Most of all I love the family time. Christmas for me is all about family. I grew up in a big family (so big I still have to draw a family tree for Matilda's Dad on occasion) so Christmas was all about Mum, Dad and my sister and all of our grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-uncles, heaps of cousins and other adopted 'family members' all getting together for a massive lunch, games and presents and then doing it all over again at dinner with the other side of the family.
As we got older it was more and more about the family, the silly games of cricket or footy on the oval during the day and long nights of 'panic' or whatever the board game of the year was that year. It was about catching Christmas beetles and spitting cherry seeds over the fence late into the night.
As an adult I still love these get-togethers. Its a chance to see everyone, or almost everyone, in the same place at least once that year. It's a chance to swap old stories and laugh til we have tears running down our faces (usually thanks to the same accident prone and very funny Uncle) and its the one day a year where we can stuff ourselves silly and no one cares. Not one little bit.
But this year, well this year its different.
All of those things still matter but there is an extra touch of magic in the air.
I knew it would be different with Matilda here, but as she was so young I wasn't convinced we would see a difference just yet - not so. Matilda herself loves the lights, the trees and the decorations. Not just at home but when we are out and about as well.
Her favourite words, besides Dadda and nanna, are wow, look and that, which is lucky as we hear lots of them as we get out and about.
But it's the difference it has made to Matilda's Dad that I have really noticed.
See, my husband hates shopping centres. He also hates crowds. Christmas time in a shopping centre is therefore his version of hell. So imagine my surprise when he suggested a trip to the shops... on a day when Target had a sale... to get more Christmas decorations... whhaatt??
Then further surprises as he is itching to put up the tree and play the carols - usually its a reluctant husband helping out with this every year.
The difference? Yup its his little girls first Christmas.
And its not just us. Yes, the rest of the family are all very excited too - but so are the neighbours! Yes, that's right the neighbours. We come home the other day to find that one of the neighbours has decorated one of our boundary trees with lights in the form of 'Matti' (which is what he calls Matilda!).
Is that not the best thing ever!
Well, this is where I was going to hand over to Matilda's Dad - he was planing to tell you in his own words how he feels about Christmas, but he is waaay too busy and we will be waiting til next Christmas for that, so instead here are a few pics of Matilda and her Daddy decorating the tree for Matilda's first Christmas :)
Merry Christmas everyone, we hope its your best one yet xoxo
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