January 2009 - "This is halloween, this is halloween, babies wake in the dead of night..."

[VerySpookyLennipillar]

A homage to the Nightmare Before Christmas song. DH obsessed with that film, we all (DD included) have to watch it on Christmas Eve.

Thanks Tree! Hope you feel bettter come the morning.
Right...five more lesson plans then bed!

Hi HKZ, I will be thinking of you and little J on Thursday. As Tree said, we would all be feeling the same in your shoes. I was bad enough when ds2 had to go into theatre to have a minor op with just a local anaesthetic when he was a baby.

Right, I too am off to bed before dd starts her nightly teething ritual.

morning

horray for dd1 going back to school

HKZ, how scary and stressful, will be thinking of you.

Hi all.

Oh I am sooooooo tired. I don't dare nap as I did yesterday, got 40 mins and felt utterly crap when I had to wake up. So am sat here with watery eyes and aching bones. Also backache and shivers. Nice!!

School photos today. DD1 wouldn't get up, didn't surface till 7.30 and we had to leave at 8.10. If you wanted a sibling in the photo they wanted you in at 8.30. Finally left in pouring rain at 8.20, arrived in good time. Then sat and waited till 9.10. I know it couldn't be he;ped but oh my I could have done without it today. By then both dd's looked totally messy and harassed so lordy knows what sort of pic will turn up.

Hatts was so grumpy yesterday and last night. She slept with me, she kept waking up, shouting and screeching, then going straight back to sleep after 4 gulps of milk Am hoping for a less screechy day today.

New pushchair!! Lurrrve it. So nice and shiny.

Morning Tree

Dd was the same last night, very little sleep, lots of waking and shouting and then totally wide awake at 4.30! Gave her a feed (haven't fed her at night for months and months) and she eventually went back to sleep at 6 and slept till 9.30. Great as we have to be up at 6.50. Fortunately, dh took the boys to school for me, so I didn't have to wake her.

My boys' photo was a shocker this year. Have bought one copy as we have one every year and it would be a shame to miss this year out. Ds1 never looks like him on school photos, which is really odd as he always looks gorgeous on any other photos and is really photogenic.

Glad you are loving your new pushchair.

Dd is determined to stand up this morning. She doesn't want to pull herself up, she just sort of squats with both feet flat on the floor, then pushes up with her hands. She hasn't managed to get totally upright yet, still quite wobbly, but she is definitely getting there.

Oh and she pulled dh's cd rack over on her head last night. I told him it had to go as she would end up doing that, but would he listen - well, er no - he is after all a man. I notice its still in here this morning, despite her being in the room with just him when it happened and giving him the fright of his life. Humpf - men!

I'm supposed to be doing some GF baking for ds1 today, but all the recipes seem to ask for weird flours and xantham gum whereas I have Doves Farm Gluten Free Flour and no xantham gum. Have discovered Waitrose is a good place to do the online shop as you can list all their produce first by GF then by suitable for veggies then order from what's left. Doesn't seem that much more expensive either, which is good, as it used to be shocking.

Have bathed my poor old dog this morning and now she isn't speaking to me. She looks and smells lovely though (well as long as you don't let her breathe on you that is). I should trim her nails and pluck her ears as well, but I'm not going to inflict that on her. I was told by her breeder to groom her daily as a pup and she would get used to it, but despite 11 and a half years of grooming she still hates it and actually shakes when she sees the grooming kit. I am really gentle with her as well - honest. Dh is off to the vets with her at 7.00 tonight.

afternoon

hong - good luck

tree -get well soon sure pics will look great
ye for pushchair

mm - hope sis ok with happenings of friend!!
bet dog looks great

won a bet on sims castaway for my ds nice to buy myself something

cant decide should i buy dd2 for her 1st bday elc whizz around garage or firsherprice little people garage

books - yes same prob we are going up to dhs parents 6 hour journey to hull 23rd of dec - 29th of dec. all very stressful car full of stuff we are staying in a hotel though

HKZ - Good luck for tomorrow, hope it brings answers and is over quickly. Will be thinking of you.

Moose - Hope dog goes ok at the vets tonight, I know what you mean about the pitfalls of pet ownership, I think we are getting there with our boxer sadly. He is not himself lately, grumpy and a bit unpredictable. He is only 7 but despite trips to the vets nothing seems to be specifically wrong, just various neck issues. I am hoping it is just old age making him grumpy.

Christmas - when DD was born we made the decision that we wanted her to wake up in her own house on Christmas morning, I think it is more magical that way. Once they are old enough to no longer believe in Santa we might travel to relatives again but for now we are staying put. I tell everyone they are more than welcome to come here but as yet haven't had anyone take me up on the offer . We always make arrangements to see PILs on Christmas morning to exchange gifts and my Mum, GPs and siblings at some point in the Christmas week. I think it spreads the magic out a bit rather than having the whole focus on one day which can sometimes end up being a bit of a damp squib. I also love to cook so would be sad not to have the opportunity, and we used to go to PILs before the DCs and found it was a pain since we couldn't both drink! Politics, politics. My book says once you have your own children you become family enough not to have to go to anyone if you don't want, but then my name is probably mud for it. And then of course I have the DCs birthdays both within a few days of Christmas so there are plenty of opportunities to see family.

Thanks Lenni.

Dh is back and the news isn't good. There are basically three options.

1. Mandibulectomy (having her jawbone removed). Followed by radiotherapy.

1. Debulking of the tumour with radiotherapy as a follow up.

1. Management/palliative care in the form of anti-inflammatories and pain relief.

I am very angry with the vets. 2 separate lumps that I had brought to their attention at previous visits have today been identified as tumours. Both times I was told that old dogs get lumpy and bumpy and I shouldn't worry about it. I even pointed one out as a melanoma and they said it was a wart, but a different vet has today identified it as melanoma!

Its horrible as it feels like a repeat performance of when I lost my beautiful boxer cross. On that occasion I did the research and told them what type of cancer he had, but the screwed up the biopsy and then told me I was wrong. I told them I didn't think they should operate to remove the tumour as with that particular type of cancer it causes it to redouble its growth and actually accelerates the disease both locally and in terms of mestatases. They told me I was wrong and it was a low grade,, locally contained tumour. 9 months later the original tumour had returned but grew to three times the size in the space of a week and ruptured. When he was scanned he has secondaries in every organ of his body and we had to let him go. Ds 1 was 10 days old and it was heartbreaking. I should have stuck to my guns then and I am determined not to let my little old girl down the same way now.

Dh saw a lovely vet tonight who gave her a thorough check over, and talked it all through. Apparently she feels the same as us, that if she was a 4/5 year old dog, it might be worth going for some radical intervention, but as she is almost 12 and the treatment options are all really major and hard for dogs to cope with, she is of the opinion that it probably wouldn't be fair to put her through it.

Anyway, she is off for a long weekend with dh's parents in their caravan on Thursday. She absolutely loves going and laps up the full on princess treatment she gets from them. I feel a bit sad and don't want her to go now, but that's purely selfish as she gets much more one to one attention with them, plus more walks and the opportunity to sleep on their bed!

Moose - I'm so so sorry about doggy I hope she enjoys her weekend.

Books - glad Christening went well.

((((((((((((hugs))))))))))) for Moose x

Thanks Tree

MM for doggy and you and the whole family - always a hard decision no matter how clear-cut and rational you can try to be... hope you have lots of people to hold your hand as you hold hers ...

books your xmas suggestion sounds entirely rational and really generous - really, I think we have to learn to be thick-skinned when it comes to the ILs sometimes - just brightly put your suggestion out there, as a lovely invitation, and leave it at that.... am loving Lenni's approach, and as long as you are openly inviting people around to yours, then what can they really bitch or moan about?

Luckily xmas here is very easy as MIL is german and does it all on xmas eve - then we can wake up here, have stockings and special breakfast, go riding and then go to my Mums for lunch and the rest of the day .

Books, your suggestion seems very reasonable to me, and I speak as someone who is very happy to be going to my mum's for the third year in a row, DS1's 3rd Christmas, as we couldn't do it for 9 years because of dp's work in residential care amd the possibility of his mum wanting to come and stay with us. He now works office hours with some flexibility as he's a full time union rep - meetings, phone and email work. The first year back in Ilkley dp went and got her and she came too, but now she's in residential care.

When I was a child we always went to my mum's parents for Christmas, until much later when they came to stay with us.

But this is totally a personal choice, and I have to say I'm glad that staying with inlaws has never been the problem.

morning

mm about dog

dog about money

have been to jolly babies and mothercare received mothercare vouchers from our trust found bought bracken playskool busy gears for bday,gloworm for xmas,parrot maraca for now and shaker

moose, very sorry to hear about your dog

dog, for you, absolutely appalling behaviour on the part of the woman dp did work for. i hope she is planning to pay you at some point soon?

books, glad the christening went well. i think your offer to have everyone for xmas is generous and makes much more sense than anyone driving as far as your bil would have to. i am with lenni on the small ones waking uo at home, i have to say, wherever the rest of the day is spent.

c is teething again , she slept really restlessly last night and i have broken out the calpol again.... oh well, hopefully these ones will come down quicker than the last lot.

dog, c's dad says he has 'to talk to some people' and will get back to us soon. i am assuming that this means that he is working on talking his partner into it, but we'll see.

horrible day here, hope it's better where you all are

decided dont like gloworm will swap for wooden hammer and pegs
i would much rather stay here for xmas but have to put that thought to back of head

stripey I have my fingers crossed for you - his comment sounds really positive I think. It must be such a sensitive situation! But having had the generosity and will to father C, there must have always been the small question of a sibling too in the back of his mind. Really hope it works out for you. You sound remarkably chilled out about it, but I guess it won't help anyone to start stressing out about it.

tink shopping sounds good.

dog could you talk to woman and explain your situation, and come up with a payment plan? Sounds like even if she gave you £50 now that would help. We sometimes have a similar situation when people cancel a holiday with us at the last minute because it's raining, and my OH is so relaxed about getting deposits from people (ie often doesn't bother) - then it's no late to book that space out again - it's no good. Strangely enough they don't cancel when they have already paid the deposit however hard it's raining!

Just popped on here to say best wishes for tomorrow hkz, will be thinking of you. I am sure J will be in very safe hands. Sweet little man. Would wish you luck but you won't need it.

Rib eye steaks for dinner - lush

Hi everyone.

Thats crap Dog. Arse.

Tink - where did you get trust fund? Haven't doen ours yet and would love some spends

..Hatts up- gotta go...x

missj - every time i start feeling wound up about it, i remind myself of the driving around at night we did when she was about eight weeks old... also, there's no guarantee that my pelvic floor would survive no.2, and that's definitely worthy of consideration...

poor little girl is sleeping really restlessly again, every few minutes there's a little bit of crying on the monitor, but when i check she is asleep. stupid teeth.

hkz - good luck tomorrow, will be thinking of you

HKZ - Good luck. Be all over this time tomorrow. x