Finally The Time Has Come…

Posted on December 4, 2014 by natalietrew

The day has arrived…..

Finally after months of planning, saving, organising, buying and packing our holiday to the States is awaiting us!!

It only seems like yesterday that we went for the first time…that was 5 years ago!!! So much has happened in that time – another baby has been born for goodness sake!!! This time we will be traveling as a family of 5 and with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews. It still seems so surreal!!

This past month has been one of the craziest months of my life. Between the end of year demands at work, finishing off everything for our holiday and celebrating the spirit of Christmas, what I would normally do at this time of year in 6 weeks, has been crammed into 2!!! I’m feeling a little fragile but I know this next month of holidaying in the US and our week at Burleigh when we return will be so worth it!

When I finished work on Tuesday the realisation of being on 7 weeks holidays was bliss. I woke on Wednesday morning and I had a three-day plan to enable me to be completely ready for our trip…that was short-lived as Bailey woke up with a leaking ear and Mia had told me the day before her ear was sore! A trip to the doctors and $82 spent at the chemist was not in my plan, neither was all the little mishaps that happened along the way this week!! But I will not be defeated. I’m happy to say that no tantrums were chucked or no tears were shed…and we WILL have a great time lol!

While I’ve been packing for our trip and celebrating Christmas with loved ones of late, it makes my heart ache for the people who will face this Christmas for the first time without their loved ones. That was us this time last year – even though we will continue to uphold our family Christmas traditions, there will always be a void on Christmas Day without nana!

Although the festive season should be a happy time, I always struggle emotionally at this time of year. This has been a challenging year for us with the kid’s health and has seen many of our family and friends experience heart ache, but it signals the end. The end of memories made, the end of another school year – the kid’s teachers have yet again been amazing and the thought of saying goodbye makes me sad. It means we are all another year older, but hopefully wiser. It means Mia starts preschool so soon – now where did that time go! I’ve never liked changed and always resist it to begin with but I will endeavour to enjoy what’s left of 2014!!!

I think I have everything sorted:
Passports – check
Travel documents – check
Money converted – check
Snow clothes – check
Beanies, scarves and gloves – check
Jackets – check
Clothes and shoes for 3 different climates – check
Toiletries – check
Medication in case ears go pear shape – check
Entertainment for the plane – check
Chargers – check
Camera – check

Our itinerary for the next 23 days is as follows:
*7 days in LA – Disneyland, Universal studios, San Diego
*Drive to Vegas for 2 nights – shopping!!!
*5 nights in New York – my favourite place!!
*2 nights in San Francisco – I haven’t been there before and am so looking forward to it!!
*Drive to Lake Tahoe – Christmas in the snow!
*Our last 2 nights are spent at Santa Monica – tour of Hollywood and Beverly Hills!!

As I board the plane I’m feeling happy, excited, nervous, cautious, but so very grateful that we are able to provide such an experience for our children. Yesterday when I felt like I was never going to be ready I had a sudden feeling of – why are we doing this?? But now that the stars finally aligned and we are ready, we are going to enjoy every moment of what this trip will bring to us!

As Americans would say…Happy Holiday everyone!!!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”

Posted on December 1, 2013 by natalietrew

December 1st…when I was growing up, this date was my families traditional date to put up the Christmas tree and turn our house into Christmas time. My husband grew up with a different tradition…November 1st! I know, so early and by the time Christmas arrives the suspense of the whole thing almost kills the kids lol! So we’ve compromised (cause that’s what marriage is about right??) and we start to turn our house into a Christmas wonderland mid November. Because we decorate both inside and out, it takes us almost 2 weeks to get it exactly how we like it! My heart still skips a beat when I start mid November lol…but seeing my kids faces beam with excitement is so worth it!!!

This is how our home evolved into Christmas this year….

The inside….

Even the kids have their very own Christmas light each…

The outside….
From this….

To this….

Over 2000 lights light up our home at night:)…the kids just love it!!!!

When the first of December finally rolled over we were able to start the count down….

With so much heartache this year, it was hard to pick myself up and get into the Christmas spirit, but the kids are the best form of medicine and watching them embrace it for everything it’s worth, makes enjoying it so much easier. Our favourite nightly ritual is sitting outside on the driveway with an iceblock admiring our very own Christmas light display:)

Our Christmas tree is now the popular spot to take photos and read our nightly book:)

So this is our Christmas display this year…each year we add more and more and create another lot of beautiful memories to cherish.

Our final piece to the puzzle was added this afternoon and now I feel it’s complete….

I hope you all have a wonderful festive season where you spend your time laughing and bonding with your loved ones…I sure know we will:)!:)!

Feeling Fragile….

Posted on November 19, 2013 by natalietrew

It’s almost here. I’ve been dreading it. I knew it was going to consume me with grief. But I have to live it. I have to feel it. In a year’s time it will probably hit me again or not, maybe a little easier. But for now I am trying really hard to keep the spirit of Christmas alive for my children, for my husband, for my grandad, for my mum and the rest of my family and most importantly for the lady who would dearly love to be here for it….my nana!

It’s been almost 6 months since I lost my nana. The sweetest lady I knew. The lady who taught me so much and loved me unconditionally. The lady who I could tell anything to. The lady I would both laugh and cry with during one phone conversation. I miss her soft touch, her beautiful kisses and her voice. I miss her so much, it hurts more than ever and at the moment I’m feeling fragile and stricken with grief all over again like I did the day I had to say goodbye.

As each day has passed since then, our lives have slowly been going back to normal. You get back into the routine of living and the days turn into months. For a while you start to smile again and enjoy the comforts of your friends and family. But I knew that this Christmas would be hard. I think it really hit me last week when I wrote out my Christmas list and I went to write down nana’s name and I remembered…I don’t have to buy a present for her anymore ;( The littlest things at the moment remind me of a memory of nana, which usually ends in tears and sadness. I find it hard to look at photos and where I was finding comfort in talking about nana, I can barely speak the word without wanting to howl! If I’m feeling this fragile at the moment, I can’t even imagine what my grandad and mum are feeling;(

Christmas has been celebrated religiously around family my whole life and nana use to create the best Christmas for us. She is the only person I know who had a fresh Christmas tree when we were little and she use to buy us the most beautiful gifts that we would love and cherish (I still have my cabbage patch doll she bought for me)! The matriarch of our family taught us how to cook a Christmas lunch that would feed an army and she taught us has to work hard…nana would always be the last one standing in the kitchen!

Over the past decade, it’s been so nice looking after nana and waiting on her on Christmas Day, just like she always did for us. But now, those days are over. We won’t get to celebrate another Christmas with our lady. For weeks now a part of me wishes I could close my eyes and live through this Christmas, but that’s not the answer. Moving forward is about experiencing these emotions. Christmas is about children, family, rejoicing in what we have. We may not have our nana with us anymore, but we will always have her spirit to guide us and her legacy that she left behind.

On the weekend we decorated our house. We put up our tree and covered our house with over 2000 lights. It is usually one of my favourite weekends of the year. But this year felt different. The kids were super excited and that’s what kept me going. I would walk away when I felt overwhelmed and teary and kept going when I felt ok enough to. I have to put on a brave face my children. They are sad that nana isn’t here anymore, but kids are so endearing when it comes to loss. Every night when we go outside to look at our lights, Sienna picks out the brightest star in the sky and says “nana is watching us!” Or she just yells out “hello nana!” 😉

As I sit here watching my precious babies eat their dessert while relishing in our beautiful lights, they will pull me through this fragile state. Christmas will come and we will shed tears, but we will smile when one of the kids says something adorable and we will laugh when someone says something funny. We owe it to the greatest women we know to embrace the festive season. Nana can’t enjoy Christmas and the great things that come with it, but we will do it for her. I can just see her saying “pick yourself up and have always

I will always have the most amazing memories of our last Christmas with nana, these memories will be cherished forever!

Tug of War…

Posted on November 5, 2013 by natalietrew

I’ve…hit…a…brick wall…my brain is in a state of ‘tug of war’!!! We are ALL tired…the kids are a weeping mess. It feels like we’re running a marathon on empty. We can see the finish line, yet it’s still so far away. This year has been a massive one to say the least and with a husband who has had two weeks holidays in two years…let’s just say – we need a holiday!!!!

I don’t know about you, but at this time of year I always fall into a trap where I’m torn between wanting the year to hurry up and end so we can be on holidays and enjoy the fun of the festive and holiday season. But then I don’t want it to go to fast as I want to enjoy it and if it goes fast that means my babies will be turning another year older….sigh!!

I find once the calendar turns over to November and between the end of year jobs as a teacher, the end of year things to organise as a parent and everything that Christmas brings, before we know it we’ll be shouting out “happy new year!!!!” But for me this year is different. This year has seen so many highs and some of the lowest of lows emotionally. It’s the year my first born baby girl started prep…and it’s the year we’ve lost one of the most precious people in our lives…nana;( Yes a new year will bring a new start for everyone, but it means letting go as well…tug of war!

I’ve absolutely enjoyed the school year as a mum…having a child in prep is awesome! This year has been even more special as Sienna has had far more hurdles to overcome than Bailey ever did when he started prep. I’ve had the privilege of watching my insecure and shy girl grow and evolve into an outgoing and happy 5 year old, who is nothing like the girl who walked through those prep doors at the beginning of the year. I’m so grateful that by only working two days a week, I’ve had three days where I’ve been able to share in puzzles and games with my little preppie and now being able to help with literacy groups once a week has been a real treat for both sienna and I!

Sienna has come so far thanks to her amazing prep teacher!

At the end of this week, there will only be 5 weeks left to enjoy being a prep mum. The light at the end of this tunnel is that I get to do it all over again in 2 years time. I’m also at peace with knowing that my little girl is ready to tackle the challenges of grade one. Ask me that 6 months ago and I wouldn’t have been able to give a confident answer, but I’m super confident now…I just want to hold on to the next 5 weeks for as long as I can though;( because once your child finishes prep, they’ll be in grade 3 before you know it…which is my son!!!

How did I come to have an almost grade 1 and grade 3 child…they were only born yesterday weren’t they?;(?;(

The precious time I’ve had with Mia this year has been so special, as it’s the first time in 5 years I’ve been able to spend quality time with only one of my children, rather than bits here and there. A new year for Mia means making the decision to start her in kindy…tug of war or maybe that one is having to clip the apron strings;(

Feels like Mimi has gone from a baby to a little lady over night!

I often get into a slump where time (and the lack of it) defeats my thinking. I start to feel sad and down about how fast my children are growing up and how the weeks keep rolling into months and I somehow get myself into a state of panic where I feel suffocated…weird I know, but that’s the control freak coming out in me!!! The past week I’ve felt so suffocated by everything and on the weekend I felt defeated. But then realty knocked on the door and made me realise that I’m in control of whether I’m defeated and that I will NEVER be!

It’s at times like this that I have to put my big girl pants on, take a big deep breath and just take each day as it comes. Knowing that every weekend is busy for the rest of the year is not going to defeat me, rather it will excite me at the possibilities of fun that is ahead of us. The fact that almost everyday for the rest of the year has something on is not going to bog me down, rather I’m going to feel grateful that my life is full of wonderful people and events to create new memories at! The fact that my children are going to get more tired and more irritable as the school year gets closer to finishing is not going to make me lose dignity as a mother, rather I will try and stay as calm as I can…and that goes for keeping as calm as I can with my husband to lol!

I have faith that together we will cross the finish line at the end of the year….there may be a few bumps along the way, but we will stay united until the end! Most importantly if there is ever a time in the year to appreciate the amazing things in life, it’s now. As we venture into a time of craziness, I will remember to stop and enjoy the small things in life. I will try and be the best wife and mother I can be. I will be organised and efficient and do the most important things that need to be done in a day. When I’m feeling stressed and overwhelmed I will stop, sit, take some deep breaths and remember the most important things in life are…to love, to laugh and to live like there’s no tomorrow!

Sometimes they drive me up the wall, but mostly they always make me laugh!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #6….Christmas Day!

Posted on December 26, 2012 by natalietrew

6 weeks of red and green, Christmas trees, lights, shopping, wrapping, Santa visits, catch ups with family and friends and lots of baking and cooking and Christmas day is always over in a blink of an eye, but what a great day it was!
It’s like anything, your wedding day, engagement party, 1st birthday parties, you put so much time and effort in for weeks leading up to the big event and before you know it your are onto planning the next event of your life!

This Year’s Christmas was as great as any. The kid’s were really awesome going to bed Christmas eve, after they left food out for Santa and his reindeers, they were out to it by 7.30! This allowed time for us to finish wrapping their gifts and setting up and playing Santa!

I love christmas morning and the priceless looks on our babies faces when they see that Santa has ate all his cookies and drank his milk and of course how thrilled they are that Santa delivered awesome presents! It’s my favourite part of christmas day…our party of 5 relishing in each other’s love and devotion!

Christmas morning at the Trew Household…mmmwah!

I love the comments from the kids when they open their presents…”oh mum look what I got!” “yes I got it!” “omg mum look…!” “yay mummy!” “dad we can play this together now!” Paper flying around everywhere, ripping and tearing!

Christmas morning….

Love my new sun lounge chair;)

Once we enjoy our time together it’s go go go from then on in! Traditionally we always have breakfast at my in-laws and then lunch at my parents house. This year we had breakfast at our house with my in-laws and then lunch at my sister’s house which was easier for my nana. It really was an awesome day full of eating, laughing, giving and receiving!

Opening presents with family:)

Love family photos:

Food…there certainly was enough of it!! So much so that boxing day is always round 2 and left overs always taste so much better:)

I roasted the lamb, but most importantly made quite a few sweet treats: chocolate balls, cheese cake, red velvet cupcakes, jam drops and chocolate cookies and I made my first Christmas cake that was a vanilla sponge with butter cream icing!

Once we filled ourselves up and enjoyed nana and grandad’s company, we all hauled ourselves over to mum and dad’s where we swam all afternoon! What glorious weather we had:)

After starting our day at 5.30, we arrived home just before 9pm and fell into bed! It was a massive day but always filled with beautiful memories that will be cherished forever! We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and were spoilt with love and laugher like we were!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours:)…xoxoxo!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #5….White Christmas!

Posted on December 22, 2012 by natalietrew

Since experiencing a ‘white’ Christmas in America, when Movie World started their White Christmas show, we jumped at the chance to go. We’ve been for the past couple of years now and we just love it. Between the million of beautiful lights that line the Main Street, the fake snow that falls down over you and the fantastic street parade, it is definitely worth a night out each festive season.

The kids love it! Sienna sings and dances to the carols, Bailey loves the ice skating and Mia just loves the sight of everything! It’s credit to Movie World how awesome they make it look! Between the lights, decorations and beautiful Christmas tree, it really adds a fantastic dimension to Christmas!

We much preferred last year though. This year we went on a weekend and it was so busy! Last year we went on a week night and not as many people, which is always more pleasant! Even though the rides are open, because we have annual passes, next year I will be declaring it a no ‘ride’ trip to Movie World as you waste too much time in the line ups and there is plenty to do without going on the rides!

I would highly recommend going to Movie World White Christmas….we have made it one of our Christmas traditions!

Highlights from our night:

Beautiful big Christmas tree!

Snowing!!!!

Bailey finally getting the courage to ice skate…it’s the bravest he’s ever been…clumsy but brave lol!

Getting the hang of it!

Mastering it on his own…with ballerina arms lol!

Millions of lights…so beautiful!

The parade…

The kids loved it!!!

End of the night photos….

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #4….Christmas Card Photo!

Posted on December 21, 2012 by natalietrew

To Christmas card or not?

I remember back before I moved out of home, getting excited each day when the postman came. We use to guess how many cards would be in the mail! Mum would sit for a couple of nights writing out her Christmas cards and we would do the same for our friends at school. Christmas cards are really starting to become the thing of the past now though. Between email, texting and social forums, electronically really is the new way people are spreading their Christmas joy!

I’m a Christmas card person and I can’t see that changing anytime soon! Prior to having children I would write on a traditional christmas card, now I create a photo post card of the kids that I send out each year. Some years I’ve made my cards from scratch and other years I’ve just sent out the photo. Sometimes I do a little of both. But it’s the sentiment of the photo of my angels that I know people appreciate receiving!
Bailey and Sienna enjoy writing out Christmas cards now to their friends and I endeavour to keep this tradition going with them!

Although it requires some preparation and time to get my Christmas photo and then address 50 plus envelopes to post, I will always make time for this Christmas tradition that I love doing! The following are some of the photos I’ve used in the past….

Our very first photo I sent out in 2006:)

Our first photo with two children back in 2008:)

This is the photo I used the year we were in America for Christmas of 2009!

I love 2010’s photo of Sienna:)

Our first photo with three babies…2011!

This year’s photo…which I absolutely adore!

Like the yearly photo with Santa, our Christmas card photos are a great memory of our party of 5 in progression!

Merry Christmas to all my followers…may 2013 be filled with lots of luck, good health and plenty of love and laughter…xoxoxo!

Ps – a scratchie is up for grabs if you can locate our 2007 Christmas card photo because I can’t find it anywhere!

And the winner is one of my best friends from primary school….Natasha Keerie…thanks Tash:)

2007 Christmas card photo of my adorable little man:)

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #3…..Christmas Clothes!

Posted on December 19, 2012 by natalietrew

I just love how patriotic my children are. Whether it be Christmas, Easter, Australia Day or wear red for Daniel Morcombe, they are right in there embracing the moment with their clothes!

In the past it was so hard to find nice christmas shirts for kids to wear, but this year in particular, the christmas shirts, particularly for girls, are just gorgeous! When I bought the kid’s their first Christmas t-shirt this year, Sienna couldn’t wait to wear it! I held her off as long as I could but by the time we started to put our decorations up mid November, there was no stopping them….so for the next 6 weeks their wardrobe would consist of everything Christmas….pjs, shorts, skirts, dresses, hair clips, ribbons, shirts, you name it they wear it!

Sienna was so excited to finally wear her new shirt:)

We are also very lucky to have my beautiful mother who sews. The kids not only adore their nanny, but absolutely love the fact that they can put an order in for something and nanny has it made within a few days! They have loved going through materials and patterns with mum and picking out what they want. My mum is such a talented women and we’ve been telling her for years that she needs to sell her gorgeous pieces! Mum has made the kids shorts, skirts, dresses, pj boxer shorts and even a button and collared shirt for my nephew!

Here are some of the gorgeous things mum has made for the kids……

Straight skirts

Dresses

Girls shorts

Flowing skirt

Boys shorts

Pj shorts

And this is how my children sport their outfits…..

Thank you mum for always helping the kids embrace the Christmas spirit! Their beautiful pieces of clothing will always be cherished and worn with absolute pride!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #2…..Santa Photo!

Posted on December 17, 2012 by natalietrew

I still remember when I was a little girl one of our family traditions was visiting Santa, telling him what I would like for Christmas and then sitting on his lap for our yearly photo! This is something that we do each year with our Party of 5 as well!

The kids love it…well once they get over their fear of the big fella, which most kids have around the age of 1-3! Our two eldest children love visiting Santa, but this year our youngest who is almost 2 didn’t want a bar to do with him! She’s all talk at home when she sees pictures of him or sees him on the television, but when it came to the crunch, she kept saying “no Santa mummy, no!” and was literally shaking like a leaf! Bailey and Sienna had deep and meaningfuls with him though and there were plenty of high 5s going around! Even Mia managed a super fast high 5 after saying “no 5 Santa mummy!” lol!

Since becoming parents in 2006, this year marked our 7th year of visiting Santa and getting our annual Santa photo…..

2006
Bailey’s first photo with Santa and our first Christmas as parents…this was an extra special year!

2007
The only way Bailey would have his photo taken with Santa was if we got in the photo too…I was pregnant with Sienna!

2008
Our first Christmas as a family of 4, Sienna’s first Christmas….an extra special one!

2009
This was taken just before we went to America…Sienna would only sit on Santa’s lap if I held her hand!

2010
Yay – finally a photo where no one was scared of Santa…although I do remember having many conversations with Sienna about the fact that Santa wasn’t going to hurt her lol!

2011
This is my favourite Santa photo to date – Mia’s first christmas and an extra special year as this was our first Christmas as a party of 5!

2012
Our most recent photo that was taken yesterday….a family photo this year as Mia wasn’t a very willing participant – I still love it though!

Looking at these adorable photos makes me all warm and fuzzy and a great memory of the progression to building our beautiful family! I just love them! Now to create a masterpiece on how I will display them (I’ll keep you posted with that one). My aim is to keep this tradition going for as long as the kids allow it…my cut off will be 18 lol…if they are lucky lol!

Each year our current photo is placed in this frame that I bought quite a few years ago! It’s a great frame that can be used for many different occasions! All you do is fill the sides with whatever you want:)

Keep an eye out for my next Christmas tradition blog post on the Kid’s Christmas clothes…all thanks to their Nanny:)

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #1 – Our Christmas Display!!

Posted on December 5, 2012 by natalietrew

This blog piece is the first of many Christmas traditions that I shall share with you over the coming weeks! As I’ve stated several times we LOVE Christmas!!!! We love EVERYTHING that goes with it!!!!!

The first thing we do each year to start the festive season off is decorate our house with a tree, ornaments and lots of lights…I mean 2000 of them! About 4 years ago now we started putting up lights out the front of our house. Each year since then, we have added and added to our collection and this year is our biggest display yet!

The kids just love it! We spend about half an hour each night sitting out the front looking at our lights. The kids get their pillows and blankets and lay them out on the driveway and soak up each twinkle of every light. We often have our dessert out the front and have had a picnic dinner out in front of our lights as well!

Inside we always have the kids help us decorate our tree. That is their favourite part of turning our home into a Christmas wonderland! Traditionally each year so far, Bailey has put the star on our tree because he is the tallest! I always place the kid’s Christmas bears under the tree…their nanny bought each of them one the year they were born:)

Like every celebration, I always decorate my red wall!

And what would a Christmas be without being able to count down until the big day….

We are so happy with how our decorating has come together this year! I hope the next few weeks go really slow so we can lap up and enjoy all the hard work that we’ve put in to make our home the land of Christmas!

My Party of 5

Tag Archives: Christmas

Finally The Time Has Come…

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!”

Feeling Fragile….

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #6….Christmas Day!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #5….White Christmas!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #4….Christmas Card Photo!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #3…..Christmas Clothes!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #2…..Santa Photo!

Trew’s Christmas Traditions #1 – Our Christmas Display!!

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