August 2007 - new thread as I can't find one!

[shrinkingsagpuss]

Hi all,

VERY VERY long time no see..... just had a little catch up - my goodness, HOW MANY of you are preggers??? Gosh- NOT ME!
Can't believe our beautiful babies are talking walking noisy toddlers.
Evie is still a monster - always has been , always will be. She talks constantly, and is now stringing words together, like " I'll do it" - usually in relation to feeding herself, or getting dressed.. and usually accompanied by a small tantrum.
She does finally sleep through the night.. after a fashion- is up between 5.30 and 6.15 - still a shock after Billy who slept 7-7 from 4 months.
But - she does eat anything which is fab (compared to Billy), and she is happy to walk, or go in the pushchair, so its easy to take her out - unlike Billy who always wanted to walk no matter how long it took.
She has a passion for dolls (oh crumbs), handbags, and hats - she is SOOOO not related to me!
Take care all, can't say when I'll visit next - good luck with the births!!
xx

[helibee]

hi everyone, good to see people chatting again. this is just a quick hi and i will catch up later. I sprained my ankle today tripping over ds's hundreds of toys

James-good to see(?) you back and conker glad you got the pressie

[conkertree]

poor you helibee - ~I've had a few close shaves like that but havent been properly injured yet. the house goes from tidy to a pigsty in minutes.

tt - good to see you back. sounds like you have your hands full. i seem to have very little time to get on here too so its nice that this thread doesnt move too quickly. think i am overall happy with the age gap - or will be in a years time maybe - but just now i certainly have moments of questioning why we did it this way.

struan is mostly still good but gets wound up, then lashes out at him for no apparent reason.

today was a nightmare - am feeling fluey - shivery and an aching head. right breast is sore too so dont know if its related to that or not. am so glad ds2 is now asleep on me - early night I think.

gill - poor dd. sure she will settle in fine though and the neighbours going too could mean a new best friend.

loler - love your tips. think i've used a couple although i only have 2. woman in my village has 4 under 5 - think number 4 was a bit earlier than they meant it to be. i am always amazed that she can get out of the house.

anyway - long post. might head to bed soon.

[GillL]

I'm always falling over toys too. I'm sure the dcs are out to get us

Conker - could you have mastitis? I've heard you can get flu-like symptoms. How is the feeding going?

Thanks. She'll take a while to settle in and be comfortable with everyone but she'll be fine. It would be nice for her to have some local friends instead of miles away.

I can never work out how my sil gets out of the house with 4 under 5s. It must be like a military operation.

[tokentotty]

Ok, heading off to try and download a reasonable picture of the small people....

[Pinkranger]

Hi ladies,
Cant belive our little ones are nearly 2!!! where has that time gone!! Congratulations to all the new babies coming or on their way! I do come on mumsnet rrom time to time but can never keep up with Anything. Tate is doing well, extrmeley hard work, if hewas the first there never would have been a 2nd, Talking lots and his new thing this week is Noooooo Mummy!! even at just trying to get him to sit and et lunch!
Life here is busy we are moving in 5 weeks to stafford so should be a challenge, will promise to try and drop by every6 now and then XX

[tokentotty]

Pink!! So glad that your infrequent drop-ins have coincided with mine. Any chance that we could perhaps organise a meet-up before you move to Stafford ? Am totally flexible, will happily have it at mine if it suits or am also more than willing to go wherever the majority can do....

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

Hi all, hope you're ok!

Uki, didn't realise you were pregnant again, congrats! Must be nice knowing it's a girl after two boys, are you "done" now? didn't realise mamamila was pregnant too, how nice that you're on the same antenatal thread!

Lizzie I love the name Robert How's it going? do the girls help to fetch nappies etc for him? Is it a big shock going from two to three?

Conker, well done getting to soft play with the two of them with Angus only a month old, I imagine it's pretty difficult getting used to leaving the house with two, especially if you're breastfeeding. How are you feeling now? was it mastitis?

loler, that's great that you're getting "yourself" back these days, I feel that way too (not so much bodywise!) I've made a garden and I'm trying to indulge my hobbies a bit more. I've managed to Read A Book which was pretty unheard of in the first year of having James. We still haven't had a night out since he was born but then again we're always skint so I doubt we could afford a babysitter AND a meal out unfortunately.

GillL, I'm exactly the same re: having another baby. I want one but then I keep thinking about my spd last time, the birth, lack of money etc. I can always think of reasons not to, but the bottom line is both me and dp vehemently don't want James to be an only child so we'll have to do it at some point! These things always work out I spose. I hope dd settles in well at school, I'm sure she'll be fine.

TT, that's so cute that paddy asks for his sister first thing. Do you think you'll be having any more children, or is the jury out til mimi is a little older?

Helibee, how's the ankle? and how are you generally these days?

Pink, nice to see you. How are you feeling these days? I remember a long while ago you were a bit down. Good luck with the move!

Well after moaning that he doesn't talk, we may have had a little progress. He says yes, shakes head for no (all the time, whether he wants something or not!) and tries to say all gone. He's been babbling quite a bit today so I think maybe we're on the verge of him talking. Quite exciting since we've waited so long. We keep asking him questions just to hear that little "yeah!" - it's adorable.

[tokentotty]

Jamesandetc,etc,..... How are you love ???? You've asked so many questions of others but said very little about you! Glad he's starting to talk, guess you won't appreciate me saying that very soon you'll be wishing he couldn't...

Am semi-joking actually, Paddy's a talker but his two cousins weren't. My sister in law was worried and saw someone about it. Bottom line is that it's fine and ok, some just don't until it suits them. The fact that he's saying anything at all means that there's nothing wrong and he's perfectly capable. Bad news is that he's just being a pickle and playing up....!!

[JamesAndTheGiantBanana]

Hehe, ooh, don't ask. Things remain pretty constant here, I still work part time from home but make no money, dp still stuck in a job he thoroughly hates with a shit wage and has no luck applying for other jobs, we're settled into the house now with quite a nice garden going on, but our life revolves around James really, we do a lot of going to the park/soft play/toddler groups and visiting family, lots of free things. I still have homestart round every week or so, they've been really good.

We're so skint it's really affecting things now. Dp is depressed (makes a change from me) I haven't paid the council tax or water bill in 6 months and being a bit ostrich about it tbh, can't persuade myself to make the necessary phonecalls so I'm not sleeping etc

It looks like I need to get a job but I still can't bear the thought of leaving James. I've been looking into it, but I think it's going to be difficult to find a local childminder or nursery with free places within reasonable walking distance (I can't drive) in time to start a mythical new job, when I don't know what hours or days I'd be working.

Plus I think now jobs are few and far between employers can afford to offer minimum wage and awkward hours because they have twice as many people scrambling for every job. There's a job going less than 30 seconds from my house but they want someone to work mornings, afternoons, evenings, nights, weekends... no-one with kids can be that flexible. All I can think to do right now is cash in hand cleaning work but dp doesn't even get home til 7pm and who's going to want a cleaner coming in the evenings?

So yeah, apart from chronic lack of money we're fine, it's just that it's colouring everything we don't do. Anyway, sorry for the whinge! How are you? lol

[Pinkranger]

James- hope things get better, sounds like its not an easy ride at the moment, Have you thought about doing something like childminding? Ihave done this for 2 years and earn around £140 a week, this is just with one lo (age 3) 3 days a week and a 6 year old 4 night after school - maybe something to look into?

Im feeling really well now, came of the AD after a year and threw myself into a) the move and B) getting fit - Since feb i have lost 20lb and go to the gym 4 times a week, its great when im feeling down, i get on the treadmill, put my ipod on and 30mins later i have ran 4k, and sweated out the stress, in feb i couldnt even run 4 mins!! lol! I am training to do a 10k run next year

TT - Would love a meet up, im moving around 20th july so would love to try and squeeze it in - your dc are beautiful, cant belive how blonde paddy is now!

Hi to everyone else x - will try and upload a recent picture of Tate

[Hersetta]

Hello all - good to finally see some proper chat on this thread. Nice to see some of the old faces back ahain (not that I'm saying any of you lovely ladies are old !!).

We are all well and I am running around like a headless chicken as we go on holiday for a fortnight on Saturday so I am washing/ironing and packing for britain at the moment inbetween working full time as well!.

Caitlin is going well - can now consistantly count to 10 so we're moving on to the alphabet - she recognises and can name a and b but we're stuck at c - it's going to be a long time to we get to z !!

TT - let me know when you next come in to I* and I can coo over Mimi.

[lizziemun]

JamesAndTheGiantBanana

Yes the girls help a lot with Robert. Although how much help Lexie is when she is either trying to bounce him out of his chair .

I actually found going from one to two bloody hard work (whether it was because Lexie was/is very high maintenance). It took probaly 6 to 9 months to be able to cope where as Robbie is so easy going (like Lizzie) he just slotted in.

I'm sorry things are no better I hope things pick up for you soon.

[GillL]

You guys were up late. Dd had me up til 11 and I couldn't keep my eyes open.

TT - Just looked at the new picture. It's sooo cute. Paddy has a lovely smile.

Pink - so nice to hear from you. Well done on the weight loss! I've started walking to train for Race for Life in July. I've put on some weight recently and really couldn't get motivated to diet but now I've got an excuse because we've been invited to a wedding in August.

Can I be really cheeky and ask for the meet up to be on a Saturday or Sunday? I'd really like to be there and I don't think I'll be able to get any time off work before pink moves away.

James - good to hear James is talking more. Hope the job situation improves. I keep hearing people saying that things are going to pick up soon. It's so hard when you've got kids. You're right that employers have the upper hand. I've been looking for jobs ever since I found out about the redundancies. None of the part time jobs fit in with school hours and, because hundreds of people apply for every job, I don't feel I would be able to ask for flexible working or reduced hours for a full time job. There would be plenty of people lining up to work the hours they need.

Alex's talking seems to progress in waves. Last night he helped us put the shopping away and was naming a lot of the food - beans, yoghurts, grapes etc. He breaks my heart every night though when I put him to bed - he waves at me and says 'bye' with a tear in his eye

Hersetta - I don't envy you trying to get everything ready for your holiday. Do you trust your dh with doing any of it? Hope the weather's good where you're going.

Lizzie - Glad your girls help you out. My dd was helpful initially but now she just moans that she's too tired to help. She loves him to bits though. She and her cousins fight over who's going to hold his hand.

[Hersetta]

Gill - god no !!

His only task was to put the clothes he wanted to take away on the spare bed. I came in to fine 6 T Shirts only, no shorts, no socks, no pants....nothing. Oh, he said i thought you only meant t shirts? WTF !!He's rubbish at planning etc....whereas I've been making packing lists for the last month!!

That's so sad about Alex waving goodbye to you at night...must be heartbraking. Caitlin has just learnt to blow kisses so blows me a kiss and says night, night.

[tokentotty]

Hey Hersetta - you're not going to Spain are you? I fly in on the 20th if so.

[GillL]

Lol - My dh has done the washing 3 times in 7 years. I prefer to do it myself so I can make sure everyone has the clothes they need. Dh just chucks in whatever's at the top of the laundry basket.

It does make me feel sad but he's getting better. He used to cry before I even put him in the cot. Now he just whimpers 'bye'. Sometimes he cries for a few seconds, other times he just goes straight to sleep.

Just did a 30 minute boxercise dvd in my lunch break. I surprised myself how well I coped with it. I thought I'd be knackered. I underestimated how much fitter walking has made me.

[Hersetta]

TT - no we're renting a lovely child friendly villa in Corfu. I am going to Spain though for a week on September 6th.

[tokentotty]

Oh shame, well, not for you obviously H !! Am determined to bring the smallies up to I* when we get back from holiday in July so I'll definitely let you know.

[lizziemun]

Gill

I think it less about helping more about 'I'LL DO IT' 'NOOOO, ME DO IT' .

I must start my diet and getting fit because i dont want to be fat and forty, so i need to start now as i'm 40 in october.

[loler]

PINK - I live 5 miles from Stafford - If you fancy meeting up in July let me know. I'm sure I could show you some nice places to hang out over the school holidays. Where is your DS going to school?

Good luck with the move - hope it all goes well for you - moving is a nightmare let alone to a whole new area!

[loler]

Pink - you can email me at [email protected] and I'll send any flyers etc for activities around here.

[loler]

PS hello everyone else - TT is good to see you're copying well with 2. They look really alike in the updated photo.

James - hope you're OK, you're sounding a bit down in your posts.

Short term memory completely shot and can't remember what I was going to say to everyone else!

[GillL]

Hello. Hope everyone's having a nice weekend. It's not been much fun round here for the last 2 days. Dd was sick 5 times all over the arm chair and carpet. I spent Friday evening hand washing the seat cover, cushion covers and carpet. Then last night it was ds' turn. Fortunately he was only sick once on his pillow and dh's t-shirt. There must be a bug going round as their cousins were both sick this weekend too.

Also, ds has been diagnosed with eczema. He's covered in spots. We've been given a moisturiser and steroid cream. Anyone got any tips?

[Pinkranger]

Loler - Thank you so much, would love to meet up in the July, so dont want to be on my own! - Have noted your email address.

Sorry the dc were ill over the weekend Gill, its awful when they both get it, Must say very lucky ds2 has NEVER been sick ( only milk) be a shock when he does (im touching wood as i type........)

Had a lovley weekend, had a hugh BBQ for about 30 people yesterday as a good bye part, very sad but lots of fun, lots of food and lots of drink, didnt go to bed until 3.30am and up with the kids at 7, been fine all day but getting tierd now, hope everyoneelse is well

[GillL]

It was my turn last night I feel a lot better today but I was awake most of the night feeling very rough. I'm not working today. Just got to get my strength up. Of course I had to help dh get ds ready this morning (dd had a sleepover at mum's).

Poor you pink. It must be sad leaving all your friends and family. Is this move for your dh's work? I think I remember you mentioning this some time last year. How does your ds1 feel about moving schools? Hope you managed to get an early night.