Things have been busy....

I know it has been awhile and I am sorry- things have been busy and I have been sick- gotta love sinus infections! We have finally begun construction on our extra/storage room. We have decided to turn it into a bedroom for Sarah and she is VERY excited!!! She wants to paint the room a light purple and light pale green. Whatever- it is her room. Rachel has decided that she wants to move rooms and be in the playroom. Rachie wants to paint her room a light pale yellow. So... of course... Gabriel and the baby will be in the bedroom right next to Rick and I. Gabriel wants to paint his room blue- 'lots a blue mom!' he tells me- 'wif cars on it!'- hope the new baby likes cars?!?
The kids are doing great and have had a lot of fun outside on their swing set on the warmer days. Sarah spends a lot of time with her nose in books and has started reading stories to Gabriel almost every night. Gabriel is loving the attention and the stories- his favorite book right now is 'BIG BAD BRUCE'. He likes telling me all about that mean old bear. Rachel spends her time trying to get on the computer to play 'poptropica' (?) she loves it and bugs me from the minute she walks int he door until she goes to bed at night- well... until she crawls off somewhere and falls asleep. We find her in Gabe's bed, on the floor, out on the couch- she just kind of drops in her tracks! Funny kid!

Rick and I are doing well. The sinus infection really took a lot out of me and I am glad to be feeling better. Rick is getting ready to begin his new job- next Wednesday!!!!! We are excited about the hours- (consistent hours!!!), the fact that he will average more than 40 hours a week, they pay overtime and this new company will have Medical Insurance. YAY!!!! I have to admit I am not thrilled that he will be gone every afternoon and night- but maybe another shift will eventually open up. Cross our fingers! He will get to carpool to and from work with his Dad which he is looking forward to, he was just telling me the other night that he has missed hanging out with him every day. So the commute should be kind of fun for him. That will also give us more time to look for a second car and will leave me with the minivan- UGH. Still working on the whole minivan thing.

That is about all here- just regular every day family stuff. I am happy that there is progress on the 4th room and keep hoping for some warm days int he near future so we can cut out and put a window into that room. Hope everyone is well!

IT"S A BOY!!!!

I only have a minute to type before I have to feed the Missionaries... but I could not wait to get online and tell everyone that it is official- WE HAVE THE ULTRASOUND PICTURE AND IT IS A BOY!!!!! YEA!!!! I will try to put the picture on later. Richard, Gabe and Sarah are very excited... Rachel is a little bummed, she was hoping for a little sister to boss around and dress up. I am thrilled to finally and officially know what we are having and I am ready to go shopping!!!! YEA!!!!

*SIGH*

Rick got home from the dealership a little before 2pm yesterday and had new tires on the minivan- NO the latch on the back was not fixed and he now has to take next Tuesday off of work to go in AGAIN and try to get that fixed. *SIGH* *SUPER SIGH* On a good note- next Tuesday is our appointment to find out if we are having a boy or a girl so Rick will be able to come and see that before he heads to St. Joseph once again. YAY!

I have to rant....

I just HAVE to get it out- I am so angry!!!! I know that I do not usually use my Blog as a forum to yell and scream but I just have to. As everyone knows by now on January 21 my husband wrecked my beloved Sante Fe- (leather, heated seats, upgraded sound system & CD player, DVD player, all of the extras that I loved-SIGH!) thankfully and gratefully he was not hurt. This did, however, leave us in the market for another vehicle and having a little one on the way left us needing one with 7 or more seats. Minivan it is- ugh! SUPER UGH! Sooo- I began looking at Minivans online- new, used, dealerships, craigslist, in and out of state. I spent days going back and forth on Kelly Blue book comparing values with prices trying to figure out the best possible way to get what we needed but that would still allow us to work our way entirely out of debt by the end of this year. My father- who I trust more than anyone when it comes to cars, money and business decisions suggested a guy he knows at a dealership... which I must say really surprised me and has never happened before. I can not stress never enough! I called this salesman, told him exactly what we were looking for, told him the price range I wanted to stay in and we set up an appointment to meet. To make a long story short we went to the dealership- he was busy- we met with another salesman- we found something close enough to what we wanted and began negotiating. They wanted more then I was willing to pay and I wanted the vehicle detailed, the latch on the back door fixed and new tires put on it. I talked them down $700 and they agreed to wash & detail the vehicle, put new tires on it, fix the latch on the rear door and give it an oil change. I was pleased with the 'deal' that I made, I was thrilled that I had talked them into less than I would have been willing to pay and I figured that I would work on liking the idea of being a 'minivan mom'. (YES AMY- I KNOW THAT YOU ARE LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY!!! JERK!) The vehicle was not ready and they told us that we could pick it up the next day.
The next day (Thursday) Gabriel and I were heading out the door to pick up the vehicle when they called to tell us the part was not in to fix the rear door yet so they would call us when it was ready. The next day (Friday) they called us and told us we could come and pick up the minivan at our convenience. Rick and I decided to make a date night out of it- we turned in our rental car and got a ride to the dealership. We were to the dealership just before 6pm. The salesman pulled the minivan around for us and told us that they would 'owe us a detail job'- the detail department had been busy that day and he guessed the department had not gotten around to it. I was ticked!!! I do not like dirt- let alone someone else's dirt and this van was FILTHY! I threw a fit and reminded them that we had gone over and over how important it was to me that the vehicle was clean because I did not want to drive my kids around in FILTH and I did not want to have to be the one to clean it. The salesmen told me that the detail department was closed for the day and that we could bring it back the next morning. I was MAD- that would be more of our gas money gone and that meant Rick would be sitting in the dealership on his first Saturday off in awhile and on the first warm, sunny Saturday of the year instead of being on the picnic and at the park with me and the kids like we had planned. Not to mention we had returned the clean rental car- which we had not 'had' to do yet and now I was going to have to drive around in this filthy thing on my first date night in months!!! I WAS MAD! The salesmen suggested that we run to the car wash and at least vacuum and wipe it out- so we did. Rick and salesman #1 vacuumed everything while salesman #2 and I wiped everything down. We were an hour later to dinner than planned so we had to wait forever to be seated- and that is never fun to do with a frustrated, hungry pregnant woman! My poor hubby.
The next morning (Saturday) Rick was at the dealership at 9:30am and did not get home until after 2pm!!! I went out to inspect the vehicle- they had scrubbed the carpets but that was all! They had NOT fixed the back latch on the rear door or put on new tires- they had put on different tires- but they were not new! They also had not cleaned the dashboard, any of the interior vinyl, the cup holders, glove box or CD holder. They had not cleaned between the seat bottoms and seat backs or underneath the seats. They had not cleaned any knobs, switches, mirrors or interior lights. They had not wiped down the doors and all of the mirrors and windows were so spotted they looked dirty. That left me wondering what a car dealership- with an actual 'detail department' thinks of when they guarantee a detail job on a vehicle?!?!?!?!? Rick and I spent 4 hours Saturday afternoon washing out the minivan- doing what they had contracted to do! Why- because the dealership was closed until Monday and I was not going to spend the weekend driving myself and my kids around in filth! Needless to say on the first Saturday Rick was free from work and we had nice weather we were not able to spend any time at the park or on our family picnic as we had promised ourselves and the kids. I WAS SAD & MAD!!!
So... what did the dealership do... what did they keep their word on... what part of the stuff that they contracted to do did they actually follow through with- they gave us an oil change and an inspection sticker. Now it is Tuesday morning and after both myself and my father called the salesman yesterday insisting that they make things right, my husband had to take work off for the day and go back to the dealership to have them fix the rear door latch and put NEW tires on the minivan. He left in time to be there at 9am- what time do you think he will actually get home today?!?!? I am taking bets. I do feel a little comfort in knowing that I have friends in the market for a bigger vehicle that I WILL NOT BE referring to this company and when I buy Rick a car or truck in the next few weeks... I WILL NOT BE getting it from them! If anyone would like to know the name of this dishonest and deceitful dealership in St.Joseph- anyone... Just call me and I will be more than happy to share any information I can with you. Thanks for listening!!!!