Mr. and Mrs. Powell

Today, I'm so excited to have my sweet, beautiful friend Caley sharing her favorite family Christmas traditions.
She is an absolute doll and you will fall in love with her darling girls and family!
Plus, she is from South Africa and I LOVE reading their adventures on her side of the world!

P.S. HAPPY Christmas WEEK! Oh my goodness we are so excited over here!

Hi there, my name is Caley and I blog over at Ellie Love. I'm a twenty-something wife and mom living in sunny Durban, South Africa. I met my knight in shining armour MC in 2006 and we became husband and wife in 2010. We have two precious little girls: SJ who is 2 and a half and EN who is seven months. I am a qualified teacher but enjoying life as a stay at home Mom. My little blogging space is all about me, my family, our life, travels, home and all the fun things we get up to as well as the hardships we may face in life, marriage and parenting.

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year...

Such a happy, joyful and giving time with special friends and family. And there is no greater gift than seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child - all the fun, all the joy, all the laughter, all the gifts, all the giving and as a growing family, the new traditions.

I love all the different holidays but Christmas is by far the best. And even more so, now that I am a Mommy and we get to share and enjoy in special family traditions together. This year, I have decided to share a few of our favourite Christmas traditions...

1. Buy a real Christmas tree

MC and I bought our first real Christmas tree last year and it was the best tradition we have started. There is something more magical about the size, greatness and green fir twigs of a real Christmas tree - as well as the fact that the money for the tree is donated to a special charity every year. Unfortunately, our local tree farm is only open from the end of the first week in December which puts a delay on decorating but it is definitely worth it!

2. Christmas Decorations

There are pros and cons to decorating a house with a toddler - the joy and excitement on her face is priceless and the shrieks of delight when the lights turn on warm my heart BUT those little fingers get into everything from ornate tree decorations to glitter flying everywhere - it can be hazardous! She also has a tendency to RUN past the tree threatening to bring it crashing down at every turn! We decorate the tree together as a family and the man of the house puts the gold star on the top of the tree before we finally switch on the twinkling lights.

3. Christmas pyjamas

This is a little tricky for us because the stores in South Africa don't really sell Christmas pjs and international stores only sell Winter pjs which are a little warm for our SA Summer. This year we managed to get warm ones as we will be in London for Christmas. But really, is there anything cuter than a little tot in Christmas pjs?

4. Advent Calendar

Now that SJ is a toddler and can appreciate the fun activities and treats, I made up an advent calendar for her this year. We sat and made a plan of fun activities (crafts and baking) to outings (Christmas carols and photos with Santa) to little treats (Christmas parties and watching Christmas movies). SJ has loved these fun times together and eating the little treats too.

5. Photos with Santa

These are very important keepsakes and memories but I have to admit, I haven't seen too many good photos - little kids almost all seem to be terrified of the fat man with a white beard. SJ loves the idea of Santa (and all the presents he will bring) but she was a little apprehensive sitting on his lap. Little sister was looking across for reassurance!

6. Christmas Lunch

We celebrate Christmas in SA in Summer so Christmas Day is normally hot and humid and spent outside or in the pool. This also means that we enjoy a delicious Christmas lunch rather than dinner. We love cooking up a feast of turkey, chicken, gammon, roast potatoes and vegetables as yummy desserts like brandy pudding and mince pies.

Thank you for having me gorgeous friend.
Looking forward to chatting to your special blog friends too.
Merry Christmas from Ellie Love
x

So I have to be honest,
I wrote this awhile back and couldn't bring myself to post it
because I felt like it was something I was still working on myself.

Everything I write about, I truly believe in.
I like to actually feel that it's worked for me before telling the world my opinion.

That being said, 1 year ago, December of 2013, we found out we were pregnant with our second child.
We were so excited.

In February of 2014, I lost the pregnancy.
It was really really really hard on me.
I was 13 weeks along and rejoicing to be over that first trimester of sickness
only to find out the baby didn't make it.

I am usually a happy, easy going, people pleasing person
and this little experience I had threw me for a loop.

Complications followed my miscarriage D&C surgery and 5 days later I ended up in the ER for excessive bleeding,
causing the recovery process to be longer than normal and a little more painful.

My mom was able to fly down immediately and she took care of Ryan while I couldn't lift him and take care of him myself.

My "sac" ( and tissue ) that was removed during my D&C surgery was sent in to LABS to be tested.
A few weeks later, I got a call from my doctor saying they wanted to see me immediately because they had found a "mole" or abnormal growth in my "sac".

I soon found myself in another hospital gown while they x-rayed certain parts of my body to see if this "abnormal growth" had spread or worst case scenario, if it was cancerous.

My poor husband.
The slightest smallest chance that "your wife has cancer" ate him up inside.

He was in his last semester of Law School,
and trying to balance school,
while being there for me while I was in a very sad state of mind made it really hard on him.

After waiting for results,
we got the news that it was not cancerous and had not spread.

It was a complete blessing and a small miracle and we were so grateful.

However, because of this "mole" I was to come in for 6 months each week for blood work so they could monitor my levels.
It took 4 months after my miscarriage of my blood levels indicating I was still pregnant (( even though I clearly wasn't )) to FINALLY go back down to normal and then I only had to go in once a month.

Each week as I went in to get tubes of blood drawn at my OBGYN office....
I held back tears.

I watched as ladies held their little baby belly's in the waiting room and I couldn't help but wish that was me.
Instead, I was having to be pricked with needles and stuck in a "waiting period" for my body to get over the traumatic experience.

6 months finally past and I was cleared.
My blood levels were back down to normal and everything looked ok.
It was a long awaited 6 months and I was so happy and relieved that my body was completely "healthy" again in that aspect of life.

Fast forward 1 month -
Pregnancy Test - Another Positive.
We were SO HAPPY.
We told Ryan he was going to be a big brother and ran around the house saying "BABY" every day.

8 weeks later I woke up in the middle of the night with terrible very painful cramping.
I woke Aaron up at 2 AM in tears and told him the baby wasn't going to make it.
I knew right then and there I was going to miscarry.

Sure enough...my body miscarried naturally 3 days later.

Oh my goodness....
It crushed Aaron and I.
It hurt so bad.
I was so upset inside.
And I felt so helpless.

I found myself back in the Doctor's office with yet again another blood test, playing the same mind game with myself all over again.

It has been 2 months since this most recent experience.

I share my story not because I think my trials are worse than someone's else's trials,
( because I know for a fact they aren't even close)
and not because I am looking for sympathy because I promise we are doing okay over here :)
but I share it because during these experiences I found myself longing and wishing for what I had didn't have.

My thoughts were consumed with the phrase "what if" and "how come",
blinding me from what was right in front of my eyes.

My wonderful husband and beautiful baby boy.

I began to realize through this roller coaster of emotions that I was missing the happiness right in front of me.

I have SO much to be grateful for.

We all have our own battles to fight and lessons to learn.
I'm a true believer that every trial and life lesson comes with a reason.
There is a bigger purpose behind it all and one day it will all make sense.

Just have a little extra faith.

Life has it's ups and downs and will throw curve balls your way.
Don't let them get the best of you.

During this last year I have learned to love my "now".
Even if it isn't the "NOW" I had planned in my head.
I have stopped wishing and longing for what I DON'T have but tried to fully enjoy what I DO have.

For now,
This is my NOW.

And I am one lucky girl.

Wherever you are this holiday season,
whatever your circumstance,
look for the good.
Eliminate the complicated parts and the sad parts,
and love your NOW.
Time passes way too quickly to wish it away.

So, Ryan has a SEVERE case of Stranger Danger.

Started when he was about 7 months old and has only gotten worse with age HA

I knew Santa could be rough given last years experience.

However, lately he has started to think Santa is pretty cool.

I was pleasantly surprised in our conversations this week with his response to these 3 questions I asked him each day,

"Are you excited to see Santa!?

Are you going to sit on his lap?

Are you going to tell him what you want for Christmas??"

He excitingly would say "YES!" to every question followed by "Santa nice, mommy"

( HAHA I clearly engrained in his head how "nice" Santa is )

He even woke up one morning and asked "Mommy, Santa lap today??"

I was beginning to think he had turned a new leaf.

We headed to "Kringles Corner" last Saturday night with high hopes of a happy 2 year old.

While we waited in line, Ryan couldn't get enough of the reindeer, trains, and Christmas Trees.

He watched as each child sat with Santa.
Aaron and I did our best to distract him when the screaming children got on board. HA

Santa even caught his eye and waved at him, Ryan waved back.

So many times he asked for a treat and I told him,

"If your a happy boy, as soon as you get off Santa's lap you can have a treat"

( Bribing at it's finest )

But the happiness faded fast when we stuck him on Santa's lap.
Oh the horror. ^
Poor Santa.
Such a sweet old man just taking our child's screaming like a champ.

Oh well. There's always next year.

As soon as Aaron took him off Santa's lap,
Ryan was as happy as a clam.

"Treat" was the first thing he asked for.
Awesome. Child.

^^ He even told Santa what he wanted for Christmas and left with a high five. ^^

At our ourdoor mall there is a "dancing tree" or so Ryan calls it.
The lights change to music and it's pretty incredible.
I felt like belting out "Oh Christmas Tree" while watching it.

^^ December nights are oh so magical! ^^

And what's a Saturday night without ice cream!?
Ryan ordered all by himself and said "chocat, ice cream, pleeese"
( Chocolate - which by the way is totally from his dad, I'm Vanilla through and through )

Happy Tuesday! XO

@kmpowell

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