December 2006- where they've grown so much we spend more time talking about our lives than our children

[Indith]

Well that and our pregnancies and other non-dec '06 children

Tis a good thing I feel.

Aof A, v impressed at your sewing - and horrified at talk of nativity costumes already! Am trying very hard to stay in denial, but did go and buy a bag full of tinsel and cards today to make myself feel better. I do it early every year, then relax and forget all about Christmas until the last minute, then panic.

Still sideways on Eli - kicks like crazy all day and night though, hoping the little beggar will sleep once he arrives 'cos he doesn't sleep now. Tried to get DD to feel him kicking today, she didn't like it! Said "Mummy, nooooo!" and squealed then covered my tummy up with a cushion and went back to her Little Red Tractor episode.

Poor DD2 Margo - and poor you too, must have been a shock. Hope she is on the mend, at least little people seem to recover alarmingly quickly.

Am very impressed AofA - I always want to invest in a sewing machine but can never quite justify it - perhaps when DD gets a bit older. I have fond memories of helping my Mum make dresses when I was younger (and awful photographs of the embarrassing results).

AQ - lovely to hear from you. Sorry I haven't mailed you either - am tired this week and we've been overdoing it. Need to get a nice relaxing evening under my belt and I'll be back to normal.

Indith - not sure what is progress really but pleased varicose veins have relieved themselves . DD was on time but I remember having various points from about 36 weeks onwards where I was convinced she was about to arrive. Am not looking forward to that bit (the uncertainty and false alarms that is). Am already getting period pains and loads of backache and braxton hicks which seems a bit previous compared to last time but then I spose body has done it all before this time. I am finding this pregnancy so different from DD's that I feel like it may as well all be new. Have you sorted out everything for the birth?

I'm also struggling now with entertaining DD. I take her out most mornings to get us both out of the house but am worn out by lunchtime when we come home. And have started falling asleep at about 9pm, rather than my usual 10.30 - but last time round I went to bed as soon as I got in from work at 6 so not doing too badly. But then I've still got 9 weeks to go or 6 1/2 if he doesn't turn round.

Ho hum

Poor Indith....

Twas ds. It went something like "cough, splutter, snort, snot, cry, sleep. Wake, cough, splutter, snort, snot cry, take medised, cuddle mummy, watch back to back scrubs, cough, cough, cough, see who is on MN, cough, wake up a bit and babble and coo, cough, try to sleep in spare room with mummy, cough, mummy you still there? good, sleep 5 mins, cough, mummy you still there? oh good....."

But he is still asleep

Except we would normally leave for creche in 5 mins but I don't have the heart to wake him so just when I would love a day "off" to sleep......

Oh and the plumber is coming round at some point so any sleeping will have to be done with an ear open for the door.

Poor Indith and poor Margo's little Humpty Dumpty. Hope she is better now?

Waiting for that FB photo AQ ...

Am running round in circles - still. DH is off on marketing trip today. He forgot to pack and find passport so have had to drop everything and race home ... The words: "die, slave, what, last, did, of" spring to mind, in no particular order (to quote X-factor)

Yippee for solid poo!!!

Booo for Indith's night... hope you manage to catch up. Last thing you needed I'm sure.

for Castle's DH - think slave would be an appropriate description for my household role too...

Yay Lennied!

And so to bed... am suddenly feeling very tired... where has all my energy gone? Night all

I've returned, physically exhausted but mentally rejuvenated. It's the longest I've ever been away from the dcs I think it will be what we needed to convince ds2 to wean. I'm as sad (or more!) than he is now that the time is really here but I know we need to.

I hope all the sick and injured little ones are on the mend.

As for ds2's party, I'm not sure what kind of cake Last year it was easy falling on Thanksgiving but no such luck this year.

Good memory, btw AQ!!

OMG, where did time go/is time going?! Indith and LenniEd, listening to you two makes me realize how fast this year has gone

Jabber, glad time away was good, even in that bittersweet way that so many things are, and hugs for the weaning (for you, not ds ) process.

Yippee indeed for solid poo, hope Oli's LOs are well, am thinking of EV a lot, and wishing Castles' dh, and therefore Castles, could get a break from work.

Sorry for the mad dash sort of posts atm, am getting thoroughly fed up of squashed days and constant sense of failure as I don't manage to get anywhere near the amount of work done (course) as I 'should': may bail, and wait for more sensible one in January

Nowt worse than runny noses (and dd2 still coughing us awake at night 2-3 times ) here though, so am grateful for that!

Pressure is good Eli. Makes you 'perform' well Stick with it.

Welcome back Jabber. Glad you had a good break.

I am being run-ragged by the DCs school at the moment. You give a little bit, they bleed you dry

DD2 has also just started to have some beautiful tantrums. Co-inciding nicely with her 2nd birthday ...

Aaargh, dd2 (who has not stopped waking from coughing at night anyway, due to stuffy nose) is starting a nice fresh new virus. Nose and eyes streaming, runny poos, grumpy as hell.

So much for sticking with anything (other than dd2)

But thanks for the thought, Castles

Eli - don't give up altogether even if you need a break for a few days. It will be worth it in the end and everything is an achievement. Could DD's illness be a reaction to the flu jab maybe??

Busy day again here - I wonder when my mat leave starts must ask DH (cheeky) am sure that would go down a treat!

Welcome home Jabber, hope the weaning process is kind. Ooh, and cake ideas would be gratefully received here too

The Xmas market starts in Leeds this weekend, and Manchester next week, how exciting. If only I could sip the mulled wine whilst browsing. Och well, this time next year... and DH has brought in ooodles of wood for the woodburner, so am cosy in front of the fire tonight with a contented smile. Now if only I could rid myself of the heartburn...

Poor LenniEd, heartburn is horrid. Do you know you are allowed to take Zantac when pregnant? I took the maximum dose till it stopped working, then upped to serious meds All sanctioned by the OB, who was not one to sanction any old thing. Gaviscon never touched mine.

Thanks for wise words, I won't give up writing (though not had a chance to do a word for two days), if I give up anything it will be the boot camp that requires me to do 1600 words per day, which I just can't. I am going to sign up for an ongoing writers' workshop/course starting in January, with a tutor I really like...but this current one, whilst providing me with motivation and stimulation, is one for women with kids in full time education, I think!

I have done 5000 words though, not half what I'm supposed to have done but enough to make me proud, rightly or wrongly

dd2 is sadly past flu jab reaction day, and definitely snotty. We had friends over on Sunday whose small ds came down with streaming nose whilst here, and is on day 3 of high fever etc now....am crossing fingers its not that one!

Cakes...hmmm, what are you thinking about so far?....wonder how I could do an IgglePiggle cake for dd2? Oli?

Oh dear Eli, poor dd2 and poor you.

Lennied Christmas markets? Really? We are heading down to Leeds tomorrow for the weekend Am very of your fire. I'd go a long way for a house with a fire.

Lucky you Indith, I love Leeds, had many happy years there - they have an xmas market next to the town hall. Opens tomorrow - talk about good timing. I am working on DH to try and get him to take me next week, he hasn't said no, which is a good start

There is also a grotto and reindeer rides on briggate - real reindeers! If you look at the leeds council website there will prob be more info, but the Xmas market is always nice and festive and small enough to get round with a nearly two-year-old toddler and a baby bump without too much trauma

Glad you are carrying on Eli - boot camp tutor doesn't sound good. But 5000 words is pretty amazing you know - I only ever have to write 4500 for uni and that takes me weeks of hard work. Poor DD2 - hopefully she'll have the immune system of a small country by the time she hits her 20s the poor soul.

Igglepiggle - hmm not sure... definitely need Oli's advice for that one. I think I've had a brainwave with you saying that - a Little Red Tractor! Of course! Now why hadn't I thought of that earlier? Right, where is Oli when you need her... Hope the bugs are lifting.

Leeds Christmas Market

Sounds great Lennied, thank you for the link Get him to take you this weekend

If I ever, and I mean ever start thinking about getting pg again, please remind me that the head has shifted again, the varicose veins have returned and have been breeding, my entire fanjo looks like a huge swollen purple alien from a horror film and that anything that involves those muscles (going to the loo, sneezing etc) feels like I'm attempting to push the head out.

2 weeks 2 days til 37 weeks and if this child knows what is good for it it will bloody well come out then. Humph.

I'm sure castles posted something like this a long time ago - I see you've reached the serene part of your pregnancy, Indith

I have been to the Leeds xmas market, it's excellent, will try and take the kiddies this year but we haven't ventured out of hull yet with all of them.

Keep at it, Eli

jabber re: weaning but isn't it wonderful you've done it for so long! I'm struggling at 6 weeks to want to keep going, it is such hard work with twins but Im' not sure bottle feeding would be easier. How's the counselling/dh, still good? it is amazing what things can be fixed, there was a point at which I was absolutely sure we would split up and here we are.

Oh AQ! Reminds me, talked to mum last night. Shall go e-mail you

Nothing serene about me. Ds is having a nap though, something which is becoming very rare these days. Will probably make bedtime interesting though!

Can't imagine cleaning, sterilising and making up twin amounts of formula every time they are hungry would be easier than bf AQ, but you struggled with ds2 didn't you, is it the feeding that is hard or the fact that there are 2 of them so you are constantly with a baby attached? There are people out there who mix feed without losing supply.

God, AQ, the thought of double feeding with any sort of device, boob or bottle, is mind-boggling - hats off to you whichever way you go!

Indith, my nether regions are wincing in sympathy....I had dreadful piles (in the more usual place) with both dds. I think its a trick of nature, designed to make us overcome our fears re birth/looking after babies/not sleeping in the huge longing to get them out. So you see, you are sort of serene, as in an 'aligned with nature and right where you're meant to be' sort of way

I can spiel nonsense at twice the pace these days, thanks to Mr Boot Camp.

Actually, am in shock: dh rang me to say Estate Agents say the whole chain involved in our house sale/buying wants to complete before Xmas. Before Xmas

So much for Mr Boot Camp, methinks, if that happens

Shame really, 'cos I was brave and went to class and far from having the lowest word count, I was held up as a shining example of writerhood because I kept going in spite of life

LenniEd, but I suspect your 4500 words are well researched, written, crafted, and chosen!!