The Search for a Mini-Van

For those who know me, you know I've been wanting a mini-van for quite a while, much to my husband's dismay. When we were dating, we both agreed that mini-vans were for "soccer moms" and we didn't ever want one. We'd rather have an SUV or some other type of "family vehicle".

Then we had kids...

Even though we only have 2 kids, it's amazing how much stuff they have! Whenever we go on trips, the backseat of my Taurus (our big "family car") is full of kid stuff! There's the 2 car seats, with the kids in them of course, a baby bag sitting on the seat between them, a blanket or 2, toys to entertain them. Then the floor at their feet is stuffed full of snacks, DVD's, books, and random other things needed at an arm's reach. It's crazy. The space issued coupled with the fact that I have 2 herniated discs in my back and have a hard time bending down to get the kids in and out of the car...it was past time for something different. So finally Joel agreed that a mini-van would be the best for our family.

So the search was on.

Joel did a massive amount of research on what type of mini-van was the best deal, what had the highest ratings, what features were the best. The man had an Excel spreadsheet rating the different vans. It was cute. We finally narrowed the search to a Toyota Sienna, Honda Odyssey, and a Mazda MPV. What? A Mazda? I didn't even realize they made mini-vans. Well, they don't anymore. The last year they made one was 2006 but the '05 and '06 models were actually ranked one of the highest for dependability. So we figured out our budget and started the search. Luckily, we have neighbors who own a Sienna and Odyssey so they let us test drive theirs for comparison. Then we found 1 dealer in the Des Moines area who had an MPV for sale. It had super high miles so we knew we wouldn't be buying it but at least we could make sure we liked the thing. It was awesome. The Mazdas have some serious get-up-and-go! It's the "Zoom-Zoom" feature. Very nice.

After weeks of searching the internet, we found 2 MPVs in Minnesota that seemed like good deals. So we dropped the kids off at my mom's for a full day and we drove on up to Minneapolis. On the way up, we found out that one of the vans had been sold. (this was after a week of being strung along by the owner...little annoyed about that). But at least there was another one in St. Cloud to look at.

We got to St. Cloud bright and early after spending the night with my sister in Minneapolis. We knew right away that we wouldn't be buying the van. Why? It had rust on it. Seriously? I couldn't believe it. We had looked at all the pictures of it, talked to the salesman several times and NEVER did he mention that there was rust on the thing! Plus it was priced according to Kelley Blue Book's excellent rating. Uhhh...I don't think cars that have rust are considered excellent. Then as we were test driving it, we noticed a couple things. First of all, the rubber on the brake and gas pedals were gone. Weird. And it was missing the cigarette lighter so there was just a hole in the dash. Granted, I don't need a cigarette lighter but who wants a random hole in their dashboard for no apparent reason? Still, it wasn't a wasted trip. Since that was an actual Mazda dealer, the salesman was able to show us some features on the van that we didn't know about. I think the MPV is the van for us but now we just have to find one.

The search continues...

Winter Blues

I'm so sick of snow and cold! I think I'm more annoyed now because we had such great weather a few days ago followed by a brief snow storm. Why am I annoyed? Well, because it snowed...again. After all the masses of snow had finally melted, we then had another 3" or so fall followed by cold temps. Ugh...sometimes I hate living in Iowa.

So, since Hannah had been teased with 60 degree weather on Thursday and got to play outside, she wasn't too happy on Friday when the temperature dropped and the snow started falling. To ward off the winter blues, I took her to McDonalds last night for a little mommy/daughter bonding. And what's better than bonding over McNuggets and fries?

After we had eaten our incredibly greasy, yet tasty meal, Hannah wanted to play in the giant play land. It was amazing how agile that little girl is! She went flying through the tunnels and down the slides. A few years ago, she would have cried and screamed if I left her side for more than 3 seconds. Now, she just waved at me as I sat watching her. My little baby is growing up so fast!

Battle of the Bulge

For the majority of my life, I've battled my weight. It's a crappy challenge to have. There was a short time in college when I liked my weight. I think, as women we are constantly barraged with images of what a perfect, ideal woman should look like. It's such a crock. When Joel married me, he didn't marry me for my weight. He didn't marry me for any of my physical attributes. That may have been what initially attracted him to me but it wasn't what kept me in his life. My husband is a wonderful man. He has things about himself he doesn't like and he works hard to change them. So why can't I do the same?

Apparently I like excuses. I use them all the time. Why don't I do the laundry? Because then I'd have to put the clothes away and I HATE putting clothes away. Why don't I go for a walk? Because I'd have to get the stroller out and bundle up the kids. That's a lot of work. Yep, excuses are my friend. So why don't I try harder to lose weight? My excuses are many: I have 2 kids that need my attention, I'm too tired by the time I get home from work, I don't have time in the morning, I have thyroid disease, I have stupid ovaries...

My favorite excuse is: I'll start tomorrow fresh. Let's just eat pizza and ice cream tonight for "my last meal". :) That's a good one.

My husband is training for a 1/2 marathon. I hate running. I always say that if I'm being chased by a knife-wielding assailant, MAYBE I could run a mile. Otherwise, nope. I'm much happier just strolling along. Why be tired and sweaty? Why put the extra pressure on my knees? Don't you know runners have bad knees?? But when it comes right down to it, running is not the only exercise around. There are plenty of other things I could do. I just hate doing them.

I've tried many diets. Weight watchers, LA weight loss, the South Beach Diet. I just have no will power. If there is junk food in the house, I eat it. So why do I have junk food in the house? I really don't. If you look in my cupboards, there aren't any chips, no cookies, no ice cream. But what I do have, I'll eat a lot of it. It's my nemesis and I hate it. I hate going to a store and struggling to find clothes that look good on me. I hate having my picture taken for fear I'll look enormous. I'm usually the photographer so I can be behind the lens instead of in front of it. And I'm sick of it.

I want to be around when my kids are older. I don't want to die young of a heart attack or diabetes or be an embarrassment to my kids at their school activities. Who wants be known as the child of "that fat lady"??

So with that in mind, I'm starting over a new leaf. It's getting to be spring time now. Everything is getting to be fresh and new. It's warming up outside and there's the scent of newness in the air. It's time. It's past time, actually but it's taken a while for me to have a wake-up call. I'm going to have bad days; we all do. I'm going to have days when I want to throw in the towel and eat that entire bag of chips. But when it all boils down to it, I don't want to be fat anymore. I want Joel to be proud to have me on his arm. Even though he says he's always proud of me, I want to see his eyes light up when he sees me in a pretty dress. That's my goal. I want to do this for my family but I need to do it for me. Only I can change myself.

So I'm asking for help. If you're reading this and you know me, send me a note every once in a while. You can e-mail me, post a comment on here, send me a note on facebook. Whatever. Just let me know you are rooting for me and you understand. I don't want to be fat the rest of my life. I'm ready for a change.

Wisconsin Dells

We had a chance to take a little family vacation so the Wisconsin Dells a few days ago. My brother, Shawn had mentioned a good deal going on at the Wilderness Resort up there. So we looked into it and we ended up going with my sister and her family too. Salli and I and our families were able to stay together in a 2 bedroom suite with a full kitchen so we could cook our own meals. The room was wonderful! The 3 older kids (Natalie, Jack, and Hannah) were able to sleep in bunk beds in the 2nd bedroom. Aaron and Salli had the master bedroom with Katie in a crib next to the bed. Joel and I slept in the living room on a Murphy bed (the ones that come down from the wall...surprisingly comfortable). Noah got stuck in a crib shoved in the 1/2 bath. It worked though!

We were there Sunday through Tuesday. The resort has 3 HUGE indoor water parks. They have outdoor ones too but in March, not so tempting. Because all the different wings of the resort are connected, we could walk around in flip-flops and t-shirts and be just fine. The kids LOVED all the swimming and playing. They had a big wavepool, inner tube rides, and lots of "small children friendly" areas. Even Noah had a great time as I ran through shooting water with him. There was also a "dry play" area for the kids to spend some time letting their skin un-prune itself.

Some weird ice hanging off the cliffs of the Mississippi River

Hannah "sleeping" on the way

Siblings

Shawn kinda looks like he's going to whack me upside the head.

I think Salli was laughing at Shawn's nose hairs

Hannah's first time bowling. Look how straight that is!

Winding up for the throw

Hannah was "helping" Noah get through the tunnel because he was going too slowly. What a good big sister!

My nephew, Jack

Trying to crawl UP the slide.

He's super excited and happy about something. Probably that he had gone more than 10 minutes without hitting his head and getting yet another bruise on his forehead

Cousins Natalie (5) and Hannah (3)

Cousins Katie (2 months) and Noah (11 months). Notice the enormous bruise above Noah's right eye. How pretty

Joel taking Noah down a slide. He was not a fan

Why does she have more hair than me? I'll just steal some

Noah and Katie playing so nicely!

It's like a giant swimming pool!

Hannah LOVED swimming!

Noah is happy to be wet and 1/2 naked

We will probably make this a yearly tradition in our family to take the kids to the indoor waterpark. It was so nice to spend time with them away from all the chaos of life.

Snowy Days

All winter long, Hannah has been asking to go outside and play in the snow. For one reason or another we never could. It was either too cold (that was the most common reason), Noah needed to eat, or Noah needed something inside and I can't be in two places at once (although wouldn't that be awesome if I could! I could go to the gym and sleep at the same time!!) So FINALLY last Saturday it was warm enough to bundle up the kids and throw them out in the snow. By "warm enough" I mean above freezing. I think it was 33 degrees exactly when we were out there. At least the sun was shining so it didn't feel so bad. Joel and Hannah made a little snow fort and Noah just sat in the snow and stared. He was pretty happy for a while though. Then he just wanted to be held up away from that cold, wet stuff.

Hannah making a silly face while holding on to her giant icicle.

Joel and Hannah had to shovel the yard a bit to make a snow fort. Noah just wanted to stare

He just stared at daddy almost the whole time

Hannah REALLY wanted to make a snowman but the snow was too dry so she settled for fluffy snow balls

The are trying really hard to make that snowman but alas, it was not to be :)

On a different subject, Noah has his weight check today. It was also to be his 2nd H1N1 shot and Hannah's 1st. Since Hannah's older she can have the flu mist instead of the shot. Yesterday, I spent some time explaining what the mist is and what the nurse was going to do. I made sure she understood that there would be no shot and no owwies. She was all set to go. So we get to the pediatrician's office and as I'm checking in, I see a big sign that says "We have no more flu mist, only the injection". HUH?! That's just great. So I had to explain to Hannah that she was indeed going to get a shot. She took it fairly well. She just really didn't want it in her leg; she wanted it in her arm. Why, I have no idea. By the time the nurse called us back, she had accepted what was going to happen and was ok with it...until the nurse announced that the shot was indeed going in her leg. Then she lost it. She was practically convulsing on the table in her attempt to get away. I was holding down her upper body while the nurse tried to hold down her leg and give her the shot at the same time. Noah was in his car seat just giggling during this entire time. Oh my child, you're next! So after Hannah was all done and still crying bloody murder, it was Noah's turn. We weighed him first. He gained a little more than a pound!!! He's up to 18lbs, 14oz. That's huge! He went from the 5%-tile to the 8%-tile. He'll get weighed again at his 1-year check-up but now that he's eating table foods and wolfing everything down in sight, I'm sure he's fine. That's a big answer to prayer!! So back to his flu shot. He was giggling right up until the needle went in. Then he stared at me for a second before his little face crinkled up and the wailing began. But different from Hannah, he only cried for about 20 seconds. Then he realized there was a mirror right next to the exam table and he could make funny faces in it. He was happy after that. Hannah, on the other hand was STILL crying. I had to put Noah on the floor and comfort her for a few minutes. Then we were finally able to get packed up and go. Oh, at one point during the ordeal, she looked at the nurse and said "I'm going to go tell my daddy!" The nurse said that was the first time she's been threatened by a child to tell on her to daddy. Hannah said that a couple times. It was pretty darn funny.

So after all my deliberations on whether or not to even get the H1N1 shots for my kids, I had a completely traumatic experience with them, or at least with Hannah. I'm still wondering if it was even worth it. We'll have to go through this again in a month when Hannah gets her 2nd shot. Oh yes, it'll be another shot. The pediatrician isn't getting any more mist. *sigh* Parenting is hard sometimes!!