So... We did it
We bought another car. A new (to us) car. This car. The old ZX2 was getting a little too small for having 2 children in the backseat and a little too dangerous for Jake to be driving back and forth to Brighton. Let's face it, it was too dangerous to drive, period, but we were kind of waiting for something major to break on it.
We made the decision that we'd upgrade cars when we got pregnant with #2. Well, that happened. Then we decided we'd save as much as we could for a down payment, because who really wants a high monthly car loan payment anyway? Well, we did that too. We said we'd wait until the perfect car came along and it was one that met a very few specific criteria.
1) Four doors
2) Space for 2 carseats (potentially 2 full car seats with a booster in the middle, but that's the subject for another post)
3) Space for Olive in the back
4) Enough room for Jake, me, Ben, Olive, plus all our crap for when we drive back and forth to New York
5) SAFETY SPECS
6) Good gas mileage and/or hybrid car to make us feel better about getting a gas guzzling SUV
7) Air conditioning/Cruise control (ok, those were Jake's requirements, but he also wanted a moon roof and that didn't happen)
Jake's been salivating over this one for several weeks and we were kind of expecting it to be snatched up before we had things figured out. It hung around on ATC.com, though and we finally decided to make a move.
We test drove it last Saturday and made some requests of the dealer before we left. Things like, there's a funny grinding noise in the back wheel, could you check that out? and There are a few coffee stains on the seat, can it be detailed? and We'd really like some new (aka not going to explode) tires on it if we're going to pay what you're asking. We finally heard back from the guy on Thursday and went up to Holly last night to do all the paperwork and signing stuff to make lots of our money go away. We were able to get the car loan in my name (good for my credit) and transferred the registration from the ZX2 to the Escape (also in my name) so technically I own the bigger of our two cars. It doesn't really matter as I'll be driving the Civic (farther distance and it gets better MPG) while Jake drives the Escape (bigger car for him to fit into, less distance driven per day).
It was nice to be able to test drive and go into this process not feeling like we were under a time bomb or absolutely HAD to get a car NOW because our other one was on it's deathbed. It was nice to know in the back of my mind that we could walk away at any moment and things would be fine and we could wait. So much less pressure.
Apparently, it's a theme in our family to get new cars whilst pregnant and hormonal, which makes the leaving of the old car at the dealership somewhat hard. I've had my ZX2 since 2004 and it has traveled with me to 2 internships, back and forth across the Adirondacks, moved with us to Michigan, got me through a horrific snowy drive from Ann Arbor where I felt like I was going to crash at any moment... it was a good car and I was sad to leave it behind.
Jake loves it, though and he likes not having to bend in half to get into a car. The front row has the most space and he doesn't even need to put the seat all the way back to be comfortable! (For the record, this is a HUGE deal for him). Ben likes sitting in the backseat because he's high up enough to see out of the windshield and can watch the road ahead of us. I like imagining having two babies in the back seat. :-)
So we have a new car and Jake is getting antsy wanting to go somewhere today on a spurious errand just so he can drive it again. I think we'll go get Olive a chew bone because she's been neglected lately. Other than that, we're hanging around and watching the huge rain system come through from the west. It will probably be a laundry and baking kind of day.
And finally, because I don't want to make another post, here are some recent shots of Ben. I'll have to get some more today of him 'driving' the new car and hanging out in the cargo area.
Toddler destruction begins! He is obsessed with taking down the cloth boxes with his pajamas and socks and throwing things around his room.
Climbing and proud of himself.
I was very ready to blame this behavior on my brother (notorious) but apparently Ben comes at it from both sides. His uncle Matt (Jake's brother) scaled the refrigerator at 12 months. At least Ben has only climbed on a few things so far! Still, not the best choice to climb on slippery tile when the floor beneath is hardwood... we've added pillows to the strip of hardwood beneath the shelf so that he might not injure himself permanently.
We made the decision that we'd upgrade cars when we got pregnant with #2. Well, that happened. Then we decided we'd save as much as we could for a down payment, because who really wants a high monthly car loan payment anyway? Well, we did that too. We said we'd wait until the perfect car came along and it was one that met a very few specific criteria.
1) Four doors
2) Space for 2 carseats (potentially 2 full car seats with a booster in the middle, but that's the subject for another post)
3) Space for Olive in the back
4) Enough room for Jake, me, Ben, Olive, plus all our crap for when we drive back and forth to New York
5) SAFETY SPECS
6) Good gas mileage and/or hybrid car to make us feel better about getting a gas guzzling SUV
7) Air conditioning/Cruise control (ok, those were Jake's requirements, but he also wanted a moon roof and that didn't happen)
Jake's been salivating over this one for several weeks and we were kind of expecting it to be snatched up before we had things figured out. It hung around on ATC.com, though and we finally decided to make a move.
We test drove it last Saturday and made some requests of the dealer before we left. Things like, there's a funny grinding noise in the back wheel, could you check that out? and There are a few coffee stains on the seat, can it be detailed? and We'd really like some new (aka not going to explode) tires on it if we're going to pay what you're asking. We finally heard back from the guy on Thursday and went up to Holly last night to do all the paperwork and signing stuff to make lots of our money go away. We were able to get the car loan in my name (good for my credit) and transferred the registration from the ZX2 to the Escape (also in my name) so technically I own the bigger of our two cars. It doesn't really matter as I'll be driving the Civic (farther distance and it gets better MPG) while Jake drives the Escape (bigger car for him to fit into, less distance driven per day).
It was nice to be able to test drive and go into this process not feeling like we were under a time bomb or absolutely HAD to get a car NOW because our other one was on it's deathbed. It was nice to know in the back of my mind that we could walk away at any moment and things would be fine and we could wait. So much less pressure.
Apparently, it's a theme in our family to get new cars whilst pregnant and hormonal, which makes the leaving of the old car at the dealership somewhat hard. I've had my ZX2 since 2004 and it has traveled with me to 2 internships, back and forth across the Adirondacks, moved with us to Michigan, got me through a horrific snowy drive from Ann Arbor where I felt like I was going to crash at any moment... it was a good car and I was sad to leave it behind.
Jake loves it, though and he likes not having to bend in half to get into a car. The front row has the most space and he doesn't even need to put the seat all the way back to be comfortable! (For the record, this is a HUGE deal for him). Ben likes sitting in the backseat because he's high up enough to see out of the windshield and can watch the road ahead of us. I like imagining having two babies in the back seat. :-)
So we have a new car and Jake is getting antsy wanting to go somewhere today on a spurious errand just so he can drive it again. I think we'll go get Olive a chew bone because she's been neglected lately. Other than that, we're hanging around and watching the huge rain system come through from the west. It will probably be a laundry and baking kind of day.
And finally, because I don't want to make another post, here are some recent shots of Ben. I'll have to get some more today of him 'driving' the new car and hanging out in the cargo area.
Toddler destruction begins! He is obsessed with taking down the cloth boxes with his pajamas and socks and throwing things around his room.
Climbing and proud of himself.
I was very ready to blame this behavior on my brother (notorious) but apparently Ben comes at it from both sides. His uncle Matt (Jake's brother) scaled the refrigerator at 12 months. At least Ben has only climbed on a few things so far! Still, not the best choice to climb on slippery tile when the floor beneath is hardwood... we've added pillows to the strip of hardwood beneath the shelf so that he might not injure himself permanently.