Barb, I'm feeling all excited about Monday when school starts since I read your post.I can just about remember quiet!
Brighton near us has an area where I might be able to get a tie dye shirt...he might well be happy with that, he could have one for evryday and the crayola one for best. Good thinking Batwoman He seems to be determinedto dress like Nelson Mandela at all times, which I guess is OK, but as I only ever wear navy/black/grey with the odd white shirt it's difficult for me to go shopping with him. His school uniform is navy sweater, white shirt and grey shorts and he looks adorable in it, outside school he declines the clothes I choose. Yesterday he had red trousers, green & yellow stripey socks, the T-shirt and a yellow fleece on.What is it about men????Thank God the 80's flourescent stuff isn't still around. I suspect DH would wear the same with the smallest encouragement.

You know I wear mostly black, grey, and olive with some colors thrown in but I love color! My kids have colorful clothes and I think are aquiring a pretty good sense of color in their wardrobe. Of course boys are a bit limited, but there is still much to find. This is tempered with their basic colors of black, blue, olive and tan so they don't really look like circus acts. I love being able to spot them in a crowd.

The house is still quiet, however I think Isabelle might be up, and perhaps even crying, but I don't hear her so all is right..... actually the guilt has gotten to me and I am on my way upstairs to her ASAP.




Barb

We talked about him started his own business, he does computer drawings of houses and stuff like cabinets. The thing is that this sort of business has a lot of peaks and valleys, right now there is a peak which is why he is getting all this work. Also there might be times where he has to go out and hustle for work which I don't think he would like. I asked him that and he agreed with me. He'd be better off in some ways being his own boss but there is so much more security in working for a larger company.

I vote security too, spread your wings when the babies are bigger.
It appears Leo has not inherited my concerns for a healthy diet. After 8 months of monitored intake he spent the day with Granny and grandad and ate a sausage and that great British artery blocker fish and chips! I saw the fish and chips bit, he was SOOOO happy I could not stop him, he even ate the skin and batter which I cannot bear to. I was pleased about the fish, which I know is OK if you don't eat the batter, but chips fried in God only knows what......lard, I think.
I am leaving him with DH tomorrow but am taking my Mother with me so she cannot get to him!
I may not be here for a while DH is having an operation on his ear on Monday...the appointment came up much quicker than we anticipated. He'll be off work for at least two weeks and I imagine I'll be kept busy.Am dreading it. At least Ted will be back at school.
So if you don't hear from me just assume I'm lurking and cheering you on.
Geneve

Geneve - hope your hubby's surgery goes well. We'll see you when you get a break from looking after him and the kids! Keep care of yourself too.

Not much new with me. I'm thinking of trying Weight Watchers. Heaven knows nothing else is working for me. In fact I think I have gained weight!! My scale fluctuates so much. I was determined not to use it but that idea didn't last long. I don't know what else to do.

Hi, well DH's operation has been postponed until tomorrow, so a bit more tension t enjoy. Today was awful. Leo is teething again and grizzled all day with hardly any sleep. Ted was off school with a cough and was grizzly too.
I spent all day hating them and eating biscuits. I will get to the gym tomorrow no matter what, and before I go seriously off track.
However, i was so hacked off I phoned my Mum up and told her what I thought of her so-called support...she was nonplussed...but at least I felt better. My Mother is a classic victim and I have been the grown up in our relationship for as long as I can remember, so if I say anything to her like 'it would be nice of you came andkept an eye on the kids rather than asking me to help you with your college work' she just retreats into 'Oh but you're so much more capable than I am, I suppose I'm just not vut out for that sort of thing,it's easier for you etc etc etc'.
I suppose that's why I spend so much of my time on here moaning, I simply don't have any9ne else to moan at. So thanks Jenand Barb, I should appreciate you more! I say to you what I would hesitate to say to those who supposedly love me. I never thought of it that way before. I owe you both for listening to me. Big thanks.
You wouldn't believe how many biscuits I ate today. Even I don't.

Geneve, I think of friends (online and not) as sounding boards. We either get to practice -and theoretically perfect- what we want to say........ or we get to get it out and let it drop.

Which ever serves our purpose.............

However, I will add, it is easier to vent to online friends because if I complained about my husband and kids to my friends in person they might look at them differently........online friends don't have to have a relationship with my family.

John took the boys to his parents. So here I sit with Isabelle. She is actually much more work.........which is why he took the boys.




Barb

Hi ladies

I notice it's just the three of you posting here and you all seem to know each other really well, are you open to newcomers?

I'm a new mom, Mya Alise was born 3 1/2 weeks ago, and she is our first child. I've already lost all my pregnancy weight plus about 4# more (depending upon my salt intake... it fluctuates between 2 and 6 #) but I still have a long way to go to reach goal. I have to admit to being absolutely shocked at how fast the weight came off as I have not been dieting. I am breastfeeding though (or trying to) and some people say that that really helps with the weight.

Lara

Hi Lara, of course you are welcome! There are more of us..............we just end up posting more often.

Congratulations on Mya! I always heard the pregnancy weight would come right off and generally mine does, however this time it didn't. I actually gained weight! However I think that was because of my thyroid so I won't hold it against my daughter I too am breastfeeding, but we are down to only a few times a day so I can't really count that anymore.

I have an almost 11 month old and two son's who are 7 and 9. This is, hopefully, my last child. she is a joy though.

Oh oh better get her I hear paper ripping!



Barb

Hi all.

Welcome Lara and congrats on your little one. any and all are welcome to join us.

Geneve - I meant to ask you, how many teeth does Leo have? I can't get over that he ate a sausage and chips! Drake is 7 months old, has 2 teeth and still gags whenever I give him anything thicker than puree though he is able to eat those Farley biscuits as they turn into complete mush anyway. What a mess that is.

Well I did go ahead and join weight watchers. I am getting so desperate to lose weight, nothing else seems to be working. I know why I"m not losing the weight I just can't see to do anything about it. Hopefully WW will help. The bad news was that their scale is 10 lbs more than mine, so I wasn't very happy about that. I had my suspisions though as I got on the scale at the vet's when the assistant wasn't looking and it was more than the scale at home. The hubby was also a bit upset that he weighs 10 lbs more than what he thought. he needs to lose weight too but he doesn't want to work for it yet.

Take care all, talk to you soon.

Thank you for the welcome. There are still days when I can't quite believe that I'm a mom and that I grew this perfect little being inside me.

Well... I have an appt with a lactation consultant for this afternoon. And I rented a hospital grade breast pump. And I'm taking these homeopathic drops that taste horrid but are supposed to increase your milk supply (as mine seems to be drying up ). So far (since yesterday when I rented it), the pumping is still majorly frustrating... but the drops do seem to be working... I woke up this morning feeling the need to pump rather than just knowing I should to keep at least some milk coming. I'd like to feel that need on a regular basis, like every 3 or 4 hours or so. If this works, even if I haave to continue to pump I'll be happy. I'd like to get so that Mya is getting more breast milk than formula rather than the other way around.

gotta go... I hear her waking up... will type more later...

Lara

Lara, Just keep drinking and put Mya to nurse as often as you can. If she just lays there and nurses it is fine, cause that will help you make more milk. If you try laying down to nurse that might be the easiest to relax and let her go.

I know a woman who thought she was drying up and had to suppliment she followed what the lactation consultant said and everything improved.


Just remember drink!!!!! you can have some serious problems if you don't stay hydrated. Go to the store and find lots of drinks with no caffine that you would be interested in drinking so you don't get bored with one or two drinks.

Good luck!!!!


Barb

Lara, there is a medication called Domperidone, I don't know if it is available in the US, that is wonderful for milk let down. I pumped for several weeks as well, my little darling refused to nurse no matter how many consultants I saw. It was just too frustrating for both of us.

Thanks for the advice

I really like this woman, she seems really down to earth and wasn't going on and on about attachment parenting, or berating me for having given Mya a bottle. She just said lets deal with this. Really down to earth.

I'm drinking a TON of water... I go through about a gallon a day. And I drink Juice as well. Mostly only 100% juice types, although I will admit to drinking some that have added sugar but I try to keep those to a minimum.

So I'm going to be pumping every 2 -3 hours and only taking off 5 hours at night... I had been letting it go a full 8 hours at night but I really do want to build my milk back up so I will do as she says. At least the electric pump is faster... and I can do both sides at once. so instead of an hour it's going to be more like 15 to 20 minutes total. Hopefully this will cut down on the frustration.

Lara

Had my first weekly weigh in since I joined WW, I've lost 6 lbs.
That's great of course but a lot of it is water but still I feel a lot better about myself.

We are going through a nap thing with Drake. I made the mistake of using the bottle to get him to sleep. I know it was a bad thing to do but I was getting so frustrated that he wasn't napping during the day unless he was in the stroller or car seat. He won't take a pacifier anymore and the crying is driving me nuts especially when I know if I give him a bottle he'll be asleep in 10 minutes. I can't stand to listen to him cry because he really gets going. Any suggestions?