Carseat overload

Wow, so I realized yesterday that the Eskimo had outgrown his carseat. Now, either I wasn't paying close enough attention, or he shot up a couple inches overnight. Or both. We have a Chicco Keyfit 30 infant seat that is good up to 30lbs or 30" tall. Well, the Eskimo is nowhere near 30lbs, but he is currently 31" tall. Another problem is that his head is now even with the top of the carseat, and it should be at least an inch below it. Oops. Bad mommy.

So, cue the flurry of activity and research. I have spent the last couple of days poring over convertible carseat reviews, reading forum posts and begging other mamas for information and advice. And I still have no clue what I'm doing. I know that I want to keep him rear-facing as long as possible. And this article really solidified that for me. I'd also like to purchase something that will last him until he no longer needs a carseat or booster. But, we're trying not to spend our entire savings on this thing either. Ack! Information overload!

I've found a handful of seats that are recommended by other mamas and have gotten good reviews online. We'll be heading to Babies R Us tomorrow to try them out and see how the Eskimo fits in them. He's a tall, skinny boy, so we'll need something that accommodates for that. I'm also going to need something that will fit comfortably in the backseat of my car, a Jetta station wagon. Not known for it's backseat leg room.

I'll let y'all know what we figure out. And for any other mamas in the same boat, here's a helpful link: http://carseatblog.com/carseatblogcoms-recommended-car-seats/

It's DRY out there!

I live in Texas. And as many may know, Texas has been in  an exceptional drought for a very long time now. We haven't had significant rainfall in over a year and there is no sign of relief in the near future. I recently returned to Texas after spending a month up north. In just a short month, there have been dramatic changes to the landscape. It was dry when I left, but it's downright crispy out there now. Big trees are dying, which is terrifying. A big tree has a very long tap root, and if it's not finding water, there's no water to be had. Anywhere. The other thing I've noticed is that the water coming out of our taps has a very "earthy" smell to it. My guess is that this is because we are scraping  the bottom of the proverbial barrel.

The City of Austin has just updated our watering schedule so that we are only allowed to use sprinklers once a week. Apparently we are allowed to water by hand anytime we'd like. I think this is ridiculous. Folks, we're running out of water here. A dead lawn will be the least of our worries if we can't get water out of the tap anymore. Grass can be replaced. Just think of how much our property values will plummet if there is NO water. Conserve, conserve, conserve. Let the grass die. If you're going to water anything, try to save the big trees on your properties; they're irreplaceable.

I'm really disturbed by the cavalier attitude many folks have about the drought. They don't think it can happen to us. We'll never run out of water. This is a very short sighted, and frankly, selfish attitude. It CAN happen to us and it is up to every single citizen to do our best to conserve until the weather patterns change. We can't continue living like it's going to rain buckets next week until it actually does rain buckets.

Okay, this concludes my rant. Sorry for the negative post. I've just been very disturbed by the attitudes of my fellow citizens. I'll try to post something a bit more positive tomorrow. :)