Babies Born ~ September 2007 #69

LOL Arte. You would be surprised it is in lots of shops... you use it in tabbouli! you can subsititute rice (or cius cous but the cooking time would vary there obviously). I also do it qith quinoa - but if you cant get burghul i dont think you will be able to get that.
YOu could also made the borekas I spoke about with mince - cook the mince with yummy seasoning and vegties and make triangles in puff pastry and bakes. my kids LOVE these. i would do it with greek seasoning and pine nuts and spinach. yum. you can add some fetta too.
G - glad the pizzas were a hit! great bases hey (I saw them at Aldi on weekend too)... i will have heaps of ideas for you next yr when I am studying and making up recipes/
I realised my kids would LOVE cheese souffle - mum used to make that./ i will have to see if I canm do it.
On the less healthy front one of my standbuys for the kids is hot dogs! they LOVE them - I do them not in rolls but give them cokctail franks and little pots ot dip them in (with guac and hummous so some nutritional benefit) and vegies on the side. they LOVE that dinner! Itsa standby with the nanny as I like to give her thinsg they will def eat.

Cally I am sure you will meet more at school. I mustr say i didnt make many new friends at creche but lots from school (it may have helped that I knew ppl there a little)
N has more of a social life than me half the time so its lucky i get along well with the mums!

i am eating tabbouli right now!! arte they have the burgher in safeway.

mp- i am looking forward to all the recipes next year! the kids have ****tail frankfurts once a week here lol

MP that standby meal would be a hit here too. they love doing it all by themselves :)

G: that is great news that you can already see improvement with his sleep. amazing stuff...i have a *feeling* that my L needs to have her tonsils out. she has these humungous beauties that leave very little space. she has quite a laboured breath when she sleeps :think:

MD: i like meals on a budget! especially scrumptious casserole style ones. YUM! i am so addicted to the slow cooker it aint funny. in fact i saw a great recipe on Oprah website (a fancy-pants dhal basically lol), and tried it in the slow cooker and oh yummo!

AFM: today we had a beautiful day. my opa arrived in town late last night and we all decided to visit our friend who lives on a property out near healesville. his house burnt down in the black saturday fires and (finally!) he got approval 3 days ago to rebuild, so we went out to visit the old site and help burn off the cleared trees (such a weird thing to do: surrounded by charcoal-black trees standing on a site that was once his bedroom burning off shrubs lol). anyway...it was so beautiful, the birds singing, the girls jumping on the trampoline (spookily enough it survived the fire! the only thing!) and overlooking the valley. such a lovely sunny day too...ahh if only every day could be awesome like that.

Cass, that sounds like a nice day :) That was a long time for your friend to wait for rebuild consent.

MP, our supermarket is tiny - the only cous cous they have is the Diamond brand instant morrocan flavor lol. It is a meat and three veges type of town. I might have a look in the city if I remember.

Tomorrow is the mothers group Xmas party - the kids have been making pinatas for the last few weeks so they get to open them tomorrow. Next week we have playgroup shared morning tea on Tuesday, music xmas party on Wednesday and then Kindy Christmas party on Thursday. It is getting Christmassy but I am just not feeling it this year. Maybe because DH bought a heap of little gifts from a wholesale toy dude at his work and we are only getting them one other big shared present so there is no shopping to do.

Erin is the best baby in the whole wide world!

ETA, up to Day 8 of the new clothes war with no progress! This is a record even for him. Are other kids this difficult?

hi girls

cass- your day at healesville sounds lovely.

arte- no lewis is not that difficult with new clothes. he does like to choose his own clothes in the shop but once we get them home he is happy to wear them.

L is doing really well. he is off the medication- he says he feels better and doesn't need it so he's really only having a bit of panadol here and there with is great. hopefully things will be back to normal next week.

that is totally awesome G! good on Lewis! he is much braver than me lol!

Arte: no, we have the opposite, that L only likes new stuff :rofl:

Hiya chickadees.

Ginger, that's awesome that L is finally coming out the other side, it's onwards and upwards from here!

Arte, we get a bit of clothes pickiness here, but it tends to be more about whether things "match" (in her head) and it's very arbitrary, I can negotiate my way through about 50% of the time. Have you asked W what it is about the clothes he doesn't like? There might be a very specific reason (like the clothes feel stiff or the tags are scratchy). You could try just making the other clothes "disappear" very gradually so he's finally faced with a choice of either a new thing or a new thing. Or could you negotiate that he can wear one old thing IF he wears a new thing as well? Man that's so tiring isn't it? WE had a half-hour stand off this morning over eating breakfast, poor H was late to school as a result. I'm glad things are so much easier with E!

Cass, lovely that your Opa is there! Is he staying for Christmas? That day up at Healesville sounds perfect, it's the simple things in life that rock! BTW I'm going to confess I lost your fish curry recipe, I would love it if you could share that again please.

Cally, I don't really have any mummy friends, totally missed the boat on that. Luckily a few of my older friends now have kidlets so E has a few others in our wider social circle that we see sometimes. I had high hopes of meeting other parents etc when H started school but unless you're up there doing the drop off and pick up and can stand around chatting everyday, it can be a very slow process. Or maybe I'm just scary looking or I wasn't wearing the right mummy uniform PMSL.

WEll I'm about to put my elf hat and elbow pads on and wade out into the teeming shops. Wish me luck! Saw an angry birds IRL game which I reckon both my girls will love.

L has gone the full day today without even panadol. met up with his best friend and his little bro at our local cafe at 11.30am and we headed over to the playground. it got too hot in the sun so we ended up coming back to our house and they have just left now! a full day of playing and fun! most of the day was actually spent playing outside with our sand and water table (what a great invention they are!) and he is just having a rest and watching abc2 now. so happy! he has done so well and seems as though he is 80% recovered :)

what is this angry birds game you talk of md?

Angry birds knock on wood. :D

Am feeling quite disgruntled right now. Went out to the shops armed with catalogues for 4 different things, sales all started today, not a single one of the shops had the thing they'd advertised. And not becaus they'd sold out, because they didn't have the stock in. HELLO??! That's why we're all shopping online, ya freakin idiots!!! So I got to trek around and wait endlessly in queues to come home empty handed. grrrr

that absolutely sux! i would be furious if that happened to me. yeah no wonder we shop online

MD, that would be super annoying if the shops had nothing I was after - especially since it is a day trip to go to the shops from here! Online shopping all the way!

Trill, yay for your DH's fab bonus!! Bet your mind is filled with a million ways to spend it lol

We have had a busy weekend - town Christmas parade and market yesterday (toy library float that I helped with won, kids went on the kindy float). Then today was DH's work kids party. They had a foam pit and a massive inflatable slide and free BBQ and drinks. It was a good afternoon. Then my friend finished moving around the corner so we had them all over for a BBQ dinner which was nice.

hi guys!

phew, a few big days at our end! sorry for being rather MIA!

MD: i so hear you on the gripe about shopping lately. i am so so tired of shopping for things and finding them incorrectly priced, or being overcharged at the checkout, or not finding the right thing despite there being a million signs saying that it is there :wall:

(can you tell that i braved toys r us and had epic failure lol?!)

arte: i see you too are in the christmas party land! we had to write a list and put it up on the fridge so that we can keep track lol. first time ever! i guess this *might* mean that we have finally moved in to melbourne...only to move out in like 5 weeks hahahaha.

G: how is L now? probably all better and conquering the world again?

AFM: all good here. finally realising that i am now in fact dr clare lol. sooo weird! after all these years of studying to have it in my hand; very surreal.
in between all the parties and graduating and Opa visiting we have been battling the usual cold and flu etc. thankfully no more febrile convulsions from Marta (thank goodness...those things are really freaky!).

other news is that we have found a place to live while we are in LA! :dance:. so that is all going ahead; have booked the furniture to move in on the 19th of jan :o. oh my goodness, we are really going!!!!

MD I hate that. As you know I have ages to drive to anywhere decent for shopping so if there is something I really want I will just get it online now. Been burnt too many times with shops not having advertised stock. Did you end up getting them though online?

G, how is L going now? I bet he was glad for the time outside the other day.

Arte, I love it when employers have the sense to have a work function that includes the kids. We had DH's work party saturday week ago and as usual the kids had a ball. makes you feel more like going if you know you can take the kids and they wont get bored.

Cass, Yay for having a house! that date is going to come around super fast. Once Christmas and new year is out of the way it seem like no time at all and its already the end of Jan. I'm a bit bummed that you will be gone before I get down there in Feb though :( But I know you will have a fab time over there. And I think it is truly fantastic that you are DOCTOR!

Yeah, so DH's bonus. Totally shocked at him getting that. They always give a bonus of some sort, but DH reckons because gold prices are so high they are earning an absolute pile of money so they need to pay people bigger bonus' via their salary and write off some tax LOL. But they can write off all the tax they like as far as I'm concerned ;) I thought he was going to use it to buy some fuel and fertiliser, but last night he said he wanted to keep it for us which would be great. So many little things around the house need replacing or fixing and we've just been putting it off.

Also got my Uni marks which I couldn't be more pleased about. I even got a credit pass in the PE subject I did and I thought for sure I'd only get a pass. After we got our last assignment marks back for that one she emailed all of us and said whoever got a credit or higher really earnt it as it was a really tough assignment which made me feel pleased because I did get a credit for that one. I was talking to a friend who is a year ahead of me and she said next year will be a lot different for me because she said they weren't as tough as they were in first year so that is something to look forward too. SHe said it seems like in first year they want to weed out the ones who aren't sure they will stick with it so they come down hard.

And it's the last week of school this week!!! Bust week too, shock horror! LOL. Today is fine though, but tomorrow is Presentation day and we're all crossing fingers that L will be Captain, or at the very least, a prefect. I got the letter in the mail the other week saying that "Dear Mr and Mrs Brown, we are excited to inform you that your children are getting awards at this years Presentation Day assembly" so we dont' know if that means all 3 of them are, or at least two of them. Either way it's pretty exciting. The only downfall is that it goes for 2 hours! I was thinking I might take the DVD player in for A to watch when he starts to get really bored and fidgety. Then Wednesday we are starting shearing for 3 days, Thursday E has her class christmas party and they are going to a chocolate factory!! They get to make a giant freckle. Pretty cool way to celebrate instead of the usual class party at school. So I will have to go into town to pick them up as she wont be back till after the buses have gone already. Then Friday is A's preschool christmas party and concert and L's class party at the pool, then I have to take them home and shower them before picking up MIL and going back into town for Little A's presentation and then letting her take the kids home for the night while DH and I go to his second work party. Then Saturday we are heading to Wagga to do Christmas shopping, which should be interesting because I know DH will be hungover as anything! But he can suffer in his jocks :lol: I wouldn't be surprised if he told me to go on my own though. Then on Sunday E has to sing in the school choir at Carols by Candlelight in town. Just to cap it of I am taking the kids to my grandparents for two days so we can catch up with my Aunty who is coming down from Mackay and we haven't seen her in years. Its going to be a crazy two weeks! I can finally rest after Christmas I reckon.

oh my goodness...i think i need a rest after just reading all of the things you guys are up to lol!

you must be so so proud of your kids, they seem to be really level-headed and enjoying their schooling. i have :crossfingers: that L gets Captain!!

Trill, well done to your kids for prize giving! Sounds like they are doing really well. And congrats to you for your uni marks too.

Cass, Congrats to you as well for having your PhD firmly in hand - that is probably the most expensive bit of paper you will ever own!

Kindy party today. W wanted to go as Santa so I made them some Santa outfits to wear. It was really good apart from the weather but we were able to use the school hall next to the kindy so it was fine. They had a bouncy castle and a merry go round. W was completely shattered - all these parties and the general wear of the year is catching up with him. The other day he cried when I left him at kindy which he hasn't done a single time this year. I got him in to bed at 7 tonight so hopefully a bit of catch up sleep helps him.

It sure is a crappy time of year for getting overtired isn't it? Last day of school tomorrow and it's going to be a relief! Not that I will be any less busy but having to do the whole get kids up and ready for school thing will make like a little more relaxed anyway.

i hear you on the party overload! Leila went to the street xmas party crying (because she wanted to go but was tired), then sat on my hip the whole time, so decided that she was too tired and took her home only to have her cry once again that she didnt want to leave!

today was a bit of a sad day in that after 4 years, Leila had her very last ever kindy day :(. i cannot believe it! all her carers were quite emotional (as was I!) as they have followed her for those 4 years, so have known her and looked after her 2-3 days a week since she was 6 months old. such a strange feeling walking up to those doors to pick her up knowing that we won't do it again. i guess this is what seeing your kids growing up is all about really...just the beginning...

Hiya! Hope everyone's out there having happy-busy-Christmassy times and not all frantic and over-stressed!!

Cass, I so totally relate to the whole transitions thing! We've done moves before over Christmas/Jan and it really adds a whole other element to a time of year that's already full of busy-ness, sweet moments with people that matter, and (if you're anything like me and I KNOW you are LOL) more than just a few teary moments as well. :hug: I can't believe how close you're getting to blast-off and TBH I'm still wrapping my head around ...LA??!! Of all places... LOL. I hope you're going to start a blog or just be a mad FB updater or something cos i'll be living vicariously through your travels, ok? OK???

Trill, go you! And congrats to all your gorgeous kids. I scraped through with a pass in one subject and a credit in the other, which is a bit of a come-down for me, but nonetheless it's a personal achievement for me at this point in my life so happy with that. I thought we were busy this week with all of H's graduation carry-on but gosh yours is crazy! Good luck with your saturday shopping.

Arte, gosh you're good whipping up the santa costumes like that! Creative lady. E's been to a few 'parties' (end of year celebrations) with the FDC lady and she's getting a bit worn down too.

Ginger, How is L going now? All better? Can you see the difference in him now? BTW I ordered that Angry Birds thing online, and then DD announced yesterday in the toy shop that she thinks its great and would love to get it. LOL. I acted like I'd never heard of it and didn't know what it was, so I'm looking forward to seeing her open it on chrissy day!

I went shopping in town yesterday with H and we had a really lovely day, from our date in the fancy cupcake shop, through to the fun we had finding things in the fun thingammys shop. But i tell ya it's like herding a flea around at times, she's so distractible. And that's saying something, coming from me.

Big milestone for our family this week - Hannah graduated from primary school! So there were events on for THREE DAYS and I had to leave work early every day and am now in flex-debt over it all LOL. She was so beautiful all frocked up, but the poor darling had a really messy cry at the end of the grad dinner. I think saying goodbye to her posse of friends was harder for her because of all the other goodbyes she has had to withstand in her life, and because after all the nastiness she experienced in her old school she has such an appreciation now for the value of these positive friendships.

I forgot to tell you all we had a massive SANTA FAIL last weekend. Stood in the queue for about 20 mins before E said she didn't want to see F.C. So we went into the Magic Cave and had a great time having a ride on Nipper and Nimble etc and came home with a photo of the girls next to a plaster reindeer instead of with F.C. LOL

:hug: to MD and Cass for the end of an era milestones. Far out about the three day graduation marathon - I think back in my day we might have gone to the pools or something, but there wasn't anything out of school hours. And it would be super sad saying goodbye to carers after three years :(

Hope everyone is ready for a great Christmas (or Hanukkah :)) The BIL that I don't get along with (smashed our garage door in last year etc..) isn't coming, so our holiday now has potential to be fantastic.

I was going for a walk today and I came across the skinniest cat I have ever seen in my life. I could see every single bone. It looked grateful when I stopped and talked to it and I picked him up and gave it a cuddle. I didn't know what to do with the poor thing so I took it to the vets which happened to be only 2 doors back. He must have weighed less than a kg. They said they would hold him for 24 hours in case an owner called and then put him out of his misery. (Trill, stop reading lol). I cried. And then I cried all the way home. Seriously, I have no idea how someone could let an animal get like that. Even if he was loved, there comes a point where you have to stop avoiding the vet for fear of bad news and do what is right! I called back later and offered to rehome him but the vet thinks that there is an underlying illness, not just neglect. He even looked purebred, with soft grey fur :( Poor thing.

Awwwww Arte, that would have been awful to see that. I was shattered when we had to put Marvin down back in January. It was just too cruel to let her keep going the way she was. LOL at you having a potentially fabulous Christmas now BIL isn't coming. We feel like that with DH's brother and his wife, which is awful, but I cannot stand all the palaver and snobbery that goes on when they are there. BIL thinks he's some wonderful wine buff and carries on about the wine he's chosen to go with lunch, but he talks out of his bum! I reckon you could bottle horse piddle and he would think it was great. So we are all rather glad when they spend christmas with her family, which is this year!

MD, it's a huge thing to deal with when your children finish primary school. I'm dreading it already and we have a whole year left. I said to him the other day that I can't believe he will be in year 6 next year, he seems too small kwim? But I am just so happy that H has found some truly special friends to spend her last year at primary school with give her the confidence to start highschool.

Just sticking my head in to say hello. I hope everyone is ready for Christmas (and didn't do Big W layby's- that sounds like a nightmare). Work is finally finished for the year woo hoo.
I am sure I read a few recipes a few pages back so I am off to check them out.

Trill, it is going to be bliss not having to watch everything I say in case it is taken the wrong way, and not having to sit through rants about how you can't learn anything from text books (everything in them is wrong), lecturers at uni don't know anything, all statistics are made up etc.... but you can't say anything to disagree or he thinks everyone is against him and ends up acid to be around. I mean I know it is the brain injury that is the cause of it, but knowing the cause doesn't make it any easier to deal with him.
So yay for us both having a low maintenance Christmas :)
I was just wondering the other day how your new pup is going. My old girl has been gone for a year on Boxing Day. The vet must think I am a freak - I am crying every time I see her lol.

Last day of kindy for the year tomorrow. We are going for a walk around town and give out Xmas cake to the businesses that have helped us out over the past year. I left Amelia at kindy today while I did a job in town - she didn't even care! She isn't going to be any problem at all when it is time for her to start.

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you have a day filled with lots of love and laughter!

I can't believe everyone in this house is still asleep!

*dances in wearing her elf costume and hangs up the mistletoe*

Happy Christmas to all my dear September mummy friends. I love you all. I hope you're all having a wonderful day with your gorgeous kidlets and I'll be back later when all the fun dies down with a brandy egg nog to hear all about it.

*MWAH*

Merry Christmas to everyone, hope you have had a wonderful day.

Miss K had a sleep in to 7am this morning which was lovely. She has just been so excited with the whole idea of Christmas this year, it has just been wonderful. She was pretty impressed with all her pressies (and I was happy with all mine too). Now we're just blobbing for the rest of the day, listening to the thunder in the distance.

Merry Xmas to you all - hope you all had a great day

Hi girls. Sorry I've been so mia. Hope everyone had a great Xmas. We are on our way up to Sydney for a little summer holiday. L is going absolutely fantastic. Never been healthier. Is eating me out of house and home and has put on over 1 kg already. He looks great and people have been noticing and commenting. :) hope you all have a wonderful new years!

G, that is great about L!

Hope everyone had a great christmas. Ours was great and we are still at the beach for another week. Great weather, lots of fun :)

Hello everyone!!!

Hoping that you have all had a splendiferous Christmas and have a wonderful time with friends and family!

G: have a great time in Sydney!

A: We are also having a wonderful beachside holiday ATM. pity that it is all coming to an end in 3 days for us :(

AFM: we have had a really lovely time up here in townsville visiting mum. Marta has been a bit sickly so i am realllllly tired and she has been a bit out of it, but Leila has had a blast and we have been swimming everyday at all the free waterparks and pools.
i am bit worried about our return as we apparently have a cat MIA (he does usually disappear when we go away, but this trip was a bit longer). and also we have our car sitting in the airport carpark that is not undercover and i have all these visions of getting to it and finding it completely destroyed by the hail...(at 10pm at night lol). apparently our street got flooded but the houses do sit up a bit higher, so only minimal damage. thankfully the flood warning was a bit under in the end, but apparently our part of the suburb was cut off for the day :o

Cass, I hate things like that happening when you're away and can't do anything about it. I hope your cat comes home though once you're home.

G, that is great he's doing so well now!

So great to hear that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was good despite all 4 kids being sick in the lead up and on the day of Christmas. The kids were spoilt rotten as usual and it makes me glad that DH and I keep things simple for them otherwise we'd have no where to put all their stuff! So because of the vomiting bug, I've had what seems like 10 times more washing to do and it wasn't helped by the crappy stormy weather and the several hours long blackouts we had. But I've gotten on top of it today. P is still not well though - she had been sleeping on and off all morning and then threw up again after lunch. She is in bed asleep again now. When she's awake she's well enough though, she just crashes pretty quickly.

The only problem I had with Christmas day was SIL and her DH telling us all not to breathe just in case we woke up their DS who was asleep upstairs when we got to the IL's place. I felt like saying FFS! Get over yourselves! You're not the only couple to ever have kids and how the heck is he going to learn to sleep through minor noise if you can't make any? Slight exaggeration about us not being able to breathe :lol: but it was way OTT and as soon as the kids said anything they were shushed. I know for a fact that the room he was sleeping in is pretty sound proof and we wouldn't have woken him anyway, but then this is the couple who dismantled their sons cot and brought it with them because they are convinced that he doesn't sleep well when away because he's not in his own bed. Nevermind the fact that both MIL and I have tried to tell SIL that it's not unusual for kids to not sleep at home at that age - none of mine ever slept well when away from home and it's something they just grow out of. But no, they had to bring his actual bed down with them in the hope that he would sleep well. And the outcome? He slept just as ****house as he always does when he's away from home. I had to bite my tounge when she said that ;) Buggered if I know how the hell she is going to cope when she has the next baby in March. The chickens will come home to roost then. You know,in the entire time since she's had her DS, she has not once been anywhere alone with him. She has never just popped down to the shops with him or had a day out with him on her own. She always waits till her DH can come with her. And if he is working away, MIL goes there and stays for a week or two till he's home. As much as I want to be supportive and understanding, I just want to shake her and tell her to get over herself, she's not the only person in the world to ever have a baby and sooner or later she needs to learn to do this on her own.She doesn't realise how good she's got it. So that's my rant for the day over LOL. I love her dearly but she needs a reality check.

Trill - yeah, she sure does need a reality check! Someone at work was telling me about his grandkids who grew up like that with no-one being allowed to do anything while they were asleep and they are crap sleepers now because every little noise disturbs them whereas the cousins can sleep through a huge thunderstom.

Cass - oh, I hope your car is OK, you don't want to be having to deal with that on top of all the packing and everything else to get ready to go to LA.

G - glad you are having a nice little holiday.

DH's birthday today and my sister, BIL and niece coming down for a couple of days. Shame the weather is pretty average - it's improving heaps next week when we are up in Canberra!

DD had a sleepover with MIL a couple of nights ago - had her first introduction to McDonald's and a happy meal.

oh trill! i feel for you guys lol! a shush christmas party :rofl:
is your SIL ok? sounds like she might have some pretty major anxiety going on? very strange that she doesnt want to go anywhere alone with her DS...

Cally: i hope that the visit is awesome despite the weather! we have been super lucky in having glorious tropical weather in townsville and then leaving just before the cyclone hit, to arrive in melbourne to glorious sunny weather lol.

I hope that everyone is having a fab time!

AFM: well, no cat in sight. the neighbours have spotted him about 4 days ago, but not since :(. so strange as he practically hangs out at the neighbours all day everyday when we are home. i feel terrible. i though the petsitting idea would work and that with the neighbours also helping out.....boo hoo! the other cat is awesome, as is the dog, but just this boy cat. must be a boy thing :lol:
also, we had a nightmarish flight back. just as we were boarding the plane from brissy to melb, marta stacked it while i was holding her hand and she twisted and fell on her bum and POP! her elbow got dislocated!!!! my poor baby!!! she just howled and howled. i didnt know what happened at first as she was just so distressed and just kept holding her hand. i gave her some boob (thank goodness we are still able to BF lol) and she fell asleep the whole way only to wake briefly to cry when the plane hit intermittent turbulence). we made record time getting out of the airport as our bags were first off and we ran to the bus to take us to the carpark just before it left the rank. drove straight to the childrens hospital and thankfully (being so late at night...10ish) we got there super quick! nurse popped it back in and all good! phew! poor thing, it must of hurt so bad :(

Hi All
Hope you all had a great christmas and new years. we had a fantastic time away - it was only a week but it was just what we needed.
the boys are great at the moment, J has finally started to sleep through (touvh wood)_ in the last 2-3 weeks... he sometimes needs a v quick settle but generally is great. makes such a difference!
Am at work so bettrer go, but thought I would drop ypu a line and see how everyone is. its been quiet in here! x

it has been totally quiet in here!

MP: where did you go for christmas again? i have totally forgotten (i am sure that you mentioned it). I was thinking of you the other day as we were driving through malvern and i wondered how you went with the sale of the house in canberra? i hope that it went well!

i dream of the day if/when Marta starts sleeping through :lol: i had it soooo easy with leila (slept through from 6 weeks!).

AFM: well our good news is that we found our cat :). he was hedging his bets and found a new home in the next street that had 4 other cats. i guess he figured that if we never showed up again, he had a safe bet at that place hahahaha!
the girls are really good ATM. Leila seems to be just shooting up though. i can barely keep up with her rate of growth, pants are suddenly all capris lol.

the packing for LA has started.

WOW!!! exciting times Cass!
We were in Red Hill from boxing day - divine! (mornington peninsula, not canberra!)
We are still in negs on the house, there is a fair bit of stress at the moment b/n that and DH business. our finances arent too pretty right now.
Bith mine slept through from 2.5 yrs. hmmmmmmmmmmmm makes me scared to ttc a #3 anytime soon. i am in 2 minds about it (not on agenda for a while though)
Hope Marta's arm is ok.

i hear you MP. that is one of the big factors in deciding whether or not to have another baby. sounds really shallow, but i do find the sleep deprivation world shattering! i quite like the pattern we are in now, but then the thought of another squishy baby to bring into our lives is still there :think:

oh that would be hard re: the house. all that added stress :hug:

Cass, glad you found your cat. Is it only 2 weeks until you are away to L.A now?? Far out!! Very exciting - you better post heaps because I am going to be living though you. Hope M's arm is feeling better, lucky she slept through the flight or it could have been much worse.
Both W and A seem to have shot up lately - I was just noticing tonight that A's nighty barely covers her nappy now and W has just gone up another shoe size. Erin is looking massive - she is nearly the same size as my cousins 8 month old! They looked so odd together, E is pale, blue eyed and chunky and her cousin is olive skinned, brown eyed and petite. She is rolling both ways now and pushes her knees under her like she wants to crawl - doesn't want to stay a baby :(

Trill, when I read that I though your nephew must be a little baby, but then you mentioned that she is having another in a few months so the boy must be around 2ish? I couldn't imagine being stuck at home all day for that long! Why on earth can't she go out by herself? One toddler isn't that hard to deal with. She must be either very anxious or very precious!

MP, glad you had a good trip away.

Cally, I am amazed that K made it past 4 before trying a Happy Meal! Good on you, they are a huge waste of money and taste similar to greasy cardboard.

MD, you have been quiet. Hope all is well xx

So our trip was fantastic. Kids got super spoilt, still trying to figure out where to put everything. The first 6 days were amazing weather and we spent heaps of time at the beach. Amelia dropped her day nap which means she now goes to bed and gets up at a reasonable time and as a massive bonus she is now sleeping through the night and going to sleep by herself! On the downside, Erin was sleeping through most of the time before we went but now she is waking up nearly hourly :( I don't know what to do and am dreading it is the start of another couple of years of bad sleeping. I was really hoping that she would come right again when we got home but it didn't happen.

W really wanted to stay with the IL's but then when it came to the crunch he chickened out. Is he the only kid left that hasn't had a sleepover? That ends up in tears at the thought of it? He wouldn't even stay with them during the day, while Amelia barely looked our way if we said we were going and would have been happy enough to stay overnight with them. Isn't 4 a bit old to still have separation anxiety?

Hi ladies, yes I'm here and all is well, just having a major dive in the inspiration/concentration levels at the moment! Prolly something to do with having a house full of husband and kids LOL. No rest for the wicked... Prolly partly my own fault too as we've given the sales a good thrashing, although mostly household items and not lovely things for the kidlets.

Cass, I'm totally in denial about you moving to LA. I know I never actually SEE you but it still feels like we're losing you to foreign lands LOL. Wow. Hope your big uber-list is all ticked off re the organising. Who's going to look after your furries?

Trill that's crazy, I remember with DD1 I was so keen to get her to sleep through anything, we had a little basket and I'd just tow her around the house whereever I was and whatever I was doing, she slept. :) Has your SIL shown any other signs that she's depressed or not coping with mumma-hood? There was a whole patch there when I didn't take E anywhere by myself except for tiny little outings but hey that was during cancer treatment so probably a valid excuse :lol: but it wasn't a really flash way to live.

Cally, I had an oh-no I'm a terrible mumma moment reading about K's first happy meal. E has had the tour of fast food establishments pretty much as soon as she could hold a chip LOL. OK that's an exaggeration, but we've been doing the happy meals for a while, although she genuinely has a greater appreciation for other food sources.

Arte, I hope the sleeping kick with E is just temporary. E is having another growth spurt, it keeps coming in waves. We put a size 4 dress on her today (which should fit her since she has only just turned 4) but instead it was a micro-mini. LOL. She looks like a school kid now and I worry a little that people will assume she is older than she is and expect a different type of behaviour from her than a just-turned 4 yo can manage.

hi girls

sorry I've been so mia again! happy new years to everyone :) I'm looking forward to this year :)

md- my kids are the kings of happy meals too. oops!!! they are just so darn easy sometimes, especially on long drives/travelling interstate. L is totally huge for his age too and is now wearing size 6 clothes. most people say to me 'is he in prep?'.

arte- um no W is not the only kid that hasn't had a sleep over. not only has L never had a sleep over but he rarely even has a night in his own bed these days! seems he;s gotten used to sleeping with me again when we go away and likes it back home now too. sorry to hear about E's sleeping. thats no good. at least A has improved i guess so you're not up for the 2 of them.

mp- red hill is gorgeous. my ex used to work at the winery there. lovely spot. i would really struggle going back to the no sleep thing now.

cass-glad the cat is back. can't believe you are leaving so soon!!! poor little M and her arm :(. what a nightmare

afm, well we are back home again but kinda feeling depressed and confused about what to do. we feel we have outgrown our house and want to sell it but don't know exactly what path to take next iykwim? all we know is that we both aren't really that happy here anymore and want something more for the boys. we are always going backwards and forwards over this issue and feel that its probably time we did something about it.