The Mom-Mobile...

...I finally got a minivan! Saturday, Patrick took off to run some errands and 6 short hours later, I had a new car! I have been asking for one since Allen arrived and we have been going back and forth between a new SUV and a minivan. You can guess Patrick's preference, but since it is my car he let me decide. I went with the van completely because of the sliding doors. Yeah, I could have had the awesome new Buick Enclave, but I still had the door issue (however, I do recommend it for anyone in the market for an SUV...it is amazing!). Drew can climb right in and up into his car seat while I'm putting Allen in and it saves a few minutes on each end of a trip. In my life, those minutes are precious!
The next great debate came over which van to buy. It quickly came down to the Honda Odyssey and the Toyota Sienna. If you have ever shopped for either of these vehicles, you know they are exactly the same. The differences are so minor that it took me weeks to declare which one I liked better, and even then it wasn't a definite. But Patrick took my thoughts to heart, found a great deal and bought me a new car. We got the Sienna and I love it. The most comical thing is that it is white which is the only color I really said I didn't want. But it was on the lot, we brought it home that night, and it is fine. For the 5-7 years I will drive it, I can deal with white. Patrick keeps telling me it will be cooler...I'm positive he means temperature and not my image...it is a minivan, after all!
Drew loves it - he told me today "Mommy, your new car is wonderful!" He keeps wanting to go on a trip because we told him the DVD player only works on long trips...we'll see how long that lasts! Allen seems quite content in it as well and his new seat fits much better in it.
As for my Volvo, we still have it until the lease is up in July. If anyone wants to buy it, it's a great car...just not for two small children! Also, we are very under on the miles (like 12,000 miles under) so we're offering up the use of it for trips!