Calum's 1st Christmas

With over two busy weeks to cover, I don't even know where to start! Here are a few highlights:

*My Mom was here to visit from Dec 16th-23rd. Despite not knowing if she would be able to get home due to planned BA strikes, all worked out and it was SO nice to have her. Every day we were busy being tourists and celebrating Christmas early. I will post pics in my next post.

*We had snow! The night of Dec. 17th we had about 8 inches of snow, Calum's first. It made everything seem more Christmas-y and was nice for my Mom to see. Things pretty much resumed as normal thanks to the awesome bus, train and tube network so we were able to go about all the things we had planned with a beautiful backdrop. Nothing beats Xmas shopping on Oxford Street with big snowflakes falling!

All bundled up

Checking out the snow

*We took Calum to see Santa. Here in the UK Santa lives in a grotto so the backdrop is a little different then what I am used to at home. I have to say, it was a bit of a let down since all we did was plop Calum in Santa's lap, have the picture taken and leave. Calum didn't cry though, Santa said he was the only baby that day who didn't!

Getting ready to go see Santa (and not too happy about the reindeer sweater!)

*Ever the attention seeker, Calum has realised that being in front of the camera is his time to shine. This is great since most of his pictures from the last month or two show him with a doe in the headlights look, mouth opened.

Posing for the camera

*Christmas dinner at our house with the Verghese family went off without a hitch or any family arguments! It was nice to have it in our house but even nicer to go to Mark's Mum's and Paul and Rachel's for Boxing Day and have a bit of a break!

Boxing Day

*Calum got spoiled rotten! I think the highlight was the rocking horse my Mom got him, but he also got some really great toys from the rest of the family. Our house now looks like a daycare but Calum is happy and has lots to entertain him and keep him busy.

Checking out one of his new toys

First time on his new rocking horse

*Mark is off work until January 4th so we have lots more time together before life goes back to normal. Here in the UK most businesses close from Christmas Eve until after the New Year which is sooo nice. Come January things are going to be busy, I've got a meeting with my MD on the 13th to talk about going back to my old job in London and have some serious decisions to make. Either way I'm going to be working again soon so I'm going to cherish every minute I have with Calum before I have to go back.

Christmas was just so special this year with Calum, I really look forward to seeing him as he gets older when he can understand a bit more about what's going on. I think more than ever this holiday made me realise how much our little threesome means to me and how lucky we are to have each other. Take away all of the gifts and we have something more special then any amount of money in the world can buy. Hope you all had a great holiday x