While only a short time has passed since my last proper update, an awful lot has happened with posts on each big event to follow. 

We celebrated an unbelievably wonderful Christmas Eve with my ILs and Day with my family ... How much fun is it having children at Christmas! Ethan just made our day/celebrations a million times over and I swear I couldn't wipe the smile off my face at his joy. It also makes me excited to know we will have 2 little people to share THIS Christmas with.

Christmas Day after presents and breakfast, we headed off on 'holidays' to Lennox Heads. We go every year with my family plus a host of close friends and have done for over 5 years now. This was the first year we had our Christmas lunch there and it was a lovely celebration although I can't lie, I missed not sipping my share of the bubbles on offer.We spent 2 weeks camping with perfect sunny days, swimming 3 or 4 times a day in the lake or at the beach and list of casual BBQs and good food consumed (I swear I'm doing the 2 hour round trip just to stock up at the local butcher regularly - lemon parsley chicken breast schnitzels enough said).

I had some concerns about camping with E but they turned out to be unfounded - I didn't even need to barricade him in the playpen although it came in handy for naptime. His sleep was great overall despite the one hour time difference and he loved everything about our holiday including the communal environment where he made loads of adored friends. The lake worried me a little given Es overconfidence in his swimming abilities and the total lack visibility from 5 inches under but I ended up investing in a harnessed floatation vest with the strap between the legs for my piece of mind and it did the trick completely with E able to test his abilities safely. He also thrived from all the time he spent with his cousins and the rest of the family and it reminds me of just how blessed my life is to have the time and people in my life to share moments and make lasting memories with.