Kids really do change everything! (not that I ever doubted it)

As I wrote in the previous post, we have been doing a good bit of traveling lately! Jerry's car, a 2007 Ford Taurus, was tearing up and down the road everyday between his work trips to Union, SC and our travels. We have been having a good bit of trouble with his car for the past several months. We would take it in, get it looked at, pay too much money to "fix" it, and then not long after, have another problem! Our frustration levels continued to rise as the dependability and safety of our newer, supposedly "better" vehicle fell. I kept saying, "Why on Earth is my 10 year-old car driving better than your 4 year-old car?" Finally, we reached a breaking point. We began browsing for any potential affordable vehicles to replace his car. While it wasn't in our plans financially, we knew we needed something dependable, safe, and something we wouldn't continue pumping money into to "fix." After shopping around, talking to some dealerships, and crunching some numbers, we ended up purchasing this:

2008 Toyota Sienna

Yep, that's right. We now have a minivan. I still can't believe it myself in some ways! I remember even less than a year ago Jerry saying, "I will NOT be a guy driving a minivan after we have kids," and my nodding in agreement. Imagine my surprise when Jerry is searching for cars and says, "Let's look at van prices." As I said, we've traveled lately . . . with a baby . . . and all her stuff! I was worried we wouldn't have enough room on our trip back from TN! We made it, but it was a tight squeeze! Now, we have enough room for ALL of Audrey's stuff and can even bring along Betsy, our dog, when possible! We plan on driving this vehicle for a long time, and we are thankful that something worked out as quickly as it did. I still plan on hearing the jokes about driving a van from some of my friends who are in different stages of life than I am ("Hey, soccer mom!"), but I also know they'll be the first to suggest I drive if we all carpool somewhere since I'll have more room! All in all, it was just another example of how having kids really does change everything in your life, including your previous mindsets! And hey, now we are as cool as these people in this hilarious video: