Minivan

With the upcoming arrival of a new member of the family also comes the addition of all the baby gear.  And while there isn't much we can do right now about expanding our living space to accommodate the household stuff, it was time to seriously consider upgrading our cars. 

Anyone who has read this blog since the beginning knows the story of Katia (http://peanutchronicle.blogspot.com/2009/05/goodbye-katia.html).  In short, the Civic is the first car I bought, before my senior year of college and both for sentimental reasons and because it has served me/us incredibly well for the past 10 years, I feel attached to it.  And Joe feels attached to it because that is the car he learned to drive stick shift on and has become over the last couple years "Daddy's car."  But, as much as we love it, it is just too small for two carseats.  As you can see in the picture in this post when we were getting ready for "Peanut," the infant carseat can only go in the middle seat.  But the back bench isn't wide enough to fit Nicholas' carseat on the side next to the infant seat.  In theory we could put Nicholas behind the driver and the baby behind the passenger seat if we moved the passenger seat up all the way so there was no room for an actual passenger.  We actually have friends who had to do this in their car.  But, realistically, it just wasn't a good option.  And, as much as we love Katia, she is an almost-16 year old car.  She runs really well and I hope still has close to 5 years left on her, but we have known for awhile that she was nearing the end of her useful life with us.

And so, we bought this:

From 2013 June

I have been drooling over minivans for a couple years now, but couldn't justify the expense until now.  We are all already smitten with the fun features that come along with a brand new car, but I know the real payoff will come this fall when both kids fit easily in the car, when I can get the infant carrier out without worrying about the car door hitting other cars, and when people come to visit and can actually go places in the same car as us.

This picture perfectly captures the progression of my life over the past ten years. 

From 2013 June

I bought the Civic at 21 when I needed a reliable car with good gas mileage but didn't need much space.  We bought the Accord right before Nicholas was born, upgrading to a family sedan alongside parenthood.  And now as we prepare to become a family of 4 we have the minivan.  The van should keep us for awhile, though. :)

Nicholas is smitten with the van and Joe and I chuckle over the idea that it is very possible that this could be the car Nicholas learns to drive on. 

From 2013 June

Given how long we tend to keep cars and that this one is actually brand new and a Honda, it would not be odd if it is still around in 12 years.  And if it is, it will certainly be the one subjected to the teenage driver. I mean, just look at how dangerous he is--tattoo and everything.

From 2013 June