Forgive me readers, for I have sinned. It has been 3 weeks since my last entry.

Wow. I don't even know where to begin. All I can say, is that I hope the beginning of 2009 isn't any indication of the rest of the year. Because if it is, I am not looking forward to it.

The year began with Leanne being sick. She got the lovely flu/cough/illness that the kids had and was out of commission for several days.

And then...

Last weekend we took the kids to their first "big kid" birthday party. It was for a kid in our neighborhood who was turning 4 and having a party at Pump It Up (one of those places that has bouncy house type things.) The kids were doubtful about getting in, but once we got in there with them, they thought it was fun! We bounced and bounced and realized that bouncing is quite the workout! Later that day, Leanne and I were lamenting about being sore! The following day (Sunday), Leanne said she felt as though she'd pulled a muscle. By Monday morning, she could barely walk. We did make it to see a movie (it was MLK Day and we both had the day off and Mia was working) and to a late lunch, but Leanne felt miserable. That night she went to the Urgent Care Center across the street and was told she has sciatica. They gave her a muscle relaxer and some pain meds and sent her on her merry way. Tuesday, she was worse. I ended up taking her to Urgent Care again where they confirmed the diagnosis and gave her some Vicodin. Wednesday it was even worse (even the narcotics weren't working) and our friend Suzanne came over to drive Leanne to the ER (I was at work and Leanne didn't want to wait for me to drive home.) But Leanne couldn't get in Suzanne's car due to the pain and they ended up calling 911. They took her to the ER where they once again confirmed the diagnosis and gave her IV Dilaudid. That helped! On Thursday Leanne went to an orthopedic surgeon who said she had a herniated disc (she had one in 1996) that caused the sciatica. He said to come in Friday for a steroid injection that would hopefully alleviate the need for surgery. She went in today and had the injection and is feeling better - not great - but much better.

Of course, if this wasn't enough, we were supposed to be in Florida (Disney) this weekend. We waited till 23 hours out to cancel (about the time Leanne went to the ER and is was apparent that Leanne would be in no condition to walk around Disney, deal with 2 toddlers on vacation, and the abundant luggage that we still hadn't packed. We were so sad. But once we figured out what was going on and was able to re-group, we rebooked and are going in 2 weeks. We are waiting a couple of days to make sure that the injection works and that surgery isn't needed (if the injection works she should be pain free in no more than 7-10 days. If the pain persists beyond that, surgery will be needed.) We are hopeful that this will work and we'll be visiting The Mouse soon!

The kids are doing great! They are talking non-stop. Carter still "LOVES blue." Grayson wants a cape (the is a picture of a kid in a cape in a book he reads and he reads it over and over...) They love to ask, "What's your favorite... (color, food, cookie, book, etc.)" Two year old tempers come out regularly. And they are a great mixture of funny, frustrating, loving, defiant, and independent.

I'll try to be better about posting!!!!