Whew.
The last three months have been a blur. The last three weeks have been even fuzzier. It started in early September with visits from three sets of family (which was awesome!) … and shortly after that, out of the blue, Shepherd decided he wasn’t much of a sleeper … and somehow I survived for a couple of months on an average of four hours of nighttime sleep. (Thank you, Lord, for coffee and an understanding hubby!)
Then, just before Thanksgiving, all six of us were hit with a sneezy, foggy cold that eventually turned into a respiratory issue. The amount of coughing going on in our house was almost comical. We went through lemons, honey, coconut oil, and eucalyptus like crazy.
We survived that, too, and things are starting to look a bit clearer. I’m thankful for the rough patches for several reasons, and one is that they make me truly appreciate the lighter, easier times. Here are a few snapshots of what we’ve been up to over the last week or so…
The Festival of Lights Parade in downtown Springs
Eric gave the 3 oldest their own glowsticks to carry during the parade. Glowsticks = happiness.
Hud has been *slightly* obsessed with Spiderman lately, so his big sis took it upon herself to make him a mask. He loved it!
After feeling like hermits for weeks on end, we finally got to connect with several friends last weekend. These baby buddies are about 2 months apart!
We're settling in to our new lifestyle of mainly plant-based eating, and we especially love Asian noodle dishes, like this Korean chapchae. Yum!
Last night I had the privilege of attending a Christmas Tea at Sally Clarkson's home with my sweet friend Stacey, her sister, and our 3 little boys. 
This guy is NINE months old today, and a couple of days ago he officially started crawling!
And he's getting pretty good at the mess-making thing.
I told the kids we had to get the house "clean" (a relative term) before putting up the tree. *That* is motivation, folks!
We got the tree up this morning (with the kids putting it together entirely by themselves!) but now I can't find the ornaments in our newly "organized" garage. MOM FAIL! I'm hoping Eric can help...
I can't get enough of this sweetness.
That’s all for now. I hope you and your family are enjoying the Christmas season!
-Abby
I know what you mean- it feels great to be well again! We went through two rounds of ear infections for both girls in October/November. I’m hoping that means we have served our time and we won’t get sick again all winter!
Hope you all stay healthy! Having sick kiddos is ROUGH!
So miss the parade that year, and the few Christmas gatherings that we had spent together…..
Please say happy birthday to our little spiderman (I would love it if you could read him this comment and show Grandma LaoLao’s picture to him
), and also please let him know that his birthday present is on the way! Ai Ni!
He loved his gift from you…thank you so much! We put a candle in a cupcake yesterday morning and sang to him, and we told him it was from you and Baba.
O that was so sweet; thanks, Baobei!
Your family is soo beautiful and Shepherd is gett big so fast what a cutie.
oops I meant to type “getting” not gett
Thanks, Breanna! He is growing up quickly, huh? I wish he would slow it down a little!