I will never again buy any appliance or large item from Sears. I have a good mind to never shop there ever again. We purchased a brand new top of the like Kenmore freezer. Top of the line meaning the best freezer Kenmore offered. We purchase the Kenmore Elite 25 cu. ft. Freezer in December of last year. We use the quick freeze once and it worked fine (we were flash freezing berries) but the second time we used it it didn't work at all. Well. About a month ago a tech came out and said that we had a broken heater coil. In a freezer we had only had for 7 months? Absolutely ridiculous. NE way. He ordered the part and sent out someone a week later to install it. That someone said that when it was diagnosed the guy put a screw through the freon pipe and so he sent someone out the same day to fix it since that is a huge deal and nothing freezes with that sort of leak. Well. The guy who came out to weld and recharge it told me at that time that it was made at the factory that way and not damaged by the tech. So. For the last 2 weeks I've been calling A&E (the people who send out the techs) my old sales person (who just quit the week before) and the sears appliance manager at the Jordan store. After talking With my brother in law that specializes in refrigeration I was informed that those are factory sealed system that are not designed to be recharged or tampered with and that doing so will cause a lot of trouble with the entire system. In my thinking it would be only fair that they replace it seeing as how it was made that way according to that tech. Well. They wouldn't do anything for me. No one would. In fact the A&E customer service manager thought it was pretty funny that I was upset cause when I was telling them how unacceptable this situation was she was snickering in the background. I was so angry I called her on it and she of course denied it all. NE way. After talking to the appliance manager at the Sears store where we purchased all our appliances (over $3,000) she said that the only way they could get it replaced was if they had documentation that there was a defect. Of course the tech that told me that didn't record that he had said that. Just that he had fixed it. Well. After she said that I decided that I'd have them send the same tech out and make sure that he records it this time. Well. He came out today. Now the story changes. Now it isn't the manufacturer according to him, after a little more research, it was the first tech that diagnosed it after all. He put a screw through the freon pipe when put the panel back on. So. that was documented and now tomorrow I get to call the Sears number the tech left for me and see how they plan to take care of it. Seeing as how it was an A&E tech that ruined it I doubt I'm gonna get anywhere. I guess we will see what they say and from there I'll argue with A&E and from there I'll see if Gephardt wants to help me. I'll keep the stupid thing as long as they guarantee it will last the standard life of a freezer, which is 15 years. Ya. There is no way they are willing to do that. So. In all fairness the right thing for A&E to do would be to replace it. I'll see how far I get with that tomorrow.

Well. Xander has been talking so much more. Every day he has something new to say. Yesterday when we said the blessing on lunch I said "Amen" and the next thing I hear is Xander saying "Amen." He also likes to say two in french. We will say un (1) and he says deux (2) and then we say trois (3) He loves to say "Ice" whenever we fill up our cups at the fridge and he just learned the word "bubble" today. So fun to watch him progress and learn. He knows all his face parts in french too. You ask him in french (where is your head, ears, nose, tongue, teeth, eyes, lips, stomach, feet, hands, or hair) in french and he will point to it. He also signs a little. He knows more, thirsty, hungry, please, and thankyou. It has made communication so much easier. Well. We lost the last binki last night and so he has had to quit cold turkey. Bedtime and nap time has been difficult but I think it will get easier soon.

Addi has been keeping me busy. She is still testing her limits so she spent a lot of time in her room today. She does great at preschool. She gets really excited to go and cooperates on the mornings she has preschool but about a half hour after she gets home there is a complete personality change. She is defiant and disobedient. I don't know why she is pleasant and happy for that little bit after school and then after lunch she is back at her old tricks but that is the way it is working lately. Maybe I'll try and sit down with her after school and do something fun or have her teach me what she learned. I just wish I could capture that pleasant, helpful, obedient personality that I know is in there. She did say something pretty funny today that made me laugh though. She came up to me after she had been playing on the chouch with staticy hair and said, "Look mom! My hair is all crazed up!" When I started laughing she asked me "What are you freaking out about mom?" Sometimes she does crack me up.