June 2008: the One Show (almost)

[Essie3]

Whinegums - I would play Scrabble but I am very bad at it.

Hello, just thought I'd remind everyone of my existence! I'm here but absolutely knackered due to being alone for 2 whole weeks (I know, I know, loads of people manage more than that and I'm a total wuss!) But I've been going to bed really early due to extreme tiredness (although I have a bit of a cold starting today which might explain things) and Iestyn learnt to crawl 2 weeks ago: commando on the Thursday, proper crawling by Sunday, speed crawling by last Thursday, tonight he started standing up and cruising... So a late developer but speedy once he got going! (Like Edie? Hope your trip is fab!) He has two teeth now as well, but the sleeping hasn't been great.
And today Iestyn ate compost. Will give the full story when I'm not half asleep.

Amber I've been thinking loads about you and your sister and actually started to cry today at work when I read how you almost lost her too. It just sounds like some horrific nightmare. I can't stop thinking about her little boys. And I hope your medication starts kicking in and helps you. (I suppose it explains a lot?)

Whinegums we're about the same place with the dummy. Iestyn usually puts it back in himself. He can sleep through but sometimes needs 'resetting' as we call it - he wakes and cries, but only needs to be put back on his side, and dummy in if it's come out. But only about once a night. We're resigned to dummies here!

Paro happy birthday to Fleur! (Private question to Poppy when was Edie born? Only because she and Iestyn started crawling around the same time.) And all the best with the wedding.

Ooh, so much else. Lots of love to everyone. Oh, and a request to Rolf for that cupcake recipe - you don't have to tell Deb with her half a stone loss! Tsk, I'm gaining - my tummy appears slacker and bigger than it was although I'm not much heavier; but my boobs have gone down to normal bra size which probably means they don't counterbalance the gut. (When my milk came in, I was the same as Jordan - 32G!! )

On that note, I'm knackered...nos dawch!

Amber in answer to your question the initial proposal was:

Sat night in a posh B&B in rural Hampshire where the landlady would provide 3 course evening meal for £125 pp (excluding wine)
Sun at Champneys for £90 each. This though excludes any treatments. So, a very expensive swim methinks.

So that was how it came in at over £200.

Luckily I am not the bridesmaid so I don't have the responsibility of organising it. I and a couple of others seem to be the consultative committee, so we are trying to help the chief bridesmaid not bankrupt the rest of the group.

Bloody hell, Ali. That makes me thankful that my friends are either on the payroll, or imaginary.

Viva what a crap employment situation. I hope your union is able to help.

Essie cupcakes recipe: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4434/romantic-rose-cupcakes

Going I'm going to try that cake recipe.

Paro glad the wedding/move plans are going well.

hello to everyone else. I must go to bed.

Amber all my love to you and your sister. x

amber how horrible that you almost lost your sister ? I hope she?s okay physically and find myself thinking of her through the day, the poor sweetie!

amber, paro, whinegums etc. sending hugs? Fraser?s currently waking at night too which DH and I are finding exhausting. He?s also up at 5am every morning too ? which isn?t too bad as long as DH and I go to bed at half eight. Social life? Who needs one? Amber Is your part time confirmed then?

neenz you?re still very adventurous in my book! We?re not going camping with the two boys until August (when it?s not so darn bright all night up here) and I?m very nervous. Glad you have a CM set up!

viva I hope they back down about the on-call work. Scheduling two adults is always hard, even without a baby to work around!

essie LOL at the compost! That?s made me smile! Fraser?s eaten garden dirt before too.

Ali, not only is that expensive it sounds pretty dull too IMO!! I love a raucous night out getting drunk and chatting up random men . Yes £90 is a lot for a swim!

Whinegums, where do your parents live?

Oh, sympathies on 5am Abdn. I try to be in bed by 10pm or I find it really catches up with me. 8.30 would be pretty tough cos I really enjoy my three hours without children post-7pm! You must feel like you never get a break .

Ali - £125 for a meal in a B&B - WTF!!!! If you'd have said a meal at Claridges or something I would have understood. Champneys is a tad tedious BTW. Treatments are a fortune and if you aren't having one you are just sitting around. I organised my sister's - it was great! Got a stretch hummer to take us from the hotel to Soho which was brilliant! It was the cheesiest but best bit. It was the night Scissor sisters and Kylie played in trafalgar Sq and people thought we were them in our blacked out hummer and held onto the side of the car banging the windows! Then did karaoke in a private room with food at Imperial China in Soho for £25 per head plus booze. Lastly went to an 80s night. Can't remember the rest - was too drunk although I was meant to stay at the hotel that night with sister but I forgot and went home .

Again - thanks for all the lovely thoughts on my sister. I have told her everyone's thinking of her. Yes she is home now (which has unfortunately made everything worse). I am now trying to convince her to get councelling.

Another crap night. Luke seesm to have been cryoing on and off since three am again. God knows what it is now.

Essie - you've done a sterling job on your own - it's hard!! Missed you!

First birthdays. Oh I desperately want one of these...smart trike

PS - yes part time is confirmed but I don't know when it will start.

Neenz, my mum lives in County Durham - not far from from Newcastle, which is my old stamping ground. I have been ignoring your anti Toon Army comments on FB you'll note!! The reason there's not much to do is because I need to drive to any of my friends or to go out, and most of them have anklebiters too now, so it's all a bit quiet. Added to which, mum refuses to upgrade her TV aerial so there are only five channels to watch and she doesn't have a dvd player or video either. Well, that's not true, she has all of those things, but doesn't have them plugged in. So entertainment is a bit thin on the ground!

Ali, ouch at spending that much on a not too exciting hen night.

Aberdeen, early nights are great, but yes, doesn't leave much of a life. I'm with Neenz - I love a few Barnaby free hours in the evening.

Five channels is not so bad - we have only just upgraded to freeview and only because the TV broke.

amber continue plugging away at your sister because it will be very beneficial, I worked with a lady who specialised in bereavemnt after stillbirths, don't neglect her DH too as probably will help if they both do it.

Ali I am not surprised about the price for that sadly.

Rolf Thanks for the recipe I will give it a go on monday, they look yummy and nearly all of the recipes I have used from the site have worked! It's always my first por of call!

Amber We have an older version of that trike - about 7 years - and it's still going strong, a good toy!

Paro Good luck with all you are doing at the moment, you sound very busy.

Hello to everyone else!

Hi all, Amber I can't imagine what your sister is going through, but she is lucky to have you there to support her.

Just posting and running as going on holiday and meant to be packing, but wanted to say bye for a week or so. Also, wanted to ask, as the kids hit 1, what is the thing they are doing at the moment that they are most proud of? J has learnt how to suck through a straw and he is so proud of himself! He obviously feels this is his greatest achievement and now only wants to drink (and bizarrely eat) if he can do so through a straw. It is sweet, if a bit strange...

Hi, just posting and running too as my outlaws have just turned up.

Amber, this link may be useful for your sister at some stage in the future. It's for anyone who has lost a baby in pg or shortly after birth, and has a list of useful contacts here:

baby loss awareness

Love the trike btw - was thinking of getting one, but not sure how much I'll be able to use it once bill arrives.

sybil, have a fab holiday - Alex is most proud of furniture moving skills , he likes to move all the chairs around in the dining room and shift his high chair from one end of the room to the other. If you spot him doing it he gives you a big grin!

Oh and Neenz, forgot to say, it all kicked off on your FB page yesterday didn't it?! Jon a good friend of yours!

Babybill, yeah it kicked off big style, it was like being on MN . Jon is someone who works on the pictures desk at the Express where I work, and Matt works for the Daily Star (same company). I was only trying to say how much Joanna Lumley has got on my tits with this Gurkha thing, not that I don't agree with the Gurkhas settling here, I do, but she has just really got on my nerves... but he just went off on one without even reading what I actually said! My sister has piled in now... Jon has not been on today but I could not resist having a pop when he started going on about 'British-hating extremists'... just shows him up for the Nazi he is, he has been reading the Express for too long!

Happy holidays Sybil. B is most proud of anything that demonstrates his escapologist (not sure of spelling for that!) skills. I had to buy a 5 point harness for the Ikea highchair the other week when he managed to wriggle out of the one strap harness and stand up.

Amber, that trike is fab.

I'm feeling a bit pissed off tonight. I applied for a job that I'd actually done some years ago, on a short term contract for a maternity cover. It's come up again, as a permanent job. I was good at it - I really was! - and I've got even more experience since then. I fulfilled all the criteria, and I think my application was absolutely fine. And I haven't got an interview for it! It's a little complicated in that it's the same company where DP works, it's where we met, but surely that shouldn't be a reason not to interview me. It's a pretty specialized area, and I'm certain that there are very few people that have more experience and qualifications than me for it. So I'm feeling very angry, and somewhat despondent. I'm having no luck with job hunting .

Just had to offload...

DQ, if you're around, and you have a mo to share some HR experience, is there anything I can do, apart from ask for feedback? I'm sure they'll just trot out something about other candidates with more closely matched skill sets or something...

Evening all!

I've not been on for a wee while - despite the exams being over, I'm behind in well, just about everything. DH has also been away a bit so just no time.

Have just tried to read the last couple of pages, but unfortunately I've been plagued with terrible headaches for a few weeks and the screen is hurting my eyes.

I have arranged an eye test next week, and am hoping I just need my prescription adjusted.

So, I'm going to go to a dark room, but waves to you all, happy birthdays all round where appropriate and lots of thoughts for Amber.

Hi BDQ, hope you feel better soon.

I'm no expert Whinegums but don;t they need to have a good reason not to give you an interview, and if they don't it could be discrimination? I think you should follow it up - did they definitely get your application?

OMG - I can't believe it, the chattiest post natal thread has gone a day with no-one posting

Is there anyone out there????

Hope you had a good Birthday Ali

Whinegums - are you still at your parents? Hope you've had a good rest. Sorry about the job

Sybil -Happy holidays

Five - you must be busy this weekend, hope you have nice,considerate guests.

Essie - noticed your absence, assumed it was because you were home alone

Hello to everyone else, hope you're having a good weekend - Amber,Poppy, Going2, Rolf, Puree, Abdn, Allnew, Neenz, Babybill, Paro, BDQ, Systems, .....

I'll probably be in big trouble now with whoever I've missed -sorry

Tennis and swimming again today, dh has just asked me if he has shorts for tennis - why doesn't he know?

Hi there, I had a poorly baby to deal with while 'entertaining' the out laws!

They've gone away for three weeks now so a bit of a break. A still poorly but feeling a little brighter, but his virus means all bank holiday plans cancelled and the sun is shining . V annoying!

He caught it from one of our NCT friends who got it from nursery - do you think I can sue the nursery for our lost weekend?

Have fun in the sun !

(Btw, neenz, did you notice it kicked off on my FB page yesterday - don't know what that was all about, total sense of humour failure IMO! Highly unimpressed )

Hello, I'm here too. Lovely birthday yesterday. A meal out and relaxing with my boys.

Sorry that Alex is poorly.

LOL re comments about the dull hen night. My Uni mates used to be up for much more fun than they are now. Infact three of them nicknamed themselves Slappers 1, 2, and 3 . At some point in our mid twenties it all changed and the group's idea of good times is a cottage in deepest Hampshire. I think although this is pleasant, for a hen night when lots of us have kids and spend most nights in, we ought to make the most of the opportunity to go out somewhere, have someone else do the cooking and clearing up, and dance to some cheesy music. Amber - please can I come on the next hen do you organize? It sounds fab!

Sybil - have a good holiday. Peter is most proud of himself when he gets to crawl into new territory. He slaps his hands down very loudly and pants and giggles with a massive grin across his face. I have started taking him to a gym club that has a free for all for an hour at lunchtime for £2. He is so excited when he just gets to crawl and crawl as far as the eye can see.

sybil Fraser's just learned to clap and he's very proud!

Wow it's quiet this weekend - we had a nice time and I actually got out for a bike ride this morning (16 miles, so nothing impressive). I'm off to bed, hugs to everyone!

Just quickly on to say hello. Been in the USA for several weeks since DH was made redundant. Have been lurking occasionally, but not really had time, but have been thinking of you all. Sorry for being totally crap.

Happy bank holiday!

UDC