Decisions, Decisions

So many decisions to make.

First of all, I need to work on deciding what we're getting Daniel for his birthday and for Christmas. I've already started shopping for him, so I do have a couple of gifts for each bought already. I also have to decide what else to put on his wish list for the grandparents. Then I have to decide what the heck I want for Christmas. I am eternally grateful for both sets of parents and how generous they are with gift giving each year. It's sometimes hard coming up with ideas! Sometimes I think I should ask for one big thing and other times I think of other small things I want or could use. I was really hoping for a good deal on a camera that I want, but so far the "leaked" Black Friday ads aren't showing me the amazing deals I was hoping for!

I also am trying to decide if I want to just take Daniel to JC Penny to get his 2 year pictures taken. I will probably end up doing that. I wish that I were more capable. I do love some of the pictures that I got of him this past month, but I've grown to have a critical eye and I just cannot nail my focus points. In some ways I hate to take him to a studio, because I've grown very fond of natural light photography. It's just too expensive for me to pay for true professional photography more often. They are expensive for a reason though. It's because they're awesome and spend a lot of time perfecting the photos! Ultimately, it'll come down to money. I just hope he'll sit still and smile. That booger always wants to take off on me!

The most important decision that I need to make in the near future is about Daniel's car seat. I know. I am like the queen of car seat safety, and I'm sure some people get tired of me posting about it, but it's just something I'm really really passionate about.

He's just about ready to outgrow his car seat rear facing. What I need to decide is if we should turn him forward facing or if I should buy a new seat and continue to rear face him. The thing is, cars made before 2000 don't have top tether anchors for car seats...and almost all car seats require the seat to be top tethered now when forward facing. Technically a GM dealership should be able to retrofit one to my car at no charge for the first one. First I'd have to find a dealership. Then I'd have to explain what I needed, and from what I've read from other people it's usually hard to even get them to understand what you want done and they don't even know where to order the parts. So...either I'd have to get that all figured out or start using Jacob's car (and I don't think he'd want to trade cars. LOL!)

OR, I continue to do extended rear facing and buy a new car seat. The biggest problem with that is finding a seat that he will be able to continue to use for awhile AND that fits into my smaller car. They make tons of seats now that allow for extended rear facing, but a lot are huge and bulky and wouldn't fit in my car.

The hope is for me to get a bigger vehicle in the next year or so, but there's no way of knowing right now if that will happen or not.

I think if I go with my gut though, I will choose to buy a new seat and continue to rear face. I know some people think I'm weird or crazy and don't know how their own kids survived. The thing is, I've read the facts and facts are that kids are safest rear facing for as long as possible. Some kids seriously rear face until they're 5 or 6. Not even kidding. I almost think I'd like to keep Daniel that way until he's 3. He doesn't mind in the least that he's backward. He can still see out the windows. He points things out all the time. He never fusses about wanting to be turned. He doesn't even know the difference. Yeah...his legs are getting longer, but that doesn't bother him. Most extended rear facing kids just cross their legs or dangle them over the sides. The biggest myth is that kids legs will break in an accident if they're still rear facing and have longer legs. That is totally false. There are nearly no incidents where I child has suffered a broken leg while rear facing, but an alarming number of broken legs and other bones while forward facing.


Off to ponder all of my options...or more likely rot my brain on Facebook and then fall asleep.