New car!

I am officially part of the mini-van club!  Yay!!

The first weekend in December, Michael's mom came into town to babysit the boys for us so we could go car shopping.  We got an early start Saturday morning and went to the Ford dealership first to look at the Explorer.  We loved the car but quickly agreed that it just wasn't quite big enough given that we will have 3 full sized car seats for a while, and I still need to be able to access Joseph in the back to help him with his seat belt. 

Then we headed across the freeway to the Toyota dealership where we test drove the Sienna minivan.  This was our top choice going into our car search but we had plans to possibly look at the Honda Odyssey too.  After 5-6 hours at the Toyota dealership, we finally reached an agreement in the price negotiations to get the model we really liked the best.   We got the XLE Premium which includes the DVD player system, navigation screen, back up rear cam, etc.  It's so fun and a really nice car. 

Michael was very hesitant on getting a mini van I think because he thought it wouldn't have much get up and go and would be difficult to drive in a big city.  But when he drove the van first on the test drive, I could tell by the look on his face that he was quite impressed!   In fact the salesman told us they use the same engine as the one in the Camry and Lexus cars!   It also can turn very sharp which helps it not feel like you are driving some massive car.  

Joseph and Andrew are beyond excited about the new car.  Before we went, Joseph told me over and over that he really wanted a car that has sliding doors and air conditioner vents in the back.  (he has ridden in my sisters' vans)   I also really like that Andrew can fully see out the window now in the back because the seats sit up higher than in my last car, and the windows aren't as high up.  So both boys have a full view outside and really enjoy that.

So excited about our new car and look forward to putting in the 3rd car seat NEXT month!!

Me and "Mini".  My first car was Zippy, my last car was Zoomy, so it only seemed appropriate to name this one Mini!

Joseph so excited to be in the new car!

Family pic!

Christmas Tree Time

The day after we got back from Thanksgiving at my parents, we got our Christmas tree and began decorating our house for Christmas!

For the first time ever, we decided to get an artificial tree.  We thought it would just be easier without having to worry about the sap, water, and dry needles falling everywhere with the possibility of the boys messing with it. 

I absolutely love doing these kinds of things with the boys because of how excited they get!   Joseph was SO excited and was very focused and into the whole process.  He put the majority of the decorations on the tree himself, except for the ones up high.   When he was finished, the ornaments were all clumped in a couple of spots, right where he could reach.   I told Michael that night that the perfectionist in me really wanted to spread all those ornaments out, but then the mommy side of adores those little clumps of ornaments because it was Joseph's own creation.  So our tree is still just the way he did it. 

Andrew has done surprisingly well with all the decorations and tree!  I expected he would be messing with the tree constantly but he has done great!   

So fun sharing these fun memories with my boys and can't wait for Christmas day next week!

Joseph used the garland to decorate his and Andrew's chairs

Michael putting the lights on

The boys checking out the progress

Decorating the tree

The finished tree!

 

Hopefully this video will show, but this was a cute one of Joseph decorating the tree and Andrew playing around.  :)