May 09 - Six months on. Sleepless nights, hen nights and a sexybuilder.

[HeadlessLadyH]

Over here!!!!

hi all.
ses, thanks for the Happy Thanksgiving - i really miss my family on this holiday so feeling a bit homesick.

flippin, do you like your GP? if so, I suggest you do lean on him/her whilst you wait for your 'turn' to come up for counselling.

blotted, at the maternity pay thing and redundancy. i don't understand why you have to pay back since it's the company's mistake in the 1st place. if I were asked to pay back mine, I wouldn't know how to do it! Hope things work out for you.

tummum, hope dd's arm mends quickly.

Harper has been unsettled. she cries throughout her meals, even if she's not tired. she arches her back sometimes so perhaps it's tummy cramps? if I then wait about 1/2 hour after 1st trying to feed her, she seems a bit calmer and more accepting to food. but then, she started screaming again right before I put her down for her nap. gave her teething powder as well which may have helped as she's now dropped off for her nap.

ELC run this afternoon for some gift-buying. I'm hoping the crowds have calmed down from this morning - it was mad when I went in about 10ish, I turned right back round and came home. I loathe christmas shopping.

Hi Blotted Nice to see you. I've seen your work woes on FB and can't imagine what you must be going through. Hope someone comes with some good advice for you. Did you go to the CAB in the end?

flippin How annoying about the counsellor. I suppose the NHS is a bit short on cash for what they see as lower priority problems, but this is no good. IMO PND or any kind of depression is a condition that need early and quick intervention. Hope talking to your GP in the mean time will help.

fi unfortunately I'm a touch too far from you, but if I stilled lived in the midlands I could have done it in a day.
Your delicious cake offerings would have definitely got me over there double quick

tummum I was really scared about the plaster cast being removed with dd, I imagined noisy circular saws, but in the end it just popped off, because the initial swelling had gone. In fact dd1 just pulled it off while we were waiting to be seen to have it removed . I also completely understand what you mean with your relationship. That's why I had decided to do a little less MN this week than I have done, so DH and I can spend some time together at night. We've also pencilled ourselves in for the annual Pilot's Ball in Jan, so that'll be a lovely adult only evening and a chance to go all out in the dressing up stakes

momi Happy thanksgiving + good luck with your ELC trip. I've decided on internet xmas shopping this year. Got most people's, but got a few more to go.

We had a lovely day here so far. C and I went for m&b swimming lessons. She loved it again. It doesn't seem to matter how grumpy she is, as soon as she's in the pool she's all happy and smiles.

Better go and do some homework with dc1&2, DH will be at work overnight, so will be on here tonight.

Quick test

tummum- glad you and your DH have agreed to make more effort and have some adult only time. I worry about my relationship with DH (but i have done after having each DC) and i think things will improve now DS2 is out of our room so we can talk in bed (and other stuff without fear of waking him. Well when I say he's out of our room, he starts the night in the nursery, but ends up in our room if he wakes too much as we have a flight of stairs to his room. We also need to have some nights out on our own.

We have been doing some sleep training the last 2 nights (offering water if he won't settle) and it seems to be improving things, but i feel a bit mean now, as he is on ABs for a possible chest infection and is really full of cold . I felt very proud that i managed to keep calm and keep DS1 and DS2 entertained at the doctors this morning, as we had a 80 minute wait . It was partly as they were running late, but partly as the guy in before me was taken ill so they had to call an ambulance.

Oh I meant to say I would also like to gategrash the return of the grumps meetup . New Year is good for me. Sorry things didnt work out in France, but i am impressed you had the nerve to give it a go and not surprised you all missed your DH so it's nice for you all to be back together again soon.

Fi I'm in Stafford DP very rarely uses salt in his cooking, so I may just bite the bullet and give J some of our food.

We have had a nightmare of a day I've noticed a funny smell in DD room for a little while now, well today I decided to move her furniture, and was absolutely shocked to find mould on the walls, and the wall alongside her bed is sopping wet and covered in mould! I took off some paper and the walls are black. Her wardrobe is ruined, so are her drawers, aload of her teddies and toys etc which were under her bed she's been crying, it's just been horrible, I hadn't noticed it, because her furniture had been there, but it's ruined now. She can't sleep in her room, so I don't know where she's going to go now, it's just a nightmare.

Afternoon everyone,
Lots of chat to read.

Both DCs woke at 4.30am for the day. That was fun . DH and I are both operating on 4/5 hours sleep today. I think I might go back to the doc tomorrow just to see if there is anything they can give me. I'm sure I have a throat infection. Also my dreaded rash is back after fading off a bit on Friday and Saturday.

I'm up for meeting up but not sure if I can face central London with my P & T. As long as its toddler friendly I'm up for it!!

Blotted Sorry to hear about the redundancy. It must be worrying. Do you have a plan??

Tummum Some time alone with DH sounds like a good plan. I still need to reorganise our night out I had to cancel due to illness but now there's christmas and all that that entails so it might be January before we get a chance.

I started writing this post about 5 hours ago so I better catch up again before I write anymore.

Jael Oh no!! Are you renting? Will your Landlord sort it out for you?? Poor DD, where will she sleep tonight?
Good Luck with trying to give J some of what you are having. DD loves lasagne for her I just cut it up into bite size pieces and R would have the mince and cheese sauce on a spoon and I'd give him the pasta to throw on the floor eat as finger food.

If anyone is looking for an easy BLW meal I made spanish omelette tonight fry onions, red pepper and cooked potato and throw over a couple of beaten eggs. DD hoovered it up and R ate lots of it too. He is also loving satasumas at the moment.

Evening all, Quick post while DH does bathtime.

Jael so sorry to hear about your damp. Can the toys go through the washing machine? I vaguely remember an episode of 'how clean is your house' where they washed mouldy teddies in the washing machine inside a pillow case. Might be worth a post in the good housekeeping section to see if anything is salvageable. Are you insured?

tum I think llare and I worked out that you are about half way in between the two of us so perhaps if we get around to organising that meetup we never had we could do it in your neck of the woods? The time with DH sounds like a good plan - the one night out DH and I have had since A came along was really nice and made us realise we need to spend a bit of time on ourselves as well as A.

febes thanks for the recipe will try that one.

Right feeding time at the zoo, better go.

Yeah were privately renting, so weve been in touch with the letting agency, who have sent someone round to have a look, and they have said that DD's room needs a breeze block type brick putting in, as it's condensation making all the damp, FIL to be has come round and had a look tonight though, and thinks that it is caused by water somehow getting in through the ceiling and down the walls, possibly by the guttering, the man who came round didn't check this,or the roof etc, and just wanted to get away really. But DD's room needs damp treating, the mould needs getting rid of and it needs completely redecorating. I've peeled some paper off and the plaster is so wet I can stick my finger in it She's not going to be in her room for Christmas She'll have to sleep on the floor somewhere for now FIL to be in bringing the camp bed from his house for her to use at the weekend. We can't move her bed into the 3rd room, the playroom, as it's too tiny. This is just so Some toys will wash, some won't,like her Fluffy Go Walkies, which she's been crying about, and a couple of her In The Night Gardgen talking toys. Weve got contents insurance, I'm not sure how anything like this works, I've never had to claim for anything before. We definately can't afford to pay to replace new furniture and toys mount up! Thank goodness her bed is ok!

belgina . But will be thinking of you this weekend with your GM.

jael oh no. What a nightmare. Good suggestion from running tho about washing in a pillow case. Hope they are salvagable. Your poor DD. Where is she sleeping?

pula will be interested to hear how your sleep training goes. We are considering doing this at Christmas if R hasn't improved by then. He's got 4 weeks to sort himself out!! And 80 min wait at the doctors.

Proud mummy alert! DS1 swam a whole length at the pool this afternoon for the first time. He was so pleased with himself. DH didn't believe him when he told him but I had witnessed the whole thing.

Jael - how awful for you and DD I think your contents insurance will pay out but I know it's not the same as the originals.

Pula - good luck with the sleep training. Another one watching here how you get on (no pressure! ) I did see your FB post the other day about being able to sit in bed and watch tv. I'm waiting for that day!
LOL at return of the grumps

Febes - great recipe idea, thanks!

Headless - well done to DS1!!

Tummum - DH time would be good here. My cousin has offered to babysit so we can go out one evening. Just have to organise it - don't know why I haven't taken her up on it yet!

flippin - that's a disgraceful wait. I think if I were you I'd lean on your GP.

Belgina - love the new name!
Thinking of you and your family.

Momino - hope your trip to ELC was successful

Headless- what a talented DS1 you have- a length at his age is very impressive .

Unfortunately, the sleep training will now be on hold until S is better, as he is on anti-bs and tonight he vomited exorcist-style over himself, me, the chair and the wall. It was all his tea, medicine and milk but i didn't want to risk feeding him again and just put him down. So i expect to be feeding him in the night tonight.

A-righ????

Cor you lot are a right bunch o' smashers. I'd been dreading saying I was coming home (tail between legs), felt like a failure. You've all made me feel better - I am glad I gave it a go. Perhaps a different house would have made for a different outcome but there you go....The girls have enjoyed themselves and have made some lovely friends here but are keen to go home now. They've had a superb grounding in French.

The bad bit is the animals. The dog will have to either stay with a friend of mine here or go into quarantine kennels until March and I need to find a new home for the cat. The cat is now unpleasantly plump and farty (I really don't know why - I feed him the correct amount of decent food, I think he's got another family somewhere) but he and the dog have become firm friends. It's bloody heartbreaking.

belgina me likey new name, I too will be thinking of you this w/end.

jael God how awful about the room, your poor DD . I hope you can salvage some of the toys.

flip meant to say yay to poo!!!!

momi Happy Thanksgiving (today/yesterday??)

running we have almost the same aged lo's (1 day apart?) - wonder if they're at similar stages?

blotted total shite re your work and DH's work - I see your FB updates and read your blog. I'm afraid I don't have advice, just masses of sympathy (and some cluckings at your gorgeous kids - I love your photos)

Arse. DD2 awakens - she has an ear infection and is being feeble

Back soon

Oh and I'm singing 'Return of the Grumps' to the tune of 'Return of the Mack'.

My own theme tune

Trumpygrumpylala, pah, you are, like, SO not a failure, innit. I think you have been tres brave... see it as a tester of waters for purchasing une maison de vacances!

Fi and Llare - omg, each time I visit my parents we end up going to Cribbs-ies - if you plan something well in advance, count me in!

Jael - your poor DD - hope the insurance thing works out.

Blotted - jeeez, that's terrible. Have no advice, but sympathies.

Momimimominooo happy thanksgiving! Go stuff yerself on turkey n stuff!

Belgiarina ballerina - so sorry about your grandma, I was devastated when my granny was ill, so warm hugs to you, and manly slap on back to your DH.

Not going to party on Saturday night now. Have thought about it, and its actually a friend who I haven't seen for 2 years, I got no congrats (not even a text) when M was born, never get hellos on birthdays, xmas etc... so not sure why I want to traipse all the way to bloody Lambeth (doing the Lambeth walk, oi!) to go to a party where I'll only know her, and we can only stay for about 2 hours anyway.... but fear not! DH and I are still going to make the best of bonkers ILs M-sitting, and we are going out for a nice dinner. Dunno where, but we will, and we plan to get a bit squiffy and romantic n stuff.

Lalalala.

RIGHT I AM GOING TO DO SOME WORK!!!!!!

Right, DH is away for the night. The computer is MMMIIIINNNNEEEE again I can MN to my hearts' content! But I'm a teeny weeny bit with him as he woke up C by going into the bedroom to collect some stuff. That woke her up and it took me over half an hour to get her back to sleep after she'd gone to sleep earlier without so much as a peep, sigh... BUT it's OK now and I've got my secret Belgian style crisps out and will enjoy my lonely evening now.

grumpytrumpy How could you have thought we would think you're a failure! If you hadn't gone on your French adventure, then you would probably always have wondered "What if..." and at least now you know it's not for you. Your girls will have got memories of their time in France to last them a lifetime and like you said a brilliant grounding in French. Maybe your PND was also made worse because of the whole house/missing DH situation? Hope you sort out a good solution for your dog soon. I didn't know that you still had to have dogs in quarantine after a stay in Europe, I thought that had finished after the pet passport was introduced. Hope your farty cat gets a loving new home too

jael How bad about your dd's bedroom. I'd also give it all a wash. It's ruined anyway and maybe a wash might rescue some of her toys. I'd even try to wash the electronic things. I've done it before with musical baby toys and after a good drying out they still worked. Could you put just her mattress on the floor in the playroom? I suppose it's been extra wet these last few weeks, so the problem has been made worse.

headless Congrats to your DS for swimming a length. That's very very good. My ds only managed that at the age of 7!

MrsSaus Sounds like the right decision to me re the party. You'll probably have a better evening by having a you and DH only meal. Hmm, might suggest that one to DH some time soon.

pula Poor DS, hope the abx take hold soon and that he's better soon.

evening belgina love the new name glad you got c back to sleep... dh has done the same thing from time to time also and it really pi**es me off too.

jael so sorry to hear about the damp in dd's bedroom and dd's toys. I hope it is sorted quickly... i'm not sure what you do to fix damp...

grumpy I think you're fantastic for having such an adventure and just think if you hadn't have gone you'd not discovered the wonderful housecoats it will be a wrench for you to re-home the cat but i'm sure quarantine time for the pooch will speed by.

blotted i've been reading your blog and fb updates and thought your work were shocking for making such a huge error I hope you've managed to get some advice on what to do?

happy thanksgiving momino albeit a bit late and hope the elc wasn't too bad.

flippin lean on your gp if you can... it's dreadful you are still waiting.

pula that's awful the wait was so long.. it's happened to us and it was a complete nightmare.

tummum ikwym about needing to spend more time with our dh's... we normally do a dvd night on a friday night. The rest of the week he's generally off to bed at 9pm because he has to be up so early next day. Tonight he went off to bed at 7.30 as he's full of the man flu cold.

i'm reaaaaallllly tired tonight but not as bad as earlier in the week when we had the 4am starts like you febes I hope you're tucked up in bed trying to zzzzzz.

ooo and headless well done to your ds

I've started a thread for a possible cribbs meet up on our fb group too...

G's been very unsettled tonight... i've got her sleeping next to me on the sofa atm as dh is asleep in our room. She's full of the cold poor thing and feeling a bit miserable i think.

There you go. I'm home and online in agaes and no one is around, exept for Fi of course. I've tended my farm and had a play on FB, no what?...

fi Hope G's sleeping gets better. Is she on a slope? That really helps.

me too belgian... and there was rubbish on the telly too. I'm going to turn over to more 4 to watch hung at 10pm... if you've not been watching it... it's not about anyone dying but about a man who apparently is err.... rofl

yes belgina i've got her slightly head elevated and some olbas oil on a muslin next to us... seems to have helped