May 2007 - They are off and running, wobbling and falling down again.

[JamInMyWellies]

New thread needed.

SOH, I didn't realise you had been ill, sorry, must have missed that. Hope you are back to full screen watching soon.

TYG, how's the tum today?

AM have a nice weekend, wish I was there to help you.

Scoot, glad you enjoyed the muuuuuuuuusic. Good Luck with L, my tip is...... consistency is the absolute key!! flitting in and out of nappies will only confuse her. Once you decide to do it, that should be it. NO nappy in waking hours at all, even for outings. You must go prepared, potty, change of clothes X 10 and a plastic bag and towel on her car seat. Both of mine have been dry within a week and clean within two. It is a tough few weeks but if you do not confuse her with where she is supposed to be peeing or pooing she will get there really quickly. NO scolding only praise, excitement, reassurance and reminding. Encourage her to try often, about every 40mins the first couple of days. Keep a nappy on her for naps and night until she is waking from a sleep for a wee or is dry in the morning and screaming for a wee. Mine only took a few more weeks to get to this stage. Oh and a bucket with some soapy water and another for the soiled stuff handy makes life alot easier.

We are house hunting......... only to rent, neither of us can take it anymore! We need our space, our life, our own family together again. Living with Mum & Dad again has been fun but after nearly 4 years it's time to move on. They are going to have to sell our big beautiful house though, as neither Mum & Dad or A & I can afford to run it on our owns. I am a little sad, the kids don't know yet, they are going to be gutted to not have Nanny & Grandad to run to all the time.

MJ sorry to hear its not worked out, I think its only natural tho for a young family to need thier own space, good luck with the house hunting

I have just met a lady with an 18month old son who has invited us round for coffee when she gets back from her hols, have seen her about a few times and said hello - she lives about 10mins walk in hamlet of Ottery, will be nice to have a friends to pop round - I miss that, my neighbor is well known for hating her next door neighbors - so even tho i have tried its impossible she is so rude and ignorant sometimes

SOH i didnt know you were poorly!!!! whats up? Text\phone and let me know xxx

Lups how lovely to have a new potential friend Mango and banana smoothies sound delish!

AM my parcel queen! The trousers arrived and are fantastic, every single one a perfect fit! I am so happy. Can i send your friend a bow of chocolates in the post? I could post to you? I am over the moon to have some nice trousers that fit! The maternity stuff has come on leaps and bounds even from having B!

Scoot my darling how dreadful to have to go to a funeral, always terrible but when it is someone so young... how are you feeling now? How is the gut issue and have you been back to the doctors again?

Potty training is not for the weak, i hate it. I leave until the last possible minute so they are ready or asking for it. Like Lups willow, Phin was in pullups till she was gone 5. All the others have basically done it all together. I think Jonah dawdled at night but was super quick in the day. The twins were my record, both poo and wee trained day and night in 2 weeks! It can be done if they are ready. If she isnt stop and leave for 3-4 months, i had to with Hugo last year. Tried in the summer at 2 and a half, no go so waited till almost Xmas and he did it pronto!

MrsJB such a shame about the house, you have been working hard on it too Will you make a profit? How are the properties to rent out there? It will be nice having your own space again though, and if you are happier so will the children be. Are your Mum and Dad of the same thinking?

No plans to come back to blighty?

I have just sent all 5 down to the chippy for lunch, they were driving me crazy! DD is a picture of health this morning and no one else has been sick yet so fingers crossed it is just her!

I am bored...

Good morning everyone. Some successful car shopping yesterday. Didn't buy anything but definitely saw some possibilities. Felt like I was going to throw up the whole time, then got home ate half my chinese food, and started a terrible fever. It's gone now, but I felt terrible last night.

Scoot, very sorry your friend's funeral was so sad, but I agree with what's been said. I think they can also be cathartic and a chance to remember the good, than focus on the illness. Love to you and his family.

I am better. Miraculous recovery last night. Must have been a 24 hour thing. Just knocked the wind out of my sails.

I am ready to cry with boredom. Actually cry. I mean it. I understand why teenagers vandalise things, because I feel like breaking something, just for something to do. Doing anything with A at the moment feels like hard work, with the lifting her and chasing after her. I haven't left the house for 48 hours because I've been ill/ tired and I have serious cabin fever. Am thinking of going to a free music festival tomorrow, but am wondering if it is slightly mad, given the advanced state of pregnancy. I can't even amuse myself for planning stuff later in the summer, because if the boy arrives on time, then we could go away for the weekend at the end of August maybe, but if he's two weeks late, then I could still be in breastfeeding hell by the end of August and not wanting to go anywhere.

And I have to go back to FARKKKKKING IKEA tonight after A goes to bed, because the cupboard they delivered is bloody broken. In order to obtain one cupboard, that will be one online order with two non-deliveries resulting in cancelling order, going to store to buy said items, collecting them, having them delivered from store, returning shelves (put on order by Ikea staff) due to being the wrong size, going to erect the sodding thing today and discovering one of the sides of the cupboard has been damaged in storage or transit and is broken almost in half. ARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH.

And having given me a lie in this morning (thankfully) DH has snuck off back to bed citing "early morning" as his reason, so having had nobody to talk to all sodding week except a one year old child and a monosyllabic teenager, I am now alone with said children again, ready to talk the wall. Jesus.

Do I sound deranged? I feel it.

Poor you TYG blardy IKEA. Come talk to me, everyone talks at me, so I could do with a proper conversation that doesn't revolve around (that's J) (interchangeable child demanding something) (like I can just pop, its the freekin summer holidays and noone 'pops' to the bank in Africa sometimes you can be there for 2 months before you get an answer)

Not deranged, just due to have a lovely baby boy on Sunday, OMG, that's tomorrow! Come on baby - pop out.

I'm here but just disappearing to check on the chicken chilli cake thingies.. will be back soon. So carry on ranting and raving it will do you good.

Well its not been so bad so far.L has done 6 wees and 1 poo on the potty and 2 wees on the carpet.That said we have not attempted to leave the house and she has not been wearing any bottoms all day to minimize bother.I do not relish the thought of tomorrow as we are going to a friends for lunch who lives an hours car ride away.DH as all for using a nappy in the car but I am insisting on cold turkey like you said Mrs JB..which means I will be doing all the cleaning up of course.Am going with the pull up pants for the night time..It sure isnt as easy as I thought!I assumed she would say to me, 'mummy, I need a wee'.But then I am a numpty of course..Am now paranoid and asking her every 6 minutes if she needs a wee, poor girl.

Whats wrong with SOH?

Guts not so bad Largegandt, still feel a bit low on occasion but not nearly as bad as I did a few weeks ago.Still waiting for blood test results before going back to Dr.

That said am mightily pissed off this aft-but only because DH and I have had an almighty argument regarding the fact that he has informed me today that the forthcoming week- away -in -the- middle- of- nowhere- with -his- whole- sodding -family, will in fact be our only holiday this year.Needless to say he booked this without consulting me (he knew I would say no, as his family, there are 22 of them in total, are by turns, neurotic, dull, alcoholic, patronising and rude) and neglected to tell me its costing £500Maybe im being unreasonable but Im not feeling great at the mo anyway and could really use a proper holiday.

Will you try and stay near your Ma and Pa, Mrs JB?Its nice to have em nearby I would think, but also good to have a bit of space for yourselves.I would murder my Mum if I had to live with her, though I love her to death Ware in Herts is very nice, though, if you fancy coming back to blighty..in fact there is quite a nice gaff up over the road from moi..

Are you going for the Porsche or the Ferrari MKG?

Am off out in a minute for a chinese with my friend.Think there would be murder if I stayed in with DH tonight!

Send DH to IKEA TYG..It will be full of numptys and tres stressful..

Do you fancy coming for a Chinese with me instead ducky?

Is the baby REALLY due tomorrow?!

No Scoot, that is just my prediction I think you have a week or so to go til due date don't you TYG??? What about you SKY?

Scoot, well done you and Lily. As ever MrsJB have the same fascist parenting techniques and I second her suggestions. As Lily is obviously a smart girl, I bet she will be sorted in no time. I do remember those toilet training weeks to be the longest ever.. even though it only took 2 weeks with dd. Ds1 seemed to take forever. He is still in pull-ups at night.

at your dh booking a holiday without discussing it with you first, I would be so

Well done for managing the funeral, I'm sure your friend was looking down on you all and smiling.

LG&T, send some fish and chips over 'ere, yum. Gosh your early morning wake up call sounds horrendous. Did ol foxy try to make it back again last night?

SOH I'm sorry love, I didn't know you had been ill. I hope you are on the road to recovery.

MrsJB, but hats off to you for having put in so much work and effort with the house and with your mum and dad. Were they very understanding or upset? Where will you go? Plenty of room here in Nairobi

Not due til 27th, but hoping full moon next Friday might get things moving. Tomorrow would be better though!

DH hasn't passed his driving test yet, so I have to go with him in the car anyway.... He's coming with me to carry the heavy stuff.

Scoot, I'd be pissed off about the holiday too. More than pissed off actually. I'd tell him to take the kids and go on holiday on my own!

Oh Scoot, get those plastic pants with the terry towelling on the inside. Contain quite a lot of wee in an emergency. Put Lily in dresses as once she's standing up during an accident, then you only change socks and pants.

And Friday is good for me!

TYG and more at Ikea, what a nightmare. Sit down and have some meatballs while dh does the sorting.

I would go to the festival but i am a bit nuts. I understand the boredome, with B i was confined to the house for weeks and could do nothing. I was so pissed off, every time i moved someone looked at me as if i was a time bomb. I will be up to see you soon >

Scoot am so at your dh! How could he, well out of order. I would book a weekend away with the girls in protest. Glad you are feeling a bit better and HUGE > for little L. Cold turkey is the way to go, she sounds super ready!

I would say doodles are a marvellous thing when potty training as they can go in the wash. I used to have 2 pairs each and wash and wear! Fntastic. I like these and these Oh girls shoes are so cute...

Mine are all still up, tea was not until 7. Am knackered. I need to send them all to bed, dd is tidying though, don't want to upset her flow

Obviously i didn't have 2 pairs, they did not wee on my feet, well not often. The kids had 2 pairs each

TYG, if that's the Finsbury Park festival it sounds like a good idea to me if the weather and you feel up to it. We're probably not going to go but I did think about it.

Morning! I went to bed at 9pm and the kids slept through 7am. I dont remember the last time i had 10 hours sleep.

Scoot am glad that your friend had a good send off. If my dh told me that i was spending my only holiday of the year with his family then i would have lost the plot big time!

TYG i have my fingers crossed for you to have a full moon baby. Hope you got everything from Ikea. Not a massive festival fan but really whats the worst that could happen..... you might go into labour (not like thats a bad thing)... i would go

SOh got another nasty bout of mastitis I hope you are feeling better today x

LG&T, glad the parcel arrived. I told my friend and she was very pleased. I'm sure she wouldnt say no to a box of chox. She has the same name as you. Saw her baby the other day and also saw how skinny she was baby is about a month old and she has 7lbs to lose

MrsJB, wow that is a big decision to have made. I hope that you find some where easily and manage to get a nice buyer for yours. Does it take as long to buy and sell in France as it does here?

Had a good day yesterday as E's godmother also took J with them for the day, they went to Finkley Down Farm in Andover. They left here at 11am and got back at 5.30pm. I was able to move clothes across and hang things up Took a lot more of the kids toys over and a few more bits for the kitchen. I also had the tiles put up in the kitchen and the arcitrave round the door got changed as it was damaged. So all i need is the floor (goes down on Wednesday) and then it will be finished

TYG hope you got the ikea fiasco sorted, I think if I was feeling well then I would go to a festival - whats the worst tat can happen - lots of SOH's chanting at you while you take deep breaths!

LGT love the shoes - boys ones just arent the same are they

Dp has pissed me off, he comes home, spends most of the day in his room playing on his sodding game, I went to bed at 8.45 last night as I was so bored and the fire wasnt done as he hadnt sorted any wood so it was freezing. I cheered myself up this morning (dd had me up at 5.30) by going on youtube and watching loads of Take That videos and some clips of Howard - which if I have a boy I might choose that name for him, GAWD they are all bloomin lovely!

Also this morning dd made me laugh so much, i got them a tent and tunnel thing and she was trying to get me through the tunnel - now it is very small and I dont think I have a huge bum however I was getting very stuck then i got my bum in but couldnt bend my leg to get my knees through - havent laughed so much for ages

Well its reassuring to know its not just me being unreasonable about the holiday.DH thinks I am being 'childish'.He 'doesnt get to see his family very often blah di blah'.He sees them as much as most families who dont live in the same geographical area see each other, (except the ones who live in the US and New Zealand, but that cant be helped)I wouldnt even mind a weekend or whatever, but a whole week at the expense of what I consider to be a much needed family (by which I mean us and the kids)holiday is a bit much.
I am actually quite hurt that he doesnt see this at all.And very that he has seen fit to designate my very precious time off without consulting me (although I appreciate that thats a bit ridiculous as my time off isnt ever really going to be exactly my own for approx 18 years anyway )Anyway there is a big chill in our house at the moment to put it mildly..

Go to festy TYG..Weather looks nice today..Goodo re Friday! (baby allowing of course)

Maybe you should remove the fuse from the xbox or whatever it is Lups..then he will have to emerge from his room

I am going to get some of the those Towelling knickers this aft.We have had two accidents this morn already, though in retrospect letting a child in knickers for the first time jump up and down on a trampoline without a potty within 30 feet was foolish L has just gone off to football training with DH.In lieu of said towelling pants, and not wanting to go back to nappies I have sent her off in her knickers with a sanitary towel stuck in them.Desperate times call for desperate measures Actually I wonder if a swimming nappy-the cloth sort-would have been better..but may have hampered movement?

SCOOT look at bright bots training pants - I used these for dd and they were great - come in lots of colours too, I would be very annoyed about the holiday - especially as he didnt consult you 1st that would be my biggest bug bear

What a beautiful day out there (even in Devon), dp still in bed! so doubt we will do anything today, if he isnt up for anything then I may walk into Tavi and take them to the park

LOL at the santitary towel in L's knickers! I was really lazy with J's potty training. If we went out we wore a nappy, but as soon as he got home he would go back to pants. Once i was happy he had gotten the hang of it at home then i would take him out in pants. It did take a few months to crack but i guess if i had been at home with him we could have done it sooner. He has been dry and clena for about 9mths, he still has hte odd accident but is normally very good. Altho wasnt impressed when he pooed his pants yesterday whilst at home. He did get told off for that!

Its a nightmare, I want to come home. L has just whinged the whole time, its so fucking hot, and now she´s got a cough and although the place is really beautiful, I´m finding it so stressful. I hate it.

Oh my goodness. There is a lot going on .

PJ--don't worry you'll be home before you know it.

Lupins--is you appointment tomorrow. I hope it goes well. How have you been feeling?

Yes, the Finsbury Park festival. However, SIL has called to say her PIL are away and we can go over to her PIL lovely big Herfordshire house with heated outdoor pool and pool house. Hehehe. (Although it's clouding over, so could be a bad move.)

PJ You know my thoughts on holidays with babies. I feel sorry for you. You poor thing.

DD1, having been an angel on Friday, has been caught out yesterday, lying about her whereabouts. The REALLY annoying thing, is that I'd already cottoned on that she wasn't really going into town with friend (N) and N's father, because N's father is a strict muslim and didn't strike me as the sort of chap who takes a couple of teenage girls shopping. Anyway, I got her to come clean about that and said, "Look, you're allowed to go to Covent Garden, either with N or on your own, but I just need the straight facts about where you're going to be and who you'll be with, if anyone. That is all." So she told me she was going to town after theatre with N and would leave around 4. Firstly she left in such a hurry on Saturday that I reckoned there was no way it was a hurry to get to her group, and secondly she texted me about 20 mins too early to say she had "arrived" in town and thirdly was home too early.

Turns out she skived off, met friend, had a feckin slap up lunch in a tapas restaurant (!) with her mate using the £20 I'd given her for being so helpful on Friday. Friend was skiving off a singing lesson or something so had to leave early so when they were supposed to be in Covent Garden she was actually up the road in the fecking park waiting til it was "time" to come home. Had to ground her. I gave her the opportunity to come clean before she went out and she didn't take it. We had a major talk this morning and she seems to have taken on board the seriousness of lying about your whereabouts, but now I'm stuck with checking up on her again for months. Bugger.

Right, (TMI sorry) since I was sick on Friday and all I did was drink most of the day, me wee is really dark yellow, when I thought it should be really clear from all the fluids I've had. Any thoughts? Am going to get loads of fluids on board again today and see what happens, but is it time to call the midwife if it's still dark yellow later? Does it even mean anything apart from "not drinking enough"? Does urine look dark from infection or protein or anything?

oh PJ, so sorry my love. Holidays, babies and heat are not a good combo. Good luck.

Scoot, at Lily going out in a sanitary towel. Very creative.

TYG, poor you with S. Do you think she is testing you as your baby time is nearing? Fwiw I think you handle her brilliantly. As regards the pee situation, I would have thought as you said, that your urine should have got lighter by now if you are drinking enough. I have no idea if darker means an increase in protein, if you are worried there is no harm in getting it checked in the morning is there?

The fesitval would be fun, but the house sounds lovely and relaxing

J has been a total pain this week, non stop moaning and clinging to me, wanting up all the time. I sent him to bed at 11.30 and now (3pm here) is still asleep! He screeches until he gets what he wants so I have told him to stop making that noise and say 'up' if he wants me to pick him up. The next thing I hear is a loud and clear 'up'! Amazing really. Also he is at that 'whazzzat?' stage, which is quite sweet until it becomes annoying.

We have some guests arriving for the night, 3 adults and two teenagers, so I have been bed making and food preparing all morning. I just hope I have enough food for us all!

TYG what a bugger about dd1 - hope she learns her lesson, regarding the dark wee, it can be sign of infection, alto maybe its the infection coming out, i would ring the mw tomorrow and just run it by her