Our New Baby!

So, we did it.

We had to!

You can only drive around in a car like ours for SO LONG before ya have to go and get another one. At least that's what we're telling ourselves. ;)

To give you an idea of what we were dealing with, our older car had many unwelcome features that developed over the past few years. I tried to joke about it, but, well... it was gettin' pretty bad. From a driver's perspective, it was oh-so-much-fun to drive this thing. First of all, we could no longer roll down our driver's side window, so when we pulled up to the keypad at the entrance to our housing community (where people are driving cars that put ours to shame), we had to open up the door to punch in the code. That wasn't so bad until we could no longer shut the door all the way as we drove through the gates - the door panel was pulling away from the metal so you could no longer close it by the handle. Pulled some muscles trying that trick, let me tell you! Digging your fingertips into the small space between the rolled up window and the top of the door was no small feat! Next to impossible...

And if you were a passenger? Well, you were in for a ride, and not a comfortable one, either! Suppose you wanted to roll down your window to get some air - well, you would be out of luck. I could do it for you from the driver's side, but you would have to ask me and then I would have to grin with embarrassment and go into my spiel about how my car is dying a slow death... Then you might realize that you are practically lying down in the seat - ghetto style! - and would ask me where the handle is to raise the seat back. Well, there isn't one, folks. It broke off in my hands as I tried to sit up after a mid-travel snooze. And the crackling sound you hear? A blown speaker - at least that's on your side! I can listen to all the tunes I want as long as I'm willing to keep the volume low and lean to the left to hear it out of the one good speaker remaining! And hoisting Hannah into the middle car seat wouldn't have been so bad (despite the strained back), if Jenna wasn't so darn intent on tickling her constantly and laughing as she's screaming her head off. Hmmm... what else? Oh yes, there's more. The air went out, the oil leaks, the windshield's cracked, and there are some curious noises coming from under the hood... need I say more? Are you getting the idea?

Times called for desperate measures...

Meet the new member of our family!

Black Beauty and the infamous BEAST!

More views of the outside...

Ain't it pretty? :)
That's a Mazda CX-9
3.5 liter DOHC V6 with 265 horsepower

To gain entrance, I get one of those oh-so-sophisticated transformer flip-keys (for all of you who already have one, since they've been out for like, how many years now? bear with me - this is EXCITING for us!)

And once inside, everything is at your fingertips...


GET THIS: window controls that actually roll the driver's side window down!
Yes, that's plastic people! Our very first BRAND NEW car together since we've been married.

VROOM, VROOM, VROOM...

...with a six-disc cd changer and an automatic-to-manual mode option for more get-up-and-go! Also, three-zone air conditioning, so everybody can be comfortable.

YAY for electronic dashes with lots and lots of info - still don't know everything it tells us...
...but I do know that it says "Hello" and "Goodbye" when you start up and turn it off.

And HALLELUJAH for third-row segregation!



Come on in...Never fear: if you ride in this and you're an adult, you get dibbs on the second row seats (without even having to call "Shotgun"!). We'll toss the kids in the back cuz they don't need as much leg room, although this car beats its competitors (namely, the Honda Pilot and the Toyota Highlander) not only in overall space, but specifically in third-row seat space :) And yes, I know what you're thinking. You can just SEE the kool-aid stains/cracker pancakes already. But sometime next week those beautiful, light-beige, stain-sensitive seats will be LEATHER! Hooray! (What do ya think, black, gray or tan?)

And guess what else? We're having a DVD player installed. We stressed that this was a NECESSITY, not an option (and those of you who know Jenna will understand what I'm saying!)

See what people are saying about this car at the press link located here.

Like you care, but still... I'm just so darn happy and willing to share! (Stop gagging... haha, but seriously, stop! :) I'm almost done)

I'll admit, when I thought of buying a new car, MAZDA wasn't screaming out to me, but we did our research and it was very affordable for what you get, plus it measures up very well to other cars in its class.

And I'm LOVING it.