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Hello! We're back from our Melbourne trip. Thought I'd post up some pics of our time away, starting with the (belated) weekly Bumpday photo. Me in the dress a 28 weeks. Hoochie-mama! And without sounding conceited, I would have to say that I'm finally glowing. Woohoo – about bloody time!

While we were there we caught up with some good friends for a balmy night out in the city. I'd always heard of The Waiters Restaurant, but never had a chance to go until now. We devoured mammoth bowls of pasta then followed them up with some cheeky granitas at Pelligrini's. I love Pelligrini's, it always makes me think of hot Melbourne summers. Although this year there was strictly no bar hopping beforehand. (I did have a sip of PB's beer though. Sssshhh...)

Being Polish my family celebrate on Christmas Eve. Once a year mum makes a traditional dish for this occasion, called Pierogi. There are lots of variations on the filling of these little dumplings, but at Christmas they are stuffed with mushrooms, cabbage and spices and served in a clear beetroot broth. Unfortunately we were too busy scoffing them to take photos, but PB did get lots of my mum making them:

There was way too much food to eat. And we had been stuffed full of our favourites in the days leading up so stomach capacity was limited. And just when we thought it was over, when we had eaten the entire contents of the fridge, out comes a roast pork:

It was amazing and I think PB's favourite. As well as taking lots of photos of my mum cooking, PB also took hundreds of Daisy Dog. Here are a few. Isn't she gorgeous? Aaah, we love Daisy Dog.

So that was Christmas this year. I'm not going to go on about it too much, as I run the risk of getting sentimental and waffling. I will say that it was a pretty special time to hang out with my parents, my husband and little Baby Bear in my belly. After being overseas for so long it was the first Christmas in ages I had a real sense of family, and I'm pretty lucky to find myself amongst these people that happen to be mine.