Out With The Old, and In With The Bigger

I'm not sure if we've been in denial, but when I think about it, we've done a pretty horrible job preparing for The Babies.  I have not begun to create a nursery for them, which means I still have to buy blackout shades, a glider, a changing table/dresser, a couple of bouncy chairs, two crib mattresses, mattress covers, linens, and 2 new Angelcare monitors, and we still need to paint one of the cribs, repaint the room, and buy my poor daughter some clothes (more on the clothing dilemma later).  We also have yet to buy a carseat and double stroller that will fit the carseats.  And we need to buy diapers.  Lots of diapers.  I'm sure I'm missing stuff here, but these are the things that are on my mind.

Here's what we've done:  (1) Signed up for breastfeeding class this weekend; (2) bought a new multi-room video monitor (When it arrived yesterday, The Husband promptly took everything out of the box and set it up.  In the kitchen.  Cuz that's where we needed it.); and here's the big one: (3) we got rid of our car and bought a new one!

The boys spent some time on a recent weekend washing our sedan in preparation to sell it.  I can't tell you how much joy it brings me to see all three of them cleaning.  Is that wrong?  I just wish they'd bring that enthusiasm indoors.

Eventually, it just became fun to throw the rag around and jump in puddles.

There was much debate over what car to buy next.  The debate mostly centered around whether we were going to give up on life and buy a minivan (no offense to those who have already given up on life, ahem, Rache, Tanika, Cindy, Mark & Chas, Mom & Dad).  I, being the sensible one of the two of us, voted to give up on life.  It seemed the best way to handle three carseats and the mountain of stuff that must travel with babies and toddlers.  The Husband, however, was deeply concerned about all of the crap he'd get from Chas.  It's a legitimate concern -- that girl can dish it!

In the end, The Husband found a minivan/station wagon type car that did not have automatic doors, but was otherwise filled with lots of buttons and gadgets to play with (which, of course are the most important things when you have a ridonculous number of children).  He didn't make this decision easily; even after he signed the contract, he was wavering.  The concern, he said, was that if I didn't like this car, it would be his fault.  If we ended up hating the minivan, that would be my fault.  Given this rationale, the only logical choice was to nudge him in the direction of the minivan/station wagon.  (I think a wise person once said that the key to a successful marriage is knowing precisely where to place the blame when something goes wrong.)  I'll let you know if this goes wrong.

(Is it just me, or does this look a leeeeeetle bit like a Hearse?  Nonetheless, Zachary says, "New car.  I want to drive it!")