We bought a car. There were many reasons we were ready to get a new car, but the biggest reason is that the right one became available at the right time. We also wanted something with more storage space for traveling to Phoenix, skiing, and baby stuff. And neither of our cars drive in the snow really well, so it would be great to have something a little safer to drive up to the mountains in the winter. Daniel's car was also developing a few little problems and we were concerned that its life was somewhat limited. We didn't want to wait for it to die before we got a replacement car. So we've been talking about it for months. We have researched different kinds of cars, consulted consumer reports and USAA to find out accurate pricing information, and reviewed our own finances to determine what we can afford. All that was left was actually going out and test-driving cars. Since we both had a long weekend for Memorial Day, we thought Monday might be a good day to go to the dealership. We weren't planning on purchasing anything- until we came across the perfect car. A 2006 Hybrid Toyota Highlander. It was just under budget and had every feature I wanted- cloth interior (not leather), moon roof, and roof rack. The Highlander was on the top of our list of possibilities. We really wanted a hybrid, but there aren't many used hybrids out there and a new one was way out of our budget. On Monday morning we browsed the local dealerships and found a hybrid that looked very promising. It had become available 2 days ago at a dealer about 15 minutes from our house, so we jumped on it. We test drove 2 of their standard Highlanders first. We loved the newer model (08) and hated the older model (05). So I was concerned that we wouldn't like the hybrid because it was the older model. But it drove completely different. It's not like my Mom's Prius either. There's no lag in the acceleration at all. You can't even tell it's a hybrid when you're driving it. The whole experience was very pleasant. It was an easy decision, and turned out to be very affordable for us. It was hard for me to justify going from no car payment (we owned both our cars outright since they were both gifts to us) to making payments when both our cars are still running just fine. But the truth is that an SUV will be much more useful and practical for our growing family. And why else do we save up money, but to spend it when the time comes? It felt good to know that all that money we have saved in the last 6 months was worth it.
This weekend we also went camping. I may have overestimated my abilities at 6 months pregnant, but it was still fun. We got a bunch of camping supplies for Christmas 2 years ago and haven't even used it once. I've been waiting for it to get warm enough and this weekend was our chance. Daniel got off work early on Saturday and we drove down to Colorado Springs. I reserved us a campsite in Cheyenne Mountain State Park. It was a beautiful park, but we were somewhat disappointed to find that our campsite was right next to the bathroom and parking lot. It wasn't exactly out in the wilderness, but it was still camping. Daniel cooked us a delicious dinner over the campfire. He is a very experienced camper (all those years of boy scouts) so that helped a lot. But it was just exhausting for me to do everything. Setting up the tent, unpacking the car, setting up the sleeping bags, even taking a walk around the campground. And sleeping just didn't happen. The air mattress didn't give me enough cushioning so whichever side I laid on became numb immediately and I just couldn't get comfortable. Combine that with getting up to go to the bathroom about 8 times and I had a sleepless night. And the wind blew so hard all night that I was afraid our tent would blow away with us in it! So the next morning, after cooking a delicious breakfast, we packed up and went home. And immediately took a shower and got into bed for a long afternoon nap. My bed never felt so comfy :-) The important thing is that I got to have Daniel's undivided attention for nearly 3 whole days. I loved it.
This morning I had a doctor's appointment and my nurse seemed a bit concerned that I was measuring so large. I've gained 15 pounds total so far, and 7 of them were in the last 3 weeks! He's measuring big for gestational age for now, but that could change. She's just going to watch and we'll see what happens. She also said he's head down now, but that can change too. Overall, the pregnancy is still going perfectly! Looks like I have a healthy baby boy.
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