A Minivan Mom?

A couple days ago Evan and I were eating dinner, just talking about life and he mentioned "how are we going to fit the two girls in your car?"  We laughed about it and said "haha they'll NEVER fit in there!" and kept laughing.

And then we kinda just looked at each other and had an "OH SHIT" moment. 

One of those ... why hadn't we thought about this sooner moment.  I'm 30 weeks pregnant and NOW we think about it?

I LOVE / ADORE / WILL CRY if/ when I have to give up my car.  It's my first real car, it took me through my college days, my law school days, and my first two Liliana years.  It's cute, has nice leather seats, a sunroof, GREAT brakes, was the safest package that money could buy, etc.  My parents bought me that car and to me, it was like a Bentley.

She looks like this (this pic is off the internet. this isn't my EXACT car.  Mine has the nice low grade tires):

But fitting two girls in it?  IMPOSSIBLE. 

Evan and I have considered (and still are considering) switching cars.  In other words, I would drive his 4Runner and he would drive the Mazda.  Slight problem though: Evan then wouldn't be able to drive the Mazda if he ever has the two girls with him.  This would involve us having to plan ahead day by day just in case he would have the luxury of picking them up from daycare.  He would still be forced to have both car seats in there because they require different ones since they're very different sizes.  Also, god forbid we EVER have friends try to sit in our cars or have guests come to town.  Even in the 4Runner, with the two big carseats that are on the market these days, I can't fit someone in the middle.  Ridiculous, I know.

So this left us thinking "we need a new car."

This wasn't a concept we had wrapped our heads around.  We originally thought "how about a crossover?"  Something like this:

Then, we realized this was WAY out of our price range (mainly because our budget is ... oh ... ZERO dollars). 

So on Monday, we set out to test drive this puppy, the Mazda 5.

It had quite a few criteria that we were looking for: sliding doors (GREAT for putting kiddos in car), captain chairs (again, GREAT for putting kids in cars and you guys should see how much Liliana loves running through these things), and VERY affordable. 

Slight problem:

I hated it.  I hated the way it drove.  It was too small (with the third row up, it literally touched the window so I had NO storage).  My idea of a crossover was either too expensive, didn't have the captain chairs, or just wasn't practical for me.

What to do what to do ...

Yesterday, we went and test drove one of these. 

Yes, she's 5 years used.  Yes, she's got 45,000 miles on her, but the price was within reason and the car?  JUST what we needed.  Just the right size.  This car was designed for someone with a family.  There are baskets to store stuff in the perfect spots, Liliana has TONS of room to sit (in other words, no kicking our chairs), and the world, while looking like a complete Soccer Mom kind of world, just seemed simpler with it.

We still have LOTS of looking to do.  We're going to go test drive a few more cars, but for now, I think it's relatively safe to say, I might join the minivan world.  Don't know which minivan I'll join it with, but man these ugly things are PRACTICAL!

And while there's nothing wrong with being a Soccer Mom, I am not one.  I am a full-time working Mom with two kids and a husband that works about 90 hours a week.  I just might be a minivan necessity Mommy.  And you know what?  That's a ok with me.

PS Plus, they're called shaggin wagons!! YEAH BABY!!! ; )