Car Seats

There is a whole car seat saga that I've been meaning to write about and just haven't had the time. :sigh: So what better time than now. =)

I've been putting off moving the girls from their infant car seats. I mean come on. With a 3 year old and 2 one year olds it was just EASIER. I didn't have to worry about any of them running off or trying to figure out how to get everyone to the car (especially since Taylor is NOT walking). But we knew we would have to sooner or later. So we looked. The only car seats that will fit three across in my 2001 Dodge Durango is the Sunshine Kids Radian. We already have two for Connor (one in my car, one in Surbjit's car). We do like them, Connor seems comfortable etc. So we went on the lookout. We found them on sale with no shipping and no sales tax from HipMonkey. This store was created by Kyle David Millers Mom to raise money for the foundation she created in memory of her son. For those that don't know the story, her son was basically killed in a car accident while he was in a booster. Had he been in a 5 point harness car seat, he probably would have survived. This foundation helps lower income families afford the often high priced higher weight limit 5 point harness car seats. This store that she created, all proceeds go to the foundation.

Great I thought! It's on sale PLUS no shipping, no tax. They were back ordered 1-2 weeks but we didn't need them soon so no problem. So we forked out the dough for 4 car seats (2 for my car, 2 for Surbjit's). Two days later, they called me up and said they were having a problem with Sunshine kids and they did not know when they would get the delivery. But if I wanted, I could upgrade to the Radian 80. So I talked with Surbjit who was reluctant to upgrade because he wanted all car seats to be matching. Except if we could get the Princess cover because then it would make sense not to have matching car seats. I called them back and told her my concerns. She said that she only had the Monaco (heck no! It's a LIGHT beige. It'll look dirty in a day!) or the SuperCool. I asked if it would match the granite and she said yes but it would look different as it's a different shade of gray. I asked to think about it and I would get back to her over the weekend (this occurred on Friday). So I e-mailed and called on Monday and said we'd take the SuperCool. That's when she told me she only had 3. Well that's a problem. I need 4. So she would talk to her boss as they were changing warehouses etc etc.

Long story short and three weeks later, I received an e-mail from hipmonkey saying they were getting their shipment from Sunshine Kids and I could pick whatever radian I wanted. =) I of course, picked the Princess. So all in all I was very satisfied with hipmonkey. They were able to work with me and keep me in the loop concerning their back order status with Sunshine Kids. They were able to come to a great resolution for me and they are really supporting a great cause! If I need baby items in the future I will definitely order through them.

We received the car seats last Thursday. We still haven't had a chance to install them as we are busy getting ready to go camping. I was really hoping Taylor would start walking so I wouldn't have to carry her and walk Emily to the car at the same time as I'm trying to lock the door in the mornings. =( Guess that won't be happening. It sucks too because it's pitch black in the mornings now because of the time change. Oh well. It's time for them to switch car seats. Now the question is forward or backward facing. . . .