ryedalema

You can make a cake without turning around to find all the eggs (broken) and flour mixed in...in the sink! Just happened - gggggrrr - back to the Co-op!!

I've got Davina DVDs by the bucket load (well a few anyway) that yuo can borrow if you want? xxx

By that stage I'm sure the clothes are all'grey' anyway :)

Much easier to cook an oblong cake and cut it out in the right shape though. Just do a template on a bit of card and cut around. I've a fancy cheese string thing for slicing the cake in half (and then getting layers for filling), if you want to borrow x

Sh*t is this for the after school club too? I've def left this one majorly too late.

Little C never had a cot -I personally couldn't stand the prison-esqueness of it all (plenty of time for her to find herself behind bars!). Also - I'm such a short ar*e I had to keep dropping her the last couple of inches (when leaning over the side) - woke her up without fail. Not surprised people dream about falling - maybe they all had short ar*e mums too!

I had smallest C there (just!) and they were absolutely brilliant. Ask Buggie - she saw us as we sprinted through A&E (and presumably had hers there too?). We were in an out double quick, so don't know what it's like for a protracted stay. Good luck X (And see you tmorrow :) )

OH got back from Aus with littlest on Friday so their time clock is still completely out of whack. So Father's day involved - making breakfast and the ceremonial hand made card presentation and subsequent - ooohs and aaahs. Then we (the girls) decorated a cake, while littlest stabbed it with a paint brush (?!) Then I made the best roast beef ever (with prepacked posh tatties - ha ha! ) Everyone fell into a fat bellied, sleeping heap for the afternoon, while I got to watch my blood and gore programmes. OH failed to wake up (still!) so I got both girls up, fed them, bathed them, got them back to sleep again... Now I'm hitting the booze!

Magicool - that face water spray stuff - pure bliss cos of g*ddamnable heat!! Seconding bendy straws - plus something to drink with them (preferably bubbly alcohol! - cos you're worth it!) Second car seat - cos it's the law.. A butterfly net (or some kind of restraints) so you can keep your midwifes/docs in the room until they sign you off - then get the fleet of foot out of there.... Much cooler outside!! Also seconding pressie for little S. Of course - a camera. But don't let anyone near the video camera. Esp (as happened with me) if your father gets hold of it and sees the gory stuff - ewwww)

HI all - just answering a few of your Weight Watchers qs. Yes there's an iPhone app - which is v.popular. Hope it helps. Yes you have to input what you've eaten every day, but the beginner tools you get given at your first meeting list the Propoints in every basic food, plus if you do your inputting (tracking) online it calculates it all for you. Obviously, WW being the long-standing establishment it is, it has tools to suit every type of person: - already pointed ready meals if that's your thing - recipe books full of already pointed meals if you want to cook - calculators so you can work out your points based on the nutritional label of any food - big books listing the points of every shop bought food (and restaurant meals too) - online recipe books and calculators so you can find it all there too. The website also has a 'what's in your fridge?' tool which I found really useful. Put in up to three ingredients you want to cook with and it'll come up with a load of recipes to choose from. It's really not that hard when you start - I started my Peckham meeting a month ago now and out of the (now) 38 members we've lost 209 lbs. That's an average of 5.5 lbs each (and that's a really conservative average as the meeting has grown from 23 members at the start) , so it's working! Maybe you'll join me tomorrow :) All love xxx

Good luck Emma and all of you. It's such a big step recognising that you want changes things, and taking responsibility for sorting it out. It takes a while - I guess all good things are worth waiting for. But it's such a high when people start to notice! xxxx

My cleaner's coming this morning while I'm at work, then I'm off to my Weight Watchers meeting tonight and won't be back until about 9pm - so sadly the house will probably be mutilated before I even get to see it spic and span (sob!) x

I thank goodness my OH is not like his Dad, who sadly is now dying from the after affects of years of alcoholism. I do wish he were a little bit more like my Dad though? How Freudian is that??? I'm terribly like my Mum - weep at any little sad or proud moment. Entirely sentimental. Always trying to calm warring family factions. I used to despair of her (when I was a teenager), now I wish to goodness she was around and could meet her grand daughters :( What wasted years we spend as adolescents, trying to escape...sorry Mum! I love you :)

Mt toddler is away this week in Austraia with my OH - so feel free to loot/pillage whatever you need x Ah - forgot to mention, it'd have to be Monday or Wednesday night for collection - they are the only nights I'm in (apart from tonight too) x I'd need them back Friday morning...so let me know if that's useful xx

I've just got my cleaner back - hoorah! We employed the lovely Sandra when i went back to work after our first daughter and sadly my OH said she couldn't continue with her while I was out of work these last couple of months. I have to admit, that bar keeping the washing basket under control (which seems to be an obsession of mine), making home cooked meals, baking and putting new toilet rolls in the holder (oh and grocery shopping), and making sure that toys and the girls' room is tidy - I did nothing! And I hate housework. Lots of arguments around 'you're out of work - why can't you find time for housework?' ensued. So so glad to have Sandra back. Best ?25 a fortnight EVER!

Ditto what Pickle says..it's really easy and based on how food gets processed by the body. You can eat whatever you like and is based on a points system. Each and every food gets allocated a ProPoint value (which is in your beginning literature) and you eat up to your daily propoints allowance, then you get a weekly propoints allowance as we well, and can earn extra points through exercise. You can do the whole thing online if you want, or come to a meeting and buy a monthly pass, then you can go to the meetings and use the online facilities too. this is their main website The meetings are really, really good for motivation as everyone's in the same boat (and they're not at all like the Little Britain sketches :)) My meetings are at Anerley Town Hall at 6.30pm on Tuesdays, and Peckham Academy (Peckham Road) on Thursdays at 6.30pm, but there are loads around ED, at Darrell Road Community centre, at Barry Road church, at Harris Girls' Academy - use the 'find a meeting' facility for more info. Now that really did sound salesy! So so sorry xxx

That is soo true - 'cept for me a couple of additions: - baby would regularly be on the floor if not 'trapped' by another pillow - eldest daughter usually comes in too (with at least a couple of needle-sharp Barbies) - I end up with my head jammed against the bedside table (if not on it) - I get fed up and sleep in one of the girls' beds - they then follow me there... Dad sleeps in big bed ALL BY HIMSELF I'm three to a single bed (particularly love the baby with legs on her head - why oh why is that so frequent?) :)

Mima - I felt exactly the same after my first child (I never bothered to lose weight between kids) and vowed that I wouldn't after my second (and last !;-)). I signed up with a personal trainer - yes I know it's expensive but that was the one thing that kept me going and I did that fortnightly (with Davina videos and swimming) in between. And yes I did Weight watchers. It took me 9 months - March 2010 to December 2010 but I lost 70lbs. Boring as all h*ll - but worth it. And yes - I'm a Weight Watchers leader now, running classes locally. If I can help at all - Weight watchers or no weight watchers, please let me know. I've definitely been there and have come out the other side. You definitely can too!! Sorry if that sounded salesy at all - def didn't mean to :) xxx

Awww thanks guys. Now I'm not sure I'll have time to think about them this weekend (yeah right!). Eldest Madam has me on a strict programme of cupcake and cookie making, princess movies, an ED (and surrounds) playground crawl - and then if I'm not on my knees by then, an extended visit to Scoop! I'm not sure who is leading who astray here :) There will be some happy kids at nursery on Monday with all the baked goods being crafted :)) Little mocklet included??

My husband's taken our littlest daughter (17 months) to Australia to say goodbye to his rapidly worsening father who only has days/weeks left. I was quite sanguine about it all when I dropped them at the airport. Yey, only one daughter for a week, virtual freedom! But....I miss them loads!! I'm such a sook. Our oldest (4 in a fortnight) is the same, she misses them both loads. I know they are only away from a week, but it feels like I've left my right arm behind somewhere. I need to regain my composure clearly :)

Toys R Us on Old Kent Road have loads xx

My OH introduced sprinkles (100s and 1000s) to the girls' porridge. Grumble grumble! We were doing really well with either dates, honey or banana. SIGH!!!

I agree with Mockney Piers and the pro Mother Goosers. I'd rather my child were happy and allowed to explore - yes even in mud! When I originally researched nurseries I saw a couple that were absolutely spotless and gleaming. It made me feel really uncomfortable - is my child going to be allowed to move from the spot? Or are they going to attach dusters to their feet? The children also looked miserable. I say adventures are one of the best bits about childhood - playing with snails and worms etc (Peppa Pig and muddy puddles, Dora and her adventures - the Famous Five!) Getting grubby is fab! Our home isn't going to win any Mister Sheen awards, but it isn't a death trap either, and we have hygiene standards that aren't compromised at our Mother Goose (Greendale). The girls haven't contracted any deadly diseases - and I don't know a child there that has (bar chicken pox obv.). All the best on finding a nursery that suits - but IME Mother Goose is doing a great job!

Ewwww - on a positive note when we travelled with our (at the time) 18 month old, her sleep patterns were not affected at all. Try and get him to stay to UK time (as far as little S is concerned) if you can. So feeding/sleeping at UK times. Even if that's not feasible - they tend to bounce back into their normal routine IME. Anyway you might find that you want to change his routine so that it matches (as much as it can) your newbie's. At least so that they aren't tag teaming it. Good luck - it sounds a bit crazy as you say. But think of the grandkid stories and blackmail opps you'll have if he misses it. All housework for a year and a diamond at least I reckon!! PS - anyway - I'd rather have the medical professionals in the room. If they were away, then I'd REALLY worry! :)) My OH nearly missed our first (was out drinking with the lads and didn't believe how eager eldest madam was to see the world!) - I dine out (literally) on it regularly!! xx

Ah - that poses a q. My OH (who is from Papua new Guinea) always used to eat Mangoes in the bath. Could one bf in the bath? Or is that fraught with H & S and logistical hazards? I'm just thinking dribbles could be wiped away easily :) Anyone ever tried it? I've fed topless (not in public) many times, and now wear a dressing gown over my work clothes when 'enjoying' breakfast with the girls before the nursery run - saves loads of stress!