After a 4 1/2 month hiatus....

I am happy to report that we are all alive and well! Seriously, I blink and months have passed. It's surreal.

Let's see...Thanksgiving was great. Yummy turkey and fixings had by all. Christmas was fabulous. The kids really seemed to "get it" this year and I was finally able to use the whole "You better behave or I'm calling Santa" thing for a few weeks. It's sad but true that Owen has a great deal more respect for Santa than for me. Owen exchanged valentines with the kiddos in his preschool class and still has his little paper heart filled with everyones little cards and notes. He loved it. And now here we are in March. We'll be setting leprechaun traps next week to see if we can catch one of the little buggers. I'm guessing they'll escape but maybe leave some chocolate gold coins so we don't feel too discouraged.

In other news... part of why it has been so long since I've had time or inclination to update here is that we've been dealing with some health issues. Owen was diagnosed with JIA - a form of juvenile arthritis. After several weeks of complaining about pain in his foot (along with swelling and a limp) we took him in and after a few referrals were sent to a pediatric rheumatologist. He immediately diagnosed JIA and Owen had his first joint injections in November. He experienced relief almost immediately and has since become a new child. He was always somewhat physically tentative but now he's a regular monkey/mountain goat. It's thrilling to watch him run and jump and play. What a joy!

He has been in for a couple of follow-up appointments and goes in again on Monday to check on his progress. Another part of JIA is going in for eye exams every three months to check for complications that can lead to blindness if not caught quickly. While Owen's eyes are fine with respect to the arthritis, we did discover that he is farsighted in one eye so he has had to get glasses. He picked them out and has been great about wearing them. I wear glasses too, so I think he thinks it's kind of cool to wear glasses just like mommy does.

Let's see, what else can I ramble on about? How about Bailey! She's awesome! She's in a little gymnastics class right now that mostly consists of running around a gym and playing on the equipment while I run around after her and do all the heavy lifting. She also did a messy art class and loved every minute of it - especially the "messy" part.

What can I say? I love my kiddos.