Oh, you guys, can you indulge me in a whine for a minute? Ugh, this month.

First at the beginning of the month we got hit with a stomach flu that took down every member of our family (except me), one by one, over the course of a week. We’d never had the stomach flu before and, wow, it is the worst.

Thursday night: up all night with Olly
Monday night: up all night with Joey
Wednesday night: up all night with Andy AND Joey
Friday night: up all night with Joey for the third time

Joey would go a full 36 hours perfectly fine, only to wake up sick in the middle of the night again. It was like a cruel joke.

We’re over it now, thank goodness, but Joey has been waking up crying every night and resisting naps ever since because she’s so afraid that she’s going to get sick again. It’s heartbreaking.

THEN Olly has started his 18-month sleep regression a bit early. Last night he was up until midnight acting like he’d had six cups of black coffee. It means I have literally not had a solid night of sleep in a full month. Which means of course I have a cold/bronchitis that just won’t go away.

Oh, December, I love you, but can you PLEASE give us a break in time for Christmas? I neeeeed a breakkkk!

Anyway, whine over. I know it’ll get better.

We’ve also had a fun month with trips to the Cleveland Museum of Art (above), the Polar Express train ride on the Cuyahoga Valley Train (in our pjs! below), drives to see Christmas lights, listening to holiday music basically constantly, walks around the neighborhood in a superhero cape and snowpants, and time spent together as much as we can, which is always my favorite.

Here are a few things that I’ve been loving lately:

— This statement by Erin Loechner is everything this time of year. Despite our difficult month, I think we’ve done a good job of making this season special for the kids (and us) while not going overboard by scheduling too many things. It’s been fun but not crazy, as it should be.

— We make this baked french toast every year for Christmas morning breakfast. My mom always made something similar. It’s perfect because you put it all together the night before, pop it in the oven in the morning, and you have a delicious, decadent, special breakfast by the time all the presents are open!

— 98% of my wardrobe is black/grey/navy with a handful of olive green and mustard, but this outfit feels so much like “me.” Hm. Something’s not right here.

— I really want to do a version of this Sugar & Cloth DIY on our house next Christmas. We actually don’t do any outdoor Christmas decorations besides a wreath. So lame, I know. So next year is our year!

We hope all you have a wonderful Christmas, if you celebrate. Take the time to relax, don’t worry if it doesn’t all get done or if it’s not all perfect … and take a nap for us, ok?!!

We’ll be back next week with blog post looking back at 2018 and the following week we’ll have our annual to-do list for 2019! I always look forward to putting those two posts together every year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!