondwarf]

JJ ma che cazzo vuol dire doodle poll?? but yeah whatever it is you should definitely do one. I did have a sneaky look at cottages the other day but a) I had no idea how many it would be for and b) most of them seemed to be mostly kitted out for couples (eg sleeps 10 would be 4 doubles and 2 twins or something). I would think it would be a bit of a logistical nightmare to sort out, but I did discover some geomidpoint(?) websites which you can put several locations in and it worked out the nearest place to the middle. I would be up for it anyway.

I've just finished watching Animal Kingdom. Anyone seen it? I really enjoyed it. I do like Guy Pearce - he's come a long way since Neighbours (what was his name again?). Now I want to go to Australia for the weekend.

[poisondwarf]

Oh and speaking of fillums has anyone seen Life of Pi? I'm thinking of breaking the habit of a lifetime and going to see something that isn't aimed at 4 year olds.

[ArtigeneAuberchoke]

Guy Pearce was Mike, Daphne and Des' foster son. He went out with Plain Jane Superbrain who was Mrs Mangles' specie granddaughter.

[poisondwarf]

Gold star Arti! Double points for Daphne & Des and a bonus point for Plain Jane Superbrain. But what I want to know is how old you were when all this was going on? I think I was about 16 maybe which would make you about ... 5?

Oh and I hope you are going to make aubergine parmigiana on our weekend away!

Beans where are you??

[poisondwarf]

Hang on it wasn't you who snogged Jason Donovan was it?

[Honsandrevels]

Hello. I've got the worst cold I've had in years. Dh is being saintly as I am such a grumpy patient.

Hope all went well beans.

Re name chat. The girls would have been Henry and Wilfred. My all time favourite boys name is Rufus which dh vetoed.

My head is ssssooooo stuffy.

[ArtigeneAuberchoke]

It was indeed me PD. I was a Neighbours obsessive in primary school. I used to actually cry when the credits rolled at 5.58pm on a Friday night as I had to survive a whole 71.5 hours until my next fix.

[ArtigeneAuberchoke]

Sorry you are ill Hons. Feel better soon. I love Rufus rather a lot but clearly DH has vetoed on "posh" grounds.

[DeidreBarlow]

PD haven't seen Life of Pi but did watch The Hobbit, which I thought was amazing...but I am a Tolkien geek

[JumpJockey]

Snogged Jason Donovan?! Whaaaaat?! We are in the presence of greatness!

Hons steam is the answer, steam and brandy (ahem) and more steam. Eventually you will be able to breathe again :)

[poisondwarf]

Arti thats hilarious! So go on, how old were you when you snogged JD? <br /> <br /> <strong>DB</strong> I think I must be one of the few people on the planet who hasnt read the Hobbit. I might get round to it when the kids are old enough. I am pursued by the hauting image of Martin Freeman with big pointy ears wherver I go at the moment which is not adding to the appeal of the film for me.

Sorry youre feeling crap Hons - hope it passes soon.

Well I've just dug out the teeny tiny plug-in keyboard which Id forgotten Id bought for my tablet which means - hooray! - I can post from my bed. But this blooody Mumset (cr)app only displays in portrait so I`m typing at a 90 degree angle to the writing. V annoying.

[JamInMyWellies]

Arti JD how did I miss that.

Hons hope you are feeling a bit better.

Well DH has gone the beginning of the 2 months of hell. The bank better bloody appreciate this. They had him 7days a wk all of Dec now it's 7days a wk and overnights at the wkend. Boys are already upset about never seeing him. Must suck it up and think of the extra cash.

[Rubena]

Jam I get that. Dh hasn't even started his full on working (next month) but ds has been suffering already as the last 2 nights dh not home until 10 ish. The second night was a creeping delay and I had told ds that dh would be back before he went to bed. Then this morning he was upset daddy was leaving again :(
He will thank him when he has a bigger garden at the end of the year hopefully.
JJ at what age did S drop her nap altogether? I have a feeling ds had dropped his around now so I might try it. I know I'll have to go through about a week of meltdowns around 5pm but to be fair it prob wont be too much out of the ordinary. She is meltdown queen.
They are coming to value the house today. Yip.
Beans? bum update?

[beans37]

Oh Jam - I feel your pain. We had that from October-December. Hellish. And while Dad was dying, dog arrived and chicken pox was upon us. Was worst three months of my life, but I managed. Try to keep your pecker up. Not in a willy-way. Because clearly, that's not going to happen for a while! Hee hee!

So, the botty test went ok. I can't honestly say I enjoyed it! BUT I wept on the bed before they gave me the drugs. then they were rather lovely. I have internal piles, which is a treat. And wow oh wow do I have wind now! I didn't eat from Weds at 1pm til last night and I was so very very hungry! But I hardly have any room for food as there is so much air in me!

I had to do a preggy test because I'm not using contraception, but it was negative, which was a relief. Suspect I don't want a third. Although, I veer wildly one moment to the next and DH definitely does want another. Ho hum. But I'm 37, would be well into 38 before it arrived, already have two perfect(ish), healthy little buggers, do I really want/need a third? All these things worry me. But there's that little part of me that really does want another.

On the names front, I don't like Reuben, because I was a uni with someone who was vile called that. But I liked it before then! I love Edward, which DD2 would have been, but nicknamed Ned, like my cousin.

Arti - I can't believe you snogged JD! That is hilarious! Did he have bad breath? Did you date? My sister knows someone who snogged Kylie and said she had awful breath. Probably due to her diet. And I know someone who went out with Rob Lowe, but refused to shag him because she thought he'd respect her more and it would turn into a long term thing. Sadly, he binned her after a couple of months and she regrets that she didn't have it off with him terribly. I love the term "have it off". Reminds me of more innocent times!

Rubes - on the nap front, I'm afraid DD2 gave hers up at about, ooh, 17 months. She very very occasionally will have one, but only if she's ill, generally. And the evenings have always been fine, despite the lack of sleep. She'll sometimes fall asleep in the car, but DD1 is more likely to than her. She has to be properly knackered.

Mum came up to look after me on Weds and stayed around yesterday and put the girls to bed. It was so lovely to see her and we had a lovely chat. I have a bit of a worry, though... She has always been a bit negative and very vocal about it, but luckily always had Dad to balance her out as he was so positive and kept her a bit in check. She's lovely, but rarely has nice things to say about people/things. She went on to DH about how she hates golf and sailing and stuff that Dad loves. And my girls call bottoms "botkins", which is a kind of family thing and nothing to do with her. She told me it was rather pathetic and perhaps we should say botty instead. I think she's probably right, but when I think of all the silly names for things we had as children, it really irks me that she says that. Petty, I know, but feels like she's slightly dictating to me, even when I'm 37. But there was so much else that made me feel sad. Sort of being rude about everyone on the telly or a bit argumentative even with the nurse checking me in, etc. I love her so much and think it's probably in reaction to Dad dying, but now he's not there, I'm worried that she's going to get even more negative and extreme and get bitter. Ho hum. What to do.

I am definitely so up for a weekend away. Happy to fly to see TinglyVag, but equally happy to go somewhere in UK and do some nice walks etc. Especially without the littles and husbands. Heavenly. And drink a lot of wine. Yummy. I don't mind sharing a room with someone. I don't snore (yet) and promise not to fart!

I am impressed by the varied menus. We always have the same, but am going to endeavour to do more exciting stuff now they're a bit older!

Big love to all.

xxx

[McKayz]

Just a flying post.

Jam I know how you feel. DH leaves in 2 hours. 2 months in Qatar, bit worried about it as I have no idea what Qatar is like. Though the foreign office website says it is ok.

Absolutely dreading this weekend as the boys are with XH.

[poisondwarf]

Beans brilliant news about your botkins! I didn't want to alarm you before but I was quite surprised about what your doc said about colon cancer being practically unheard of at your age. I know it's only anecdotal but my brother was diagnosed with it at 39, and a girl I used to knock around with died of it last year at 37 or 38. Doctors assuming it can't be that often leads to a very late diagnosis - with my brother it had reached an advanced stage and he was an emergency hospital admission before it was diagnosed, even though he'd been to the doc several times about his symptoms. It's good that your doc took you seriously enough to have you properly checked out. Still, internal piles doesn't exactly sound like a picnic! Is there any treatment for it? I presume anusol on a long stick is not quite going to cut it (eww!).

Sorry your mum is behaving like that - not much advice to offer other than a) people are bound to behave a bit oddly when they're grieving I suppose and b) massive generalisation but lots of people do seem to get increasingly moany as they get older. It seems like a hobby to some people. I think my mum is becoming increasingly negative and critical and it's quite wearing, especially as I'm of a negative and critical bent myself. So hard not to get sucked into it.

Lots of DHs working very hard out there! Work sucks doesn't it? Although we have gone down the less money, more family time route I do sometimes wish DP would take some of the weight off. He has got half an eye on getting a teaching assistant position at the DCs' school at some point, which would be perfect. There is already a male TA there and he thinks that being a man put him at an advantage when they were recruiting. I don't know how often positions come up or how fierce the competition is, but DP helps has been going in to give a hand in DS's class quite regularly so that should help.

[Rubena]

Beans, so glad it wasn't anything too horrid. I remember I thought dd was ready to give up her nap around 18 months but I convinced myself she didn't! I def think she's ready now so am going to ride out the no nap days as I know she'll fall in line. I'm away at the weekend too that said dh will prob get driven mad and put her down.

[JamInMyWellies]

Phew Beans, am glad its just piles. I too am like PD and the person I know got diagnosed when she was mid 30s and sadly died when she was in her early 40s so am vvvv relieved for you.

I shouldn't moan about DH especially when Kayz' DH is in another time zone for 2 months. On the Qatar thing my DF and DM were in Abu Dhabi for a few months and had colleagues in Qatar. They said it is just vvvvv boring as it's much more strict than Dubai or Abu.