Friday 30 December 2011

I wish it could be Christmas everyday...

Earlier in the year, we decided that we wanted Lydia's first Christmas to be at home, for her to wake up on Christmas morning with the Christmas tree and decorations everywhere, and open her presents in her own home. That's why we ended up having an early Christmas - or Mockmas - in England in early December (see "A Very Merry Mockmas").

We also invited Chris' parents (Nelly and Bernard), sister (Caroline) and her husband (Pascal), round for the day, mainly because I had decided to try my hand at cooking the traditional roast turkey dinner and wanted to share this with them. I had never cooked a turkey before, although I did watch my mum prepare and cook the giant turkey we had at Christmas in England in 2010 (see "So... What's New?").

Plans for the turkey dinner started earlier in the year, as I chose what I wanted to cook as part of the meal. I wanted it to be as traditional as possible, to show my Swiss family how we eat at Christmas in England, so I opted to accompany the turkey with roast potatoes and parsnips, stuffing, carrots and green beans, all smothered in a nice gravy. I would have cooked Brussel sprouts as well, but I wanted everyone to actually enjoy the meal so decided to leave these out.

Saturday 17 December 2011

A Very Merry Mockmas

As mentioned in my last post (Countdown to Mockmas), at the beginning of December we headed over to England to celebrate our Christmas before Christmas, affectionately named Mockmas. This meant taking Lydia on her third flight to my home land - what a little jetsetter!

How to get a baby through
the security checkpoint
Admittedly the flight over wasn't as easy as it could have been, as Lydia was not in a good mood. A squirming, whinging baby does not make for good company on a flight, even if it was only for an hour and a half.

Needless to say, it was quite a relief when we landed and got off the plane.

Lydia cheered up straight away, even managing a nice big smile for her Nan when she picked us up at the airport.

A day of shopping was on the cards for Chris and I during our first full day in England, getting those last-minute presents for the family ready in time for Mockmas.

Lydia with her
great aunt Ruby
 In the afternoon, Ruby and Jack - my mum's aunt and uncle and therefore Lydia's great great aunt and great great uncle - came over for tea. We don't get to see them often, although my brother James had invited them to his wedding in the summer, and it was great to see how happy she was while giving Lydia a cuddle.

We had arranged this get-together for a while, and we could tell Ruby was looking forward to it. When arranging a time for her to come round, my mum had said "come round any time from 3pm", to which Ruby had replied, "I'll be there AT 3pm!".

She also gave her a Christening bracelet, which is something Lydia will be able to keep as a souvenir throughout her life. Aaaaah... :)