The Van

I am thrilled to report that today we turned over a major milestone on our RTWL (if you aren't up on this blog lingo that means "Richardson Twins Work List"). We are now the proud owners of a silver 2003 Honda Odyssey EX-L.

Practically speaking, we officially have a vehicle capable of shuttling around our growing brood of boys and all their current, soon to be and future "stuff." Yay! The Odyssey we ended up with has everything on our wish list for a van, with the exception of a DVD player. Small sacrifice. Plus, we can always buy an aftermarket option if we really want it. Anyway, the van is sparkly silver, very clean for a used car, all leather (heated seats which sound like torture now but will be awesome in the winter), spacious seating, power/automatic everything, and just all around in great condition. It has extremely low miles and we hope it gives us a good several years. :)

The best part about this purchase, though? It is a sign of real progress and signifies the downhill slope on the RTWL. More things finished than not. Can this be possible? It is crazy to think about, but at almost 21 weeks now, realistically we have 15 weeks left to go best case scenario. My original goal was to get the RTWL completed by the end of summer so I didn't have to stress about potentially being on bedrest or being incapable of helping decorate and "help" in the fall at the end. SO excited that we are on track with this plan of NOT procrastinating. Big thank you here to the many loved ones in my life who are putting up with my neurotic type A craziness.

A quick rundown of what is left to go: Finish sealing the deck (which granted is nearly impossible for Ben with 100+ temperatures for weeks), hang home decor items we've put off since moving into our house last October (shamelessly using these babies as an excuse to get this done so our nice things aren't just stuck in storage), caulk around the three bathtubs to insure no leaks or water damage with the many splashes sure to be coming our way, sell the tractor (any takers???) and taking care of the babies' room.

The Baby Room item on the RTWL has a lot on it, but at least that's pretty much all that is left that HAS to be finished. We need to clean all our existing and borrowed baby gear & clothes, paint the room, buy & install a ceiling fan, buy & setup baby furniture & decor, purchase another humidifier, buy 2 crib mattresses, pick up an extra mattress pad, and then get a gate for the stairs and install it. Whew. Seems like a lot, but considering the 30 items we have marked off since starting the list not too long ago, this progress is awesome!

As we successfully end the long day of van shopping in the miserable heat, I am so thankful again for the many blessings in our lives. It is incredible how things truly do work out in just the perfect way, regardless of what we "expect." Even when the tasks seem too daunting or I start to doubt that things can happen, it is awesome to see how God takes care of even the smallest details. I'm not saying that our lives are perfect. They aren't. We struggle and things are hard. We are worried and stressed and a thousand other emotions daily. But in the end, we trust that things are going to work out...one way or another...and it doesn't hurt to see God bless good common sense preparation!