The exciting but scary unknown.
PART IV (continued)
Having a kid changes your life, obviously. Having twins is surreal. Going from a party of three to a party of five is mindboggling. I keep thinking "how am I going to pull this one off?" Not only is the family size and cost growing but our income is about to decrease. Fiona probably won't be working for a while and my job hasn't yielded me a raise in the past three years (and it doesn't look like one will be coming in the near future). I am just not in the position to quit this job and take another at a lower starting pay. It can be really scary to think about but I try to take it one day at a time and just deal with it as best as I can. So what's our plan?
So far we have been test driving minivans. Now keep in mind we are anti-minivans. Fiona just cringes at the idea of being a "soccer mom." We have just about ruled out driving SUVs because Fiona doesn't want to drive anything bulky and the small-midsize ones won't yield us enough space to put three baby car seats in the rear seats. I previously owned a '99 Ford Explorer and she didn't like that one. Thus that was the reason why we got our "transitional" suv, the '03 Mitsubishi Outlander. Not bad to drive, it just won't fit three seats. And we test drove the '04 Kia Sorento, not a bad looking suv. That barely fit the car seats but sitting in the front was tight, even for Fiona. As for the minivans, we have test driven the Honda Odessey (actually rented this one a few months back), Toyota Sienna, Nissan Quest, Mazda MPV, and Dodge Grand Caravan. Fiona didn't like the look of the Odessey, I didn't mind it at all. The Sienna was average but a little out of our budget. We both didn't care for the Grand Caravan. I liked the look and the price of the Mazda MPV. It had a sporty look (if you get the sports package) as far as minivans go and it comes close to our budget. Fiona doesn't like it at all (I think she hates the brand). I didn't like the look of the Nissan Quest but we both liked the interior and the drive. The console is very unique and the drive is quite nice at 240 hp. But the price is slight above our range. So for now we'll have to take the wait-and-see approach and hopefully some of the prices will come down.
Another priorty of ours is in regards to Jadon. With the strong possiblity of Fiona being laid over in the hospital for a month or so, we are in the process of exploring who will look out after Jadon besides myself. My work schedule goes from 6:00 am - 2:00pm. So who watches him then? Luckily Fiona's parents own their own business so Fiona's mom has the flexibility to watch him during the days until I get home. And because I get up so early in the morning, it wouldn't be feasible to wake up Jadon and bring him over to his grandparent's place or to have his grandma come over early in the morning. So we have been exposing him, over the past two weeks, to sleeping over at his grandparent's. Boy, does he hate change (just like his momma). He hates it it so much that he cries like a newborn. His body turns all red. I feel sorry for the little tyke.
Making room for the twins is another task that I am dreading. We are going to be converting our third bedroom-converted-to-computer room. That room has a good amount crap in there. Fiona's been telling me to hold off on doing anything until it gets closer to the delivery, but Im' starting to get antsy. The television set will probably have to go in Jadon's room. The computer and desk will probably go into our room. And the rest of the boxes in the closet will probably be spread out throughout the house. We're already starting to outgrow our townhouse. I would love to move into a bigger house but Southern California is so freaking expensive.
Well that pretty much brings you up to speed on what's been going on in a nutshell. Life is grand, ain't it?
Having a kid changes your life, obviously. Having twins is surreal. Going from a party of three to a party of five is mindboggling. I keep thinking "how am I going to pull this one off?" Not only is the family size and cost growing but our income is about to decrease. Fiona probably won't be working for a while and my job hasn't yielded me a raise in the past three years (and it doesn't look like one will be coming in the near future). I am just not in the position to quit this job and take another at a lower starting pay. It can be really scary to think about but I try to take it one day at a time and just deal with it as best as I can. So what's our plan?
So far we have been test driving minivans. Now keep in mind we are anti-minivans. Fiona just cringes at the idea of being a "soccer mom." We have just about ruled out driving SUVs because Fiona doesn't want to drive anything bulky and the small-midsize ones won't yield us enough space to put three baby car seats in the rear seats. I previously owned a '99 Ford Explorer and she didn't like that one. Thus that was the reason why we got our "transitional" suv, the '03 Mitsubishi Outlander. Not bad to drive, it just won't fit three seats. And we test drove the '04 Kia Sorento, not a bad looking suv. That barely fit the car seats but sitting in the front was tight, even for Fiona. As for the minivans, we have test driven the Honda Odessey (actually rented this one a few months back), Toyota Sienna, Nissan Quest, Mazda MPV, and Dodge Grand Caravan. Fiona didn't like the look of the Odessey, I didn't mind it at all. The Sienna was average but a little out of our budget. We both didn't care for the Grand Caravan. I liked the look and the price of the Mazda MPV. It had a sporty look (if you get the sports package) as far as minivans go and it comes close to our budget. Fiona doesn't like it at all (I think she hates the brand). I didn't like the look of the Nissan Quest but we both liked the interior and the drive. The console is very unique and the drive is quite nice at 240 hp. But the price is slight above our range. So for now we'll have to take the wait-and-see approach and hopefully some of the prices will come down.
Another priorty of ours is in regards to Jadon. With the strong possiblity of Fiona being laid over in the hospital for a month or so, we are in the process of exploring who will look out after Jadon besides myself. My work schedule goes from 6:00 am - 2:00pm. So who watches him then? Luckily Fiona's parents own their own business so Fiona's mom has the flexibility to watch him during the days until I get home. And because I get up so early in the morning, it wouldn't be feasible to wake up Jadon and bring him over to his grandparent's place or to have his grandma come over early in the morning. So we have been exposing him, over the past two weeks, to sleeping over at his grandparent's. Boy, does he hate change (just like his momma). He hates it it so much that he cries like a newborn. His body turns all red. I feel sorry for the little tyke.
Making room for the twins is another task that I am dreading. We are going to be converting our third bedroom-converted-to-computer room. That room has a good amount crap in there. Fiona's been telling me to hold off on doing anything until it gets closer to the delivery, but Im' starting to get antsy. The television set will probably have to go in Jadon's room. The computer and desk will probably go into our room. And the rest of the boxes in the closet will probably be spread out throughout the house. We're already starting to outgrow our townhouse. I would love to move into a bigger house but Southern California is so freaking expensive.
Well that pretty much brings you up to speed on what's been going on in a nutshell. Life is grand, ain't it?
posted by a mindless zombie at 10:01 AM
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