A Family Vehicle

October 17, 2009: They say that a woman becomes a mom when she gets pregnant and a man becomes a dad when the baby is born. Well, that statement manifested itself in Michael when Brecken was born and he felt the strong urge to buy a bigger, safer, family vehicle. Before Brecken was born, we owned a 97 Acura Integra, 98 Honda Civic, and 97 Mazda B2300 truck. All three were paid for so we initially shyed away from a new vehicle because we didn't want a car payment. We had talked about using the cars for a few months and then maybe getting a bigger car at some point.

Well, that timeline was pushed up a lot once Brecken was born. We came home from the hospital in the Civic and Michael took all back roads because he didn't want to get on the interstate in such a small car with our new baby boy. Within a couple days, Michael had researched vehicles and decided he wanted a Honda Pilot. We do not usually make big decisions rashly or even quickly so it took me a couple days to get my mind wrapped around the idea of selling the Acura and the Mazda and buying a new (to us) Honda Pilot. I'd never owned a vehicle that was less than 10 years old! I really had to stretch my thinking and remind myself that it would be okay (and probably really nice!) to own a bigger, newer vehicle with perks like leather seats, GPS, seating for 8, and a rear back-up camera.

So less than two weeks after Michael was born, we brought home our brand new (to us) 2006 Honda Pilot EX and we love it! I have to say, it sure is wonderful to have all the extra space, especially once we start traveling with Brecken and both dogs. We can just lay down the third row and there's plenty of room for the dogs and our luggage - perfect! I can't imagine trying to fit all of us, the dogs, and all our stuff in the Civic - miserable.