Mom-mobile

Let me tell you a little story. About a year and a half ago, when I was only a few weeks pregnant with Elizabeth, Evie and I went to the Parade of Lights with my brother-and-sister-in-law. While we were driving downtown, we passed a gorgeous ocean-blue Mustang. My first thought was "Ooh! I'd like to have a car like that!" Then the rest of my brain shouted "NO! That car is pretty, sure, but it's going to be bouncy, loud, and a little cramped. Really, what I want is something that's large enough to provide a smooth and quiet ride, and with enough room to grow our family. I want a MINIVAN!" It was a weird moment because I'd always sworn that I would never own a "tacky minivan," and here I was, not quite 22 years old, and daydreaming about one. I'd never felt so old in my entire life!

Granted, that story seems a little random. But, six days ago was my fourth wedding anniversary, and my husband gave me the very best anniversary gift ever: he gave me a new car! Baxter, our old car, has been breaking down regularly for the last couple of years. There's a short somewhere in the starter wiring, so about 60% of the time, the car doesn't start when I turn the key. Instead, we get to push-start the car to get it going. Fortunately, we live on a slight hill, so I can usually leave the house when I need to. Unfortunately, it's a lot harder to start rolling in a flat parking lot. I've been getting more and more fed up as time has gone by, and so has Todd. He's really pretty good at fixing whatever goes wrong, but no matter how many times he's replaced the starter and alternator, it never did any good. Enough was finally enough. I was half-joking (okay, I was really only 25% joking) about shopping online for a new car, and Todd finally agreed.

We had already been discussing what kind of car we'd want to buy someday and Todd finally caved to my desire for a minivan. I reminded him that we were planning on have two more babies within the last five years, and I only wanted to have to buy one car and it had to have enough room for all of our kids. I'd been doing research about safety measures and special features on different minivans, and the consensus was pretty much that the Honda Odyssey was the safest/most affordable combination on the market. In a dealership only a couple of miles away, I found a shiny red 2002 Honda Odyssey. I took the girls for a test drive and when Todd got home from work, he and his brother went on another test drive. A couple of days later, after getting all of the paperwork hassle done, we drove away in our brand-new (to us) car!

I'll admit it, I'm one of those weirdos who name their cars. ;) Our 1989 Honda Accord was as old as I was, clanky and rusty. The personality seemed like that of a cranky old man, and the name Baxter just fit. The minivan, a 2002 Honda Odyssey, has an entirely different vibe. For what should be obvious reasons, I delved into my memories of Homer's Odyssey for a name and came up with Circe the witch, because she's my magical new car: bewitching and just a little seductive glinting in the sunshine! I refer to her as a "hot mama" car: she's no longer young, but she's still sassy! Besides, look at all of these magical buttons and knobs!

We have working air conditioning! And it can be adjusted to any specific temperature. Cool, right? ;)

With the touch of a single button, I can automatically open or close each of the girls' sliding doors.

On my steering wheel, I've got buttons so I can change the radio station and affect the volume with just my thumb.

Look! A place to keep my sunglasses!

The middle row of seats can be put together as a bench, or separated into captains chairs. The back row can be folded down into the floor to yield a huge cargo area. So we will have plenty of space for all of our beloved babies!

We bought Elizabeth a cute new booster car seat, the Graco Argos 70 Eliza seat. (Eliza for Elizabeth. Get it? I thought so.)

Evie inherited an old used car seat from her Tia. Someday, I'll get her a nice new one. Someday.

Isn't she gorgeous? She's higher up than my old car, so I feel like the Queen of the Road every time I drive her. And the best part? She starts every time I turn the key! Happy Anniversary, my love, and thank you for the beautiful gift!