new thread time ladies

http://www.essentialbaby.com.au/forums/ind...howtopic=774817

Oooohhhh, I don't know if I'll get Gold or Silver, I see Jess is also reading..

Slack, Slack poster here!!!

Sorry so many of you are having a hard time at the moment, you'll doing a great job. Summer is also very fussy and grizzly at the moment, must be the age.

Day sleeps: She usually has 2 x 1.5 hours and 1 x 40 minutes, so it's okay. But if we are out she'll only catnap in her pram, so she has an early night then.

Work: Kylie, I also like working, but it is really hard, particularly full-time, ideally I'd like to work 4-5 days a week but only 3-4 hours each day, that would be perfect.

Oh, the LO is stirring, hopefully BBL.
Jacinta

Ok I think Im Silver!

Just popping in gotta get Jake organised for school then me and Luc are off to the shop with mum to find a nice outfit for saturday

Jayne - Poor Poor little Amy, for the little princess. Shes having a rough trott. Have you got a humidifier?? it helps the coughing fits at night.

GOLD for me.

well, guess who slept till 5:30am? i dont care about the early wakeup, just glad she went down without a fight and slept through. i got a bonus, cos i put her back down after 5:30am feed and she slept till 8:30am.

my punishment for being so lucky was having a suprise poo when i picked emily up at 8:30am. she hasnt done a morning poo like that for months, and of course, it had gone all over her grobag and all over my arm when i picked her up.

she is being a touch painful now, and would you believe i am sitting on the kitchen floor with my laptop on top of a box of washing powder? about the only thing that stops her whinging at the moment is being in the jolly jumper, and the only doorframe with an architrave is the one between the kitchen and the laundry. she is so cute though, she gets SO SO excited in the jolly jumper, and it keeps her amused for AGES. she was in it for over an hour the other day, and only pulled her out cos i saw her yawning, and needed her to nap so it didnt stuff up my night routine.

OMG she has been doing the cutest thing the last few days. i put her down under her playgym, and in no time at all she has rolled herself over, but she has now taken to licking her toys, which are at the perfect height when she is on her tummy. it is so hilarious watching her, she is just like a dog, just licking them. so funny.

ETA: ah bother, i wasnt quick enough!

Just took E to a tiny tots storytime at the library, they do nursery rhymes and singalongs and all the mums do the gestures and get really over the top excited about it. Was weird, but I got into it quickly and soon I was doing the OTT stuff too . The kids had an absolute ball! E had his eyes wide the whole time just watching and listening to everyone, might make it a regular thing from now on.

I had to get petrol on the way back and stopped especially at Shell/Coles Express because they have Mrs Macs pies (diet's going really well, thanks for asking ) and they no longer sell Mrs Macs they've got some poxy homebrand style. I still bought one of course, willpower is my middle name didn't you know, but it was so unsatisfying.

Am currently enjoying 10mins non-Evan time, he fell asleep in the car so I've left him in the loungeroom in the car seat...ahhhh personal space and peace at the same time, heavenly. Have mum's group in an hour, looking forward to it.

Jess - I guess it must be about time to pull the jolly jumper out of storage...man time is going so fast! It seems like my other two were so much older when they started using one but it's actually not.

Jacinta - I have worked both full time and part time (2 days a week job share) and I found it better working full time , even when pregnant! I guess I thrive on routine and didn't really enjoy sharing responsibility with someone else. It depends on personality and kind of job I guess.

Kylie - Have bookmarked your recipes and will be testing some out - thanks for sharing! I love my slow cooker - made beef and guiness pie filling in it yesterday. Delicious.

Mandy - Let us know how your curries go! I also do a very yummy butter chicken in the slow cooker. It's not the same as my local Indian restaurant but every bit as scrumptious. Enjoy the meet tomorrow. I'll be dong craft at playgroup so can't make it.

Chantal - My 3 year old (almost 4) was the most placid 2 year old and changed as soon as she hit 3.5. We're still dealing with the tantys *sigh*

Leish - Have fun shopping for Saturday

Day sleeps - If Owen sleeps for an hour or more I am a happy mumma Rarely happens though. He usually has 2 X 40 mins and a nap each day. He isn't a big day sleeper but is a trooper at night.

I just couldn't be bothered downloading then uploading the baptism pics. How lazy of me. I'll got to it one day. I am dragging my feet today - I don't want to do anything around here. I could be making beds, baking a cake and folding washing but nope - don't want to, lol.

Hi, just checking into the new thread - just back from Mums group, G is sleeping so just waiting for her to wake then we are going up to teh shops.... weekly food shop day blurghhhhh - but gonna buy some stuff for a curry so im excited about making my first curry!

Miles was running round the park holding one of the little girls hands he just adores her.. she got fed up of him after a while and squealed at him - he look so upset i was almost in tear for him as was her mum too... they are usualy so close those 2... then on the way home her mum called me to say that she had said she had a lovely tiem wiht Miles and cant wait to see him again kids hey!

Does anyone find it funny when their little ones roll on thier tumym and get stuck there - its so mean i know but Greta gets so p*ssed off and itslike she is saying "get your butt over here woman and put me on my back NOW" it just cracks me up how frustrated she gets - half the time she can get herself back but the rest of the time she gets stuck and screams at me to help her - i love her scream its so high i swear all the neighbourhood dogs can hear it too - Miles never did that squeal sound and i just love it - ok anyway im mean i know..

Sorry you cant make it on Friday Rach, see you next time.

jess: i am in possesion of your Shape sorter - i'll bring it tomorrow.

Tried G with some sweet potato and zucchini today ,seemed to love it. Is anywone offerine water yet -.. im only really giving Greta a table spoon of food 3 or 4 times a week so im not giving water yet - think in 10 days or so when seh turns 6 months i will start to feed her every day.. im jus taware that she is only 5.5 months sitll and dont want to rush her, if it were left ot me id have left her till she was 6 months but she was so keen to eat so i didt want to hold her back when she was ready...anyway.. just wondered what others were doing.

ok gonna go cos im sat out ont he deck with Miles and its so sunny i cant really see the screen so sorry if my typing is hard to read - thank goodness for touch typing but i make so many mistakes its shocking ...perhaps i do need to glance at the screen every now and agian

Ok best go cant really see and its hurting my eyes

kylie: quick question, the chicken curry, do you think it would be ok to leave out all the nut ingredients?? or would it just taste wrong? Its just that DH has a nut allergy so cant have nuts anywhere near him.. dont wannt kill him, he's not too bad a guy really what do you think?

Just wanted to give an update about H's paediatrician visit for his head....
It was good news

He is happy to let him go for another 3 months and will recheck him then!!He said his fontanelle is still the tiniest bit open which is a good thing!
He said he is a very healthy & happy little boy and told me i was doing a great job

I have to go back to the hip Dysplasia clinic next month but he is thinking that his hips will be fine
So I am feeling soooo very relieved right now

Sydney meet tomorrow,are we meeting at the playground or the cafe? And it's 10am??

Rach and Jayne-Hope your poor little princesses are feeling better

Ok I'm going to have a coffee and a sit down

Mandy which spices are nut ones? My brain is so not working right now! Cumin, coriander and tumeric are usually the most needed ones for the flavour, but I'm thinking anything else like nutmeg would be fine to omit. Let me know which ones you're thinking of excluding and I'll give you my expert opinion . With the water, I've been offering E water 3 times a day since he was about 2 weeks old - the S26 formula he was initially on bloated and constipated him so I started offering water and I've just kept doing it, particularly as he was born during the warmer months. 80% of the time he sucks, realises it's not milk then pushes it away. On hot days he'll drink quite a bit, but majority of the time when he actually takes the water he'll have 3 or 4 sucks and then pushes it away, seems to be enough for him. He has water in a sippy cup, I've got one of those Heinz cups where the baby can regulate the flow by how hard they suck, seems to be really good.

Jo awesome news lovely!

Bah, E's due for a feed. Back after he goes to bed!

Hey girls...

soooo tired, Luc has perfected rolling from back to tummy and now as soon as I put him on the floor within a minute his on his belly. His ok for a lil while until he gets bored then he cracks it! But he does it in bed too, last 2 nights have been shocking he stirs in his sleep and ends up rolling over and waking himself up. Bohhhhh and the duromine is keeping me awake, well I can sleep I just find myself waking every couple hours or so. Today I feel like a zombie my head feels fuzzy and my eyes are really heavy and I keep losing my concentration, like one minute ill be doing something then the next im staring into space

Shopping was blahh I hate shopping. Im over it after about 30mins LOL but I got an outfit.... black skinny jeans and a really nice top, but im thinking it maybe too much cause of the pattern they say to wear solid colour as to not draw attention away from my face! I also bought another dress couldnt help it was only $20 hahaha cant pass up a bargain like that!

Gotta pick Jake up soon, god I hate school drop off and pick up already! bohhhh

anyway hope your all having a nice day xx

Koiles its some of the things on the Joshis chicken curry:
1 T ground almonds
1/2 Cup shredded coconut
1/4 t nutmeg
its quite a lot and im thinking the coconut would flavour quite a lot.... i got all the ingredients for the spicy daal so im gonna give that a go tomorrow for dinner but i was thinking of making the joshis one too... then i noticed the nut ingredients.. bloody dh i really liked the look of that one i might try a little version without those nut ingredients and see how it goes...
i'll let you know how i go with it. i dont have a slow cooker so will be making it in a pot on the stove.

Jo: excellent news! so happy for you.... 10am tomorrow at the cafe.

Leish: Greta does that all day long, the rolling on the tummy, half the time she can get back and half the time she cant and gets so frustrated - so cute They do say plain clothes, only cos i remember when Miles won some compitition thing that i entered him into to shut everyone up going on about i should enter him in a cute baby thing and went OMG ok and did it and he won anyway that was the only time ive had anything to do wiht prfessional pics really - oh except the newborn ones i got of Greta but she was naked then.. and they do say to wear plain but jsut go with what you have i guess and if they do like it then im sure they will tell you or perhaps they have a wardrobe section there?

Ok got to dash, Miles had a chocolate bunny and its all over him

Mandy I never use the almonds (too expensive!) and I only use nutmeg if we've got it...TBH it's not a strong coconut flavour so I think it'd be fine without! Let me know what you think of it!

Kristy yuuumm that pie sounds mighty nice! Can you share your butter chicken recipe when you get time? I'm yet to find one I really love, I'm too picky...I like a tomatoey butter chicken rather than a buttery butter chicken iykwim.

Jess that's so cute Emily licking her toys...E sucks on his toes, it used to just be on the changetable or playmat but today he started doing it in his pram at the shops...walking around pushing a baby with its legs up round its ears and its foot in its mouth is a tad embarrassing lol. And it's not just the toes...he's trying to get the whole foot in there . Oh well, he's flexible I'll give him that!

This is what I have to deal with changing him now...and he rolls on his side and does it too:


And imagine walking past and seeing a kid doing that in the pram...so many stifled giggles today! lol

Leish sorry Lucas is being too clever for his own good...now he just needs to perfect rolling back without having to wake mummy! That's not good that the Duromine is keeping you awake...are you taking it early enough in the day for it to wear off by bedtime? I'm sure you'll look FAB for Saturday!

Chantal I've got hayfever and it's driving me nuts. My eyes are so itchy and my sinuses are blocked which means my face hurts. I'm not normally prone to it but our next door neighbours were doing a big cleanup of their backyard yesterday so I think a lot of their grass and tree clippings and what not has just blown across our way. So annoying! I don't know how E survives some days either - but he sleeps at night, so with Kydin not doing much overnight I really have NO idea how they manage. Sometimes I think they're just such stubborn little things, E is really in a stage now where he's just so nosy and doesn't want to go to sleep and risk missing out on anything. It's just a stage though...hopefully for both our sakes a very quick one!

Jacinta hi lovely. If all goes according to plan I'll be working full time but doing 2 days from home - and on my home days all I'll be required to do is check my email and keep my mobile on, so I can handle that. So E will be in daycare 3 full days and home with me 4 days. I'm so ready to have a break from him, plus he has SUCH a short attention span just like his father (uh-oh) so I think the stimulation of daycare and other kids will be really good for him.

AFM E rolled at mums group and I got it on video woo-hoo!!!! He was lying there and pretty much all the other babies have been rolling for a while now, so he was sitting there looking at them, then must have felt left out so he did it himself. He looked so proud of himself, just needed a little bit of help from me to untuck one arm once he was on his tummy. He's rolled once for my mum and once in bed with me while I was asleep, I woke to find him on his tummy, but it's the first time I witnessed it. He did it a couple more times after that so I'm quite proud of him today!

vfrainbows

This is the stuff they gave me at the hospital:
http://www.dermaveen.com.au/cleansing/derm...bath-treatment/

Basically we were bathing her in that, then pat dry, apply ointment (cortisone) on red and broken areas and wrap in wet cloth (I use muslin) making sure it covers all of her skin. NO NAPPY
Then wrap her in plastic over the wet cloth and then a warm rug. Hold her for 20 mins for the wetness to sit on her skin and help the ointment sink in.

Then apply a really thick moisturiser all over her including in her hair (she has dry scalp and cradle cap) = I'm using parrafin but you said that's not working for William so maybe something with colloidial oatmeal would be better? Dermaveen make about 4 eczema ointments. I saw them all in the chemist the other day.

Bath Time gotta go!

xxx
Carly

Okay, I've felt guilty all day!! I claimed gold in this thread and I am the slackest poster of all, so I have to do a long post now...

Okay, here's my attempt at personals:

Kylie: 2 days at working from home will be nice, particularly if you don't have to work much... I think working will be good for you, I'm sure you'll be more excited to see E after being away from him. Your receipes sound yummy, bummer that I can't cook, shouldn't say can't, I'm just way tooo lazy.. Such cute photos of E, Summer is the same, changing her is a nightmare, it's like wrestling. I'm getting a little worried, her change mat is on top of a chest of drawers, I keep imaging her falling off onto the wood floors.

Freyja: yeah I agree with you, I wouldn't be any good at job sharing, I'm way too much of a perfectionist, it's gotta be done my way.. So, I've just got to find a job where I can work part-time and no job sharing. My DH is starting his own company now, so my plan is to work for him in about 4 months time, then I can work just 3-4 hours a day, 4-5 days a week, that's the plan, we'll see if it eventuates.

Leish: Congrats on the modelling work, very exciting.. Hope your Mum doesn't go back with her ex..

Carly: sounds like things have been a little rough for poor Grace, hopefully she's on the mend now. I live in Singapore which is hot and humid all year round. I used to freak out about the temperature, I bought a Grobag egg temperature thingy and it changes colour with the temperature, ie. blue is too cold, red is too hot etc.. But I was so disappointed it's always red. It doesn't matter what I've got the aircon set to, it's always above 24 degrees, even though the aircon is set to 18 or 20. So, I've given up.. Summer sleeps with the aircon set to 27, and it's comfortable, any cooler then it's too cold. She sleeps with a 0.5 tog Grobag and a long sleeve, no legs suit, otherwise her arms are really cold.

Rach: sorry to hear about your DD, poor thing. I used to get UTI's all the time, soooo annoying, I can't imagine how a little one puts up with it.... I used to drink lots of cranberry juice and water..

Jess: Sorry for stealing your gold this morning, I've felt guilty about it all day :-) Congrats on Emily's sleep, and sooo cute about her licking..

Chantal: Hope you feel better soon...

Jayne: Hope your LO feels better soon.

Jo: congrats on the good news.

AFM: Summer is going through the grizzly, wriggly stage, but she is sooo cute. She's doing the funniest things at the moment, she sucks her lips in and then blows out, it sounds like she's blowing kisses. As I was leaving for work this morning, I said "bye bye Summer" and she blew me a kiss, awwwwww... at least I'd like to think she did. I'm looking around for high chairs at the moment, there seems to be a lot of crappy ones out there, does anyone have a high chair that they love, and why? what's the important things I need to look for, my BF said it should have 2 trays, so I can take off the dirty tray, anyone else got any suggestions?

My weight loss is going nowhere, so I'm going to get a Personal trainer, doing some research now, hopefully will start in a few weeks. My chocolate intake is out of control, easter eggs just taste yummier than normal chocolate...

Anyway thats it for now..

Jacinta

Super quick as I think the playmat is about to lose its appeal.

I am such a fool! Remind me to never again ignore my instincts. Have been taking W's temperature with our infant temporal thermometer and was surprised when it was saying 36.5 but he felt scorching to the touch. Literally, the back of his head felt like it was on fire. So this morning, 18 hrs after I first thought he was hot, I remembered that when he went to hospital last, they took his temperature under his arm.

40.5C

No wonder the poor little guy slept so much yesterday and screams when he is awake. Fortunately, I'd just managed to get some Calpol (paracetamol) into him and sure enough, over half an hour his temp gradually fell to 39 and hopefully has fallen further. He has stopped screaming.. is playing quite happily on his mat, rolling over to get the jingle bells and lifting up the leaf to look at the weird bug.

AND SMILING AT ME


Stupid darn crappy thermometer. I should have trusted my instincts. Even the NHS Direct nurse said if he feels hot, he's probably hot!


Oops.. he can turn front to back and back to front equally so has now rolled right off the play mat. Better go be a mum

just quickly cos i am about to go to bed...

jacinta dont feel too bad about stealing gold from me i shouldnt have taken too long. haha.

kylie your photos had me in hysterics. not cos its funny that evan is trying to shove whole feet into his mouth but the square box that has "rudie bits" i just found it funny, the wording not the covering of his bits. just a quick question, do you cook meat before putting it into your slow cooker? i know i will just have to trial mine, and see what works, but seems a bit stupid to have to cook meat BEFORE leaving it to cook all day.

had another successful put down tonight, though i have a bad feeling emily will wake in the middle of the night. she didnt have a nap inbetween her last 2 feeds (she will usually have a 15-20 min nap about 1/2 hour before her last feed) but she just didnt seem to be tired tonight, so DH was playing the guitar for her and singing to her. very cute. looks like emily already loves music.

guess we will see what happens. after my crappy 2 weeks i am expecting the worst, hahaha.

Koiles: the 'rudey nudey'box cracked me up hope he grows out of the habit - my mum still sucked her toes at age 3... not a good look !
trying my curry later today, cant wait.

BBL.

Hey girls

Kylie - Those photos are sooo cute! love em

quiet in here today so far isnt it......

Well its DP day off but his been called in to help his sister move bohhhh so he'll be gone most the day cause she's moving from down south back up to here! like 1.5hours away.

Its been 1 year since we lost my BIL, had a little cry this morning thinking about the good times with him he was so beautiful. Most loving young man had a heart of gold and was the greatest uncle. Such a loss, I still dont get why god could take him from us, I dont understand.......

anyway must soldior on, Im gonna go exchange my top for a plain one today. Should be interesting with the boys on my own. Well Luc is ok, Jake is the bratt that runs amuck! Then gotta come home and wash my hair and put some treatment in it.

Kylie - I will be trying your chicken saag next week - all I need is to buy the bay leaves first This butter chicken isn't too buttery so maybe it's one you'll like:

Slow Cooked Butter Chicken

2 tbs tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp chilli powder
500g chicken, diced in large pieces
2 tbs butter or margarine
½ cup cream
400g tin diced tomatoes
1 tbs sugar
1 tsp ginger
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground paprika
1 tbs ground cinnamon
2 tsp garam masala
1 tbs ground cardamom

Heat oil and brown chicken in a pan. Transfer to pre-heated slow cooker.
Add onion and garlic to pan. Fry.
Add butter and spices and fry until fragrant.
Add tomato paste, tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper and increase heat. Simmer for a few minutes until thickened.
Add cream and stir.
Remove from heat and pour into slow cooker.
Cook for 1 hour on high, then 3-5 hours on low. Stir occasionally.
Before serving add cream or yoghurt to taste.
Garnish with fresh coriander and flaked almonds.

Jacinta - That job arrangement sounds great - hope it works out for you!

Jess - RE: slow cooker - I cook the meat for some recipes and then just throw it in for others. It depends. I do a super easy apricot chicken which you just throw the raw chicken legs in with everything else. That's my most mum-friendly recipe, lol.

vfrainbows Those thermometers are useless. That's all we have as well.

I have a 3 year old pestering me for lollies...better go and deal with it.

KYLIEEEEEE

How on earth do I get Grace into my ring sling!!

She used to go in fine when she was little and now it feels like trying to stuff a marshmellow into a keyhole lol!

Evan looked so comfy in his... HEEELLLLPPPP!!!

OMG my house smells amazing - yummmmmm curry, i added the chillies then leant right over with eyes wide to smell and OMG im in so much pain with my eyes - how dumb am i

Im gonna try that butter chicken too - i have had several butter chickens and never liked them, on i had at a freinds birthday party about 5 years ago and OMG it was devine - its the only one ive ever liked...cant wait till dinner time now

Does anyone have sticky notes on their computer?? they are such a great idea, i always have to open word to type something, not i just open sticky notes they are fantastic... so i have them stuck all over my desktop with these recipies on

Didnt realise we had a new thread! Ooops!

Amy is doing better today after having some steroids yesterday and today, so should be over the croup soon. But the little pumpkin slipped off her chair this morning and put her teeth into her bottom lip so is now sporting a fat lip! She hasnt had a good week!!

Not much else going on here. Trying to get sewing done, but with Amy being so clingy its been tough! Phoebe did a mammoth sleep this morning, and i so couldve done heaps, but Amy wouldnt let me do anything other than sit with her and read her books!

K better go. Sorry for no personals! Love to all! xoxoxoxoox

I feel like a complete idiot!

Ive been googling the agency that accepted me..... as far as I can see they are a scam! how gullable am I..... Ive paid them $198 too, FFS doubt ill get that back! supposebly legit agencies dont charge up front fees, im an idiot i should of researched before I gave them money. oh well, ive cancelled with them now. Knew it was too good to be true. Me a model pfft!! keep dreaming Leish

Oh Leish that's horrible!
Are you definitely sure they're a scam?
There must be a way to get your money back - report them to the police maybe? If you have proof that is.

DO you have a receipt showing that you gave money to them??

C
x

I was wondering that too Leish - i really hope there is a way to get your money back!!!

I dunno Carly LOL its really hard to tell...... ive searched as much as I can and there is mixed opinion but the bad outweigh the good! so I went with my gut and just decided to cancel. The agency was Blackbox Management, dunno if you've heard anything or if anyone else on the forum have heard anything about them. But supposedly they do your profile and all that charge you $200 to start up the $8.80 a month for the web page. and the dont get you any work! I was getting a bit iffy because they wanted me to bring my bank details to give to them tomorrow at the photo shoot....... I just really dunno what to do! if they dont give me my money back maybe ill just proceed with it and hope for the best LOL

Just had my first ever home made curry and OMG it was sooooo good, DH loved it I'm so full now though!

Leish: oh bugga! I'd probably just give it a go for a month, you've paid them anyway, what's another $8 - then cancel it.. Sounds a bit off if you have to pay them though

leish that sucks big time about the agency having dodgy reviews. hopefully it works out though. if you do end up going through with it cos they wont refund your $200 do NOT give them your bank details. if they keep hassling you, either offer to pay them cash upfront, or set up a new bank account that only has enough money to pay their fees for whenever they are due. hope it works out, and you can get your money back.

jaynie i think you mentioned the other day that your boobs were full to bursting point and soaked all over a towel? i read somewhere that if you put pressure on the non feeding breast then it stops most of the milk leaking and and getting wasted. i do this all the time now (and yes it looks a little odd when public feeding) but it does work. poor amy, she has had a terrible time this week.

kristy oooh. will definately be trying that butter chicken recipe. i still havent used my slow cooker yet, and will be monday before i do!

AFM
had a lovely morning with the sydney ladies (thanks guys) and emily slept through till 6:45am. wooo. she has been a bit grumpy tonight, but i am almost 100% certain its cos i am a terrible mother and almost cut her finger off when cutting her nails. ok, so it wasnt that bad, and i just sliced the skin but it was pretty far in and i think it did go pretty deep. she was feeding when i did it, and pulled off and SCREAMED for 5 mins. i felt so terrible i was bawling too.

so she is napping now, hopefully that doesnt stuff her up tonight.

i am preparing for a sucky weekend. DH is working tomorrow till lunchtime, then we have our bowling presentation dinner (my parents are coming over to our place to look after emily so her routine doesnt get messed up too much) then DH is going straight back to work from the dinner and working midnight till midday, then sunday night we have bowling. so i have to spend another weekend all on my own. i havent had a break longer than 2 hours from emily in weeks.

anyways best go get ready for emilys bedtime.

Jacinta that is sooooo cute that Summer blows you kisses . I’ve been trying to teach E that right from the start by doing the pronounced fish lips and a loud MWAH sound whenever I kiss him...now when I start going MMM he’ll smile because he knows a kiss is coming, but that’s it! Must be so nice to see her do that when you get home from work! Good luck with the personal trainer, I would LOVE to have one!

Em bugger about the thermometer grr. Glad his temp is coming down quickly though now that you’re onto it.

Jess lol I had to cover it up...the penis is just such an unattractive part of the anatomy . I personally don’t cook any meat before putting it into the slow cooker, but my MIL does. I’m like you, to me if you have to cook something first what’s the point of the slow cooker. The only thing is if you don’t seal it first with flour and cook it, it will break apart more easily in the cooker, so if you’re having a chunky stew it may just flake apart...so if you know you’ll be out of the house for a while and it’ll be on for a long time you might want to seal it first so it stays together more...if that made sense? Hope it did! For most of my cooking I’ll turn it on at lunch time and we eat around 6-7pm, the meat stays together but is nice and tender. For a roast or something like that I’ll generally put it on about 9am.

Leish sorry it was such an emotional day for you today and your DP wasn’t around to be with you. Are you sure it was a scam? A friend’s daughter works for one of the largest modelling agencies in Melbourne and she had to pay upfront for her first photoshoot so she could get images in her folio – can’t go to a casting with no pics! All up for hair, makeup, photographer, printed images and casting cards was several hundred dollars upfront. She made it back pretty quick though through work. I second what someone else said - why lose all your money now, go ahead with it, give it a month and then if nothing comes of it just cancel then...you've already paid now anyway.

Kristy mmmm I’m liking the butter chicken already! I’ll be making it on Sunday for dinner, thanks for sharing!

Carly it will seem odd, like she’s not meant to fit, but she’ll most likely find it so nice and comfy being so snug, E loves it. I put the sling on, hold E so he’s facing to the side, pull the sling up over his butt, so that his bum is kind of in the middle of the hammock bit, tuck his head in, then slide his legs in last. That sounds really confusing. Would it help if I took a video of me putting E in tomorrow? E’s head ends up being at one end and his legs kind of tuck around just under my other armpit now, or sometimes he prefers them all squished up. If he's really sleep he also likes lying on his side with his body flat up against mine. Another way I do, especially if we’re going to be walking around is if you’re standing facing straight ahead, I have him sitting up with his head and body facing to one side. Again, confusing. Hang on. Ok found a pic I took of my Mum carrying E in the sling:

See how he's kind of sitting up? He'll still sleep that way. Actually if you youtube ring sling how to you should be able to get a good idea – I always get the bum in first where I want it, then the head, then the legs.

Mandy haha I did the same thing with the chillies only mine was my nose...I had E in the sling and wondered why he was coughing, then I lent reached over to get something and got closer to the chilles and it took my breath away...poor E! Which one did you make tonight? So glad you enjoyed it...it’s always a bit unnerving when you share a recipe you love and tell everyone how good it is and then they make it and go ugh haha.

Jayne omg Amy just can’t take a trick at the moment the poor thing! I hope she gets better soon so you can get some personal space back.

AFM I went to the GP this afternoon and I do have PND. He was just so fantastic, I went to see Evan’s GP rather than my own and I can’t tell you how great it was that the paed had given him the heads up. He already knew why I was there, there was no awkward ‘so tell me why you’re here today’, it was great. I bawled, he was very supportive. I told him everything. Half way through he had this wry look on his face and told me what a fantastic faker I was, he didn’t have a clue the whole time I’d been seeing him for E. I think going to see him was good because he already knows what a challenge E has been, so he knew my background. He said it was just the cumulative effect of the pregnancy, the birth, E’s challenges and lack of family/friend support close by...also the fact that I had unresolved issues over what happened with my dog – fear of being in the house on my own, not being able to shake the fact that someone was in my backyard, in my territory with a weapon, etc. I never fully resolved that so it’s all just contributed to one big mess now. I guess when you look at it like that it was bound to happen sooner or later. He’s given me the number for a psychologist who runs a support group/group therapy thing locally, so I’ve got to give her a call on Monday. I’ve also got to have weekly appts with the GP just to track how I’m going. He’ll give me a couple of group sessions to see how that helps and then if it’s slow or no progress with how I’m feeling we’ll start the anti-depressants.

Must say I felt better actually having someone acknowledge that something was wrong with me. I’ve been in denial for so long and then I was terrified that I feel so low and I’d go in there and he’d turn around and tell me it was perfectly normal to feel this way. So to have him say to me ‘no what you’re feeling definitely isn’t normal’ was a relief. Also after E was born all my blood pressure issues went right back to normal pre-pregnancy levels...but over the last 3 weeks they’ve all come back, pounding headaches, dizzy, bloodshot eyeballs – I had my BP taken at the gym this week and it was back up to 135/85...still not too high but inching upwards again – all stress related. I researched the consequences of high BP heavily while I was preg and it’s so not good...I need to reduce the stress otherwise my body will pay for it.

The one thing that really got me crying was when he was talking me through the group sessions and he said that a portion of the fees would be covered under the Medicare mental health plan...as soon as he said mental health it just really hit me and I bawled. I guess it’s just that social stigma that goes along with ‘mental illness’...I’m now a mental patient...ok I’m crying again now, still is so hard to hear...but hey that’s what depression is.

Kylie - and more Sorry to hear it has now been diagnosed as PND, but i am so so pleased that you have seen someone and the ball is rolling to get some help. It is a great feeling once you know you have taken the first step isnt it? And so awesome that your Dr was great, that makes a big difference!! You are doing the best thing for yourself and your family and i'm sure things will start looking brighter very soon. Remember we are all here for you anytime at all sweetie! xoxo

Sorry cant stay! Phoebe is being a bumhead and wont go to sleep easily tonight. Wonder if her mammoth nap had anything to do with that when i was so sure it wouldnt??!

Hey ladies,

Mandy - mmmm curry wish I could have curry but DP nor Jake like it

Jess - Poor lil emily. Im suprised I havent cut Lucas while cutting his nails he wriggles so much! do you use the baby nail cutters?? Sucks about your lonely weekend, but thats my weekend most weekends lol

Kylie - Nawww chickadee glad your GP is being supportive and your getting some help. Just remember lots of woman go through PND its not something you need to be ashamed of chicken we love you xx

Chantal - Hope you got some sleep lastnight, My DP sleeps in Jakes bad all the time LOL its easier to do that than drag Jake from our bed some nights.


Ive decided to go through with the modeling/acting agency, Ill give it a go see where it takes me! Now Ive gotta rebook my photo shoot..... garrr oh well least Ill have more time to prepare now and hopefully have time to get my hair coloured before! Ive also done up a profile on starnow

Profile

Need to get myself out there, hopefully something comes up.... Im not looking to be famous just want to have some fun and make some extra $$ to play with!

We got Jake sleeping in his own bed lastnight! we made up the sleep time fairy....... when I got up to feed Luc at 4am I slipped a few Transformers stickers under his pillow hehe so when he woke up at 7am he was all excited and came running in saying "Look Look the tooth fairy came" hahahah

Got to go SCREAMING BABY AND JAKE WHINGING CAUSE HIS HUNGRY!!!! GARRRRRR

Koiles: I made the Joshis chicken curry, and the daal... So yummy.. I'm gonna make a big it of it and freeze it ... I'll try the 3rd one you gave me too.. I'm amazed that it tasted so good... I mean not your recipe but th that I cooked it so well
So glad the Dr's appointment went well, good luck with the sessions and everything... That dog attack sounded so scary that'd stress the he'll outta me.

Chantal: oh I couldn't agree more, I'd put my kids in day care every day of the week over MIL watching them... They'd forget to feed him junk and bottle feed Greta to sleep and take them out and I don't trust her out with them.... At day care you know they never leave the centre.

Ok best get on, meeting Mil and her DH for lunch

Hi girls

I've been slack, the times I do get on the computer I really only have time for FB. lol.

Ring sling- I have joel sitting on my hip, and the sling taking all his weight. and the the sling pulled up high on his back and it pulled tight so I don't need to stablise him with my hand/arm. HTH.

I've only skimmed through sorry, will try and catch up

So quiet in here ...

Tumbleweeds indeed...hope everyone's enjoying their weekend! Big hugs to Carly and Jayne for spending theirs at the hospital .

Kristy I made your butter chicken recipe for dinner...mmmmmm. DH actually licked his bowl clean when I told him I'd put the rest away for tomorrow nights dinner haha. I ended up adding more tomato paste and a tad more cream - next time I'll use 1/2 t of chilli powder, it was just slightly hotter than what I like, but it was delicious! Actually DH is now in the kitchen using a spoon to scrape out the rest of the slow cooker...it's a hit obviously!

Mandy the ticker is fantastic!

Hmmmm meant to be doing my race car experience today, woken up with some kinda tummy bug, feel crapy..

Bbl

Mandy your ticker is hilarious! Sorry you're feeling sick....I hope it passes in time for your joyride!

Mandy ~ Argh i hope you feel better! Hubby has a race car experience coming up

Cant stay long, Micah has been teething something shocking for the past week but its gotten rather bad the past couple of days. He is Biting EVERYTHING....and by Everything i mean EVERYTHING...including mummy when im trying to feed him :S OUCH
He has also had a slight fever a couple of times including this morning and just isnt himself. I gave him his first Rusk yesterday and he loved it.

We have swimming this morning then have to take Rylie to Kinder, hopefully Micah is feeling better after his nap poor baby, i hate to drag him around from place to place when he isnt 100%

Morning all

Mandy hope you feel well enough to do your car ride, have a blast!

Jess miinii E is the same but his teeth just will not come through. He has had such a rough trot with teething, they started at 8 weeks and it's still going, he'll get a few days break then it all starts again. If he has this much trouble with teeth I shudder to think what he'll be like when he actually gets sick...definite man-flu type I think E will be. Hope Micah stops biting mummy!

AFM off to E's appt with the other paed this morning. We really can't afford it, but seeing as the first one was useless we kind of have no choice. I thought I'd be back at work by April 1, that's what we budgeted for but it doesn't look like that's going to happen for another month or two now which makes things rather tight. I'd love to put E in daycare for 2 half days a week to a) get him used to it before I go back to work and b) give me a break but doesn't look like we'll be able to do that either.

Good news is my mum is coming over this week to help me out...my family are the best. She hates flying and has never done it on her own, but is flying all the way over to be there for me . She hasn't booked her flight yet but I think it'll be for Thursday and she said she'll just book one way for now and she can stay as little or as long as I need her. I feel like a huge pressure has been relieved already. I'm going to try the sleep technique the sleep school gave me, but now with Mum here I feel I have more confidence to perservere with it.

kylie SO glad you have your mum coming over to help you. group sessions are good too. it really does help to see how other people are coping, and you dont have to say much at all of you dont want to.

chantal sounds like your MIL is manipulative. at least your DH seems to be on your side, it always helps when they back you against their mother. it just makes me really angry when grandparents do that.

leish yeah, i use baby clippers. i am also suprised that i havent cut her before, she always squirms around when im trying to cut them. it hasnt been hurting her, and is not hot (which would mean it is hurting her) so think she is ok. i just felt terrible cos i had caused her pain!

kristy cooking butter chicken for dinner tonight, it smells SO yummy! kylie haha. i only used half teaspoon chilli cos i just cannot tolerate spicy food (just dont,like it) but still seems a bit hot for me... such a spice lightweight i am.

mandy hope you feel better so you can do your V8 car racing today. hope it doesnt rain, cos that would really waste it for you.

your ticker is SO funny. you must have been bored yesterday!

jess i really feel for you. emily is teething as well, and has been the baby from hell for the past 2 weeks. i feel really sorry for your poor boobies, i am grateful i havent been bitten yet. hope they come through quickly and micah is back to his usual happy self quickly.

AFM OMG i had the worst day EVER on saturday. DH said he was only going to work till 12pm so i was happy about that, and i asked him to bring some bread home so i could have a sandwich for lunch cos we have no food in the house. he didnt end up getting home till 3pm, so i was so starving i had to make choc biccies (suprisingly i had all the ingredients for that)

emily decided that she would be inconsolable for most of the day, and was SCREAMING. i got so frustrated i chucked her in the swing with the tv on, put my ipod on and went and cleaned the bathroom. she ended up only screaming for about 20 mins that time, and went off to sleep.

then after her next feed she was mostly happy, till i saw her tired signs, so put her to bed. she ended up SCREAMING for 45 mins NON STOP. i went and sat in the furthest corner of the balcony curled up and played gameboy (with my ipod on so i couldnt hear her.

it was so frustrating cos i could do nothing to stop her crying. then she ended up screaming herself to sleep, and while aseep, she kept letting out these little sobs. it was heartbreaking.

then my mum came over to look after her while we had our bowling dinner. i ended up having quite a few drinks (it was only $4.20 for a bourbon and coke in a function room! very cheap) had a fun night - though i am fairly certain the alcohol contributed to that. then as we were about to leave, mum texts me and says emily has been screaming for 15 mins and what should she do? i was a bit annoyed cos i wrote on the notes i left her not to leave her for more than 10 mins. anyways, got home, gave her some of my tainted milk and she went to sleep.

so had such a crappy weekend, and it made it even worse cos i had to do it on my own. then DH comes home from work yesterday, and "naps" for 4 hours. yes, he was at work (though, he was on call, and got to sleep for most of the night) but i am so freaking exhausted with dealing with my devil baby. i do not give a sh*t how tired he is this afternoon, i am having a nap.

anyways, best get off to mothers group. might be back later, depends on how much my baby is screaming...

Kylie - Glad the butter chicken was not to buttery for you. It's a favourite in our house but I haven't made it for a while. I plan to this week sometime I'm also going to make the daal but couldn't get the bay leaves when I did the shopping on Friday. I'm gonna send DH to the spice shop on his way home from work tomorrow. So good your Mum is coming to help you out. I bet you'll notice the difference getting a bit of time to yourself. What will you do? I love going to yoga. It's the one thing that keeps me sane.

miinii - Owen has been biting me for weeks but no teeth yet

Mandy - Ugh, hope it's not a full blown tummy big. Yuck. At the least the in-laws can help you out with the kids if it is.

Leish - yeah - go along and see what eventuates!

Owen has been asleep for about 1.5 hours this morning I managed to get all the dusting and half the vacuuming done while he slept and Rose watched ABC Kids. I'm having a quiet week at home (well, apart from swimming, gymnastics, playgroup etc) - I want to get all the housework done, a bit of baking/cooking, some organising of the kid's rooms and clothes and some relaxing too. I made my first chocolate fondant last night which turned out to be more of a chocolate cake, lol. I am determined to perfect it this week!

Jess- Sorry to hear Emily had such a bad weekend Mothers group will be good for you to get out for a bit.

Kylie - thats awesome that your mum is flying over, she will be such a great help to you. My mum is scared of flying too, when she went to bali the doc gave her a prescription for Valium hahaha she totally freaks out on planes! When I flew home from Melbourne I took an air sickness tablet called "Kwell" it made me quite drowsie and relaxed, so that maybe an option if your mum needs something to relax her a little.

Mandy - you poor love, did you eat something dodgy?? Its just strange you would be sick but the kids arent, I usually only catch illness from the kids from having to look after them. LOL is it the full vomiting and runs or just runs?? you could get some gastro stop or imodium if its just from the back end. Hope you get to do your V8 race......

Jess - nawww sweetie. Your doing the right thing though, when Emily is crying and there is nothing else you can do good for you for just leaving her and taking time out for yourself! My mum has always said to me if the baby isnt hungry, wet/dirty, or sick then its fine to leave them cry. Its good for them somethimes! and at 6 months its ok to do the controlled crying. Its very hard though, I had to do it with Jacob when he was a baby it gets better but so hang in there. I hope her teeth settle soon too poor lil lady. As for you DH totally tell him when he gets home no way in hell is he getting a nap you need one more!

Jess Miinii - Ouch! lol lucas hasnt started biting yet but he is a mouther!! hahaha everything goes on the mouth.....so Im sure he'll start biting soon too!

As For Me

Ive had a stressful few days, I wont go into it because there is too much. But basically DP and I had a massive fight and both of us where nearly ready to call it quits but we've worked most of it out but still have a bit to work through. I have been a mega b**ch lately, I have no idea what is wrong with me Ive been soooo moody and just hate everyone and dont want to do anything. I feel angry and sad all the time. Jacob is being really naughty lately he is really driving me insane I feel like admitting myself to a mental hospital just to get away from him! Lucas is a whinger lately and doesnt stay entertaining himself for to long he just wants to be held and thats driving me batty too because I cant get anything done. Anyway I have no idea what to do how to change anything. Jacob is a sh*thead and makes me so damn angry i feel my blood boiling whenever he is around his just so OTT hyper loud abnocksious (spelling?) and ignorant. DP constatly whinges because Im always moody and whinge at him because im going nuts at home and says im not doing my job at home keeping the house tidy, meals cooked and washing done. I feel like throwing in the towel this isnt me, im not happy anymore i used to be a happy where have I gone?

Rang the V8 car thingy and explained I'm dizzy and lathargic and they said i'd best cancel today and rebook.. So I've done that.
DH took the day off so he's taken Miles out and was gonna take Greta but I wanted one of my babies with me so i've been naughty and brought Greta to bed, she's currently fast asleep in the crook of my arm Now I'm missing Miles! I've had a sleep and was just laying here waiting for Greta to wake up.
Just feel crappy, not sure what it is. My tummy is tender, and I feel like could be sick and I'm very tired...and dizzy, must be a bug of some sort.
Hope it's a 24 one.

Leish: perhaps a trip to your GP is in order? Other than that

jess- miinii: Greta chews everything in sight ... Not sure if it's teething, she's always done it.

Jess: Hope Emily is better today.. Sounds like a killer of a weekend one for you too.

Koiles: glad your mums coming over to help.. Love mine to but she won't even go to the local shops without my dad or sister so wouldn't fly 20 odd hours on her own..she'd be fine but it bugs me that she wouldn't even try..enjoy.

Kristy: your butterchicken is next on my list to try.. I love my gym time too... Crazy, you'd think i'd hate excercise but I love that hour I get 3 times a week.

Ok I'm fading again, gonna crash out again with my little snoring piggy

morning
just quickly as i'm rushing out the door yet again. i am goign to meet wiht my boss about returning to work as of 19th april - need to finalise things (and catch up on office gossip). Having to bring Liam and Alex wiht me which will be a challenge as Liam is sick again. sigh. never ends.
Did a HPt this mornign and it's negative. so maybe we've been lucky - we'll see i guess. If AF doesn't show up by wed/thu i'll doa nother one...

Also, does anyone have a slow cooker recipe for Chicken Jalfrezi???

gotta go - BBL for personals...
Marina

Morning girls,
Kylie...love the pics of E!! I love it when they start playing with their toes!!

Foxy great news!!

Mandy, bugger you had to cancel your drive.

Leish - I have those moods too occasionally. Can you get a day out by yourself for some you time?

Mmmm....chocolate fondant sounds yum Freyja

miinii - ouch on the biting! Samara has the two bottom teeth cut and when she is getting frustrated feeding she pulls back and her teeth grate the nipple! Ouch! It's one sure way to wake me in the middle of the night when feeding!!

Ok...I'm reading comments about indian cooking...and recipes....where are they?! Searching, searching.....love indian! Oh...found them! Thanks Kylie! Yum!

Em - Bugger the rash is coming back. Bonjella... for teething...you can get natural teething tablets which are great!

Sorry gotta go....Micah has temps today and is not settling for a sleep...

super quick from me.. boyo is a bit better today but we had 5 days of full on fever and screaming. Dr declared it an ear infection after a millisecond glance at him and sent us away with a/bs. I nearly passed out walking back up the hill pushing the pushchair, wound up at home cold and shaky and all muscles aching like crazy. So at 3AM when DS was screaming and feverish and i'm struggling to get him to take his panadol, I took my temp for a hoot and mine was 40.5 too! So er, no doc, it isn't an ear infection. its a virus awfully like flu!

Fortunately, by the following day I felt a lot better and my temp had dipped to 38 ish. DS took a while longer to recover but in the end I had to stop dosing him on panadol because I cant bear what the colouring additives do to his temperament... yucky!

Anyhoo, FIL visited over the weekend which was lovely. I'm now doing more sodding immigration paperwork in the middle of the night because 'will you take him for a minute so I can get this done' elicited a response of 'how many minutes?' and a baby being held less than a metre away from me, crying because mummy was ignoring him. Not impressed DH! So now DS is asleep on my lap while the person who doesnt wake overnight is enjoying his sleep. Oh hurrah!

Hi Ladies,

Sorry so bad at getting on the computer, although do have a good reason have had non-stop visitors the last month. I seem to just get all my spare sheets washed and they need to get put back on the beds. So this post will just be an update on Elora, sorry.

Elora has not been fun, with her teething. I did use the mesh thingy for ice with Elora and she loves it for that and it help slightly with the grizzles. Haven't put food in it yet, might get some Kiwi fruit or something.

I was a terrible mum last week we started Elora on solids (hubby wanted to wait until she was six months) and she loved them and I ended up giving her too much food to quickly (she was eating almost anything I put in front of her) and she got really blocked up. I had found it hard to find information on amounts of food to offer, I eventually found so information and rained in what I was offering. It really made me feel like a horrible un-informed mum. Poor thing had two miserable days with hards poo's and the associated pain that goes with it. All I could keep saying to her was I'm so sorry.

She is sitting up now but only for a minute or so then falls either forward or to either side. She can stand if you hold her hands for balance. In fact I stood her in front of her cot and put her little hands around the bars and let her go, she though it was wonderful and laught her head off, then fell down. One of her front teeth is through but the other seems to be following, and she has said 'dad da' a lot, not fair! Although she says 'dad da' to everything so hopefully when she can managed 'mum ma' it will be in association to me


She hasn't however put on weight or grown for about a month or more. I'm still feeding her five times a days and her feeds go for a long time, plus the farex and stuff now the doc wants to monitor if she doesn't put on weight in the next fortnight or so. Has anyone else had this? I'm feeling worried that my milk is not as good as it should be that maybe the PCOS hormone inbalance stuff is stuffing up my supply or it's fat content. She seems very full after a feed (to the point of spilting up some).

I better run hope everyone is well, I've started attending a mothers type group found them on the website www.meetup.com (they have groups for people with common interest, like mothers, people that love dogs, or board game people, quiet good site worth a look if your lonely) and they have a northside mum's group in Brisbane which has been great as I was feeling a little lonely and depressed so it has been great.

Okay better run Elora has been asleep since half ten this morning and it's almost one so I better grabs some food as she'll be awake and starving soon.

Bloody angry!

They had the court case for BIL accident today the sh*t head that was driving, and driving like an idiot that caused him to flip the car and kill my BIL got off with a $6000 fine and 30 months loss of licence! ****ING RIDICULOUS!!!!!! We have lost a very dear member of our family and will never ever get him back and the person that is responsible gets off with a measly fine and lose of his licence, Its been a year since the accident so the sh*t has been free for a year driving etc etc even went on a bloody holiday to gold coast mean while we're morning the lose of a beautiful person. ****ING a*s*hole I HOPE HE GETS HIT BY A ****ING CAR AND DIES!!!! He'll get whats coming to him, cocky barstard!