The Car Seat Change

4.10.2019

So I don’t like to admit when I make a mistake, I mean, what woman does? But being the frugal woman that I am, I can’t imagine keeping this a secret.

When I was newly pregnant and had to create a registry, I was clueless. I had no idea what I needed to register for, or what I would need for this stage called motherhood. I enlisted the help of my friend Aimee (who already had two babes) to do my registry for me. And that was that.

Fast forward a few months. I already went through the infant car seat and was looking forward to switching to the next stage. We had registered for one already, and we had one for one of our two cars. But when we were approached by Diono to use one of their car seats, we jumped at the chance. We needed two of this stage car seat anyway right?!

Sooo….Here’s where I admit I made the mistake. I didn’t look enough into carseats before I bought one. Or two. I put the infant car seat on my registry, along with the toddler one (which by the way is uber expensive), and never really thought twice. Turns out, I didn’t ever need BOTH car seats. Did you know that Diono car seats are able to be used from birth until they grow out of them? I mean, for you thrifty people like me, why would we buy two car seats when we only NEED to buy one?

So I switched Sawyer from her infant carrier to the Diono Radian 3RXT carrier around age one. She literally could not have been happier. She has more freedom to move (she was scrunched in her infant carrier) and she loves the better angle. Don’t get me wrong, I still think once I can turn this thing around we will have much better car rides, but for now this is the best we can get!

I’m kind of upset that as a frugal mama I didn’t realize earlier that I only needed one car seat. The amount of money I could have saved is embarrassing. I urge you all to look into the Diono car seats before you purchase two car seats, or put them on your registry. You don’t NEED to buy two stages! It’s such a lifesaver (not to mention it’s a money-saver too).

Lifestyle

The Days Go On…

3.27.2019

There was a time when I hated that phrase, “you don’t get it, you’re not a parent.” I hated it because I didn’t appreciate the thought that I couldn’t comprehend something. But the truth is, I couldn’t comprehend something. I couldn’t comprehend what being a parent meant. It’s just different, your whole world is different. And that doesn’t mean you’re less of a human because you aren’t a parent, it just means you can’t understand the feeling until you are.

It’s different, this world. It’s something I never thought I’d be experiencing, but here I am. I still think what life would be like without that little brat running through our lives, screaming and crying at us for no reason. And the truth is, it would be fine. Life would be fine without her. But it would never be THIS great. It would never be this amazing.

My husband often asks me if I’m still loving staying home with her.

There will be a particularly hard day with her, and he’ll say “do you still love staying home with her?” The truth is, I can’t imagine my life any other way. I’ve never felt such a calling. I could cry just thinking about going back to work. I know this is what I was made for. I was made to be Sawyer Rae’s mom. I was made to make sure she is the best human she can be. I was made to ensure that she lives the best life she can live.

It makes a lot of sense to me now, looking back. I never got a degree in anything that made me feel important. I never really felt a purpose in life. And then we had Sawyer. And suddenly, everything just sort of fell into place. She was my person. The person I was meant to provide for, to love, to protect. She makes me so happy, I can’t imagine a life before her, or without her.

She is the happiest part of every day. She is the smile in my sunshine and the rainbow in my rain. She is mine.

Holidays!

Reuben the Elf Returns

12.01.2018

Most people buy their Elf on the Shelf for their small children. I, on the other hand, have an Elf for my husband (and the rest of the world via Instagram of course). I’ve had years worth of fun creating set-ups for Reuben the Elf, most of the time trying to tame him for the public eye. I knew that inevitably he would have to really tone it down if we had children of our own, as he can get quite sassy. Thankfully that time has not yet come, she’s still too little to know what’s going on. But I’m not sure how many years we’ve got left.

Before Reuben the Elf returns this year, I thought I’d showcase some of his best work from last year. One of the best parts was turning my babe into Reuben’s new best friend elf. I’m not going to lie, I’m going to be a little sad when my baby elf grows up and Reuben has to do easy things like move from one shelf to the next shelf. Or maybe I’ll finally get a break. This preparation is no joke.

Reuben returned last year next to Sawyer. He issued the following statement upon arrival:

“How about that sleigh ride in? I guess that’s why they call it San Jose, hehe. You guys might not know this, but I consider myself a bit of a loner. I tend to think of myself as a one-elf wolf pack. But when Shauna brought Sawyer home, I knew she was one of my own. I thought: “Wait a second. Could it be?” And now, I know for sure. I just added one more elf to my wolf pack. We will be the two best friends that anyone can have.” – Reuben the Elf

(The Hangover)

Reuben’s friend Ralphie double dog dared him to lick the frozen flag pole. NOW it was serious. A double-dog-dare. What else was there but a triple-dare you, and then, the coup de grace of all dares, the sinister triple-dog-dare.

(A Christmas Story)Dilly Dilly.