*Moving to Saffron Walden, Essex , in August - does anyone live nearby?*

[SaffyCat]

I am moving from Surrey to Saffron Walden in mid-August with my husband, 7yr old son and 1yr old daughter. We don't know anyone in the area yet and I would love to meet other local mums (am happy to drive a few miles) and also to find out about toddler groups/recomended family activities.

where is everyone???? i've been away to my mum's for a few days and come back and no one has posted anything - thought there would be loads to read!!

No sign of the baby yet - strange to think that 2 weeks today i know he will be here.

Hi ES - have you had a good time at your mums?

I'm a little nervous - the children are having their assessment at F's school on Monday and so I am now worrying that they won't be accepted due to being dodgy londoners
I'm driving them up at some unearthly hour of the morning and they have to stay at the school for the day so I will have a few hours to wander aimlessly around SW and mope and miss them Dh says I should drive up to his work and meet up for lunch but I can't imagine going that far away just in case the children need me somehow (oh gawd this is like leaving them at nursery for the first time, can't believe how emotional I'm getting over it!).
We still haven't exchanged contracts and I sooo want to move or at least have a definite date to move.

Woo-hoo! We finally exchanged and are due to complete next Friday! Well, it's only taken SEVEN months! Milkarkie - I know how agonising the wait can be and hope it all picks up a pace and you're settled soon.
I'm wishing you lots of luck for your children's assessment. I really hope they like the school and everyone is happy.
Yes, I know a good builder but like all good onews - he's busy. Not sure what he'll be doing when we move. I think a few months of commuting will make him look for work closer to home but he'll need to get new colleagues and contacts to do that.
Here's to finally joining SW clan!

Sorry ES I also meant to add that I'm thinking of you as you wait for your new baby. I bet you're desperate for baby to come. I know I was so bad tempered at the end of my pregnancy but at that time it was sweltering hot and I was absolutely enormous!
My ds lives his baby sister now though and all the hard work is worth it. Good luck!

Congratulations Laura! I'm off work, sorting stuff out and packing boxes (supposedly) for the next few days, but we are having one tiny delay after another, and now dh has rung to say that he will be in the USA for a week in May, so am now trying to fit the house move in before he goes but not too soon as I can't take that much time off work - argh.
My brother and brother-in-law are builders, but bruv builds skyscrapers in London.

Hi all,

Oooh, it's cold out there! Just as well I've got lots of clearing cupboards to get on with. Have already sorted out 4 bags of old clothes to give to charity but I'm sure there's more to follow.

Glad to hear that everyone is well, we are still aiming for a completion date of 25th May but who knows.

ES - Have you decided on any names for DS2?

Millarkie - hugely impressed the the packing. I'm a last-minute merchant unfortunately. :-)

For those of you in the area over Easter, don't forget the NCT Audley End miniature rail Easter egg hunt. 3rd April, tickets are in advance £2.50 child £3.50 adult.

Good news on the exchange front LauraSmiles. Will you move in straight away or over a period of weeks? Our place was an absolute sh** hole when we moved in. In fact when I collected the keys and saw the place it was only the 2nd time we'd seen it and I cried it was so bad. I shudder remembering seeing a flea on ds foot. Yuk yuk yuk.

No, we'll stay in our flat for a while - despite being desparate to move . Dp will go up and do some basic DIY to start us off and we'll probably move in mid-April. At least we have a chance to move in gradually and introduce our ds to the idea of sleeping somewhere new.
The place just needs a complete overhaul (70's colours and decor) and then we'll need to look at room layout and extending at the back......and oh...lots of other money-eating things!
Other people's dirt always seems worse than your own in my opinion - although a flee encounter is a bit gruesome!! They are little tikes to get rid of. My Stepdad had them once in his house brought in by the cats. They seem to like certain people rather than others (just like mosquitos I suppose). My stepdd hadn't noticed them but when we visited they sucked the life out of my then dp! He was not impressed.

Sounds sensible. We did the same!

Why the move from ? to here?

HI

Glad everyone's move is going well.

haven't got any specific names yet - my DS likes Henry and i like James. However, i was engaged to a guy called James before i married my DH ao it is a no go.

Just had some news from our builders - we have refused to pay them for the work that they have not completed properly and they have issued us with a letter stating that in 7 days time they will pull off site and will charge us 5% if we don't pay up. Trouble is, if we pay for work that is not completed, we will end up out of pocket, they will leave anyway and we will have to pay for someone else to come in. Has anyone else had a builder pull out on them?

Who are you using?

Well I could just tell you that we are moving from Walthamstow to SW and that would probably be enough of an explanation as to why! [smiles]
However, we like London and this area is on the steep rise, but we need grass and a better quality of life for our little ones. We were looking for a house we could do up and sell on and eventually found this one and then dp fell for the town. We made a decision that either one of us would be home with the children whilst they were preschool, but one salary doesn't cut it for us, so we have to subsidise our budget this way!
I had all of my late adolescence in Little Hadham and have relatives in Bishop's Stortford and the commute to my dp's family in Southgate, London is still do-able.
Bit nervous about the change of pace to country living, but wanting to embrace it wholeheartedly!! Mainly, I just can't wait for the space - we are so cooped up in my little flat.

I'm sure you'll love it. I spent 15 years in SE London before we moved here for much the same reasons as you. Complete change of lifestyle for us too, as I gave up work to look after the boys. However where we were in London I had nowhere to walk to unless I wanted to walk along the Old Kent Road into Deptford or Peckham! I had to rely on the car to get me anywhere (although we did have a beautiful park less than a 2 min walk away) Now there isn't a day that goes by that I'm not trundling into town for something, even if it is an Americain coffee Dh was born and bred in SW London and he was adamant that he wouldn't live in a village, it had to be a town of some sort.

It's strange talking to your neighbours, something we never did in London

Off to ds1 nursery later to the Easter Fayre. Now that is something I find quite bizzarre, the amount of fayres and fetes there are over the course of the year.

Good Luck with your move

You sound like a girl after my own heart! The fayres and fetes thing is quite quaint and I could quite get into that side of life. Well the cake stalls anyway. lol.
Have fun - I hope the rain stays away.

Cakes! I can make them, but not ones you could actually sell

Absolutely piddling it down here!

Hi

We are using Cox & son - picked them because they are meant to have a good reputation etc. but hey this is our 5th building project and the builders are all the same!

Still raining here - my DH has a major hangover he has been being sick since 6 am this morning and is still being so - he hardly ever drinks more than 5 pints on a Friday but decided last night (we go to The Bell on a Friday) to consume 9 pints - he then came home and painted the nursery and put the cot together - absolutely hilarious but today he is paying for his antics and i am hoembound as we attempted to go into SW but he was just sick. I cna't drive anymore as i don't fit behind the wheel.

Can't believe that i have 11 days to go until my baby will be here - still trying to get my head around the name Henry -

Hi Laura, I have neen watching this thread (not posted for a while though) and saw that your DH is from Southgate. I was from that neck of the woods, and went to school in Southgate, before we moved up here!

Hi Mouseman - there's a coincidence! He's a mere whipper-snapper compared to me - just 29yrs. (I'm decidely older!). He went to school in Arnos Grove though, but has lived in Southgate since he was 7yrs.You don't miss the old place then?

Not in the least, we go back frequently to see friends and family but I have a sinking feeling that gets worse the nearer we get!! Much happier out here.

ES - Awful news about your builders, I hope you can find a solution soon. But if some of the work isn't up to standard then they should be doing it again and you only pay when you are happy with it.
Isn't it funny what a few drinks will do? How was the paint job on the cot??
My sister and her partner have just had a little boy and he's three weeks old and they are STILL debating names! Henry is a sweet name - very traditional!
Any braxton-hicks yet??

Mouseman - Hmm, I can see why you wouldn't yearn for Southgate. I like North London but have never fallen for Southgate.

Hi

A few drinks i don't call 5 pints of guiness in 1.5 hrs and then 7 pints of Becks in another hour a few drinks - the funny thing was i actually slept most of the day as my paretns had DS - they then arrived at 5pm to take us all out to dinner my DH was delighted with this - i was grinning like a cheshire cat - we all had some lovely red wine and a great meal - he was wrecked, had to look after DS while we all chatted and then enjoyed his Coke - all i can say is 'i told you so'

Lots of Braxton Hicks - well i think they are - last time my waters broke at 37 weeks and i didn't have a single contraction until that happened i then went to The Roise and had my C section within 4 hours as i knew i was having one. So i think they are - maybe someone can confirm - they started last night are like really bad period pains right down in my pubic bone, major back ache and my breasts have grown and my all my bodily fluids have got thicker and whiter - some of these pains are really painful and i have to close ym eyes and take lots of deep breaths while they last.

they aren't BH love!

well what are they then - please don't tell me they are labour pains - how do you know if you are in labour - can these pains not go on for days ebfore the baby comes?

The thing is i am having another C-section and don't really want to go into labour before the 4th - don't want to ring the hospital and say oh i've got pains they will think i'm some mad woman

The bad news is yes, they sound like labour pains. the good news is, you are not neccesarily in active labour. I had these in both my pregnancies, started at 37 weeks with 1st and 35 weeks with 2nd. With the first I kept going to the hospital, be hooked up the machine, told I was in labour and then have an internal only to be told I was not dialting so wasn't in active labour. Both boys were born t 40 weeks. I would go and get yourself checked out though.