Our December and our year 2017 in family portraits

This past year I've participated in a family photography challenge - the idea is to take a family picture, with everyone in it. No-one behind the camera, all three of us there. I started it late, in February, kicking it off with a holiday picture of us at Butlins. Altogether we managed to get 10 family pictures together, which isn't too shabby! The only months we missed were January and September. September was skipped over due to general tiredness caused by pregnancy, I just couldn't face sitting on my computer after spending all day long yawning at the office. This month our family pictures are from the one and only snow day we had here in London - we made a snow pony with our My Little Pony mad daughter.

So anyway, in December I have been loving:

Christmas tree - got it at the beginning of the months and it is staying till the twelfth night!
Having a proper long holiday off work, and staying home.
Homemade gingerbread biscuits <3
The one snow day we had!
Going on a Camden-bound canal boat for our work Christmas do.
Having the 20week scan and finding out the gender of the baby...

Aili has loved:

My Little Pony's - drawing them, making paper ponys, talking about them, singing about them....
Meeting Santa and giving him his letter.
Having Santa bring over ALL the Mane Six Pony's for her Christmas gift.
Getting even more My Little Pony's as Christmas gifts.
Writing and spelling out words. We are starting to get little sentences now written, and lots of cards to everyone.
Being the narrator in the school nativity play.

David has loved:

Seeing the nativity play, twice!
Christmas shopping and buying all the presents for the family.
Our Christmas Eve adventure in London.
Finding England rugby-tops on Boxing Day sales.

This year has felt at times a whirlwind - which I suppose it quite common with a young family. It has felt very good to top the busy year with a very relaxed holiday back home, not really doing much. As for the rest of the year, in spring I went to Finland to see my grandfather, and that was a really nice trip, even if very short. In August we bought our first tent and went camping for the second time as a family. I still haven't actually written of our trip and really should get going with that post!

In September Aili started her reception class - for a long time she told us it was boring, but it looks like she is starting to enjoy it more now, thankfully. And perhaps the most exiting thing this year was that in autumn I found out I was pregnant with our second child, and finally announced it in November. 2018 is going to get even busier!

And here are our family pictures from February to December.