-
Hello lovely ladies!
I've been MIA with psychotic kids that has now morphed into one wee sick Miss M. thankfully she appears to be on the mend(ish).
Arte: oh stairs and toddlers! does my head in lol. Miss M managed to fall down the marble steps of our apartment here in italy. total freak-out on both our parts i tell ya! they just love them...although i noticed that she loves them decidely less than before :lol:
MD: chakras are where i am at baby :dance: my big thing is that i want/need to learn how to 'cleanse' stones. i have a few rose quartz crystals that have been man-handled (literally) inadvertantly and i remember that there are things you can do to restore them. i havent googled yet lol.
AFM: well, first family blow-up. maybe its because i am pregnant or too busy with the kids but i just shut them down and drove off hahahaha. apparently DH and I are bad people for not taking his baby sister (9 years old) with us everywhere BUT we cannot treat her as one of the kids (WTH she is NINE?!) but more as a sister....bah. can't even be bothered to begin to discuss this with them. i choose to just ignore and distance myself. as if i really want to take on another (very very spoilt) child on top of my two kids and my phat pregnant self hahahahaha (laughing cause it is just such a ridiculous proposition).
-
OMG YES Arte! Toddlers are hard work! SIL has been staying over at the IL's while her DH is away working for 2 weeks and her eldest will be 2 in September and OMG he's unreal! He does not stop moving - running, climbing you name it! I was exhausted just watching him LOL. Made me glad it's not me anymore ;) That's great about W's appointment. I really hope things stay settled with him for you.
MD, We have hypo hour here too and it drives me mental! But in my case it's often all 4 of them mucking around or fighting with each other. I have no idea how to stop it so I just shut the door and concentrate on getting dinner ready :lol: Out of sight out of mind I say!
Geeze Cass, I would have walked out of that conversation too! Bugger that. You're not there to take on babysitting duties. Sure, it's great that your DH gets to spend time with his sister and all that, but it shouldn't be expected that you do it all the time. I"m guessing she was a 'change of life baby' then because of her age? She would hardly know him would she? Trying to form a brother/sister relationship in those circumstances would be a bit strange I imagine.
Well my baby girl turned 8 on Wednesday. It's a bit bittersweet really. She's still very much my baby girl and she just doesn't seem as mature as what E did at that age. She had a lovely day though - day off because of the school strike and she got a brand spanking new bike and an assortment of other little things like squinkies and nintendo stylus'. We will probably get A a bike like we got P - he has been riding it more than she has. It's a 20inch BMX and we were thinking about getting him a 16inch because he rides the ones we already have that E and L own, but seeing as how he can ride the one we got P it would make sense to just get the bigger one I think.
-
Hiya. Back from my little weekend away in hometown. Got a fair bit of visiting done and the kids had a great time so all good :)
Cass, at least you have your own house to go to now. Wow @ your DH having a nine year old sister! That is a big age gap! Not long until you are back now - looking forward to it? Bet you are missing your dog and cats.
Who asked about bikes? It is over the page now, but W is moving up to a 16 inch. But Trill is on to a good thing if A can ride the 20 inch - saves buying a whole size of bike, so if they can manage it then that is a great idea.
Trill, in my mind I am past the baby/toddler thing, and then I remember that I have E. But she hasn't been much trouble really. Saving it up for toddlerhood I guess - DH spent about 5 minutes trying to get a nappy on her last night, she was wriggling and sitting up and rolling away, and when he finally got it on she stood up and walked away and tore it off!! How is your SIL going with the two kids? Is she a bit less precious about #1 now?
MD, no light shed on the report. He has always cycled good and bad. But the bad is better than it used to be and I think it is something that he will grow out of. They did say that kids with a very high verbal iq are more likely to get into arguments with adults because his comprehension and reasoning are advanced but emotionally he still can't deal with things not going the way he wants.
When is your DH back?
Cally, I counted up at the 5 year old party I went to the other weekend, and 8 parents stayed and two did the dump and run. Those were two that never help out at kindy - I have seen one of the mums sitting out in the car waiting for exactly pick up time rather than coming in and helping to tidy up at the end of the day.
-
Cass :hug: What? that's crazy, families expect the weirdest things. We've got a (very very spoiled) 9 yo coming to stay with us next week ~ hard work even though I love her to bits. It'll be crazy town here. BTW, the best way to cleanse quartz is to wash it under running water, then white-light it. You'll know when it's had enough cleansing cos it will give you a little energetic nudge.
Trill i LOL'd at you shutting the door during arsenic hour :lol:. I can't believe P is 8 already!!! Crazy. All our kids are growing up!!
Arte Glad you enjoyed your visiting weekend. I bet everyone was smitten with your kids - such an adorable trio. How did your exam go?
Yep DH is home, got home on Friday, so I'm all loved up LOL. I made sure the house was really tidy and all the washing was done so it didn't look like i had scraped through within an inch of my sanity the entire time, but i think the cracks were starting to show. I had a couple of embarrassing cognitive lapses at work last week. Public numpty moments LOL.
E is driving me bonkers at the moment with all her aggrieved cries of "that's not fair!". Doesn't matter what it is, she thinks she's missing out. Food, activities, whatever. I think there's some of it going on at the FDC lady's place too. For example, she had histrionics on Sunday when H was at swimming even though she'd had already been to her own swimming lesson half an hour earlier. :wall: And she protests no matter what food I serve up too. Someone please tell me this is a passing phase.
-
We're going through that stage too with A, MD. And it is over completely random and unreasonable things too. LIke the other day he cracked it and said it wasn't fair that we couldn't go to the club - on a Tuesday night! After football homegames we aways go back to the club for a BBQ and the kids all have a ball and he decided that he wanted to go on Tuesday. When I said he couldn't he was all "Its not FAIR!"
Glad to hear that DH is home again too :hug: I hope it's ages before he goes away again. And goodluck with the 9yp too - sounds like you might need it :lol:
Find out tomorrow (hopefully) if L got into high school. They said they will contact us via email or by letter on the 4th, so I"m hoping we get an email.
Trying to get stuck into Uni again and it is soooo hard this time. I dont' feel burnt out, but the motivation just isn't there. I have on unit that is all over and done with by the 6th of August, which is brilliant, but it's the hardest subject to get *into* kwim? So boring!
ON a more personal note, I think I have a prolapse. I have nearly zero continence and as soon as I feel the urge to go to the loo, I have to GO. I hate wearing liners all the time. I have a pap smear for next week so I'm getting a referral to my gyno to get it sorted out. I also have the usual problems starting up again too. I think I'm actually peri-menopausal which I think is just ****house.
-
MD, thankfully we seem to have skipped the not fair thing (so far...). I do get a bit of "why do you keep telling me what to do all the time?!" (answer- listen the first time and I wouldn't have to keep nagging!!!). Glad your DH is home. That went really quickly for me! Like MP, I was going to ask how she was going with her DH away and next thing she has a post on FB arrived at some tropical paradise :)
Trill, I really think that woman get the raw deal in pretty much everything :( How great would it be to go off every day to your high paying job with international travel (did I mention that DH is going to Finland for two weeks next month?), come home to a clean house and play with the kids while someone else cooks for you.... whoops, forgot to swallow my bitter pill today lol
I have a few issues down south, my hopes are pinned on them all magically healing themselves when I have finished BF because I will never be able to talk about it to anyone in real life lol. I hope that you can get some success out of exercises or something xx
Good luck for the school acceptance. They are a bunch of idiots if they don't want a kid like L!
-
Trill: CONGRATULATIONS are in order :dance: so so happy for Master L!!!!!
MD: ah thanks for the cleansing tips. i had imagined it much more convuluded lol.
oh dude, we are getting the 'it's not fair' trip BIG TIME in our house too. i am going bonkers!!!!! it is from everything: food, clothes, hairclips, toilet usage, shower/bath...the list is endless. justaphasejustaphasejustaphasejusta.....
Trill: has it only been happening recently? or has it been building up? Hopefully the GP appt will shed some light and hopefully it aint part of a perimenopause thang. do you guys have early onset in your family?
Arte: how did the trip away go? hope you did awesomely and still managed to have a great time.
AFM: soo ready to come home now! i wanna be in my own bed waaahhhhh!!!!!! loving the warm weather, good food etc, but at the end of the day, there aint no place like home!
-
Trill, I bet you are thrilled that L got accepted! How is he feeling? Will all the kids go to that school?
Cass, nothing like your own bed! Hope the kids are feeling better now.
AFM, a bit of positivity rather than my usual whinging! Usually school holidays are horrible around here but for the first time ever we are going just fine. W seems really happy atm and isn't crawling the walls with boredom after one morning at home like in the past.
Times have changed so much around here. Two years ago we were spending around 1-2 hours of tantrum to get W into bed, with half a dozen wake ups during the night. Fast forward to now and last night he wasn't overly tired (afternoon nap), but he went to bed without a fuss and I found him in there still awake 3 hours later! I could hear him reading for the first hour or so and I though he went to sleep after that, but nope, he was still up writing and drawing.
It is so nice to have an easy bedtime!
And we are in the planning stages of a caravan holiday around the South Island in January, making our way to DH's hometown for his granny's 80th. Sounds good so far :)
Off to Rotorua tomorrow morning to meet up with the IL's. Thinking of doing the gondola and luge.
Oh, and I had a burst of brilliance the other week! Pre-empting the usual spend up at the $2 shop to keep the kids entertained, I told W that he could have a whole $20 for Rotorua but he had to earn it by setting/clearing the table, keeping his room tidy and helping tidy the lounge. And it worked!! He has been just awesome :) He is itching to buy some of those Trash Pack things :)
-
Arte that is really wonderful that he is being easier to manage now. It's sure been a long time coming! LOL at the bribery for the holiday money too. My hat goes off to you for planning a caravaning holiday though. I could not think of anything worse to do with my kids - especially E who is the WORST traveller in the world.
L is feeling pretty chuffed that he is going off to the school, but at the same time he is dealing with the reality that he will be leaving his friends too. But like I keep saying to him, I think it will make him value his friendships more because he will actually have to work at maintaining them instead of taking them for granted like most kids tend to do. Plus being home every weekend means that there will still be times where he can catch up with his mates. At this stage we aren't sure if we will send the others there. Because it is an agricultural high school there is a very strong focus on agricultural subjects and it is compulsory all the way from years 7 to 12, and E just isn't that way inclined at all. So it wouldn't seem right to send her there when she's not really interested in it, if that makes sense. Plus I would see it as taking a place away from another child who really wants to go there. But P and A will probably go there. That is a long way off yet though!
Cass I miss my own bed after only a week or two on holidays LOL! When you first come home you will feel like a tourist here I reckon.
-
Arte: ohhhh a caravaning holiday sounds like super fun to me! It is something that DH and I want to do one day back in Oz with the kids.
Planning for that holiday *may* help ease the bitter disappointment of DH going to Finland...on his own...ok, maybe it wont :rofl: bloomin' heck, i wanna go for a 2 week work trip somewhere like finland lol.
we have also started pocket money while in Italy and it is going really well. she only has to put her bowl in the sink, make her bed and put her clothes away (like in the wash or hanging up etc), but i think it is enough for her at this stage. she loves that she gets to spend it on whatever she wants too...even really really crappy trinkets that i almost pass out at hahahahaha.
Trill: I guess as well that L will also make good friends at the new school too. In such a small intake there will such great opportunities to connect with a good group of kids that are, no doubt, like-minded ITMS.
-
Arte - so glad that you are going through a good stage with W. I love easy bedtimes, with K just recently dropping her naps (only 3 this week!) she just crashes at night time and I feel like DH and I have so much more time in the evenings. DH has also said that these holidays are going really well with K and he's coping really well after a week.
Trill - Also, L will make so many more friends. At my school the boarders were really close because they spent so much time together. Do they have day students there or are they all boarders (weekly and full time)?
Cass - we don't get 'it's not fair', but we are still getting WHY!! That has been a super long stage..... And I am so jealous of your warm weather, we've had 3 frosts this week which is so unusual for us.
Going to a 40th birthday tomorrow. It's a long lunch, 5 courses, 3 French champagnes, 2 Australian sparkling. Miss K is spending the afternoon/evening with MIL thankfully.
-
Cally, how did the birthday party go? That sounds very extravagant!
Cass, I see your bump is progressing very nicely! Summer trip not easing the bitterness of staying home while DH goes overseas, but so far have my head in the sand about it - even though it is only 3-4 weeks away. Just avoiding the issue will make it all better lol.
Trill, sounds like our E's are opposites! Mine is my easiest kid, just an absolute pleasure to be around. A couple of years ago I would have rather poked out my eyeballs with a rusty fork than travel more than a stone's throw with my kids, but they are all fine now. I have planned it so we would only do 3ish hours of driving on travel days and quite a few non-travel days in between so hopefully... :crossfingers:
We went up to Rotorua and spent the weekend with the IL's. Amelia has clung to them like a limpet, I pretty much can't even speak to her without her screeching "no mum!" at me whilst being sweet as honey to her grandparents. Starting to p!ss me off actually.
But A stayed with them in their room for her first ever sleepover on the first night, then on the second night W stayed over too! First time ever in his life that he slept away from us! We went on the gondola and luge which was good fun, and the kids spent heaps of time with the IL's so DH and I got some time together for the first time in years.
Hoping to utilize the g.parents visit to get an assignment done :)
-
Arte: oh the rotorua trip sounds like it went really well :dance: and Yay for great sleep-over success!! What did the kids think of it?
Oh, and head in the sand is my style woman lol. DH has a whole bunch of conferences coming up and i just stick my fingers in my eyes and turn on the 'elevator' music in my head hahahaha. although i am desperately hoping to win lotto or something so that i can go to either (or both!) the conference in South Africa or Chile...
Cally: how did the gorgeous sounding birthday party go? I am a little envious lol.
AFM: only like 2 weeks to go now before we come home :dance:
we had a lovely night last night as good Oz friends who are living in florence came over for the day/night and we managed to get one of the grandparents to watch the girls last night so we went out for a Big Person dinner at this restaurant that is just spectacular. it cooks only 12th century Pisan dishes so is this land and sea combination that is heavily influenced by african spices etc (pisa was a BIG naval power going around rampaging the lands in those days). delicious!
-
Trill you must still be stoked about L being accepted into his school - such a bright little guy! I hear you on the uni motivation, my semester has just started and I'm in full "ignore" mode LOL. Good luck, you're getting so close to getting through. xxx
BTW, have you seen your dr yet re prolapse? I hear ya on the (as I call it) peri-peri menopause (You can sing along to the Nandos "peri-peri chicken" song LOL). Is there a chance your symptoms are related to your methotrexate treatment? You're a bit on the young side, otherwise, really hope for you that it's not that. xxx I've been doing a bit of reading about Remifemin (black cohosh) which sounds like da bomb. Might be worth considering once you've had it all checked out.
Arte - full commiserations over your DH's upcoming trips o/s. So so wrong that we're not jetting around the globe. But don't worry darling, our time will come too. PS it is totally worth talking to a GP re your downstairs probs. When you get past the burning shame it turns out they treat lots of other women for the same thing and it's just another day another fanny to them. LOL. Just sayin'. BTW how did your exam go?
Cass, I've been living vicariously through your photos on FB... the light is so bright! When are you heading "home" again? Your 12th century Pisan restaurant sounds amazing, very memorable.
I too am in love with the notion of a caravanning (or, specifically, a winnebago PMSL) holiday, except in my head it's just DH and driving around having a lovely time together. Maybe retirement. BTW I agree 100% with the 3 hour driving blocks - NZ is fabulous for that.
Cally that 40th sounds lovely! Proper grownup entertainment...reminds me that I completely forgot to celebrate mine...
Our 20th anniversary is coming up fast but I don't think DH is very organised so we might be chewing takeaway pizza morosely to celebrate.
All going well with houseguests. 9 yo much more even tempered now she's on an insulin pump instead of the constant needles regime. They've all been playing beautifully together, ah, it warms the ****les of my heart. :)
-
I'im glad the visit is going well MD. Do you think it was the actual needles making her play up a bit or the peaks and troughs of the insulin? I wish my kids had a cousin their age. The ones they do have are all younger and 3 of them are total horrors! You spend the entire time stopping them from breaking things :/
I saw a DR yesterday - had to have a pappy-schmear (as he says it) and asked him about a bladder prolapse and he said yep, definitely one there. Its not the MTX, just the fact that I had 4 fat babies. So I have a referral to my Gyno and I will need surgery to fix it because when he got me to bear down, the wall actually came out of the vagina. It doesn't bother me a lot, but I have bugger all continence - especially during sport and occasionally it feels like something is *there*. But it's only been the past year or so that it's gotten bad so it could be a combination of things making it worse. I guess changing hormone levels could affect it? Dunno. But now I have the peri-peri chicken ad in my head :lol:
CASS! OMG at only 2 weeks until you come home! It really doesn't feel like you've been away that long. The dinner sounded gorgeous. THat's one thing I hate about living out here - there is just nowhere nice to eat.
Arte, don't take it personally about A. Grandparents rule and there is nothing you can do to change it LOL. So what did you two do with your alone time? I would have slept :lol: Hope you get some uni work done too.
Cally, the school is only a boarding school - they don't take day students at all. When we went to the open day, the closeness that all the students have is one of the things that totally sold me on the place.
-
The birthday party was pretty good, although I forgot to tell them DH doesn't eat shellfish so he couldn't eat the first 3 (of 6) courses. He doesn't like making a big deal of it because he just doesn't like it, rather than being allergic. I think if he was allergic I would remember more often though.
Trill - wow, that is certainly a prolapse. Is the surgery pretty easy? (I've no idea). Will you be able to use your PHI to get it done quicker?
Cass - wow, only 2 weeks!! Has the Italy trip been a lot shorter than the US one? At least L will be back with lots of time for the whole school stuff and you to do all your nesting.....
Thai takeaway for dinner tonight..... Can hardly wait!
-
Cass, I would totally spew if DH went to Chile without me! Finland sminland, it isn't really a place that has ever drawn me - and I have specifically avoided aunty google because I don't want to know what I am missing out on. Not long now until you get home :)
MD, LMAO @ another day, another fanny! Not bothering me much atm so I can live in denial for a bit longer :)
I saw a winnebago while searching the net for a caravan to hire and thought of you. Too cool for us though - we are going for the $200 per week el cheapo caravan, not the $300 per day luxury campers.
Got 66% in the exam. Only worth 15% of the course. Could have been better, but could have been worse so I guess I am happy with it.
Trill, I was just talking with my IL's about how my kids have no cousins and are very likely to have none for another 10ish years :(
Is that the surgery where they put a mesh thing in the wall to hold it all up?
We used our time alone to watch a crappy movie on t.v that we had already seen before lmao! We still had E, and she wakes all night anyway so sleep isn't really on the cards for me these days.
Cally, I love thai. We managed to get through the whole weekend away with eating good meals aka no McD's! We even went out to restaurants for dinner - indian and mexican.
The builders have finally finished my house repairs off so hopefully we can finish the last couple of bits and pieces and get it on the market in the next couple of weeks (touch wood, last time I said that it didn't quite work out!).
-
Trill, no I knew the prolapse wasn't MTX-related :lol:, but I wondered about the peri-menopause stuff. I reckon you're on the money about changing menopause levels having an effect.
Cally, your poor DH watching the dishes go past...kinda funny though.
Arte, when is DH leaving for Finland schminland? Mine's home for a while now, glad because that last trip nearly killed me. Glad your builders have finished, that took quite a while. Your pocket money thing was a brainwave alright. Miss E is very interested in money ATM, and in fact we had our first instance of petty theft the other week when she squirreled $6 in loose change home from FDC where the carer gave them the money to play shops with. LOL. Mind you her little friend was in cahoots with her too.
Well big weekend here. DH swept me away for an ultra romantic night away, complete with Moet and roses, for our 20th anniversary. (*swoons*) It was lovely.
Back to work tomorrow. Sigh.
