May 2009 - one year on

[Tummum]

Here you go ladies...

Britain's Got Talent!

The last act was a gymnastics troupe and was absolutely fantastic!

Ahhh, I see.

Off to bed soon, I think. Fingers crossed for another night like last night please.

Evening all,

Well, we went to Felixtowe after all, but we did leave fairly early in the morning so it was worth the long drive. The ap didn't want to go to the beach, DH needed to go to Felixstowe for something, so I thought I'd rather not go completely alone with 3 dcs. I could imagine them all running/crawling in opposite directions while I was trying to keep an eye on the stuff as well. As it was they stayed where we were. It was nice, we don't do family things very often. They were all exhausted. Ds most of all, he was asleep in the car before C or dd1! He did do the most running around/playing in the sea though. Afterwards we went to eat something and I'd forgotten my hairbrush, so looked really scruffy in my sandy clothes and tangled hair.

saus Thinking of you. Hope you're OK.

grumpy Saw your yellow mini. It's lovely. I like the old minis best of all! You think you'll be able to fit 3dcs in there?

fi Lovely pictures. It would be like living in a picture post card!

Night everyone. Hope everyone else ses febes momi reggie flip bacon llare tumm muddled and anyone else who might have slipped my mind are having a lovely weekend

belgina, sounds like a lovely day out, I like family events.

grumpy, I love your classic Yellow Mini as well! (am vehemently against the new Minis).

Flip hope you get a good night again!

ses, i watched a bit of BGT as well and thought the gymnastics troupwere fantastic.

febes, at the pool... can I come lounge?

muddled, my 3 don't like water/pools either. they cringe when they see paddling pools. thanks for your advic on anti Ds. i guess i'm just scared of them and need to look at them as a way of getting help.

i'm so sorry but will have to leave NC there - I'm falling asleep! Hope all are well and dreaming sweet dreams.

momino- I was scared about taking ADs too, but as my GP thought it was the best thing for me, i do think they saved my sanity. I felt terrible for the first few weeks, as the side effects weren't great, but after that, they were good for me, and sometimes i think i came off them too soon .

belgina- glad you managed to have a good family day out afer all.

saus- I don't blame you for wanting to go to your parents and have a break from your DH. I really hope things get better for you at home.

We are planning a trip to Chester Zoo tomorrow (just hope it's not too wet). DD and DS1 have been at my parents since Friday (it's been lovely ) and we'll meet them all there tomorrow and bring the DCs home after. We even took S out for drinks/meal with friends last night and he was really good. We had to walk him around now and again as he doesn't like being held or in a highchair all the time. We never took DD or DS1 out late when they were little, but as we had no babysitters last night, we thought we'd give it a go.

Hellloooooooo Ladies!
Am back in interwebland. Bookmarking for a catch-up later.

saus how are you doing? As others have said, you have been through one hell of a lot this past year, even without your DH behaving like a prize twunt. I hope things get better for you soon.

ses How are you and DH doing now?

glad you had a lovely day at the beach belgian febes ooh get you with the everyday shenanigans... and a pool too I am v jealous

momi FWIW I know I was scared of taking AD's as I felt like it was a sign that I had failed in some way but a friend pointed out to me if you had broken your leg, you wouldn't try walking around on it without getting a plaster to help fix it and AD's do the same thing (kind of) but for your brain! Its not a very elegant analogy but it did help me approach them with a different attitude and they did help me through a particularly difficult period (years ago at uni).

flip, llare so glad your nights are getting better.

grumpy sooo at your yellow mini. The worst thing about this week was missing our lovely mushy pea green campervan!

fi welcome home! I am going to have a look at your pics as soon as I find the time - they sound fab!

Hello to tum, muddled, pula and everyone else I have forgotten!

We have had a fabulous week - A's party last Sunday was great, despite it being v windy we managed to fit in the garden/lounge and the rubber duck cake I made went down well (shaped like a rubber duck, luckily didn't taste like one ) Then we went camping on Monday-Friday with two other couples and their 2.5 yo's. A loved it, spent most of the week crawling around after the two boys, trying to ride their scooters and waving at all the other people on the campsite - which I can definitely recommend if anyone fancies a hol on the Suffolk coast. The only problem was that she has 4 molars coming through so we have had a week of horrendous nappies and disrupted bedtimes and v v v v early starts - 4.30am one day!

On Friday which was A's birthday (thanks for all the b'day wishes on fb by the way!), our friends stayed up late and decorated the outside of our tent with balloons and happy birthday banners which A got v excited about when we got up in the morning.

We were at the IL's for the weekend which was ok - the usual IL annoyances and I didn't get much sleep last night due to the traffic noise at their house so I was v glad to get home this afternoon.

Right, am required for bedtime milk duties, back later - I have some lovely stories re birthday gifts to share.x

Me again, right the birthday pressie stories...

My mum bought A one of these for her birthday. Its a little baby boy one. I was a bit sceptical but A loves it, she speed crawls over to him and gives him a massive hug everytime she sees him, it is sooo sweet. The hilarious thing is that the doll is 'anatomically correct' and A is a bit fascinated with what's inside its nappy!

The wooden music centre thing I mentioned ages ago has been a big hit, but this has also proved v popular, including with the older children at her party so we're hoping it will last her quite a while too.

Right, almost enough of me me me - I do have a quick question for you though - I am keen to get A from a bottle of formula onto whole milk in a cup. Am going to look at the feeding board for ideas but I wondered if anyone has any tips... ta in advance.

Right, definitely off now, going to watch a bit more of the Wire with DH.

Running I have given R whole milk but only a couple of times so far as he likes boob juice to much. I gave DD cows milk from a year old as I gave up BFing when she was 12 months due to PG knackerness and she was fine on it.

DH just got home from work and I'm watching BGT from last night and he says all casual like that he was there derigging last night AND he was at the BAFTAs after party setting up and he will be derigging later. He's so famous (by-proxy)

Running BTW that doll your mum got A is terrifying.

running - welcome back
Sounds like you've been having a brilliant time!
Glad A's birthday went so well and she got some great presents. I had a look at your links and tbh, I was a bit about those babies but I don't really know why! They look v well made and quite cute and A sounds v cute playing with it.

milk - I've been trying to give O some milk in a sippy cup once a day (but often forgetting!) He's gradually getting more used to it but will only have it if I warm it slightly.

couchto5k - I've failed miserably ladies I have a history of dodgy knees as my kneecaps are slightly out of line and week 2 seems to have aggravated them big time. I'm having serious issues going up and down stairs so have quit the running I'm feeling v frustrated as I'd been enjoying it and want to get fit. I'll have to think of something else...

saus - hope you're doing ok

Momino - I echo what others have said about ADs. I've not used them personally but they transformed my mum and I see lots of patients who they help.

Fi - great photos! They brought back memories of my visit to Halifax and Prince Edward Island a few years ago.

Pula - hope the weather holds for your trip to the zoo!

Flip - did you get another good night? We did!! First time in months (and about the 5th time ever!) O slept right through beyond 5.30am!!!

DH - thanks again for all your support. I'm still feeling quite disappointed but I know it's not the end of the world. Hopefullly DH will stick to his assurance of not waiting too much longer. I've not broached the subject again (yet!) in the hope that will help with his feelings of stress and pressure.

Hope everyone else is ok. Not heard from Spangle in a while?

x-posts Febes - ooh! get your DH!!! I've got a friend that worked on wardrobe on BGT too!

Hello everyone

Thank you so much for your lovely, lovely words. DH and I carried on with heated conversations the rest of the evening, but I pointed out some home truths to him, mainly that I was fed up with covering for him all the time...I mean, members of my family and even his have asked me 'is he ok, he's ever so quiet, have we done something to upset him' and I always fob it off with, ooh he's tired, he's stressed, etc etc. I made it clear to him that he is actually coming across as blatantly rude and I think it was a bit of a shock to him - also said that when he is quiet and sulky with me I take it personally too, and I think it is finally sinking in. We've agreed for me not to 'nag' so much, and he to remember that I like things put away and cleared up before we sit down for the evening with a glass of wine and relax, for example. So it's been fine ever since. I think I have become ridiculously over sensitive since having M, and also having hip and bum probs, and moving to an area where I know no-one - I used to be such a different person. I guess that's one reason why I am enjoying being back at work (albeit only 2 days a week) and feeling like the old me again. I am not making excuses for him being rude, but I have to think and remember his depression history and the fact that he was quite bullied by his Dad when he was growing up. That night, I woke up at 1am and he still hadn't come to bed (ok, so didn't go in spare bed that night, forgot about clean sheets on it ready for MIL when she comes this week - and thats another whole story in itself!) and I sat up bold upright sick with fear that he had gone and done 'something silly' like he had those years ago. Charged downstairs and he had fallen asleep watching telly. Phew, but ggrr.

Am so sorry to have made the thread so maudlin, I do hope I can cheer it up again with more ridiculous poo and bum stories... am still having to wear a mahoosive sanitary towel thing (with wings!) and got fed up with it at work on Friday and took it off because the sticky bits to the knickers kept sticking to the, ah, hairy bits and tweaking them as I walked. Then I was paranoid I was going to ooze onto my trousers and it would show. I mean, duh, thick, navy, uniform trousers!

On that bum note....

(my DH has PSB on the stereo. Maybe he is trying to tell me something?!!

Spelbound - how orange were they?!!

Good point re Spangle - hope she is ok.

I nearly bought a netmums book - 'how to be a happy mum'.....hhmmmm......

Thanks everyone... I am, like, SO feeling the luuurve...

Thanks for your lovely comments about my NS photos.. can't believe this time last week we were still there. Finding it very difficult to like being back atm. Too many cars and people here. One thing is certain now.. we will be applying for visas but if for some reason we don't get accepted for residency.. plan B.. we'll be moving somewhere quieter in the uk.. maybe an island somewhere! any suggestions?!

Anyhoo have some stuff what has happened that I haven't mentioned yet.. G started walking totally on her own the day after her 1st birthday quickly followed by her discovery she could climb stairs also she's feeding herself finger food every meal time too!

I lost 4lbs on holiday so now only have 3lbs to my pre G weight!! i'm determined to get to my pre DS weight though which means 13lbs not 3lbs to goal. I am seriously considering couch-2-5k I know! me of huge norkage! i'm going to buy a serious sports bra and running shoes. For those that have done/ are doing it how do I start?!

hope you've all been enjoying the sunshine.. belgina I should make the effort to get the dc's organised like you and walk them down to our one.. I look at it often enough out of the window!

febes at all the action.. not much happening here as i'm still not really bothered and dh is still wiped out by his newly diagnosed under active thyroid (haven't got his pills dosage right yet).

sausage hows you? did you go to your M & D?

running you made me lol at A & her doll G was given a giggle n tickle baby annabel.. she's not v sure about it when the noises start at all!

Evening all!

sausage - love back to you too. Glad you and your DH have managed to talk, I hope this is the start of a new, good, happy phase.

Oh, if anyone wants a happy mum book, I'd really recommend Buddhism for Mothers; I think Llareggub suggested it a long time ago and other people I know (well, more pretend friends ) recommend it. it's not about being a buddhist, but there's good trategies for coping with stuff. I really liked it because it doesn't tell you how to parent as such, it's not about raising children but more about being a mum and dealing with that, iyswim.

running - your week and the birthday celebrations sound good. LOL at anatomically correct doll. DD1 has started asking questions about stuff, today I had to explain - in 3 year old terms - how babies got out of mummies' tummies.

We didn't get another good night, sadly, but I've spotted another tooth on the way through. Great.

on phone again.. thought there'd be x posts
sausage glad you kept talking it through and that it cleared the air a bit..

saus- glad you and DH have had a word about how you are feeling, and glad to hear things are a bit better. IKWYM about enjoying going to work. I can see you are worried about your DH given his depression history, but how are you with your PND? It was your "how to be a happy mum" reference that struck a real chord .

ses- sorry to hear your knees have stopped your running. I have done two week 2 runs, and my knees are really suffering during/after them and I don't have a history of bad knees - I need to keep going as i'm doing my race 4 life in 5 weeks, but I am thinking of either getting some new trainers and/or some knee support bandage thingies.

fi- I saw your NS photos too and thought it just looked so lovely and I imagined the air being clean and the lifestyle being laid-back and healthy too. Congrats on G learning to walk- S has discovered the stairs and fell down a few yesterday and cut his lip (I didn't realise he could climb them so just assumed he was playing in the hall) and then today whilst i watched him, he climbed the full flight of 16 with a few minor slips on the way, so I really must watch him closely from now on!

flip i'm amazed DS didn't ask how G got in my tummy! at least I don't remember him asking.. i'm not sure if i'd have been able to answer in 3yr old terms!? how did it go?

pula that's how we discovered G could do the stairs.. I got a real fright as i'd only turned my back for a moment and looked up to see G halfway up the 1st flight of stairs in the holiday house.. i've never moved so fast I can tell you. Poor S how's his lip today?

The NS air was great & everyone looked amazing for their ages. you're right I think they do live a lot healthier lifestyle over there.

Aaaarrgghhhh!! After doing a mega catch up read I just typed a really long post with a lengthy me, me, me bit and comments to Ses saus and Fi (so far) and it's GONE .

No time to re-type fully so an abridged version -

Hellooo! Sorry to go AWOL so long, and thanks for thinking of me Ses & Saus Ses I can totally understand you being frustrated at waiting to TTC. I think, given your DH's feelings, it's best to give him a bit of space until he's feeling a bit less pressured. One thing that's helped DH & I get along better day to day is him having more time & responsibility for H. He's much more confident with him and it feels more like we're a team rather than me demanding help from him IYSWIM.

Saus sorry to hear of your bum troubles. Hope it's getting better and your poo is of a more helpful consistency. . Definitely keep talking to your DH. You've been through a lot and it will take a while for a happy normality to develop.

Fi glad you're back safely. Will have a wander over to FB and peek at your pictures.

pula enjoy Chester Zoo! Glad you had a good night out with S. H is pretty good at being taken out late but he is quite restless the rest of the night (payback time).

llare yay to G's sleeping! Fingers crossed for many more such nights to come.

We are all ok here - well, H is on ABs for another chest infection, but is pretty much back to his normal self. I took him to be weighed last Tues - first time in 2 months - and he has lost weight - at 16lb 13oz he's off the bottom of the chart . HVs v relaxed about it but said maybe mention to the GP. GP thinks it's a combination of him being meant to be small (I'm only 5ft, although DH's family are quite tall, and the men in my family are mostly at least average height) combined with a run of bad luck re illness - to be fair he's had 2 chest infections, a tummy bug and an ear infection in the last 8 weeks. She's referred us to a dietician about H's suspected cows milk protein allergy, so maybe they'll have some ideas about getting calories into him.

Nuchal scan tomorrow - getting nervous!

Ooo good luck spangle with your scan tomorrow (been wondering how you were doing ) hope this chest infection is H's last illness for a long time.. not surprised he'd lost a little weight. i'm sure he'll pile it back on when he's feeling better

Hi all,

just a quick one as I've got and early tomorrow for the 1st time in ages and I'm planning an early night.

saus so glad to hear from you and to hear that you and your DH have had a chat and things appear to be on the up. Do keep talking though and don't worry about comming on here to off load.

spangle Glad see you back too. Nuchal scan already. How quick! Seems to make sense that H has lost weight after being ill so often.

running Someone I know told me about those dolls. They remind me a little of cabbage patch dolls dolls though C's loving dolls too. She's stolen dd1's (unloved) baby doll and baby (babay) appears to be the only word she can say, lol.
BTw, was it you who knitted this cute little cardigan a little while ago? If so, where did you get the pattern from? I'd like to have a go at it for a friend.

ses Sorry to hear about your knees spoiling your running plans. DH has dodgy knees and finds shoes do make a big difference. He does run though, but takes it easy when they start to play up.

Going to bed now. It's my 1st shift on LW in 2 months tomorrow and I'm a bit scared.
I also seem to have misplaced my portfolio and my NMC registration card and I need them on Tues to meet my supervisor, whoops

Evening Spangle.

fi - I forgot to say that if you need a sports bra, Ennell are fab. They are horrendously ugly, but they keep everything in place very very well. ses - sorry to hear about your knees.

Re chats with three-year-olds. Fortunatley I didn't have to do the how-babies-get-in bit, but how-they-get-out was a little bit tricky. Along the lines of 'mummies have three holes, one for wee, one for poo and one for babies'! DH was pulling some very strange faces behind DD1, I think he was a bit scared!

evening all.
spangle, good to hear from you and good luck at the nuchal scan.
Fi, well done G on walking and at the stairs. H isn't walking yet but she can open the stair gate (yikes) by yanking it open (it's not very good), i hear it creak and go to find her halfway up (yikes again). she thinks it's funny.

sausage, glad you spoke to DH and hope you're feeling a bit better. glad you're startng to look at the humorous side but please don't apologise - you haven't made the thread maudlin, it's full of all our ups and downs. just hope you're able to be easy on yourself.

running, very scary doll. glad A likes it though . about whole milk: we gave H a mixed cup of formula and milk for a couple of weeks gradually decreasing the amount of formula until she was drinking all milk.

ses, don't fret about running, you haven't failed; your kneecaps just aren't cooperating, no fault of yours. how about swimming? or walking? or cycling?

pula, have fun at Chester zoo! hope the weather is good.

Fi, well done on the weight loss. and on holiday? that's a feat. I always GAIN on holiday!

Flip, have been meaning to get that Buddhism book after llare recommended it. next time I'm on amazon. hope you get a better night tonight.

febes at your famous by proxy dh!

had a up and down day. went to a birthday party where dd1 bit me because she was frustrated waiting in a queue for the cake , then both she and dd2 had horrible tantrums so we left, I was embarrassed and horrified by my dds' behaviour. they've been acting up lately, maybe it's my anxious mood? or I'm feeding them too much sugar? but the rest of the day, i got a lot of work done for my job, dh cleaned the entire house when we were at the party, and I took a bath tonight. and now, to bed.

tomorrow's a new day and I'm determined to be patient with the DDs. and myself. thanks for the advice on the ADs. I'll see what the GP says on Wed. night all.

xposted Belg, Flip !