jLo

We have just had a most excellent Niko experience: our bath was leaking and within 15 mins of my call he was at our front door! He fixed the problem quickly, had some good advice about how to prevent a recurrence. Very reasonable price, unbelievably fast and efficient service!

Hello, thanks for posting this Sarah. Would love to see if we could get everyone together - it was lovely to run into some of you last weekend! How about this weekend coming? Saturday morning could work for us, coffee at the Plough maybe so the kids can run around in the garden? Julie (Frankie's mum)

Many thanks for your help James! I really appreciate it - the sofa has now been collected, hurrah! Cheers Julie

Hello I'm having a very frustrating experience with a bulk waste furniture collection - originally booked for 9 May and which still has not taken place over a week later. I've written you am email today about this, I'd be really grateful for your help as soon as possible. Regards Julie

Ooh, and here's my top tip: lanyards! I ordered a bunch from Amazon and they were brilliant. One for his dummy, one for each toy - so they couldn't be dropped/thrown on the floor. My son was 6 months when we flew to Australia - he is very wriggly and so didn't like being strapped down on my lap during long taxi and takeoff etc. Having a couple of toys hung round my neck (and his dummy round his neck) was very useful! (I should stress that these lanyards had quick-release clips so there was no chance it could choke him)

I love 'Dill', it's brilliant! Well done Matty Love.

Hello, I'm looking for the same - does anyone have a financial adviser they can recommend? Many thanks in advance...

Hello hello, I'm from BrisVegas as Matt has mentioned above. It is a lovely place to grow up, that is for sure. When we were kids we lived in the Redlands, which is about 40mins by train from Brisbane city and is right by Moreton Bay. It's beautiful. I've not lived there for a while, but I've been struck each time I've been back at how much the city has changed - it's gone from a (somewhat parochial) big country town to a lovely, cosmopolitan place with great restaurants, cafes and bars. I would echo the comments above about the heat - summers are brutal - but you're near the coast so getting to the beach is pretty easy. I say if the job situation works in your favour then go for it!

Hello! Francis William (Frankie) Harrington arrived at 12:19 on 30 July. He's a whopper - just short of 9 pounds - which may explain why the induction took quite a while! He's lovely and we're enjoying getting to know him. Hope everyone is doing well, looking forward to catching up and meeting other babies soon. xxx

OMG kristymac1, that is amazing! Congratulations, so happy it all happened safely and well, enjoy your new family member. Erika, would love to join you today but not sure we'll be able to - I'm still pregnant (ARGH!) but hopefully things are moving along so not sure what shape I'll be in this afternoon. Hope everyone is doing well, looking forward to meeting up with babies (including mine, when he decides to make his appearance!) soon.

Hello! Congratulations to the new babies! I hope everyone is coping okay. I'm sorry I missed the Bishop last week, a little trip to A&E with my friend's toddler got in the way (she's fine, thankfully). I would love to meet for coffee tomorrow - Sarah, would you mind if we met a bit earlier and you join us when you can? I'll have to get away by 1600/1630 or so. Would 1430 be okay? Shall we meet at the Bishop again? Looking forward to seeing anyone who can make it. Julie xx

Congratulations to all mums and new babies! How exciting and lovely, am so glad everyone is doing well. I'm REALLY enjoying not being at work anymore, though can't believe it's possible to be this HUGE and still get around. I'd love to join in this Thursday - what sort of time are people thinking? Julie xx

Hey everyone! Hope you are well, hope those with new babies are coping okay! I think today is a meetup day - am sorry that I can't make it (Day 2 of NCT class) but will look forward to catching up soon. One more week until mat leave starts, I cannot WAIT! Definitely need to not be wearing proper shoes every day anymore. Julie x

Oh HOORAY! Congratulations, Annabelle, that is the most wonderful news! So happy he's here safely, if a little early. Hope you're doing well. Congrats to Erika too! How exciting that the babies are arriving. I was very sorry to miss everyone on Saturday, hope to see you all soon! Julie x

Hey Rhiannon! Welcome! The world is getting smaller - the forum group and our antenatal class group always needed to overlap. There are SO many people due this summer, and meet ups going on all the time. I think those already on leave are meeting during the week - otherwise every other Saturday at the Plough. The next one will be next week (9 June) - I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it but if other weeks are anything to go by there will be plenty of people there! Hope you're doing well, enjoy your maternity leave! Julie x

Hello everyone! Hope you are doing well. I have my Life in the UK (aka 'Englishness') test at lunchtime tomorrow, so won't be able to come along to the Plough early. I'll pop in when I get back and see if anyone is still there! Hope you're all getting to enjoy the sunshine. Julie

Hey Amy, probably more like 2pm for me, if that helps! JLO

PS the weekday meet-ups do sound lovely, will look forward to joining them when I start my mat leave!

Hey folks! Hope you're all doing well. I've missed the last couple of Saturday meet ups, will be along this weekend though so look forward to catching up with some of you then (or next time, sydneyswan!). I've been doing well, I got to go on a wee holiday which was LOVELY - a good dose of sunshine to see me through until the summer actually arrives. Other than that, I'be been working WAY too much and finding it hard to overcome the tiredness. Oh, and I passed my gestational diabetes test, yay! I don't know what I would have done if chocolate was added to the list of forbidden treats. See (some of) you on Saturday! Julie x

Am sorry I won't be able to make it today, folks - hope you have fun! Hope everyone is doing well, look forward to catching up soon. JLO

Hello folks, hope all are well. It was so lovely to see SO MANY PEOPLE at the Plough yesterday! I can't believe how many of us there are due this summer. Given the size of our group, a proposal was mooted that we have a very regular meet-up - say, every other Saturday - so then people can just drop in whenever they fancy. If you can't make it one week, there'll be another very soon afterwards. That would mean the next meet-up date would be 14 April, followed by 28 April and so on from there. What do people think? The Plough seemed to work very well as a venue for a very large group (and hopefully as the weather gets warmer it'll be even better) but I'm totally easy on where we meet. If there are other suggestions, please make them! Otherwise, shall we say every other Saturday, 2pm at the Plough? Looking forward to getting to know everyone better. Julie xx

Hey everyone! It was lovely to see so many folks at the Plough yesterday in the sunshine. A proposal was made that perhaps we should do it again sooner rather than later - the theory being that if we meet quite often these days then all will get a chance to come along when they can. Once we get bigger and more immobile it might become more tricky, so let's take advantage of it now... SO: March 31st was the date proposed. I think the Plough worked really well yesterday - but of course, I would say that, it's my local. Very happy to meet somewhere else if folks prefer. Julie x

Hey folks - apologies for radio silence of late, I hope you are all doing well and welcome new mums-to-be. Very much looking forward to catching up tomorrow - I'm delighted that the Plough is the chosen venue, it's a short walk from home for me! I've hit and passed the half-way mark now (21 weeks, scan next Friday). Turns out I may be now starting to atone for the relatively easy time I had in the first few months - the pain is kicking in. Walking around too much/too fast is becoming problematic, I went and got checked out this week and the doctor said probably SPD. What fun! My new goal is to make it through this pregnancy without the need for crutches, wish me luck.... See some of you tomorrow. Julie

Lovely to meet you all too (and your husband, vch!). It was great to compare notes and hear very useful advice from sydneyswan who has been through this before. Sorry to those who couldn't join us today - look forward to meeting you all soon! I'm definitely keen to do it again - and I very much liked the suggestion of meeting at one of the local pubs instead of the very squashy cafe. Today was the second Saturday of February, should we aim for the second Saturday in March as well? That would be March 10. What do folks think? Julie

Looking forward to seeing some of you this afternoon! For recognition: I'm about 5'6", dark hair, red glasses, grey dress and blue scarf. I am very well-rounded to begin with so it's impossible to tell what is baby and what is just my regular belly. I cam across a recipe for blueberry pancakes this week that was pretty tasty and didn't have any sweeteners, you may enjoy this kristymac! http://www.dietgirl.org/dietgirl/2012/01/easy-blueberry-oat-pancakes.html I found out yesterday that due to my PCOS and a family history of type II diabetes, I'll be proceeding straight to the glucose tolerance test at 28 weeks, without the blood sugar screening first. Ah well - guess I'll just deal with it when the time comes! Julie