JANUARY 06 - Toddlers - now the fun really begins!!

[sweetkitty]

Here we go ladies a brand new sparkly thread for our little toddlers!!!

Hi to everyone, sorry I haven't been on for ages but have been really busy with work in Liverpool in the week and visiting mum at weekends (somehow fitting the 4 kids in around all this!).

Here's the bad news:

1. Mum died last Monday in the hospice, it was quite unexpected as we were making plans for her to go back to my sister's for a bit. I think she had just had enough, she lived 12 weeks from diagnosis. Her requiem mass/funeral is on Thursday so if anyone prays, please add an extra one on for her!

2. I have been pretty much made redundant (paid up until August 31st). Head Office have offered the 7 of us 3 jobs to apply for. Not being defeatist but I am the least experienced so unlikely to win the type of consultant post they are offering.

3. Finn has some hearing loss from his glue ear although he is starting to talk (dada, mummum, leela (leah), dog, car, gentle (re dog!), brum, 'all gone'. Tests shows he still has a lot of fluid in his ears but his inner ears are fine. At least they have caught it early.

Ok, so that's the 3 bits of bad news, no more please!

We did have a fab holiday in Greece in between all this and I have also had fantastic support from friends as well as some time to spend with both my sisters (and my brother was over for a bit too). Mum held us all together across the world and we will make an effort to carry this on. My big sister goes back to NZ on Friday.

Congrats to everyone who is pregnant and good luck to everyone trying to conceive

Hi Rach

So sorry to hear about your mum. Thoughts and prayers are with you and yours, and especially on Thursday.

Also sorry to hear about Finn's glue ear, but it's really encouraging that his speech development seems to be totally on track despite the problems. When will he be able to get grommits? Or is there a different treatment?

The job situation sounds like a bummer too, it never rains eh? Let me know next time you're in Liverpool, maybe I could come over for the evening and we could go out for a drink. I've lost your mob no. or i'd text, but I'll try to hunt out your email.

Better go as school break is over now, maybe more later....

Rach I'm so sorry. It's a year tommorow that we lost my dad. Will send you & yours healing on Thursday with much love. x

And the award for the biggest whinger with nothing to whinge about goes to..... ME. Am feeling duely chastised.

Rach - So sorry to hear about your mum, and the job and Finn. I'm not religious but will be thinking of you on Thursday and sending some hugs your way.

Much love to you and yours in this time of sorrow.

And Iris, love to you as well for your difficult anniversary.

G xx

Rach so sorry to hear your news. You will have my thoughts on Thursday.
Iris I hope today was OK for you.
Am thinking of you both.

Nothing new here it is just getting darn cold and we are dreaming of a sunny holiday

hiya gals sorry this pc has been refusing to connect to the internet for ages so I haven't been around in a while.

Firstly quick wee update - second month of ttc no 3 funny as it took one time to conceive T you think it will be the same again, funny thing this baby making. Both A and T were baptised last week which was a nightmare in all honesty. T refused to sit still was swinging on the pews and shouting "Talia" at the top of her voice. A sulked and said the priest was yuck. They both looked utterly angelic in their dresses though. I've lost count of all the words T can say now, she's an utter madam who's just learned she can hit her sister back. They do play well together with the odd spat. She follows A around all day and has to be doing exactly what she is doing, she screams if A gets her clothes on first in the morning and she hasn't got hers on. She screams quite a lot if things aren't going her way or she's not allowed something. I thought second borns were supposed to be more laid back

Rach - am so sorry to hear about your mum, I hope everything went well at the funeral, thinking of you all.

Georgie - hiya sorry to hear about the nightmare planners. We only have 3 bedrooms and are planning no 3, plan is 1 and 2 will share for a while whilst we decide to build or move and find the funds for it of course.

Iris - hiya hope the pregnancy is going well

big hello to everyone else hope life is going well for you all and your LOs can you believe they are 18 months old next month eek!

hi ladies just to let you know number 3 is due March 2008 so next year I will have 3.8yo A, 2.2yo T and a newborn, utterly insane but fab at the same time.

love and hugs to you all

Yay! Congratulations Sweetkitty Yes, I think you must be mad having 3 so close together but then you've probably got loads more energy than me It'll be wonderful for your LOs growing up together though. Fab news.

Wherethewildthingsare - how's things? Have you finished work now? Are you going to have the summer off (you mentioned you're being paid until the end of Aug) or have you already got a new job?

DD went off to Tenerife with 10 friends on friday as an "end of school" holiday. I'm busy kidding myself that they'll all be chilling on the beach with a jug of sangria rather than strutting their stuff at in seedy clubs risking rohipnol and slimy men

DH has been away for 6 weeks which has been a bit more difficult as he missed the 20 week scan (all ok - didn't find out the flavour) and I've been really tired but, hey, other people cope with worse so I shouldn't whinge. He's back on Wed so I'm getting really excited - just hope DS remembers him!!

Talking of whom... his nibs has grown enough to reach door handles!! I've had to tie DD's bedroom door closed with an old scarf and put so much more stuff away! DH is going to have to put more locks on things when he gets back.
Anyway must go ? DS is screeching to get out his high chair (brekkie clearly over!) Hope everyone?s keeping well. Love & hugs iris xx

congrats sweetkitty. Hopefully we shouldn't be too far behind. Have almost had a week of injections, blood test tomorrow to see if I am growing any eggs.

Iris your ds sounds a bit like my ds, he is into everything but has worked out ways around things, like pulling up chairs if he can't reach.

We have just been working on teaching him what he can get into as locked everything was driving us older ones insane.

All's well here it is just freezing, raining and I need a holiday on an airplane!!!

ooh - good luck Chuffed! BTW how do you teach them what they can get into?

Congrats Sweetkitty, how lovely . You will be fine, ds1 was 4yrs 2 months and ds2 22months when dd was born. You just get on with it!

Thanks for all the kind messages of support (it must have been awful for you too, Iris). The funeral was awful, unbearable almost but the wake was full of laughter - we put up loads of pictures of mum representing her whole life, played her music etc and I was so impressed to see so many of her friends there to remember her (a horrible discovery was that no-one has a picture of her with Finn, I can't believe it, I guess she was always the one taking them.

It's my birthday on Wednesday and I can't quite believe I won't be getting a card or a call from her

Finn's ENT consultant wants to operate soon because he has bilateral hearing loss - the alternative was antibiotics and hearing aids (can you imagine him keeping them in?)

Iris - I'm trying to juggle work timescales at the mo - I have got another job (god knows how because I'm a mental mess!) but the pay isn't so good (it is home-based though) so I'm holding out for another one I've seen, trying not to lose the first one and also trying to see if I can also get my redundancy pay which will help top it up! Still waiting for 'official notice of redundancy' which will be july 13 I think.

How is everyone else? BTW we had a fab holiday in Greece, it's been rather lost within all the sadness.

Hi all

We're fine on the whole. Dh is not very well atm, off work for the past couple of months and not sure when he'll go back. He has bi polar mood disorder and is trying some new meds, so hopefully he'll be feeling better soon.

Alex is doing great, talking lots and very sociable. He chatted up a little nearly 2 year old girl at the library today, very cute and she had a go in his big bouncy pram. He still just about fits in there, fine when he's sitting up, but he has to bend his legs a little when he's asleep. I've cute down his bf to morning and night now, a bit of a struggle at first, but he seems to have accepted it now. He was just getting too much into helping himself and I wasn't too keen on his hands down my cleavage the whole time. He still has quite a downy fluffy head of hair, which I love. Although he's very tall, he still looks like a proper baby with his head covered in blonde bum fluff. He still can't quite run, but it won't be long. He had a go on a "like a bike" the other day in the toy shop, and he could do it. I was very proud. I would like to get him one, but at £125 I think it's a bit steep. Dh said, I'll just take the pedals off an old bike and that'll do the job. He's probably right, but I don't suppose we'll find a 2 wheeler tiny enough for that. Alex has been a total monkey at bed time for the past week, it's just been as if he wasn't tired, looking round after his last bf, pointing to the door and screaming blue murder when I left the room. I've ended up restricting his sleep a little in the day, just keeping him to one sleep at lunchtime and tonight he's gone off ok (so far).

I'm off to hunt for a wet weather poncho / kagool for him now. Any suggestions?

Love L

Hey Kitty, congrats . Am strangly at your news. Must be the old hormones kicking in.

Extension refused by council. V vvvvv upset. We've got plan B though. Stupid neighbours will be getting LARGE extension that really does destroy their light/view. But f8ck 'em. Tried v hard to make sure that new plans would be better than old (approved) plans. But they still kicked up stink. Have had a gut full of being bullied by smug old ladies. Fingers crossed, building work starts in Sept. You'll prob be able to hear howls of disgust from neighbours .

On brighter note, Moo won her sports day running race.

Anyone else feeling really down with this constant rain?

G xx

Georgie

The whole building thing is such a stress out isn't it. Here's hoping plan B will be a success, I'm sure it will.

I know what you mean about the rain. It's like summer happened those 2 weeks in April, and that's it. If anyone needs proof of global warming, I think we have it, don't you? I've never known a summer like it. It's just so restrictive in what you can do too, like going to the park, for walks etc. That gets me down, it's usually so lovely getting out and about at this tie of year.

ooh and forgot to say, big congratulations to Moo on the race. My poor ds (age 14) has been on crutches this weekend due to a sports day accident. He managed to slice through his calf muscle falling over in the hurdles race and needed stitches inside and out. Ouch! but dd did fab in the high jump, 2nd out of 10 and she'd never tried it before. Coaching for how to do the fosbry flop seemed to consist of the pe teacher saying "jump backwards"!

Hi all

Just popped on to say hello. Not much to report here. Feeling pretty good these days. Have started new job (full time, eek) and it's going well. Still a fat biffer but doing some exercise these days which seems to be paying off - I squeezed into some trousers today that didn't fit a week ago Dominic a little star, settling into new nursery fine.

Starting to think about ttC

Happy birthday for Wednesday WTWTA. So sorry about your mum.

Congratulations SweetKitty!!! really happy for you!!!

Must go, I'm at work, love to all xxx

Iris, I remove him, remove him, distraction and his sister is good at 'telling on him' too. I must say that my daughter seemed to 'get' it a bit quicker than my boy though.

I have officially got a follicle that is growing an another that 'might' develop. Off for another scan tomorrow to see if they are ready for 'release' yet. Boy this ttc is certainly scientific now. I hope both of the follicles grow as it will increase the odds of conceiving this cycle.

Have been busy doing 'crafty' stuff and have just appliqued a pig on a nappy I am making for ds. He now has one with a helicopter on the back.

If it's any consolation we have had so much rain our lawn looks like a swamp but I suppose it is winter here. It just hasn't seemed to stop.

Stay well - chat soon.

Hi girls, so sorry not been keeping up with the thread. Have been finding things something of a struggle with DH away in "the sandpit". He's been gone for 10 and a bit weeks now, and we have another 6 weeks to go before he gets home for r&r (about 12 days) then he's back out for another 3 months.
I'm tired all the time, carrying all this weight is a big factor in that. On that note my GP has referred me for Bariatric Surgery (gastric band or bypass) as I can't seem to lose weight no matter what miracle pills she prescribes me. I just can't cut down my food intake unless there's something physically restricting my diet (like my gall-stones did), and my diabetes is going to kill me if I don't, so time for surgical intervention. I've heard from the health authority that it's only a 3-6 month waiting list depending which hospital they decide to send me to, so I'm hopeful I'll have it done by christmas.

WTWTA - so sorry to hear about your mum. I can't imagine how it must feel, I live in fear of the day. Our thoughts are with you.

Lola's still pretty much a dream child, goes to bed quite happily after her cup of milk at 7-8 and in the morning will happily lie in her cot and play with/sing to/blow raspberries at her dolls til I get up (which can be quite some time after she wakes!). I don't think I would have coped with being on my own at all if she hadn't been so contented. She's not talking much. Only words she really uses are mummy, nana and bye-bye, but she's using baby-sign for food and drink confidently so we're muddling through without too much frustration.

I'm so happy for, but also a wee bit of those of you already cooking another one. I'm really hoping I get my surgery sooner rather than later so that maybe by this time next year I'll have lost enough weight to make TTC/pregnancy a safer option 2nd time around.
Really must go and try for that early(ish) night I've been promising myself now!

Hi ForcesSweetheart. You're a strong, brave woman. It must be incredibly hard for you with DH away. Hugs to you until he comes home safely. Libby's throwing the most major tantrums already . Complete howlers on the floor with snot streaming everywhere and a scream that could stun a bull at 10 yards . Just as well she's my second because at least I know how to deal with it now without falling to peices!

Fingers crossed for the op to be soon.

And may I ask for some good vibes coming my way as we're TTC No3.

G xx

VIBES ####@@####@@@###@###$#

We find out next week if this cycle was successful, I felt like a human pincushion so hopefully I won't have to go through all that again!

Nothing new here except we too are SICK OF RAIN!!!

ds is getting pretty stroppy, I really hope he gets some good communication skills in shortly or I would guess we are in for some humdingers. Sounds just like dd HTGG.
I find a distraction of choice seems to help him, it gives him a bit of control but I can control it iykwim? Like holding up 2 cups for a milk, which colour would he like etc etc.

Hello all,

Gosh, doesn't time just whizz past.
Sorry to hear about your mum WTWTA, hope you are all healing well and remembering all the good times

Congratulations to SK and Iris and lots of positive pregnancy thoughts to those trying! I have just over 3 weeks to go until our due date, which is insane, this pregnancy has just whizzed past... although SPD has made it that bit harder!

Forcessweetheart - you have SO much respect from me, it must be incredibly hard managing on your own. Your daughter always sounds so calm and lovely! Good luck with the op too, do let us know when you get a date through so we can all think happy thoughts!

It's great to hear how all the littlies are fairing, can't believe they are all at that 18 month mark! I'm pleased to read they're all keeping us on our toes! Beebe continues to be wonderful, she's such a happy smiley little girl and she's definitely developed a strong sense of humour - she loves to make people laugh! I am forever indebted to sign language, she can communicate most of her wants and needs and it is amazing to watch her learn new signs all the time. At our last count she used 117!! Her speech is coming along in leaps and bounds all of a sudden too, lots of copying what I say, which is mostly good but does mean I have to watch my tongue sometimes

I shall keep this relatively short, I shall keep you updated with bump news! Can't believe there will soon be two, any advice would be greatly received

Love to you all, and lots of sunshine cos really - this rain is just getting silly!
xx

Hi there peeps Hope you've all been enjoying the heatwave. I haven't really been on that much lately - too busy haring after DS (must get cupboard locks fitted!!!!!), shielding my bump from his elbows/knees/head/feet etc , and clutching my bump because of elbows/knees/head/feet etc.. I'm being beaten up from inside and out at the mo!! Though feeling very well (and no diabetes!!!!!!!!! YAY! )

Lilstarry1 - lovely to hear from you - crikey must be any day now eh!! (know what you mean about time flying - you hardly have time to think about being pg with a toddler do you!) Hope all goes swimmingly for you.

Chuffed - how are the follicles doing? I've been keeping everything crossed for you and hope you're not feeling too much like a pin cushion. The nappies sound fab! Are you appliqueing [sp] onto a ready made nappy/wrap or have you made it yourself? (and can you post a piccie?)

Sweetkitty - hope your pg is going ok. You must be pooped running round after 2! and how on earth did you find time to post when you had 1? I really struggle!

Forcessweetheart - that's a long stint you're doing honey - I do feel for you. Hope you have lots of support from the other wives. Have you anything nice planned for when he has his R&R (though I suppose you have to write off the first few days whilst he readjusts to normality!) Lola sounds an absolute darling. I can see why you want another one already have you heard anything about your op yet? It'd be handy to get it all out of the way whilst DH is still away (assuming you'll have help!!)

Lyra - How's life with you? Hope DH is a bit better and DS's leg has healed (that sounded soooo painful!)

Barrelrider - lol at "fat biffer" but clearly that's not true now with all your exercising

Georgie - You must be so sick of your council hope you fare better this time. PMSL at "strangly " at Sweetkitty's news (I never had you down as a violent type ) And well done to Moo! Did you cry? - I always wonder if it's just me that's a complete wuss - I used to pretend I had a cold whenever I went to anything at DD's school as I knew I'd drizzle Sending lots of fertile vibes your way too - good luck

Well, best love you and leave you for now - sorry to those I've missed and hope you're keeping OK. love & hugs X

Hey all - well bad news from my end. We got a positive test result on the Friday and lost it on the Monday night so onto cycle two now. This one WILL work!!!

Can't believe you are so close Lilstarry1, very exciting. Just remember everything is just a phase when times are hard, it will pass [hmmm]

iris66 I have been 1/2 making the pockets putting stuff on them and then finishing them off. Have given up on the applique for a bit and trying to use up some of my cool print fabric. ds is just getting a nemo nappy at the mo, should be finished on Thursday and I finished a really cool soft minkee fabric pocket just like the berry plush by jamtots last night. The fabric is so scrummy.
Will try to get some photos posted of my creations. I hate to waste time in the evening and sewing at the dining table while watching tv is quite relaxing. (sad sad me)

Feel for you with the renovations Georgie we are still building our balcony/garage, still no roof on it yet and we had our drawings drawn up when we went to Spain last October . That is with everything progressing relatively smoothly (apart from the weather).

Well better get to bed. Hope all is well and best wishes to all.

Chuffed I'm so sorry to read your news. Sending sticky vibes your way for next time

Hey Chuffed. Really sorry to read your news. Also sending sticky vibes your way . X