This Festive Season

It's quite hard to feel festive when it's sunny and warm, Christmas in the southern hemisphere is a very different holiday to the Midwinter celebrations we are used to in the UK. Last year we went camping, but this year is our first Christmas with Devon, our 4 month old baby, so we stayed at home and had a nice relaxing time.

Normally we like a big family get together this time of year but that would have meant flying back to the UK, and with a four month old baby we didn't quite fancy it!

Even though Devon didn't really know what was going on, we wanted to make the day special so we put up decorations, got a few presents and ate lots of food.

We opened the presents slowly, one by one, taking breaks for naps and lunch.

It seemed too much effort to cook a roast dinner for just the two of us, so we cooked a ham like we do every year (in cider and spices) and had bread, cheese and chutneys.

Life with a baby is pretty different, no more lie-ins (5.30am is sleeping in late for Devon, I kid you not). Hence no more late nights, and little or no drinking anymore. But the perks are that Devon wakes every morning smiling his head off and now loves playing and laughing and interacting with people. He still has his grumpy moments but they are getting fewer. Getting a baby to laugh is one of the most gratifying things in the world and you don't want it to stop.

We didn't even try to stay up until midnight on New Years Eve, in fact we were all in bed by 9pm. Devon sometimes wakes for a midnight snack, but he didn't wake until 2.30am so we all missed 12 o'clock. Sleep is more important right now!

Instead to celebrate the start of the new year we all went out for a picnic on New Years Day to Lake Leschenaultia and it was a lovely day, 26 degrees and a gentle breeze.

We are quite excited about 2014. 2013 was great, our first full year here in Australia and of course, Devon was born. But the first few months of his life went by in a bit of a sleep-deprived blur, with a lot of trial and error going on. It's so amazing to think of all the things he will learn this year, starting to eat, walk and talk.

And now he is getting so much more aware of his surroundings, and we are slowly finding more energy, we can do more with him, take him camping, and hiking and all the stuff we like to do. As a result it feels like our normal life is slowly starting to resume!

Best wishes to all for 2014!