40 + yummy mummies with baby tummies and those who've 'popped' - come hither!

[jeanjeannie]

Come join our merry (talkative) band of ladies who lunch - feel sick - are getting fatter - sleep deprived or run off their feet with babies! Some of us suffer all of the above - while trying to retain an air of calm and mystery

All we ask is you play nicely, eat cake and indulge in the occasional gossip and moan about our ills....or anything else that we can think of.

We're like grumpy old women....only not so grumpy...

For all of you EBayers out there...you should probably be aware that part of the reason they are starting to change their policies is that they are not doing so well. They just laid off a huge part of their workforce (including nearly my pregnant SIL, but she got to keep her job!). Apparently the bloom is off the online auction rose!

Just an FYI!

morning, no baby hedgepigs ..fell asleep I'm afraid BUT I realized I can make ollie the Eskimo doll so I don't need a girl baby .

Bonzo your poor trees I bet the reason was leaves on the line

I think O has a new cold he has gone all snotty again.

mornin' all

very wise hedgepig

oh poor O - the same thing happened with D's cold - after a few days it seemed to "come back" and he was snottery again for another few days. Don't know if it was a new cold or what.

I have toyed with the thought of working from home one day a week when my leave runs out jw I can imagine it would be difficult (although I would be working on a live email /telephone system so even worse) At least you work for yourself so could pick it up again when K is a bit older / at pre school or whatever. Was it easy to set yourself up in the first place?

Morning Ladies

Oh dear, that was a wild school run this morning, driving winds and rain, an expedition just to go to the garden to feed the pets.

mrsb glad to see your post last night tha young master D had a lovely time at nursery, did you hear on the news this morning that a study has shown children that go to nursery as opposed to those cared for by their grandparents tend to be more prepared for and fare better at school.

Tee hope you're feeling brighter today, and yes I agree with JW and Jeannie* the joggers, baggy T. shirts and for me now the smell of baby sick, which gets worse when the weaning begins, intermingled with Stella (thats the perfume by the way not the person) oh and I couldn't even manage flip flops, feet were so swollen by the end, all worth it though and a distant memory now

How are you today Neddie no more bleeds I hope, can't offer any advice as I didn't have any bleeding with mine, as you can probably see from some of my previous posts the circumstances in which I became pregnant with my boys meant I was closely monitored from the start, you have obviously had an early scan, did they find anything to watch out for and are they going to monitor you? it always helps if even to put your mind at rest to stop the worry!
Plenty of rest

After the plea for help with child sticking things in places they shouldn't could I please ask for tips on how to get dd3 to flush the toilet after herself, tried and tried to explain as best you can with a 5 year old but just doesn't sink in and as we have 4 tiolets over 3 floors by the time I realise there's a little gift left we need serious overkill with the airfreshner and harpic, not good for anyone
That is a serious plea by the way if anyone has any little tricks up their sleeves they could share???

Oh I must be pretty slow at this, by the time I wrote last post there's a bunch more to read, Started it as 6:00 this morning

So hello to you all, hope everyone is well!

BTW not sure exactly how ebay works but sold our icandy pushchair yesterday in auction on ebay, it went for more than our reserve so we can not complain bit worried you mention paypal though as thats how they have paid, is there a problem with this?

mum41 Paypal fees/chargebacks/fraud all rising..brb, have K on knee and typing 1 finger

Oh bonzo, how awful that men with chainsaws can just turn up and hack trees down without so much as a by your leave. Well done for organizing such a swift protest.

It's been lovely here this morning as our signing teacher is coming on friday with the speech therapist so we've had a rare morning off. They're coming at 9 on fri so that DH can be here to actually see what happens rather than hearing/learning it all 2nd hand from me. Probably a good idea as I was trying to show him the sign for 'help' but instead taught him to sign 'gay'. Whoops.

Have I complained on here before about how stingy my ex-h is with the money he gives me for Grace? He was recently complaining about how he's lost so much money on his various pension schemes. Last night he phoned and asked if Grace had mentioned that he was going on holiday. She hadn't of course so he told me that he and wife no 4 were off to India for 2 weeks on the 19th. Great to get so much notice! Phoned DD1 and they had told her on Saturday that they're off to some Ayurvedic and Yoga centre in Kerala. Must be awful to be so poor Just have to laugh about it really so I don't get angry.

To top it off we can't afford a proper holiday this year, plus I'm not sure how relaxing it would be with a newborn and a 2 year old anyway. We've decided we'll do some long weekends staying with my in-laws in Surrey and from there we can do plenty of day trips to the South Coast. With the added bonus of doting babysitters we might even manage a couple of nights out. The funny thing is that Grace thinks this is a brilliant idea, whereas I thought she might be disappointed.

hedgepig it is a shame Jacob got knocked out of University Challenge but I don't think he would have fared very well against the Manchester team. They are very strong all round and Lincoln College, who'd been impressive in previous rounds, didn't stand a chance.

jeanjeannie I'd have been very upset to have no ITV last night as it was the 2nd part of Whitechapel. It's a lot of hokum but I have rather a penchant for Rupert Penry Jones. Don't usually go for blondes but I do like a well-spoken chap.

7 pages in a day!!!! Heaven help me over the next week ...my laptop got the screen of death last night ...seriously terminal apparently...Dh has removed the hard drive to see if he can plug it into something at work and save what we can...I'm never going to keep up with you all if I'm relegated to the static computer as it is at the wrong end of the bungalow away fom TV and toys so Alex won't sit there happily...ho hum ...more time on the Wii then I suppose.

I'm with all the horse lovers here in envying neddie ...I rode from age 3-15 but the parents resisted all those years of whinging and whining and refused to let me have one ...so I cost them a fortune in singing lessons instead!! Alex already clicks his tongue to make his rocking horse go so I think he'll be getting me back for them

he's full of one of thoe 'one existant' eething colds atm, eyes and sinuses really affected so we are having fun...and it sounds like he is stirring...that is it..time up ...see you later...

bonzo I checked out your pictures - woah - that's a massacre!

mum41 no tips I'm afraid - I've not quite got to potty training yet....and Oh, I'm SO looking forward to that I'm being lazy and waiting till summer!

hedpepig I hope you're busy making a dolly?! Poor O...once that snot strikes it seems to go on and off, and on and off for ages

neddie yes, hope the bleeds are settling down. I know with both girls I bled (full on haemorrhage in a restaurant - rushed to A&E etc, etc) and that continued well into 16 weeks but all was fine in the end. Seemed to be worse when my period was due - like my body had properly clicked on it was preggie.

Just been to a neighbour's house - she's a childminder and Iris did not want to leave - it's like a kiddie paradise!

Thanks anyway jeannie guess I better look into buying shares in fabreeze
aaawwwww bless Iris

Ladymac you and me both on the Rupert Penry Jones, Whitechapel issue

jw should I be concerned about our sale last night being paid via paypal?

Seen some of your snowy pics so thought would add a couple of ours
One is the view from our bedroom window, but for how long we don't know either as we believe the land has been purchased and there are plans for some kind of development

Floria sorry to hear that LO is getting the snot monster Seems there's a lot of it about. Hoping he's better very soon. Seems your laptop has come out in sympathy too

mrsb setting my business up was a pain in the arse and took me ages. I had to source suppliers, look at competitors prices, work out profit margins. Then do the physical of putting all the pics up and the info. Good job that DH is a web designer otherwise I'd have been stuck. The ebay shop was just a case of going through and listing everything. We have a spreadsheet and formula for that one as that has fees + paypal fees. Also have to keep your eye on the competitors there too as just 10p less can affect your sales.

mum41 if it's any consolation DSS still leaves his poo down the loo on display. No tips apart from full on bribery with something she likes - sometimes works for us, but he forgets when he's been at his mother's house for the weekend.

JJ have you asked your neighbour if she has room for just another little one?

mum41 not sure if you should be concerned. If I sell a big/expensive item (such as I sold her crib and the dutailier last week) I insist on cash on collection otherwise Paypal fees eat into the purchase price. When you tot this up with your final value fee (ebay) then you can end up out of pocket.

Thanks jw think its too late now as payment made last night but will be putting a couple of mamas and papas mossess baskets on in a couple of days will tell dh to put for cash only if thats possible.

Thanks jw think its too late now as payment made last night but will be putting a couple of mamas and papas mossess baskets on in a couple of days will tell dh to put for cash only if thats possible.

OOOHHHH what happened there, sorry
like the thread needs to go any faster!

Mum41 Re: ebay I think that if you're selling 2nd hand stuff and therefore don't have a specific outgoing cost to cover - just want to get as much for it as you can - the margins aren't as important as if you're running a business like JW does. But you do need to take them into account when calculating reserve price.

May I stand up and admit that I have never had that thing about horses? I think they're beautiful creatures but have no desire to have anything to do with them. I know the horsey obsession is a phase all little girls are supposed to go through, whether or not they actually go near a stable, but I missed it completely. Maybe it's messed with my sociosexual development . I did want to marry my daddy!

lol. We've all repeated ourselves mum41

I really had forgotten how much I do love this. Old song revived. Much better than the cover by Annie Lennox - although it's not a bad cover version Enjoy with lunchtime coffee and cake!

ermintrude I have a business and a seperate personal ebay account. Easier when calculating end of year VAT returns . The fees are much higher on personal accounts than business as we're a powerseller and get 30% of our fees back. I don't on my own account

Ah, so the fees differ too according to seller status, I get it, ta JW I will definitely never try to sell anything on Ebay. Apart from anything else my camera is rubbish and some sellers' pics are superb!

And here's dh and me thinking you just put it on ebay and there you go, nice to have a little insight, thanks guys
Its only baby things really, having 2 of everything to sell ebay does make it easier

JW lunchtime coffee and cake more like feeding time at the zoo here, talking of which.........

johnworf I love that song and hate the Annie Lennox cover. In fact, I just hate Annie Lennox. She pushed in front of me in a queue at the Albert Hall so I gave her a bit of a shove. We were already in the VIP queue, she just obviously thought she was more of a VIP than everyone else. Not the only reason I have a thing about her, I really detest her music and have to turn off when one of her songs comes on the radio. OK, rant over, will calm down now!

Can anyone help me with a stir fry question? Am doing one tonight - veg and noodles - to go with Nigella's sugar spiced salmon fillets. What can I do to make the stir fry a bit wetter after I've cooked it, other than just dousing it in soy sauce?

ermintrude I never did the horsey phase either but then I was brought up in the wilds of Islington. The nearest we ever got to a horse there was when the mounted police charged in to break up a fight after an Arsenal match.

tee am so with you on flip-flops. Horrible things!! So painful! I hate having things between my toes and can't understand how anybody can find them comfortable...

ladymac, that is so weird - tonight we're having salmon fillets with coriander butter and I'm doing a veg stirfry to go with! I do this sauce for most stirfrys, which was shown to me by my first fiance's mother:

4tbs soy sauce (dark for beef, light for chicken/veg, but it doesn't really matter), 1 tbsp clear honey, a bit of chopped root ginger, 2 cloves garlic, a good dash of sherry. Shake it all up in a jar - might need mixing to make the honey 'melt' in - then when ready to cook put it thru a fine sieve to catch the garlic and ginger bits which you stirfry with your meat/veg in a little oil. Towards the end of cooking, add the liquid. You can then mix some cornflour or arrowroot with cold water and thicken the sauce to taste. We all love it!

Right, now I'm going to check out this song!

Oh. Have listened and am unmoved. I love Annie Lennox's cold cold voice even though that is never an excuse for bad manners!

My favourite youtube moments are Eddie Izzard doing Darth Vader in the Death Star canteen with Lego video and - actually this is just perfect for ladies of our age - the superb 'Take on Me' literal version. Anyone else have a crush on Morten Harket? I didn't at the time but blimey, it makes me hormonal now . Mostly it's just very very funny though and always cheers me up.

BTW, about a million threads ago we were talking about Frankie Boyle's DVD weren't we? I saw that, Dara O'Briain's, Rusell Howard's and Ed Byrne's in the space of the last fortnight, and Frankie's was the one that had me and DH POSL. We realised that we find cruelty and foul language the funniest things on earth and are having to come to terms with this disturbing fact.