March '13 - packing up our troubles and getting excited about the new babies

[ecofreckle]

It's that time again. This thread is going to explode with squishy babies. Which is nice.

I am totes jealous, Something. One can usually make a good guess at the ingredients of every meal Fartypants has had in a day just by looking at her face. I think her cleaning gene is faulty. And well done on your sausage-and-shortbread resistance! If it's being hard to stick to, have you considered a star chart for yourself? I'm finding the thought that I could have a biscuit OR a sticker quite good motivation.

Ds totally embarrassed me at the party. He was king of the bouncy castle and wouldn't let anyone else on. He would hit them out of the way. Then he took over the bubble machine and was telling the other children to "go away". Other than that we had a fab time and I look forward to planning ds party.

something avoiding party food is so hard but I had some birthday cake that was within my syn allowance. Loving your pirate theme. Ds is due for his room decorated. I am doing plain light blue but putting car stickers on the wall. He still has the starry night winnie the pooh theme from when he was a baby.

stormy shall I message you the key info for the slimming world plan?I can't stop raving about it. It is healthy eating plan for life and it includes food that is not so healthy as long as it is in small portions.

gerry how are you? Is your bump growing?

Looking on facebook I can see we have a my local celebrity on the Marchers board.

Oh Yummy it's so embarrassing when the toddlers act like rulers over us all. I do a good line in "stop it or we go home", which feels like punishment for both of us as I then have to deal with a meltdown. He does a great line in "no its MIIIIIIIIINE" plus hitting whoever is near me with the offending object. At least you got cake!

Stormy we haven't actually planned a theme for his room. I don't think I've ever done a themed anything ever ever. But he has a buttload of things made at nursery to stick on the walls, and a Darwin tree of life poster. And a monopoly on all the dinosaurs in Derbyshire. Got to bear in mind that the room will be shared, and position his shit accordingly.

DH's friend stayed over last night and is sleeping in the lounge, so ds and I have been barricaded in the kitchen for over an hour. Not sure how long I can continue to contain him. Silly lads didn't go to bed till TWO so I feel like we're having to tip toe. I have just given ds the roaring stomping trex in the hopes of sending a not so subtle hint.

Ooh I think we're having another growth spurt. Tinker ate everything in sight yesterday and slept 12 hours. It's like discovering the Holy Grail!

Have you woken him up yet, Plonk? He should be expecting it really. You can't stay over in a house with small children and expect to stay asleep past 7am, really.

Oh yes, the cries of, "Mine! It's mines!" The epic tantrums if anyone dares to point out that someone else actually owns the thing in question! The weeping and wailing over the dawning realisation that they don't own the entire world! And as for the bossiness (that's not just mine, is it?) - do we really need to scream for twenty minutes because we took a slightly different route home? Will the world actually end if I have this fag out the back rather than in the porch? Will she ever learn the difference between 'I can't' and 'I don't want to'? Give me strength... Or possibly gin.

Oh yes, Slimming World. (Why can't my brain remember more than two comments to reply to when I'm on my phone?). That's the one with red days and green days, isn't it? An old housemate used to do that one, so I've an idea of how it's meant to work. There are some foods you can have as much as you want. Not ideal for someone prone to binge eating. I'll stick with my 'try to avoid processed rubbish and pointless carbs' diet for now. Working so far, lost six pounds since the first of August. All bloat, I expect, but still a nice start.

Well done stormy. A good steady start. That's the way to keeping it off better, well done you (have a sticker )

Well I can finally relax in own home again (for now) as viewings done. Thurs cancelled as stuff came up but say they'll rebook after their holiday next week... Saturday's came but no official feedback yet (ndn has provided some!)

Hoping Ds is going to nap now as feeling strangely knackered today. Food shopping later and poss a family swim. We'll see if he sleeps!

And no, the bossiness isn't just you...

Sounds like a lovely Sunday wotta. Good luck with the house. Hope you got your nap. After all this talk about cot naps (I have to say I like them) we had a nap fail today. DH put DS1 down just after 1, at 2.30 he was still singing away so I got him up. To be fair he had some quiet time and has- so far- been on good form this avo.
Well we had a lovely visit from eco today on her travels. I can confirm that she is as lovely IRL as on this thread! DS1 was particularly thrilled with his gingerbread men after tea and my flowers are looking lovely. Thanks eco, was good to meet you.
I've managed a bit of DS1 time today, he is definitely missing his mummy so we went out for a bike ride. It was fun!
Hope everyone else having nice Sundays!

Oh and yummy what was the celebrity reference?!

shattered there was a video link of leni on fb. Naps have been non existent for us this weekend. Here's hoping our ds' get to bed with minimal fuss. There has to be some positives to having no nap times.

stormy well done on your weight loss so far. You have to do what works for you. I would love to see a pic of you with all your stickers on you.
You are right but they have scrapped the red and green days and it is now called extra easy. On your plate there should be protein, carbs with at least a third of your plate to be salad,veg or fruit. You have 5-15 syns a day which includes things like olive oil and yummy treats. You have a healthy option A which is calcium and healthy option b is fibre. Fruit, veg, meat (fat cut off and less than 5% mince), pasta and rice are free. You have to measure your healthy options. At first it sounds complicated but you get used to it after a while.

eco I want your lifestyle. You seem to have lots of fun adventures around the country.

wotta did you get your nap? How was the swim?

Yummy I am a gallivanter true. And seeing people is lovely true. And Shattered is a proper lady not an internet weirdo true (with two lovely boys who charmed me with their curls and coy glances (DS1) and willingness to laugh at me (DS2)). And I'm very lucky to have had a child-free weekend to gallivant true. But! It's pretty exhausting and I do miss my Ecotod. Yummy I envy the fact that you have your family around you and that DS gets to see lots of them.

I met my friend in Malmesbury Abbey Gardens yesterday and we've since discovered that one weekend every month they have clothes optional days so we could have rocked up yesterday, paid our £8 as usual and been greeted by a sea of wrinkly old penises. Good golly.

It was great to meet another of the Marchers. It is my mission to get to you all before our children leave school :-) Shattered needs to change her name though because she either has a) good make up or is b) lying about being Shattered! But I accept it's easy to not look shattered on a Sunday when you have your dh around and the pace is eased down. Thank you so much for having me and for the surprise lunch. I was thinking about the risotto masterchef stylee on the way home and trying to figure out the ingedients but beyond chorizo, arborio and possibly spinach I am stumped. Any further clues? It was, as you say over them parts, gert lush.

Now where is Worse? Is all well petal? And, Gerry how are you doing now the summer hols have bedded in?

Betty your post made me smile. You assessed your needs most robustly Any joy with servicing that? Seems unlikely but thought I'd ask.

Ecotod also made me smile tonight. I was giving her a bath and she was 'making ginger bread men' so lots of sloshing flannels and water in buckets and cups with spoons. I asked 'what are the ingredients?' and she replied without hesitation: toes, fingers, eyes, legs, arms.... Ha ha. Love her.

Happy Sunday. Despite the gallivanting I'm done in so I'm off in search of Vouvray and eclairs. Plonky you're one of them sophisticates; can you suggest some other whites similar to Vouvray that I might like to get addicted to? I'm in danger of getting boring. I like Pinot Gris and Gewürztraminer too. And, did the lazy hungover man wake up or are you still hiding in the kitchen?

Eco you gallivanter you! Sounds like a fun trip. It's always fun when a tasty homemade lunch and a little squish is involved.

Slimming world sounds nicely non restrictive. I may be looking into that in the new year. Oh dear I don't want to give up my full fat milk for anybody though.

wotta hope the house stuff goes better soon. I think the place we bought was on the market with two agents for over 6 months who persuaded them to knock the price down twice. Good for us but shit for the vendors. But it only takes one viewing to change it all. Will keep everything crossed. For houses as well as naps.

I woke our visitor about 5 minutes after Stormy's post. Soon after that I had a funny turn involving a smashed jar of about a kilo of homemade jam and, well, I'm in for a morning sitting in the GPs waiting room. Thankfully my mum's on hand for ds watching duty while I go.

Worse If you're lurking I've got a question for you, what with you being our resident destroyed tummy muscle expert. I remember you saying you were carrying Babax very low and feeling low pressure early. Was this accompanied by bump pain at all? Oh and of course I hope the reason for you going quiet is because life is so busy in a positive way, and you're all well .

eco you can get some interesting wines from the Loire that aren't Vouvray. The way French wine regions work means that Vouvray is a tiny village with exacting standards - so wines made from the same grape & method but with fruit that's grown over the hedge from Vouvray can't be called Vouvray. Look out for cool-fermented Chenin Blanc. Otherwise yep German wines are good but you'll want to understand their sweetness profile (from dry to treacle there are something like 9 classifications). Look for kabinett, spatlese and auslese. Hungary and Austria make fab off drys too, and the odd gewurztraminer from Chile is dry but has amazing fresh florals that I think you'll like.

God I miss wine.

How's the hand, Plonk? Not dropped off, I hope?

yummy it sounds a bit too complicated for me to be bothered with right now. Would slimming world have let me have a bowl of home made five fruit crumble for brunch? My diet lets me, because it doesn't count as processed crap, because I made it myself, and it only has half a teaspoon of sugar per portion. And tea, I'm afraid, had no carbs at all. Just vegetables and bacon. But it was delicious! And I did cut the fat off.

My guess is worse has been eaten by Babax, because he's just hit six months. Or else he's decided to be a terrible, terrible eater and so she's hiding in the pantry.

Slimming World looks so good, yummy! So many of my friends do it and the weight has just fallen off them. I looked into it but the woman who runs the one near me was stupid and rude and I decided I didn't like her so I didn't go. I could do it online but I know I won't. So, for me, I'm focusing on exercise: alternating between a belly blitz dvd, hill runs or planks/leg raises/sit ups, and doing one of those a night. And after asking my personal trainer friend, no carbs in the evening. I've also cut out all sweet stuff apart from the obligatory cake on Bake Off day It sounds like Slimming World is doing wonders for you though, well done.

And well done stormy too! The reward chart system sounds great for you. I'd constantly feel the need to reward myself for not eating chocolate when I think about it, and roughly 5732 stickers a day seems excessive.

We were in yummyland yesterday. Decided to go to London on a spur of the moment decision. On the hottest day ever. It was great. DS stayed away the whole journey down, the whole time in London, and the whole journey back. Only going to sleep 14 hours after being woken up! He's more hardcore than me.

eco when are you going to gallivant to the East Midlands? We can do nice lunches too! Sounds lovely at shattered's, might pop by myself [wink

wotta any house news?

I'm knackered now. Running up and down hills takes it out of ya. I'm going to colour in and drink my pint of water. Tomorrow we're off to finish buying bits for our invitations and then I can finally start making them. Yey!

You'd be welcome something. Turns out I was minutes away from meeting plonk on her hols a few weeks ago. Wonder if I would have recognised you if I bumped into you on the beach plonk? how are you feeling? Was it a dizzy turn? Hope you're ok.
eco just exceptionally spicy chorizo according to DH. He was a bit taken aback by how spicy it was as it's not the one we usually have! Hope that isn't why DS2 has been marginally unsettled today...(!)
I was going to suggest a wine but plonk clearly knows her stuff a lot better than me- I consider myself educated now!
something I'm jealous of your exercise. I miss it but am too bloody knackered to be doing much really. Ah well I will get back to it properly as soon as I can. I need to get rid of the baby belly at some point! yummy I really wish I had your dedication. Why are carbs so much more necessary when you're tired?!
Yes worse where are you?! Hope all well.
Right off to bed soon- too cool, me

plonky I think we are going throw a growth spurt too. Wait for it for 2 whole days ds has been eating food and not just junk food but nutritional food. He even slept through the night last night and he has refused his bedtime bottle. Bloody hell who swapped my ds. How is your hand?

We have just had a baby video and photo session. Ds recognised me, dh, the sofa and his blanket but not himself.

In true toddler style "where are you worse?"

something London is fab isn't it. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I love the diversity. Did ds like the tube/train rides? Good luck on the exercise. Sounds like you have a good plan.

Is it that bad that I didn't understand eco and plonkys post was about wine until someone else posted. I thought it was about posh chocolate.lol.

I am off to bed with the thought of stormys five fruit crumble. Yummmm.

Yummy you must feel on top of the world. Nothing beats an eating and sleeping toddler IMO. oh I wasn't at the dr about my hand, I think Stormy was making a joke because of the ridiculous 'show up and wait 2 hours' system my gp surgery has decided to put in place. My hands are fine It's my blood iron levels that are being questioned.

Stormy tell us about this crumble. If it had oats in the crumble topping it's definitely an acceptable brunch. Actually even if it was made with bog standard crumble topping (minus sugar) it's fine. After reading a thread about continental eating habits I've decided to just become French. Bof.

shattered I'm shockingly rusty on my wine knowledge. It's nearly four years since I did my quals and 18 months since I sold a bottle. As someone who's not upduffed I'm sure you have more recent relevant experience

I did something quite daft yesterday afternoon. I decided to not just look after ds on my own while feeling slightly ropey, but also build his bed and move him into the new room. Which meant emptying that room. Dismantling the cot. Basically everything. I may have had a slight telling off from dh

But ds spent all night in a single bed without a fuss!!

plonk you had a bit of a talking to from me, too! I told you to wait, you rascal!!

plonky talk about completely misreading the posts. the big boy bedroom looks gorgeous.

You can put oats in crumble?! My mother taught me to cook, and she was a bit rubbish at it. "Half fat to flour" is the one rule she taught me. Cook at gas mark "oh, thereabouts" for "oh, you know, a while. Till it's done". Fruit in there this time wad apples, brambles, raspberries, strawberries and plums. Delilish, ad Fartypants would say if she deigned to try it.

You can totally oatify your crumble. That way it's a legitimate breakfast food.

Good to know the Plonky's Slapdash School of Cookery has a home in the north.

I'll have a look at that link later, told my dad I'd make him one and I'm sure we've got some oats somewhere.

My mother did have one other cooking tip which has served me well: poultry needs twenty minutes per pound and twenty more for luck. This means a simple roast chicken involves far too much mental arithmetic, but it has served me well. Oh, and she taught me to make cheese sauce:

Find a child over the age of seven, and equip them with a cheese grater, a block of cheese, and strict instructions not to eat any
Throw some butter in a pan. What? Oh... about this much
Melt butter
Throw in some flour. What do you mean, 'how much'? Enough to make the butter go like this
Hand small child a pint of milk and a wooden spoon
Go for a fag
Return to kitchen, bollock child for pinching cheese, add remaining cheese and stir until not lumpy.

Quite how my brother turned out to be a chef with such a teacher is beyond me.

Oh I'm so rubbish... I've been neglecting you all, and missing out on all the gossip. I hereby promise to be marginally less rubbish in future unless DH is away and I am in the pantry

Plonky before I forget, yes, bump was low and heavy and every time a bit more muscle tore it was accompanied by some rather special stabbing pains. At 39 weeks I actually thought I was in labour. I wasn't. It was disappointing. On the plus side if you are slowly ripping in two, pilates does a fairly good job of putting you back together again. Not quite good enough unfortunately, but I think it would be fair to say I no longer look 5 months pregnant. Just three.

It's been a busy few weeks as DH has been at home more so we've out and about more, and when at home have been had visitors. Which is knackering. In fact today I put my foot down and stated I wasn't going anywhere, and I was especially not going anyhere for lunch. Lunch yesterday was at a local National Trust place and was terrible in a way even school dinners can't manage. Even worselet downed spoons after 2 mouthfuls, and worselet has been known to valiantly battle her way through even the most disappointing of offerings for fear of starvation. Tomorrow I believe his schedule includes Pizza Express . Would it be wrong of me to encourage him to go to work on Friday

As Stormy correctly identified Babax has reached the heady heights of 6 months. How did that happen? Where did my tiny, squishy,hairy little new born go? He's certainly not tiny. Or squishy. Although he is still fairly hairy and turning into a red head. I'm also not entirely convinced he can be mine. He is so easy. Tonight to put him to bed I carried him upstairs and set him in his cot. He went to sleep. I did not pace for 3 hours while humming lullabys, or rock him on my shoulder. I just set him in the cot. This is a concept I find hard to understand. Furthermore, earlier in the evening DH fed him some solids. He ate them. He didn't turn his head away and scream at the injustice of being offered food. He just ate it. I find this baffling.

Worselet on the other hand is still being her adorable contrary worseletty little self and long may that last. She's hilarious and has learnt how to take the piss. She has also learnt how to count above 20 without hesitation or repetition.... but would it be wrong of me to confess I find the piss taking more impressive. She's also started to feed Babax his milk and his purees, and gets most upset when adults intervene. Kind of cute, if messy.

Well, it's almost late, and given both the small members of the household are asleep before 10pm unheard of I'm of to bed!

Night all

There were quite a lot of typos in that... Ah well.

Crumble has oats here too. Muesli at times, although it has to be a sugar free one or the result is basically flapjack, and the currants burn. Thinking about it, stick with oats.

Hello worse! Waves
^^
Viewings ok but no one falling over themselves to pay us oodles of cash yet. But no 'how much!?' Reactions!

Ooh, best dash. See you all later.

WORSE! You're here! Good-o.

I ask about carrying low because, well, I clearly am and had lots of sharp pains in my bump a few days ago. I couldn't get up from the toilet without lots of shouting. I was really worried Bungle had already done a number on my muscles but the dr says otherwise - my ligaments are tight. Time will tell... But thanks for the pilates tip, it's definitely something I'll be looking into. Maybe I can ask santa for a washboard tummy for Christmas?

Babax sounds a total joy. Amazing that two kids of the same parents, raised in the same way can be so fundamentally different. Shattered have you found this too? I'm very intrigued.

DH is off to a festival down in Worse's neck of the woods today. Jealous, me? Oh no...not as I sit here doing data entry and thinking about the next few days solo with a toddle...

Wotta I'll cross everything again for you :)