May 2009 - A new start. Mine's a large gin please.

[runningmonkey]

Here you go ladies.

I've forgotten who's on ravelry? i'd love to have my MN friends here as friends there too.. i'm friends with blotted and belgina already i think. I hadn't been on it for ages but with all the pattern designing/making i've been doing i've been updating it for a change & it's got me all crafty feeling again!

right dh has woken up (he's off today as it's our 8th wedding anniversary today) we've just been pottering about together doing the usual monday stuff but it's been lovely!

Bookmarking for later.

hiya headless i'll be back later too.. off to our neighbours for a residents meeting (unfortunate timing and unfortunately my turn too) ho hum fingers crossed it's a quickie.. oh what an exciting anniversary

Hi everyone. I too have only had time to lurk but starting to catch my breath now. The inlaws left on Friday. It was lovely to have them but I must say Its really nice to have my space back.
News in brief-
Have accepted an offer on our house .
R has had a buzz cut (so cute) so now has number 4 cut hair.
Been working loads mainly while ILs were here which has been good but glad to be home with my babies again for next 2 weeks.
not very exciting news really. I'll try to be back soon.

well back from my super exciting residents meeting not! What a way to spend one's wedding anniversary

waves to febes & it was great news about the offer on your house . R's hair cut sound really adorable... can just picture it

Just checked my email & Pauls cousin from Nova Scotia who just ran the London marathon yesterday wants us to buy the Thursday Evening Standard as apparently they are putting the results in a supplement then. Can any of our London living peeps pick one up for me? as I have a feeling that the evening standard is a London paper.. i've not seen one in our west country paper shops. I've no idea how much it'll be but if someone could buy one and post it to me I can pay you back by paypal... both us & the NS rellies would be very grateful! x

belgina i've uploaded the hat photos to my flickr page Grace was not being very co-operative today so i had to improvise using one of DS's disney skittles! it doesn't look lumpy around the head when on I promise! I'll have another go at photos tomorrow and see if i can get some better ones! I can easily re-size the pattern bigger. It uses 4ply weight cotton yarn & a 2.5mm hook so it's nice and light weight for use in the summer... I'm about to start tying it up so let me know if it's something you'd like to do for your friend and i'll send you a pdf of the pattern to try out? In fact if anyone fancies trying out my patterns let me know.. it would be handy to know if i'm making understandable patterns for everyone to follow!

fi that hat's fabulous you talented lady.

Just off on school run, will return. S better but tired and clingy. Back to work tomorrow

fi gorgeous hat!!

febes yay for the offer on your house.

grumpy good to see you back to your normal grumpyoldcaaa and glad to hear S feeling better. Good luck for tomorrow too. First day?

Big claps to the walkers too. Good work babies!

Have just told people at work about The News. Need to officially tell the bosses now I think. But feel like I will jinx it by doing so. Irrational? Moi? Had booking in with the midwife yesterday and for the first time since finding out I felt that I really really wanted these 2 to hang on in there. I must be realistic though and take it one day at a time. Once I get to 12 weeks I may start to think that this all real.

Hello everyone.

Grumps glad S is feeling better

Fi love the hat, and the updates

LadyH sending more baby glue your way. How many weeks are you now? One day at a time sounds like a fab philosophy.

Febes yay for ILs leaving and double yay for the house offer

So, I am going to a 2nd interview for the job-wot-i-don't-know about. I'm a bit miffed cos I have to take a day's holiday to go, but I suppose I would kick myself if I didn't even go to see what the place is like. Ho Hum. In the meantime I have finally come up with another business idea that might help me quit. So I might be asking you lovely ladies to help me with some market research

I also have to say, PIL are coming this weekend . I may need to come on here and vent lots. First vent - they keep on complaining that they don't see enough of the DC and that my parents see more of the DCs. I just think that's totally unreasonable. Even if you think that, you don't say it. Oh, and they live a 4 hour drive away (intentionally a long way ) so I'm not dragging 3 DC all that way every month. Oh, and they're beeping annoying so I don't want to see them that often. Sigh. They are destined to totally ruin G's birthday weekend.

tum I feel your pain - last weekend we had the IL's to stay. Comment of the weekend was made by FIL when A was wiggling her bum in the air while music was playing 'ooh, she's going to be a lap dancer that one' DH and I both looked exactly like this then this . DH is still furious as well. She is not even 11 months old FFS. Hope your weekend goes a little better!

ladyh also sending gluey vibes your way.

Fi that hat is Gorgeous. You are one talented lady.

Congrats to the walkers O and A. My A has been doing laps of the garden with her brick trolley, it's doing wonders for her sleep ooh and congrats to C on the crawling too belg grumps glad S is better. Boo to going to work though!

febes fab news on the house. Do you have a date for when you are homeward bound? Am wondering whether we should attempt another London meet-up before you depart?

flip is your neck any better now? Sorry to hear A has cp too but as someone else said already at least it will be over with for your two now.

Right, best go and make some tea. Its my 'night off' from any bedtime duties tonight and I've waste the hour fannying about on the interweb. Doh!

Hi everyone,

First and foremost: fi Thanks so much for looking for a hat for me. Love that little cloche hat. Is it possible to make it out of a more wintry yarn? I'm making it for my niece you see and it's going to be a xmas present. (can't start early enough )
Your crochetting looks so lovely and regular. I'll put a pic on of my newly finished scarf for all of you to have a laugh. I don't want to put it on f/b though due to it being a surprise for my niece and my SIL can see it otherwise

grumpy Glad to hear S is feeling better. Enjoy work tomorrow.

febes Great news about the house. Sounds like things are going to plan.

tumm Good luck with the interview. whether you want the job or not, a bit of good luck sent your way is always useful Come and vent to your heart's content about your PIL. It is a bit unreasonable to expect to see the GC as often as your parents do if they live so much further away.

headless Hope everything keeps going well with this pregnancy. Must have been a big step to tell your colleagues about it.

C's crawling is getting on now. She has now realised that she can just try and follow us, but she's not all that fast yet so gets a bit frustrated.

Tomorrow will be my last day on the day assessment unit and then I'll be moving on the ANC. I had a study day today and discovered that the trust is planning to offer all new band 6 mws (which is where I hope to be my september) a community post for 6 months as a trial and then if there's a job you'll get the option of staying. This is quite exciting, because that's just where I want to go!

Thanks everyone for your hat compliments! belgina you could use a more wintery thickness yarn and a larger hook.. those changes would make it bigger straight away.. give me a head measurement if possible and i'll map out the pattern. The monkey hat also on flickr uses aran weight yarn and i'm planning a larger size for that too.
sending super sticky vibes to you headless
tummum running i feel your PIL pain.. calm deep breathing needed and when desperate we claim to need early nights hiding in our bedroom watching favourite tv with sound down low.. or if all else fails.. alcohol!?
good luck tummum with the interview & belgina will keep my fingers crossed you get the level 6 community trial.. exciting!

fi I'm on Ravelry (as Jennster) but not uploaded any pictures or particularly active on it. That cloche hat is absolutely lovely. Is it something a beginner crocheter could do? I can do chain stitch.....

Still have to mention to my line manager about the helpline. It's voluntary work so they shouldn't be too bothered about it. It won't impact on my work life.

about to head to bed... been sorting last holiday stuff on internet.. i'm later than planned.

jennster the hat uses chain, double crochet & slip stitches... that's all. So yes I think complete beginner would manage no problem. The only thing that might make it a wee bit tricky to do is that it is currently mapped out for 4ply & a skinny 2.5mm hook

Morning!

It's Wednesday!!! That means no work and a day with O
He's already wide awake and currently watching Fireman Sam so I'm grabbing a few minutes to catch up here.

flip - how's your neck now? And how's A's pox?

Febes - glad PIL visit wasn't too bad but I can imagine the relief to have things back to "normal". Great that you've had an offer accepted. When do you think you'll be moving? Will you head straight to SA or will you rent here for a bit?
Running is right - we'll have to meet up again before you go!
R's hair cut sounds cute - any piccies?

Fi - sorry I'm not close enough to London to get a copy of The Evening Standard tomorrow. Hope someone else can help out.
That cloche hat is lovely. Improvised us of skittle made me

Grumpy - glad S is better. How was work?

Headless - lots of sticky vibes for you. I remember when I told people I was pg with O, it all suddenly seemed v scary again. Sounds like all is going well for you. Good coping mechanism to go one day at a time.

Tummum - Can you sneak off to "bed" in the evenings with the laptop and MN / offload on here?! If your parents live closer then they are naturally going to see DC more!
Good luck with 2nd interview and hope either that or your own idea works out well. Happy to help with market research if I can!

Running - lap dancer ???!!!@&?! Belgina* - v exciting about potential community placement! Hope it all works out for you!

Jennster - helpline voluntary work sounds great. There's not enough good advice out there for mums that want to BF. I'm sure you'll be great.

Well today is meant to be a lovely day so I think it'll be a washing on the line day. Then our weekly JoJingles session and this afternoon I'm going to see a good friend who's just had a baby girl. Can't wait to meet her! My friend already has 2 boys and 2 step children that stay half the week - she's one great mum!

I was struggling to keep up with birthdays so dug out this old list and thought it would help!

May 2009 babies
Congrats MsG

47 babies altogether from 1 April to 6 June! 25 BOYS, 22 GIRLS.

1 APRIL 2009: SpangleMaker, BOY, Harvey, 9:55, 5lb 12oz
23 APRIL 2009: LoobyLou36, GIRL, Matilda Rose, 5.53am, 8lb 3oz
23 APRIL 2009, Reggiee, BOY, Ben, 7lb 8
29 APRIL 2009: llareggub, BOY, George, 8am, 7lb 9oz
29 APRIL 2009: gert2a, GIRL, Edith Ann Elaine, 10.14am, 7lb 10oz
30 APRIL 2009: Jael, BOY, Jacob
2 MAY 2009: Divedaisy, GIRL, Sofiah Rose, 00:47am
2 MAY 2009: Momino, GIRL, 04.05am Harper Grace, 8lb 1oz
2 MAY 2009: Tummum, BOY, Gethin Thomas, 9pm, 9lb 1oz
2 MAY 2009: LadyHelen, BOY, Rufus, 2.15am
9 MAY 2009: Daizydoo, BOY, Jasper, 2:08am, 8lbs
9 MAY 2009: Ses, BOY, Owen Edward, 10:17am, 8lb 9oz
11 MAY 2009: Belgianchocolates, GIRL, Claire, 4.49am, 9lb 10oz
11 MAY 2009: Dandylioness, BOY, Hector Frank, 6lb 9oz, 1:25
11 MAY 2009: Flippineck, GIRL, Angharad, 11:15am, 8lb 3oz
12 MAY 2009: Pulapula, BOY, Samuel James, 4:16pm, 8lb 3oz
14 MAY 2009: Jennster, GIRL, Rachel Mary, 8lb 7oz
15 MAY 2009: Detsy, BOY, Archie, 8lb 5oz
15 MAY 2009: Emmabemmasmom, GIRL, Sara Addison, 9.45pm, 6lb 5
17 MAY 2009: Blottedcopybook, GIRL, Greer Valery Charlotte, 7lb 11oz, 7.35pm
17 MAY 2009: Febes, BOY, Rueben Cornelius, 7.52 pm, 6lbs 15
17 MAY 2009: htheh, BOY, Monty, 4.59am, 9lb 12.5oz
18 MAY 2009: yawningprincess/rubysmom, GIRL, Darcy Victoria, 6.40pm
20 MAY 2009: frazzledoldbag, BOY, Hugo, 2.40pm, 8lb 15oz
21 MAY 2009: SausagenMash, GIRL, Martha Rose, 2318
22 MAY 2009: Fikelly, GIRL, Grace, 9lb 7oz, 11:37am
25 MAY 2009, MatthewandLewismummy, BOY, Lewis, 10:20pm, 6lb 10.5oz
1 JUNE 2009: reebee, BOY, Felix, 1.30am, 8lbs 7.5oz.
4 JUNE 2009: grumpyoldcaaaaaaaaa, GIRL, Sophia, 8lb 11oz, 14:50
4 JUNE 2009: runningmonkey, GIRL, Alys Olwen 10.09pm, 9lb 7oz
6 JUNE 2009: sophietom, BOY, Jake, 9lb 5, 12:30

Sorry, kept a bit too much of what I'd copied there at the top!

Morning all!!

Ses Thanks for the list! It bought back lots of memories of this time last year waiting for all the babies to be born!! My Dad is coming for business and arrives on the 16th of May so we will have a little celebration on that day as he is off to Paris first thing on the 17th (R's birthday). I will invite two friends for R for a birthday lunch on the 17th from 11-1 which is when he is awake usually. Hopefully it will be nice and they can tear around the garden.

We will move at the end of June if the house sale goes smoothly and rent for 3 and a half months so will need a short term lease. We will head to south africa and stay there for 3 months (visitors visa length). While we are there we have decided to buy an autovilla which is an old VW campervan to live and travel in as DHs family are spread around and don't all have accomodation for us all. It will give us independence and we sell it before we go. Then we will head to NZ in January. I'm so excited!!!

Belgina Sounds like exciting developments in your job.

Fi I love the hat! Your so talented. You must be getting really excited about your trip. I'll ask DH to pick up an Evening Standard tomorrow for you but he has the memory of a goldfish so who knows.

Headless My sister's twins are now 5 and a half months and doing really well although they are still tiny (about 12 pounds each) they sleep 11-13 hours a night and have done for a couple of months . When they lie on the floor they hold hands and if they can't see each other they cry .

Bollocks R just pulled my coffee down. Luckily it didn't splash him just me a bit but it was pretty cold. I think that means he's bored and I better go!!

Hi everyone else!!!!

Morning all!

belgina - your work sounds like it could get interesting, how do you feel about it all?

febes - exciting stuff!

running - lapdancer? WTF?!

fi - fab hats!

headless - thinking of you, hope all going well.

I'll catch up with more name checking later, sorry if you aren't mentioned, it's not because I don't like you x to everyone!

Anyway, thank you all for asking about us. My neck is ok - better than it was but not brilliant. I'm ignorning it atm because A is really not very well at all with the pox and is super-velcro baby. She's covered in spots/blisters, really uncomfortable, has got a temperature and is very very miserable, poor thing. She's not sleeping very well and is trying to scratch/rub her blisters all the time. The only time she's sleeping well is in the sling because she can't scratch or fidget. We've got antihistamines for her, but they don't seem to help all that much. I guess it's one of those fun wait-til-it-passes kind of things.

DD1 is a bit miffed because we're stuck at home again, but at least the weather's still good!

flip ppor A. Sounds nasty. Really hope she and you recover soon..

febes we were heading for SA for 2 weeks in Late Oct so we would have been there at the same time!! If things go tits up with this pg we may still go. Your plans are very exciting!!!

running at your FILs comment. WTF?

ses the list made me feel a bit teary too. This time last year............

Am currently mid trial on a GBH charge and am having a confidence crisis. First one I've done in 14 months and I feel like I've "lost it". Its not good as a young mans liberty is at stake and I don't feel like I've done the best I can, at least with one of the witnesses. Hope I can pull it back this afternoon.

Well I lost the trial. Not really surprised TBH but I don't think it was totally down to me. Fortunately my client was sanguine about it. He is an old lad ( at age 17!) and took it on the chin.

Am tired tired tired, and have been told all day how tired I've been looking. Great.

Bed by 9 I think!!

Old lag, not lad.

headless oh well.. you can only do what you can.. if the evidence is strong.. c'est la vie

ses thanks for fishing out the list.. i'm still feeling all warm & fuzzy from reading it and remembering this time last year.
febes thanks for the paper.. will keep my fingers crossed your dh has an elephant moment tomorrow not goldfish this year will be a real humdinger of excitement for you all!
flip gentle hugs to poor A i hope she's over the worst V soon.