Hello all,
Well DH has gone for beers and curry with the boys so I am taking up my position on the sofa in front of the telly. Christ I?m tired. Sooooo tired. I never really get going at all because I am missing my morning caffeine shot and then I start to seriously flag mid afternoon. I just have to keep going because, well, nobody else is going to feed the children, bath them and put them to bed but I just collapse when they?re down. I must only be about 4 weeks but the nausea is already starting as well as some seriously freaky dizzy spells. I felt like a proper space cadet for about 2 hours this morning. I?d have paid good money for that a few years ago 
Thank you for all your lovely words and thoughts. It still doesn?t feel real yet. It?s just been so quick which is wonderful of course but I wasn?t really prepared. Poor DH is most disappointed as he was looking forward to his half term shag fest. I keep looking in the mirror expecting to look different. I don?t of course, apart from the giant spot on my chin. It?s been chaos the last few weeks chez Peanut as the family bathroom has been being totally gutted and rebuilt but that project is now ticked off the last. I love it. I no longer want to cry whenever I walk into the room which was my most common reaction before. The whole project was run by a rather sweet and, it has to be said, well constructed Polish builder. I had a great Desperate Housewives moment where I had to dress a rather horrid cut on the back of his leg after he cut it open on a mirror. No funny business of course but it was the most interesting thing I did that day
Anyway, less of the me, me, me.
Rogue How are you all doing? It?s good to hear that the pregnancy is going well and that you heard that little heart beating away. It must be another source of comfort for you in what is going to be a very difficult time. Breaking out the maternity jeans seems to be a rite of passage that is undertaken earlier and earlier in each successive pregnancy. I?ll probably be shopping for some in a couple of weeks. My waters broke on the pair I lived in with Clara and strangely I didn?t much fancy taking them home! How is DH and your gorgeous Aoife? I hope you?ve managed to avoid adopting anymore passing animals!
Jumping I notice that your thoughts on going from 2 to 3 softened slightly from ?finding it quite tough? before I posted me news to it being a joy! I have no doubt that it is going to be challenging. You certainly sound like you have your hands full though. I read about all the stuff you have to juggle and I just boggle at it all. You work a lot more than me and you already have one child more than me. You are my role model! I have lots and lots of reasons for wanting a third ? some sensible, some hormonal but ultimately it comes down to wanting more faces round the table and just wanting to be surrounded by more life. You paint such a lovely picture of that life.
Ffion sounds just gorgeous and it?s great that she?s happy in the crèche now. I know all about daughters that wind their fathers around their little fingers too. Clara has been waking at night in the last few days ? I think she?s got some more teeth coming though. Anyway, DH has been leaping out of bed at her first cry because he?s been doing such long hours the last week or two that he hasn?t seen Clara that much and he just likes cuddles with her even at 3am! "Be my guest," is, of course, my response.
Fred loves his nursery school. Every morning he runs in after being reminded to give his Mummy a kiss. I?m so impressed with the way they seem to be doing ?learning by stealth.? He is clearly taking stuff in and has come out with all sorts of things that have surprised me but seems to think it?s all really good fun too. So we?re all happy with that.
Head Like Bella I would love to know where that secret BBC tv stash lies. Have often thought we are living parallel existences too ? except your job is way more interesting than any of mine have ever been. I have been a bit on the school thing too. I just assumed Fred would go to his catchment school which is the one attached to the nursery school he goes to now. However, I then got into a conversation with several mums at the school gate flapping about admissions and the fact that a few kids in catchment didn?t get in last year because it was a big sibling year. I then called loads of schools to make appointments. All the kids in our road go to that school so I?d be surprised if Fred didn?t get in (we can walk in 4 minutes if we get a wriggle on) but I was sent off into a panic by a probably ill advised conversation. Francesca sounds like a little mischief maker, but a very cute one. 
She looks so sweet on your FB pics.
Blue Glad you liked the monster cake! You have no idea how much stress went into that little fella! For some reason I got it into my head that I was going to use royal icing so I bought some ready made stuff. All well and good but it sets like concrete and did so before I actually iced the full cake. I ended up chucking the top layer away and baking another at 10pm on the Friday night. I made a vat of luridly coloured butter cream at dawn on Saturday morning and decorated away. All ok in the end but how stressful? Next year I?m outsourcing.
How have you found The Wire? I know everybody raves about it but I?ve never got into that one. I am LOVING Downton Abbey, although there was a moment of such high cheesiness last week that I felt forced to bury my head in a sofa cushion. It?s still glorious though. I just switch my critical faculties off and gaze upon its beauty.
I see from FB that Isaac?s school holiday is overdue! I hope some time chilling out with Star Wars and Lego does the trick. My friends with school age children are in agreement that tiredness does seem to become cumulative over the course of each half term. Fred isn?t proper school age yet ? he will be 5 next September so he only does 3 hours each morning. That?s certainly enough for now. I have friends whose children are a week older than Fred and are have therefore started proper school this year and it seems so young. I?m very glad Fred hung on for that extra week, even if he did have to be evicted in the end!
So, how does your DH feel about more little members of the clan? Is it seriously on the agenda? I think you are very brave to admit to your thoughts about yearning for a girl. I?ve seen other threads on MN where people have been flamed for such admissions. If I am being honest if Clara had been a boy then I think I would have pushed harder for a third.
Bella Welcome back! G sounds like a little like Freddie used to be at that age - seriously hard work at times but thoroughly delightful and charming at others. The good news is that Fred is still charming and is well behaved at school but still falls into the high maintenance bracket. Lots of exercise is the key with him and not too much telly. I have to limit it to pretty much an hour a day (and all of it at the end of the day) or he becomes really hard work.
Btw second children tend to be more chilled than first children ? basically because they have no choice. You could manage one I?m sure Clara still doesn?t say that much. She has quite a lot of words but uses them rarely. The omly two words she puts together are ?one more.? She can let me know what she wants but she just doesn?t seem to want to chat. Her brother never shuts up. Maybe that is part of the problem. She just potters round happily and although she can be very cuddly and sweet she is also seems to like to just do her own thing. I try to engage her with stuff because I feel like I should be actively doing more with her and she just wanders off to pull lots of brightly coloured plastic items out of a cupboard again. I?m not worried because she understands everything ? she?ll happily point out cows/apples/fish or whatever on a page and she can point to her nose, tummy, ears etc. and carry out instructions but she just won?t talk to me. If she gets to two and not much has changed I might consider trying to get a speech therapy referral but I?m not too concerned. I think if she was getting angry and frustrated it would be different but she?s a pretty chilled little girl.
Wow ? a 1600 word post. That?s nearly as long as one of my work papers. Nighty night.