Last updated on March 4th, 2024 at 08:24 pm
OUR FIRST CHRISTMAS
Three seems to be the magical number for this past festive season. We had three beautiful (very different) Christmas trees, and we were lucky enough to get to celebrate three very loving Christmases as well. Funny enough just reading a few other bloggers they seem to have had their own three Christmases too. I told Mr P the universe was trying to tell us maybe three children really is the magical number too. He didn’t buy it.
While Christmas can be hard for me being so far away from my own family this year it definitely be one I will remember forever for numerous reasons. It was the first time I have ever cooked a turkey and hosted a Christmas dinner at my own house. It was the first Christmas that the kids really “got” Santa or at least “got” how to rip open Christmas presents. We had a magical Elf that Buba quickly named, Roma, come live with us over the festive period and the kids really got into finding him each morning with that Christmas twinkle in their eye, a first for sure. Most importantly it was the first Christmas I didn’t have an ache in my heart. Not that I didn’t miss my own family and culture on such a magical day but I think having my own kids to make new memories with has helped me not be so homesick anymore especially during the holidays. We were even lucky enough to have Christmas dinner with one of our favorite family friends with Mr. and Mrs. Butwhymummywhy which made this year even more special for us and the kids.
So here I share with you our three beautiful, amazing Christmases. Apologies ahead of time these all were taken with my iPhone as I promised to take time off at Christmas and it meant not only was the laptop tucked away so was my big camera. Won’t happen next year but it was nice to sit back and enjoy it all for once.
Daddy teaching Buba how to pop Christmas crackers. I think someone is cheating! 
I have seen dozen of staged Christmas mornings on Instagram, here is what really happens when two toddlers rip open presents on Christmas morning. It’s not even fully daylight to get a great capture and there is wrapping paper everywhere amongst the new toys.
All Buba wanted was a tiny little fire engine, his smile says it all. Thank you, Santa!
As tradition our besties came over from across the street for a little Christmas play.
OUR SECOND CHRISTMAS
We were absolutely spoiled at Morgana’s. We all have been friends for years as our husbands work together and the dynamic between our two families is amazing. We all get along so well. There may have even been some amazing first dances between Noo and Buba. Too cute and I only wish that my photos weren’t a blur of them spinning each other to show you. It was the best Christmas evening ever. The food display was brilliant. The kids were all singing and dancing to Frozen (and maybe just maybe Morgana and I joined them). We put the kids to bed and it was adult time. Drinks were poured and games commenced. We stayed over and it was great to wake the next morning for my very own birthday with friends all around me, even if we had to dash home to put Mr P back to bed! Some people can’t hack a good night in! wink wink
After a visit to the emergency room Christmas morning, like you do, for Buba’s eyes, we were finally calmed down enough to enjoy Christmas fully.
I took a beautiful photo of Morgana’s girls at the table and after 200 shots of my own two refusing to look at me at the same time or refusing to stop moving their arms in front of them causing blurring photos I gave up. They looked so little sat at the big kid’s table this Christmas. I kept saying all month long how old and big they seem to have grown but I sat there looking over at them and they still looked very much like my two little babies.
Morgana’s new chalk painted table is amazing. I have dining room table envy for sure. I can’t wait till my kids are a tab bit older and I can get a new dining room table for us. She had it displayed beautifully with Christmas dinner and all our names written in chalk. It was stunning.
Fudge and game time!
OUR THIRD CHRISTMAS
Our third and final celebrations was at Granny’s house. We didn’t have a full Christmas dinner but it’s a tradition to go to her house during the holidays and just be mesmerized by her beautiful decorations. Her tree is one to envy, my iPhone photos really don’t do it justice. The kids were even in awe of it. I realized looking at this photo of them how much Missy Moo looks like her Granny! They have the exact same facial structure, I see it more and more everyday. Poor Buba still had one swollen eye shut bless him but he enjoyed Christmas despite it, such a trooper.
I sat on the couch at Granny’s watching the kids play with the tree, looking at Missy Moo’s new curls at the back of her neck and I felt spoiled. I felt loved. I know that the kids felt like this Christmas was magical which made me happy. They had the Christmas twinkle in their eyes just like their Momma.
This Christmas and our three Christmas celebrations have been amazing. We have done something different every year for the holidays and I am sure as an expat we will continue to do something different but I know that I will have a great one each year because I have my own amazing family to share it with, no matter where we are in the world.
Such a wonderful Christmas post Jenny. We loved having you guys over on Christmas Day, it really was a lot of fun wasn’t it? xxx
It was the best!!! Food, dancing, singing, drinks, games, great friends what’s not to absolutely love!
I love that no matter who you are, your lounge floor WILL look like a bombsite from 11am on Christmas Day morning until…oh, about the 6th January. Looks like an amazing holidays, and gorgeous photos, too. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Sally! Exactly. I kept seeing all these cleaned up living rooms with children posing with gifts. I thought that’s not reality! lol So i shared our mess. We had a great one and I hope you do did too!
I am so envious of your three Christmases, they look wonderful! x
Ahhh thanks babes. It was magical this year. We really had a great time all together.
Loved seeing your three Christmases Jenny, I definitely think three is the magic number. All your photos are so full of love and that photo of Buba with the fire engine pic is just absolutely gorgeous- that face is the exact reason why Christmas is so magical. I love his little jumper too. It looks like a lovely Christmas with Morgana, you are so lucky to have each other so close and that you all get on so well. I think that’s why our little foursome just works so well- I can’t wait for Feb! 🙂 x
I couldnt agree more darling. I bet even our 12some would be a great group as it seems everyone gets along husbands, kids, and wives. I cant wait for feb for sure. Its going to be awesome. I said that to Mr P about the photo of buba that his face says all you need to know and love about the holidays.
WOW lovely! Looks like such a fab festive season and your tree looks amazing and I too have table envy of the chalk one! Here’s to an amazing 2015!!! Wahoo! Hope to see you soon xxx
Thanks hunny. Yes a chalk table would be amazing. Morgana is so crafty. Lol yes hope to see you so soon in March!
All three Christmases look beautiful! It’s great that you were able to capture these lovely moments with family and friends. Happy new year to you x
Thank you so much Tarana. Happy new year to you too. We were very blessed this year.
Aww that last little but brought a tear to my eye Jenny!! Being an expat definitely does keen “different” Christmases to those we are used to but you are so so right, they are all so special because of our amazing little families!!
All your Christmas celebrations look fab!! Love the one of the kids opening the presents, a proper Christmas photo 🙂 xx
Thank you. Yes spoken from someone who knows what i mean. I always think people can only ever understand when they have experienced it first hand. But we were blessed this year for sure with love and thats what matters most.
Oh your three Christmasses each look magical in all sorts of different ways, lots of fun with family and friends though I’m sorry to hear it also included A&E! And you’re right, Missy Moo really does look like her Granny! I’m glad you weren’t too homesick; I don’t spend Christmas Day with extended family because it would be too much travelling but I know that if I really really wanted I could, I imagine it’s much harder when you really really can’t.
Thanks Carie. Yes thats just it. I think we all do that when they are reachable we dont take full advantage but when we really cant then it breaks our hearts. Catch 22. Yes she really does look like her Granny. Its uncanning.
Sounds like you guys had a beautiful christmas! Love the pics. I have major table envy now over Morgana’s gorgeous table!!
I know it really is awesome isnt it? I cant believe she hasnt instagramed it more. Hahaah we had a great time together.
Wow! Sounds amazing! Also i think your messy lounge looks like my house when I think it’s sparkly clean!
Thank you for #sharewithme
Thank you. Hahaha Yes I should have noted this is how it looks on a daily basis not just Christmas morning too! lol
Its 8.30 am and I am drooling over at all the amazing Christmas spreads. What a brilliant time and so nice to have so many dos! We regularly have multiple dos too and I’m always zonked from it but they are just the best aren’t they? All that talking and happy and memories 🙂 Happy new year!!
Hope Buba’s eye is all sorted now am sure a dash to the hospital was just what you needed Christmas morning. And yes, your little girl looks so like her Granny – wishing you a fab 2015 x
What a great post and all your christmases look amazing. I hope you have a wonderful year huni x
Thank you so much Aby! Your lovely comments always make me smile. I hope you have a fantastic year as well!
Looks like you all had a really lovely christmas with family and friends. Happy new year x
Thank you so much Karen. We were really grateful to spend it with so many people we love. Happy New Year to you too!
It sounds and looks like you had the perfect Christmas! What isn’t to love about having three Christmases?! Bubba’s face is pretty much how Harry’s was when he opened a £4 space rocket such a delight and definitely what Christmas is all about. x
I love that the kids love the small stuff. The things that cost the less but mean so much to them. That’s all Buba asked for from Santa and that’s all that he has been playing with since. So magical for them at Christmas. I love it. Thanks hunny we really did have a great holiday.
Gorgeous gorgeous photos!!! The Christmas dinner in the 2nd Christmas looked amazing!! Please please tell me where the wallpaper in your dining room is from? Ive been looking for a similar paper for a while!!
It was from Laura Ashley about three years ago, not sure if they still carry it but they might have something similar now. Thanks. Yes the second one was at Morgana’s house she is a far better cook then I! lol
Wow – looks like you had a fab Christmas. Lovely that Christmas is still so brilliant for you even though you miss your family. I enjoyed reading this. xx
Thank you Megan. It’s hard without my family but I have to look at the positive and be grateful for what’s right in front of me. And on Christmas that was two bouncing happy, excited, toddlers. lol
Awh I really enjoyed this post and seeing what you guys got up to over the festive period! It looks and sounds like you had a lovely, special time with all the things that matter – family, friends and a whole lot of love! All the little expressions of the people in all your pics capture the magic just perfectly! Every blessing for 2015!
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Thank you so much Karen. I am so grateful that this year went so great even without my own family around or Mr P Irish family. It’s hard when we all don’t live in the same country but we made the most of it for sure.
Gorgeous celebrations Jenny! The kiddos look so happy, and all your pictures just illustrate what Christmas is all about. Beautiful! Happy New Year my pet xxx
Thanks lovely you are always too sweet to me. Love you! lol We were so blessed this year and I was really grateful for all the celebrations and family and friends we got to spend it with! Happy New Year to you too my lovely. I will be seeing you shortly in March I believe! Can’t wait for the catch up!
Aww looks like you all had a fab time and the food looks scrummy. Makes me want to have Christmas dinner all over again!
Some great natural photos there as well 🙂
Thank you. Yes got to keep it real with no staging photos on Christmas. For sure, the kids torn into those presents like their were working for their next meal. lol The food was delicious too. Happy New Year.
When I was younger, Christmas always seemed to go on forever because we would have lunch at home usually but then on Boxing Day one of the grandparents or great aunts would have a party, and then the next day something else would be going on, and so on and so on until it was New Year’s Eve, meaning another party and then a get-together somewhere on New Year’s Day. I think it can be fairly exhausting for the adults but it’s amazing for the children. It’s how Gwenn’s Christmas was this year and how I hope they continue.
Happy New Year!
x
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Thank you Betty. Oh yes I remember being exhausted about it all when I was a teenager. Like will this meeting up and eating oursevles to death ever stop. The kids love it though. It was our first christmas where the kids just “got it” so it was even more special.
Three is the best, Jenny! Just let Mr P have another “night in” and trick him to agree while he’s hungover 😉 Poor you having to go to hospital on Christmas day! I love Buba’s Christmas jumper and the fact he only wanted a tiny fire engine. So adorable. Missy Moo is looking more and more angelic by the day. Her little curls at the nape of her neck! Happy birthday and happy new year! xx
Thank you so much Jess. Yes it was an emotional day Christmas day with hospitals and no family then presents and friends to love us and celebrate with us. Up and down. lol I like your thinking of the trick Mr P thing not sure he would go for it. lol 🙂 Worth a shot. hahaha I know I can’t believe how much her hair is growing in and curling at the bottom. Love it. Finally, we have been waiting 18 months for some hair on that girl!
Ah this looks like a really magical Christmas Jenny. So glad that you didn’t feel so homesick this year. I think having your own children makes a please feel like home. Your photos look amazing, every if they were taken on your iPhone! x
Thank you Suzanne it truly was we had a blast over the holidays. It was great to take time off work and just be with the kids.
Happy New Year Jenny. You have had 3 wonderful celebrations. It sounds just like what Christmas is all about. Your photos are lovely, Missy Moo really is the image of her granny x
Thank you so much Louisa and Happy New Year to you too. It truly was what Christmas is all about. We had a blast. Yes she looks identical to her. It’s crazy that I never saw it before.
Ah, got me tear-ing up too! Lovely celebrations. Missy Moo really does look like her daddy and her grandma! And I love that real shot of your living room on Christmas morning – ours was much the same! Happy New Year xxx #sharewithme
Thank you Sam. Oh yes got to keep it real. No staging on Christmas for sure. Just wish the daylight was better so I could have captured the chaos even more. lol She really does look like them I know. It’s crazy. Happy New Year to you too.
What a fabulous Christmas – all the photos are fab, especially the ones at Granny’s house – you didn’t even need the big camera after all! I love your “real life” christmas morning with paper everywhere – it’s not a pretty sight on Christmas morning for us either!! How fantastic is that chalk painted table? What a brilliant idea! x
Thank you so much Xandi. Welcome to Share With Me too. I am so glad you are linking up. Granny’s house is amazing with decorations each year. I only wonder how great the photos could have been if I took my big camera out next year!!! Lol
Glad your Christmas was so special x 3! Love your reference to staged Pinterest pictures. You’ll be so happy to look back on the real thing someday!
I think so too. At first I was getting a bit staging with my photos then thought that’s not reality. Whilst I am ocd clean in my home tots will be tots
These are truly lovely photos, sounds like a really fantastic Christmas – love the jumpers! #sharewithme
Thank you so much Rachel. So sweet of you. I love christmas sweaters they are the best. We were very lucky this year.
Happy new year! I think you really captured the very best of Christmas – spending time with those you love.
My parents live abroad and I don’t get to spend every Christmas with them (thank goodness for Skype!) so I sympathise with you missing your family. Looks like you had an amazing time though!
Xx
Thank you. Yes it’s always more understandable for those that have parents far away too. Hard but we did make the most of it and it was magical nonetheless. I can’t wait to have a usa christmas with them tho too!
Ah these are beautiful photos! I too have dining table envy now!! Sounds like you had an amazing Christmas x x
Thank you. I know she is so crafty! I loved it. We had a magical time, just what the holidays ordered.
Wow lucky you, 3 Christmases! They all look very happy and just lovely 🙂 glad you had such a lovely festive break 🙂 xx
Thank you Caroline. I know we were very lucky. We felt so loved this year. The kids really enjoyed it too!
What great memories! Sounds like you had an amazing holiday!
Thank you so much. We were very grateful for our three christmases this year. Happy New Year!
Wooo weee, three Christmasses! That’s just lovely and I’m glad that you all had such a wonderful time. I also hosted this year and really, really enjoyed it. You’re right about making new memories with your own kids, it’s such a lovely time for them and so magical. Happy new year to you lovely!
Thanks lovely. Happy New Year to you too babes! We were very blessed. I am just glad I didn’t burn the turkey! lol
What lovely pics and some great memories made there by the looks of it.
Happy New Year! and Thank you for hosting 🙂
Thank you so much Jayne. Happy New Year to you too. Thanks for linking up. I look forward to reading your post.
Looks like you had such a wonderful Christmas, it’s lovely watching your little ones “get” Christmas for the first time, isn’t it? I’ve loved spending this Christmas with O, it’s been magical.
Love, love, love Morganas table. I want one! xx
How fab having 3 christmas’. I love your white tree. I’m not sure I’d get away with it so have serious tree envy.
I’m so glad you had such a wonderful Christmas and were able to feel more at home.
ANd I know I’ve said it before but I LOVE the little lady’s blue top!
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Looks like you all had a wonderful time x 3! Granny’s tree is definitely beautiful, it’s like it’s been decorated by a professional.
I’d quite like to try and Christmas with friends and another family, but it would never happen here, because everyone does families. Maybe one day it’ll happen. This year was just us and my brother, so it would have been perfect for N to have another child to play with and me to have another girl to talk to while the OH went out to work in the afternoon.
What a lovely Christmas post. You might not have had your camera, but you’ve really captured that Christmas spirit and the fun you all had! Lovely. x
Thank you Laura. I was kinda bummed afterwards that i didnt take my camera out. But we still have so many great memories even with an iphone shot or two. Lol
Sounds like you had a wonderful Christmas, lovely photos x
Thank you so much.
It looks like you had a magical Christmas. I’m a little bit jealous that you had 3. Your house is absolutely beautiful too! Lovely pics xx
Thank you so much. Thats so sweet. Still a few things need changing and growing with us but its finally getting there.
What a beautiful Christmas you had. The kids look like they had an amazing time and well done for fitting in some adult time. Christmas isn’t just for little people, so I’m glad that you enjoyed it too 🙂 Happy new year x
Some great shots, Jenny, iPhone or not! I do prefer the unstaged Christmas shots – they show the true excitement in the kids’ eyes – five hours of wrapping for five minutes of ripping, but well worth it.
Thank you Tim. I wish I had taken more with my big camera but I wanted the kids to have a break from a big lens in their face too. lol Unstaged Christmas shots are the best to remember because they are reality. lol As you say. Exactly the wrapping take the longest to do and the shortest to undo. So funny to watch them at this age though.
What a wonderful way to spend Christmas, who says you can only have one Christmas Day? #sharewithme
I’m loving your naughty & nice decoration on the fireplace
Thank you so much I really need to take it down as without christmas decorations around it, it takes on a whole new meaning. I just haven’t figured out what encouraging words I want to say. lol Thanks, my thoughts exactly I think everyone should have a family christmas and a friend christmas both are so lovely.
Hello there, that is so lovely and I am so pleased you had a fantastic time, and beautiful photographs as usual! x #sharewithme
Thank you so much. Hope you did too. Happy New Year!
It looks like you had a great Christmas and it’s nice to hear you were able to enjoy it without being so homesick this time. I love that it looks like your little one’s had some of the same presents that Diggory did this year – the small Percy and Thomas trains and the stackable wooden train! xx #sharewithme
What a lovely Christmas you guys have had. Happy new Year to you all xx #sharewithme
Thank you so much lovely. I hope yours was just as merry and bright. Happy New Year!
This is my first time visiting your blog, and i am so glad i found it. What lovely pictures of your family, looks like you had a wonderful Christmas. And yes you are so right about Christmas morning/day with toddlers, or children of any age for that matter. toys everywhere and lots and lots of wrapping paper. you seemed to have your pretty much under control. Cant believe Christmas is over already! x
Ahh welcome Tanita and thank you for your lovely comment. I am glad you like it and found me. Look forward to seeing more of you here at LTM. I know I can’t believe Christmas has been and gone already. It was like a blur to me.