Singing at Dinner and Car Seat #2!

Well I'm sure glad THAT'S over.

Last night I sang two songs - "Breath of Heaven" and "All I Want For Christmas Is You" - at the annual neighborhood dinner, and it went okay.  And when I say it went okay, that's not me fishing for compliments.....it really went just okay.  It wasn't bad at all, but it definitely could have been a whole lot better.  Everybody clapped, several people told me I did a great job and we ate a good dinner.  And my overtired child actually behaved the entire time, which I was thankful for.  The end.  Now I don't have to worry about it anymore!  Next up is the neighborhood caroling on December 16th, but that's no biggie.  It's not solo singing on a stage, that's for sure!

So I bought (another) new car seat yesterday!  I was leaving my piano rehearsal yesterday morning when a friend of mine told me they had the car seat base I was originally looking for at Bargain Hunt. 

I had never been in Bargain Hunt before, so I stopped by there on the way back to my mom's house.  I'm not really sure how to explain Bargain Hunt.  It's kind of like a thrift store, except that everything is new.  Some of the boxes are beat up and some things are missing their original boxes (and therefore might be a little scuffed), which is why they're there.  And there's a discount system in play at all times, depending on the date stamp on the sale sticker.  They have all sorts of stuff, including loads of baby stuff from strollers to diapers.  And they did indeed have the car seat base I was looking for.  They actually had three of them for $25 each, and one of them was even 20% off due to its sticker date.

But they also had car seats, so I decided to browse the car seat selection before committing to buying the base.  My current car seat is a Graco SnugRide 22, which means that its max capacity is a child that either weighs 22 pounds or is 29 inches long.  So it's one of the smaller-sized car seats (which is fine), BUT it's going to be expired with Baby #2 in it, which has been my concern.  For those of you who don't know, car seats have an expiration date, and you're not supposed to use them past that date due to the extended stress placed on the plastic (along with plastic breakdown) that could break in a car accident and therefore not function properly.  Even if you're in a little fender bender, it is highly recommended that you replace any car seats in the car - and insurance should actually cover it.

Anyways, I've been debating buying a new infant car seat instead of squeezing out another year in the one I have, since I have recently become a wealth of knowledge about car seats thanks to the Car Seats For The Littles Facebook page.  Bargain Hunt had a Graco SnugRide Click Connect 35 for $85 (retails $140), which has a 35 pound and 31 inch baby carrying capacity.  The seat was brand spanking new, manufactured this past July, tags still attached and not a scratch on it.....it was just missing its original box.  And even though some of the car seat technicians out there would NEVER approve of purchasing a car seat without it coming out of a sealed box (due to the fact that you have no idea if it has been banged around before you bought it), I took the risk and bought it anyway.  I felt fine about it because of the attached tags, manufacture date and because it didn't even have so much as a finger smudge on it.

The car seat I bought!

P.S.  Just because someone is a certified car seat technician, it doesn't mean that what they do or tell you is correct.  For a lot of car seat technicians out there, car seat safety is a passion.  But for others, being a certified car seat technician is just a job, or it was a required certification in a certain field of work (like for maybe a fireman).  It's pretty common to be given some bad advice (or get a bad installation) from someone you're supposed to trust with your child's safety.  So if you're ever not sure about some information someone told you (or how your car seat was installed), then get another opinion.  The Facebook page linked above is one of those places for information from passionate people!

I DO still need to buy an extra base for the car seat I just bought, but it's not an urgent matter.  I won't really need it until I start taking bartending shifts again at the Hunter Museum after Baby #2 gets here, so that gives me plenty of time to shop around and find one for the best deal possible.  For now, though, we are SET on car seats.  We've got a convertible car seat in each car for Delano (which will come in handy for Daddy when I work my Hunter shifts in December) and a brand new infant car seat ready to go into the van for the new baby. 

I hear Delano waking up from his nap, so I guess I should go get him and start dinner and all that jazz.  If I don't murder the dog who has been DRIVING ME INSANE while leaping against the kitchen door first, that is.