Dec 2011: The one where they sit on potatoes. And turn TWO!

[ifyourehoppyandyouknowit]

New fred! Roll up roll up, potty adventures and birthdays galore!

Sounds bit hectic Northern.

Yeah it is hard. If I had a permanent job it would be fine but it is so hard to know when they will come up and they're SO competitive as well. I think I'm a bit more than 2/3 of the way through my fertile stage too. Unless I'm still capable of babies age 46. Don't want to take that risk or have a huge age gap between Minimopsy and the next one. So I guess I'll just have to take the chance and let my career to fate... (well, I've also got to submit my book to publishers by end Sept so that will be done before any potential baby and I'll have a year's lecturing under my belt so it isn't like I've NO chance of getting another academic post. It will just be a bit harder, and it is already pretty hard )

I just checked the pregnacare tablets. They went out of date July 2013. Do you think they're still ok? aethel? I have a sneaking suspicion they are absolutely fine...

Mopsy just Don't tell the tablets what day it is... Then nip and get some plain folic acid from the supermarket/wilcos. Pregnacare is a pricey brand, plain old folic acid is about £1.50 for a three month supply and will do just as well... I only took pregnacare when I was throwing up and unable to eat a proper diet cos I was living off salt and vinegar crisps and raspberry Crusha for the first four months .

I am sooo tired. Juggling work and kids and stuff is exhausting. DH is being lovely and supportive probably because I bought him the box set of Game Of Thrones books for Christmas and let him watch the American Football even though it's like nails down a blackboard

Oh and DD1 started her first little local orchestra today. Very pleased mummy!

So you think they're fine? It is precisely because they ARE so expensive that I don't want to waste them. I'm sure you can get cheapy generic brand that are way cheaper. I'm exhausted too and I only have one child! You are super mum!

P.S orchestra yay!

Hurrah Northen!! Hope you have a productive day today!

Is MrFiggy feeling less arsey today fig? Ds less distressed about his handlines?

We're having the same ttc or not? Questions here. Cannae afford for me to work (shiftworker childcare in London, lolz) but need to go back to work to get bigger mortgage to afford room for a third....which can't happen if we get a bigger mortgage

seven, i move the biggest plastic tat bits first, if they don't ask for them they end up in the charity shop after a month. Do the same with dvds/cds for us, but we get a year.

Ds1 started an afternoon of preschool last week, should I knock the potty on the head for now, he seems confused?

Good luck to DD1 in the orchestra aethal What does she play again?

I just took the cheapy folic acid mopsy. But the pregnacare will probably be alright.

Boba that's a rubbish dilema, sorry.

Busy busy northern!

We booked a holiday last night. Going to Iceland to commemorate celebrate my 30th later in the year. I'm so excited. My parents are coming up to have DS for the 4 days/3 nights we're away. Going to go swimming in the thermal lakes and see all the waterfalls and geisers. Very excited!

Work is getting on my last nerve. I'm sick of being asked to do things that have nothing to do with my job role, and this having no time to get on with what I'm actually meant to be doing. My boss has got better about it all, but other colleagues are taking the piss today and I've only been here 15 minutes.

No time to catch up properly, but bob - needing more bedrooms for kids. Kids are usually quite happy to share rooms until they start down the puberty route. Don't worry about that just yet.
(In other words, just have loads more kids. Can you tell I want triplets another? Me n DH dtd on Monday after all. We found a position that worked - sorry for tmi! But he'll, was he sore the next day!!! Tee hee!)

Woohoo Iceland!!!!
And orchestras!

Bob Agree with Oi Most kids share a room till they are teens anyway.

Hop Woohoo about Iceland...Have fun.

I got 3 birthday presents in the Argos sale and another xmas present for Darcie in the charity shop. DS game :)

Headache now...

Yes he is decidedly less arsey today and was very contrite last night ....just as well.

Yay Hop a holiday......what are they again?? I am gagging for a holiday a week in Turkey would do me just fine but cant bare thought of DS abroad with all the blonde hair and tendency to leap into swimming pools. Although with the £300 skunk bill and £50 renewal of DS swimming lessons at the end of the week no holidays here anytime soon even if did leave him with my mum.

Bob my plan at the moment is to move into 2nd bedroom, kids share main bedroom and then we can keep DH office/Spare single bed.

Mopsy i was a pregnacare addict i put my total lack of symptoms down to it so will be inhaling it if i ever get up duffed again!! 23-28th is my window this month need to work on DH in the next week.

DS still perturbed by his hands also he is terrified of the big bad mouse from the Gruffalo's child he simpers and looks scared at the back door and points at it saying big big mouse. Bless him.

Has anyone thought about schools yet? DS has to get into the local Church of England school it is the best in the area and is the only 1 my CM drops off/picks up from and we cant lose her. Have never gone to church in my life I dont believe at all and though i dont want to lose my principals but think am going to have to put them aside and start going to church as the intake is dependent on 1- Social Services involvement, 2- church attendance, 3- siblings and 4- catchment and cant rely on catchment. Not happy with it but have to put him first as I expect we will still be living where we are then and if we need to go for 2 years at time of applying to get him in we need to start now. Feel like such a hypocrite!!

We've got a 2 bed atm, and the rooms are both large enough but DH is worried we'll have a girl and we'll end up in the living room on a sofa bed whilst the DC have the rooms.
I grew up in a 2 bed flat with my DB in one room & 2 sisters and I sharing t'other room (9, 5 & 1 when we moved out), mum in the living room on a bed...I was 9 before I realised other people had sofas and not beds!

Figgy, we're hoping DS1 will get into the local CoE, we go to the church and it's amazing the amount of new families we've got now it's application time
Without sounding like a bible basher, you may end up enjoying going to church? Just ignore my DS1 ripping up a picture of Jesus story...

Hop, Iceland sounds amazing! Hurrah for holidays.
Hope your day improves and your coworkers stop taking the piss.

Our local primaries are a choice of three diff CofE ones and a non religious one. The non religious one gets great feedback and is literally behind our house so we're going there I hope. I'd prefer not to do CofE. DH keeps mumbling about wanting DS to go to the local RC secondary school even though we're atheists and I have a lot of negative feelings about Catholicism in general. Our local 'arts college' secondary used to be shocking but looking at the reports they got a new head two years ago and things are very much on the up. Not worth stressing about for a good few years though. Never know, might win the lottery and send him off to private school.

Sheeeeeeeeeeeesh. I have officially spoken to everyone in the western world. I have found out that TV licenses can be entirely on line, and that you can have TWO water companies for your house, one for clean and one for waste . I am going to have a [martini] as a reward....

But we're pretty sorted now, I hope!

Had an awful experience yesterday, listened to our phone messages and there was a wrong number. It was an old lady, calling for help, saying she couldn't walk and that X had disappeared and Y was meant to visit and hadn't, and then almost in tears begging for help.

Called the Police to report it, and thankfully when I called back this morning they'd done the welfare check and she was OK, but was awful at the time.

That's great for DD1 aethel, is it a juniors' orchestra, or is she in a section of the main one?

Iceland sounds great hop, but you'll need to save up before you go as it's hellish expensive! My bf from school is married to another friend from school, and he's Icelandic, so they go regularly. Wonderful place though. Did your day get any better?

Lord alone knows about schools figgy, we've got one near us that I hope DS will get in, but haven't a clue about that sort of thing!

Well done for getting all that sorted northern, and for checking on the old lady, that must have been awful to hear

DD starts school in Sept and we've gone for the village school as first choice despite it being C of E and us being non-believers. Decided being able to walk round the corner and the DC's making friends in the village were most important, although it's not incredibly religious - you don't have to attend church and the kids don't have to get involved in church ceremonies. Not sure how I'd have felt if we'd have had to go to church to get her in....I really can't stand going!

Ooh, and enjoy Iceland hop, it's somewhere I've always wanted to go so I look forward to hearing all about it. We have booked to go to center parcs in march....not quite the same! (And please nobody read anything into that if you are aware of the infamous center parcs / bum sex thread )

Made my MIL cry tonight. Brilliant. I am the worst person in the world.
Basically; we talked about going away on a little holiday, they offered to look after DS. Had a few discussions and they expressed that they thought they might struggle for four days (I agree!) and they were a bit hesitant that they would have to come here etc. Anyway. We went ahead and booked the holiday because my parents said they would come and babysit. We had talked to my inlaws about asking my parents and potentially them sharing babysitting duties, but tonight DH spoke to his parents and although he said they were welcome to come up too, his mum started crying saying that she was really looking forward to looking after him (right, but you said you thought it would be too much?!) and that they were planning on taking him away somewhere for those four days (um, no. The idea was keep him in his routine and at nursery, we talked about this. You never said anything about taking him on holiday yourself). Urgh. It just ended with his mum crying and saying she was so dissapointed. I don't know what to do. Honestly, I don't think they would cope for four days, they don't know how to be sensible and calm him down or do the practical stuff like bed time and nappies etc. They are just go-go-go-go-go with him all the time, so he's an overstimulated hyper wreck after a couple of hours. If Christmas was anything to go by it would be a bloody disaster.

Ugh! Finding babysitters. Tis a nightmare. My mum and dad are amazing, which unfortunately means they do all our babysitting. Not really fair is it?
Hop - not the solution you're looking for, but we have one LO already, C can always come and stay with us.
Watching "finding mum and dad", and thinking should stop dtd immediately and adopt some squiggles instead. Aw! Lovely kiddies needing a chance! It seems rude not to!

That's wrong. It doesn't seem rude. I mean, I could love and nurture those kids just as well as my own. Should probably look into it.

Thanks Oi, DS would love that. I totally trust my patents and am confident in leaving him with them. I'm just sad its upset my MIL. Dh has suggested going away for our anniversary in August and letting them have him overnight. I like his thinking.

That's wrong. It doesn't seem rude. I mean, I could love and nurture those kids just as well as my own. Should probably look into it.

(Double posted somehow...?)
Am bothered about this adoption thing. They featured 2 lovely little boys who I would bring home tomorrow. Still looking for their "forever family".
...I would NEVER consider buying a mail order puppy, I would only ever go to an Animal Shelter - if I wanted a dog. But here I am selfishly thinking about number 2, when there are beautiful kids in desperate need of loving homes. Hmmmmm... I've spoken about this to DH before. He is not keen. i tried to push him into fostering when he was unhappy in his job. we have a great house (with space) we have love in abundance. I need to get him to watch this programme...

Hop, don't feel bad, sounds like she was being a tad oversensitive. If she's so sure they could cope, could you give them DS for a few practise weekends so she'll realise how hard it can be?
Gives you bonus childfree time!

Oi, snap. I never wanted to have birth children. Dh never wanted to adopt so I had to back down, love my ds's but I can't see how it would be any different if I didn't give birth to them. Recorded that documentary, will getDH to watch it with me and see if he fancies it in ten years or so.

for Northen, lovely thing you did fir the old lady!
Hope today is less eventful!

I couldn't watch that documentary. It's just too heartbreaking. I'd love to foster when DS is older, but it will depend on work as I think you need to be home a fair amount depending on the needs of the child.

I hadnt heard of that doc, i saw a similar one last year and it made me cry endlessly, i have always said to DH i would adopt he wont consider it though, his best friend's sister was adopted she caused havoc in their family, drinking ended up in prison the stress almost killed their mother yet they had been raised the same. His best mate is practically infertile and they had to spend thousands on IVF and are looking at the same prospect if they want a DC2 as he will never consider Adoption and it has clouded DH's view too. I still would consider it though not maybe an older child but 2-3 definitely, dont need a tiny baby to make it feel like my own.

DS has his 2 yr check at 3pm today I think they going to pick up on his speech and his weight since xmas he has podged out again (from living on biscuits over new year). Looking forward to the messurements he is gargantuan and solid!!

You may have noticed i have dechristmased my name finally!!