A New Week

I can not believe there are only 38 days left until my Master's is complete. That is very exciting and a little nerve wracking. There is certainly no room to procrastinate at this point. Plus, if school is that close to being done, then I am that much closer to meeting the newest baby murph.

I spent my week "off" attempting to catch up on school work, but an inability to focus means I didn't get very far. I did find myself in remedial CarSeat 101 again. Seriously, I now know why 75% of car seats are not installed correctly (and if you think you are not one of them, you would likely be wrong). We had already replaced the expired infant seat for the new baby, one that we hope will get us through the first year (provided she isn't a long string bean like her sisters). Autumn's car seat was due to expire in September, but she has gotten too tall for it. So, in an effort to save money, she will get Abigail's high back booster/5 point harness until 40 pounds. Abigial will get the new RadianXT we ordered, but since she is 48 pounds you can not install it using the LATCH system anymore. If you are not a mom, you may not realize how much easier it is to install a seat with LATCH. So between all the different height limits and weight limits of each seat and the weight limit on the LATCH system and deciding between 5-point v. shoulder/lap restraint and don't forget all three need to be narrow enough to be safely installed three across in a Saturn VUE....my head is going to explode. Of course, each state has its own laws regarding how old/heavy/tall a child must be before they can graduate booster status (in VA you have to be in a booster through your 7th year, so you graduate when you turn 8). Really, it shouldn't be this hard to keep your kids safe. A little standardization would be swell.

We will upgrade Autumn to a 5-point harness that goes up to 65 pounds when she outgrows the high back booster and we aquire an income. Safety isn't cheap. And don't even get me started on the Civic Coupe which I now view as a total death trap. We will make a point of driving the kids around in that as rarely as possible. As it is, I can not safely get three car seats in it anyway.

Well, I must finish up my assignments. Brian is off to take a copy editing test in the long, drawn out efforts of trying to become gainfully employed. The hours will be very challenging paired up with my inconsistent nursing orientation schedule, but we'll get through it. Given the events that have occured in my life this past year, I can get through just about anything. It may not be ideal, but I will make the best of it and it won't be forever. Wish us luck.