June 08: I see it, I want it, it's mine!

[spongebrainmaternitypants]

Welcome to our new thread .

Thanks Poppy, I may hit you up for more info. I did think that perhaps the US would offer a -lazier less stressful experience rather than Asia, although I would love to explore Asia a bit more.

The bold font has gone...?

And re nights away haven't done one (mainly as dh having similar issue with edie that purée other half has with toddlerpearls) - have residential sales course in november (you can but imagine how dire a sales course for accountants would be) so leave her then. Part of my issue is no one to leave her with - mil too old, dsd too young , don't like to ask the nanny and parents not really up to it - my mum would but have posted before on my mother being vague and toddlers being toddlers not being a good mix.

evening all. If you see me on here later shoo me away .

Bold font gone here too.

Nights away... We've been away from S twice overnight. Packed him off to the GPs both times. Really missed him though. They didn't bring him back till about 3pm the first time. I was desperate for a cuddle.

SW glad you found a new name.

Sponge I hate going to bed on my own too. Although funnily enough, I'm not as bad now we have S. He's really going to help me out if I have a burglar in the middle of the night (Touch wood that never happens obviously).

Abdn I concur on the view that the most important thing is that kids know they're loved.

ktpie it sounds as if not going back to work was the best things for you guys. That's what's important isn't it? Bloody parenting books. Sponge was it you that said they make you feel like a rubbish parent? I have the toddler taming one and the GF one, but that's more because I they err more on the practical advice rather than guilt-inducing theory. Neenz I'm sure you've read them too. When do you find all this reading time?

Interesting about weather and sleep etc. Sounds scientific to me ktpie! Neenz the govt wouldn't be the ones paying us to stay at home though (unless everyone voted for big tax rises ) it would be the companies and I can't see small businesses in particular doing that any time soon... I'd have quite liked the chance to go back to work at six months, then taken another six months when S hit 1 and was much more fun.

Am I the only person that thinks Essie should change her MN name to YesTin? Now when I read Iestyn I see YesTin .

Essie I'd like to say at your dentist, but I'm not because there are so many losers like that out their. I'd be tempted to look for another dentist though and then tell him why you're taking your money elsewhere.

Allnew if you have an HR department ask about it. There's probably not a strong legal case although you could attempt to claim discrimination against part-time workers but there's definitely a bit of a moral one.

Viva good luck with the exams. Where will you and DH be in Edinburgh? Will they have transport? Off the top of my head, on a nice day the Botanics are good (terrace cafe is good), the Meadows (where we went), Arthur's seat if he fancies taking her for a long walk (nearby Scottish Parliament which has very baby friendly cafe and changing facilities), Scottish storytelling centre has a nice cafe, the exhibition we went to is still on, plenty of swimming pools, several soft play places, and John Lewis is good if you need baby changing facilities in town. Oh, there's the children's library too - very small but good if the weather isn't! Whinegums where did you meet your friend in the end when you came through?

Aww about your DH puree, but about your cortisol levels. Fingers crossed on the houseguest situation.

SW hope you enjoy the hen weekend when it comes!

Poppy medised has no effect here. I tried it after weeks of anguish only to find it had no effect.

Deb I'm so sorry - I just remembered I was going to email you some links about teaching in Scotland. Is Scotland still on the shortlist? If so I'll ask DH.

Ok, that's me caught up so I'm off.

Oh, no ebay parcel yet. But I heard on the news that there's something like 9 million stuck in sorting offices so haven't lost all hope. She said she put her return address on it to, so hopefully it will get here or at least back to the seller. [hopeful]

Appalling use of 'their' instead of 'there'.

Yeah no more bold!

Allnew - how annoying about the bonus.

Puree - that story made me think I should leave J more, he doesn't seem particularly clingy when I do leave him but it's not often he isn't with me or DH and never for very long.

Penguin - I've had fairly brief trips to Los Angeles and San Francisco and would certainly chose San Francisco out of the two, I didn't really like LA, or New York for that matter although most people rave about New York so maybe that says something about me! Have also spent a night in Tokyo but only really saw the hotel so not on a position to commment on that one, apart from it was blooming humid in July.

Poppy - similar here with lack of suitable people to babysit etc.

Essie still a little confused on your friends name but I think it is an issue with my computers lack of knowledge of Welsh!

Hello to everyone else!

X post BDQ - hope the parcel turns up soon, it's so annoying when you are waiting for something.

puree at the childminder's story - that's crazy! I'm glad my kids aren't the attached type. They'll go to anyone, which is sometimes a bit horrible too.

I got my new (old) desk delivered today and I love it! It's from a reclamation company in London and I managed to get it delivered all the way up here for only £150, which along with the price of a refurbished piece actually meant it was far cheaper than buying from M&S (my other option). The only bad thing is that it's a 1930's bureau with shelving on either side of the desk and DH has pointed out that it's an ideal climbing frame. How I'm going to keep both boys off this I have no idea...

Evening all, just marking my spot again. Was awake from 3 - 5am this morning so on my knees again. Have splitting headache, feel really sick, and my ankles have swollen to size of tree trunks .

Dh has come home, taken one look at me and told me I am not going to work tomorrow - cannot tell you how much I'm looking forward to a day in bed .

Nite nite .

Glad the bold has gone too.

Another unsettled day with B again - Screamy McScreamerson has made a reappearance. I took him to nursery, and he was ok until I tried to leave him, and then he went for it - screaming solidly for over half an hour, until I went into the room and played with him for a bit - he was fine then. And again tonight - it's like the first lot of CC never happened. It hasn't taken him as long as last night to settle at least. Looks like he's decided to have separation anxiety - perfect timing...

Abdn, your desk sounds lovely. Tell us who the reclamation company is, sounds like a good deal on delivery! [wants a desk emoticon]

Penguin, I love Hong Kong and San Francisco - haven't been to any of the others. I would say SF probably easier with a toddler, but I would love to take B to HK when he's a bit older. Out of all of the choices I wouldn't fancy LA, but that's because I've never fancied going there! I would also love to go to Tokyo.

BDQ, totally forgot to say, when I met my friend in Edinburgh we ended up in one of the Fringe venues - it had an outdoor thing going on, with a place for littl'uns. Not sure where/which one... doh...

Allnew, that is crap about the bonus. Could you mention a discrimination thing - if all the part time staff are female perhaps? I dunno, I'm no expert on these things, but that's the only way around it I can think of.

Poppy, Medised does nowt for B either.

Sorry if I've missed anyone out.

p.s. I could kill for a chocolate bar or a bag of crisps right now Wish I didn't live in a small village (although I'll be pleased in the morning that I was forced to be good).

oh and it's retrouvius.com/! I lucked out on delivery as they had another larger shipment going to Edinburgh so mine was just tagged on to that.

Oh I hate my computer! It's so knackered. Am sure I could pay someone to fix it but I just really want a shiny new mac [sob]

whinegums I do in fact know exactly where you mean .

Sorry about screamy macscreamerson, is he a pal of hairy mclary?

Off to sulk about computer some more.

Abdn, is your desk like the 30s oak bureau on that site? If so, v . Have bookmarked it for possible later use - we need quite a lot of furniture for the new house. We don't know what we want yet though. I am hankering after a dining table from Tim Stead workshop, but they are mucho ££££s. I suspect it will need to come from the Ikea workshop instead.

Ha ha at Hairy Mclary BDQ! get a new mac, gowarn, gowarn....

Oh I'd love to whinegums but our spending review this year is a bit like the Scottish Government's schools budget, cut, cut, cut! Mind you, if I slowly kill the computer...

Forgot to say, S has been super cute of late. Tonight he was having his teatime cbeebies fix and then he got up unprompted, toddled through to the kitchen and started tugging at his highchair. I guess he was hungry. He's also started putting his clothes in his washing basket at night. I'll need to remind him of that in about 14 years time...

Oh that is so cute BDQ.

Enjoy your day off Sponge! Hope you feel better and get some sleep tonight.

whinegums yes it's the 30s bureau. I took a peak at the Tim Steadman site. I like the tables with the square edges. The completely burred ones are a bit too raw for me though. there's a guy who does similar work up in Speyside - www.gvis.co.uk/ballintomb-furniture/ we went and saw his work a few years back and I so wanted a rocking chair (I was 4 months pregnant with DS1 at the time) but we couldn't afford it and bought a cheap glider chair that I detest instead.

BDQ love the reference to the SG budget...

Nice desk! The ILs had quite a bit of furniture made from solid oak to their specs and measurements and it worked out very reasonable compared to high street prices. It amazes me when I look round the shops and see badly made flimsy looking furniture with a price tag of hundreds when you could buy something old or bespoke for less, and it would be much nicer.

Sponge - enjoy your day in bed and hope you start to feel better.

BDQ - S sounds well trained!

Hi all
Thanks for the comments re work. I have emailed HR copying in my boss and will await the reply.......

sponge sorry to hear you're feeling poorly. when are you due to finish work?

whinegums sympathy on the screaming - hope it settles down soon. fwiw A's sep. anxiety phase didn't last too long and nursery actually helped it after the first couple of weeks

Allnew, thanks for that - makes me feel a bit better.

Abdn - I agree - the rough edged tables aren't so nice IMO - and because they're irregular, I'd always be worrying about stuff falling on the floor - the edges aren't where you think they are IYSWIM. Saying that, Bar Gandolfi is all Tim Stead stuff, and one of the seats was perfect when I was pg, as it had a curve just in the right place for my bump!

ktpie, you are so right about bespoke stuff. Designer makers can create something that truly suits your space and style - and often is cheaper than you'd think. But designers are often so vague or don't even publish their prices, so folks think it's naturally expensive.

Sponge, hope you're feeling better.

BDQ - love S tidying his clothes away!

I have just spent an hour looking at our AN thread from May last year just after the twins were born - it was great reminiscing! I am thinking I really should write a book or something, about twins or even a novel and use my posts as inspiration. I wish I had posted more often tho cos I am rubbish at remembering!

We had a bit of a rubbish night last night and even resorted to the Calpol Night - for the first time in about six months. T woke at about 10.30pm and just would not go back to sleep. I rubbed his back, gave him Nurofen etc and sat with him but as soon as I left the room he started screaming. I turned the light on and he had the MOST snot I have even seen all over his face! Poor thing. So I thought "cold = Calpol Night" and gave him 5ml - he slept till 8am . E had me up at 3am (second night running she had me up in night) but she was fine with just a bit of Nurofen and went back to sleep. They both have streaming noses today anyway so it explains a lot of their behaviour over past week (not eating/sleeping etc). All the kids at playgroup this morning were the same!

Wow Neenz, amazing timing. Just yesterday I was looking at our thread around June 2008 time. I was putting some of the comments and some of my emails to DH around that time into a virtual scrapbook of sorts for exactly the same reason.

On my due date I got an email from babycentre.com saying congratulations on your newborn. I sent one back saying "Are you taking the p?" because I was fed up of waiting.

It's easy to forget how emotional that time was and what a great support network we started back then.

Wow - feel like I haven't posted in ages (well I haven't!). We have moved into our rented flat now. The move was horrific - my first proper move really - only ever had rented furnished accommodation before. Our new flat is lovely and Luke loves it as it's just before the planes touch down at City airport so he's always pointing at the sky. We've only just got the internet so I haven't kept up at all and I've probaly missed shag loads. I'm not even going to attempt to catch up so sorry if I have missed anything or anyone's exciting news.

Luke has the worst nappy rash ever. he has blisters now. He is teething and has three coming through at once, two front ones and one giant molar (even though he only has his front 4 so far - a molar!!). I feel so sorry for him as he screams in pain when I change his nappy. He's also gone really weird with food. Lots of frustrated crying. I think it may have something to do with him wanting to feed himself. Anyone else have this?

Poppy - tried out the fertility monitor this month. It's really good as it gave me my peak days on day 11 and 12 and Mark and I had been 'trying' on day 13 and 14. Fingers crossed for this month - 6 months now.

Hope everyone is doing well. x

Amber, flat sounds great, move sounds horrific, how long till you get into your new house? Have you tried Metanium on Luke's bum, it is the only thing that works for E - she gets the same terrible blisters (tho not for a while now). I don't like to say I told you so... but I did say last month you might not be shagging on the right days! I OV on day 18, if I wasn't taking my temps I would have been trying day 14 ish too and getting nowhere!

Yes I have had that with the feeding. T started refusing all, so now I put a dish in front of him (with suction) give him the spoon and just try to help him as much as I can cause he can't control the spoon very well and flicks the food out of the bowl. He does get a lot in his mouth tho too, obviously he is getting better with practice.

PP, the old threads are such an amazing way to jog your memory aren't they!

Fraser will only feed himself now - i haven't been able to spoon anything into him for ages! We just give him a larger portion to account for the amount that ends up on the floor!

Quick question for eBay experts - I've won two items from same seller. If she agrees to combine postage how does that work? Obviously if I pay just now the postage costs are automatically added.

Sorry about nappy rash Amber, another metanium fan here. Have you had it checked out at the docs? Sometimes it can be a fungal thing going by what I've read on the nappy boards.