January 2009- toddlers turning 15mths and all that jazz (really just a new thread so DOG can fit it on her poncey iphone!)

[PatTheHammer]

Good enough for ya dog .

And sorry I do realise some are only turning 14 mths and some are nearly 16mths etc,etc......apologies!

All officially toddlers now though i think (well 120's H and HKZ's J are pulling up/taking steps now I think, think mostly everyone walking of some sort!) Scary thought!

Be careful with the chilli chopping HKZ, it's after making that recipe that I'm always moaning about my fingers being on fire!

How is J? Is he able to eat solids now? WE can get three Group 1 car seats in the back of my Honda CRV (I childmind my nephew 2 days a week), not sure how much use that is to you as not a good city car. I went to Mothercare and they tried loads of different combinations with no pressure to buy - I didn't end up buying any of them. L will be big enough for a highback booster by the time the baby arrives which makes it easier. DD already uses a highback booster in DH's car as she is over the 16kg weight limit for her old seat that fitted that car.

Recipe for Butternut Squash lasagne is based on this Good Food recipe. I make a double batch of the tomato sauce as it reduces down a lot and then when assembling put a drained tin of butterbeans in first then layer of butternut squash and layer of tomato sauce followed by lasagne sheets then bechamel, spinach, more tomato sauce, more lasagne sheets and more bechamel. Only differences to the recipe are the assembly and the butterbeans. Freezes really well too.

Raspberry Brownies recipe is based on Grown up Brownies which is in delicious magazine as the same recipe but halved. It makes about 8 or 9 halved, so more like 20 as it is in the link. Tastes delicious like this or I add a supermarket sized punnet of raspberries to the warm mixture after the flour and before the chocolate. Stirring breaks the raspberries up but I have chopped them occasionally into quarters if they are hard. Have to watch them like a hawk in the oven, too long and you lose the gooeyness, I have never taken them out to early even when I think I might have.

Top recipe Lenni... ended up using a bell pepper as that was all I could find which made it super hot but good.
J is still not on solids....nothing really has changed on that front, he just has the same as L but blended.
He is sitting on my knee snuggled up and mning with me as he seems to be vomiting at regular intervals..dh is cleaning up his cot as we speak. Poor bubba.
DD is a little on the short size but hopefully she will be able to go in a booster by jan...or we're a bit buggered!
All the recipes sound fab....especially the brownies...i love all the brownies on this thread

Evening folks.

Mad day. Went to visit my sister and boys had a jolly old time playing with their favourite cousin. Unfortunately we were back really late and it all ended in tears when ds1 was told he needed to do his literacy homework while we cooked tea.

Dh is just cooking our tea now (fajitas) and I have just whipped up a double batch of 120's brownies for my coffee morning thing tomorrow.

It has grown from just me and one other mum with a little girl 6 months younger than dd, to 4 mums (including me) and a little girl and little boy the same age as dd. They will all be in the same year at school eventually, so it will be nice for them to get to know each other, but I find all this socialising for the good of the children thing sooo hard. I really had to fight the urge to call and cancel this evening. Not least of all because I am absolutely shattered.

Sorry to hear J is poorly HKZ hope he's better soon. My lot seem to all be ok today

I was thinking about J the other day. I saw one of these baby safe feeders and wondered if he would be able to use one to give him the bite satisfaction without the swallow iyswim. Then I thought he might just get frustrated with it though.

We have a Citroen Xsara Picasso. Not the most attractive car in the world, but perfect for a family of five. Loads of room, huge boot, 3 separate rear seats and its a walkthrough (no middle of the back seat hump) which is great as the dcs can all get in and out on the pavement side every time. We can also get two high backed boosters and a Graco Junior Baby (without the base) into the back of my mum's Astra Sport Coupe safely. Not sure we'll be able to do it when dd goes up a car seat though as being a little dot, she is still in her infant carrier at the moment.

Thanks for asking, mum seems to be doing well, she just phoned which is good because I thought it was too late to ring her. She was just about to go to bed with the TV and the election results. Her dh is working on the count so my little brother is coming out to be in the house with her.

Hi Moose. Brownies - yum. Fight urge to cancel, it will be good. Good on ya! Wish I had the motivation/energy/nerve to do coffee mornings. I am meeting some mums at a playgym tomorrow. Am strangely proud in my recent friend explosion. From 0 to 2 in....ooo....5 years

HKZ, Moose has a fab idea in that feeder. Especially for when he can have solids, it mght be a great way to introduce them. You can have mine, do you want it? We don't use it.

We have a Scenic, which I really like, but it doesn't sound as big as the Picasso. I'd say we'd get a booster on the back seat. It seems a limo to me, after a clapped out golf

I need to get back into baking.

Now ladies. I have this in cream, with tags on and it's been worn for 20 mins in church. How much do you think I could ask for it on mn? I think it was about £130 full price. It's lovely but makes me look fat [because I am, the coat is a lovely shape ] What do you reckon?

Hi Elkie. Glad to hear your Mum is doing well.

Apologies if I've missed anyone/anything. Haven't read the thread - will try and catch up tomorrow afternoon.

Great news Elkie.

Evening Tree, I don't do coffee mornings at my house. Have made it clear that it would be a bad idea, given that its a tiny house with three hulking great pooches in residence (great excuse). Am hoping when its my turn to host the weather will be better and I can suggest a picnic in the park.

Beautiful coat. Boden coat buy-it-nows on ebay here should give you a rough guesstimate. Prices seem to be between £50 and £100.

You're so good at this Moose

I was thinking of asking £90 but felt it was a bit of a cheek. There is the same one on ebay so I'll see what happens. I don't want to sell it unless it's going for a good price.

I want to stay up and watch election, but I'm old and have lots of kds.

Dogs a cracking excuse Moose. I don't know about anyone else but the last time people came around [dd2's birthday] I needed 2 weeks solid cleaning!!!

Good plan, watch the one on Ebay and see how much it goes for, then pitch it around the same price.

I'm not that good Tree. I have 3 boxes of baby clothes upstairs for selling on Ebay, but never seem to get around to it. Mainly because I am too lazy busy to work out how to list it.

Same here Tree. Takes me a good couple of weeks to get the place up to visitor standard and then I'm so twitchy in case there's something I've missed.

I'm not even going to think about the election until I wake up tomorrow morning. Am far to tired for politics.

Have just tried one of my brownies. Not bad at all - especially as the local shop had run out of cocoa, so I ended up using the end of two different pots of cocoa, topped up with drinking chocolate. I then had to adjust the amount of sugar in the recipe to take account of the sugar in the drinking chocolate. I was expecting them to come out all wrong, but they get the dh thumbs up, so I think I'm safe to take some with me for the laydeez tomorrow.

I really want to be able to commission this artist to paint the girls. I love her 'sleep studies'

SHe could capture my girls. SAdly I haven't the money. Sally Gatie

I can see how her style would really lend itself to your girl's beautiful colouring. It would be bound to be a stunning picture.

I have just been given this book by a friend of my Mum's who said he just had a strong feeling I should read it.

Its an interesting idea, although the way the message is put across in the book is a bit, well, out there. So it needs to be read with a VERY open mind.

Fundamentally, its about believing you are worthy of abundance and a happy, healthy life etc and banishing the negative thoughts that stop you from allowing those things to enter your life. Self-belief/worth is something I have BIG issues with so its gonna take a really huge leap of faith for me to give it a proper try.

Not sure how much I buy into it, but reckon its worth a punt, what have I got to lose etc, so am reading a chapter every night before bed.

Anyway, rambling here. Just suddenly crossed my mind that you like me need to start believing in yourself more and therefore attracting the type of lifestyle you dream of. You so deserve to have the life you dream of.

OOOO H is up to watch the election so I can't answer properly. I'll be back.......

Sorry Tree. Am falling asleep on the keyboard here, so will have to crawl up to bed.

Hate to post and run.

I'll be around after about 12.00 tomorrow.

Night. x

"... nowhere to put another."

Moose I read and watched The Secret and it helped me loads. I've noticed how much I've changed and live better. Thoughts become things. Just a way to re-postulate your thinking in a world where we are bombarded with negativity all day.

Hope the elections go well and the BNP don't get much. They irk me.

Tomorrow is shopping day! A local designer Smoking Lily , is having her annual grand sale and it starts at 2pm instead of the usual 8am! It is made for me. Then I need to find THE summer flip flop. Bits and bobs for bubs and dad and a new pair of sunglasses. The best part is that I am going with my fashion diva girlfriend who really should be a personal shopper.

Happy Friday Ladies!!!

morning

moose - i am the same regardinbg socialising!!

met a gropu of ladies @ a drs group when r babies were all 4 mnths old.
met up till i had bracken guess she knocked my confidence found it harder with taking both
have only just started meeting up again. over half of me is lazy and gets anxous so always tring to get out of it

hi miss j sounds good

hi to everyone else

quiet day here dd1 back @ school

Morning all.

Moose thanks for the tip about the feeder, wish I'd known abou tit before. he is so eager and keen to eat. I do do a lot of finely chopping of foods so he can get the texture, also plum moon buscuits and organics crisps disolve, so he gets a chance to chew without stuff getting stuck in his thorat. Poor boy spent the night being sick....everywhere....hope its just a bug.

Tree, that is a very kind offer, would love to give it a go if you are sure you don't use it.

Moose and Tree, you are welcome round my house for coffee anytime...I am sure the loveliness of your houses would put me to slovenly shame...I am seriously about the general mess and chaos....I really would love a cleaner to come once a week

Thanks for the car info guys, I am really trying to avoid getting a new car so will have to go for the Stage 1, stage 0 and booster option....think I iwll just stick my fingers in my ears and worry about it nearer the time

Am feeling sick as a dog...am a bit worried I mighthave Jude's bug...will see how I go this morning....must look at election results get on with marking

Chef, I love th eLily stuff, especially the Cape of good hope! I have a strange desire for a cape at the moment (I must try and surpress it)

Hi everyone.

Sorry you're feeling sick hkz, maybe tis just morning sickness? Did you get it with dd and ds? Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl? How exciting!

Meanwhile I am stuck with af - have awful backache and general foul mood - does anyone else think af is worse after having a baby? Mine always used to be pretty easy, a couple of spots, a bit of cramping on day 1 and then I would forget I had it.

MM hope you enjoyed your coffee morning - it sounds really nice. We have started going to this brilliant playgroup, it's quite big and they have all these little zones, and N loves it - today he was cuddling dolls with a sweet 3 year old girl that we know from music. We all slept until 9.20am after being up half the night listening to election news.... talking of which Lenni I am not allowed to say this on fb, but my voting deal totally paid off! Poor DH, he is properly depressed this morning at hung parliment, and feels like it was his vote that put us there.

Feeling really flat and sad... missing my grandfather... feel like I just need a couple of days to mope around a bit. Ooh time for GBs statement so must go....

chefswife Lily stuff lovely, especially cushions!

ps meant to say lovely coat tree, you should easily get half price for it.

Miss J I definitely have had much heavier AF since babuies...they were a breeze before, light, short and I wasn't too much of a horrendous cow! best thing to do is eat a lot of 120 Brownies. I had MS with DD and DS but was never actually sick and it didn't wear off until 12 wks..grr. Soory you are feeling so sad about your GF. Maybe you could do something like make a memory book for N when he is older about your GP and the things he liked to do, places he went etc. It awful when there's a sudden hole with nothing to fill it.

Hey MissJ ((((((hugs)))))) Hope the cloud lifts quickly. Take your time and feel glum for as long as needs be.

HKZ - email me with your address mrs.

In a bid to manifest my desires as per the book Moose, I have bought these and these, these and also these. That's probably not what was meant is it?
I do find stuff makes me feel better. Those spotty wipes are going to make me feel a litle bit better when I'm wiping a snotty nose in our wndy bleak town centre. So shallow!

I hope the coffee morning was a success and you enjoyed it.

Hello everyone I haven't said hello too.

Glass of red for me too please HKZ!

Total disaster of a morning, took forever to get everyone ready for school and dd and I ready to go straight for coffe after school run. Ended up with dh scooting off up the road with all the dcs and me about five minutes behind hopping on one foot trying to do my shoe up and carry assorted luggage.

Seems all the other Mums had a bad morning as well, one cancelled, another arrived at school the same time as me and her ds went in late with my ds2 and another had been up since 5 am with her dd, so brought dd in her pj's then left after half an hour as she was so grotty and obviously needed to sleep. Would have been best to rearrange for another day methinks.

Dd has also woken up with a snotty nose and slight temp. So I was obviously far to optomistic when I said my gang were all healthy yesterday. Harrumph!

HKZ, Hope J is feeling better and has stopped being sick this morning. Wish I'd mentioned those feeders earlier now. I thought of them a while back, but felt you might think I was interfering and you would probably already know about them.

MissJ, sorry to hear you are feeling so low. Definitely time for tlc and chocolate brownies. Some cuddle-time on the sofa and maybe a couple of nice movies over the weekend might help as well.

My house is a mess and an absolute pit, but I'm cold and tired and definitely don't feel like doing housework, despite the fact that the state its in is making me feel worse.

Chef, The Secret looks/sounds like a very similar thing. As you can see from the above paragraph, I haven't quite got to the stage of remaining positive, believing and creating my dreams yet, but I am making small changes and noticing small differences already, so hopefully I'm getting there.

Oh Moose. What a mare!

Did the brownies go down well though? Hope dd is ok. My house is the same, it is making me glum, and yet I do nothing.

Big Saturday of back kitchen clear out planned. Arse. FIL is coming to help drag the old units out. So t has to be done. Working saunday so can't tire myself out utterly, but we also need to get it busted. Sigh.

Tree, actually, you'd be surprised. To some degree, believing that you deserve to have the lovely things you want and that the necessary abdunance WILL come is part of it.

I have decided to create a sort of mood board for how I would like my life to be (magazine/catalogue clippings, quotes and phrases, pictures, images etc anything that invokes the general mood/lifestyle really) and (haven't worked them out properly as yet, but) put together some intentional statements along the lines of:

My family and I deserve to be healthy and happy.

We deserve a beautiful, comfortable home that is easy to manage and maintain and provides us with all the space we need to exist and grow both as a family and individuals.

We all deserve to eat good quality, healthy food and have a good work/school/home life balance.

We deserve roles/lives that provide well for us financially, emotionally and creatively and that we enjoy doing every day.

We all deserve to get up in the morning and look forward to the day ahead.

I deserve to have the things I need for me to feel happy with myself and my home.

My family is worthy of abundance so that they can have the things they need, achieve the things they desire and live without worrying about money/debts.

We all deserve the respect and tolerance of others, to enable us to feel relaxed and comfortable with who we are.

We all deserve to feel and be safe and protected at all times.

As I said, haven't worked them all through properly yet, but you get the gist.