Updates

Things are moving right along over here. Clint has been released back to work at the office finally. He can only do stationary type work and still can't drive, but he is happy his going into the office is "legal" now. :) His boss and coworkers pick him up bright and early every morning, which is so nice of them. He calls my cell phone from downstairs to help him get things ready and out the door and then I plop back in bed till 7 or so since my work has been slow. He still sleeps downstairs on a rocking chair because when he tries to sleep in our bed he rolls too much and ends up hurting himself. I don't sleep that great without him, so I'm anxious for him to be upstairs again! I usually pick him up from work in the afternoons after running to the gym and getting any work I have done. The office is about 40 minutes away so between that and all of his appointments, our gas bill has been outrageous lately. He can now lift his leg on his own and is getting around much better. He still can't put any weight on it but at our check up Tuesday his X-rays looked great and his surgeon thinks he might be off crutches in six weeks! We were both super happy to hear that. It's way sooner than they had anticipated. We are now going to physical therapy twice a week and water therapy three times a week. Well, that's what we are supposed to be doing. It is extremely hard to find time for all of his appointments on top of work and the girls and everything else we have going on. I think we will be lucky to get him in for water therapy once or twice a week, and I'm pretty sure I'll have to drag him there.
We are still getting so much help from our neighbors and friends. The young men from our ward came over a few weeks ago and did yard work for us, and two other neighbors have been taking care of it every week for the past month. We came home yesterday and someone had mowed. I didn't figure out who it was till this afternoon! People are so nice to us. I keep telling everyone that I'm fully capable of mowing our lawn. I grew up with a mother who mowed 13 acres of land every week and she loved every second of it. So my sad sad little excuse for a yard should be a piece of cake for me. But, I am glad Clint has good buddies who are out there in the 115 degree heat instead of me. :)
He had his deposition yesterday that had to do with his car accident in 2008. 2008! Some money hungry lady is out for lots of cash and is suing VW Dig. Our lawyer thought it would take about an hour and it ended up taking three. The plantiff's lawyer was such a (I'm really working on my language) naughty man. He was trying to get Clint to blame VW, or insinuate that they should have had rules in place about vehicle safety, etc. He was quizzing Clint on traffic laws, his work history, what records he saw in regards to the accident, etc. He just went about things very rudely. It all had to be video taped and poor Clint was nervous. We find out in a few weeks if it goes to trial or if they'll settle. I hope they settle but am praying they don't get anywhere near the money they are asking for. No one was injured, no one accepted medical treatment, no one had any issues until about a year ago. Ridiculous.
Other than his crabbiness at not being able to ride his bike, I have not heard one word of complaint out of him. He has had the best attitude through everything and amazes me every day with his outlook on things.

Sage is still my little drama queen. She sometimes gets her feathers ruffled super easily, but is-for the most part-the sweetest little gal. We are trying a new technique for helping her to make better choices and not whine, and so far it's working. I made a little jar for her that say's, "Sage's I can make the right choice jar. If I don't bellow, I get to eat marshmallows." Cheesy, I know. But she LOVES marshmallows. So each morningI put a small handful of marshmallows in her jar and if she whines about something or doesn't listen to Clint or I the first time, she looses a marshmallow. At the end of each day she gets to eat whatever is left. So far, so good. But just like every other behavior technique out there I'm sure this one will fizzle out after too long. She is all about pink ponies, pink butterfly's, pink horses, and pink food. She loves to make Charlotte whine but is at the same time unbelievably sweet to her, if that makes any sense. When Charly goes to bed, Sage hugs her and kisses her all over and says, "good night sister Charlotte. I love you." They play tag together for hours on end and have gotten into this "squeaky" stage. They wake up squeaking at each other and do it all day long. Cute, but annoying. She loves having her hair braided and I am no good at braids. So we usually have to compromise on how she gets her hair done each morning. She has started getting picky about what she wears, too. Every morning I go to get her dressed and she goes right to the closet to point out her "lovely purple dress". It's her Christmas velvet dress that is just a little too formal for every day wear. So we usually compromise on clothes, too. She loves to put on her black dress up dress and pretend to be Snow White. She loves bagels. LOVES them. She has two hours of quiet time every afternoon and only naps maybe twice a week. The other days she just lays in her bed talking to her baby doll Abby or singing church songs over and over and over. And over. She LOVES talking to the baby in my belly. She kisses her and hugs her and talks about how much her "little sister loves Sage". She loves to make me sit down and decorate my belly with jewelry. She tells me to sit very still so the baby can play dress up with her. It melts me. She is the slowest eater of any child I have ever met or seen. Each meal takes at least an hour. I've gotten to where I set the timer in the kitchen for five minutes and if she doesn't eat in that five minutes, I take her food away and she goes hungry till the next meal. And if she doesn't eat what I prepare, she doesn't eat. NO MORE making extra things for my picky eaters. The timer thing has been working wonders the past week. She gobbles her food right up so she doesn't have to hear it beep at her. I love Sage.

Charlotte is a little spitfire. She has an attitude all her own and has no problem telling me what she wants, or more importantly what she doesn't want. She has stomped her foot at me, told me no-no, pushed me, and spit at me. It's true. She has been in time-out lots for a not-even-two-year-old. She is a dainty little thing with pretty much no hair. She loves to get her hair done each morning though, just like big sis. She holds so still and loves it when I tell her how pretty she looks afterwards. She can entertain herself for hours, usually with books. She pretends to read to herself and has started singing along with our little kid CD's. Listening to her sing along with the alphabet is hilarious. She gets about 5 letters in and hums the rest. She is a picky eater, just like Sage. She loves any and all fruit and fish. It's very strange. She won't eat chicken nuggets but devours tilapia, halibut and salmon. Crazy kid. She talks a lot and repeats everything we say, just in her own little way. She is the best snuggler. She puts her head right in my neck and curls her body into mine. She loves to be held by mommy and will let me sit and stare at her all day. I love it. I love her.

As for me, I'm a mess. I'm getting bigger each day and have less and less energy each day. I swear I've never been this tired before. I felt like super mom with my first two pregnancies. This one has thrown me for a loop because I'm just exhausted all day long. It's so annoying. I lay down for a quick nap almost every day because I seriously can't keep my eyes open. And napping bugs me because I feel so unproductive. Other than no energy, I'm feeling good. I'm not throwing up anymore and have been off Zofran for five straight days now with not too much nausea. I eat around the clock and have put on 7 lbs as of 22 weeks. I can tell a huge difference in my arms this time around. It drives me crazy. Oh and my hair has stopped growing. It hasn't grown in about a year. I've been trying to grow it out for forever and nothing is happening. Strange, since I thought being pregnant was supposed to make it grow faster. My work load has dropped drastically in the past few months. I was doing 8-10 orders a day and now I'm doing 1-3. It's pretty pathetic. I think the timing is perfect though since I am Clint's chauffeur. So maybe it's been a blessing in disguise. :) I think that's the low down on us. Not that anyone is still reading, but I like to keep track of what's going on so that a year from now I can read everything and know exactly what we were all up to.