January 2009 - New year, new buns in various ovens and time for our not so little ones to turn one!

[SherryMerryLennipillar]

Happy 2010 everyone! Cast your mind back to this time last year... [soppy]

Too much wine - excuse for thread title should it be shite rubbish when I read it tomorrow. Thought it was time to wave goodbye to the festive one, although perhaps we should have waited for epiphany?

Wow - massive congratulations Dog so pleased for you. Shall I get a labour thread started for you for around the 16th September d'you think? Is it bad that I am actually excited about your labour thread already?

I don't mind solo bathtime - it is a common afternoon activity when I'm bored here on my own. Solo bedtime an entirely different matter though - pretty much always ends in total chaos, no sleeping children and me drowning myself in wine.

Glad things improving on the sleep front Tree - how did you go at GP? Will go read other thread to find out in a bit. Any eggy news? (Asked this before so feel free to ignore if none, asking again in case you missed it)

Yay to payrise Pat - boo to childcare problems. Hope DD manages to stay put, she does seem to have clicked with that place.

Crappy day here - DD a nightmare. Off her food, high temp and a lot of stroppy screaming... back later...

Yay to payrise Pat! Grand stuff.

Ouor party is Sunday too Ray. Love party bags.

Dog - many congratulations. Wow, you will be on a new anteneal thread. A baby by Sept, that doesn't seem so long away

Had family outing to play gym thing. Unfortunately by time we got there I was so tired I was cranky, dd1 was manica meets manic tired and dd2 was on the edge of meltdown. Were supposed to be doing handprints to mark her birthday but decided it would be a waste of money in the present atmosphere.
Well, I decided. Dh asked me how much it was and never mentioned or asked or gave an opinion again.

We have a sedative for dd2. It feels so wrong, awful and like it's against her rights or something. But this cannot go on, I will be miserable tired at work, and I need to be able to do some housework in the evenings and all that.

at meet up talk. But delighted for you that can make it. Great stuff!

Congrats Pat, I just went htorugh threshold last month, its a nice feeling when you open your pay cheque.

Dog that's brilliant news, I am so happy for you.

MissJ, would defo be up for a drink. I am off out on the piss out for a civilised glass of wine with 120 tonight, so I hope she doesn't lead me astray.

Evening to everyone else and thanks for all being lovely. Am feeling a bit more positive and ready to fget on with things, but its early days so we are very shakey too. Grrr.

hkz, the stripey household is rooting for jude's treatment working as swiftly as possible. i presume the treatment option will become clear after the next biopsy? if there's anything useful at all that we can do, please don't hesitate; i am holding out a huge glass of red in spirit. and virtual hugs, what's more.

happy birthday, h! and esme tomorrow, ray (glad to have your proper name back) tink, i think i missed giving bracken birthday greetings - belatedly happy birthday to her...

moose, dd sounds so cute with her hat and her audience. c initiated peepo today with a basket full of clothes, she has never done that before (initiated it, i mean)

dog, woohoo for your september child! an excellent time of year to be born

books, thanks for letting me know about the fb photo access, have adjusted them all now.

pat, hurrah for pay rise and for alleviation of child care nightmare

well, i have an absolutely evil cold, went back to bed and slept for an hour and a half at lunchtime (dsis took charge of c for me) and i never sleep during the day... it's my mum's 70th tomorrow, i guess i will infect everybody at lunch can't exactly skip it though. might explain why c was such a ratbag on tuesday, she has a slightly snotty nose now so maybe she just felt like crap. i thoguht it was teething, since she is also teething, but maybe not...

am thinking of posting a thread about napping. c keeps having twenty minute naps and seems tired a lot of the time - anybody know if this is a normal one year old phase?

Congrats Pat and Dog thats fabulous news. I've just been paid for the first time in a year too as have gone back to work!

OOOh drinks on you then 120

Evening,

Congratulations on the pay rise Pat.

Stripey, if I remember right babies get into their deep sleep phase around the twenty minute mark, so if she is waking before then she isn't getting enough of the really restful deep sleep, hence being tired a lot of the time. Ds was like that and we ended up resolving to cuddle him for 25 minutes before putting him down at nap times. It seemed to work for him, but it does rely on you being able to put them down without waking them.

Tree, please be kinder to yourself. Try not to think about it being against H's rights, you are doing this for her as much as for yourselves. She will be so much happier once she can settle herself and is getting good quality and quantity sleeps.

Well, dh came home with a huge smile on his face, all proud and excited and told me that he has been invited to the company's big black tie event. Invitations are like hens' teeth, highly coveted and are only given to the most valued employees or highest selling salesmen. Unfortunately, its sort of expected that wives will attend and a bit frowned upon if they don't, which is a bit of a problem for us for several reasons. Firstly, its on 6 Feb in Manchester which is not enough time to make myself look and feel human. Secondly, dd will absolutely not be left with anyone even for a second, let alone a couple of hours, or overnight. Thirdly, the dogs haven't had their kennel cough vaccinations which will cost us around £50 and that's if we could get them in at the kennels at such short notice. So dh is no longer a happy bunny and not looking forward to telling them at work on Monday.

Would've been a free night in a top class swanky hotel as well and truth be told, even though I hate these events I could really do with a night off.

Congratulations on threshold Pat - as you know my biggest teaching regret that all about the money!!

Moose - I really want you to go! Fancy a coffee in Manchester while you are here?

HKZ - Will post on your other thread so I can check in on it but please keep us posted, we are all behind you on this. I am definately up for a mass 2nd birthday meet up for J when it's all over. How about 29/30 Jan 2011? That way is after pay day and sure you'll have family celebrations the actual day. I think we should start planning, am serious btw.

Glad you had a day off work, you really do need time to digest all of this. What do you plan to do about work during the treatment? Maybe this is the right time for you and DH to get round to swapping roles and you go part time for a while? Hope you are enjoying drinks with 120.

Thanks Lenni, but I definitely won't be going for so many reasons. Its far too complicated to organise, I currently look about 20 years older than I am, I have nothing to wear, I need a haircut and my daughter screams even if she's left in the living room with my Mother who she sees regularly, despite the fact that she can see me in the kitchen.

That's exactly what I was thinking about planning a mass get together celebration for J by the way. I though it might give HKZ something positive to aim for/focus on.

Gosh, just had a thought, Dog will have 4 dcs there!

to 4 DCs, Dog is a natural though, she'll be fine!

I think it is a wonderful idea Moose - we should do it. We could probably hire somewhere to stay the night between us all and have a big mummy/baby party with wine and milk.

Happy Birthday H and E - forgot to say before. Hope you've had good days and you are enjoying some sleep now Tree.

Saw some lovely venues when dh and I were looking into renewing our vows. You can hire some lovely properties for the weekend at very good rates out of season.

Perhaps we should leave HKZ to let us know when she feels ok with us throwing some ideas around. Am more than happy to get involved with the organisational side when/if she would like me to.

morning everyone - I've been awol for a while...

Dog - congrats, respect to anyone considering 4 dc's!

HKZ - hope all goes well - thinking of you.

Morning everyone, at work so can't stop, but on my way here I suddenly thought moose there is no reason for you not to set up a fb page with no profile info whatsoever, no name, no photos, nothing, just some random username xyz... then tell us on here, we can add you as a friend and you can at least see all of our pics and updates. You need never post a picture or a single identifying piece of information. Would that work?

Must get back to the grind...

Hope you all having nice weekends.

morning just!!

went to town to pay in some cheques bought dd1 just a small playdoh tool and some choccy for me those cadburys egg heads and mini eggs are 2 yummy!!!

happy 1st 2 esme hope she has a great day

tree - shame gym wasnt so much fun

mm - shame you are missing work event!!

lenni get well soon

Crikey, that 120 can drink (only joking of course we are both sober types ) Sorry about overuse of emoticons.

Happy birhtday Esme!

Happy 70th Grannystripey!

Lenni you are super organised. A mass meet up would definitely be something to look forward to next year, a great way to mark the end of J's treatment (hopefully) and to celebrate all the babies turning two.

Moose, sorry you can't go to DH's work night out. Dogs and children play havoc with your social life...we have a nightmare finding dog sitters...mainly because our dog is so supremely car sick that it is a complete trauma taking him anywhere. I dream of a night away in a hotel room...sleeping without interuption.

I am going to ice the dinosaur for Jude's party tomorrow. Wish me luck

dinosaur cake Feeling quite proud of my cake efforts

HKZ- Its the photo before that one thats your dino cake, but i found it and very good it looks too, well done!!!!!!!!

120 and HKZ- hope you had a good night, I am rather, could have done with a drink after this past week but instead spent the evening waiting for DH to get back from London (got home at 9.45pm in the end).

I would so be up for a massive meet and stay over type thing in next Jan, getting excited already! (still wasn't much doubt that I would go, you know me I just love to meet everyone). Glad that Lenni and moose gonna organise it though I'm crap at those sort of things!

Ray- happy birthday to Esme, hope she has had a great day, birth story?????

Hi Sparkle- nice to hear from you, hope you and the Ds's are well adn your business going well.

MissJ- great idea for mooses incognito . Not long left at work now!!!!

Lenni and all- thanks for the congrats on the payrise, didn't do too much tbh just kind of blagged it but have a meeting with the head next week, possibly where he dumps a load of stuff on me, so watch this space. Still, I am now no longer in negative figures at the end of the month after childcare and bills and they owe me about £600 back pay so yay!!! i can now get the kitchen dresser i have had my eye on

Stripey- happy 70th to Mummystripey, hope you have a good day. I would agree with moose that 20mins is not long enough. Z has about 1-1 and half hours a day but it has been down to nursery that he is such a good daysleeper, nothing to do with me!

Moose- about your DH's work thingy, sounds fun, I always moan about DH's black-tie do's but I do actually enjoy them once I am there.

Tree- Hope party goes well tomorrow and I agree with everyone about the sedative. You.need.a.break!
Fab birth story btw, had me crying with laughter

Dog- Fabbo news about the scan! how exciting that the dog-bean is now forming into a pup. A september birthday is always good too. Does it feel very real now???

So the situation on thursday night was that my CM (also a sort of friend) phoned me to say that she had applied for a job and got it and starts the week after next (3 weeks training that she didn't know about). So she couldn't pick up DD from pre-school on weds and fri and have her in afternoon. Now, I know that it was really crappy and short notice as it is mid-way through term but in her defence she felt awful and her and her DH are skint (he is a landscape gardener who hasn't worked for a month because of the weather and was doing a 3 day week before that) and she didn't know it would start so soon. So although I was and imy main thought was what about DD? Her pre-school is very rural and no CM's nearby to do pick-ups. So I asked at nursery (where she goes mon and tues) but they had no spaces on a weds, so at this rate she was coming to work with me on a weds!!!
Anyway, at drop-off on friday I explained to the treasurer (also a friend) that I would have to pull her out and she has offered to pick her up and have her for those two afternoons, at least as a temporary measure. I am so relieved as I wouldn't have dreamt of asking anyone as its a bit of a commitment but she seems so keen. DD loves her and her DC's and it also means that she can stay at pre-school that she loves. I am looking for something longer term but at the moment this is an ideal solution so I am not so worried.

So nice day today anyway. Went to browse round some shops and then took DC's to large playcentre, Z loves it!!! He especially loves the tunnels and slides, such a daredevil! Had a bite to eat out and then had a nice afternoon at home where DD helped with the housework (wtf!) and helped me make a sausage casserole for tea. She has been strangely good these past few weeks, much more amenable and less argumentative, so I am wondering if the worst of her behaviour is behind us . She is obsessed with music at the moment, especially Lady Ga-ga and Alexandr Burkes new one, she does still love Arctic monkeys, kings of Leon and the Ting-tings but I can see a love of pop and dance routines emerging (how long before the descent into the hell that is highschool musical begins???).

Off to bed to cuddle up and watch episode 1 of Glee, which I missed the other wek. Can't remember who mentioned it a while back, Gumps?? It rocks!

Good grief, sorry about the mega-post Tis moose-like proportions that one!

lol Pat, that's just what I was thinking and I haven't read it yet. Have taken to reading this thread backwards.

will catch up in a bit; H poorly and trying to get some advice whilst also making all the food for his mahoosive party tomorrow.

HZ, great night. No hangover today but dog tired. Cake looks fab! Was thinking maybe we could meet up here next Friday moring with the tots and have a mini lunch for the boys?

Pat - can I have your sausage casserole recipe please? I have been meaning to add that to my repertoire but all the recipes I've come across have been really fussy and I don't have that much time midweek to cook anything complex. DH arrives home at about 6pm and kids are in bed at 7pm so it has to be something I can do with two babies helping or can get made in the morning when DS naps and in the slow cooker.

Glad everything sorted with CM - hope it works itself out in the longterm too. Not all that long until school now anyway is it? She must be the year above T isn't she or are they same year (T due to start Sept 2011)?

Moosey shall we get planning this meet up then co-conspirator?? Think we all need to decide on where in the country it would be best first of all - and check that weekend at end of Jan is okay with everyone. It occured to me today that it might be someone's birthday so if so shout and we can move to Feb maybe?

I was thinking if we hire somewhere it would be good since we would be able to lock the door at night and put terrible two year olds to bed in the evening and stay up for wine and a good natter without the worry of there being others in the building. Of course my children will run riot as they are terrible to get to bed, but those of you with good sleepers will be ok and DD will wear herself out after about 10pm

Forgot to say - cake amazing HKZ, I wouldn't even know where to start. Love photos of J and L too, he looks like he's had a great birthday.

Hi guys

Haven't read, have spent all evening setting up a profile and uploading photos for you all to see.

I have also got to agree to me posting some pics of my motley crew as long as they were set to my mumsnet mates only.

So if you'd like to pootle along to my profile you will finally get to see what we all look like. Well almost all, there is only one picture of me on there and it looks nothing like me!

Oh moose! I feel a bit weepy finally seeing your gorgeous children, and as for the party cakes etc. They at amazing. Will hav to hav a proper look at you all on the big computer later dd is gorgeous and so are the boys -
thank you so much has made my day.

mm - gr8 2 see your pics

what gorgeous children you have
those cakes and jellies are amazing!! you are clever

having a quiet day today

Moose lovely pics! DD is such a teeny weeny little cutie! And the boys look gorgeous too. And great to see the van, dog etc! MORE!