Babies Born February 2007 #9

KEL _ Oh dear, you are quite the snapping turtle at the moment! LOL. I'm sorry to hear that things aren't going your way. I know what it's like to expect Benji to read your mind, I'm always doing that to Alan. It's not their fault, they just don't have the initiative or intuitition that we have. Maybe give your bestie a call & apologise & explain that life isn't 'peachy' for you guys atm. Jemima is being impossible at bed time & you feel as though the rug has been pulled out from underneath you. I think when Benji is home (over the weekend?) for the day, you need to leave Jem with him for a while & have YOU time. Go when you know she doesn't need a feed & either get yourself a coffee & a magazine & go sit at a cafe, or do some shopping for Jem's party or something. Do whatever, but so long as it's YOU ONLY. GOod luck!

it is not nighttime that is the problem... nighttime ROCKS jemima has been feeding to sleep or just relaxing on me to sleep and i have the time to do it.... it is in the middle of the day when i am at home that i would rather not spend up to an hour getting her to go to sleep that is frustrating me to TEARS!
my bestie.... has a 7 week old and a 15 month old so is not without own 'problems' but she said we are all good so we will see..... i know it will be fine with her we are basically the same person

i think i do need some ME time or maybe even time with a friend that doesnt have kids or something, i think i would even just like time AT HOME when jemima is not here, not sure.......... feeds is no worries now so i was thinking about getting a day to myself somehow.... she has one in the morning and one before bed and thats it... this morning we had a 4.30am coz of the weather everyone got woken up by the rain and she has not had a feed since so she will have one soon and most likely fall asleep........ i think saturday is free so maybe benji doesnt know it yet but maybe i run away for saturday....


i am so proud of jemima's birthday invite, it is almost finished..... i put myself under loads of pressure as her other invites and what not have been pretty good too (if i dont say so myself heheheh) but i am heaps happy with this one.....if anyone else is going a carebear themed party let me know and i will help you as i have just downloaded the "carebear family" font so i can type stuff up and it looks like carebear writing, so cool (small things amuse small minds ho hum)

a old friend dropped in this afternoon and made me feel slightly normal again, i think i was getting myself all wound up about routine that i was trying to think about starting and things ruining it and hardcore diet i am on, needless to say after routine was shot to pieces this arvo we had pizza.........

kymmy, when does monkey go back to daycare?? how do you get her to sleep in the daytime?

Kel, it sounds like you are waaay happier without routine, so who needs it???!!! It's not like you to sound this stressed out, hope you are ok...

Monkey went yest and today - as this is wk 2, she has done the whole "OMG this is a REGULAR thing?" and screamed when I left her both mornings..... Yest she didn't sleep in morning, but collapsed about 1230 and slept 2hrs. Carer and I both happy with that if thats what it will be for now. I have been very sad both mornings though, leaving her like that. Yest carer told me she settled in about 10min, so hope today is same...

Day sleeps suck don't they! Hun, I can soooo feel your pain and frustration and an hr is just too long for both of you. My sleep chick said she doesn't believe in trying for any more than 45min, regardless of what "method" you are using to get bub to sleep. It sounds like its afternoon more than morning, yes??

If there is 1 that is worse than the other, here is what worked for us, based on my sleep chicks recommendations (which I played with a bit...)

Does she sleep well in car or pram?? For Monkey this was a guaranteed sleep aid, so we used it to our advantage.

If so, then whichever is crappest / hardest sleep, then go out for that sleep EVERY day - walk or drive - I did this for a month and its a bit hard to plan at the start but gets easier. If its the car and it only takes you 15 min to get somewhere then just arrive a little early, read book/txt friends etc... and let her have at least 30-40min.

The other tip I have is to try the "chill out room" concept..... as both our sleeps were hard and full of screaming and crying (from both of us usually!) I would go out EVERY morning and then be home to "work on" the afternoon sleep. But sometimes this was still a battle and stressful. At least I knew she had slept in morning in car etc...

So in afternoon if she had not started to settle down after a nominated time (I chose 20min) we would "abandon" her bedroom and go down to our spare room and lay on the bed together. It doesn't have to be a spare room, your bed would be fine, just that our bedroom is really light in pm, so spare room was less bright and more chilled out.... I would just let her wind herself down and let her sit/roll/lie whatever with minimal stimulation, so no toys, but we would maybe have a little cuddle and a quiet chat in soft voice etc... or even sing a soft song etc.... Often after she'd calmed down from the stress of being tried to put to sleep, she'd virtually fall asleep on the bed beside me and I'd either lie there with her or try to transfer her back to her bed just before she fell totally asleep.

The sleep chick's theory with this was that even if she didn't sleep, which happened sometimes, then at least it was quiet time for min 30 min.

While it was still time-consuming for me, I wasn't getting tired holding her and it was nice, positive time together, not a battleground.

I have no idea why, but fairly recently, since Christmas, all of a sudden she has grown out of this horrid phase and day sleeps are a breeze for us again.... I have only just started staying home some mornings and she seems to be fine. I still cuddle her, we haven't graduated to self-settling yet, but there's no more sleep war for now.....

Hope this helps, sorry I'm long-winded, not good at explaining things succinctly!

Hi to everyone else!!!

Oh, and Cate, thinking of you hope things are improving...

jem doesnt sleep sometimes but i agree that it is at least 'rest' that she is getting
daytime sleeps when i am home just doesnt happen easily either an hour of my life peacefully or longer with crying trial....
have been 'wasting' my wednesday mornings constantly since swimming lessons 'trying' to get her to have a nap before we go but this morning said "f*%K that!" as am over that so went for a walk with her instead, she didnt fall asleep but thought about it and had a relax all the way as i am pretty sure we wont get a walk this after noon (meeting tashie!!) so that was way more productive than me trying to force her tosleep THEN i wanted a shower and am over waiting for her to nap or putting her on shower floor ect especially when i want to shave my legs or whateva SO i brought the highchair into the bathroom and covered it with grapes, arrowroot biscuits, cheesesticks and i think her water and she thought it was odd but sat there for my whole shower happy as larry

went to sleep in the car on way home from swimming which i thought she would and as i am lucky and she transfers really well out of car is still asleep now after an hour or so, she may need to wake up soon so i can give her more food and then she can have a nother nap on the way to meet tashie which is at least half an hour i think will check on that now.

kymmy (i hope u dont mind if i call you that) thanks heaps for the sleep stuff will definately NOT be doing the car thing even though she goes to sleep in the car i just cant do it!!! petrol too expensive and she needs to learn to go to sleep by herself..... just wondering how... the chill out room is kinda what we do we go and lie on my bed and i try to make it beside me and not on me but still sometimes this takes ages and sometimes she doesnt transfer into her bed so i am stuck with her on my bed which means i cant do alot incase she wakes up and jumps off my bed
i keep telling myself to put her in cot and pat her to sleep through the crying for a couple of days but not sure when to put her in the cot should i wait til she is half asleep or before that? and when i put her down she just wants to climb out of the cot

and i agree WHO needs routine!!! jemimas night time thing is working pretty well but i am getting way too stressed if things come up that are not part of the plan so that isnot worth it - especially since she slept the same last night as she does on other routinenights and yesterdays routine went to pieces

i have gotten my wall calender on the wall in my 90% done kitchen and am filling it up so i dont have to think about daytime naps at home for a couple of days!! heheheeh

Mediation went really well. Tomorrow is our first joint session, and I'm confident that we can work at least most of it out and the other things will take some time. I've been having fun hanging out with my mates who I'm staying with. Monday wasn't a good day, after seeing legal aid to get advice which was helpful but didn't make me feel any better, I had a bit of a squabble with a friend through text messages. I was in the wrong but didn't need to be chewed out like I did. But we're both under stress so I just have to leave it until she's ready to talk or whatever.

Good luck to everyone on settling and routines, I skimmed read so I don't know all the details but I wish you all luck and :hug:

hey cate
as long as you are remembering that the MOST important person in all of this is Elouise then there is nothing to worry about.
i hope it all sorts it self out soon.

Of course I don't mind if you call me kymmy - though it's funny, there's only a few people that do! (although that number increased significantly with the introduction of Kath and KIm...... Kimmeeee, look at meeee..... oh how I get sick of it!!!)

I sometimes have the same thoughts about trying to actively "teach" Monkey to self settle and put up with some crying, but I always decide that its not for us, no matter how bad things get. What if it didn't just take a couple of days???

And my other theory is that although it is a skill they need to learn, we wouldn't teach them to ride a bike by shoving them on, leaving them at the top of a hill and say "see you at the bottom" would we! I don't believe in teaching lessons in a manner that is distressing, unless it is something that is life and death, like road safety. And, like you, Kel, I wouldn't want to cry myself to sleep either - have done at certain times in my life and its not nice...

BTW, we are having the same issues with the standing up in the cot even if we put her down 90% asleep...... she just rolls over and up she gets.... very frustrating, but she thinks she is ever so clever....:lol:

Funny about the high chair in bathroom - I used to do that before Monkey could sit really well... she is at stage now where she's not really safe in bathroom anymore if I'm showering 'cos she trys to open door, gets tiles all wet then trys to stand/crawl around on wet, slippery tiles... And can't get highchair in bathroom anymore due to new gates in kitchen.

Little whinge now.... I thought I had got to point where I could go to bed without bra and br-pads and it was ok for a few nights even if Monkey did feed in night. But we are back to it all again, as I started leaking again... very frustrating!!! I don't leak just in my sleep, but if she feeds, she often has a "real" feed and my let down is so strong that the boob she isn't feeding from just goes beserk! And I was sick of changing tops in the middle of the night and having double the washing!!! I know I shouldn't whinge, I am blessed with abundant milk....

Oh, and can I ask..... are any of the munchkins dropping to one sleep yet??

Monkey isn't - still very much needs her 2 sleeps, but we are thinking that day care days it looks like she'll only sleep once, which is fine by me... just thought I'd ask, as I don't know when to expect her to drop to 1 sleep every day.

Oh and carer is doing such a good job! She has discovered that Monkey prefers a big, cuddly teddy as her sleep aid - very much like a toddler. I had never really thought of it and kept trying to push satin blankies and other small things we tried like that Pooh toy someone mentioned....

Nope, she has become attached at day care to a big Christmas teddy of all things - even more ironic as the carer is Hindi (Hindu... not sure which is correct) and only has the Christmas stuff there for the kids!!! And she is even managing to get Monkey to kinda self settle in cot cuddling teddy. Carer and I both agree it is probably also happening this easily because she is soooo exhausted by the time she gets to sleep at day care, but who cares! Am very proud of my girl :D

So, now we are trying her favourite teddy at home in the cot too. Though last night, when I put her down 1/2 asleep, all she did was sit up and play with him.... methinks she might be taking the p*** a bit and knows she can get away with it at home.....

Off to Parramatta when she wakes to get cool new day care bag from kids central that they ordered in for me - yay! Was also going to go to Medicare to submit child care benefit forms but DH forgot to sign :doh:

Warning, long post:

Mediation went very badly. Terry and I could just not agree or come to a compromise about where Elouise will live. We couldn't even agree on which city to live in, Sydney or Brisbane. He had several factors that prevent him from moving to Brisbane and I have a huge financial concern about living in Sydney and he just had little things that added up but were not really much to concern himself with.

So his problems are:
I can't apply to transfer uni until November.
What's going to happen with the cats?
I have a support network here (Sydney).
My dad hasn't seen Elouise since she was 3 weeks old.
I don't think you can cope looking after Elouise.
My income is now only $250 a week as I had to cut back on work, so I can't afford to rent.

His positives are:
He lives with his parents so he has a roof over his head without having to do much for it.
My mother can help me out looking after Elouise.

My problems are:
My income is not that much, purely on welfare.
I will need to pay rent, electricity, water, gas, phone, internet, food, clothing, Elouise' other thingies and private health.
I also don't have a lot of support in Sydney.
I will have to work to earn enough money to pay all my bills, so then I will hardly see Elouise.
Sydney is one of the most expensive living cities in the world, ie income and expenses are almost the same. The rent is high, is rising and there's not much available and high demand.
He collects most of the water used in his house to put on garden/flush toilet. It sits stagnant and smells revolting. (On sunday I refused to go into the bathroom because of the stink).
He has a german roach problem, yet they have been removed because his mum got pest control in.
His parents will soon be renovating the house, making it 2 storey.

My positives are:
In Brisbane I can afford to be a SAHM.
I can afford my own place.
Elouise will not be bounced from home to home each day/week/month etc.
I will not need to rely on my parents or any of my friends or family from day to day.
I will live in a stable home.
I have been Elouise' main caregiver and I will continue to be.


So of course we could not agree. The mediator rang me a little while ago to say that she will make the certificate (that says we tried mediation) so I can take it to a lawyer. The legal advice I had gotten beforehand was actually wrong and was in fact the opposite of what I'm entitled to. The mediator was trying to hint to me that but she couldn't do more than that as she's meant to be impartial and not allowed to give legal advice. So I saw legal aid after mediation and the lawyer (different lady to Monday) said that I can get Elouise back now and can keep her until the courts have come to an agreement about where she is to be placed. Bear in mind that proceedings can take anywhere from 6 months to 18 months to reach a conclusion. So I'm going to fight for Elouise, becaus I feel its in her best interest to live in one home at least for the next year or so, and have a stable home life without financial struggle and constant upheaval and uprooting. The mediator told me on the phone this afternoon "I think you'd be pleasantly surprised" regarding the court proceedings.

So today I was completely distraught during mediation, about the things Terry was pulling out against me, and then I feel very confident about court.

Btw I see a solicitor tomorrow! The legal aid lawyer picked up the phone within 2 minutes of seeing me to refer me to a solicitor. She said I qualify for legal aid and that I'm very likely to "win". Ie that I'll at least get Elouise now until the whole matter is resolved in court. So with the first lawyer saying that if I move to Brisbane and take Elouise, Terry can file to have her returned to him as she'll be too far from her dad. Yet the second legal aid lawyer said that it doesn't matter and what matters is who is the main caregiver and who will be the majority caregiver in the future (both me).

So going rom a totally **** mediation to being confident in getting Elouise back, I feel pretty good now.

Thanks for reading this saga and for all of your support and advice.

Oh and he tells me that Ellie's rash is back. Thanks for telling me :rollseyes:. And yesterday she had 24 scoop of milk. Normally she has 3x4=12!!! "She was hungry, she's going through a growth spurt". I told him, offer her more water and more food, 3 meals and two snacks, because we're meant to wean her off the formula not increase it! And she was having a bottle every 3 hours! I can't believe it. I'm not saying I told you so, but I did mention that he'd have her back on snacking. I knew it would happen and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I bloody hope I get her back into routine. At least he is getting her to have 2x1.5hr naps and she is sleeping well.

Cate, all my thoughts are with you.

DS is dropping to one day sleep now and is learning to self-settle: he has a VERY bad cough so can wake, cough and sleep again (even wake, cry once or twice and sleep again - I can't get to him before he falls asleep again!). But he was up between 1.50-3.20 last night, not so great! I made DH get up at 2.50 and help a bit because I was reaching the end of my tether with DS, so at least I had a 15 minute break! How did I do this alone for 11 months? But he needs a slightly longer day sleep, he has this in his pushchair and yesterday the ruddy postman woke him up by ringing the doorbell and walking away (there was a parcel outside, but it didn't need signing for and it wasn't raining). So annoyed with that! He has a blanket with satin and fleece on, his Herr Hare, Tinephant (a tiny/DS-fist-sized orange elephant that makes a tinny rattle sound), Coo (a white cow, same size as Tinephant) AND Keel (a fluffy teddy he shouldn't be allowed yet). Sometimes they calm and settle him, sometimes not. Make up your mind!

Kel, I agree with the cost of petrol - 110p a litre! That's almost ?5 a gallon, or about $2.50 a litre in Australian terms. Well, that's diesel, petrol is similar though. Routines are not fun, I agree - we have a loose one and DS likes that. Shame he changes his sleeps as soon as I tell MiL when they all are though! (He's tending to go down 11.30-12ish and until... well, let's see if he doesn't get interupted today!)

I'm off to the osteopath today about the car accident (remember, the one I had 9 months ago) to get my PI claim sorted. Not very impressed with the length of time this is taking. But if it goes to court I think I get more money... just keep telling myself that if God wants me to get loads of money so I can have a bigger house and more children sooner then He will make it go to court so I can get that. Nothing I can do about it.

Got my period back too. Not impressed, I'm still feeding! Hope it's a one-off and I get a few months off again now. DH has said he prefers to be in charge of contraception, he'd rather me not have to take pills/the mini-pill, so that's fine with me. Just a hassle having to remember to buy the things in. But when he wants #2 then we're ready to go, no coming off Pill nonsense.

AAAGH! DS just sat on his bum, let go of everything, then grabbed my robe and pulled up by himself! First time EVER! (Yes, I know he can walk but he can't pull up and has gone lying to sitting only once too.) So proud. Off to give love!

cate - you go girl just make sure that eloiuse will always have her daddy in her life, never bad mouth him in front of her no matter what you think as that is not fair...... so glad you will be able to look after her while all the legal stuff is going on.... that is all so full on especially since you guys so young.

ryn - i am so jealous you have AF back.... i am still waiting.... how often are you feeding?? i cant believe pubert doesnt pull himself up on everything but is walking... that is so funny!! i love it when they pull themself up on you coz they want you not coz they want something nearby.... that is so funny (but not) about the postman as EXACTLY the same thing happened to me today!!! went for a walk, jemima fell asleep, i put her in cot sat down for 5 mins and then the mailman ran upthe stairs with a parcel and sung out! and she woke up! how funny and it was not raining at that particular moment either!!!

today i took jem for a walk when i thought she was tired as we had already cried together when i refused to let her pull my hair to get to sleep, she cries like she is in pain when i dont let her, she doesnt understand she doesnt need it so instead of continual fighting with her we went for a long long walk to buy some bread and she loves a walk and went to sleep.... she didnt eat much this morning either so i dont know what her problem was

kymmy all your sleep talk is like you are watcching my house!!! monkey sounds exactly the same as jemima when i am out she sleeps whereva or in between visits in the car but at home just wants to be sleeping on me or next to me not very convienent when i want to do stuff while she naps... even worse that when she finally does sleep it at least today is not for very long...!!!

she ate big chunks of apple today so i was kinda proud of her but moreso proud of me for not freaking out she would choke!!!

all you girls that let baby eat own lunch (sandwiches and fruit and stuff) how do you have the patience or TIME??? jemima takes so long to eat hardly anything (so long that i just spoon in the yogurt or fruity custard or something...)

Patience... I put DS's sandwiches/fruit on the coffee table and sit on the sofa with a book. He eats most of it. Because he self-fed from the start he's quick - any slower and I eat it! I spoonfeed him yoghurt, but he attempts fork and mash potato at night - great because we're all eating together and he's so speedy it's good to slow him down! I give him apple quarters and orange segments no problem, he loves them. He has eaten a whole pear before too!

I'm feeding at 7amish (give or take) and to bed, so 7.40pmish. He doesn't get it any other time, has to be upon waking and bedtime.

I'm so sorry girls for thinking only of myself. I hope you all sort out sleeping problems. I don't know how to help as I really don't know how Elouise has managed after our issues, as Terry doesn't seem to mention these things. Gawd he's ridiculus!

Cate, please don't apologise, you need a place to be selfish and vent! I couldn't go through what you are right now and offer support, and I know I have done my fair share of taking from this group, so please don't feel bad about it.

Hey Ladies,
So sorry, it's going to be a sad post, I'm absolutely devastated.

3 of our 5 bunnies died today. I'm assuming it's heatstroke but I'm just so gutted. It was a very hot day today, around 40 degrees & yes, the bunnies were outside in their hutches in the afternoon, however they were all inside until then (Claudia loved to pat them), & they were outside with cold water from the fridge in their feeders, frozen bottles of water for them to lie on & they are in wooden hutches, not steel & when I came home after the beach & Jessica went straight out to them, as she always does & she came in saying 'Mummy, Cocoa can't wake up'. I just stood there & shook saying over to myself, please don't let it be & I go out & our 3 babies are dead. Cocoa was 4 months & we got him on Christmas Eve, & Honey & Angel were just babies, born 25th November. We haven't even had them 2 weeks. I am going into breeding them & I had chosen all these bunnies for their colours. Jessica played with them all, every day, even Claudia used to let herself out the door to go & talk to them in their hutches. I even have to tell her off because she takes down their water & drinks out the feeder!! I'm so sad. We love all our bunnies & we were so looking forward to breeding them. My two older bunnies, Chocky (1y) & Pebby (7 months) are still ok, but I have bought their hutches inside JIC.

So sorry, talking about crying yourself to sleep, that's what I'll be doing tonight....

Love Jayne

oh jayne!!!! that is so so sad!!! i have fish and i feel gutted when they die so i know kinda what you feel.... if my dogs ever die i will take a week off i think.... but they are not going to.......

kymmy how many feeds are you doing now??? sorry if i missed it but do you have AF back?? i am worried/wanting/??? mine to be back soon (worried in case i get caught out somewhere random it is not like i've been carrying around supplies.... and whats with leaking again???? that sucks also to think about i stopped breastpads the week after jem dropped middle of day feed.......

ryn - i got to ring all sorts of places while jem was eating her apple today, i didnt think of relaxing and reading book..... hmmmmm

cate - no need to apologise just sort your family out!

me - jemima did a weird wake up last night, she woke at 10.30 and then cried and carried on and then was happy and played til midnight (i was up anyway) and then woke like what is becoming normal at 4.30 for a feed then slept til before 8...... wtf?! wouldnt go back to bed so she just slept with us but still not straight away like normal..... very interesting..... she fed to sleep about 7.30ish which is becoming her normal so i dont get what was different with last night.....

KEL - I had a rough night with Claudia as well. She went to bed at 8:30, was up crying from 10:30 til 12:05, then slept til 6am, up with her feeding & crying from 6 - 7 & then went back to sleep until 8. She has a mega stuffy nose today, so I'm sure that's what's doing it. As for Miss Jem, I'm not sure what's up with her? Claudia loves Apples too. She scrapes them along her teeth, it must feel good & taste nice at the same time? Claudia does hand feed herself most times. if we have mince or if she's having yoghurt or something, she is spoon fed, but mostly she does it herself. Now she lieks to hold the spoon while I load it up & then she guides it into her mouth. Very cute!

KYM _ I"m glad that Monkey is sleeping at day care, sounds as though her carer is a total gem! Worth holding onto. I think it's normal that they put on a show when you leave them, I have heard lots of friends say the same. I'm so glad to her that you have a stressfree approach to getting her to sleep! Less stress on both of you.

Hope you're all having a great day.

Love Jayne

Spooky.... Monkey had a weird night too..... Was difficult to get down and didn't go to sleep till 8pm (norm is around 7) then awake - very unhappy - from 11-1230 then awake again briefly at 230 (DH settled, what a gem) then up again - very unhappy at 445. Wouldn't go back to own bed so slept on my chest until 6 when I fed her. Maybe in a parallel universe Monkey and Jemima are the same person......!

As usual, I thought it might be teething..... who knows..... but I tried these new teething tablets my friends recommended - has anyone heard of or used them? They are homeopathic, main ingredients are Chammomile, Belladonna and coffee! Despite this they say they are fine for giving at night! Anyway, who knows if that's what DD's prob was.... she seemed to calm down but not completely.

I don't have AF back yet either Kel. Although for us, not so much of a prob as we aren't planning to TTC until around winter this yr. IKWYM about supplies - I always keep something in bag just in case!!

You never know... there may be some eggs popping down soon, don't get too disheartened.

Essentially, I still do 3 feeds, as I was trying to make it 2, but inevitably we do an o/night feed which is a real feed not just comfort.... So we BF on waking, usually 6/630ish, before bed around 6/630ish then whenever o/night - this can be anywhere between 1130-3! If it is closer to 3 then it seems to be a big feed then the b'fast feed is just little.

Jayne, so sorry about bunnies mate. Hope you feel better soon.

re: food - Monkey still not fantastic at self-feeding finger foods and managing chunks, but I'm sympathetic as I think no teeth must make some difference to her chewing ability! She is getting heaps better, just seems to be a slow process for her. She has started wanting to spoon-feed herself lately, so we are practising together with a bit of hand over hand technique, similar to you Jayne. Sometimes I just let her go for it, if we aren't busy or need to go out - she loves it and food ends up everywhere as you would expect! The spoon in the hair bothers me the most though - it ain't a hairbrush darlin'!

We went for a swim this morning and this lovely 9yr-old girl attached herself to us - very sweet, but I was very conscious about her Dad wondering if i was a weirdo. Monkey loved it though - she would copy what ever this little girl showed her and for the 1st time in the water did some arm actions that looked a little like doggy-paddle - tre cute!

And now she's snoozing - I'm hoping the combination of the sound of light rain outside and the swim exhaustion will lead to a niiice long sleep. I have heaps I could be doing but am using Fridayitis as my excuse :lol:

Hi everyone... Remember me? lol
Just wanted to let you know that Harrison and I are still around, alive and well, just very busy preparing for our move to Newcastle... DH got a brilliant job there doing exactly what he loves doing, and for much better money... so now, it is all just a matter of finding the right house for us.
As soon as we're settled, I will be right back in here catching up.
I hope you're all well and happy :)
Lisa