Christmas is a family occasion but never more so than for a couple celebrating their first festive season with their first child.

Devonshire couple Gordon and Sarah Purvis are looking forward to Christmas with baby Ellie, who turns seven months old on Christmas day.

Father Gordon says: "She's too young to appreciate Christmas, so it will be more exciting for us than it will be for her, we are looking forward to it - to see her rip open the presents.

"She will have more fun with the wrapping than the presents. It's exactly like a dog when they like jumping around, ripping the paper.

"She'll get stacks of toys and clothes. All the good things you expect a baby to get. We bought far too much.

"You can spend a fortune on presents and then find she is more interested in a wooden spoon and spend three hours playing with that."

Mum Sarah says: "She doesn't understand Christmas but she will know there is something special going on.

"She will be spoiled rotten. It will be lovely to see her face when all the presents are put in front of her."

However, Gordon says his Christmas present from Ellie has come early. "A lot of babies wake up in the night but she sleeps through the night. You can't ask for more than that."

Sarah says of the big day: "We will take her to the beach on Christmas day. Maybe her dad will take her in the sea. I don't want to go in."

Then it will be time for Ellie's first turkey dinner - even if it is in liquidised form.

Ellie's arrival has changed their Christmas just as it has changed their lives.

Gordon says: "Normally we are very organised at Christmas but we have only just sent out overseas Christmas card because we have had so little time because of her.

"I never knew how much it would change my life, although I don't begrudge it.

"It's amazing how much of a full time job it is even between the two of you. You get home at six o'clock ready to put her to bed at eight.

"In those two hours everything stops. One of you makes the bottle up while the other plays with her.

"One of you gets the bath ready while the other gets the bed ready. Then one of you bathes her while the other washes the bottles.

"You are absolutely beat by eight o'clock, but it's fun."

"The best thing is when you come home from an awful day at work and you call her name and she gives you the biggest grin in the world and all the stress drops away from you.

"She's totally innocent and doesn't know about all the crap in the world. She is happy to see you and loves you unreservedly.

"It puts everything in perspective.

Sarah says the same. "I was surprised about how much my live revolves around this tiny little person.

"She is so little and helpless. She is very demanding to be with all the time but I was surprised about how much I love her."

Gordon says Ellie takes after her. "She's talkative and chatty. She can't talk but she's always babbling. She's alert, noisy and inquisitive.

"She's got my personality and my wife's looks. She's got the best of both worlds.

A telephone might figure in Santa's plans says Gordon. "She loves the telephone and always goes to it when it rings and wants to grab it from you and talk."

It could spell big bills when Ellie becomes a teen says Mr. Purvis. "She's just like me, I am on the phone all the time."

The couple have always celebrated Christmas in Bermuda during their seven years here but Ellie's arrival could spell a change in plan next year.

"One thing I miss is not being with our family," says Sarah. "It's a little hard. This is my parents' first grandchild but we have already sent them a pre-Christmas video."

That camera will capture Christmas moments too. But even with just the three of them it will still be a family occasion.

Sarah say: "It puts a whole different spin on Christmas. Suddenly you are a family and it means a lot more to be together."