Weekly Chat Thread - Nov. 8-14 - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[BaileyB]

Originally Posted by Virginia884 

We bought DD a kitchen set from Ikea, along with a few kitchen accessory things. That will be basically all she'll get (she's still young). Last year we did "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read" for DH and I and it really helped to cut back on useless gifts. Will do the same this year. I also started an Amazon wish list with items for all 3 of us so I can give that link to the grandparents. They like to buy, but need guidance...

I already have a breast pump, but have heard such good things about the Hygeia brand. If I can get one for free, I definitely will!

That's a good idea, the something you want, something you need, something to wear, etc.

Originally Posted by CoBabyMaker 

Thank Bailey, I am starting to do better actually!  Praise the Lord!  mornings are actually pretty good now.  I still feel a bit icky in the evenings but I have actually cooked and eaten a somewhat normal dinner for 4 days in a row now.  Quite an accomplishment!  I am still scared to go off the Zofran because it was so bad last time I went off it.  I go to the doctor on Tuesday so I guess I will ask about it then.  At this point I feel like I may as well take it until I feel good. 

Glad to hear you are getting better. I took some floradix for the first time lastnite and I actually haven't been falling asleep while eating today. It was awesome! Maybe you can ask your doctor to check if you are anemic. I just read lastnite in my pregnancy book that sometimes if MS lasts past the first tri it can be because you are anemic. Although, I would bet it's more like if you had crappy MS and can't eat normal it CAUSES you to be anemic, but either way...

Off to go look at Christmas decorations at Menards today...:-)

Oh, and a DD finger booboo update: The nail is about to fall off, EWWWWWWW!

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by BaileyB 

That's a good idea, the something you want, something you need, something to wear, etc.

Glad to hear you are getting better. I took some floradix for the first time lastnite and I actually haven't been falling asleep while eating today. It was awesome! Maybe you can ask your doctor to check if you are anemic. I just read lastnite in my pregnancy book that sometimes if MS lasts past the first tri it can be because you are anemic. Although, I would bet it's more like if you had crappy MS and can't eat normal it CAUSES you to be anemic, but either way...

Off to go look at Christmas decorations at Menards today...:-)

Oh, and a DD finger booboo update: The nail is about to fall off, EWWWWWWW!

Is she showing it off to gross people out?  lol.  I guess the good news is that it's healing!

How was the floradix?  I've been tempted to pick some up, but having some constiption issues on and off so I have been reluctant to supplement iron...

Speaking of which, for any of you ladies trying to kick up the fiber notch I made this recipe for blackbean soup for supper last night with chicken quesadillas and it is so easy and so yummy.  If you don't do meat I'm sure you could skip the bacon, but man, the bacon makes it.  Oh, I didn't have chicken broth, so I used beef broth and I think it gave it a nice hearty flavour.

How was everyone's weekend?  We were supposed to drive up to visit DH's family this weekend, about a 6 hour drive away, and cancelled the trip at the last minute as the roads were so bad and just not safe to drive on.  We were all disappointed, as we were really looking forward to the visit.  So, I guess this weekend was a "bonus" in some ways, in terms of getting stuff done around the house.

Yesterday DH and I took DS to the farmer's market for lunch and to play, and did some looking for a "big boy bed" for him.  I think we're going to have to go with bunkbeds, as the second bedroom upstairs is quite small and we don't have room for two twin beds down the road (well, they could squeeze in but not leave much room for anything else other than a dresser).   I think we'll set up one bunk before the baby arrives, and re-convert his toddler bed into a crib so the baby can nap in that room and so he can get used to the idea that he'll be sharing a room when the baby starts to sleep in a crib (prob. around at least 10 mos old, if we go by DS's timing).  Is that what you all would do?

Today, we took DS skating for the first time this year.  He's been talking about going skating for days, and pretending to skate by sliding all over the house in his socks.  Lol. We took him on those two blade bob skates a few times last year, but this time put him in real hockey skates.  He did so well!  From not being able to stand on the ice when we got there, to taking little steps all on his own (well, holding mommy or daddy's hand, of course)!  Proud mommy moment, he was working so hard and so proud of himself.  I found out that on Monday's you skate free if you bring a foodbank donation, so skating may be our new Monday activity.

[timesway]

what a weeek/2 migraines have been awful but ive had a few days grace and tryed to fit everything from the last week into 2 days, went out and had sunday lunch with a friend today which was really awesome as it was really really good, and altho moderately expensive, good for what you got!! and yesterday i went  to a festival in bristol where i was put on the guestlist as my friend runs one of the stages.. but turned out i knew the organiser of the whole thing, who wants to take me out to cofffee ( ;) ) next week... tehe we shall see how that goes.. i seem to be getting a lot of male attention this week, which is nice as i had started to get a bit of a mental block about men, and started to really belive the whole, stuck on the waste heap thing.. also hung out with another guy i know a few days ago and had a really nice time, just trying to be chilled but aware in under 6 months im going to be a mum, so i  need to tread carefully..

[Quinalla]

The weather was so nice this weekend, so we did go to the park both Saturday & Sunday, that was good and DH got a new light installed in our dining room and a new garage door opener system installed (the remotes weren't working for it anymore and would not reprogram), so that was good, but DD was really whining/screaming/etc. except at the park. She is sick with some yuck virus that is making her cough a lot but no fever or anything, but geez both DH and I were getting so fed up. I hope she is good at daycare today for her teachers! I continue to be hungry all the time and doing well on getting my protein.

Sorry about the migraines, timesway, glad you got some relief!

The blackbean soup sounds yummy nstewart, I may try that as DH, DD & I are all fans of blackbean soup!

Virginia884, I really like your "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read" idea! I may see what DH thinks about something like that.

[BaileyB]

Originally Posted by nstewart 

Originally Posted by BaileyB 

That's a good idea, the something you want, something you need, something to wear, etc.

Glad to hear you are getting better. I took some floradix for the first time lastnite and I actually haven't been falling asleep while eating today. It was awesome! Maybe you can ask your doctor to check if you are anemic. I just read lastnite in my pregnancy book that sometimes if MS lasts past the first tri it can be because you are anemic. Although, I would bet it's more like if you had crappy MS and can't eat normal it CAUSES you to be anemic, but either way...

Off to go look at Christmas decorations at Menards today...:-)

Oh, and a DD finger booboo update: The nail is about to fall off, EWWWWWWW!

Is she showing it off to gross people out?  lol.  I guess the good news is that it's healing!

How was the floradix?  I've been tempted to pick some up, but having some constiption issues on and off so I have been reluctant to supplement iron...

Floradix wasn't bad. I mixed it with juice and it tastes fine. It has pear and prune juice and black current juice in it and I actually think it induced a nice BM the next day. haha. It has done wonders though. Usualy by this time of the morning, 10:00, I am just finally eating a decent breakfast and feeling able to stand up without being dizzy and light headed and today we already ate breakfast including home made hot cocoas, played outside in the snow and fed our animals, I put a chicken in the oven, made DD a morning snack and read, sewed DD some warm mittens, and now I am making lunch.

Speaking of which, for any of you ladies trying to kick up the fiber notch I made this recipe for blackbean soup for supper last night with chicken quesadillas and it is so easy and so yummy.  If you don't do meat I'm sure you could skip the bacon, but man, the bacon makes it.  Oh, I didn't have chicken broth, so I used beef broth and I think it gave it a nice hearty flavour.

How was everyone's weekend?  We were supposed to drive up to visit DH's family this weekend, about a 6 hour drive away, and cancelled the trip at the last minute as the roads were so bad and just not safe to drive on.  We were all disappointed, as we were really looking forward to the visit.  So, I guess this weekend was a "bonus" in some ways, in terms of getting stuff done around the house.

Yesterday DH and I took DS to the farmer's market for lunch and to play, and did some looking for a "big boy bed" for him.  I think we're going to have to go with bunkbeds, as the second bedroom upstairs is quite small and we don't have room for two twin beds down the road (well, they could squeeze in but not leave much room for anything else other than a dresser).   I think we'll set up one bunk before the baby arrives, and re-convert his toddler bed into a crib so the baby can nap in that room and so he can get used to the idea that he'll be sharing a room when the baby starts to sleep in a crib (prob. around at least 10 mos old, if we go by DS's timing).  Is that what you all would do?

Today, we took DS skating for the first time this year.  He's been talking about going skating for days, and pretending to skate by sliding all over the house in his socks.  Lol. We took him on those two blade bob skates a few times last year, but this time put him in real hockey skates.  He did so well!  From not being able to stand on the ice when we got there, to taking little steps all on his own (well, holding mommy or daddy's hand, of course)!  Proud mommy moment, he was working so hard and so proud of himself.  I found out that on Monday's you skate free if you bring a foodbank donation, so skating may be our new Monday activity.

Our weekend was pretty good. Went for a Christmas decoration and misc things shopping trip to Menards. I put up some lights in the house lastnite. DD LOVES Christmas lights. We also got our hen house all set up with a light timer and some heat lamps just in time for the 20 degree weather here today, and SNOW! It was almost 70 degrees yesterday so it was quite the change this morning, although I woke up really hoping for snow.

Originally Posted by Quinalla 

The weather was so nice this weekend, so we did go to the park both Saturday & Sunday, that was good and DH got a new light installed in our dining room and a new garage door opener system installed (the remotes weren't working for it anymore and would not reprogram), so that was good, but DD was really whining/screaming/etc. except at the park. She is sick with some yuck virus that is making her cough a lot but no fever or anything, but geez both DH and I were getting so fed up. I hope she is good at daycare today for her teachers! I continue to be hungry all the time and doing well on getting my protein.

Sorry about the migraines, timesway, glad you got some relief!

The blackbean soup sounds yummy nstewart, I may try that as DH, DD & I are all fans of blackbean soup!

Virginia884, I really like your "something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read" idea! I may see what DH thinks about something like that.

Good for you on doing well on your protein. I am sucking at it still. Still eating mostly cheese and maybe some ham in the mornings, although this weekend I did a lot better. Sorry your DD is feeling sick. Everyone has had something in our area but we have been missing all of it, thank God!

[BaileyB]

Here's DD in her snowsuit this morning. I told DH she looks like a pink marshmallow!

[adventuregirl]

Bailey - what an adorable little pink marshmallow!

N - that soup sounds delicious! I may have to try making it.

We spent a bit of the weekend preparing for Christmas, doing some shopping and making plans. I am normally a last minute type and it totally stresses me out, so I am really happy to be getting a head start. For some reason I just never get around to doing things and think I have all the time in the world, and then suddenly I have to get packages in the mail ASAP and I haven't finished shopping. So, hopefully I can stay with this momentum and have a more relaxed season this year!

I am struggling with what to buy DD, she doesn't need anything and doesn't even want a lot (give this kid a stuffed animal and a pad of paper and she's satisfied - yay!), so I guess that's good, but have so few suggestions for family. She does love books though, and I am in full support of having as many of those as she wants, so this may be a fairly book-ful holiday, so I really can't complain. Although I did find her rollerblades at a thrift store over the weekend. I was so excited because not only were they $5, they are a great, sturdy brand, only gently used and are expandable! Woo-hoo! She wanted rollerblades and I wasn't leaning toward getting them as I figured she'd outgrow them in about 5 minutes and I'd have to drop a lot of cash for that small window of enjoyment. But these are size 1-4 and she is just a 1, so I was thrilled with that score.

I also had a thrill when we finally told DD last night. She was speechless and is SO insanely excited and now can't stop asking me questions and I am just over the moon about it, yay! The best question so far was "So mom, can you tell me a little bit about pregnancy and birth?". A few days ago I was worried about telling her since I had a little spotting, but since then nothing more has happened other than the little person wiggling all around to let me know its all ok, so I feel a million times better. Aaaahhhh...

So now its back to the work week... hope everyone has a good Monday!

[Quinalla]

Originally Posted by BaileyB 

Good for you on doing well on your protein. I am sucking at it still. Still eating mostly cheese and maybe some ham in the mornings, although this weekend I did a lot better. Sorry your DD is feeling sick. Everyone has had something in our area but we have been missing all of it, thank God!

Every time I consider slacking, I remember twins and how small DD was (granted at 38 weeks, but still) and want to make sure to grow these babies as big as I can. Having twins will be hard enough, if I can do what I can to get them as big as possible, less chance of them having problems. It does help that I like lots of foods with protein and that eating a lot of it is making me feel pretty good. Like I drank two big glasses of milk last night and it tasted so good. I like milk fine normally, but it tasted so awesome. I dunno what I would do if I didn't like eggs, meat, cheese, etc. or if pregnancy was making me crave non-protein things. I just hope I can keep it up!

Bailey, oh she is so cute! Is there anything cuter than a little kid all buttoned up for cold weather

Sheryl, that's so great that your DD is excited about the pregnancy. My DD is getting it more and more, she's been tickling the babies which is cute

[Kate&Joey]

Originally Posted by nstewart 

I think we're going to have to go with bunkbeds, as the second bedroom upstairs is quite small and we don't have room for two twin beds down the road (well, they could squeeze in but not leave much room for anything else other than a dresser).   I think we'll set up one bunk before the baby arrives, and re-convert his toddler bed into a crib so the baby can nap in that room and so he can get used to the idea that he'll be sharing a room when the baby starts to sleep in a crib (prob. around at least 10 mos old, if we go by DS's timing).  Is that what you all would do?

If you have the space, I recommend getting a "twin over full" bunkbed.  That's what we did in DS' room (also very tight on space).  That way an adult can sleep on the bottom bunk in a pinch.  And you can sit on the bottom bunk for storytime, etc.  Just a thought. 

Originally Posted by BaileyB 

Oh, and a DD finger booboo update: The nail is about to fall off, EWWWWWWW!

I hear you!  DH has had two bashed fingers and one bashed toe this year.  The toenail he ended up going to a podiatrist to have removed at the end of summer.  He lost one fingernail a few weeks ago.  Now the thumbnail is about to come off.  Like he says, "it has not been a good year for me and nails!" 

Weekend:  we had nice weather here as well.  We had family photos taken on Saturday morning.  Then both kids had soccer games.  My parents came to watch and then stayed for dinner, which was nice.  They tend to stay in their own little world in their town about 30 miles away.  Chores and one more soccer game on Sunday.  I'm glad DS' season is over!

[Kate&Joey]

Forgot to answer about playrooms.  We have an "upside down" basement in our house.  There are two finished rooms on the third floor.  One room is for storage; the other is for the kids.  We keep the majority of the kids' toys up there (only books stay in their rooms).  They are good about playing up there together.  But I now realize it is impractical for younger children/toddlers.  I spend most of my time on the first floor so I wouldn't be comfortable having a young one up there unsupervised.  I figure with the newbie, we will set up baby "stations" on each floor for his/her toys and "stuff."  Hopefully that will keep the clutter to a minimum if it's spread out....

When I was a kid, we didn't have a playroom.  I guess we kept our toys in our rooms.  I only had one brother as a sibling and we didn't play much together.  He was all trains/legos/Star Wars and I was all baby dolls/Barbies/stuffed animals. 

[Quinalla]

I'd like a true playroom in our next house, right now DD has toys in her room and toys downstairs that we try to keep confined, but generally fail miserably! For older kids, a playroom is great for shared toys. When I was a kid, half of the basement was the playroom and it could be left pretty messy except when company was coming over and would be in the basement which was nice as sometimes you want to leave stuff out for play later.

[BaileyB]

Originally Posted by adventuregirl 

Bailey - what an adorable little pink marshmallow!

N - that soup sounds delicious! I may have to try making it.

We spent a bit of the weekend preparing for Christmas, doing some shopping and making plans. I am normally a last minute type and it totally stresses me out, so I am really happy to be getting a head start. For some reason I just never get around to doing things and think I have all the time in the world, and then suddenly I have to get packages in the mail ASAP and I haven't finished shopping. So, hopefully I can stay with this momentum and have a more relaxed season this year!

I am struggling with what to buy DD, she doesn't need anything and doesn't even want a lot (give this kid a stuffed animal and a pad of paper and she's satisfied - yay!), so I guess that's good, but have so few suggestions for family. She does love books though, and I am in full support of having as many of those as she wants, so this may be a fairly book-ful holiday, so I really can't complain. Although I did find her rollerblades at a thrift store over the weekend. I was so excited because not only were they $5, they are a great, sturdy brand, only gently used and are expandable! Woo-hoo! She wanted rollerblades and I wasn't leaning toward getting them as I figured she'd outgrow them in about 5 minutes and I'd have to drop a lot of cash for that small window of enjoyment. But these are size 1-4 and she is just a 1, so I was thrilled with that score.

I also had a thrill when we finally told DD last night. She was speechless and is SO insanely excited and now can't stop asking me questions and I am just over the moon about it, yay! The best question so far was "So mom, can you tell me a little bit about pregnancy and birth?". A few days ago I was worried about telling her since I had a little spotting, but since then nothing more has happened other than the little person wiggling all around to let me know its all ok, so I feel a million times better. Aaaahhhh...

So now its back to the work week... hope everyone has a good Monday!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is getting ready for Christmas. DH is kind of a humbug because he hates how materialistic Christmas has turned out to be but I think you can still keep it down to earth and enjoy decorating and shopping.

Originally Posted by Kate&Joey 
Now the thumbnail is about to come off.  Like he says, "it has not been a good year for me and nails!" 

LOL!

Weekend:  we had nice weather here as well.  We had family photos taken on Saturday morning.  Then both kids had soccer games.  My parents came to watch and then stayed for dinner, which was nice.  They tend to stay in their own little world in their town about 30 miles away.  Chores and one more soccer game on Sunday.  I'm glad DS' season is over!

Ugh! We need to get our family photos done SOON! This weekend would have been a great weekend for it but our photographer had her son's 1st bday and her kids are BFF's with DD so it didn't work out. Today would've been great with the fresh snow falling but we only got a dusting and it will be gone tomorrow. I want to somehow have it be obvious in our photos that I am pregnant but I don't want it to be cheesy and if I do show that I am pregnant then I am worried I will have to be picky which family members of mine I send them too. Some will think that I am showing off being pregnant to hurt others and those who don't get them will think I am trying to hide it from other people. I am not trying to hide being pregnant from anyone and I am def not trying to rub in it anybody's face!

Originally Posted by Kate&Joey 

Forgot to answer about playrooms.  We have an "upside down" basement in our house.  There are two finished rooms on the third floor.  One room is for storage; the other is for the kids.  We keep the majority of the kids' toys up there (only books stay in their rooms).  They are good about playing up there together.  But I now realize it is impractical for younger children/toddlers.  I spend most of my time on the first floor so I wouldn't be comfortable having a young one up there unsupervised.  I figure with the newbie, we will set up baby "stations" on each floor for his/her toys and "stuff."  Hopefully that will keep the clutter to a minimum if it's spread out....

When I was a kid, we didn't have a playroom.  I guess we kept our toys in our rooms.  I only had one brother as a sibling and we didn't play much together.  He was all trains/legos/Star Wars and I was all baby dolls/Barbies/stuffed animals. 

DD has play areas on both floors of our house. We have a small farmhouse so there's not really a playroom. We do a lot of rotating of toys otherwise it gets out of control with clutter.

[AmandaLynnH]

Originally Posted by kimble 

When do you all start Christmas shopping? My MIL has a habit of finishing by thanksgiving which I have always found odd. My family is more of the last-minute Christmas eve end of the spectrum.

I've got most of my holiday shopping done already (I try to do it before Thanksgiving as I get a little stabby if I have to deal with Christmas crowds), minus one gift for my brother, possibly something additional (but not necessary) for my niece, and stuff for DH but I did pick up his main gift today, a tool storage system from Sears.  Got a fantastic deal on it too!  I hope he likes it.  He was looking at ones at Menards that cost several hundred bucks each piece and refused to buy them for himself because they were so expensive.  This set isn't as heavy duty but a lot of people said it's fine for a homeowner and it was under $200 for 3 seperate pieces.  I'll probably get him some liners for his stocking, some nice wool socks, and other assorted goodies too.  

This will be our cheapest Christmas ever too thanks to Swagbucks and AppTrailers (if anyone wants a referral link, let me know).  I've been pulling in an extra $100/month thanks to those apps and that paid for most of our Christmas gifts and now we're saving for the mint floor cleaner to make life easier when the baby gets here.

Originally Posted by Quinalla 

For my Christmas list, I just want people to buy me stuff for the twins. My siblings will, but my Mom doesn't like buying stuff unless it is strictly for me. I'm going to see what I can talk her into though because I really don't need much of anything except $$ to pay for daycare and twin stuff, ya know? And I know they will buy stuff for the babies anyway, so I'd rather they not spend too much on us. At least they can afford it, but I still don't like people spending too much on me.

See I'm one of those that would be annoyed because I'd want to get YOU things to treat YOU!  But I get it, sometimes you want stuff to free up money for other things too and that piece of mind is better than any present.

Had a nice weekend, although it was a bit unexpected.  I've had a migraine for the last 9ish days so I was hoping to kick it.  The weather made sure that didn't happen as it was insanely windy and then random storms moved through.  Today was a 35 degree temp shift down so that didn't help either.  My BIL ended up randomly showing up because we live less than a mile from the zoo and he wanted to see if we wanted to go with.  I was still in my pjs and none too thrilled as we had other plans.  But we ended up waiting for the storm to stop (they went to a sale somewhere while I got dressed) and then went for a little bit and DH and I still had time to go grab some Christmas decorations (they won't go up until AFTER Thanksgiving as I have a strict rule of one holiday at a time) before I had to go babysit.  Had 2 extra kids (their cousins who I don't particularly like as they're little hellions) but they were actually all pretty good and played by themselves so I could just sit and get paid.

Sunday I napped, ran an errand (meant to run more but I was wiped out and the shopping center was crazy and windy) and then my MIL came out for dinner and brought the baby some goodies.  She says things just jump into her cart!  Love her!

Getting the silent treatment from my mom still over the thanksgiving thing.  Now DH will likely have to work that Sat. anyway so we wouldn't have been able to stay longer anyway and I'm just trying to figure out how soon we can haul buns out of there!  I don't even want to go at all.  The relationship isn't healthy and isn't worth it anymore but it's so hard to cut it off without her doing something really appalling.  

Hope everyone has a great week.  Thankfully I get a massage tonight and hit up the doctor tomorrow.  Hope to find out when they can schedule my anatomy scan.

[timesway]

eek so tired.. need to get to bed really, got to be up in 7 hours (meep) for dentist.. (altho looking foreward to prospect of shiny teeth as the dentist normally gets stains off my teeth and ive quit smoking since being pregnant so will be nice to get them cleaned up all nice as its only tea to stain them now and not drinking lots of that due to preg either.. arg really dont like morning appointments tho..

I wish i had the spacce for a play room, i live in a 2 bed flat.. i do however have a nice big spare room atm, which will be converted into a room with probably still a bed but also a cot, which baby will have when he/she stops living in my room with me, which im getting excited a the prospect of decorating.. i just cannot believe im nearly 15 weeks pregnant.. 15 weeks to me always seemed like loads.. and im still not really showing... its insane!!
 

[Quinalla]

I do understand the desire to get stuff the person can use and i will give my Mom a few ideas as there are always a few things that need replacing, but i just hope she will get twin stuff for some/most because there is very little I need or want.

Stuck in a plane on the runway right now, joy! Traveling for work today and thursday, not starting out well.

[Lynann]

We don't have a playroom per se. We did put down those jigsaw tiles on our screened in back patio so we could use it as an outdoor playroom. We are fortunate to live in a climate where the children can play outside all year, so we have some toys that are kept out there, and they go out to play on the patio most days. The rest of the toys were in the family room until last week. Now that my 14 month old has mastered the stairs the boys keep going upstairs to play, so last week I moved most of the toys up there to the guest room. We have 3 bedrooms & a loft area (potential 4th bedroom) upstairs, so after Christmas our plan is to move all the indoor toys to the loft area and turn that into their main play space for indoors. I must admit I'm really enjoying keeping the downstairs (which is open plan) tidy without much effort now the toys have been moved. We also keep about half their toys out of rotation and swap a few over every few months. It is crazy how quickly the toys can get out of control. Since we'd like several more children our plan is to keep the toys out of bedrooms and in one communal area, so most of the toys aren't personal use only (other than a few special toys each) and that will make it easier for them to share everything. We're still keeping their books downstairs in the family room for now, as we generally have story time snuggled together on the sofa, and the book basket is an easy clean up.

We had a fun weekend. Discovered a wonderful play park that is only a 10 minute drive. It is just unfortunate that it is too far away to walk to while we still only have one vehicle. We also took the boys back to church on Sunday. We'd been keeping them home because they kept getting sick after being in the church nursery, so I'm now waiting to see if they get sick again this week. I'm not sure what we'll do if they do get sick, as I really don't want them in the nursery, but the church is too small to keep them with us in the service during the sermon, as they distract everyone. I don't want to have to keep taking turns with DH on going to church alone, and keeping them out of church until they are old enough for Sunday School isn't really a solution either. I wish we could just find a church that has a parent's room instead of a nursery, but DH isn't ready to look for another church yet.

Our oven broke last week, and we're waiting until DH gets paid tomorrow to order a new one. The good news is we're going to be upgrading to a double oven stove with 5 burners, which I'm kind of excited about. The bad news is we're probably not going to have it in time for Thanksgiving next week. We deep fry the turkey, but I'm not sure how we'll get the stuffing done without a working oven, and it also means we'll have to buy dessert this year. I usually make a pumpkin cheesecake and a few pies, but we may just be buying 1 pie (since it will just be the 4 of us, can't invite people over when we have no oven.)

Those in the USA, what are you all doing for Thanksgiving this year?

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by Lynann 

Our oven broke last week, and we're waiting until DH gets paid tomorrow to order a new one. The good news is we're going to be upgrading to a double oven stove with 5 burners, which I'm kind of excited about. The bad news is we're probably not going to have it in time for Thanksgiving next week. We deep fry the turkey, but I'm not sure how we'll get the stuffing done without a working oven, and it also means we'll have to buy dessert this year. I usually make a pumpkin cheesecake and a few pies, but we may just be buying 1 pie (since it will just be the 4 of us, can't invite people over when we have no oven.)

Those in the USA, what are you all doing for Thanksgiving this year?

Oh, a double oven will be amazing!!  Do you have a bbq (or "grill" as I think some parts of the US call it)?  You can cook your stuffing and bake your pies right on the BBQ.  My parents did a huge kitchen reno when I was in highschool and for about 6 months all we had for a "kitchen" was a microwave and a hot plate in our laundry room, and a BBQ on the back deck.  My mom got very good at cooking anything that would go in the oven on the BBQ.  Just get a thermostat so you can make sure the temperature stays even, and bake the pie on indirect heat (ie: above the actual grill, either on a bun toaster thing (you know, the 2nd level thing in some BBQs, or by making something similar with cooling racks, or setting the pie above a cast iron dutch oven on a rack, or by just turning on one element on the BBQ and doing the pie on the opposite side from the flame.  You can do the stuffing the same way (I bet right in some cast iron if you have a dutch oven or big skillet would be amazing!), and green beans are amazing BBQd in tinfoil.

Anyway, depends how adventerous you are feeling, but it's definitely do-able!

Katie, I'm travelling for work this week as well.  I head out tonight and am back tomorrow night.  Unfortunetely, no where glamorous.  Up to a small city in the northern-most part of Alberta, then a 40km drive out to a facility my company owns.  Ah well, I am looking forward to a completely uninterrupted sleep tonight and I am thankful that I only have to make the trip every two months or so.

Amanda, I like getting my shopping done early too.  Some years it happens, some it doesn't.  My favorite thing is to go to the mall on December 23 when I have all my shopping done, and enjoy a liesurely hot chocolate while strolling the mall and maybe picking up a stocking stuffer or two, while all the other shoppers (75% of whom are men) frenetically scramble to get their shopping done.  Sick?  Perhaps, but I can't help love it.

Oh, the other thing I love:  Going into Victoria Secret around Christmas and watching the men with their panic stricken faces.  I love how they stand over by the flannel PJs, rubbing the fabric between their fingers, but look over their shoulders the whole time at all the sexy stuff.  They always look so nervouse, like if they go into that section the clothing will reach out and bite them.  lol. 

[Lynann]

We do have a gas grill. I think everyone that lives in Florida has a grill. DH had mentioned trying to do the stuffing on the grill too. I'd never have thought of trying to make pies on the grill though.

I will confess to enjoying a cup of coffee at the Mall just before Christmas and watching all the panic shoppers trying to do all their shopping on one lunch break.

[kimble]

Originally Posted by Lynann 

Our oven broke last week, and we're waiting until DH gets paid tomorrow to order a new one. The good news is we're going to be upgrading to a double oven stove with 5 burners, which I'm kind of excited about. The bad news is we're probably not going to have it in time for Thanksgiving next week. We deep fry the turkey, but I'm not sure how we'll get the stuffing done without a working oven, and it also means we'll have to buy dessert this year. I usually make a pumpkin cheesecake and a few pies, but we may just be buying 1 pie (since it will just be the 4 of us, can't invite people over when we have no oven.)

Those in the USA, what are you all doing for Thanksgiving this year?

Nice call on the double oven! We put one in when we re-did the kitchen and I looooove it. I bake approximately 1,000 cookies every Christmas (no joke!) and ours has been a godsend. If I prep the cookies ahead of time, I can barely keep up with how fast the ovens can churn them out. Plus it gives you the flexibility of cooking at two different temperatures. We have the added "bonus" of the oven enabling our laziness though as DH uses it to sanitize empty bottles for homebrewing by baking them, and we've had the lower oven filled with bottles for the past 6 months since we haven't gotten around to actually putting beer in them. Time to rectify that before cookies this year!

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. We're just going up to DH's parents about 2 hours away and will be joined by an uncle, BIL and SIL, and their new DD. It's very low key and centered on just enjoying a meal with family, which is why I love Thanksgiving. MIL doesn't like cooking but we do, so we are bringing rolls, a squash dish, and 2 pies. We may bring a kale dish as well.

I really want to host a Thanksgiving some day but between renovations and a little one next year it will probably be a while. Plus DH is now adamant about not hosting until we have room for people to stay the night which I wish he would have expressed more when we were house shopping. We would need to finish the basement with an office and family room and get pull-out couches or something to provide sleeping space. It's in the long term plan but I don't want to wait 10 years to cook a Thanksgiving dinner!

[AmandaLynnH]

Originally Posted by nstewart 

Amanda, I like getting my shopping done early too.  Some years it happens, some it doesn't.  My favorite thing is to go to the mall on December 23 when I have all my shopping done, and enjoy a liesurely hot chocolate while strolling the mall and maybe picking up a stocking stuffer or two, while all the other shoppers (75% of whom are men) frenetically scramble to get their shopping done.  Sick?  Perhaps, but I can't help love it.

Oh, the other thing I love:  Going into Victoria Secret around Christmas and watching the men with their panic stricken faces.  I love how they stand over by the flannel PJs, rubbing the fabric between their fingers, but look over their shoulders the whole time at all the sexy stuff.  They always look so nervouse, like if they go into that section the clothing will reach out and bite them.  lol. 

That actually sounds like a hilarious time!  Although I'd probably get annoyed trying to park the car given how thoughtful everyone seems to be at that time of year and sit there and snark at everyone instead.  That's why I only venture out during the week if necessary, usually to use free money coupons.  I was already annoyed by the lack of manners when I was out this weekend and we're still 2 weekends away from the official kick off of the holiday season.

Originally Posted by Lynann 

We do have a gas grill. I think everyone that lives in Florida has a grill. DH had mentioned trying to do the stuffing on the grill too. I'd never have thought of trying to make pies on the grill though.

I will confess to enjoying a cup of coffee at the Mall just before Christmas and watching all the panic shoppers trying to do all their shopping on one lunch break.

Yea, a grill can be amazingly versatile!  Google a little and I'm sure you can find a number of baked goods you can make on the grill.  I'm jealous of the double oven!  We recently replaced ours and I really wanted a double one but we're low on large storage in our kitchen so I couldn't give up that bottom drawer.

So I was supposed to get a massage yesterday, right?  Was all looking forward to it as I literally have a pain in my ass (a knot) that's been really bothering me and is starting to give me pain elsewhere in my lower back because I must be sitting and/or walking a little differently.   So I get there, groupon in hand, about 10 minutes before my scheduled appointment and I'm informed that while I told them I was pregnant (because some places require someone certified in prenantal to do it) they neglected to schedule one of their prenatal people that day.  Wha?  And the person working the desk knew because she asked if I was pregnant (whispered it too which kinda made me giggle, like it's a big secret) so there had to be a note in my appointment.  So no massage for me.  At least they're letting me use the groupon past its expiration date and are adding an extra half hour but now I have to wait over 2 weeks.  Then again, I'll have been at my mother's so I'll need another one then anyway.

As for me and Thanksgiving, I'll be sitting counting the seconds until I can get the hell away from my mother and come back home.  Or I'll be plotting her demise, possibly both.