Sashybo - Back Again

Honeysucklelou2

Exciting times for you . Echoing what others have said about grabbing rest times now while you can.
How much longer have you got left at work?

sashybo

Hi all, thanks for dropping in. :hello:

Had a slightly more restful day today, although I took a notion to clean the bathrooms at 1am this morning. DH wasn't very happy with me but I just felt like doing it and at least it's done now.

DH had DS out in the garden with him today and managed to secure the young raspberry canes so they won't get so battered by the wind. He also planted the blackberry plants that we had ordered. :T Just need to get him to plant half of the daffodil bulbs in the front garden and the other half can go into pots and I can do those if I sit at the patio table.

Whilst DH & DS were in the garden I sat on the couch and had a browse of MSE, so got a wee rest which was good. Thanks SA, Dancing & Honeysuckle. Even DH said I've been doing too much recently. :eek:

I've got 6 shifts left at work over the next 3 weeks but have put in for annual leave for the last 2 shifts in the last week. I should get the annual leave, fingers crossed as I'm going to struggle otherwise. Need to email work and ask if I can start at 7am on my early shifts rather than 6am, the extra hour will be helpful to me. I'm sure they'll agree as I got to do this when pregnant with DS.

DH also put a washing on today, hung it out and brought it back in. I've folded it and will put it away tomorrow. DH has been reminded to phone the dentist to try and get an appointment for our family check up. Need to do this before the baby arrives and chaos descends!!

I made chicken korma for dinner with spiced rice, I don't think I let the sauce simmer long enough this time as it wasn't as nice as it has been previously, not as much flavour. DS enjoyed it though as he kept saying "Good!" & "Yum" and putting his fist out to me and DH. :rotfl: I don't know if he's trying to fist bump or do a thumbs up but pretty funny either way. :rotfl:

I also made Bakewell slices using another gestational diabetes recipe, so ground almonds and sweetener along with the chia seed jam I made last week. They are actually not bad but using the almond extract made me crave marzipan so much. DH has christened the slices Fakewell slices and said they're good but would be better with sugar. :rotfl:

I need to start getting into a better routine for bedtime as I'm staying up far too late and obviously this isn't helping with my tiredness. Find it difficult to get comfy in bed as well and trying to move around is hard work. I've had terrible heartburn for most of this pregnancy as well and it's horrible at night combined with the needing to get up to pee and struggling to get into a comfy position to sleep.

Funnily enough the heartburn has reminded me of that old wives tale saying it means you'll have a baby with lots of hair as at my last 2 scans the Dr and the sonographer both started laughing and said oh look at all the baby's hair. :rotfl: They actually managed to pick it up on the scans! DS had a fair amount of hair but I never had heartburn at all when I was pregnant with him. Wonder if I'd had a late scan with him if they'd have picked up his hair or not?

redofromstart

Both my boys were hairy babies, and I lived on gaviscon in the final weeks :rotfl:

sashybo

:rotfl: Oh dear redo, I'm scared at how much hair this baby must have. :rotfl: I get heartburn after eating literally anything now and it has been pretty bad most of the time, just getting worse now.

Have had a fairly lazy day today, put a washing of DS's stuff on, including two sets of sheets and waterproof mattress protectors as his nappy has been leaking overnight again. Chucked it all in the TD and then got it all put away before he went to bed.

Also hoovered the living room, again DS was delighted at watching the dust and cat hair being emptied into the bin. *shrugs* :rotfl:

DS very temperamental again today, a lot of screaming and crying when he's not getting his own way. He's just not himself at all and I don't know why. Need to get him out of the house tomorrow, I don't think he's getting enough exercise/stimulation but it's hard when I'm so tired.

Not at work until Friday and my mum is keeping DS over on Thursday night which is a big help. I hope he's feeling better by then/more like his usual self.

sashybo

Claimed another £10 in vouchers from SB and got £3 from one survey site and £10 from PA. Paid £8 of the survey money into my EF, taking it to £39 and will use the remaining £5 towards a loan O/P on DH's nationwide loan. Usually do this when we get paid so hoping to have at least £20 to pay towards it.

My mum came up for a visit and DS was delighted to see her. He had a good run about in the garden while I hung out the washing too, so at least got a bit of fresh air.

EDF sent someone out to (allegedly) sort out our electricity meter which was "upgraded" to a second gen "smart" meter in April and has never worked properly. After DH phoned several times they finally figured out that it hadn't been commissioned properly. Our gas meter was also meant to be upgraded in April but wasn't.

So the man sent out today was meant to sort the electricity meter and upgrade the gas meter. He didn't know anything about the problems with the electricity meter (surprise surprise) and had the job down as a single install for the gas meter.

Basically we now have two "smart" meters which are not commissioned and have no way of talking to EDF to send accurate meter readings. :mad: DH is meant to be getting a phone call from EDF tomorrow to discuss compensation, obviously they now need to get someone out (again!!) to actually get both meters communicating so we aren't getting estimated bills. :mad:

So annoyed as we have chased them and chased them as we don't want estimated bills and the probability of owing them money. :mad: This has been dragging on for months and still not resolved. :mad:

In other issues that have been dragging on for months, we still don't have permission from the council to do a simple garage conversion. :mad: Our architect has been chasing them and they just keep saying the man who deals with it is on holiday! :eek: He literally just has to look at the re-drawn plans and rubber stamp it. :mad: Then we can get our workman booked in to get going with it (and obviously that depends on what other work he has going on).

In non-moneysaving news our debt total has now gone up by £7K as DH has taken out a loan for the conversion. He was worried that the rates would be affected by the Brex*t bullsh*t so applied today and was offered it at 3.3% over 4 years. Feel a bit deflated about the debt total going up again but at least it's for something constructive that will make a positive difference to our lives.

sashybo

Redeemed another £5 survey money yesterday - £3 sent to EF, taking it to £42 and £2 put by to OP the big loan.

Back to work tomorrow for the first time in about 3 weeks, think it might kill me. :eek: Only 2 early shifts then 3 days off then another 2 early shifts and I should be finishing up (assuming I get my final 2 shifts covered as have requested them as annual leave). :j

DS staying over with my mum tonight and DH will probably be picking him up tomorrow as I have an appointment with the midwife after work.

Not been up to much, had a very unproductive day yesterday but think I needed the rest. Looking into making wax melts rather than buying scented candles for the house but think I'll try buying some first as don't want to buy all the stuff and then a) not like wax melts and b) never have time to make them anyway. If I do like them it's something to think about in the future as it looks quite straightforward.

Have been experimenting with making my own poo pourri spray. :rotfl: It's really expensive to buy but is so worth having when there are stinky males in the house. :eek: First batch used witch hazel as a base and wasn't successful, second attempt is using surgical spirit and sweet orange essential oil to make it smell better. Will see if it works or not.

EDF are saying it will take over 10 days before they can get another engineer out for these bl**dy meters. They are sub-contracting the installations out and claim that they told the engineer about the electricity meter he needed to fix as well as installing the new gas meter. He claimed he didn't know anything about it. :mad: He did give the impression that he couldn't be a*sed though tbh.

The best the complaints manager can do for now is send us instructions on how to take manual meter readings so we can at least submit them. :mad: Better than estimated billing but what a pain this whole saga has been. :cool:

Can't remember if I mentioned about getting my nephew's provisional driving license sorted as his 18th birthday present. Anyway I have now paid for it, he applied online but they still need to send some paper form for him to fill in, something to do with additional verification. :mad:

Still, saved £9 by applying online rather than using the paper form in the first place. Hopefully it's something he can sort out and send back quickly to get his license through. My sister has paid for some driving lessons for him to start next month too. :T He is working as a tiling apprentice so needs to learn to drive. I didn't want to give him money that might just get wasted, will probably get him something small to open for his birthday as well though.

Council have finally got back to our architect okaying the conversion. Our workman has finalised his quote and next availability looks to be mid-November. Would be good to get it done for Christmas.

Big Cat is being very naughty today and splashing water out of the cat fountain everywhere. :eek: He sticks his head under the running water and then shakes it. He also pounces at it with both front paws and splashes water out that way too. :rotfl: Also caught him pulling the fountain forwards from where it sits on the worktop. :eek:

In yucky cat news the cats were locked out of the kitchen whilst we had lunch earlier as they try to steal food and Old Cat decided to have a big poo on the couch. _pale_ Thankfully I found it all before anyone sat on it or DS rolled in it. :eek: He keeps doing this when we lock him out, don't know if it's a protest or if he really just can't hold it in any more. :eek: Need to remember to put the litter tray out with him next time.

beanielou

The joys of our cats :rotfl:

Not too long to go now work wise!

sashybo

Oh Beanie, I know. :rotfl: I think having cats prepared DH & I for the dirty jobs having children entails. :rotfl: DS has overall been cleaner than the cats. :rotfl:

Can't wait to finish up work from a rest point of view but will miss the company of my colleagues and just having some "me" time away from being mummy all the time.

sashybo

Work was pretty tiring but did enjoy being there and speaking to other adults. Off for 3 days now then back in for 2 more early shifts. Still some mixed feelings about finishing up at work. It's not forever and I know I'll be back but just a bit worried about being at home on my own with 2 small children.

DH is working from today until Friday so my mum is going to take DS 2 days in a row when I'm working. Not ideal but glad she can help us out, DH will have to drop DS off on Wed morning before work and my mum will keep him overnight that night and watch him on Thurs. I can go to my mum's on the way home on Wed to see DS and stay to help out for a while so that I can see him as well.

Midwife appointment went well, all still ok which is good. Baby isn't engaged but also isn't in an awkward position. Will see the midwife in 2 weeks after my next consultant appointment at the diabetes clinic.

The midwife confirmed that it looks likely that I will be offered an induction a week after my due date if the baby hasn't arrived, so that may well be booked in then. She also said I may be offered an examination at the clinic appointment to see if there's any progress/what's going on. May also be offered a sweep etc. Fingers crossed the baby comes around its due date - 3 weeks tomorrow. :eek:

I'm both ready and not ready for the baby to arrive - fed up of being pregnant but not sure I know what I've let myself in for with a new baby and a 2yo. It will be fine after the initial shock.

Gave the kitchen a good clean this morning, with the exception of the floor, will maybe try that later. All the worktops have been tidied and cleaned properly, floor brushed and sinks cleaned properly with bleach and soda crystals down the plug holes. African violets, basil and winter flowering cacti examined and dead leaves removed etc. One of the cacti has fallen to bits, although part of it is still alive but the other is great although they've both been on the same windowsill. Hmm.

Big cat must have been bathing in the cat fountain again as there was water everywhere this morning. :eek:

Have hung one washing up and washed DS's stuff and thrown that in the TD. Also hoovered the living room so downstairs isn't looking too bad. Upstairs is another story :eek: especially the spare room which has baby stuff chucked all over the bed and floor. :cool:

Will need to take DS out into the garden for a run around to try and burn some energy off. DH won't get home until after DS's bedtime so want to tire DS out as much as possible.

Honeysucklelou2

You will find a new routine when you are at home with 2 little ones. When my first 2 were little I used to make sure I planned in a good walk , so that the little one would sleep and the older one would have chance to let off steam! Lots of story reading for the older was a good distraction when feeding the younger. It's a precious time, though it may not seem it when you are in the midst of it;).

Have you got any mother and toddler groups nearby that you can go to?