March 08:Happy Birthday!!! We made it through a whole year!

[turtle23]

new thread.

LD - how are you doing?

A few ideas - although none of them are going to raise the £3k in one go, they may help:

Buy a big cuddly toy dog and do a guess the name. Put 100/150/200 names on a list, sell for say £1 per go and you make a reasonable chunk of money without too much effort/embarrassment on your part.

Make the swish (i like this idea!) an accessories swish - shoes and handbags and belts and jewellery. Less likely to be baby-destroyed than clothes and more likely to cater to wide variety of sizes from skinny to the more ample-bosomed like me and thee

You could do the same with useless household implements, although I bet everyone will be trying to trade a melon baller...

Can you make a calendar of photos of dogs looking cute in seasonal gear and get work to print them up and/or pay for them to be bound at somewhere like KallKwik? Then you can sell to friends/family/colleagues as the answer to their Christmas present nightmares I organised this with my brownies last year. They made loads of money (a few hundred quid) for the local children's hospice. We sold them through the local children's bookshop as well as direct to parents. Can you raise your profile in local area through local newspaper article about your adventure (local journos always looking for way to fill space), and say the calendars will be available in X, Y, Z local shops?

Little and often also really helps - could you buy or make cakes and bring in every Friday to sell at work. Colleagues quickly get the hang of Friday being cake day, and if you could make say even just £5 profit per week, then over 6 months that adds up to over £100 for not much effort. And your colleagues like you cos you bring in cake

Car boot sale - good way of getting rid of crap from home and making a chunk of cash towards your cause at the same time.

Oh yeah, and do what my primary school always made us do for obscure Catholic charities - have a little box that sits on top of your telly or next to your door keys or somewhere really obvious. People put all their loose change in it and hand it over to you when full. Get your family and best mates to do this and you get a fair bit of cash.

Bless you and all of your ideas! I had thought of a calendar, HQ, but hadn't really considered how to sell them, so that's great advice. Along the same lines, I was thinking of doing framed doggie portraits for £50 (or some reasonable amount). I'd ask our dog walker to help us with that - maybe take photos on one of her walks or something. Also would advertise that locally, in paper/free magazine.

LOVE the swish idea, especially with accessories. Brilliant! I might also bake cakes for DH's office and have him try £1 a slice or something. Or my famous choc chip cookies!

All great ideas, will think more. Just found out there is a DT sponsored walk in Oct so that might raise a bit more awareness/funds.

HQ! make swishable accessories out of unused melon ballers!!

Yawn. Morning all. Help me make my mind up? Have a wedding to go to in two weeks and have decided that if bump doesn't explode through it am wearing pretty pale pink floaty chiffon dress. Comes few inches over knee. What shoes do I wear? HAve P to chase all day, but most of do will be in my SIL's mansion house so could get away with kicking off shoes after a while. Mostly concerned with what colour they should be.
Have no brain or fashion sense.

i'd wear leaf green, for fun, or a paler tan for shoes i can switch to other stuff in future.sais the style maven in jeans and birkies. ALL SUMMER!

how about some pretty metallic/gold sandals or something bright RED?

sorry - haven't had a chance even to lurk yet this week. Fundraising ideas sound fab - will ask my sis if she can suggest anything more. DT used to do a fundraising pack - not sure if they still do? (but think this thread is far more creative!!)

have had week from hell with dd who has learnt to tantrum beyond my wildest nightmares. She seems (touch wood, cross fingers etc) to be coming out the other side of whatever has been up this week... teeth/growing/developing/god knows. (DH blames passive PMT ie she is picking up on my hormones ).

On the brighter side of life we are off to Cornwall for a week with my parents tomorrow - yay - holiday with built in babysitting!!! can't wait. first proper holiday since i started back at work. bliss.

HQ - any more news on the house?

I would go for some French Sole ballet flats, they are so beautiful (if a bit pricey) and you could definitely get loads of use out of them. Or some sparkly flip flop type things if you're confident in the English weather!

Lovely to see you and P yesterday, hope you managed to both have a nice long nap! T was asleep before I had even walked across the car park

Ewe- Was good to see you too. P fell asleep as I was carrying him from car to home. Perfect!

Hi girls!
Man, this thread is quiet- hope everyone is out enjoying the sunshine! DH has taken DD to the park so I can get a few little jobs done around here this morning

Does anyone else have a leftie? We've suspected this since she was born, but I was watching her today and she almost always holds her spoon or fork in her left hand to eat, and does puzzles and colouring with her left too. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Feeling slightly better here- 12 week scan is on Friday and v excited!

Oh, and here's a little household tip for y'all: when your DH is doing the dishes and decides not to turn on the main overhead light in the kitchen, DON'T assume that they'll all be clean. Yuck.

ilgb- Good luck for scan...so exciting!

Am hoping everyone is on holiday having a lovely tme.

This will bring everyone back out of the bushes - where is my GD period??

Let me just say it's extremely unlikely I'm pg. Possible in the scientific/biological sense, but leaning towards a Virgin Mary-type scenario. You get my meaning.

My cycle has been consistently short for the last 5 months (25 days average) and I'm on cycle day 35. WTF? Took a PG test on Saturday afternoon and was neg. But never been THIS late. Cycle seemed a bit odd this month - thought maybe OV'd twice b/c of CM. (Sorry, TMI) Also had some very twingy pains about a week ago (put it down to possible OV pain at the time).

Answers on a postcard, please?? [Of course I'll come back later saying I got my period.]

Jfly - Eeeek

Good grief, JFly. I have no idea where it could be. Have you checked behind the sofa? Seriously though, if you were to be pregnant, would it be a Good Thing or not? I speak as someone whose cycle has always been all over the place, so am no help I'm afraid.

ILGB, that is very exciting news about the scan. Bet you can't wait! Did you have a nice time when your parents were over?

I have also thought that Ff might be left handed, but am not sure. What I have noticed though, over the past few days, is that she is now definitely chubby. Now don't get me wrong, she hasn't turned into that poor girl on the X Factor, but she's now got chubby cheeks, a double chin, and a big, round belly. She has always been so slight that it came as a bit of a surprise when I noticed it!

HQ, any house news?

merryberry - I finally saw the CBeebies fountain song today, and got rather excited that we visited those fountains. Ff was decidedly unimpressed when I pointed it out to her.

DP - I am going home on the weekend. Are you about? Could do Cardiff again maybe?

Am getting excited. My big (expensive) buggy is in a bit of a state - brake knackered, flat tyre - and as the warranty is rendered invalid by my DIY brake maintenace, I had a bit of a look on eBay. Have bid £50 for a BRAND NEW one, and there are two hours to go and I am the only bidder...

Ooooh JFly, when are you going to test again? I was 6 days late this month and absolutely terrified... thankfully it arrived in the end, I have been fairly stressed with work which I think may be the cause. Could it be anything like that for you?

Sometimes I think T is a lefty but she seems to flit between the two so just have to wait n see. Oh and chubby babies are cute Ff!

Good luck with the scan ilgb, hope it goes well.

Hurrah! I mean...oooh Jfly, thats terrible...

Ff-Good luck with the bidding! My parents still haven't rung but am sure I will be around Thursday morning for coffee in the meadows.

Please all stop pretending you don't want another (merry possibly excluded, there) and just have babies.

turtle if you're feeling up to going into C.London two days in a row I am heading in with my friend Vicky to meet her two NCT friends - they all have 10/11 month olds - for a mooch around the south bank and possibly some culture. If you're free and fancy it just give me a shout.

I do want another baby, I sorted out all of T's clothes yesterday and came across some of her tiny baby bits and cried like a tiny baby myself. DP is so not interested though. I will definitely have to come over and sniff your new baby when he arrives though that goes for anyone in my vicinity btw!!

I am having a few concerns about T being at nursery, she has been a nightmare since we came back from holiday so I think I might see if we can afford a nanny-share or for me to drop a day or something. It's really getting to me and I'm feeling a bit helpless [sigh]

nightmare how Ewe? Do you mean clingy?

Ff, glad you liked the claim to fame song but man we are so over cbeebies in this house, it seems ds1 has discovered the Ooglies on CBBC, and bear behaving badly and we're off into new realms of licence fee heaven now. mind you, I love the ooglies and so does gg. in fact, i recommend a look see, when you guys are stuck TV bound with snuffly toddlers in the autumn.

i am totally over my childbearing days, believe me, may all your wishes and dreams come true but oh boy, not me I've had a bit of a watershed recently with gg most def a boy not a baby as such to me now. (he can headlock and hold down his brother now til ds1 cries for our help! and will go off in parks and play for 45 mins at a stretch without looking for me). a friend of mine just had her 1st today, and i feel like the baton has passed on, good and proper.

i just want everyone in the NHS to get back from sodding holiday, get my Humira delivered and let me find out if I have any work left in me, or if I have to go the disabled route (boo! no!!). am desperate for a swim, and still not allowed to, even on recent steroids joints still inflamed, apparently, despite feeling great. it's been a grand summer, i think, weather wise

She has been pushing and hitting (a wee 11 month old!) and scratching and generally being as miserable as sin. They also want to move her up a room which I am not sure about, she is seeming very unsettled and unhappy so I don't think it's a good time to remove her from her keyworker etc.

The worst bit is I don't have any options... I HAVE to go to work and I really don't want to at the moment. I just want to stay at home and give her lots of love. FWIW she is fine with other children outside of nursery, never have any problems apart from that she is a little bit bossy which makes me think she is protesting about being there. It is entirely possible I am reading way too much into this of course and it is just a phase. Argh.

probably is nursery amplifying a phase. i guess you have to act out to be noticed in a busyish place? hope you can get them to not move her for a while while people she knows better deal?

Ewe- Sorry to hear that. I'm sure it will pass and she'll find something new to worry you with very soon. If I wasn't about to expand I would have her one day a week. P needs entertaining and she's LOVELY!
I must remember that despite my husband being a prize shit I am very lucky that I have P at home with me. He is starting two mornings at nursery in a few weeks to give me a break (as may be a bit busy soon) and I am dreading it. I know it will be good for him (and me) but...

Morning all.

JFly - have you looked behind the cushions on the sofa? That's where I find most things that I've lost

Ewe - I'm sure it's just a little phase as she settles back in to nursery after the holiday. Give it another week or two before you do anything, I'd say.

Not ready yet for a new baby here, but maybe in the next few months we'll get going. Fingers crossed we'll have the room for one - offers accepted all round and chain now complete Everyone just needs to get a mortgage, and banks need to value all properties in chain properly (as they tend to undervalue at the moment if estate agents are to be believed). So long way from being there yet, but definitely on its way.

I am so and we are feeling like crap crap parents at the moment. DS fractured his wrist after a fall off the bed while playing with DH on Saturday I know everyone says "babies bounce" or "you can't break them", but somehow the only two real falls DS has had have managed to break him(if you remember he broke his leg in January) He is in a temporary cast, off to get the lightweight one in a fancy colour tomorrow. Poor poppet - he is also cutting molars at the moment, and is putting such a brave face on it all. I just feel rotten, and DH obviously feels ten times worse. So please be careful with your little ones - although everyone says they are robust, sometimes they are not, and even less so now they are toddlers. They have no comprehension of danger but do have the physical capability to get into it...

Oh, HQ, the poor little thing. (And poor you too.)Try not to torture yourself though - accidents happen, and chances are he won't remember it. And I bet he is getting a little spoiled as a result?

Turtle, cant wait to see you and P on Thursday. Last time was a bit of a fleeting introduction (thanks to the Oxford Tube. Bitter? Me? Still?)so it will be nice to have a chat while Ff and P charge about.

Ewe, I would definitely see if they can leave her in her current room for now, and maybe wait and see if it is a phase that passes, hopefully quickly. I feel so lucky that I have been able to stay at home with Ff and go freelance, although there have been times when I have still been proofreading at half one in the morning when I have fantasised about having an office job that is over when I come home, so that bedtime equals my time, rather than having to sit down and work. But I wouldn't change it. And there is plenty of time for more babies, isn't there? That's what I'm telling myself, and you're younger than me, aren't you? Sometimes, especially when I'm holding a squishy little bundle, I think it would be nice to get pregnant, but I'm not in a hurry. At least five years until I'm fully qualified, which will probably be when we start thinking about it again.

merryberry - when do you expect to see a doctor again? Must be very frustrating to have to wait. Oh, your poor DS1! I did chuckle at the thought of him being headlocked by his little brother though. Bless. (I was very taken with your two, by the way, and am convinced that I would like a boy next time.)

Missed out on the buggy. Bidding went up to £80, and Bloke had sounded very aggrieved on the phone when I told him what I was doing,
'I can fix the wheel and brakes.'
'I asked you to, and you said you would, and then you buggered off again.'
Sheepish apology followed. If he can't fix it, I expect i will be able to guilt trip convince him sensibly that we need a brand new one.

Off to the farm centre this afternoon. Animals and a play area for Ff and her little friend, poncey posh farm shop for me and his mum. Sun is shining, happy days.

She is having a better day today (just called in a neurotic stylee) and I have Tue next week off work so am going to pop in and have a chat with them about when to move her and how etc. It's just so hard leaving her at the moment, I just don't want to . It doesn't help that the only person at work who does what I do is off with a quite serious illness at the moment - otherwise I can normally work from home and do some stuff to make it a bit easier but it is relentless at the moment.

I am even thinking of going to study something just so I get some more time! I'm desperate. Either that or I need to think of something I can do freelance/from home.

Thanks turtle, I think she is lovely too, it's so hard hearing that she is deliberately hurting other children! It's so out of character. Anyway, enough moaning from me now.

So sorry to hear about your DS HQ, poor little man, poor you and DH too. Hope he is on the mend soon, those molars are a bloody nightmare aren't they!

Enjoy the farm Ff, it sounds fab and you're right - I have plenty of time to have babies, maybe we can be AN club buddies again in 5yrs?!