June 08 - a Coalition for all (even those with May or July 08 babies).

[DomesticGoddessInTraining]

Abdn liked the title so I just went ahead!

Ohh Julia Donaldson - just got one of her newer ones zog and it's lovely.

Neenz If dummy works go for it- in scheme of things to worry about if kids like them it's quite low ( so guess am with dewin there). Also am pretty sure there are circs with newborn where they recommend them ( to do with breathing difficulties) .

It's this show here Poppy - not sure what to expect or if it'll be suitable, I was a bit confused at suitable for families and age 5 plus.

FB is down, how can I go to bed without my nightly Bejeweled Blitz game?

That looks brilliant dgt- do tell us how you
Enjoy it.

Deb maybe you need to get bejeweled on ds as back up? also had moment of as someone here was posting about how nicked she was to see someone in pushchair playing with a ds- hands up e has played peppa pig on the ds (admittedly not for long) ..

Rolf - Your DH is being a twunt. Sorry you're having to put up with it along with all the house stress. Sybil - your post is so true!

Deb - Ry has repeatedly on and off dropped his afternoon nap, we?ll have weeks without one and then suddenly he?ll start again, but it?s never a sure thing. Unless I?m at work apparently, always goes down for hours then. So don?t give up, yet! I just put him down for a minimum of 30mins, up to an hour if he doesn?t get hysterical, anyway. It does both of us good to have a break from one another.

Poppy - I wasn?t joking about the Priory, seriously I was there last year, mainly as an outpatient, but also as an inpatient for a week. Didn?t get any bacon sarnies though?.

Neenz - We?re coming back to the UK. We don?t know when exactly but we?ve both decided 100% that NZ is not for us long term.

Was planning on selling my DS in the next month or so, but if you think it?ll keep R quiet, I may re-consider!

Any good new stuff on tv over there? I can normally find most stuff on the net, but have watched Weeds, Desperate Housewives, House, Cougar Town, Outnumbered, etc and am seeking some inspiration! I?m considering getting the West Wing boxset out again, but know that if I start, I won?t re-surface for days.

I'm a dummy fan here. DD1 had one and it was really hard to wean her off it, tried many times and she eventually gave up at 3 1/2 years. As it was such a battle with DD1 I didn't give one to DD2 so she used me as a human dummy - big mistake!!! DS has one and I really can#t be botheresd with a battle to wean him off it, he will give it up when he is ready.

Everything is broken here! DP crahed the car on the way to the campsite, car still in garage 100 miles away from home along with all out camping stuff, clothes etc. Tumble drier not working (someone comming to look tommorow), a bit more of my tooth which needs a crown broke off (appoitmnet in september) can't eat any solid food until them as I worry more will come off so living off soup, yogs and porrige, oven knob broken so can't use it! ALl except tooth can be fixed under guarentee /insurance - annoying though!!!!

Rolf I sometimes feel like you do to, expected to take all responsibilty of the children even when dp is around. He has got better recently and helps get them ready when we go out.

going that sounds like a nightmare, surely you've had your lot now though!

can't help with dummy advice, I tried giving one to C early on, but she used to gag and spit it out immediately, so we gave up with them!

afternoon naps - C sleeps really well at nursery, but it's a battle to get her to sleep during the day at all at home The only way of definitely gettting her to sleep is to go for a drive in the car.

DGT I'm sure the Julia Donaldson thing will be suitable, I think they say 5+ as some of the stories' plots are more complex than they first appear - she says that when you ask children in P1 why the house in a squash and a squeeze feels bigger at the end, only the cleverest ones realsie that it is NOT because the animals have stretched it!

rolf sympathies .

penguin we've just finished watching Luther on V+, we enjoyed that, and if you haven't alrady seen it, The Wire. Best TV drama ever (give it a few episodes to start off!)

baby ballet was great fun on Saturday, good toes and naughty toes all round! C was really good, and was really paying attention to the teacher, I was pleasantly suprised! The range of outfits amused me, we hd gone for a tee shirt and leggings, but there were some full on margot fonteyn get ups!

I'm sick. And panicky due to job interview on Wednesday. I think it's a bug, but luckily I was at my Mum's (DH went back to London on Saturday) and she came and stayed over. Feeling a bit better but weak and yucky.

Ooh, and miserable clearly! Right, I'm going to rally round now and think positive!

Rolf I had so many sympathies with your rant. And Sybil's comments too! I think it's a general problem when your DH is away a lot (and quite possibly even if they're not away a lot just work!) that the person doing all the childcare does get a bit resentful. I do: DH makes idiotic comments about me 'not being able to cope' when I whinge, and then makes me feel like a servant. Infuriating. My problem is being a feminist but pushed into this housewifey role, and the fact that he claims to be able to manage, but actually only manages when I've done the shopping, tell him what to cook etc etc. (On Thursday he forgot to give Iestyn his afternoon snack. He said 'he'll ask when he's hungry'. No, he won't - he never does.)
Then again, one thing we've got out of counselling is that the adjustment for him is tough: when he comes back, he has to slot into a routine which is up and running, and often there's no space for him to slot, IYKWIM.

I'm off to deal with translation issues (for the interview: they're horrific, total discrimination, I reckon; will explain later!) and then watch This Morning.

Thanks for all the sympathy . I've saved us £140 on accommodation by being pushy so very happy. DH being a divvy so we're just avoiding each other. The floors look good and we're moving back in tomorrow, thank goodness.

Dewin sorry you're feeling sick, and good luck with the interview. What's the translation issue?

Going that's rubbish that everything is broken, but nice to know it happens to everyone else too

DGT and Biscuits all your theatre trips sound fabulous.

Deb how is the house sale going?

Penguin I second the recommendation for The Wire. We're on our second viewing of the West Wing.

Deb, keep the nap going as long as poss even if he doesn't sleep, so what if he is not upset . the dts still go down after lunch for 2hrs and only sleep every few days. they just read books, sing, chat etc. today esther was finishing her lunch and said 'want to go to bed', i said 'you want to got to bed?', and she said 'to read a book'

Dewin, hope you feel better soon and good luck with the interview prep.

Going, sounds like a nightmare esp the car. I am finding that the dummy does the trick sometimes but not others so I just keep trying it. He really likes going in the sling too . That's handy esp at tea time when i am really busy with the twins.

Poppy - can you get BB for the ds? and - Ethan likes Nintendogs!

Rolf - glad you're nearly home, hope your dh is better behaved when you get back home!

Dewin - hope you feel better soon and good luck for the interview.

Hope Eddie and her dh are making the most of their night away from the boys!

Penguin, shame NZ hasn't worked out for you but at least you're both in agreement about moving back. How will your in-laws take it? Do you still keep in touch with your Father?

Going - poor you, having to cope with everything else and surviving on non solid food, maybe what you need is one of those chocolate fountains?We still have a broken car as we wouldn't pay the extortionate garage bills so we waited for our friend to fix the car and we had the wrong part so instead of a car with squealing brakes which I could just drive to the nearest town we now have a car that's off the road, so we're stuck, thank god it's good weather at the moment.

Biscuits - baby ballet sounds lovely

Neenz - I love that Esther wanted to go to bed to read!

Today I tired Ethan out swimming and then he had an hour but woke up very grumpy

House sale update, well we've had the signed offer and we were going to start making plans in the UK and getting school places etc but my dad has made me see sense(for once, he was an estate agent so has experience on this occasion)and realise that even though they are paying a deposit their sale could fall through so we are waiting to see what happens, Stefan might have to go back to school here, but we might see if we could home school him until we get to the UK, I don't know if it would be possible. The buyers are coming over next weekend to ask us loads of questions and go through what we're leaving, selling, binning from the house.I hope that after they have been I'll feel like I know what's going on and where we stand, it's still all up in the air really.

Hi all, marking my spot before I fall off the thread. Been ill with a stinking hideous cold and cough from hell but have been reading. Will be back soon for chatting I hope. x

Hi all, quick post as just got home from Brighton and no time to catch up right now!

Deb, really pleased to see things moving on but FWIW think you're right not to move until everything's signed sealed and delivered - but then I used to be an estate agent too (little known fact !) so know where your dad is coming from!

Had our first night away from the boys yesterday which was absolutely fab - don't think we'll be doing it again in a hurry though as mum is totally shattered as A had her up twice and M once .

Ho hum, I'll savour the memories .

Hi to everyone x

Marking my spot x

Did I kill the thread?

Quick catch up, just wanted to say good luck with the interview Dewin.

Bit jealous of your night away Eddie!

I'm here, got my Dad on the case now, he has phoned up our agent as my "property advisor" in the UK not as my Dad!! and apparently the agent is hopeful that the buyers will sign this weekend but I am not holding my breath.

Hope Dewin's better and the interview goes well.

Has the bed arrived yet Eddie?

I'm here too! Hope today goes/has gone well Dewin.

Fingers crossed on the sale Deb!

Hope you feel better soon Amber.

Lol at your dad being a 'property adviser' Deb - amazing how a made up title will get you taken so much more seriously!

Bed is being put together by my lovely dh as we speak . We have the next two days to blitz the house and get it completed before we both go back to work . Have had such a lovely holiday don't want it to end!

Is it Dewin's interview today? Good luck girl!

I think I killed the thread.

Good luck Dewin!

Fingers crossed Deb.

Caught up with a Mum at playgroup who I haven't seen for about 4 months. She is expecting DC3 in January. She will have:
DS - 3 1/4
DD - 20 months
DC3 due Jan

Wow! She said (unprompted) that DC3 wasn't exactly planned. Poor woman.

Lol, you see I read that spider and thought "lucky woman"! Can you tell I'm very very broody at the moment .

Oh dear, sorry, maybe that was insensitive of me to post. Her eldest will be same school year as our June babies, the idea of another two years before she gets the first into school is what would alarm me!

spider, not insensitive at all!

Just having a few ishoos at the mo with trying to persuade my brain that we can't cope with any more children while trying to persuade dh that we can . I suppose the idea of an unplanned third (to go with our unplanned second!) would solve the problem anyway!

Good luck with the interview Dewin, good luck with the house signing Debs, and generally a big hello to everyone else.

Still only got the occasional use of dh's 3g card so apologies for quick posts - I am trying to read everything though.

Spider, how about

DC1 - 2.3
DC2 - 2.3
DC3 - 2wks

Altho I think twins and a newborn is easier in some ways than three under three of different ages.

Eddie hope you get your unplanned third if that's what you want!

Deb hope the sale goes through as planned. It is frustrating that the kids can't start school here in Sept but hopefully they will adapt fine when they do move. I moved at 8yo from Australia, that was mid-year (jan). It was fine, it was hard to adjust but that was just because English schools were so different to Australian ones. I got the piss taken out of me a lot! But it was character building.

Daniel has put on 12oz in the last week, big fatty . It's a bit weird having a baby who piles on the weight cos the DTs were always so slow to gain. Nice though. He is still pretty settled but the tiredness has been catching up with me. need to go to bed earlier but keep staying up to watch BB . He feeds at about 11, 2 and 5 so not so bad and he slept in his moses basket last night cos I felt too exhausted to have him in bed with me. He did pretty well, took 30mins or so to settle after each feed but then slept a couple of hours each time and DH gave me a lie - in which was very nice of him as it is his birthday today so I should have given him a lie-in. Mum babysat the DTs while we went out for lunch, Daniel slept the whole time so it was very very nice .