The rundown

I have not been good at updating this recently. So here's the rundown:
- The Nissan died a couple weeks ago. It's been leaking oil and apparently it suddenly got much worse and the engine seized. Not good. Steve and I went car shopping, which was frustrating and took way too long for too little information. Side note: We do NOT recommend the new Kia dealership here in Jackson. Our "salesman" didn't have a clue what he was doing, had to check with his manager for everything, made us run a credit check before we even test drove a car, and never did give us a price for the car or an estimate on a trade-in amount for the Nissan. He said he'd call. That was last Friday. It's now Wednesday and still no call. Like I said, don't go there. We finally decided our best financial option was to fix the Nissan. It's almost paid off and it only has 125,000 miles on it. Plus it will have a newer engine.

- Sarah broke her leg. On the upside, it was a clean break and she won't need surgery. Bad for her: she can't drive her car. Good for us: she can't drive her car. She was kind enough to loan us her car until we either fixed the Nissan or bought a new car. Despite her recent run of bad luck, she has been amazingly positive. Sarah's awesome.

- Leslie and Paul's wedding is coming together quickly. So far they have the church, pastor (that one was easy), reception hall, caterer, DJ, honeymoon booked, photographer, Leslie's dress, all the bridesmaids have ordered their dresses, someone to do flowers, and they've at least partially registered. All in less than three weeks. I even estimated my dress size and ordered my dress. Hope it fits! Or better yet, has to be taken in a little. :) Us bridesmaids have our shoes too, Leslie ordered the jewelery for us, and Tracy and I found matching dresses and hair clips for all five little girls. Meeting with the other bridesmaids on Saturday was a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them.

- I'm 33 weeks now and Nora is head down. I've been having more pelvic pressure but I'm okay with that if she's head down. I recently started swelling a little. I was so hoping my rings would fit until the end but I'm not sure they will now. The doctor said my swelling is mild and my BP and weight are good. No signs of pre-eclampsia, thank God. Yesterday the doctor mentioned I need to be careful outside so I don't fall and gave me strict instructions to go to L&D if I do fall and think I may have hit my belly. Within 10 minutes, I rolled my ankle on a pile of snow. Beautiful. It's a bit sore but appears to be fine. At least I didn't fall, lol. Unfortunately, I also woke up congested and with a sore throat. I'm so looking forward to the day when I can actually sleep again.

- More and more the girls have been playing together. It's so sweet. And then they fight. They're already pretty good about saying they're sorry and hugging each other afterward. Mia's hair is growing thicker and longer - finally! I admit I'm not sure of the best way to trim it and not make her look like a little boy, so I'll be glad when it's even longer. Ella can write some letters now. She doesn't write words, but the letters actually look like letters. I think they're starting to understand more about Nora now. I've explained to them that baby Nora lives in my belly and in a few months, I'll go to the hospital and she'll come out. Then she'll come home and live with us. At night we pray for her. Mia adds "and booce." It took us a while to figure out she was saying "and Boots." Yep, she's mixing up Nora and Dora. They also pray for the Little People, Cow, Ming Ming, Veggie Tales, and whoever else comes to mind. They're getting so big. I love watching them learn new things, but it is a bit bittersweet.

- Steve begins a new schedule soon, March 17 at the latest. He'll be working four days a week for ten hours at a time. He'll have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off every week, which will be nice. But the shift is 11am to 10pm. Which means Monday through Thursday, I will be alone with the girls most of the day and be doing bedtime alone. I'm most nervous about after Nora is here and I'm trying to handle three girls alone for nearly thirteen hours a day. We also decided March 17 would be my last day of work before Nora comes. I'll be 36 weeks then. If I so much as touch my stomach or make a face, everyone thinks I'm going into labor. I have a good 6 weeks to go. I'm thinking by 36 weeks I'll need to be on phone and hospital triages so I don't freak out the walk-ins. I already freak out my coworkers.

- We have had a lot of snow lately. We had a big storm two weeks ago and another one this week. With my compromised balance and inability to walk very far or shovel, I've called in a few times due to snow. We're getting more snow today. I'm most concerned today about my ankle. I just really don't want to risk rolling it again and possibly falling. If we keep getting snow storms, I may not keep working until 36 weeks. Add in the car issue and I've called in three times in the past three weeks. I can handle snow, but it's better if it's smaller amounts at a time. Less risky for me to be out in it.

I think that's all our news. Oh, ew. Mia just sneezed Goldfish cracker all over my arm. Ick. Aren't kids fun?