Dec 08 Mums - Terrible twos already? Tears, tantrums, tiaras and tractors - and the rest!

[Beans33]

Hope this is better - sorry all!

ps Daisy maybe you can add her to your eBay listing? Buy shoes, get grumpy baby free

Bonjour! I?m back from Switzerland. I have eaten so much without even really wanting to ? wall to wall cheeses and breads for veggies - It?s been kinda like the EVIL OPPOSITE of Aubi?s detox. All worked out brilliantly ? eleven cricketers plus half a dozen wags and a couple of babies all made it out there safely, we won both our games, and DP and I even managed a spot of sightseeing on Thursday and Friday (Montreux, Evian, all around Lake Geneva, a night in the very pretty city of Lausanne, a lunch in the aforementioned Gruyeres?) It was raining and chilly on Saturday and Sun but we played anyway. ?Twas a bit hard on us spectators, though, I felt awfully stiff and cold. I couldn?t keep up with the thread when away because of Blackberry I still haven?t got to grips with browsing on but I did see Spot?s news and managed to text her a conclackerations! Same again, Spot! And also on the flat. It sounds gorgeous. And sometimes it?s nice to override a small element of practicality when gorgeousness is involved.

Right, big catch up and apologies to anyone I miss, I am still feeling a bit befuddled from the journey.

ZJ ? I can?t wait to check out your Pontypines get up. Hooray to your DD walking ? no such luck here yet. No pulling herself up, even. Turnip, are you still in the same boat? Oh, and ZJ, I promise to do your survey this evening.

Rubes ? the name of Aubi?s and Poison?s Dds is indeed very nice (tres tres chic) ? if we have a third one it will be the name of the thread! Oh, and you can imagine what I think about those midwives and their attitudes. FWIW I think you should definitely write formally and complain. They were rude and it?s not on. Cheeky beggars.

Katie ? sorry about your negative. You have a lot on your plate at the moment with worrying about your DS at school and worrying about your DD not settling ? with the lack of fags as well, no wonder you are feeling fragile. Be kind to yourself! At least one treat just for you this week, please?

Kiwi, I am very glad to hear you are mending. Hope the headaches fade quickly?don?t know what the quack has said but you shouldn?t overdo it whilst you are still effectively recovering?

Jam, I love the name Archie. You mentioned the election but no one took the bait I will just say that I?m a little tired of the coverage but still interested in it all. I know politics is a tricky, even touchy topic but I will merely say obliquely that I am pretty disillusioned with the present govt, although above all I am keen for there not to be a hung parliament, and whoever gets in will have a most unenviable task.

Aubi, you really do have the non-Midas touch with pets I loved the way everyone?s stories got increasingly more baroque as the thread wore on. I am so envious of your detox. My liver is a fromage ball. Is one allowed to do a detox when pregnant?

WG ? so sorry the teaching has been getting you down. It?s horrid to dread things. I really do wonder, if it is making you this unhappy, whether it?s worth investigating other options. Or is it likely to improve?

SL ? Crumbs, so your DS kicked off when you held a tiny babe? Yikes. I haven?t tested DD on this yet. I am apprehensive now!

Indith ? how is Project Sleep panning out?

Veggie ? or should I say, Vaggie ? you poor old sausage, I think your DS2 is really pushing your buttons at the mo. Please don?t be hard on yourself, you are such a patient and dedicated mother and that screaming makes one feel desperate (believe me, I know). Any more news on the potential babysitting? I did laugh at your suggestion of a Clear Blue fund.

Invis ? how did DD?s party pan out in the end? Was all well?

Kayz ? good to hear from you. The split sounds so hard but if you are this certain that it?s the right thing I think it must be. I think you are being very brave and it?s good that you are having some fun.

NJAN ? your driving refreshers sound just the ticket. I think it will give you a real boost. I have until September to start driving lessons again or my theory pass runs out. I can?t face it, but I must.

Syb ? who wouldn?t have started blubbing at that photo? Who honestly wouldn?t? (Well, not I).

Hey Nolda, Happy Birthday for yesterday. Hope you are still carrying on the birthday celebrations into today, as it?s a bank hol.

Effie ? feeling better today?

JJ ? I am glad you are seeing more of your DH at the mo ? is it the result of improvements at his practice (ie is the workload more evenly spread now?) Mmm, that?s quite a dilemma about your work. I vote for clackerhood. I was worried at first but the more I think about it, the more pleased I am that I am having my kids close together. Given that I happen to be working from home at the mo but may not be forever, I think it actually makes sense for me. Different for you though, I realise.

Trace, I think that weekend away for you sounds really nice. As you say, if you are missing the girls too much, you can always just come home. I just think getting away sometimes really gives you a fresh perspective.

Beans, did you say you boiled a ham? It sounds so organised, so?Mad Men!

Daisy, I think it's fine about the shoes. Seriously. I doubt she'd mind but at the same time I don't think your DH should mention it to her.

Right, I am flagging and I am sure you are all sick of the sound of my voice. DP is off to my flat in London tonight as he has a trial in Surrey this week. I will be joining him on Thursday as I need to vote there. I would like to go on Wednesday as there is a course I want to go on, on Wednesday afternoon, but I am doubtful foremost that there are any spaces now and secondly that I can get a minder for DD. Jeepers, I have so much to do and I feel so bushed.

you're not wrong Daisy - Ebay gets very addictive I've since bought quite a few things from Next all with tags on for not much over 99p for most of them! Also got ds a pair of lovely Pumpkin Patch shorts and Baby Gap T-shirt with a bicycle on the front - all with tags for £7 last night so was chuffed. Usually only bid on stuff with quite low postage and no reserve.
As for selling - we've sold so much stuff including a couple of unwanted Blackberry upgrades etc for several hundred pounds not to mention dh and his buying and selling cycling related stuff.

I feel massive today.... don't know if it's just me today or my bump has suddenly popped out at an alarming pace. Didn't help that dh bought a smoothie just now at M&S and then a bag of honey / sugary type cashews which I had some of. Got annoyed at him as he now will go and get on the turbo trainer for an hour, but my feeling is why eat all that crap and then pay big £ for these fat burner supplements he's on - we're just funding a very expensive pig out if you ask me so I have confiscated the pills unless I see an improvement in his diet besides, I've begged him so many times not to eat crap in front of me, so it's not only the fact that it's a waste so take fat burners just so the bloody crap he eats can be whittled away - probably not making much sense with the rambling!
Yeah those name threads are getting a little much! Did you see the one about "Kermit" If there is a God, Please no!!

oops I missed a whole page of posts - will read and come back!

LadyT cuckooclockland sounds lovely. Just wanted to say that DD isn't walking yet either. And she's been pulling herself up and cruising for over 8 months ...

Lady fair enough you tell Kiwi to rest but so should you, your clackered and you need your rest. Lovely to see you back though we missed you. Wonderful that they won! Do you ever think they'll venture down under again.

Kiwi exactly the same here with pointing to something then going completely mental at me when I think I'm doing what I've been 'told'. The other day I took
him in for his nap, he went mental. I was feeling weak and gave up figuring he was too out of it to settle down. He was pointing at the door so I opened it to let him out he hiked up the decibels a few notches, then he actually shut the door and then screamed more pointing madly at the door?!?! WTF!

Rubs your DH takes fat burning tablets I didn't know they existed? Isnt that what he does when he trains, burns fat? I knew there were those diet tablets that make you not absorb fat but that's all I knew about. Oh and that diet tea stuff.

Kiwi good to see you back and on the mend. You sound very put off having a second bubs - don't be - in fact I reckon there's a good chance the 2nd would be completely the opposite and might even be a babylady style little one since you've had such a hard trot! (which is why i'm a little worried about number two being a not as good sleeper )
Wow Lady, sounds like you had a nice time. You went to the town that my ex sil ran off to go and live with her fling in!
Yes I'm quite keen on that name - what do you mean "if we have a 3rd one" 3rd baby? You? Lady? What do you mean, name of the thread and all that? I'm thoroughly confused but probably just being thick!
Vaggie, well yeah he had started taking (a little while ago) a supplement drink which was mainly a workout performance enhancer to make you train harder which had a side effect of fat loss, but now the company has a pill form which is kind of the same but more for fat loss as it blocks some kind of fat and is also quite a lot safer than those regualar fat burner type things on the market ie: it doesn't have that ingredient in it that is the one that can cause problems with heart attack and all that, which a lot of the more common fat burners have. DH has thoroughly researched it all as he's usually not into taking stuff etc. he is trying their new tabs for a month to see if he can drop some fat as he wants to be a bit lighter for the bike and for the next race etc. I'd like to give them a go after I finish BF if I haven't shed all the weight too so I said to him if you're going to just eat crap and then take them to counteract that, then I'm keeping them for my post BF time he is on the turbo trainer now and not at all impressed with my lecture. But it's really hard. Normally I don't give a toss if anyone eats sweet stuff in front of me but when pregnant I just shovel anything into my mouth if it's in front of me, and then the fact that he can take these tabs and I can't makes me

Oh boy, fat burning pills. If I don't see noticeable results when I start dieting seriously a couple of months after DC2, I will try everything, even those. Don't worry about the cashews. I had a couple of salads when we got back. And then I ate a huge bag of wasabi peas - the whole bag, not just a few. I don't tend to do stuff like this often. I think I was comforting myself after being hailed on at Luton Airport when I stepped off the plane.

Yes, Kiwi, I second Veg about the going bananas pointing at things then going ape when Mummy has tried to please with said item I was going to say so earlier. DD is getting noticeably naughtier. She used to be quite a paragon. I have done my best to appease her this weekend (we put special time aside for the requisite amount of naps, mealtimes and play and I didn't force her to watch cricket for hours, in fact she didn't witness a single ball as DP took her back to 'rest' at the hotel like a movie star) and still, she has been quite tricky. The other tour baby was 8 months old and didn't cry once (in my earshot) for the entire long weekend. She just beamed at everyone. And she watched all the cricket. O has been knocked off her perch good and proper

Oh, and Veggie, I am the most rubbish person at relaxing and resting. Can't do it, except if I have a massage or something. One of my good friends who was in Switzerland with us has just trained as a dermatologist and facial massage summat or other (she speaks about five languages and is a diplomat's wife but wanted to learn a portable skill) and she was going to give me a facial and a facial massage and, you guessed it, between appeasing DD, DP, a bunch of cricketers and the our hosts, I never had time to have it I think we will come down under again, yes, but not for a while. There is talk of Malaysia in the autumn but obviously not for me. I am sad, but take solace from the fact that I have just organised the only 100% successful tour (in terms of victories) in the 30 yr history of the team. DH would be so proud!

Switzerland is quite an interesting/strange country though. Very conservative, in every way. And the hotelier was moaning as he has to pay his chamber maids the equivalent of £24 an hour. However, there's no sick pay, no pensions...and if you earn above a certain amount of money it's the mayor who decides how much tax you pay, over a drink. No wonder they don't fancy joining the EU.

I meant the third baby with that name, daftie ie if you decided to use the name of Poison's DD and Aubi's DD2.

Oh, and in the above post I wasn't saying salads are bad, I was congratulating myself, until I ruined it by eating a sackful of wasabi peas.

Oh got it Lady! and I didn't think you were up for a third! Oh and Wasabi peas - YUM and WAY less bad for you than sugary honey roasted cashews at 600 cals a bag

They market themselves as a healthy snack (well, the M&S ones do). I'm not so sure. I am pretty convinced they are not a good food for the insulin resistant. But I like them and don't eat them REALLY often I guess. Still - fresh lentil and tomato soup for supper, only.

There was another girl on tour who is a week behind me - her due date is 4 Oct. Needless to say she looked like a wraith (a nice wraith ) - mind you, it is her first and she is normally very very slim.

Right, enough obsessing! Need to unpack, tidy up etc etc...

Lady - fear not. it's your second and you've put on what, about 100 grams? you're doing quite well my love

Evening all Hope everyone's bank holidays went well, we've been alternating between lovely sunshine and chucking rain but managed a quick trip to our local pub where they have three miniature pigs in the beer garden that dd spent the whole time playing near while DH and I had a nice pint of warm cheerfulness

Rubena the name you're thinking of is lurvely, very classy and also a bit funky (like aubi and poison's dds!).

Lady yowza what a catchup! Glad you had a lovely if cheesy time in Switzerland, much toblerone had as well? Gah to missing your lovely massage Switzerland does indeed sound very odd indeed as a way to run an economy but they seem to be doing ok from it. Well the rich do anyway!

Trace I'm really pleased you're going to do the church weekend, as well as a bit of time to yourself you've spoken so fondly of the spiritual value of it and hopefully the strength you'll get from spending that time with the church community.

kiwi glad you're on the mend. and veggie the whole pointing at things NO NOT THAT YOU IDIOT WOMAN thing, it's pretty exhausting. I can't wait til they can communicate properly. Maybe it's just that they change their minds so much that by the time you've worked out what it is they're pointing at, they want something else

On which - we had our first actual proper word today (popper doesn't really count as she was just copying me) She was in the bath, and a bird was singing in the tree outside and she pointed to the window and said "birdie!". Hurrah! Finally, something we can agree on!

Quick Q for people whose december babies are #2 or higher - when on mat leave with this one, did your first dc still go to nursery/childminder, or not? I'm pondering the whole clackeration idea ... it might actually make better financial sense, if we do want another one sooner rather than later, for me to go back to FT rather than PT if already clackered by November, and then get FT maternity pay [evil cynical approach]. DD might have to go full time to nursery for a bit, but if it wasn't permanent I'd not feel so bad about it. And then there'd be another whole year in which to make the part time/full time decision.

JJ I was going to ask a similar question. dH and i were wondering what the hell we'd do with two kids once we get round to it. DD loves nursery (she's 4 days there but JJ your question made me realise that of course if I went on maternity leave again I'd of course only get mat leave for my 4 day salary not full time as before) but there's no way we can afford two lots of nursery fees. How does it work when they get free places, does that still happen at 3?? what if they are at nursery already, do they just get part of it free? Oh lord. I'm actually freaking out over it and I'm not even TTC yet! What with needing a bigger house, DH and I both working in an industry that's totally screwed and potentially having childcare x 2... Errr better buy a lottery ticket

JJ I didn't get Mat pay the 2nd time around but DS1 had just started Nursery 3 afternoons a week when I got preggers and then after DS2 came along we increased him to 5 mornings a week so I could have time with the baby.

Does you DH get yukky poos Rubs I thought those fat blocking ones made the fat come out in your poo? Might be quite confused by which you mean though. I love wasabi peas.

Lady both pregnancies I always saw women who were way skinnier than me. When I was 25 week pregnant with DS1 we went to Sorrento for a week and popped over to Capri. I saw a women who literally looked like she popped a balloon up her dress. No other part of her body had collected any fat. And she looked immaculate, in her lovely clothes while I just looked sweaty and frumpy. We rode through Switzerland once when we were riding around the Italian lakes. Soooooo expensive. We went for a Chinese, there was 'spring roll' on the menu and I was a bit peckish so we ordered even though it was the equivalent of £6. We thought there has been a typo on the menu and they'd left off the s from spring rolls. Unfortunately, no for £6 we got a small spring roll on a bed of very 80's style shreaded lettuce. We only stayed a day then cycled back into Italy.

How is the bidding going Daisy?

The free nursery is actually the equivalent of 5 half days or 5 'sessions'. You are given that towards your childs nursery, usually the nursery claims it from the council. if it costs more you have to cover the extra. We had DS1 going to a Montessori nursery in Derby (so not anywhere near as expensive as London) & it didn't cover the fees. The supplement started when DS1 was 3 but I had heard it was dropping to 2.

Vaggie, no it's not that one infact it's nothing like that one. Just trying to think of the name of it. It's more of a workout enhancer than those types you are talking about.

JJ / Kiwi, all of you thinking about another, get clackered up! Actually, I always wanted two close together in age, but aside from that, we also decided it was better financially for us to do it this way. I went back p/t as I was worried if it took too long to actually get clackered and I couldn't do the p/t wage, and I will have mat pay for another 12 months starting from when dd {grin] (gee that dounds weird!) arrives, however a few clackered up girls I work with planned it so they stayed full time when they went back to work after their dc1 got clackered straight away, and then went off on Maternity leave again as a full time employee. In my case it doesn't change the amount (of statutory M/L that is) but it does affect how much leave gets accrued and paid out or taken, and also benefits plus the amount of pay we get during the period before M/L starts obviously. The other thing is we decided was it would be difficult to pay for childcare for one even (not really worth me working) as although mil can do most of the coverage, she is unavailable for parts of the year, and if I was off on another M/L at least I could be home looking after two of them.
I'm rambling now and going to post this but fear it may not make sense!

geez I should really preview my posts! That was typed lightening fast - apols for typos!

Hey everyone, thought I?d catch up as I left DH in the pub almost 3 hours ago, to finish his pint and he?s not home yet. We went for an early tea for a friends birthday, but me and the birthday girl and other mum?s all dutifully left to put the LO?s to bed, make lunches for tomorrow etc and somehow the Daddies didn?t need to worry about that

But enough about me, congratulations Spot ? great news about the flat and the little pimple that?s on the way. Although, you may have to name change now ? as no cheerfulness for you for another 40 (ish) weeks! Katie I?m sorry about your ?ve test, as you?ve wondered a couple of times now if no 3 is on the way. Fingers crossed for next month ? Sybil who is no 7 clacker? I am convinced there are 7 of the group in the clacker club, but can only name Beans, Rubes, Summer, LadyT, Modernlove and Spot ? big apologies to the one I?ve missed out, I?ve racked my brains long and hard on this one! LadyT have you broken the news about your clackerness yet?

On a sort of related note ? I?m v interested that you all got dodgy test results from cheapo pregnancy tests and Clear Blue digital sorted it out. I gave up on Clear Blue digital after a week of testing and getting ?ves and blanks (was spending too much) and eventually found that the less I spent, the clearer the +ve result ? I must have odd wee! The plus side (although my sis finds this gross and can?t imagine why DD would ever want to see this) is that I?ve kept the non digital wee stick and it still shows that BFP ? whereas the digital one turns off after a day or two.

Thanks to everyone for you help with the survey ? sadly I was just tempted to log in (on a bank holiday too ) and it?s really helped!

WG I?m pleased that work wasn?t as bad as you thought ? my sis is a teacher and, like you, found her first year hard, so I?d say don?t make any decisions until after then. After her second year she changed schools, to one much closer to home, and just the shorter commute made a big difference to her enjoyment of it. Do you think it could be as much the commute as the job, that?s filling you with dread each week?

Beans you are truly superwife ? boiling ham for bank holiday sandwiches and a bit . I often think ?ham sandwiches would be nice this weekend? and then go to the butcher's to save me the hassle

Indith how has mission sleep gone over the weekend?

Yay for MrVaggie coming home at last ? no more foreign travel for a while I hope? I am a bit to admit that on days (such as weekends) when DD and I don?t get to get out and interact with others I can sometimes find her boring or irritating if DH isn?t around to share the load, and you haven?t had much chance to share the load recently, so you deserved hours and hours of quiet time this weekend

Invis I?m glad your DD enjoyed her birthday, she probably didn?t even notice that anything was amiss

Trace I?m sorry that you rowed with your DH ? those things you envisaged, could you do them anyway (ok, can imagine how the smaller telly would go down), but maybe rearrange the lounge etc? I bet your weekend away will be huge fun ? I?ve only left DD twice, and the cuddles when I returned have been entirely worth it!

Jam I remember your sister getting the diagnosis, such great news that she?s got the all clear

Daisy I would mention it, maybe in a casual ?we?ve put a load of stuff on ebay recently, including some of your DC?s things, I hope you don?t mind, some very happy people have bought them and their DC?s are enjoying them?. A friend of mine lent the hoop from her wedding dress to another friend, who sold it after several years of keeping it the loft. Friend 1 didn?t mind the selling, just was fuming that she hadn?t been consulted first as she had another friend who wanted to borrow it for her wedding ? naughtily friend 2 just responded ?I can?t believe I got £x for it and bought myself a lovely frock with the money?, rather than a more tactful response ? (PS any tips ? I have a few things I want to ebay, but have never sold anything on it before, so am quite nervous)

Happy birthday for yesterday Nolda ? I hope your family spoilt you rotten?

Sybil I?m sure I would have reacted the same way to that poor lady ? v understandable as your brood is the same make up as her?s should be. However, I suspect she wanted some sort of reaction and felt comforted by you, if she didn?t want it to be an issue she wouldn?t have mentioned her son at all in the company

Kiwi I?m with you on the annoying pointing ? on Friday I spent 20 minutes picking stuff up in the kitchen that DD was pointing at, only to get a cross head shake and another point ? in the end she chucked her head back and sobbed in agony, in a ?my mummy doesn?t understand anything I say, its so unfair? sort of reaction. I swear she is a teenager already

LadyT I didn?t take any pics of me as Mrs Pontipine, but there are a couple of photos of me tagged on fb for you to admire giggle over. Yay for making your DH proud (although I have no doubt he would be proud of you everyday)

DD slept this morning until 10am . Annoyingly I got up at 630 with DH, to get a shower in peace ? and had 3 ½ hours of peace, grr. I got bored with peace, cleaned all the downstairs windows, baked cheese scones, cleaned both bathrooms, cleaned the oven, hung a load of washing out, gave myself a manicure etc etc before she finally woke. I can only think she was knackered after all yesterdays walking practise, as she doesn?t seem under the weather. Would anyone have woken her earlier? As we didn?t have to go anywhere, I decided against it and resisted a nap at all today ? she got rather grumbly towards teatime but went to bed ok. Still, that was a hell of a gamble!

We?re nearing the end of this thread ? which got me wondering today, will our first little sibling, the beanie baby, be born on our next thread? And does that mean that we?ll have to stop calling our babies ?babies? and start calling them toddlers, once there?s a real baby on the thread?

Welcome back LadyT! Glad you had such a successful tour. I am envious of the cheese. I love cheese and given I have eaten nothing but vegtables for five days I would currently kill for a slab of dolcelatta. Mmmmmm.

I don't have long to type as DH is grumping that I am MNing in bed but we are off to Babbington in the morning so I thought I would take this oppurtunity to answer JJ's question. When I went on maternity leave fOr DD2 I kept DD1 with her nanny 3 days a week so I could bond with DD2 and her happy little routine wasn't blown to pieces. TBH it was a life saver. I could afford to do that because I went back fulltime when I was 17 weeks pregnant (I was 3 days a week until then). My work calculate maternity pay on your earnings between weeks 18 and 26 so I was v lucky. The free nursery place is 2.5 hours a day from the age of 3 but will probably be cut if the Tories get in.

Which brings me to the election. I can't say who I support as my job is all about being politically neutral and commanding the confidence of members from all parties. I am not even allowed to sign petitions or join organisations like Amnesty! From a professional point of you it would be absolutley fascinating to work in a hung parliament. I am going to a big election night party on Thursday night and have designed the coolest election themed cupcakes. Will put photos of them on FB once the designs are a reality. I am such a geek!

Ooh I'd love to see the cupcakes! DH and I will be staying up for some of the results, though I doubt I'll be pulling off an all-nighter as I'm at work the next day. Have been thinking about food - was going to make election cake but have looked at the recipe and it takes HOURS.

I need to do a proper catch up but am on my phone on the train so will lose the signal soon bt wanted to say welcome back to LadyT nd congrats on the cricket (and the lovely cheese)

Morning all...

jj as far as I know all over 3's are entitled to 12.5hours of childcare. Inmost pre-schools(the ones attatched to schools) this is equivalent to 5 x 2.5 hr sessions. However, you can use it at regular private daycare nurseries and as veggie said you just pay the difference. However, I had heard that this was going to increase to about 15 hours and they could get it sooner but not sure about that. I think they are also only entitled to it the school term following their 3rd birthday, so not immediate iyswim.

I usually stay up late on election night, have done an all nighter in my youth when labour first got back in. Not sure I'll manage that again with the DC's usually up at 6am!

Veggie, shame about the football last night...time to confess I am a Rovers fan. I used to be their home and away matches till I had children. I do miss going on and can't wait for the DC's to get older and take them with me. I was brainwashed by my Dad, so they can be too.

ladyt Glad you had a good trip, and congrats on it being so successful too.

kiwi good to hear your on the mend.

It's ok Daisy you deserved it, they showed that you only need to put a little pressure on Fabianski and he start whining. I'm all for the brainwashing, DS1 is a huge Arsenal fan and DS2 is well on his way. DH dresses them in their kit and we all watch the games together. We once met a lady who told us that her dad sat each of her siblings down when they were 8 and told them they had a week to decide which team they would support they could support any team but once
they made the decision that was their team for life. DH & I were horrified! We really do not believe our boys should have that amount of choice when it comes to football. Luckily both boys not only love Arsenal but also the game in general. I will never forget the first time DS1 threw himself onto the ground rolling around and screaming his excitment when Arsenal scored a goal.

ZJ I love you, we had a bad night again lastnight with DS2 and DH had just left this morning and I was contemplating a day of sleepiness ahead when the doorbell rang and it was your lovely package. Thankyou it is exactly what i needed!

Aubs I would love to send you some Dutch cheese, it is lovely. Can I have a cupcake?

Morning all. Back at work today. YAWN.

Re nursery etc - we're not having childcare for DD when the new one arrives as we can't really afford it. I am desperately pretending that there's a bright side to it and it means I'm not under pressure to get her anywhere at a certain time with another baby there, but I do wish she was going into nursery! I think we'll see how we're doing after a few months money-wise...

I won't be going back to work after this baby until they're school age, because I'd actually be paying out money on childcare, higher than my salary, so absolutely no point at all. Thank GOD.

Have got a really sore throat today, and was wishing I'd stayed in bed. But we have the littles at our house for the nannyshare this week, so I wouldn't get any rest anyway. Think will probably head home early though and get a bit of rest.

Does anyone else find that a whole 3 days with DH can get a bit wearing? I love mine, but dear GOD he drives me potty sometimes. If I try to help out with something he's doing, he gets really angry with me and says things like "Why don't you just do it" in huffy tone. It's so dull. And I only ever offer help if it seems like he's struggling. Ho hum. It's small things, but when it happens about 5 times a day, then it starts to get wearing. Plus we went swimming yesterday and were in the pool for 45 mins, so DD getting tired. He wanted to do some lengths, so I took her to get dressed. Apparently he was looking for me in the changing room for a while (he didn't specify how long, but I was only 15 mins, so can't have been long), but he was furious with me that I hadn't realised he was there and I could have hung the towel over the door or something. He's right, I could have. But we were using it!!! Plus he forgot his swimming trunks and that too was my fault. Everything is my fault and it's dreary. If only I were psychic...

Anyway, must stop the whinging - sorry about that!

Did everyone else have a lovely weekend? x

PS ZJ - that was a monster post! Am v impressed with it!!!

and Lady - well done on the cricket organising and victory! YAY!

OH MY GOD I literally have nothing to do at work today. Maybe should sneak off. Don't think anyone would notice. Plus had a chocolate croissant for breakfast and now feeling a bit sick as well as sore throat!!!