It’s a couple of days till Christmas which means this post will of course be full of Christmassy stories. This afternoon the girls came round for an afternoon of eating, chatting, laughing, eating and watching Christmas films. Polly has got the idea of these types of girls days very well and just gets stuck in fighting us for the sausage rolls and ‘the beast’ gave everything a try too. Talking of the little ‘beast’, he’s 8 months old today. 8 months and it feels like it’s flown by but at the same time I can’t imagine a time without him.

This morning I also had a little date with my big girl. It was a suggestion from one of my mummy friends after a bit of challenging toddler behaviour and it was so lovely to do. We popped into town to get the last Christmas bits and then had a cheeky hot chocolate and a biscuit each- of course Polly picked the Santa one. After a little walk to see the sea we had a run around the byes where she jumped in a huge muddy puddle (of course one of the handful of times she’s left the house not in those bloody ‘doggie wellies’!) and we finished it off with pooh sticks in classic Polly style.

So we’ve had a Santa filled week and a bit with him coming along to a couple of toddler group parties. Polly’s face lit up each time and I’ve done a real cheeky thing with most of the presents. Mum confession- I forgot about presents to go in the children’s stockings. So I realised the handful of little gifts we’ve collected from the various Santa’s we’ve seen will make up for that error quite nicely. Except the elephant puppet that gave me the slip in the hands of an equally cheeky two year old.

We also had a couple of Christmas gatherings last Saturday. We caught the last hour of one of Polly’s friends after dashing through the lingering rain. They had fun playing pin the nose on the reindeer and we all ate lots of lush cake. The morning party is the third year we’ve got together with our little ones and this year there were more little ones than big ones. It was the perfect morning and one that made me get all sentimental over how lucky we are to be surrounded by such amazing mummies, daddies and small people and I hope it’s a Christmas tradition that continues for ever!

We also had a wonderful day on Tuesday when we took a trip to the local garden centre to go and see the big guy in the red suit again. We took Nanny along for the fun and I really don’t know which of the five of us had the most fun! I really would recommend their Santa experience as it’s so much more than just a couple of minutes with Santa and a random gift (I actually can’t remember what was ordered and these two presents have made it into the secret stocking stash currently hiding under a pillow case in the corner of our room). Both children were really taken by him and we both got a bit sentimental again- I’m blaming all this sentimentality on too much chocolate too!

And the final Christmas story of course came about last Sunday. The toddler nativity. It was exactly what you would expect from a nativity where you entrust the story of Christmas to a group of two year olds. Polly refused to put her costume on and screamed “not Mary” repeatedly till we bribed her with a chocolate finger. Between them they pulled most of the tinsel backdrop down. Polly walked off the stage halfway through and was persuaded back by one of the angels. The sheep kidnapped baby Jesus. They pinched each other’s wands and had duels on the stage. And we as adults failed at changing old McDonald into an innkeeper. It was just perfect and definitely one we won’t forget.

So I think I’ll sign off now by just saying ‘merry Christmas’, thank you for sticking with my crazy ramblings throughout 2018 and I can’t wait to see what 2019 brings!

I just realised I’ve been a bit lax again, we’ve just been so busy and time is melting away so before I know it we are half way through December! So I thought I’d sneak in a little post before the apprentice starts- I need to be watching it at the right time as me and my bestie message a running commentary to each other while it’s on. A bit like a ruder version of gogglebox via WhatsApp!

So, what have we been up to? Well this time last week we were on the way home from London. We had an amazing day crammed full of Christmassy fun that left us exhausted but so happy. We woke up really early and were on the way up by 4AM which got us up in time for some breakfast. After a few pastries and a hot chocolate that Henry wouldn’t want to reorder, we made our first stop of the day- the Ferrari shop for our car mad toddler. After posing for a quick snap she boldly declared “I want that one”. Maybe not this year my little love, but I like your wishful thinking.

After this we headed for a favourite of ours- Harrods. This shop is great fun to wander around normally but gets even more amazing when you see all the Christmas displays. The only questionable incident of the day was Polly’s meltdown in the shop though. It happened a bit too close to the Wedgwood department but did get a laugh from the employees instead of a ‘can you please leave the area!’ She did cheer up when she had a taste of Henry’s favourite chocolate brownie in the world though.

Our next stop was the Lego shop, we actually stumbled on it by accident while aiming for M&M world, and I’m so pleased we did. I’m not sure who had more fun playing Lego out of these two.

We then wandered down the road for some lunch at Planet Hollywood which was amazing and we all got hyped up on sugar before heading over to the magical gem that is Hamley’s toyshop. Seven floors rammed with every toy you can think of and of course play with. It’s no wonder we spent almost two hours roaming around in there!

This year for Christmas we’ve actually decided to only buy one gift for each of the children as our house resembles a floor of Hamley’s already and to be honest at the moment we just can’t afford to go wild. So we got Polly to pick herself something and something for Seb and then we told her if she was really good and then maybe Santa would bring them for them both in a couple of weeks. We then distracted her with another toy while I snuck off to the till to purchase a light up spin toy for the boy and of course a helicopter for our big girl.

After the madness of the toy shop we stopped off for a quick cup of tea before a wander around the Christmas department of Fortnum and Masons before heading back to the car. I did just remember actually another questionable incident happened on the tube at this point when Polly almost lost her head in a door. We jumped onto a packed tube with a child each strapped to us and an empty pushchair and in the chaotic moment the doors started closing and her head was outside the door. Thankfully a very quick thinking woman grabbed Henry and Polly to yank them in. No harm done but of course the panic caused Polly to burst into tears. Extra big cuddles when we finally got a bit of space to breathe.

It was all in all an amazing day and one we hope to repeat again, just minus the tube incident!

We were pretty knackered by the end of it, especially as we’d only just recovered from our work Christmas party on Sunday night. It wasn’t so much a hard night it was more the fact that we were out past midnight, something we haven’t done since the last Christmas party! But it was a great night. Made even better by us scoring matching elf slippers in the secret Santa. I’d stupidly put on heels that I’ve forgotten how to walk in so these beauties meant I could hit the dance floor after a glass of rose!

Lastly a couple of little Polly moments. One- this morning I walked in from the kitchen to find she’d taken off her slipper socks and was desperately trying to put two stockings on her feet. Two little stockings she’d pulled off the tree! And two- she’s made a new friend in the form of Morris, who she keeps dragging round the house, giving hugs too and having full blown conversations with. Here they are doing some colouring together.

It’s Christmas!!!!! Well it’s December so I’m allowed to be excited in public about Christmas. It’s the first today so I took a trip into the cupboard under the stairs just after breakfast to pull out several boxes with Polly going ‘oooh’ and ‘ahhh’ at my ankles. This year she’s a lot more aware of what’s going on and keeps chatting about ‘Santa putting the presents under the tree’. We might have started watching Christmas films a couple of weeks ago and apparently her Christmas education is going well. Elf is the definite favourite so far.

The added awareness means more input from her though- which means I’ve had to give up on the tree looking like an article in a home design magazine. But more importantly we had fun.

There were a few things that I did pull off the tree though including the wreath and the curled ribbon that I don’t think I’ve ever actually used on a present. Our tree has its usual unusual topper in the form of a farting reindeer and friends.

And a nativity scene can be found at its base. This set was one that my mum always put out when we were little and last year I asked if it could take a trip to Devon so Polly could get the same joy from setting it up that we used to.

It’s also great to use to teach them about the story behind Christmas and will come in handy in a couple of weeks when Polly takes to the stage in her first nativity. One of the toddler groups puts on the production and I’m already getting a bit emotional at the thought of our little rascal being trusted with the role of Mary! Goodness knows what I’ll be like on the day!

We kicked off our Christmas activities though on Tuesday with a little trip to Otter nurseries with Nanny- for anyone not in Devon this place is basically pure Christmas and a must visit for anyone in a 30 mile radius. I didn’t get many photos as Polly needed permanent eyes on her or a tracking device. Sadly we haven’t invested in one of those yet so it was good old fashioned eyes. And hands to grab her as she tried to touch everything.

What else is new? Well Polly has made the switch to her new big girl bed. She started climbing out the cot so her ‘Christmas present’ became a ‘November present’ instead. We got her to pick out of Peppe pig, Paw Patrol and Cars. Anyone who knows her would have placed good money on the winner- Cars. She then picked out some aeroplane bedding and I had good fun putting it all together the week before last. It’s definitely been a success and she doesn’t stop chatting about her car bed!

Seb is getting huge and is a bit of a beast when it comes to food, he’s yet to turn down anything and just shoves it all in his mouth. One of the funniest so far was earlier in the week when I served up fajitas.

Henry has been either working or studying and is so close to the end of his course we are now starting to chat real stuff about what happens once he’s qualified. I mean obviously he’ll be changing jobs but now we need to start actually working out what our joint work week will look like. So far we have no idea!

I have a slight confession to make. For years I’ve mocked Henry over his enjoyment of a certain ITV programme and this year I’ve shamelessly got completely into it and am watching it more than him. Yup I’m hooked on I’m a celeb. I think it’s partly to do with the fact that I actually recognise most of them but it’s also hilarious and terrifying to watch so I’m loving it!

Right my time is up, Seb has just woken up, bathtime has crept up and Polly is now whinging a lot. I’m trying to be sympathetic but there’s been a lot of whinging over the last couple of days as everyone bar me has this stupid cough and cold so they’ve all been whinging. I’m fully expecting to come down with it too, probably tomorrow at approximately 6PM just before our work Christmas party!