a new family member

Nope....little bean is not here yet, not that I don't wish this post was to announce his arrival, he still needs to cook for about 7.5 more weeks (which seems FOREVER & soon all at the same time!!)

This post is to say goodbye to our faithful Jeep who has survived 5 years from this family and welcome our new....yes, mini van. I can't believe it myself. The Jeep was bought right after we got married and has carried us through a lot - a move out of our apartment to our first house, from Mayberry to Chicago, from the hospital when Griffin was born to home, and even endured a whole gallon of whole milk that leaked all over the carpets of it on a trip. My favorite feature? What we lovingly referred to as our our "circus mirror" because one of the drivers in our family...I won't mention who:)..but it wasn't me, hit a construction barrel on an exit ramp and instead of getting it fixed I bought a piece of fake "cut to fit glass" and glued it in the hole. It was actually more dangerous to look into the mirror to judge who was behind you because the fake glass was kind of like a mirror in a fun house, than if there had just been a hole there (my mother was beside herself over this). It also had it's fair share of bumps and bruises. She was a mess but she was our faithful steed. After a fall of a few too many fixes and the growing #'s in our family we decided it was time to say good bye to the ole Jeep. Griff & I were sad and both shed a little tear as we drove away from her. Ryan was ecstatic and never looked back.

So, bye bye Jeep and HELLO swagger wagon. We went all soccer mom on you and got ourselves a grey used mini van! It is awesome for Griff, he can get in and out all by himself and I can't wait to just pop open that door and lift Sawyer's seat right in without any shimmying:)! It's going to be awesome for trips to the lake and Nebraska too...no more can't see out the back window packing for us...well actually considering how I pack...maybe! Haha!

The mini in it's new home

Griffin with HUGE smile in the mini:)!

Ry sent this video to me the other day, and I had to post it for you because if you can't laugh at yourself then life's no fun, right??

...and seriously, we feel so blessed to be able to have a family to drive around in (as Griffin would say) "my new mini van"!

...and dear new car smelling, perfectly clean mini van, I can't wait to see what memories we have collected in you when it's all said & done! I am sure they will be sweet...and hopefully not as stinky