Hi girls

Nat - a huge welcome and congratulations on your pg. Like you, my DP works for himself so he didn't have any time off after my DD's birth either. But I had my Mum come and stay for 2 wks, so at least had some assistance. Lucy's birth was by c/s (placenta praevia, so scheduled) and I'm desperately hoping for a vbac next time as well! Good luck with yours, I hope it goes according to plan. We won't be trying for #2 for a while yet (since not only DP works for himself, but me too!). You must be looking forward to being a SAHM. Lucy still has a dummy when she goes to sleep, but she's never bitten any of them, so I haven't really bothered with taking them off her. She doesn't keep it in for long and I take it off her as soon as she is up (if it hasn't been ditched, which it usually is). I don't think she uses it to sleep, more just as a cue to get in her cot. I will probably get rid of the dummy once we take the sides off her cot and she's adapted to the change okay.

Jen - hi there, we are doing okay. Spent Sunday afternoon with Chris's wife (widow now, I guess, but it's still hard to get used to the idea) and she's trying to be strong. Thanks for your thoughts. We planned to take the sides off Lucy's cot last weekend but instead went and got photos done for my Mum's bday and ran out of time. But the photos looked great! I had a hairdresser's appt first, perfect time to get my picture taken. So I think we'll try it on Saturday. Good on Tayneesha for being so clever and getting used to a bed quickly! Hehe at all of her boyfriends.

Kas - hi there, hope you get the gas sorted quickly. Brrr, I can't imagine what you must do for a shower with no hot water! I would be more than annoyed! Have a great time skiing next week - hope the weather stays cold enough for some snow on the skifields.

Steph - Wow, how great that all your boys sleep so well - you must be doing something right! After a shocker of a night a week or so ago, where Lucy just would not sleep (played in the bedroom and on the bed) her patterns have all changed. She is a great sleeper too, down at 6:30-7pm, bf at 5:30am and then up around 7am. She's now leaving her morning bf until 6:30am but then is getting up afterwards. Still, I like not getting woken at 5! She's having a huge sleep in the afternoon atm, 3 hrs yesterday after lunch. I'm wondering if she's going through a growth spurt or something.

Well, we are doing okay. I have so much work to catch up on and we seem to have a bit on in our personal lives for a change. It's my Mum's 60th birthday in a couple of weeks and we're throwing her a surprise bday on the APEC long weekend. She lives in Brisbane, so we'll be flying up to surprise her with a visit and then take her out and surprise her with a party as well. Her brother and SIL are coming up from Melb and her sister from Cairns, so with them and all of her friends it should be a great night. I'm really looking forward to it. So far no one has let anything slip.

Must go, time for a shower and to get to work!