May 07 - The one where some of us are already knocked up again...

[barelymorethantwelvemonthgap]

Oh I can't believe Cam's gone!

Big wave to scoot, was thinking about you the other day. Just really randomly thought 'I wonder how Scoot is.....' I too am on a detox, have eaten no crap and only good stuff. Have been trying to get out for more walks and have gotten up early lots of times to go out running, but then I've opened the curtains and thought better of it after seeing the weather! The winds the other night sounded like they'd put our windows through! I haven't lost any weight yet either, and also need to stop smoking which I'm more worried about because then I'll probably put on more weight!

Hey to TYG and Sky, hope you two are ok, and little beans are all good. Sky very pleased to hear there is no more spotting, me thinks this little one is going to be a troublemaker for you when it's older!

AM I've got a pink Luna too! Or at least I will have in a day or two. My presto's on ebay at the minute along with about 90 other things! Mass post Christmas clearout at LWs.

Not much to report here. Oh but I have figured out what I'm going to do. I've been accepted into Aberdeen uni to do a long distance learning course. Start in year 2 as I've already done my first year in Bristol. So, another 2 years and I'll have my degree Start at the end of the month, and it also means I'll have had 16 months at home with C. I'm also going to apply to do a nursing Diploma, to start in September. That way, if I don't like it, it's only 2 years instead of commiting to a 4 year degree. If I do like it I can transfer onto year 2 of a 3 year degree. I'll hopefully specialize in childrens nursing, as I've got an Early Childhood Studies background, which I'm hoping will help! With my degree I have to do a work placement in a school, which (and not to sound like a complete cow) gives me a bit of time off from C, which I'm starting to need. Her new found fast crawling abbility is knackering me out!

Hope all are well, off to finish clearing out my room!

Sounds like a plan Mum to CM!Good, a detox buddy..becuase my will power is going seriously astray..there is a big tin of Quality st upstairs and I can hear it calling me!
MID!Where've you been!I have lost your number-think L was at my phone and has randomly deleted a whole lot of numbers!Am still desperate to meet F!Please text it me again and we can meet up?FWIW if I could afford to work less and be at home more I would do it like a shot..The babies are just starting to get so interesting now and its horrid to miss it all when back at work..that said would do a few days here and there if I could just to get me out a bit..(dont want much do I? )

Off to get L now from CM..GAH, It is tipping it down and M and I are nice and cosy in front of the fire..Oh well on with the 10 layers and out we go..and I bet when we get back the nosy neighbour from next door has nicked my space and I will have to park about 5 miles away..

Hi mid nice to see you.

Did I catch a snifter of a london Nth of London cwaffee? Scoot need to pick your brains re stupid age gap and how the feck you cope,

How lovely AM that E is getting her bedroom proper now. Whats happening with your move?

Sky how lovely not long till you see your bean.

Bloody nora TYG your area of London seems even more ridiculous than mine for midwife app. I got a letter asking me to go for booking at the hospital even though I have community midwifes at my GP's 5 min walk away.

BBB lordy poor you with all that poxing going on.

Suppose I had best go give the monster his tea asparagus and brocoli tonight can you tell its the end of the week and the fridge is bare.

Bye bye Cam - you will be on your way now. Just think, you will be in SUN....
all going well on the work front so far. I think S has begun to realise that I am leaving him for longer periods of time and is SO excited when I get back from work (might be something to do with the fact that I immediately whip out my boobs!!)

Glad that all the preg ladies seem to be feeling better - even if the system is not being v helpful....good luck next week Sky.

Where is SOH? Hope she is ok

Hello, well after getting dead excited as I got a laptop for Christmas got peed off as could not access MN properly. Thought it was just cos different operating system to DHs. Then when I was sulking the other day he asked me why I wasn't using my lovely new pressie that he had got me, when I explained I could view some MN topics but not the postnatal threads he checked the interweb connections and there was something wrong with it. Am now back on line but have loads of catching up to do. Oops no punctuation.

Glad to hear most of you seem okay at the moment although I am sorry for those of you who have lost someone recently it is really hard especially at this time of the year. It does not get better but gets easier over time or so I think most days. It does creep up and slap you really hard somedays though.

Congratulations all you Mums to be have a stone and a half to go before it is a topic of conversation in our house again.

I updated my profile just before Christmas and stuck some more pics on. Although it seems out of date already.

Cheers AM for Gs 9 month birthday greeting. I take his photo every month on the 3rd and I can't believe it is so long since his birth, he has changed so much. We got a tooth through last week and number 2 is on its way now. Still a bit wobbly with the sitting up and rolling over stuff though

Thank-you Secret Santa for my lovely chocs and perfume. I did manage to get on the SS thread recently, has everyone else had their pressie or is good old royal mail hanging on to a few?

Good luck Cam hope your journey goes well and you are soon settled in your lovely new house. Come back soon.

Also a big hello to you who have been missing in action. Welcome back and don't stay away so long next time [stern face smiley]. (pots and kettles anyone)

Please forgive me as I have not posted individually but have still to catch up properly have just been skimming

Hope you all had good holidays and have a healthy, happy, prosperous new year.

Bye for now and yes I will update my name as have just spotted it is still festive. DOH.

Does anyone want two monsters boys. My ds's are driving me mad, all they do is argue at the moment. I will just settle Alana for a nap and they start shouting and screming at each other and therefore wake her up. She doesnt sleep for long during the day anyway but lately Im lucky if she gets 10mins each time. Im feeling really generous and will offer a take two get one free and throw in my dh as well. Hes been a bloody pain today as well, so much so Im planning to go to bed in a mo so i dont have to see him when he comes home from work

On a lighter note Alana tried to take a couple of steps today. They were very wobbly and she was holding onto the sofa at the time but it was a very good effort. She managed three little steps before collapsing. She has mastered the art of crawling and races around the house so now she obviously thinks she needs to try something new. Wheres my little baby gone, she seems to be growing so fast

Waves to all.

Cam hope you arrived ok.

AM thinking of you today sweetie. xxx

I got my Christmouse present.

Morning all. Gosh it's only 9am but I feel i've already done half a day's work. J woke up at 4am with a super stinker and after changing him he obviously thought it was the start of the day. When he finally went back down after 30 mins I was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep. J woke up again at 6am and no amount of dummies, cuddly toys etc could keep him quiet. Will my baby ever "do" the infamous 7pm-7am?

Off to meet a childminder today. Bit nervous. I'm back at work mid Feb so really need to get that sorted. Any suggestions on what to ask her that isn't in the those SureStart childcare brochures.

Hope everybody else had a better start to their day and may the rain soon stop.

I was awake early today too Jelly. Alana decided to have a very restless night, woke at 1.30am trying to escape from her cot and wouldnt settle back down so took her into my bed. She finally fell asleep at 2.15am but then woke up again at 4.30am after which she just would not settle, she would doze for the odd 10mins but wake just as I was going back to sleep Im not used to her waking in the night so Im knackered, she however is as happy and boisterous as usual. At the moment she is climbing over poor Ethan who is laid on the floor watching Cars and she is showing no signs of tiredness.

I don't know what's in the brochures, but assuming they cover all the safety/ regulations stuff; you need to be practical and ask her about how flexible she is (if it's an issue for you - it would have been for me - I was always having to stay late at work.)

You need to be very clear with anyone you engage about their contract. Holidays/ time off/ rates of pay - their maternity leave if ever needed etc.

Also, if you're not using the childminder full time, but might need to in the future, see if there's a difference between hourly, daily and weekly rates. I had a minder (unregistered as DD was 8) I paid by the hour as I only needed her a couple of hours a day. However, that hourly rate seemed hideously expensive when it was the holidays and she took DD full time.

Hi all

Its official C's childminder is lovely. He went all day yesterday for the first time and didn't cry once. He ate all his food, had an hour sleep in the morning and afternoon (she has to do the school/play group run so he sleeps then in pushchair as she walks everywhere). I really can't believe how good he was but I am so pleased as I can relax a bit now. Only two weeks to go!

JBB - try and get her tp confirm holidays in advance. Although being lovely, mine told me she never too more than one week at a time and never not in the school hols. She sent a lovely letter at the end of the year though to say next year they have booked two weeks in florida at the end of May/beginning of June - aargh! - I need to take my hols in the school holidays!!

Well, we're back and I think I like her. She's very nice and easy to talk to. We had a little chat, she gave me her portfolio, with all the courses she's done, rates, rules, routines etc. Then I had my list of question which she happily answered.

All this time J was sitting on the floor playing with toys and when he got a bit grisly (sp?) she picked him up and he was fine. good sign me thinks.

With regards to holidays, as she's part of a childminders network, she will give me plenty of notice but she will find a replacement cm for that period. Not that she's planning much holiday as she has 2 sets of twins. One set is 4 and the other is 6. There's 18 months between them.

J will be the only child in the daytime, until the twins come home from school at 3. So he'll have 2 schoolruns a day and she goes to all the toddler groups etc.

It all sounds very nice and it looks like my week is turning out the be quite a good one.

On Wednesday work told me that I can have my flexi hours. Like you TYG I used to work very long hours (investment bank in canary wharf) but they have agreed that I can do 9-5. and work one day from home. It's on a trial for 3 months, but all sounds good to me.

Great New's on the childminder front. I'm sure he'll be happy.

Good new's about your job too.

I'm sure Cam has texted all those that she has numbers for but I thought I'd post for those she doesn't.
Text read:
We have arrived safey and in one piece - finally. The sun is shining and is hot...I can see how fat J is cos he is in shorts and t-shirt reveling mahooosive arms and legs. The house is amazing we shall be happy for sure. No sign of any trouble. Missing you all. Cam x

Bless, woooo hooooo for the sun and house and no trouble. Missing you too. x

Excellent news, glad she has arrived safely.

Also great news on the childminding front am sure it makes the transition back to work alot more easy when you know you are happy with childcare.

DP phoned to tell me that our very good friends that got engaged at Christmas have named the day for the wedding, they are getting married 6 weeks after my due date aaaarrgghh I will still be the size of a heiffer and will have the baby attached to my nips all day long and as DP will have groomsman duties i will also have to deal with A who by then is bound to be a little tearaway double aaarrgghh

AM hope all goes ok today, x.

Pebble what a night hope its better tonight.

Hi all,

Funeral went really well despite the weather being awful. Had the Royal Marines bugal player and former marines bearing the standards. Grandad would have been really proud of it all. Dh and db were 2 of the bearers and dh said he couldnt believe how heavy it was. My dad and brother said a few words and did really well to get though it without falling apart. Took 2.5hrs to get there and 2 hrs to get back.

Got my text from Cam - so pleased that all is ok.

JBB, glad your meeting went well with the CM

Sky glad all was well with your cm as well.

Hey Charley, benson and mid, good to see you all.

Mrsjb, ready when you are to discuss the trip

Nightmare Julie! didnt you have a wedding shortly after A's birth? HOnestly you wont need to worry too much as you will be spending the next 6.5-7mths running after A and therefore shouldnt put too much weight on.

Pebble, wow at A and the steps!

Ella was 9mths yesterday and today spent her first full day at nursery. All seemed to go well so its looking good for next week.

Glad the funeral went all ok AM. I was at a funeral Friday of last week. My Aunt Jeans, who died after having a fall and breaking her hip. They operated on her, but her poor wee body just gave out, then she suffered multiple oragan failure and died on Boxing day

She wasn't a real Aunt but my Grans best friend. She'd been 'in' the family for over 40 years, and was always thought of as a member. My Gran's distraught over loosing her dearest friend, and we're really worried that it'll make her ill. She doesn't have any more living friends now, she's the only one of her (very large!) friendship group alive. Must be awful watching everyone you once knew pass away.

C's crawling is now not so cute, and tbh is driving me to distraction! She just wont stay still. She's on my lap now wriggling as if she's got ants in her nappy. I've lost count of the ear piercing crys we've had today, because she'd pulled something down and it's hit her, or she's bashed into something etc. I can't do anything unless she's asleep, she needs watching constantly. I thought this would be a really cute stage, it's more friggin stressfuul than the time she had an ear infection! Oh and don't even get me started on why she is still awake at 10 past 10 at night! I didn't get her down until 12 last night. I'm guessing it's her teeth bothering her..........

Good to hear Cam arrived safely of the sunshine! I'm in need of some sun lol.

Hope everyone has a good weekend x

Evening all,

Glad funeral went ok AM..It sounds like a nice rousing sort of funeral if there is sucha thing, with the bugler etc..Im sure he would really have been proud of it..

And pleased to hear Cam arrived ok..Its so wierd to think of her half way round the world now..

Snorts at the thought of JW picking brains about coping with a small age gap When I find out Ill let you know!Cwaffee any time you like lovely..

Must say I am so lucky with my lovely CM..L is so happy there and im sure M will be too come Feb..(even if Im not as I trog up and down the A10 every day )My friend with a boy the same age as L is sending him there now too, the days she doesnt have mine, which is quite nice..

Day 10 of Detox..struggling now..went to one of Lilys friends birthday parties at a soft play centre thingy..oh the cocktail sausages and cake..but resist I did..with great difficulty..made a hearty vegetable soup for tea.DH has lost about half a stone .

L was very grown up though and went on all the climbing frames and slides and things all on her own for the first time-before I have had to clamber up with her..My big grown up girl!If only M could do the same I could just set them on together and settle down with a copy of Grazia and a cup of tea for a bit..give it 18 months

Off to Bedfordshire now..I am going to Milton Keynes snow dome tomorrow to do a bit of ski ing, which will be fab-I havent been for so long though-it will be snow plough all the way for a bit I fear..will probably break my leg!

Sounds like a lovely send off AM. It's nice to celebrate the life of someone special.

Yea Scoot, JW, coffee would be grand.

A has this toy on her cot with a pull string that plays a selection of Incy Wincy, Three Blind Mice and something else whilst intermittently making kissing and giggling noises. It's sort of cute when she alerts us to her awake status with it after a nap. However at 4am I was seriously thinking of smashing the thing with a hammer. MY CHILD sleeps from 7 to 7. Clearly she was possessed last night. Do you know, I reckon, when I'm standing at the gates of hell waiting for the man in red to admit me, there'll be some bastard with a Bon-Tempi keyboard playing effing Incy Wincy.

LOL TYG..Imagine when you've two of em..one will be playing the keyboard thingy and t'other will have someting else equally annoying, (for example, My parents thought it would be oh so funny to give Lily a drum for Christmas)...Then you wont know which thing to smash first!

I am trying to phase out Lilys drum, but she is of course obsessed with the sodding thing..Will text you TYG re the meeting up..JW Do you want to give me your number as [email protected] and we can arrange

Have just found out that I totally forgot to apply for Maes child benefit..what a dingbat!Wel I say forgot, I just assumed that it somehow arrived automatically as I cant remember applying for Lilys, probably becuase I was in shock..I wonder if they will backdate it at all?We will need all the cash we can get now as the builder keeps adding things to our spec for the house left right and centre..I may have to sell one of the kids..

Scoot i think they back date for 3mths

Just remembered that dh's grandad and wife are coming today and the house is a shit tip that was supposed to be cleaned this weekend. Have had to whizz round and clean windows, toilets, the kitchen, hoover and wash the floors. Just want to sit down but now have to drag self into shower and try and look like i have been ready all day

Ella has slept through for 2nights now which has been nice (and all without the help of Medised ) although i'm not counting chickens as i am sure she will be up all night for a week now.

PMSL TYG, the toys they have are more annoying than the children sometimes

Scoot they will only backdate for 3 months Get on it quick.

I have Aunt Flo, awful but also good. At least it means i should be able to get pregnant next month (unless i'm going through some kind of defunct Luteal phase thingy) It 9s hellish as expected but as i have not had one since 27th July 06 i really shouldnt moan too much i suppose.

DH buliding a chicken coop today, no cockralls just some laying birds. The kids eat an awful lot of eggs and i have always wanted chickens.

I heard from SOH, she is ok. They are moving (even further) in to the sticks. A working farm cottage will be their new abode. Apparantly they can have a pig and the land lady is a mad old bat Sounds perfick to me.

Our washing machine broke on Thursday night so our rainy day money has just been eaten by Comet. We have gone for an indusrial sized monster that manages to eat 8kg of washing at once!

Morning all,

Nothing new and exciting to report. Am going house hunting today which I'm very excited about. I am particularly going to see one that I'm very excited about. We need to sell this house first, but am just ready to start dreaming about our new life in our new house. Will let you all know how it goes.

Hi everyone, hope you're all ok. Just been catching up on everyone's news. You can tell I'm back at work, I never seem to find the time to get on here!
LGT glad your AF is back, bet you'll be the next one with an announcement!
We're busy as always. I'm pleased to report that R is a different baby since I've stopped trying to fill her with baby food. I'm not sure how much finger food actually goes in but she is a lot happier. She is so settled at the moment and is pleased as punch that she can finally sit unaided.
C started Nurseryt his week, 3 hours every morning. He looked so cute in his little uniform! He has found it quite hard to seetle and finds it a real wrench being away from his adored cm. However, I'm sure he'll soon settle down and start to enjoy it a bit more. Anyway, must dash. Both are asleep after a playcentre party this morning and I need to cacth up on house work.

LG&T sorry to hear that Aunt flo has paid a visit but hopefully that means that you should have an announcement soon How cool to be getting Chickens!

Glad that all is well with SOH and that Cottage sounds lovely. I wonder what she will call the pig?

Abby i bet he looked really grown up.

Just got the house up straight and ds comes back and trashes it in about 2mins flat.... why did i bother!