Mother's Day Gifts

 I had been so caught up in Wes' birthday party then went straight into planning and packing for our family vacation to Florida that I forgot that Mother's Day was coming up soon.  I had several ideas as to what I want to do, but finally narrowed it down when I saw that Walgreens is having an awesome sale on reusable grocery bags, like the one pictured below.

 So my plan is to make the bags and fill them with goodies for all of my aunts, my mother-in-law, and Mom.  Special, personalized gifts will go in my mother-in-law and Mom's gifts beyond just the goodies, but I don't want to elaborate just yet.  But some random kid and dog just won't cut it for my bags, so here are the designs that I am putting on the fronts of the bags:

 Now, my question is:  are these designs too plain, too much, or ok?  My eye is a little rusty on this one for some reason, not too sure if I need to add more or just stick with what I've got.

 For my cousins, I am going to make little gifts, not going to give those away yet either, but put them in super cute packages similar to this:

from this website

 I will add photos of the completed gifts, after Mother's Day, so as to to not completely ruin the surprise. What do you think?  Are these items that you would like to receive?  Or are the lame-o?

Car Seat, oh Car Seat!

When Wes outgrew his infant car seat last summer we looked for a car seat that would fit our needs. I wanted to keep him rear-facing as long as possible. I have read a lot of info and knew a seat that we could keep him turned around as long as possible was a key feature in the seat.
We loved the infant car seat we had, the Chicco Key Fit 30. It was seperate from the base so we could (and did) buy a separate base for each vehicle and we didn't have such a bulky seat. When we went to find a new seat Chicco did not make any that were for toddlers. Infant carriers and children's booster seats were it.
At the time, the Gracco My Ride 65 was getting great reviews. Wes could rear-face to 40 pounds and then forward-face to 65. What I didn't think about was how easy it would be to get in and out. It was cumbersome, the LATCH clips. They didn't loosen or tighten easily. After about 8 months and a new car it was too much and we decided to get a new car seat.
When we started looking again, much to my delight, Chicco has now just introduced a toddler car seat.  It fits well, it is clean looking and most importantly it is easy to install!  I am so happy with this seat.  Chicco really thinks about all aspects of the seat so once his seat is attached to the car all of the straps hide away. Love it!

Baby You Can Drive My Car!

We bought the Element a few months after we had Wes. I used to drive a Civic and loved it but it was a 2-door and was difficult to get him in and out.  I knew I wanted a car thay would accommodate a child easier and Casey wanted something with all-wheel drive for winter safety.  I initially liked the Audi A3 but couldn't find one that was in my comfortable price range. Then I started looking at the Element and that is what we decided to get.  Fast forward (almost) two years and have found out that it was totaled before we bought it and the dealer never told us.  All we were told was it had been hit from behind but it was completely wrecked. When we found that out, we made it a priority to get a different car and I kept going back to the Audi.  I found one that was everything that we wanted but was more than I wanted to spend.  However, I am starting to learn that you get what you pay for and we wanted a safe car this time. 
This is my dream car.  It's comfy, it fits our needs and it hauls ass!  The Element was great for the size and hauling capabilities, but it was a box and it drove like a box.  The A3 is quick, small and light!  I very much love having a car that can move quickly when I need to.