Cars

The engine in Adam's Suburban died, and it was going to cost over $4,000 to fix it. We considered just going ahead and fixing it, but it didn't make sense when the Suburban is worth less than this amount. We went through option after option, and we settled on just getting rid of both of our cars and buying two "new to us" cars. I love my Jeep, but later this year we would have to do something with it because it doesn't hold three car seats (with one being an infant/toddler seat). So it seemed most logical to try and get two cars for a little over the price we were paying for my Jeep alone.

Adam got a Nissan Armada. It is slightly smaller than his old Suburban, but since he can put all of the seats down completely flat -- it has more cargo room to hold all of the gear for his shoots. Next up for him -- a semi.

I got a Jeep Commander. It has 3 rows, but the leg room is great for kids rather than adults. I don't feel like I'm driving a bus, but I do have enough room for our growing family. I didn't want to get another Jeep because I loved my old one so much and you couldn't beat the options and Hemi engine that it had. I thought a different Jeep, with less, would make me sad. But . . . it just took one look at another Jeep to realize that I'm just a "jeep" girl - no matter what the options. I would love to have a Hummer, and this is kind of boxy like one. So for now, I pretend it is a Hummer and have nicknamed it the "Hummander". Adam says that one day he will lift the Commander and put big tires on it for me. For now, the money continues to go into the adoption savings account.

The biggest shocker is that they aren't black. Trust me, it was HARD for us, and is STILL hard that we don't own black cars. I mean really, what other color is there? One of the first questions from our close friends and family has been "The car is black, right?" Nope. Our options were a little more limited when we were buying "used". BUT, the car payment for these suckers makes the color easier to take. Around the house, Adam's car is "light black" and my car is a "sandy, tan black". Hey, sometimes there is nothing wrong with living in denial.