
Yes this Christmas we have an addition to the family. A gorgeous and sweet baby boy joined his Mummy and Daddy, siblings and extended family in August.
Christmas is magical in and of itself, however it is much more so when there is a First Christmas to celebrate also.
I find myself noticing all these cute First Christmas outfits, tree decorations, pregnant bellies and teeny tiny newborns every time I am in a shopping centre.
All of the above was plentiful today.
Today was a huge day of Christmas shopping.
My youngest son and I met up with my Aunt and second cousin for a day of gift buying. Specifically my Aunts gift buying. Now wheelchair bound with oxygen tank on board it felt like a miracle to actually all get to the shopping centre on time and meet at the designated spot!
We head off, navigating a busy shopping complex can be a challenge at the best of times, combine that with a wheelchair and that seems like a walk in the park.
Lots to look at, items to carefully choose, lists to cross off (even ones that get accidentally dropped and are found after having to retrace ones wheelchair tracks to retrieve it!), multiple coffees, bathroom visits etc etc etc. I learned a lot, and came away from my day with the utmost respect and first hand knowledge of the life of a wheelchair bound/dependent person. And for their carers/attendants, it's a physical job!
I also came away with killer lower back pain, along with 15 000 plus steps recorded on my fitbit.

There's that shopping list!!
Several stores later, more items checked off, we enjoy a quiet lunch, I get to sit down, all I can manage is another large coffee! This was my first one and the others that followed were equally large or larger!

Here is how the day looks in my December Daily album:
One of the first large Department stores we went into I saw this seriously cute and I thought rather unique advent block calendar... not surprisingly it was very near the toy section. I printed it 6x8 and made it a page of it's own (not inside a page protector). This time I left a small white border around the photo.

Turning that page left me another full page photo opportunity option:
Also snapped early on in the day (thankfully I did because the medical emergency that ended our day was just a few hours away!), here my youngest son helps out on wheelchair duties...

Opposite this page are a few snapshots and journaling on the top photo (done in Photoshop elements before printing)

Between these two pages I have added a glassine bag, holepunched on the bottom so that it sits horizontally in my album.
The front of the bag has a Simple Stories Photo pocket (they come with a strip of self adhesive so super easy to attach just about anywhere). I cut a number transparency to 4x4 and slid it in. I definitely wanted a see through element to go in this pocket and I was thinking my album has quite enough sequins for now, so a shaker pocket was not an option.
Inside the bag sits some journal cards, kept enclosed with a round gold paper clip.


As hinted at earlier, the day ended rather abruptly, though we were all nearing the end of our capacity anyway. A too sweet drink for my diabetic Aunt tipped her over the edge, what we think was a hypo episode unfolded very quickly and at an alarmingly dangerous pace. Thankfully a security guard was passing by, I flagged her over, she called for backup, we increased the oxygen to it's maximum capacity and rode out whatever that episode was. My cousin had turned up just prior so her being there was a whole lot less scary for me.
I hope your December is unfolding in a mild and pleasant way, dangerous and alarming are no fun at all!
Cheers
Michelle x.