The 10th Gemini bus - 2nd Christmas stop

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I'm so lucky to continue to have you ladies to chat to Let's all have a merry Christmas and an even happier 2015!

Ahh so glad you had a nice time Lor! Sorry to hear about the nursery bugs flying around your home, M is currently coughing and sneezing in our faces with something she picked up. Hope you all feel better soon!

DH and I celebrated our 8 year 1st date anniversary last night. First sober one ever. Went out for a yummy fancy 4-course dinner and then to the orchestra to listen to Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Trés romantic!

Oooooo that is romantic bring! Isn't it just so special to enjoy that many courses and not cook any of it sounds like you both had a lot of fun!

Lor - your trip sounds fun too! Colds are not fun though Any thoughts on the TTC front?

DH took me out for a lovely meal last night. I am still painting the kitchen like a mad lady. It is just taking me forever to finish However, it is a good distraction for me because today is DPO 2!

All of the kids are home from school today. So fun

I did some ancestry research today and found out that I'm a direct descendant of Robert II, King of Scotland from around 1317. So you know, royalty and all.

Bring ~ what do we call you now? ??

Bringonthetrumpets is always a good name. I feel very skeptical about the whole thing, I want some actual sources, you know? But besides that I did find out that a huge giant chunk of my family are from Germany from many various lines where I was always told that we were majority Swedish, so hey, learned lots of stuff today. And the kids didn't kill each other. And the kitchen is actually semi-clean and in one piece. I am so ridiculously tired of hearing "mom, we're hungry" though. It's like WTF, I just fed you, go away! DH is due home any minute and I'm going to hide in my bedroom until he's fed the kids dinner and is out the door to his AA meeting. I think I've done my f'ing time since 6 o'clock this morning. Then I get to do bedtime too. Yay.

YourMajesty Don't you have servants? Can't the nanny feed & entertain the DC? I was on duty from the moment they woke up to the moment they went to sleep today. DH was working late again. Duplo, a stair-gate & a DVD saved my sanity today! They spent almost the entire day playing really nicely together in their room. It's the box room upstairs so it's tiny but they had a lovely time building "rockets" with the duplo! The stair-gate meant I could keep them contained & then they both fell asleep in the afternoon so I managed to make another icing flower. That's 5 roses in 3 days! Given that each one takes about 2.5 hours, I'm rather proud! Only another 8 to do in the next 10 days... No pressure or anything!

Oh no Frus OUCHie-mama. Where is the pain at? Does it shoot down your leg or stay localized? And yes, wine helps with everything except in the case of my DH, then not so much

WOW agnu that's crazy that it takes that long to put together a frosting flower. I have a new respect for cake-bakers! Great news that the kids played so well together so you could get it done! Those long days are just killers sometimes, so I'm glad it went swimmingly.

I've reached a dead-end with Germany relatives. All I know is there was a woman named Dora(thea) Stein and she immigrated to the US in 1889 at the age of 30. We can't seem to find anything else about her family or what her parents' names were.... which stinks because it was exciting finding her family's photograph in a school report that my dad did when he was 12! And I'll stop boring you all with my family history

Don't stop bring! It's fascinating... Except when my dad's explaining it which is why I don't have a clue about my family history!

To be fair, for a proper professional who isn't simultaneously trying to watch TV, one flower probably doesn't take 2.5 hours! I've marzipan-ed the cake & iced the board today. Now it's got 2 days to dry before I go to my mum's to ice the cake & attach cake lace under supervision.

I'm currently MNing while being spoon-fed invisible cherry-chocolate-coconut-chocolate-watermelon-strawberry-chocolate cake! I had planned on sitting down for half an hour all by myself before I needed to start thinking about dinner. Runt fell over upstairs & then clung to me every time I tried to leave the room. So much for my me-time!

DH doesn't know it yet but he's soooo going to be on bedtime duty tonight! About the only way I'm going to get to be alone in a room today is if I send him off to put them to bed! He won't get away with complaining about not getting to sit down too - he's been sitting down in meetings or driving around half the country. He's had plenty of 'me-time' while driving. [grumpy]

Frus have you moved now? I forgot about cyber-stalking you so I can't pop round with a housewarming gift!

Calf is singing Jingle Bells... "Jingle jingle this, all the waaaay. Jingle jingle this, all the waaaay." over & over... I could cry!

Ooohhh, yeah that's definitely a form of torture agnu, little kids singing the same shite song over and over again. O_o

I'll have some of your cherry-chocolate-coconut-watermelon-strawberry-chocolate cake. You don't mind fex-exing some over to Minnesota do ya?

Well, alright then, another Bringonthetrumpets family fact of the day: I have relatives on my dad's mom's dad's side that were some of the original settlers in Virginia in the 1600's. Also, my mom's mom's dad's side of the family are from Quebec and so far I've been able to trace them to about 1720. Reaching some dead-ends there though with the last records being available are parish records of deaths.

Wow, well done and congrats on the move! Sounds like you could be near me with those backyard sounds. I hope you love your new place!

And...ouch. Any chance you could see a doc for the ol'back?

No real new news. M woke up at 1:30 and demanded food. She had some yogurt and bananas and then insisted that I sleep with her for the rest of the night. So tired. She's a thrasher when she sleeps.

Frus ~ did you ever POAS?

I'm 7dpo today. Cd 31 today and it dawned on me that last month my cycle was 30 days!

Being ~ We're also suffering from crap sleep as I think Bpear is teething. So zzzzzz! I was naughty today and got a takeaway as I'm just too tired to do anything!

Awful sleep here too! The last 2 nights Runt's insisted on being in my bed. DH tried to keep him for a while last night to let me sleep but Runt was hysterical & fighting to get over to me. As soon as he reached me he curled up like a kitten in my armpit! Would've been adorable if it wasn't 4am & he hadn't already spent the best part of 3 hours dozing on top of me while I tried not to have yet another coughing fit! He's been grizzling again this evening but we've dosed him up & left him to settle himself as much as possible. So far, so good but I bet the minute I actually get round to going to bed he'll wake up!

Frus I'm very at your peaceful house. I mostly hear cars, helicopters, trains & drunk people. Last night there were foxes at it just outside our house. I was in the lounge & heard them crash into our wall. I'd give almost anything to live somewhere with enough space that the wildlife doesn't feel the need to have sex against my wall! Would involve DH having a much longer commute to work though. I dream of him giving up his office-based-career & becoming a gardener or something. He could only work during daylight & could take the DC with him as 'apprentices'!

The only reason it's silent around our house is because it's -6F out and everything probably froze to death. What I would give to hear some birds outside again. Golly, only 3 months months left of winter.

M went to bed at 6:30 last night and slept through until 6:30 this morning, which meant that I got to sleep last night only to wake up this morning feeling like shite and pretty sure I've caught her cold.

Hoping your luteal phase lasts long enough for you pear! Hopefully this is it!

How are you feeling today frus?

Seriously laughed at I'd give almost anything to live somewhere with enough space that the wildlife doesn't feel the need to have sex against my wall! Agnu!

Hahhah Agnu! That is funny. The foxes in our garden like to make a show of it too but other than that fortunately our house is pretty quiet. We're surrounded by old people who make no noise which is lovely! Every Time I have a visitor they always comment on how quiet it is.

Cd32 and I am desperate to pee on a stick! I wont though as I know 8 DPO is way too early! Monday is probably 12dpo so if I make it to then that will probably be the day! AF is scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I have everything crossed that she stays the hell away! Symptoms in my head are: 2 nights suffering with blocked nose, bleeding teeth today, constipation, irritation. Extreme tiredness this morning(but I am sleeping badly)and my boobs just occasionally feeling sore but that is probably from bpear teething! No pre AF spots which is unusual!

Sleep issues all round then. DS has had a horrible head cold for the last few weeks and it's affecting his sleep, on and off. Actually we took him to the doctor to look at his skin as he has a mild eczema-like rash but it's not clearing up with what they gave us before. Also, his face has badly broken out in little spots which I thought was just from constant snot-face but the GP thought might mean that he has an infection in his snot which is why he's breaking out. Waiting for results from swab but might not be until Monday.

bring love your distinguished heritage!

pear interesting signs. Do keep us updated. Sorry, I've been ignoring your questions about ttc. Still no concrete decisions.

It's hard because I think we'd both like another one and as I'm 38 I'd like to start TTC soon if we're going to do it again. But, it may mean a major lifestyle change. We live in a fab 2 bed apt. in Central London. It's part-owned by my parents and is really lovely and quite spacious. Also the location is amazing and really central which we love but also means that our commutes are short so we get to spend time with DS in the morning and evening which we wouldn't do if we'd a longer commute. Could also pose problems working around nurseries if we lived further out as we'd have to leave work much earlier to get there which I don't know if we could do.

We'd kind of love a place with more space and maybe a garden and if we did have another we'd definitely want another bedroom and a bit more space. But we can't afford to buy anywhere decent in Central-ish London. So we'd have to move further out and we don't know if we want to.

To it's possibly have another DC and move out of Central London to the suburbs and become proper commuters or stay where we are, nice and central and stick with one DC.

I honestly don't know which way to go.

All of this is slightly complicated by the fact that my parents have said they'll 'help us' to buy somewhere, which they did for my sister but they haven't said by how much. If it was big help then we could possibly think of somewhere in London but if it's less then it might not make a difference.

head explodes

Can you ask your parents how much help they could offer Lor? Seems like your decision hinges on their generosity - maybe you could bribe them with the thought of another grandchild?

Yet another awful night last night. I was at my parents with the DC & Runt refused to sleep at all until gone 1am & even then he was using me as a mattress. Calf woke up at some point in the night - we were all in a room together & I woke up to see the door more open than before & a little figure silhouetted by the light. I tried to persuade him back into his bed but he refused, I was stuck under Runt so coaxed Calf into bed with us too. It's a big double but somehow Runt kept ending up with either his feet in Calf's stomach or his hand on Calf's face. He got there by jabbing me repeatedly with his pointy elbows to move himself around. I'm bruised because of it. I finally managed to put Runt back in the cot at 5am when I got completely fed up with the wriggling. Calf & therefore I was awake by 7am & Runt slept until 10.30am when my mum went to wake him! I'm tired. I will not be tolerating anyone under 18 in my bed tonight. I might sleep on the sofa so I can be disturbed by foxes they can't find me!

My mum keeps pushing my dad to give me a figure but he's just being cagey about it. I think they're sorting wills and inheritance stuff at the moment (updating it all anyway) and they insist on being absolutely, scrupulously even between the three of us but property etc. is taking a bit of time to sift through.

It's hard to turn around and say 'how much can I have?' even with your own parents. When I popped back recently and my dad was in hospital we had a big conversation where I was talking about the move out of London versus staying Central but implications for deciding on having another child, so they are aware of it.

Sorry Lor, I feel a bit guilty now for asking! I hope you come to a decision that makes you and DH happy. It's not an easy decision by any means. You sound sensible for not rushing into it all, so many people think "lets just do it" without thinking through the long term consequences! Happy parents equals happy children, that's what I say

So, AF has stayed away another day. The cramping has lessened which makes me feel more positive.Today I've had a lot of boob tingling going on. Tomorrow is another day!

Eeeeeeeeek! Pear YES, boob tingling, these are the things we need to be hearing about so we can be excited and analyze in great depth for you !!

Aww Lor I do so completely know what you mean about life-style changes that come with having another. And about parents helping out and how awkward it can all be at times. It's a big decision, to have another. You can always stay in the 2-bed flat in London until at least baby #2 is around 6 months old (or more if the kids share a room for a while), so that buys you quite a bit of time to look and figure out what your budget will be for a new place. It feels like we have to make all the plans right away when we think of having another baby but then have to realise that it's perhaps a few months of trying, 10 months of actually being pregnant and then another 6 months before you loose your brain from a baby sharing a room with you .

Agnu all alright? Curious as to how come you were at your parent's place. I thought they were kind of far away from you?

News here; took the two littlest ones to a gymnastics open-gym that they could just basically bounce off the walls for 2 unrestricted hours. Worked like a charm. Then went out for breakfast-for-lunch and they inhaled 3 giant pancakes between the two of them and now they are both out-cold. Ahhhhhhh, blissfully silent here for now. Really loving this mini-break for the day. I think may actually attempt a bit more knitting and some Downton Abby until they wake up!

Hello. I've just returned from dinner with the girls pregnant ladies which was more enjoyable then I expected as I am still in no mans land All AF cramps and tingling has disappeared. Was it all in my head?! Today Saturday is cd34 (4 days longer than last cycle) and I am approx 9dpo. I can hear you mutter thank the Lord she might actually shut up soon

Bring - I am 32 and your idea of knitting plus Downtown sounds like heaven to me ...hah hah! I love taking Bpear to gymnastics, it's our favourite pastime!

Lor - your poor baby! That sounds horrible for him. I hope they find out what is wrong and solve it on Monday for him!

Just wondering ..is bpear the only bus baby who won't sleep in our bed? We've tried on numerous occasions but he won't sleep in anything other then on my boob or in his cot. As I refuse to allow boob sleeping nowadays I always end up cuddlrocking before putting him down in his cot.

Agnu, I hope you get more sleep tonight?!

You know how I was saying my cycles have been:

August: 39 days
September: 37 days
October: 31 days
November: 32 days
December: 30 days
January: so far 34 days

Do you think I can take it as a good sign that this month is showing to be longer than the last 3 cycles?