May 2008 - The Third Thread.... Hot sausage and Mustard continued.....

[Haribosmummy]

New thread... Hoep this one is a bit more accessible!!!

LM - Def. best not to give advice. It almost invariably gets taken the wrong way!!

Mitchell - Glad you guys are having a good time with the snow!

Fuzzypeach - Poor old DD2 - glad she is still managing to smile!

Sho - Anymore snow with you guys yet?

I'm really down at the moment, not really one thing I can put my finger on, just a combination of everything. I'm waiting in again for an engineer to pitch up to (try) fix the tumble drier - I've been without one since 24th January which is not easy when I can't hang washing out and I have a dog and a baby.. He was supposed to be here 'first thing' this morning - still no sign and if there is so much as a snowflake, he will go home for fear of getting stuck somewhere. I'm really naffed off as I have loads I wanted to get done today and (Once again)I'm just sitting here waiting for something to get fixed in this house
Walking the DDog is nightmarish with DS, as we live on quite a steep hill and it's a very busy road with idiotic drivers. There were 3 accidents on Friday, on the small section I have to use (no more than 200M) and one 4x4 had gone smack into the corner of a house - just simply going too fast, and I also almost saw a woman knocked over after another car skidded (again, going far too quickly) and she had to jump out of the way... No way I would have been able to move that fast with the buggy and DDog... and (sorry, I know I've moaned about this before) we have DSD1 every day DH is in the UK for the next month. I know it's really unfair of me, but they do expect DH to just run round after them (I know they are teenagers and that's what teenagers do) it's just DH and I spend so little time together, I hardly feel like we know each other at the moment.

Sorry, I should really keep depressing rants to myself... Will shut up now.

Sorry, that should read both DSDs - not particularily DSD1!

HM rant away chuck, you have every right to.

Well things OK here except superbro....all sorted with the ex, hasn't heard from him in weeks [phew] but SB had met someone else (nothing had happened, just close friends) while he was still with nasty ex. He hoped something would happen once ex off the scene, this guy certainly seemed keen as was very much pursuing SB not the other way around. Anyway, from what SB told me, he sounded lovely, and perfect for my bro, but he rang last night to say he doesn't see it going anywhere more than friends.....SB is gutted (to say the least). I had him in literally floods of tears for an hour last night. He's 37 but it's the first time his heart has been broken . I feel really down about it. As you know, SB is lovely, I don't know why he's so unlucky in love. He's so lonely living on his own.

Obviously I feel for him and want to help as much as I can, but he keeps saying 'when the snow clears I'm just gonna come and stay with you'.....he doesn't ask, he just tells me!!! I don't mind a few nights, but he implied for longer. I don't know what to do, I'm back at work now. I love my bro to bits, but we do have our own very busy lives we lead. I don't like to think of him alone, but I can't put him up indefinitely. For starters denny is coming to stay this week so she has the spare room!!

Oh, LM - Really sorry to hear about SB (well, not about the horrid Ex, but the new lovely sounding guy) but you know, friends is still something... maybe friends for a little while would be good... I mean, a bit like hanging with your girlfriends when you've come out of a bad relationship?? I know it's difficult when you've been hoping for something more, but some times these things happen for a reason...

My day isn't getting any better. The engineers have JUST gone 30 minutes ago and the drier STILL isn't fixed ... they need to order ANOTHER part... It would be cheaper and easier to simply order a new machine and I'm sorely tempted to just order one. Plus, DS is suffering from some weird separation anxiety when it comes to his day time nap - he will ONLY go to sleep cuddling me in MY bed (not the sofa etc). Once asleep he's happy to be placed in his cot, and it does only take 5-10 minutes to get him to sleep, but obviously today, with two strange men in the house, I couldn't take off to bed with the baby, so DS literally wailed unti they had gone. As soon as I cuddled him in mybed - bingo - gone... He doesn't suffer from this AT ALL at night (happily falls asleep in his cot).

So, once again, I haven't been out of the house other than to walk DDog... it's going to snow again tomorrow so that's the rest of my week b*ggered

Sorry...

HM really feel for you, things sound tough for you at the mo. Just keep MNing and getting it all off your chest.

There are comlications which I can't disclose about the SB situation....I'm not deliberately being cloak and dagger, it's just there's a lot more to it. Let's just say it would be something like lovely new guy emigrating to Oz...he's not gonna get chance to see him after Oct this year.

mitchell I am struggling enough walking and taking the buggy on the icy compacted snow, let alone a wheelchair . Can't believe how much snow you have and the temp!!

WE HAVE SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Eventually the skies decided to spinkle some our direction, approx 2inches to be precise. It arrived yday and now with the freezing outside it aint goin anywhere fast.

Was very proud of dd yday. My mum took my sister and her dd and myself with my dd out for christmas dinner. Yes I know its February lol. My sister moved away just before christmas so we couldnt have our normal family chrsitmas dinner. But anyway just after our starter the fire alarm, which was conveniently positioned above our table, went off. I seriously thought dd would would get upset by the noise but she just continued to fling her spoon about.

Got to go get ready to venture up through the snow to get her weighed, she hasnt be weighed for ages.

Hope everyone is having a good day

Sho x

Hey! Where is everyone?

The snow here is pretty much gone (thank GOD), it's still SOO cold though!!

I had a cool day yesterday. I went shopping and spent a fortune on DS. New buggy, new walker thing (that makes him look like Stavros, leader of the daliks and is also making DDog's life a misery cos DS keeps walking after the dog and then running over his paws!! ... I shouldn't laugh, but it is quite funny to watch!) and some new toys... It's Mitchell's fault!! (and thankyou, BTW!)

Hope everyone is well.

We still have lots of snow, our road hasn't been gritted so makes driving fun
I have icicles (sp?) more than a foot long hanging from the roof and thick snow. Half term starts tomorrow so at least the kids will get to enjoy the snow.

Haribo My pleasure anytime you need some helpful advice to go shopping, I am always here Have you had a chance to use DS new buggy yet??

Shonnomanom Hope you are enjoying your time off with your family.

I second where is everyone????????????????????

we're back so just putting this back onto my active threads!

will check back and read everyone's news later today

ok here goes with the catchups!

we have 6 teeth now - 2 of which were cut on plane journeys...lovely for the other travellers!

re separation anxiety - sam has it really badly and is a real mummy's boy as well. cue very upset grandparents when we arrived in NZ and he screamed every time they tried to hold him for the first few days

re feeding - sam has:

on waking about 6oz milk
breakfast fruit puree about 200g
lunch about 300g
mid afternoon 6oz milk or 100g puree fruit or yoghurt
dinner 200-300g food
bedtime milk about 2oz as he is stuffed from dinner
sometimes wakes around 530 for 6oz milk

no wonder he's a 9.5kg fatty! and he's long - 74cms now - but he is going to be 11months on 20th feb

routine for us with sleep is generally this

wake around 7-730
nap around 2 hours later, napping for about 1-1.5hours
lunch 1145-1200 start
nap around 2pm for about an hour or a little longer
mid afternoon snack when he wakes up
dinner at 6pm
bath and wind down from 630, in bed at 7 or just after.

having learnt the hard way with ds1 about letting him fall asleep on us we were much tougher with sam!

HM which agency is ds1 with? i've been thinking about it for ages with both ds's but i think i may have missed the boat with ds1 as he's 2.6 now. ds2 (will post pics soon) has crazy hair now in (and i quote dh here) an england rugby players haircut....

the trade fair went really well and the business is picking up well which is good in current climes - found some fantastic new booties on my travels to NZ - higher cut and they go up to age 3 - the look really like mini Uggs! and also have got a lovely load of merino hand knitted things which will come over in the next couple of weeks - beautiful stuff but most of it only goes up to 1yr old. but it's so lovely!

and the holiday was great - sam wasn't particularly jet lagged on the way out and is coping very well since we got back so that's something at least. bloody qantas kept us in the plane for 2hrs on the way out before take off and sam was shattered (10pm at night) so yelled the place down, but as soon as he was in the bassinet went to sleep. and we had pretty much the same thing on the way back too. worst bit was when they forgot to assign us a bassinet so i had to hold him all the way from auckland to singapore - and he's heavy and does not like to fall asleep on anyone!

HM I've emailed you separately as well

think that's it for now - i missed all the big snow but it's started again this afternoon here so all very excited except for dh who has to get the tube home and is jet lagged as well

Nice to have you back Flick - Hope you had a super break!!!

Have e-mailed you!

Just read the bit about the higher cut booties - this is something several people I've spoken to have asked for... I think they would go very well... lots of kids are growing out of babygrows lengthways but not widthways (IYSWIM!) so longer boots would be ideal! I have one friend who would buy them now!!!

HM x

Hi and welcome bacl flick , blimey my DS must be a porker then he's 10.5kg and isn't 11 months til 26th Feb! I don't know exactly how long he is but he's growing out of 74cm clothes very fast.

I think DD2 is a bit of a bloater, don't know how much she weighs but she's grown out of the clothes DD1 wore until well over a year old!

Morning all, haven't been on for the same old reason - big fat sleep troubles, I'm so bored of this! House is a bit of a tip, we're having a dinner party tonight (why do I do this to myself?!) and I don't even know what I'm cooking yet. Hmm...
But very exciting, I've ordered a sewing machine after months of delierating and it arrives today despite ony orering it yesterday afternoon! I am SEW excited! Hehe.

LM If DP gets the job it'll be Cheltenham. Any FMLs around there? He's applied for one in London too but Cheltenham is the first choice, I really really hope he gets it, it would just be the perfect job for him (he's a linguist, no prizes for guessing the potential employer!) If he gets neither then we'll stay in Edinburgh and jobhunt or go to Taiwan.
Have a good day everyone, any exciting plans for tomorrow? We have a babysitter! But I think I'll ask her to do the afternoon and go out for lunch as I woudn't wish my evenings on anyone!

remember that sam was 6 weeks early and small so me saying he's a fatty is all relevant!

HM I'll send you a photo of the hirise boots so you can see - won't be on the website for a couple of weeks while I'm updating it, but they are fantastic looking - even if i do say so myself

I remember flick but DS was also early (4 weeks) and weighed 2160g (4lbs 12) so he has become a wee piglet. last time I did his graph he was on the 80th percentile! Not bad considering he wasn't even on the graph at birth! Joking aside I'm thrilled at the way he's thriving.
Sooooo sorry to hear about continued sleep problems Baiyu hope dinner party is fun and good luck for DP and the job!

Hello all, just arrived back from a French ski trip. knackered with bashed toes (brand new boots too small!), but good to have had a break. Yet to get home since staying overnight with in laws who came too.

Fuzzypeach hope the CP is on the mend, DS2 still has red marks 5 weeks on, but at least it's over and done with.

Haribo which buggy did you buy. I love retail therapy and can only justify it for the boys since we only have one income at the mo.

...baiyu I hope the sleep improves. We has some tough nights on hols with all of us in the same room. Then I had a sleepless anxiety driven one, so can totally sympathise. It leaves me snappy, emotional and a bit of a nightmare to be around. Which then results in close to full blown strop from DP on flight home earlier when I insisted rather abruptly I was not having a massive bag by my feet and not his. All fun on this so romantic Valentine's day.

Re the fat babies DS2 topped 9kg weeks ago (he's 8.5 mnths now) so dread to think how he is on scale at the mo. We're having 9 mnth checks at my surgery so will find out soon. Can't bear the baby clinic, and refuse to own a set of bathroom scales for fear of weighing myself morning noon and night.

Which Davina DVD do people recommend, would like to try and lose the muffin top. I have done some buggy fit down the beach, but unfortunately on a Thursday which is the day DS2 starts nursery next week. Note to self, now much get job

Good evening ladies

Baiyu i just wanted to post a solidarity hug! We've been having sleep issues for months and it is very depressing. The longest unbroken sleep I have had since September is 4 hours and that has only been a few times. It is bad.

Dd goes down ok at 7 - 730 following a proper routine but stirs for the first time around 830 (for her dummy) and starts waking from around 930 and can be awake for anything from 5 minutes-20 minutes. She usually sleeps again then until around 12-1 when she wakes for a full feed (I am still bfing and sometimes she'll drain both boobs), she'll wake again around 2 usually for her dummy and then sleeps until around 4 when she can be awake for an hour or so, then back to sleep until 7 when we finally get up. I feel battered every morning and often in the night feel like I am going mad. Her dad snores loudly and just looking at him in the night induces feelings of hate and I fantasise (spg??) about a life without him all because he is snoring while I am awake again. He does get up once or twice but well, she won't go to sleep unless she can see me and usually unless she can lay on me and pull my hair.

Ha ha - sod's law - she's up again so just a flying visit from me!

MM [a very tired wink]

Oh, MM - that sounds SOOO tiring! You must be shattered.. and BF'ing too. That is really stressful.

DS is a good sleeper, as long as he's not separated from me - last night was the first time he was still in his cot at 3AM for about a fortnight, and he wailed (and drank a full bottle even though I can't believe he was hungry) and stayed awake until 4:30!!! (finally fell asleep cuddling me. Tonight I have [wimp emoticon] put him in our bed. I need to sleep. I know he'll sleep through when he's here. Sad, I know, and something I'm going to pay for 10 times over in the future.

Niknak - glad you had a good trip - where did you go? DS is also 9Kg (just over) at 8.5Months and is bang in centre of the graphs, though he is tall (almost off the graphs) so looks skiny) - not surprising, cos his dad is tall and his uncles on both sides (and my dad) are all well over 6 foot.

Fuzzypeach - How is work now? Lovely to see your FB status... I'm not sure how much 14lbs is, but it sounds light... your DD2 never looks so little in the photos...

Flick - really looking forward to meeting up with you soon - it will be great to catch up. I just wrecked one of DS's booties by putting it in the wash (accidentally!!) It hasn't survived so well!!!

LM - How are things with DH and childcare and also with SB. Hope he's feeling OK.

Mitchell - How is the snow? Hope it's getting a bit easier... I loved it at first, but got SOOOOO bored (and really fed up with the ice) very quickly!!

Macaco - How are you?

How is everyone else? It's seemed quiet on here recently, but maybe that's because lots of people are going back to work around now? I know this is when I SHOULD have been going back (my contract was terminated as soon as I mentioned PG!!!!!) - Freelancing has been s**t, to be honest - one company (that I did 8 days work for) have just turned around and said they aren't paying and I can take them to court (which , of course, they know I can't and won't, which is really depressing) so I need to look at some other options.

Not sure it's a good time though.

HM x

HM did i repy t oyou with a date? sorry if i didn't wil get back on email later today

which pair of booties - bring them with you - woud be good to see what the washing machine does to them. also the new sheepskin ones apparentlt are washable so that will be interesting.

Hello all

MM and Baiyu I really sympathise with the no sleep...DS (luckily) sleeps very well but I remember when he had colic and screamed for hours between 2 and 5am and I couldn't seem to calm him. I remember well that feeling of just running on empty all the time. I'm sure you've tried everything now...do you think they wake and are hungry or that it's become their sleep pattern now? How do they sleep during the day?

DS has taken to waking at 8am (lovely) but instead of having an early nap at around 9am now wants to stay awake til 11 and have breakfast and another feed before doing a big 90 min nap at about 1130. That's not a problem in itself but I don't know how I'm ever going to go anywhere ever again as by the time we got anywhere it'd be lunchtime.
He's rubbing his eyes and looking tired by 9am so i put him in the cot but he just babbles and sings and is clearly not sleeping so I give up. It's a bit early to go out (visiting other mums for instance) at 9am. I'm wondering if he's going to start dropping the morning nap?

MM I'm sooo with you on the rage at sleeping DH/DPs! It makes me feel murdureous that he can sleep through it...I lie there feeling the blood boiling and I sometimes slap him awake and shout at him "it's all very well for you" especially if I'm going to work that afternoon...you know..the panic sets in that you haven't had enough sleep. Are you working or a SAHM?

We have lovely springlike warm weathr here which is lovely...really enjoying going out for walks with the wee man. I've just bought a mnaduca carrier so hopefully I'll get some use of that with the nice weather.
Work wise, I'm hoping to freelance from July to get out of my totally unsociable hours and for a change. I spoke to my current employers and they were lovely and said they'ds employ me as a freelance teacher as much as I want, although hopefully I'll get enough translation to work from home.
Niknak hope you had a good break

LM hope SB is Ok. How are you finding work?

Hey
Oh what a week we'v had, so much for a nice relaxing week off!

I took dd up to get weighed on Tues as I wanted to check if her weight was back to normal after her chest infection back in January.
Her weight early Jan was 17lbs 10.5oz and on Tues she was 17lbs 9oz. So we were pleased with that.
But on Wednesday dp took us out shopping for my birthday present, and while we were out Hannah took ill and has had sickness and diarroah(sp) ever since .
She seems to be starting to come through it now, no sickness today (touch wood) and is mobile again. She has screamed everytime I tried to put her down, she would only reluctantly go to her daddy.
So needless to say she never had her night at her grannys. Fortunately my mum came over here for a few hours so dp could take me out for my birthday dinner.

Back to work tommorrow

Hope everyone has had a good weekend
Sho x