October 08 - More birthdays to go!

[CantSleepWontSleep]

10th Sept (Due 1st Oct) - loulou33 - Boy - Joe Louis David - 6lbs 12oz
16th Sept (Due 8th Oct) - Ksal - Girl - Emma Rae - 6lbs
21st Sept (Due 5th Oct) - myjobismum - Girl - Naomi Caitlin - 5lbs 10oz
2nd Oct (Due 12th Oct) - star6 - Boy - Quinlan - 5lbs 15oz
3rd Oct (Due 26th Sept) - purpleflower - Girl - Rebecca Jill Erzsebet - 8lbs 10.5oz
4th Oct (Due 30th Sept) - Aubergenie - Boy - Stanley - 7lbs 12oz
8th Oct (Due 6th Oct) - ronshar - Boy - William Dexter - 7lbs 11oz
9th Oct (Due 17th) - Marthasmama - Girl - Martha - 7lbs 10oz - Elective c-sec
10th Oct (Due 1st Oct) - CantSleepWontSleep - Boy - Duncan Elliot - 8lbs 4oz
12th Oct (Due 4th Oct) - pistachio - Boy - Thomas Fraser - 10lbs 2oz
16th Oct (Due 11th Oct) - heather1980 - Boy - Alexander James - 9lbs 5oz
17th Oct (Due 10th Oct) - pepperrabbit - Girl - Jessica Rose - 7lbs 15.5oz
24th Oct (Due 29th Oct) - Ekka - Boy - Matthew - 7lbs 15oz
26th Oct (Due 20th Oct) - jenwa - Girl - Phoebe Jasmine - 9lbs 2.5oz
28th Oct (Due 23rd Oct) - RachieW - Boy - Jack - 7lbs 4oz
31st Oct (Due 20th Oct) - KnickersOnMaHead - Boy - Samuel Paul - 9lbs 11oz
5th Nov (Due 29th Oct) - Honeymoonmummy - Girl - Poppy Grace - 6lbs 15oz
5th Nov (Due 30th Oct) - MamaG - Boy - Harry James - 10lbs 9oz

Ooh well done D! I went straight to bed once Poppy was asleep last night (9) I was so tired. She slept thro till about 5.30 thank god.

CSWS, I agree re change of season, I hate this time of year.

Can we give them decaf tea by the way? Is everyone still giving just water? Do you offer it between meals? I don't cos she is still on milk mid-morning and mid-afternoon.

Tea contains tannins which stop absorption of vitamins and minerals, so best to stay off all except herbal ones at this point.

Ds has a cup of water with every meal, and on offer throughout the day, esp when in car. He has milk before breakfast, sometimes mid-afternoon, at bedtime, and once in the night.

Knickers I'm sorry I forgot to wish S a happy birthday yesterday. Hope he had a great day

CSWS- Well done D! I've started to try to give J a bowl with a bit of dinner and a spoon, he's slowly getting there. Since playing with my cousin's 3yr old dd on Thursday he has started to feed his monkey with an empty bowl and spoon so he's getting the idea. Just going to take him a bit longer to realise he can feed himself too

morning.
I have a horrid hangover
I went out looking like this , then I had some wine and looked like this , then I had a tiny bit more wine, and some dancing and began to look like this
I had a fab time, (and got my witches hat safely home!) but I remember exactly why 3 glasses of wine is my limit....
DH thinks it's hilarious.

Hi all

Hope S had a lovely birthday Knicks - just two more to go now!

Did you all do Halloweenny stuff yest? We went to York Maze Hallowe'en thing and it was FAB. Fancy dress parade, haunted tractor ride (REALLY scary - we were all in a trailor being pulled by tractor through cornfields and a digger chased us being driven by a pumpkin - the digger had a big bucket with a top that opened and closed like big teeth! the kids loved it.

We went begging trick or treating too which went down very well. BabyG was a pirate with a teeny cute eyeliner moustache! DS1 was a vampire and DD was a zombie. Nice!

Your dh isn't the only one pepper!

Your halloween night sounds fab mamag! We sent dd on a playdate who took her trick or treating, so we got to stay home. We are too remote to get people round, so we just had a peaceful early evening with ds, and dh picked up dd whilst I put him to bed.

Hi all

to new layout!

50ft glad you had nice hols

star for you and feeling so down, you deserve to be treated better than you are, You are worth alot more than you think and Q is very very lucky to have a lovely mummy who is so kind and caring like you are. Your DH is also very lucky but he is not at all seeing it, you DO need to get away for a bit and make him realise what he is missing and also give yourselves a break.

Busy here, had christening to go to, party and meet ups etc. Shattered and need sleep. All ok apart from a headache again but DH off work tomorrow so we having a chill day, have told dd1 she can paint our faces what was I thinking!!!!

Hi all! Happy birthday for yesterday S, sorry Knickers! MamaG, whereabouts do you live?

We've had messy play with cornflour gloop today, lots of fun I've had a good day today [thank god you all say!!!]

DH said my trial birthday cake was "one of the best sponge cakes he's ever tasted" And he NEVER sings false praises so that's high praise indeed! So I'm gonna go with the big cake after all and hope that the pig face goes OK... The main problem with the trial cake was that the outside was "well done" and rose a lot in the middle, the "crust" was a bit hard, but the inside was cooked perfectly. I think I preheated the oven too hot, could that be it? I had it on 20 gas marks too hot for about 30 mins before putting the cake in. C'mon all you baking experts, impart your wisdom!

I can't believe Pops is 1 on Thursday, it's just been the quickest year!

MamaG sounds like you had an excellent Halloween. We didn't go out as we had the family back after J's party but I did carve a pumpkin and have a big bowl of sweets for all the trick or treaters.

Glad you've had a busy but good weekend Jenwa and to facepainting. Will pics go on fb?

HMM- I cooked my cake on gas mark 3 but that was a maderia cake. I just checked my cookery bible, 'Mary Berry's Complete Cooking' and she says gas mark 4 for a sponge, what temp did you use. Another tip from MB is if the cake looks like it's browning on top then cover it with foil. I've not tried this before but if the great B has it in her book then I'm sure it will work. I normally only warm the oven for about 10mins too. Once you ice it though no one will be able to tell about the crust. I bet it will look great, will you put pics up. Have you started doing the 'this time last year I was' thing yet? I did it from what should have been my due date onwards, couldn't help it

Am in cumbria HMM but moving soon

What size cake tin are you using? I'd say slightly lower temp for, perhaps, a bit longer. I do the foil-thing as well if a cake looks like its going a bit brown.

Ah, it's not 20 gas marks higher, it's the other one I can't remember the exact temp, maybe 160?

MamaG, yay a fellow Northerner!! I'm a Cheshire lass. Good point re the foil.

How are you feeling now Star? I've been thinking of you x

I'm off to bed anyway, promised myself earlier today I'd be in bed for 10 every night, oops!

Leaving Pops with my mum and uncle (her godfather) for first time, she's been round loads but can't do any lifting so not been able to leave her on her own and my mum and dad divorced. Should be interesting, I'd love to be a fly on the wall (altho that would rather defeat the object) I'm off to work for a chat from the big cheese (to all of us, not just me) Nothing sinister (I hope!)

Oh, I forgot to say, dad got his official "all clear" from the colonoscopy, no cancer thank god!

Have you got yours yet 50ft?

Where are you moving to anyway, MamaG? I just know you're going to say down south!!!

No, def not moving down south, I'm a northerner through and through!

Good news about your Dad

Re cake - you prob will get a "dome" effect when its cooked, so when it has cooled down, just slice off the domed bit with a serrated knife and then turn upside down and you have a lovely flat top to decorate

Hi all. ok here. Not feeling great, but trying to sort through it!

MamaG and CSWS sounds like a lovely halloween!
pepper my limit is 2, too.
HMM I hope the cake turns out well. We call that stuff "oobleck". It's fun, isn't it?
RAchie - sometimes I do that this time last year, thing. I try not to, though, as it sometimes interferes with me enjoying what's happening at this time this year It's SO hard not to, though.

Jenwa - thank you. I'd like to do that, but for many reasons, I can't. Thank you for your kind words, though.

Agree about the juice pistachio. I've seen kids so hooked on it that I want Q to appreciate and like water. He eats plenty of fruit, so there's really no need for juice at all.

star I'm so sorry you're having a rough time. I don't come on here often enough to really have a voice and giv eyou any advice, but I wanted to just add a bit of support.

I'm doing the "this time last year" now. It started on 30 Oct when I woke up and thought "ooh this time last year when I woke up, I remember thinking that I'm due tomorrow"

I need to decide what sort of cake to make BabyG. Thinking just a lovely sponge nad letting DD and DS1 loose on it to decorate

jenwa - sounds like fun - guess you'll be staying indoors then!
HMM - good news about your dad - and for having a good day
star -how are you today?

In bits here today, after feeling grim most of yesterday (self inflicted) DD had an atrocious night last night. No idea what's wrong with her, finally settled her at 12.30 and she woke again at 4.15am. I look a lot more scary than most of the trick or treaters now!
Tried calpol and nurofen avan though she didn't have a temp, she wasn't thirsty/hungry/dirty. She might have been cold we think, whats the view on extra layers with a grobag????
I was thinking maybe a long sleeve Tshirt under her sleepysuit - can't decide whether to put a sleeveless vest under as well?
Too tired to make a rational decision really. And it's an inset day for school and preschool so I have all of them, all day....

and to add to my dilemmas, MIL has asked to be a "friend" on fb. Bleagh.
She'll know if I ignore her, and it seems tempting rude just to delete her.

Q sleeps in a onesie (I think you call it a baby vest - the t-shirt like thing that snaps under his nappy) and a fleece sleepsuit and sometimes a grobag (a warm one!) as well. That boy loves to be warm (he's not sweating!! don't worry) and if he is not warm, he wakes VERY often. If he is warm, he sleeps through soundly. I'm sure others will disagree.

I'm ok. Not great. It will be fine. Just

pepper -is that the MIL who makes you sleep in the barn when you visit? hmmmm I wonder if there's a special category in which you can put her on your fb list

Pepper - I think M is feeling the cold too. She is in her 2.5 tog grobag and still feels a bit cool at night. I have been trying to find velour sleepsuits as they are meant to be warmer. Alas, I had no joy but I did get her a couple of sets of flannel PJs (proper old man ones) and they seem to keep her warmer at night. Underneath she wears a short sleeved popper vest thingy. I remember when ds was a baby you could get wadded sleep suits in Baby Gap but they don't seem to do them anymore. I was considering getting a duvet for M instead of the Grobags as from age 1 they can have 4 tog duvets. Ideally though I would wait until next winter for that as M is much too wiggly at the moment. As for the MIL issue, I would delete it no question about it!!! But then my MIL would know better than to try and friend request me on Facebook (not that she's on it). Tricky one though.......

Hello everyone. I have been at my mum's over the weekend as her brother and sisters were over to visit before my brother jets off to snow board in Canada for 6 months! I have a horrible sore throat and am feeling sorry for myself.

Hmm - No, still no news. I have given up trying to contact the doctor. Good news about you dad.

50ft - jojo maman bebe has lovely velour sleepsuits and yes, they indeed are quite warm. Fleece sleepsuits we got handed down to us - the brands were carters, gymboree, polartec.

A friend of mine got some from here

or just type in fleece sleepsuit on google or ebay, even Q loves his and he is so snuggly cuddly in them.

Oh, and when Q doesn't wear a sleeping bag, he uses his baby Duvet. Loves it.

I've had the duvet in his cot from age 10.5 months! He is very wiggly and sometimes ends up on his tummy on top of it, but he is always absolutely fine