New thread time ladies

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/ind...howtopic=756912

GOLD again is this telling me i have no life??

Silver Yay

I got a call from my MIL last night and she has offered to have Leah (6) for 6 days!!!

She is being picked up on Wednesday and coming home on Tuesday next week!

My MIL is a wonderful person!
My own mother would even think to offer!!

Bronze I have no life too. Been thinking I need to spend a little less time on here, but I would miss you guys.....

Katy your MIL does sound rather wonderful! I don't have many family members, nor does my DH.

I have uploaded some photos from Saturday onto my blog if anyone wants to see. I honestly would appreciate any comments. I think I need to stop talking about photography as it's probably getting soooo boring. I'm sorry....

Still bad news with Ryan and his milk. Going to the docs this morning. I think he's weaning himself, which is awesome in a way as he loves his food but he still has to drink something. He will drink a small amount from a normal cup with no lid He must think he is a big boy.

You pics a fantastic Jules!!!

I wish I was good at photography but sadly I tend to only get the backs of heads

Not much on here today

I might go for a walk to DH's work later. He has taken Leah with him so it's pretty quiet here!!

Must go a feed Eliza and put her to bed and finish the housework

Gorgeous Jules!!!

bugger about Ryan, if hes drinking it from a cup thats ok.. big independent boy he is lol

Jules – Saskia is so cute and you take gorgeous photos! How much milk did Ryan have a day when he was drinking ok? Since about 9 months Skye has 3 milk feeds a day (2 breastfeeds and 1 from a sipper cup). I hope he’s ok.

Brolly sheets – Tess I know you used these. Are they worth it? Where do you get them? Jules – was it you who found a cheaper brand?

Breastfeeding older bubs – for those who are still breastfeeding, does bub get really distracted now? Skye often stands up in my lap (still feeding!) and sits and stands or stops and faces me then jumps back on and stands and moves around….. it’s driving me crazy! When she does it too much I have to feed her upstairs right before bed where it is quiet and she is getting into sleep mode.

Sienna scared the bejesus (sp?) out of me through the night. She woke wanting water and then hopped into our bed. I can’t sleep with 3 of us in there (she kicks around too much) so I went to her bed. Anyway….. a while later I was woken to her bawling her eyes out. I thought DP would be dealing with her because she was sleeping next to him. 30 seconds later she was still bawling so I jumped out of bed and ran in….. she wasn’t there…. Then I realised it was coming from downstairs. I put the light on and FLEW downstairs. She was standing bent over with her head buried into the lounge bawling. Poor baby. I still don’t know what the problem was. I took her back up to our bed and she asked for water then went back to sleep. I don’t know if she was sleep walking (she’s never done that before) or if she was in pain (had a funny tummy this morning) and went looking for me downstairs. I am soooo releived she made it down the stairs in pitch black darkness without falling! We used to have a safety gate at the top of the stairs which I wanted put up now that Skye is crawling. It will definitely be going up tonight so Sienna can’t accidentally get down there. Oh she must have been so confused and scared.....

Woh, marathon post from me……

oh no!! how scary!! hope she has a betta nite tonite.. poor thing

and yeah amelia's a real pain in the butt to bf now!! she's such a sticky beak n wriggle pot

Lisa I am so glad nothing happened while she was going down the stairs! Poor little girl The gate should definitely fix things! Ryan was drinking 700-800ml, 4 feeds a day. Yes it was me that found the cheaper brand of brolly sheets I am a super shopper! Sorry they don't seem to have a brand on them, but I got them from Coles months ago for $15.

Carmen, I forgot to say I cannot believe the car was just out of petrol

Had a visit with the CHN and she didn't seem concerned as he is not dehydrated. She said not to offer any bottles for a while and maybe he will get over whatever it is that has gotten into him. I will have to just keep up the cereal and add milk/cheese to his vegies. She said he is probably weaning, which is great, but I just need to help him to get used to drinking more from a cup.

Thank you to those that commented on my photos. It really means a lot and you are such wonderful friends. I've been quite down these last few days because of Ryan and his non-drinking and just to hear some nice things has made me feel a bit happier. Thank you xxx

Jules.. there's no need to be down!! nothing u can do bout it.. kids do these kinda things to us!!
Ur an amazing mum. don't b so hard on urself!! Ryan is just gorgeous

Jules, glad the CHN put your mind at ease.. as long as Ryan isnt losing weight and he's happy and sleeping and drinking enough fluids then all will be good!!
He's such a perfect first child! Reminds me of K but she had allergies but other than that she was perfect! L was a another story horrible eater, horrible sleeper, very clingy child and so on.. X on the other hand.. exactly like K but with no allergies as yet!

Xander was just playing outside with the older two.. ended up drenched and and covered in mud he wasnt impressed because it's cold here today, so i've just given him a nice warm bath and redressed him! He had a ball so thats the main thing.. until he got wet lol

Have I mentioned that in the near future I'm taking pics of hubbys ex whos preggers?? Not sure how it'll go cos she's quite shy... shes 30 and her hubby is 63 so here i am thinking I might get pics of his hands hugging her tum.. but it might look slightly odd to have a young tum with reallllly old hands hugging it and all the preggy photos i've seem (well not all but most) the women have been naked .. I kinda dont want to see hubbys ex naked .. anyway.. we'll see how we go.. shes not due until May, so might take the pics end of Feb or March maybe incase she goes a month early??

Lisa, poor lil chook.. hope shes ok tonight,,,,

Belinda and Carmen geez you guys are beautiful. But I've had enough crying for one day, so stop it

Carmen, er.... good luck with that shoot! I might say leave her with clothes on this time She could always pull up her top to just have her belly showing, then you have his hands and her hands on her belly and take a tight shot i.e. no shirt or pants showing. Have a look at Flickr for inspiration http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=...ands&m=text

oh cool, ta Jules.. looking at the pics now! there sure are plenty! the hand ones remind me of a pic i took hold on.. a pic K took for me back when Xander was tiny.. will show you..

Oh That is sooo cute! Not quite so little anymore is he

Nup sad isnt it!!!

Hubby just rang from work.. his next day off is.............MONDAY next week!!!!!!! that'll be 12 days straight!!!! then hes working Aust day and the next day then having Thurs off... and every single day is a 6:30am start!!!!! there goes my plans of going away for a break!!!!! poor bugger needs a break, hes exhausted as it is

just found this one too Jules.. theres no way i'd ever get this pic again LOL

How tiny was his little head!! Now you've got me wanting to look back at the baby pictures I do that every now and then and can't believe how big he is now. Your poor DH! If mine whinges about working, I'll let him know about poor C! It makes it hard on you too, cause you need a break yourself

So very true, but if i REALLY need an hour to myself, mil is just around the corner. Not that I ask because I look at it like "they're my kids, i wanted them so I should look after them". Mil has always offered!
K goes back to school next week so I'll get a break then! As much as she is a great help with Xander, her and L fight like crazy so without her here there will be peace! And L is going to preschool two days a week this year as well so there will be two days with just Xander and I
Can you remember this time last year when I was preparing myself for L to go to preschool and the day of his first day I was sick to the tum and then after we dropped him off i cried for 3 whole hours I blame the preggy hormones

I'm in the middle of cooking Sweet Potato & bacon vinegarette (sp?).. its meant to be a side dish but we usually cook it as a main meal cos the kids love it!! All it is.. sweet potato cubed and roasted.. while thats roasting you put diced bacon in a frying pan and cook it until the fat is clear, then add in the juice of a lemon and orange and a touch of soy sauce.. once thats simmered down and the sweet potato is cooked you add it all together and serve it with some rocket or wilted spinach or some beans! Yummo! So i'm cooking that to take to the bbq tonight! We're not meant to take anything!!

Oh.. when hubby rang before.. he said "N gave me something today" N is his boss.. and I asked him what and he wouldnt tell me, all he'd say was "you'll be blown away" so now i've been racking my brain trying to think of what the heck shes given him... apparently its to say thank you for doing the hours/days/shifts he's been doing. Hmmm hurry up and get home C... I'm intregued now!!

Ooh Carmen - maybe she gave him a payrise!

nah she gave that to everyone before Xmas.. and he got three months worth of back pay too because she was meant to give the pay rise back in September!

He should be home any time now! He finishes at 4:30, then has to walk to the car then drive home which takes about 15-20mins..

OH HURRY UP *said in Mr Squiggles voice*

u mean black boards voice off mr squiggle??

Yep thats the one! I used to love watching Mr Squiggle!

Lisa - I have brolly sheets too and they are great! I got them from brollysheets.com.au
Yep S gets distracted feeding too. She has a good feed night and morning, but during the day too busy looking around!

Jules - your photos are amazing!! I wish I lived close, I need someone to do some 12 month shots of Savannah!!

Carmen about the petrol! Good luck with the photo shoot!! Awww stop showing those adorable pics of Xander Ohh now i'm intreged about what DH got!

Hunter was so upset when I left him at childcare today - and it was his old one...he is not going to cope very well at the new one...i'm so scared...Carmen I will do your trick and cry for hours! They start 2nd FEb.

ok hes home and its certainly NOT what i was expecting... here i was thinking movie tickets or something... but noooooo he just hands me $700 She's given him the entire lot of tip money
How so very thoughtful of her!!!!

Bec, awwww poor Hunter .. L starts back on the 2nd as well!

Eliza is having a major melt down!!!
She woke up about half an hour ago and has not stopped screaming!!!

I think it's teeth!!
I just ordered a Amber necklace of ebay!!
Hopefully it gets here soon!!

OMG i'm sooo sick of these kids hurting Amelia!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi!
Carmen - nice bonus for hubby!
Photos - I wish I lived near one of you talented gals with these nice cameras! I am trying to figure out what kind of piccies I can do of Charlie while his is still tiny.

We've decided to go on holiday for a week this thursday. I know it will mean a lot of work for me, but we could really use a change of scenery. Getting cabin fever.
Hubby has been getting a bit stressed about being at home all the time. My response to this was: Your ****ing kidding aren't you son?! How do you think I feel? I told him that I'd go back to work in a heart beat but can't. I am glad he now knows what I have to do each day on my own.

How everyones monday been?

Q for you all? Has anyone any idea how to get lipstick off carpet and crayon off a painted wall? Henry has been creative under the watchful eye of his father's supervision.

Candy: window cleaner.. spray it on the carpet.... put a wet white cloth over top of it.. and then iron on that wet cloth.. it works like a steam cleaner

and umm crayon... cream clenser.. just the woolies homebrand stuff works.. and scrub! scrub! scrub!
it generally works.. even on permanent marker

lol.. yes we are regulars of this... hamish luvs drawing on everything!!

hope that helps
Glad ur getting a holiday!! Enjoy .. u deserve it!!


Carmen: wow!! that's one generous boss!! although it sounds like hubby deserves it

Katy: hope the necklace works for u.. ours seem to have

We all love you Jules You are doing a great job with Ryan.......he is perfect!!!! And your photos are beautiful!

Candy - You sure are a superwoman! Going away with a newborn and 6 other kids, just the packing would send me into a spin!! So where are you going? I hope you get what you need from the time away

Katy - Poor Eliza, I hope the necklace works, keep us posted!

Carmen - Yay on the $$$. So you guys gonna spend it on something special or just save it?

I think we have decided to take a trip away at the end of March to Victor Harbour in SA. We are going to take my mum with us so she can get away too...........and to help out of course I think we are planning on driving but stopping overnight on the way.

I am still breastfeeding Alana. She does get easily distracted, she generally is a bit on and off. One thing she does do that is driving me nuts is when she is feeding her fingers are constantly in my mouth and she is moving them around, I try to keep my mouth shut but she just doesn't give up!! She sometimes scratches the inside of my mouth and gums

Just wanted to share something Kayla said the other day that I found funny. She said "mum what's for dinner" I said "leftovers". I heated up our dinner and then gave it to her. She said "mum this is not leftovers it's Tuna" Not sure what she thinks leftovers is???

Evening everyone!

Just got back from the bbq and it was such a lovely relaxing night! The kids played so well together except the babies.. well Xander was happily playing until Harrison decided to sit on him and Xander ended up with slobber in his hair and some scratches on his face! Poor Xander didnt know what to make of it cos he's never spent time with other babies before.. well he has but he was even younger!

As for the money from hubbys boss.. no idea, probably keep it! I might hint to hubby about using some to go away when he gets days off in a row.. apparently this morning when it was just him and her, they were setting up and she was in the kitchen while he was setting tables and she said to him "here this is for you" and she handed him a wad of cash and he said he looked at her and goes "whats this" and she laughed saying "its the tip money, $700" and he shook his head and said "do the others have theirs" and she said "nope, you are the one who deserves it, i dont feel the others deserve it when they turn up late and quit and so on" and he said " i cant accept all this" and she said "yes you can" and he said "did you keep some for yourself" and she again laughed at him and said "its yours, all yours you deserve it" and that was that!!
Shes right.. he does deserve it!!

Emma, @ Kayla!!! How cute! Kids say the most funniest innocent things ever!!! Skye does the exact same thing Xander does.. hes cut my lip so many times with his tiny nails and he tries to put his finger up my nose constantly.. even when hes not feeding!!!

Candy, have a great holiday.. where are you going? I wish we could pack up and go away

Katy, I hope Eliza has settled down for you?? The friends place we went to tonight their bub is teething too, he also had a crap night last night and his shirt was soaked from dribble.. hes nearly 15mths.. he was soo miserable. In the end he was beyond it and they just put him in his cot and shut the door. He cried for a bit then went off to sleep..

anyhoo, i'm going to attempt to put Xander back to sleep and some how shut L up.. shes nagging for an icy pole

Hey everyone!

Been busy today. Photo shoot went really well (see pics on my fb page ). Got another shoot tomorrow, and 2 newborn shoots - Fri & Mon

Lisa, yeah Marley gets a bit distracted when he feeds. We have a settle down time before bed where he has a feed before bed in his room yep I have the brolly sheets - awesome invention! I love the fact that if Neve wets the bed at night I can just whip it off and whack on another. Occasionally she will wet the top sheet too, but it is easily washed also.

Carmen, ooh nice bonus! Awesome!

Gorgeous pics Jules!

Oh Candy, what a bit of a douche that DH of yours is. So where you heading for your holiday? You and Charlie should pack up and come my way

Katy, I hope Eliza settles for you soon

Belinda, I hear ya! Neve is always bugging Marley! Though Marley probably doesn't get it as bad as Amelia since she has 3 siblings getting at her.

Lol Emma! ooh the trip sounds nice!

Back again ladies.
Been online getting my Chrisco order in before the year gets away from me and the payments get bigger! I just got lots of vouchers this time and a few pressies, no food this time. After having such a massive power blackout and losing half our chrisco food I'm not going to bother next summer.

Re; the lippy stain, I was going to try the steam cleaner but was worried it would set the stain in.

Holiday, will head down the south coast to a place near Ulladulla.

ah crap baby needs boob.

Going to bed but just wanted to say...
Emma - come visit me when you go to victor - or depending on when you go I could meet you there - I have a friend at victor, it's about an hour from my new house!

That power outage must of sucked Candy! Holiday sounds nice!

I've just caught up on the last page and I had a few laughs at you guys Very amusing, random page of posts!

Emma, and LOL on the tuna leftovers! What a sweetie.

Candy, a HOLIDAY? Yeah I think you need a holiday too - just you and the two littlies DH can have his holiday at home

Carmen, $700 is AWESOME! Congrats! What are you, I mean, C going to do with it?

Tess, thanks I'm so happy with them! Well done to you too!

Katy, I hope the necklace does the trick. Teething sucks!!

Belinda, how did you learn all about stains on walls? Is that what I have to look forward to?

Becca, I'd love to take Savannahs pics! Shame about the distance

Ok, so here goes another day of me stressing about getting fluids into this little chap of mine I learnt yesterday how to make custard using formula, egg yolk, and corn flour and he loved it, so I will replace that with a bottle. Here it is:

Ingredients for 1/2 cup of custard
2 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 cup of breast or formula milk
1 egg yolk
1 or 2 drops of vanilla (optional)
about 1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

1. Measure the cornflour into a bowl. Add enough of the milk to mix it to a smooth paste, then add the rest. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat well.
2. To cook on a stove top, turn on to moderate heat and, stirring all the time, heat until you see the mixture thicken. Remove from heat to stop the custard becoming grainy and losing its smoothness.
OR to microwave, heat at Full Power for 1 minute, then remove and whisk, then continue to heat in 10 second bursts, whisking after each, until the custard thickens evenly. This will probably take 2-3 10 second bursts.

Candy - re: power outage, i would be hitting the electricity company up - they should be able to replace the contents of your fridge/freezer....crayon on walls....i would use euclyptus (sp?) oil...i use this for all marks on walls and have always had them come up with out any dramas...tea tree oil should work equally as well.

Tess - nice pics and aren't you a busy girl....i should start asking to try and get my portfolio up....

Carmen - well done on the bonus

Jules - hi

afm: this weather just sucks! yesterday it was so stinking hot the kids all went to bed with hardly any clothes on only for the temps to drop overnight. I have not been on much as i am trying to spend time with the kids, especially Seth since he is off to school next week - scary! Anyway guess i should take off....

Jules - is Ryan drinking water? Maybe it is just too hot for the milk....try a few ice cubes in a bottle? Chase is slowing down on his milk - i actually switched him over to cows milk yesterday and he seems to be taking it better.....maybe it is because it is really cold.

Veronica, he will sip at water, but he will not drink anywhere near the same quantity that he was with milk!

Morning all,

Candy, thats where you've been before isnt it? I'm sure you've said ages sgo that you went there on a holiday??? If not I hope its lovely! And yep I too would be calling the electricity company..

Jules, great work on the custard!! If its going to work and he likes it.. bonus!

Veronica, is Seth looking forward to school? K is getting a bit nervous! No idea why but she does every year lol I cannot believe this is her 5th year at school! Two more years after this and shes in HIGH SCHOOL

Tess, I had a look at your first photo shoot last night.. great work.. i utterly love the one of mum with the two boys, so natural and the very last one of bub smiling while hes asleep and the two single close up pics of the little boy!

Dontcha hate when your're waiting for something in mail and it just seems to take forever to get here!! .... waiting waiting waiting..

Morning all!

Jules, great recipe find! If I knew I could express enough milk I'd give it a go!

Carmen, yep it's so annoying!

Candy, yeah can you hit the elec company up with the food bill??

Veronica, wow big school hey! He must be so excited!

Thanks for the comments on my photos, I'm rather happy with them

Marley loves his water! He is always picking up his thomas the tank sippy cup and gulping down the water!

Better get off my ass and get organised. House needs a bit of a clean and kids & I need to get dressed!

Have a great day everyone!

Carmen, what are you waiting for in the mail? I am waiting for you on MSN

Tess, you can also use cows milk

Just spotted another tooth on it's way in Ryans mouth... maybe this is why he's being such a turd. He never fussed this much with the last one

ummmm Diamond... you dont wanna know

Something naughty hey Carmen

Didn't even think of that Jules! Ooh another tooth

Carmen, is it a whip? Saucy b**ch!

Tess, this emoticon " " sooooo does NOT apply to this tooth. This one is way more appropriate, followed up with a dash of

LOL nooooo nothing naughty or saucy lol

Gee Carmen with all the loving happening in your house I am surprised it isn't something naughty!!

Oh and by the way Carmen my bub is Alana not Skye

Bec - PM me your details we will definately have to organise to meet

Morning all

I had to go to centrelink this morning to put in a form! Sat there for half an hour but good news is I'm getting back pay of about $800 Yay!!!

Leah's DS still isn't back

But she is off to MIL's tomorrow so she shouldn't need it!!!

A Quiet day here playing PS2 with Leah!!!

Skye and Sienna drink heaps of water too. Skye drinks/skulls from her straw cup, Sienna skulls from a massive sports bottle. One of the things we are not happy about with their family day carer is that we don't think she let's them drink enough Sienna is always thirsty when she gets picked up and there is too much water left in Skye's cup. I know when they are home with me they drink heaps more. I wish the agency would find us a new carer soon!

I am struggling to decide whether to have another bub now.... I feel like there is the spirit of our next family member hanging around me waiting to be conceived (LOL - I know that sounds super weird) and have been terribly clucky. When I realised it is fairly soon that I will be preparing to chart/conceive I started to get cold feet. There is a big difference in going from 1 to 2 kids.... is there as much difference going from 2 to 3? Is it a major amount more work? Or are you used to juggling things so it's not as big a deal?

I'm not even sure that the extra work load is what I'm worried about. The extra money it will soak up maybe? Will I be able to afford to give Sienna and Skye the things I want them to have (after school activieties like swimming lessons, music and to be able to go on holidays sometimes)? Then again... I see "quality of life" as being my family and time we spend together, not the THINGS we can do with money. It does help tho. OPINONS PLEASE.... positive or negative.... I really need to make a decision soon. An INFORMED decision (and you girls are the "clueyest" mummy's I know! I really would appreciate your absolute honesty.

I keep trying to tell myself that I will never regret HAVING another but I may always regret NOT having another. Doesn't make me feel better tho because I would just justify that guilt by telling myself all the reasons I made the decision were for the sake of the girls.... grrrrr sorry this is so long. I have been really stressing over this and getting headaches.

Lisa, all I have to say is yep, you only regret the children you don't have. I'd say go for it! I was brought up where I didn't have the newest of everything etc, and while my parents could afford us, they weren't exactly well off IYGWIM. DH & I are of the opinion that we will always find a way to support our family. You do, but don't need money to have kids. Do what makes you happy, and if that is going for #3 then go for it! I haven't got the experience myself, but I have heard going from 2-3 is an easy transition.

Oh Katy, I love backpay

DH has just gone to get me a new lens Just in time for friday

Right, better get off the net and into these photos I took today

I see you down there Tracy How are Lucas & Sienna doing?

Lisa, I am not going to be good with advice as I am pretty sure at this point I'm just having Ryan.... All I can say is that you need to follow your heart and do what you think is the right thing. You can't ask any more of yourself than that.

POP TOP BOTTLES! Ryan is loving them! WOO-BLOODY-HOO! I just squirt the water in and he swallows with a big smile. Ryan, a message for you my dear: you're only 10 months old. It's ok to be a baby and drink from bottles and sippy cups. Truly, it's ok. You don't need to be a big boy

He has been drinking from my bottle but I have just went out and bought a 6 pack of those mini pop top bottles (will give them to DH to drink so I can have the bottle!).