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

[barelymorethantwelvemonthgap]

Ohhhhh LG&T, so sorry to hear you being sad . It's just one day a year and it isn't really important, they have a WONDERFUL mummy who is just the best mummy in the world and is with them for most of the other days in the year and presents aren't half as much fun as being with you and being able to snuggle up to you and share all those special moments together.

Besides your exp is just an arse and those smart kids of yours will soon work that out. I hope you and N are feeling better soon.

My dsis also spent most of the day throwing up.

We had lots and lots of fun, but today I have to get serious about the packing So off I pop I might be back later if I haven't been taken away for throttling my own mother

LG&T I cna only echo what Cam has said. I hope that you have had a better day today my lovely.

Hope the packing is going well Cam.

Lups, wow at your hair..... do we get to see a pic?

Another cracking day in the AM house. Poor Ella is really poorly. Hacking cough, very snotty and a very pathetic cry. She has hardly eaten for 2 weeks and is now off of her milk as well. I have a Dr's appt for Friday so at least if she is still poorly i might be able to get told that she has a virus or something.

AM I would post pics but the lead to my camera is broken so cant upload - oh well we had better meet up and ((eat more donuts!!))) errr say hello and eat salad

OMG while posting that the bin men arrived and i didnt realise it was today hadnt even put them out, ran out and think i put a smile on his face he was probably trying not to laugh and deranged looking woman with make up down her face in pj's and walking boots and polka dot dresssing gown frantically going down drive with black bin saying wait theres more!!!!

Hope ev1 is good today

LOL lups!

Happy Birthday to H MrsJB. I hope he has a lovely day xx

Hello all, hope we've all survived Christmas and made it out the other side!
LGT sorry you had a rubbish day. Are you having another Christmas when the kids get home?
We had a lovely day here with the kids and both sets of granparents. Both kids behaved impeccably and our house now resembles a large branch of Toys R Us. They both had some lovely things and C just doesn't know what to play with. He's been trying new thnigs out all day and still has a huge pile of untouched new things - people have been so generous. They've both got lots of cute new clothes too and quite a few books. Not much ceap plastic tat this year so I think we did well. Christmas dinner went very well as did the Boxing Day buffet and we had a nice walk along the canal yesterday with my parents, my sister and my brother in law. C is asleep now and has been for 2 hours, I think he is absolutely worn out. More than you can say for R who is still squawking as we speak having had 30 mins sleep all day....

Hello all

Oh LG&T Sorry to hear that Christmas was a bit of a washout. Will you be having your own with the children when they get home? Have to echo what a lot of others have said, your kids love you and you're a fantastic mum. Material stuff isn't what they will remember in years to come, they'll remember feeling secure, loved and looked after. Thinking of you

Good to hear others had a great day with the little ones. We had a fabulous time on Christmas day, C didn't know where to start! Her new toys have no home at the moment, there is simply too much. Everyone was very good to us all and we had a fantastic meal, followed by some wine and a few episodes of House Season 3. Santa was very generous to me having recived a digital camcorder thingy and two tickets to see Lee Evans next year. Very excited!

Boxing day was spent at my Aunts with all the family, including all 3 babies! Two of my cousins had children within the last year (both girls), so there was C - 7 months, A - 8 months and M - just turned 1. It was so lovely and took away all the family politics as everybody was so focused on the babies. Got some beautiful photographs of them all.

Just starting to wind down from the Christmas buzz today by chilling out, curry is currently cooking away, and have just finished watching Shrek 3. Now trying to decide what to do for New Years, and having a mass clearout to make room for all the new stuff. Ebay hear I come!

Off to find the camera so I can load on some pictures. Hope all are well.

MumtoCharlotteMay,

I saw your other thread, how are you doing?

Glad to hear the holidays went well.

Hi Mum to CM,glad to hear you had a lovely time over CHristmas. I love the way the magic of it all is brought straight back when you have your own kids. One of the nicest moments we had was on Christmas Eve when we all wrapped up and went outside just before the children went to bed to sprinkle the glittery reindeer food on the lawn. It was so magical and C was so excited. I felt like a big kid myself. I've just been trying to have a sort out to find homes for all the new things and I just don't know how we're going to do it. I've sorted out a load of tiny baby toys for Ebay. I can't see them making a lot of money but I'm going to try and sell them anyway.
Dh has been wrking today so I've been at home on my own with the kids all day and C has been an absolute angel. He has been such a lovely boy over Christmas compared the brat he was sometimes being before. It makes me think he was definitely run down and tired as it was so out of character. He gave up day time naps about 6 months ago but everyday this holiday except Christmas Day he has has a 2 hour sleep in the afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to Skegness to see dh's family. I don't mind it but I hate the journey with the kids. It's quit e along drive and we have to stop for toilet stops for C now and R hates being cooped up in her carseat for too long. Never mind, once it's done it's done and C's looking forward to seeing his Nanny and Auntie.
What's everyone up to for New Year? We have got my sister, brother in law, niece and nephew staying which should be a good laugh. Once the kids are in bed the wine will flow and my ds is bringing starter and dessert and we'll do main course. I think I might put the chocolate fountain on too. No doubt we'll all get wrecked and Buzz and Singstar will come out on the playstation!!

Hey MKG, I'm doing a bit better thanks. Things were starting to get really out of control so I saw the doctor and I'm on some medication, and start therapy in the New Year. Feeling a bit better after a week on the ADs.

Abby, glad you had a great Christmas. We all did to. Something very magical and special about it this year, may have something to do with Lottie.......!

Went to see the Golden Compass tonight at the cinema, was quite good. Can't find the camera to load pictures, my brains frazzled today!

Don't feel bad about starting therapy. You have gone through a lot in the past year. and if ADs and therapy will get you through then go for it. I really admire everything you're doing. I know I couldn't handle being single, having a baby, and going to school. You'll get through this.

I am here, just. Trying not to think about Xmas day.

We had the kids back for the day yesterday and spent it with my parents and my sis, her bf and ny ickle brother. Was lovely. They all got them a Wii, it is fab! We have been playing it lots even after the kids went back. They are off to the Panto tonight to see Peter Pan. We get them back tomorrow and i drive home.

Sunday we have sis in law and hubby and my aunt and uncle coming over for festive Lasagne and some more present opening. Kids go back to school on 3rd! DH off till 8th

He (dh) is currently sitting next to me knitting It is his Bday today, we are broke so have stayed in. My parents offered to have B but called us up after 4 hours saying he was poorly and inconsolable and could they bring him back. Cue baby smiling like a loon when they came in!!! Think he is quite a high maintenance baby but really think they couldnt be bothered. They have said for weeks they would have him overnight so i could get some sleep, hey ho. He is on antibiotics for his blasted cough, took him yesterday after he didnt sleep till 4 in the morning Boxing day, cough, cry, cough, cry. Am shattered.

Hope you all had a good one. AM hope Ella is ok. Lups pmsl at crazy bin lady dash MKG are you mostly made up of cookies? Hope your mum is having a good time over here.

Off to have a cuppa or a vast G&T....

SOH did you do Xmas in the end???

Sorry forgot, hope you are ok and C is behaving herself for you. Dont feel bad and do whatever it takes to get through. I remember well having to cope all alone with the twins, sometimes i thought i would never make it through their first year. When i moved out of my mums with them when they were 6 months it was easier really. I could work at my own slovenly pace and bake at all hours of the day Love to you xx

LG&T,

I'm not made up of cookies. It's my thing for Christmas. My inlaws don't do desserts very well, so I always bring the X-mas cookies. and making enough for 30 people to have a decent selection is hard work.

My mom is having a great time over there. She been very busy doing all the tourist things that England has to offer. I hope she took a trip through Harrods to buy me something (fgrin) She's actually flying home tonight. So will get a full report.

Gotta go Mateo is screaming something about raisins and the dog.

You are a better lady than me, i would be bake one eat one, bake one eat one In
fact can you give me a cookie recipie? Yours are always the best, i have a few American cookie books so have the cup measurements utensils here.

Love the name Mateo, every time i hear it it makes me smile.

just a quick one to say that Ella is also in anti-biotics!

Took Ella to the Dr's yesterday pm and got told that she has an ear infection as well as the nasty cough and cold that seems to have been hanging round forever. That'll explain the grumpiness of Xmas Day and Boxing Day!

Got myself a DS lite with some of my Xmas pennies. It arrived this morning so am desparate to get out and buy a game for it

Took the tree down this morning and have restored the lounge to its nice organised state. It's amazing how much smaller the room looks with the tree up and the toys all crammed into a small space.

Going to hit the shops again today and see if we can grab a bargain or two.

Hope everyone is having a good Xmas week.

Lups, when i am back at work perhaps we could meet up one afternoon for a cuppa and KK.

Hello everyone.

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.

Things in the JW household going ok. Although I had forgotten what morning sickness felt like have been sick as a dog for days now getting a bit bored of it. Also how come I already have a pot belly it cant just be roast potatoes.

A has been a bit of a grump he appears to be cutting some teeth at long last, he spends all day mmmmmmming and dribbling but had a good look and still no more than what was there ages a go a tiny white nugget poking out the gum. He did get some lovely Christmas presents though but also some shockers. Taking advantage of 10p lisiting on ebay awful I know but no room for crap in the flat.

I on the other hand got a really gorgeous Tag watch for Chrimbo from DP with sparkly diamonds and everything! Guess thats why we have been so skint for ages.

LG&T sorry you had a bit of a shitty day, its crap that migraines and sickness dont take any notice of the time of year and stay away. Hope you have the clan all back now and that everyone is feeling better. Oh and sod exp you and N give the children a fantastic life its not all about how much money gets spent on them. Some of my happiest memories from my chidhood are the mass games of rounders and walks on the beach etc.

M2CM hope you are feeling a bit more positive you have done the right thing my going to the GP.

LUPS think I read that you are thinking of filing bankruptcy in NY have you thought about an IVA it pretty much does the same thing but means you are not screwed for the rest of your life whenever you try to get credit for anything.

AM poor Ella I hope she is feeling better now. Hows the jack is he enjoying all his Christmas pressies.

Big HELLO to everyone I missed.

& HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Julie that'll be the fact that your tummy muscles are shot to pieces I think i was showing and in maternity clothes at 6weeks with Ella! At least you are not having to hide the bump from work colleagues this time

Ella seems to have perked up a bit thanks and has also got her appetite back at long last. Jack is being a pickle but at least he has lots of lovely presents to play with. He is into imaginary play at the moment and it is so cute to see him making up stories with his toys. His room is madness as he has 3 thomas the tank train sets all connected to each other - the noise is almost unbearable. Good job that he can play on his own otherwise i think we would need ear muffs.

ooh your watch sounds gorgeous.

JW sorry to hear you've been having morning sickness, it's horrid isn't it. It was the first sign for me that I was pregnant with R as I recognised the feeling immediately. Your watch sounds very gorgeous, you are a very lucky lady! So what if you can't eat and clothe your children, and least you'll be able to the tell the time in style eh?
AM I know what you mean about the toys. I wish C would play n his own a little more. He will do it but only for a very limited time. He's not into playing in his room yet, he still wants to be downstairs with us. If he wants to play with something in his room we all have to traipse up there. I am really struggling to find a home for all the new things, especially with C's birthday only being 6 days before Christmas. I have got a bag of newborn toys ready to Ebay but I can't throw much of C's stuff out as R will want it.

Alright LG&T after many hours of debate I have decided to divulge my secret recipe. Which I got from foodnetwork.com These cookies were always my dad's favorite cookies for the holidays.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (don't use margarine, full flavor calls for full fat)
1/2 cup confectioners? sugar (aka powdered sugar), plus more for coating baked cookies
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (regular white flower), plus more for dusting hands
1 cup pecans, chopped into very small pieces

Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar at low speed until it is smooth. Beat in the vanilla. At low speed gradually add the flour. Mix in the pecans with a spatula. With floured hands, take out about 1 tablespoon of dough and shape into a crescent. Continue to dust hands with flour as you make more cookies. Place onto prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 40 minutes. When cool enough to handle but still warm, roll in additional confectioners' sugar. Cool on wire racks.

I don't make the crescents I just roll them, but they do flatten out.

You just can't beat American cookies Is your mum back MKG? Did she have a great time?

just in case you should need it. Fancy a lovely greasy fry-up? I'm about to head down to the pub for some slap up grub and a pint or two, sorry you can't join me However you do have a rather lovely watch lucky old you and I don't.

M2CM, sorry to hear things have been tough going, here's hoping things work out better for you in 2008. The first step in admitting there is a problem is always the hardest and I think you have been very brave.

Lups I am still laughing at the thought of a newly bobbed you running down the drive shouting at the binmen

We managed to persuade the family to get J some odd things this year in order to cut the plastic crap overload and it seemed to work. After all what does he care? So he got a swing seat, some new soft shoes and a new sucky cup amongst other things .

So we are now ensconced at the inlaws, our lovely cottage is as bare and as clean as it could possibly ever be. The packers were 3 yoof who spent the whole of the two days running a movie quiz and talking about car accessories, with names such as titanium power surge booster and whether the mgz96 Turbo was better than the mgz96 12-cylinder. They were singularly unimpressed when I asked if any of them were interested in buying my Ford Focus c-max. They were so slow, still it all got done and the good thing is that during the packing we managed to find a tenant to rent out the house to. We won't see our stuff now for 3 months at least so the poor dc are going to have a difficult few months. Now I just have the car to sell.....anyone interested in a Ford Focus C-max?

Cam you lead such an interesting life, it seems especially that way tonight when I have been contemplating the drudgery that my life seems sometimes. I know it must be hard to uproot all the time and make new friends etc but it must be really exciting too. Dh and I were saying tonight how our life seem to revolve around tidying, cleaning, working and cleaning up baby food, wee, poo etc. We never seem to have any time just to sit down anymore. Having said that, I adore my kids to the end of the world and all the hard work is worth it a million times over.
Even just an exotic holiday would do it.....

MKG I will get the dvd in the post next few days, when we lived there out neighbor used to make a tyoe of marble cake but it had soured cream in it, havent been able to hunt down anything like it and mum has lost the recipe - if you know what this might be could you let me know

AM that sounds good, when do you start again? Are you aware that TT is on new years eve itv 11.30 live at the o2, do you know what game you are getting, i found the brain training ok csi was a bit hard but maybe i ought to spend a bit more time on it, but my bestest bested game ever is nintendogs they are soooooooooooooooooooooo cute!! I have a lab called wilbur, dd has a dalmation called claus

LGT dd goes back on 3rd as well some of the schools dont go back till the 8th, hope you and dp get some time together, let me know if you want me to come down and take B out for a few hours, only takes about 2hrs on the train, wouldnt mind at all if it gives you chance to get some sleep, I can get someone to pick up dd from school so wouldnt need to rush back

JW from what i have been reading as far as credit agancies/ referances go there isnt seen as much differance between the two in the long run and tbh i never want credit ever ever again , I know a few people who have been banckrupt and have gone on to get mortgages and credit cards again, I just think the constant hassling from the creditors is much more stressful than dealing with being bankrupt, sorry you have been feeling sick i think its oneof the hardest parts of pregnancy, hope you feel better soon

Abbey I know what you mean about the drudgery of life, we struggle to get any time together -m still makes the little bit of quality time you do get more special, we have decide that new year we are putting the kids together, bringing duvet downstairs and getting in some nice nibbles and just spanding the evening together, well thats until 11.30 when take thats is on

Right better go dad is here in 40 mins and no one is dressed and hair looks like worzel gummidge - thatnk the lord for ghd's

MKG I will get the dvd in the post next few days, when we lived there out neighbor used to make a tyoe of marble cake but it had soured cream in it, havent been able to hunt down anything like it and mum has lost the recipe - if you know what this might be could you let me know

AM that sounds good, when do you start again? Are you aware that TT is on new years eve itv 11.30 live at the o2, do you know what game you are getting, i found the brain training ok csi was a bit hard but maybe i ought to spend a bit more time on it, but my bestest bested game ever is nintendogs they are soooooooooooooooooooooo cute!! I have a lab called wilbur, dd has a dalmation called claus

LGT dd goes back on 3rd as well some of the schools dont go back till the 8th, hope you and dp get some time together, let me know if you want me to come down and take B out for a few hours, only takes about 2hrs on the train, wouldnt mind at all if it gives you chance to get some sleep, I can get someone to pick up dd from school so wouldnt need to rush back

JW from what i have been reading as far as credit agancies/ referances go there isnt seen as much differance between the two in the long run and tbh i never want credit ever ever again , I know a few people who have been banckrupt and have gone on to get mortgages and credit cards again, I just think the constant hassling from the creditors is much more stressful than dealing with being bankrupt, sorry you have been feeling sick i think its oneof the hardest parts of pregnancy, hope you feel better soon

Abbey I know what you mean about the drudgery of life, we struggle to get any time together -m still makes the little bit of quality time you do get more special, we have decide that new year we are putting the kids together, bringing duvet downstairs and getting in some nice nibbles and just spanding the evening together, well thats until 11.30 when take thats is on

Right better go dad is here in 40 mins and no one is dressed and hair looks like worzel gummidge - thatnk the lord for ghd's