AVIDly purchasing lavender, orange, yellow and pink for spring is a WISE thing.

[FritziGreenEyes]

Sorry for poor thread title but I am hopeless at rhyming at the best of times...
Unbelievable how quickly we filled the last thread!

Had one hour on Friday before the meeting started and used my time very efficiently and bought these. They are not quite as high as the 50/50s but suit me better. Was hugging the shopping bag close to me on the train back home yesterday .

ollie Such a shame that your DH isn't going to go with the job offer over here. Oh, the fun we could have!

hopefully Having you on this thread is great and I enjoy reading your posts a lot. I hope your mother doesn't find any more tidying tasks for you today. You look fab in your wedding pictures.

annie Hope you got all your work done last night and have the chance to get some rest today.

red We have our hob on our kitchen island too. We couldn't decide on backsplash for ages. Haven't had one for ages and it is absolutely fine. I do most food preparation stuff on the island anyway.

Have lovely Sundays everyone!

Thanks NY, maybe I'll go wild and order it. I need to start adding in a n extra circuit to my Shred time too I think, I'm basically not working hard enough to improve my fitness level, just maintaining it now. Maybe I should try Shredding with the DSs during the day occasionally too. It would be entertaining, probably...

Blue it really depends on whether you're warm or cool, in general - are you an ashy toned blond with cool skin or a golden blonde with warm skin? Obviously there's more to it, but cool = silver, warm = gold. I have some white gold which is a good cheat, as it is the warmest silver you can get, iykwim, so it's a good crossover - my engagement ring is yellow and white gold, my wedding ring white gold only.

Red I have to get all my purchases absolutely right as I can't afford to replace anything, so it's got to be perfect!

Think I am going to make dress to wear to April wedding, there are some really nice patterns out at the moment, and it will be good practice.

Hmm, I really am clueless - I don't even know whether I'm a cool or warm blonde. Hair is a mixture of golden and more ashy highlights and skin is very pale and freckly but I do have quite rosy cheeks!

Thanks for the tips about no tearing; it seems I need to do as I'm told for once!

Impressed by the dress making hopefully. Brings back happy memories of my mum making me a new dress to order pretty much every week as a teenager!

of your mother Blue! Mine got put off by my sister never wearing her creations and wouldn't make them for me.

Doing as your told definitely seems to be the way to avoid tearing. There wasn't a lot I could do about my (truly spectacular) tear, as DS1 appeared so very very quickly, but I think for a normal delivery just listening to the midwives about pushing/not pushing is a good bet. I've heard that being on hands and knees is very good for improving labour and delivery. It was definitely the most comfortable position for me.

Yes - I would have loved to have stayed on my hands and knees, and had pretty much taken up residence over the big ball with my gas and air pipe until the midwife made me move. Grr.

I did feel better with my second, stood up all the way through (I couldn't bear any other way). Knees were shaking at the end!

I tore both times unfortunately but my children have enormous heads (as in off the centiles charts) so no wonder. Put DS (2.1) in an age 4 hat today and it was like a skull cap! Listening to midwife definitely helped though.

Thanks for kind comments, feeling better now, just stressed as would like to make MU, have v expensive concert tickets booked and am due back at work in June, so she must take a bottle! She eats solids well and has started going longer between feeds, but she definitely uses me as a dummy at night.

pickled your clever DD! You must be so proud!

blue I have no idea if I'm warm or cool either.

Oh Amber, I totally understand where you are. I was in hell, and felt tied and cross at being constantly needed. Ds2 woke constantly.

The only thing that helped (other than stopping bf at 15 months) was dh holding him until he fell asleep. We just had to break that bf'ding / falling to sleep connection.

It does sound like hard work Amber. Feel free to vent!

Thx again for CS experiences!

Little, completely unrelated question, do any of you with slightly older DC know where I can buy a wall mounted or space saving/ small desk for a child?

How are you feeling MIM?

Sorry about stress at work ants and emo plus feeling fed up with DH- we've all been there! You've got me thinking that I might need some Brora wrist warmers now, emo!

Sorry that you are feeling rubbish and tired too amber. Cystitis on top of background exhaustion is not good. I agree with marsha about trying to break the boob- sleep association because that is what is making bf not v pleasurable at the moment, I think.
My DD2 refused a bottle for a long time (I had been too lazy to bother with expressing much third time round). Then, at ten and a half months, just a week or two before I had to go back to work, she suddenly took one! She still has one at bedtime at nearly three (again, me being too lazy to stop her third time around)!

blue- that's great that you are feeling better. It will all be over soon and is v likely to be easier second time than first- don't hold off going to the hospital too long. I totally agree with trying really hard to listen to the m/wife with the small percentage of your brain that is actually working at the time!

pickled- I'm not surprised that you are finding it hard at work. After 10 or so years it's a big adjustment, no? I was thinking that you and bloss seemed to have slipped effortlessly back into teaching. Did you have to do much retraining/ updating before going back? Hang in there because I am sure you are v talented and have a rewarding career in front of you.
Congratulations to clever DD!

red- I realised that your predictions are just a bit of fun. :) I'm not sure if I have felt different in terms of eating/ shape of bump with any of my pregnancies. In the first trimester, I really go off food a lot because of nausea and tend to be able to eat fruit (but not veg which I normally love, cheese (which I usually eat v little of), yoghurt, plain carbs. I do tend to drink quite a lot of sparkling water when pg. I'm no help, am I?
I also had an assisted place and a bursary to my Senior school (selective, independent girl's day school).

fritzi- I like the wallpaper.

Hopefully- I also love the way you think about every purchase. It's a once in a lifetime chance to buy a whole new wardrobe almost in one go, I suppose!

NY- I can e mail you my S/pore dates if you like (once we have actually booked that is and availability is v low so we need to hurry up)!

Looby - i went off salad/veg massively in the early stages of pregnancy, which was most unlike me. I then read that it is quite common, and evolutionary physiologists think it may be a deliberate thing that we have evolved to avoid eating bitter leaves/vegs which could be poisonous during the vulnerable early stage of pregnancy. Yes - PM me when you have your dates.

Interesting about the leaves/veg. I had such a craving for limes when I was pregnant. Even thinking about it now makes me taste them.

Looby not sure about wall mounted, but some nice, cute desks at twentytwentyone. Only thing is they are not cheap.

Pickled congratulations to your clever dd!

Oh the other thing is we never actually got ds2 to take a bottle. He went straight from bf to cup. We did try so many, was a waste in the end.

Looby - Ikea has a Micke desk from Ikea, they do a small version. There is also this laptop station here but not sure how much weight you could bear down on it if that makes sense? DS2 wants a desk but he currently has a tiny room and I dont want him moved up to the attic rooms just yet so we are looking at various space solutions including a high sleeper with desk underneath.

Evening all, just checking in briefly.
Had lovely time in London but a bit of a nightmare getting back. My friends and I have an ingenious system of travelling down to London which involves collecting each other en route so that noone has to drive for more than an hour or so and we get to have a good chat on the way.

The system fell down due to the snow though as dh didn't want me to drive home (or even be a passenger really) in the snow. Ended up getting a train which then broke down so had to change to a different one. Dh has just gone to collect my car with his sister so I am feeling like a bit of a helpless little woman. I really dislike that aspect of pregnancy.

Anyway, enough of my adventures.

So glad you're out and feeling a bit better MiM-not too long now. Do you still get the feeling that you'll be early?

Also glad you're feeling better blue- good tips from others about not tearing. I had an episiotomy and ventouse with dd as she was getting distressed and am a bit worried about tearing along that this time but will do my best!

Well done to your dd pickled- she is such a credit to you. Agree you need a relaxing half term. Can you be disciplined and limit marking/planning etc. to a day or so? I find it better to leave it until the end of the holiday so it doesn't get the chance to 'expand to fit the time available'.

Hello to everyone else- will try to catch up on links soon.

at enormous heads. DS was a superfast labour and arrived weighing 10lb2 with a head off the charts and his arm up by his head. Needless to say I did tear with him! But I actually found it a doddle for recovery because they gave me lovely painkillers!

Loving the lists. My little things are:

• when the DC come out with something very grown up and unexpected
• when Lara smiles and grins at the other two's antics
• when I get a parcel
• like ny when I get an email saying my library reservation has come in
• when Dh says I look nice (he never normally notices what I wear!)
• when I win something I really wanted on eBay

marsha I remember you doing that. amber sorry you're feeling a bit claustrophobic and suffocated.

hopefully shame about the dress but at least you know now

blue am excited on your behalf - so close! I have seen a Goat dress on MW (I think) that is lovely but haven't seen it IRL. They have it in a lovely peppermint colour as well as coral which woudl actually suit me more.

annie - you naughty thing posting that Cocosa link! Did you see the MK bags as well? Some nice ones I thought.

My blazers have arrived from Asos and I am keeping the coral one although it's more raspberry. But lovely anyway. The cream one is going back as it looked a bit cheap. Am planning to save the money towards buying the Me&Em ruched dress someone linked to further back and buying it next month but no doubt something will tempt me in the meantime...

ollie is wise pickled - a treat is surely in order. As well as the jeans! And well done your clever DD

Amber sorry to hear of your cystitis, its grim. The BF issue is a tough one, lots of advice on here and elsewhere on MN tho. We were driven to doing a form of controlled crying with DS2, something which i always vowed never to do, but after 3 days it had worked and the relief was enormous.

Hi everyone! Indulging my weight loss obsession with 'A year to save my life' on Sky 1. Don't know why I love these programmes so much!

Sorry you felt overwhelmed pickled. Hopefully half term will have you back to full strength.

So who has the Me & Em dress? It is very tempting. Indeed.

I am racing through 'Master your Metabolism'. I am finding it fascinating. Nothing really different from what I know from my subscription to Good Food magazine, and my Ian Marber books, ie eat food! Nothing with chemicals and additives, food in its purest form, green veg, fruit, legumes, whole grains, and avoid sugar. I'm hoping for a lightbulb moment very soon though, and if it doesn't come, I'm going to have to face the unthinkable: I just eat too much! And heaven forbid, start calorie counting.
My life has been enriched by my kindle. No question.

Have been meaning to send a caution your way red. When I moved into my new home and lovely new kitchen, I put on A STONE.

Thanks Bloss ! Have employed a strict menu plan for this week, have shopped and am not going back. DH is on a no-carb drive for February and has taken up shredding with me - am firm in my resolve to be looking hot for Cape Town. Which Me & Em dress? What am I missing?

Did anyone else watch Protecting Our Children tonight? So desperately, desperately heartbreaking.

Looby - I feel stumped. But am thinking boy (have I lost my magic?!).

Icey glad you enjoyed London despite hellish return journey. Know exactly what you mean about the 'helpless little woman' aspect of pregnancy. But for the best and how lovely that those around you go to those lengths to ensure your safety.

Ah now bloss I was going to pick your brains. Am struggling to lose the baby weight having overindulged over Christmas just when the weight loss had started to click. And now I can't stop binging on sugary foods.

Today I had eggs and veg for breakfast, soup and veg sticks for lunch so all started well but ended up having chips for dinner and now eating whole Poundshop Toblerone. Argh! Please recommend me a book that will get my head in the right place. I have to wear a bikini at the beginning of June!

Am Shredding so that will help but need to eat the right stuff too.

This one red - I think it's like the Janice but longer so more versatile.

fleecy, if it was just one book I would recommend the daily diet book.
Don't eat any diet food or 'light' food or drink any diet fizzy drink. Eat food the body would recognise as food and organic if you can. Start seeing sugar as poison and check ingredients list. If there is something you wouldn't have in your house in your store cupboard, don't buy it. In Master your Metabolism Jillian claims we can protect ourselves from cancers this way. It makes a lot of sense really. I think of my parents' good health and am ashamed of my years of smoking and eating crap.

Fleecy not that you asked me, but my two favourite diet tips are:

• move lots. I actually eat quite a lot, and I know I like cake etc, so I compensate by walking (briskly) at least 1-2 hours a day, usually with DS2 in the pram and DS1 on the buggy board. Obviously much easier for me as a SAHM than for anyone with an office job. I also do the usual tricks of parking further away in car parks, tidying up (up and down stairs) one item at a time so I move lots
• accept a sweet tooth if you have it - I have cut out sugar for about 3 months once, and I was miserable for 3 months. I don't get sugar cravings in the way that I understand other people get them, I just really like cake, biscuits and ice cream. (although am not mad keen on sweets and chocolate). I try to have a routine of a biscuits/slice of cake once a day, rather than denying myself and denying myself and then going mad.
• eat very little meat and drink very little alcohol

fleecy I so get where you're coming from, I swear it's the exhaustion and we're looking for a quick energy fix as I start with the best of intentions then end up eating jam tarts! I couldn't be so ruthless as to cut out all sugar, but I certainly need to cut down! Have just a few lbs hanging around I could do with shedding. Ah well, at least I don't drink or have any caffeine due to bf!