Lately, it’s been feeling a bit like déjà vu in our house.

Daniel is once again dealing with a pretty intense back injury—eerily similar to this time last year. I somehow managed to injure my upper back and neck at the same time, and our youngest seems to be on a never-ending rotation of sniffles and fevers. Needless to say, we’ve had to cancel or scale back on a lot of things we were really looking forward to. The kind of things we’d marked on the calendar and counted down the days for.

But in the midst of all this disruption, something has been grounding me: the reminder that these are still the days we’ll look back on as some of the best of our lives.

The days when our boys still want to be held constantly. The days filled with sticky little hands, spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen, and never-ending requests for snuggles. Yes, it’s exhausting. And yes, sometimes the days feel impossibly long. But even through the fog of injuries and setbacks, I keep thinking about how fleeting this season is—and how deeply special it is, too.

For those of you with older kids, I imagine your season is just as meaningful, with its own challenges and joys. But my guess is that maybe you look back and remember when the hardest part of your day was simply being needed so much, and that seems kinda nice.

This week has forced us to slow down—even when we didn’t want to—and make some of our own December magic at home. We’ve leaned into the simple things: playing holiday videos of snow and a crackling fireplace while we make breakfast (like the one shown above), soaking in the sound of our kids laughing at each other’s jokes, and discovering a few new festive family shows. Most of all, it’s been a chance to practice gratitude—pausing to appreciate the healthy days we do have, the plans that do work out, and learning to be flexible and find joy in the slower pace when life doesn’t go as expected. And being honest with ourselves, there’s been a lot of good things and things that have gone according to plan, so we want to celebrate those things.

Wherever you are—busy, slowed down, hurting, or fully soaking it all in—I hope you can find some simple joys each day and create magic in your own way. And if this month hasn’t started quite how you imagined, you’re not alone. Here’s to making the most of what we’re given and finding connection with our families, one day at a time.