Shiny & New

As usual, we have lots to catch up on, but we just wanted to do a quick post to talk about two new things at the McCoy house. First, we got a shiny new 2014 Toyota Highlander last week. (Okay, actually KRISTIN got a shiny new Highlander last week, but don’t worry – Dan wasn’t entirely left out of the excitement!) Dan’s car had been slowly dying for the last year or so, and considering that the cost of the necessary repairs was more than the value of the car (who really needs an anti-lock brake system anyway?), it was time to make a change. So Kristin got the Highlander, Dan got Kristin’s RX 300 (still going strong at almost 200,000 miles and 15 years old), and Dan’s Grand Am is on its way to CarMax for auction.

New car!

Farewell Grand Am!

Dan's sweet new ride

A HUGE thank-you to my Uncle Tom, who connected us to Toyota of Clovis where we got a great deal on the car. I’ve never actually bought a car before – so I have no point of comparison – but I have to say this was probably the easiest major purchase experience that we’ve had so far. (Certainly the car was easier than our recent dishwasher and couch purchases, which should have been much smaller deals but were actually somewhat torturous – at least as far as Dan was concerned.)

Norah and Maddie enjoying the spacious interior

Norah loves the new car, especially the third row seat. The third row was the main reason we had put off the car purchase for about a year, since we knew the Highlander was being redesigned in 2014 to add a third seat and more legroom to the third row. That – plus the added trunk space in the redesign – does not disappoint. And while we might not have a lot of occasions where we fill the car to its eight-person capacity, we will soon need regular seating for five. Which brings us to new thing number two… Baby McCoy #3 is on the way! He or she will be arriving on the scene in late July, and we’re all thrilled. Actually, Maddie hasn’t yet weighed in on her new status as big sister/middle child, but we’re guessing that she’s (generally) going to love having a new friend around. I’m finally starting to feel better and get my energy back, which means Dan is off dinner duty and on to nesting duty. He was such a good sport during the first trimester, when he was in charge of all the cooking, shopping, cleaning, and night-time child caring – in addition to his regular responsibilities at work. The downside of my decreased morning sickness, for him anyway, is that I now have more energy to start planning all the projects that we need to do around the house before the baby arrives. Since I’m home a lot more now than I was when I was pregnant with Norah or Maddie, I have more time to notice things… so the list is growing longer by the day.

We feel so blessed to be able to bring this child into the world, especially considering our amazing support group of friends and family. We look forward to introducing him or her to you this summer.