Upgrading

In two weeks, we will be the proud owners of this larger, soccer mom, suburbia vehicle:


Honda Pilot
Year: 2006
Color: Silver Metalic Blue (not my first choice, but it really doesn't matter that much to me)
Mileage: 70,560


After we knew we were going to be having a third child, we started pecking and poking and looking in every place we could for what kind of "upgraded" car we could get so that we could fit three car seats in it at once (FYI, Coloradans, they changed the laws and now all kids 8 AND UNDER must be in a child seat- that means Chloe will be in a car seat until she is in second grade- I know we are trying to protect our kids and all, but man, that's gotta be embarrassing!)
Yes, we did consider the mini-van. Very honestly we did! But our egos got the better of us in the end- plus this Pilot drives just like our Accord, and has slightly better gas mileage than the Odyssey. And 4WD (I think that sold it for me, I HATE driving in the snow with a passion!). The Pilot seats 7 passengers (granted a little more cramped than the Odyssey) but let's face it: a Pilot is way cooler than an Odyssey mini-van. The best part about this purchase? I hate to brag, but this is something I really am proud of the both of us for: we are paying for it straight out of our savings, no car payments- and we'll still have enough savings left over to keep building our "house payment" fund with. Both Craig and I have decided to make it a priority in our lives to never purchase a vehicle we can't pay out of pocket for- that may mean we have to scrimp and save and run older vehicles as long as we can, but we think it's an important financial decision for us, especially considering the times we are living in! Needless to say we've looked around for a while and sure, we very likely someday may have found a better bargain on a car like this, but now is sort of the best time for us to buy, considering that we may have that third child in our house earlier than expected, and Craig is out of school the next two weeks so he can go pick it up (it's in Utah) now easier than later. Craig just bought the plane ticket last night to go out in two weeks to pick it up. PS- for any of you looking for cars out there and have family/friends in Utah, Forrest Motors is where we got this one. Craig's brother bought their Odyssey from there and really liked their selection/service, so we thought we would check it out. They were very friendly and helpful over the phone and the guy who sold it to us Craig's brother used to home teach, so he knocked the extra fees off the cost for us and now we are just paying sticker price.
In other good news: I figured out what the fFN test stands for: fetal fibronectin test. Basically there is a "glue" that holds the placenta to the uterus during pregnancy and it starts to disolve and break up when you are preparing to go into labor. The fFN test is just a swab around the cervix to check for any of that "glue" and that sort of predicts if you are at a higher risk for going into labor. I just got a call from my doctor's nurse who informed me that the test was negative, so I'm somewhat "safe" for the next two weeks or so. That is great news because I was terrified that it would be positive and that she would make me come to the hospital and that I would miss Linus's birthday this weekend. Going in to see the periontologist on Thursday and we are just going from there!