Christmas 2022

Merry Christmas! What a lovely holiday we had this year, celebrating with my mom and dad here in Melbourne. Andy and I had finished up work on the 13th of December, so we had nearly two weeks to get ready for Christmas. Of course, this still meant that we spent a few days at shopping centres the week before Christmas, desperately looking for our last few gifts. I am happy to report that our last day shopping was the 22nd, so we weren't that late!

Andy took Ella out for the morning of the 23rd so that my mom, dad and I could get all the gift wrapping done. We also had a grocery order booked in for Christmas Eve morning and so felt ready for Christmas. This meant we were able to just chill out and enjoy the day on Christmas Eve. We didn’t do much in the morning, the main event was the kids building a Lego gummy house… our version of a gingerbread house this year.

In the afternoon we went to Verge and Taryn’s house. Taryn’s parents are visiting from South Africa for three months, and we thought our sets of grandparents would get along well… and we were right! It was a great afternoon with the kids splashing around in the paddling pool, playing on the slip and slide, and decorating gingerbread men. And to top it all off, the grandparents have made some tentative plans to hang out again, which is really nice. 

We got home around 8pm and quickly put the kids to bed… do I feel bad about telling the kids that Santa might miss our house if they are not asleep in order to get them into bed??? No, no I do not! We put out some milk and cookies along with carrots for the reindeer, read a Christmas story, and then they were off to sleep. 

The leftovers from Santa and his reindeer!

I had to make the meringue for the pavlova I was planning for dessert on Christmas Day once they were in bed. This was my first ever attempt at making a pavlova so I was a bit nervous that the meringue wouldn't work out. I used this very detailed recipe with lots of hints - including letting the meringue cool down in the oven overnight. The finished product below... I was pretty happy with my first pavlova attempt!

The kids woke on Christmas morning at a very reasonable time of 6:30am. Ollie snuck into bed and cuddled with my mom for a few minutes before whispering "Merry Christmas" to her. So sweet! Ella came into our bed and let us know that she'd been asking Santa for a pom pom dog (I think she means a Pomeranian), and yes she meant a real dog. I tried to temper her expectations by reminding her that Santa knows which parents want pets and which do not. I think that deep down she knew that getting a pet was HIGHLY unlikely, but that didn't keep her from hoping it might happen!

We managed to get some family snaps in front of the tree before the kids ripped into their stockings.

Christmas this year with the kids was FUN. They are at a great age for it. Both are super excited and still believe in Santa. Despite there being no dog Ella was happy with her presents - she has a new Our Generation doll and a horse for the dolls which she was thrilled with. "Santa" brought her a kids Fitbit, so we are having lots of daily step competitions (kids do a lot of steps!) and she's able to use her watch and timer for things. 

Ollie was super cute in that before opening each present he checked who it was from and then yelled out a big "thank you!!!" to those people before opening it up. He got a few games which he loves, along with some Lego and Transformers that seem to be his favourite gifts. 

Oh and how can I forget his squishmallows, which he loves, loves, loves. This kid loves to cuddle anything soft. 

Christmas Day was pretty warm and basically centred around presents and food. We had a BBQ brunch in the morning which we ate outside before it got too hot. 

There was some time to chill out in the early afternoon. Ollie snuck off to his room to have a nap and the adults sat with their feet in the paddling pool to keep cool. 

In the late afternoon Andy and my dad took the kids to a splash pad to cool off while my mom and I got dinner ready. Along with the pavlova I wanted to have an Australian style Christmas, rather than the traditional meal we'd eat in Canada or England. (Read: no turkey!) I made a maple glazed ham, we had prawns, and sides of fresh iceburg lettuce salad and green beans. It was the first time I've been completely in charge of a Christmas dinner, and it all turned out quite well if I do say so myself!

You'll notice that Ollie is going through a phase of scrunching up his face every time we ask him to smile for a photo!

All in all it was a really fabulous Christmas Day and I'm so glad my parents were here to experience it with us.