NV Envy

Since I am stopped in every parking lot in town and asked about our new van, I'm going to share my little review here.  On Sunday we spent 5 minutes chatting with the Border Patrol agent at the checkpoint just outside our town because he was interested in the van.  Nissan started selling the NV Passenger last spring and there aren't very many om the road, especially in this tiny town.

It has been hard to be patient while waiting for our new van.  From the moment I saw the announcement that Nissan was designing a full-size passenger van, I wanted one.  Once they started selling the NVP last spring, I started getting antsy.  The prudent thing to do was wait, especially since we had two vehicles that were completely paid for already and a new van meant a (huge) new car payment.

But our poor Express couldn't fit a seventh car seat and so we were suddenly driving two vehicles anytime we needed to go anywhere as a family.  Our old van was a 2006 Chevy Express and it served us well.  In fact, I shed a few tears when Jason drove it away to take it to its new owners.  I honestly feel like we spent more time in that van than in any of our houses, especially while Jason was deployed.  That van carried us safely to 44 different states.  It held a lot of special memories and it was so hard to see it go.

 After finding out that there are waiting lists (!!!) to order the NVP in Arizona, we decided to order from a dealer in Georgia.  Four months later, we finally had a new van.

Meet Big Blue...

I'm not a fan of the boxy exterior, but there really are not a lot of options when it comes to big passenger vans. The well-designed interior makes up for the square, funky exterior.

The front seats have far more leg room than any other vehicle we've owned.  This is great since Jason is 6'3" and I'm 5'10" with longer legs than Jason.  We have plenty of room and my knees don't touch the dash!

A huge bonus is the dual zone climate control.  Jason prefers the arctic temps but I can set my vents to a slightly less freezing temperature on my side.  (This feature alone was why we selected the trim model we did.)

The kids have a third control for the vents in the back.  There are even heating vents on the floor, in addition to the ceiling vents... not that we have had a chance to use them yet, of course.

There's a huge storage compartment in between the front seats.  If there's one thing I love, it's organizing.  This compartment is where I keep our first aid kit, extra diapers, baby carriers, etc.

We have already played musical car seats several times.  We temporarily had to move Nathan's seat to the front row when he was unbuckling himself while I was driving.  He has since moved back to the middle row.  

One great thing about this van is that every seat has its own lap/shoulder belt and headrest.  Those of you who are car seat techs will appreciate that fact!  Because of the headrests, we were finally able to remove the headrests on the high back booster seats for Matthew (age 10) and Joshua (age 9.)  Up until now, they had to keep the high backs on their boosters because the Chevy Express does not have headrests in any of the rear seats.  

The picture below shows the headrests only in the seats where Matthew and Joshua were sitting.  They're easy to remove so we took out the rest for better visibility.

(Ignore the residential carpet samples that we are using right now.  The dealer didn't give us our rear floor mats yet.)

Each row has cup holders that extend from under the seats.  They are easy to push back when not in use.  We haven't needed them since all six of the kids' car seats have their own cup holders.  There are even extra cup holders built into the side wall and there are outlets there for charging video games and whatnot.

Our current setup is 2 Britax Frontiers (Leila and Sarah) and a booster (Joshua) in the back row.  Nathan and Ryan are in the middle row in Frontiers.  Matthew is in a booster in the front row, next to Amelia in a Britax Roundabout.  Because Leila and Sarah are so small (37 and 38 pounds at 7 years old) I think these seats will stay as is for a long time to come.

I do wish there were more LATCH locations in the NV.  Although we aren't using LATCH for the big kids, we are tethering the 4 Britax Frontier seats and we are short on tether locations.  Also, the headrests make it very difficult to see out of the rear windows (even though we have a back-up camera) so we tried to keep Matthew and Joshua on the outboard seats since they are the only ones using headrests.

The picture above is our current seating arrangement.  There's so much more leg room in this van!

Because of the fantastic leg room, there is far less cargo space in the rear.  We do have the ability to remove seats and rearrange the seating in each row.  (324 seating configurations!)  But we need all of the seats, so we're making do with the limited cargo space.  We can always tow a trailer for trips.  Sadly, my double stroller barely fits in the back now.  There is no way we could fit the quad in this van.  (One big bonus for having the Express when we needed it!  It held The Beast!)

Aside from a few annoying manufacturing defects, we love the new van.  We have had to make three 180-mile trips to the dealer in Tucson to have leaking window trim replaced and order a new part for the faulty sliding door.  Apparently the sliding door malfunction is a known problem because the dealer said the part is back ordered and it could be months before they get it in for us.  I'm guessing there may be a recall soon.

Otherwise, we are blessed to have a van large enough to fit our family and reliable enough to take us all across the country on our adventures.  I can't wait to see where Big Blue will take us...

Sisters

There are just a handful of little outfits that I saved from Leila and Sarah and have passed on to Amelia.  Most are long gone, but I came across this dress and hat and had to snap a few photos of Seven in her big sisters' dress.

She decided it was much more fun to eat the hat than wear it.

Seven may not look anything like her big sisters, but with the hats on they could pass as being related.

It looks like Amelia has light brown hair with a reddish tint.  I thought her eyes were turning brown but I really don't know now.  They might be hazel like Jason and Joshua.  Still, she is not a total Jason clone so score one for my genes!

Leila and Sarah in 2006

Matthew and Sarah (I think?)

Life keeps handing me lemons

I'm getting so sick of lemonade.  Couldn't life just give me limes instead?  At least then I could make margaritas.

This is how the last couple of months have been for me...  Please excuse me while I air my dirty laundry all over cyberspace.

We just donated our trusty, beloved van to another "large" family.  We finally have our new Nissan NV and the first time I drove it, the windshield chipped in 10 different places.  And then we found out that the sliding door lock doesn't work and the trim around the windows leaked.  And then Nathan got car sick in it.  Not once had we ever had a kid get car sick before, but of course it happened on the first day in the new van.

We have been really trying to stick to our Dave Ramsey plan, but life seems to have other ideas.  The kids and I stayed home while Jason went to Georgia to drop off our van with its new owners and pick up the new van so that we could save money.  Unfortunately the trip still ate up our grocery budget for the rest of the year.

I find myself feeling homesick but unsure of what I'm missing.  Where is home?  If you asked my kids, you'd probably get six different answers.  Home is where the Army sends us.  Right now, this place doesn't feel like home.  It's hard to put down roots here when we know we are leaving in less than 5 months.  It's hard to think of where home will be next because we don't know where we're going.  And we won't know where we're going until October 1st, which makes the obsessive planner in me cringe.

Despite not owning an infant "bucket" car seat or even a baby swing, my sweet baby has plagiocephaly, aka "flat head syndrome."  Her physical therapist is recommending cranial helmet therapy which, of course, is not covered by insurance.  Now we find ourselves debating helmet costs vs. orthodontic bills and perhaps a few years of psychotherapy for a daughter with misaligned ears.

In March, the tenants that rent from us stopped paying rent.  In June, they moved out and left behind plenty of damage and no forwarding address.  They even stole from us.  I am really starting to lose faith in humanity.  I desperately want to see the good in people, but am constantly reminded that even seemingly kind people will take advantage of you.

Jason's car started having transmission trouble last year and the entire transmission was replaced (thankful that we paid for an extended warranty so that $6800 job was only $2000.)  Everything seemed to be fine until he called me today to say that I need to pick him up from work because his car won't start.  Sigh.

One day last week I woke up with a raging case of pink eye.  Nobody else had it.  Just me.  Maybe from touching my ear before putting in my contacts?  Or maybe my eye doesn't like the dusty desert?  It was super fun to wake up to that on the same day that Aunt Flo decided to return.

Yes, despite exclusive breastfeeding and pumping once a day, my body has decided it's time to be fertile again.  Not cool. Usually I go at least a year and a few months without cycles after having a baby. While I would love more children in my future, I do not have any desire to be pregnant and would much rather adopt.  Someone please give my ovaries the memo.



P.S.- My baby is crawling and standing and trying to cruise.  So very not cool.

Honesty... It's the best policy, right?

I have had a lot on my mind over the last several months.  Maybe even over the last year, if I'm honest.  Each time I try to write or talk about any of it, I stop myself.  I know there are plenty of people out there who would look at my life and either a) think I'm totally insane or b) think I'm totally blessed.  And, truthfully, it's a little bit of both.

As an adult, I've also become more and more aware that there are always those anonymous people out there that will take delight in watching me struggle.  There are those that will say that I have no right to feel overwhelmed or frustrated with my children because I chose to have so many of them.  There are those who will say that my husband volunteered to serve in the military and so I relinquish my right to be upset at how utterly impossible the military life can feel sometimes.  There are those who will say that by sharing anything about my life, I am opening myself up to criticism that I may rightfully deserve.

Well, you know what?   I don't really believe that anyone gives up a right to their own feelings, no matter the circumstances.  So from now on, I think I'll just try to be honest, even when I believe that staying silent is so much easier.

In the interest of being honest, I will freely admit that I have been really struggling with my faith lately.  I know that God has a plan for me and I do trust in that.  But I am so conflicted when I see how even the most faithful can suffer.  Some of the people I love most in this world have lost so much.  We aren't talking Job here, but it's still some heavy stuff.  Even the littlest things can feel so overwhelming sometimes.

So, here I am, being transparent.  I'm going to hit "publish" before I think the better of it...