Update

Alright, here is the scoop.....

It looks like I need surgery. I have an extremely herniated disc in my low back and it is compressing nerves affecting both of my legs. I am in a great deal of pain most days and in moderate pain the rest of the time. I have scheduled surgery on May 20th. In the mean time I will seek a second opinion, just to make sure I have no other option. The surgery will not be an easy one.

Here's the skinny:

*4 hours

*Remove the disc.

*Replace it with a spacer.

*Fuse it all together.

*Place 4 screws.

I feel like I will be a giant erector set!

Recovery:

*Approx. 3 days in the hospital.

*Month 1 "Nothing of value" (per doctor). Only walking.

*Month 2 Start driving!! Start doing daily activities.

*Month 3 Begin their exercise program where they will "beat me up" (doctor again) and strengthen my back. The doc assured me this would be very painful, but the results would be good.

So there you have it. The long and short of it.

In other news... I will go back for a second ultrasound of the 2 nodules on my thyroid tomorrow afternoon. I will post more when I have new info!

I wanted to leave you with this sweet little gem! So sweet! God's generous blessing to me that keeps me going on the days when I hurt the most. I am richly blessed!

The Circus is COMING to Dayton!!

Come experience the all-new

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents ZING ZANG ZOOM

Playing at the Nutter Center

with your family!

Once again, I am partnering with momcentral.com and hosting a give away! One lucky winner will win a family 4 pack of tickets to opening night, April 29 at the Nutter Center!

If you aren't the winner, I will have a special offer for you!

Purchase a 4-pack of tickets for weekday shows for only $44,

or receive $4 off any weekend ticket by logging onto HYPERLINK "http://www.ticketmaster.com"www.ticketmaster.com and entering the coupon code:MOM.**

Dayton Show Dates:

Thursday April 29: 7:o0pm

Friday April 30: 7:00 pm

Saturday May 1: 11:00am, 3:00pm, 7:00pm

Sunday May 2: 12:00pm, 4:00pm

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment with your e-mail address or Twitter handle so I can give you the news if you win. I will also post the winner after on April 16th by 9 a.m. here on my bloggity blog!

*Contest ends April 15 at 9 p.m.

*Please note - any comments I make to this post will be deleted before the winner is determined through random.org.

Noah turns 5!!

Noah turned 5 on March 9. It was a beautiful day so we went to the park and played!! It was wonderful.

On Saturday, we celebrated with the family and had a couple of friends over to spend the night. My mom made the Pirate cake and it was perfect!!:)
James, such a cutie!
Noah, Peter and Ryan. 3 buddies getting ready for a FUN night!
Noah modeling his pirate bandana.
Peter giving his best Pirate, ARRRGGGG!
Ryan was a calm Pirate, at this point in the evening. He is such a sweet boy.
Pirate Collin, trying to look tough.
Time for a craft.
Peter and Noah working on their Pirate ornaments.
All of our party Pirates showing their telescopes and swords.
After crafts, bingo, pin the tail on the donkey and dinner, we settled in for a movie.
Lights out!
Sunday morning was fun too! We all go to church together, so they were able to play together until we got to church.
There were some highly competitive games of ring around the rosie going on!
A few more minutes of extreme cuteness.
The next day, Grandpa Jim started to assemble the gift from my parents and sister for Noah and Collin's combined birthday present. So much fun!!
They love it!! The best part is that we are constantly entertaining our neighbor kids. I spoke with Noah and Collin last week about how important it is to tell our friends about Jesus. Noah started witnessing to his little friends the first day they came over. What a blessing and a challenge to this mommy.
Happy birthday. I love you so much Noah. You are an amazing boy.