Cowmooflauge : Our Latest Addition



Back Seat of my DH's Car



Our newest car seat purchase arrived yesterday - finally! Baby G has had her Britax Boulevard CS in Cowmooglauge for a few months now & ever since hers arrived my DH has been asking for his own cow 'racing' seat! So, we here it is: The 2010 Britax Parkway SG in Cowmooflauge!



The Parkway in two pieces out of the box

 I thought it would be fitting to offer a brief review of our newest car seat addition.

The only booster we have ever owned before this new Parkway arrived was a Sunshine Kids Monterey , so it is the only seat that I am able to compare this to - good thing they are almost the exact same price and similar in quality!

The first difference between the S.K booster and the Parkway would be the fabric; the Parkway's fabric is identical to the Boulevard and it's extremely soft and plush! At first glance it looks like it's white and black; but there is a lot of beige tones in this seat that make it easier to hide stains! :) The second main difference between these two seats would be that the S.K seat offers an adjustable width feature as well as steel bars for added strength; either of which the Parkway offers!

The first negative of this booster would be that it doesn't offer a latch connection (which the S.K Monterey does!) Britax does have a Parkway that has a latch connection (Parkway SGL) however, it's slightly more expensive & doesn't come in Cowmooflauge... so it wasn't any help to us!

The Parkway does offer a "Safe Guard" strap which is a plastic piece that attaches to the seat belt to help prevent 'submerging' in the event of an accident; seems like a thoughtful addition which no other booster seat offers. It could potentially become a pain in the rear since it's one more thing to connect; but I do see the extra safety that it offers & will do my best to always remind my DH to connect it:)

The cup holders on the seat are just okay... but it's a step up from the Boulevard and the Advocate that don't have any at all! For a $300 -$400.00 carseat I would expect a cup holder! The new generation seats offer an optional cup holder for $14.99.

Overall, the Brtiax Parkway SG is a good seat - it seems quite safe & sturdy, looks great in the car & DS seems to be comfortable in it (not sure if it's because he is really comfortable or just because it's a cowseat! I'll probably never know!) lol

For the $139.99 price tag it's by far Britax's most reasonably priced seat but because it doesn't offer the latch & lack of usable cup holders; I give the Britax Parkway SG a 4 out of 5 stars.

Clipping Coupons, Not Corners

Last week my 3 year old and I were out shopping at Walmart when he turns to me and says "Did we remember to bring our coupons?" lol Even at 3 years old, he already knows that we only buy things on sale and we almost always use a coupon!


Some might say that I spend too much time searching for coupons, clipping coupons and then organizing my cart according to the coupons I have.. but, at the end of the day we've saved a ton of money using coupons. We use coupons for almost everything! I'm sure that almost everyone has seen the TLC show "Extreme Couponing".. and although I wish I could do what they do, I've done pretty well!

Fellow blogger Jackie has put everything on her blog that you would EVER need to know about couponing in Canada; where to get your coupons, where & how to use them etc..

http://jackiesway-tosavebig.blogspot.com/



On average, we're able to save $20-$30.00/week on house hold products,food & baby gear! That's pretty good!

And YES, I do stockpile!! I have a garage full of diapers, a closet full of bodywash, soap & tooth paste as well as a cupboard FULL of babywipes! lol

Call Me Car Seat Crazy!

Anybody that knows me can tell you that I'm a wee bit car seat crazy! I drive my poor DH crazy by policing our children in their carseats everyday and constantly changing carseats in our cars! He can't keep up anymore, but he's learned to just let it be! lol

The decision of forward or rear facing, booster or harness.. low back or high back, side impact protection or not.. ahh! It drove me crazy when I first started looking into car seats for our kids!

It wasn't until my DD was born that I realized how important the purchase of the right car seat was. My DS is on the larger size in the 99th percentile for both height and weight; so when we picked a carseat for him we didn't realize that at 2 years old he would outgrow it and need a larger seat! We figured that we would pass along his old seat to DD... and she is a tiny, petite little thing! She's in the 20th percentile for both height and weight. We soon realized that the carseat that once worked for our son wouldn't work for our daughter and it got me thinking that although all car seats may be safe, they may not all be equal in how they protect our children and how they fit each child individually.

So, the hunt was on for the perfect carseat. Now, I needed two carseats since DS was too big for his previous seat, but too small and too young for a booster seat.

So, after a few months of trial and error as far as fit for each of them as well as a perfect fit in our cars went, I came up with the two best car seats I could find for each of them and our budget!

At 399.99CAD, the Britax Advocate seems like a huge (literally!) waste of money! It wasn't until we tried and tested it that we realized that this was the perfect seat for DD :) She absolutely loves the seat - she even cries when she has to get out of it! She has never once (yet!) complained to get in the car and usually falls asleep during the car ride. Who wouldn't? It's like a lazy boy in the car! lol

For my DS who is three and a half but a whoppin' 43lbs and 42" tall; I needed something that would keep him harnessed for as long as possible! I looked into the Britax Frontier since I figured that the Advocate was great for DD - BUT, I wasn't very impressed with the Frontier... it had a $299.99CAD price tag and it didn't seem very sturdy - at least not as sturdy as the Advocate. We stumbled upon the Graco Nautilus and it seems to be the perfect seat for a tall, heavy toddler who isn't ready for a booster seat. This seat will harness him upto 65lbs (just like the Advocate) but it will also turn into a high back AND backless booster! Best of all; I scored this for $199.99 !

Riding in the car is by far the most dangerous thing my kids do.. so, it's so important to me that they are as safe as possible - even if I drive everyone else crazy!

Me In A NutShell

So, here goes my first blog ever! I am a 20 something stay at home mother of two beautiful children. I'd like to call myself a "CFO" - Chief Family Officer! I'm a micromanager of everything that happens in our home. From short order cook to professional boogie cleaner :) 

Since September 2007 when my first bundle of joy arrived I've decided to dedicate my entire life to my wonderful husband & family... though some days it feels like it might be easier to just run away! Now, three and a half years later I have a rambunctious 3 year old son & an attitude filled diva of a daughter who is only 18months old and knows that diamonds are pretty & shoes are better in multiples!

Raising a family on one income has been an adventure in itself... the life of clipping coupons, thrift stores & on line mommy trading has kept me busy & on budget! We don't live a frivolous life, but we're doing well :) We've been though job losses & unexpected expenses... but always seemed to figure out how to manage it all!

The idea of Adventures in Munchkin Land came to me when people kept asking me how we do it.. how we manage life with two kids, a mortgage, cars, vacations etc on one income. I'd pass along tips here & there about the frugal, simple life - and the thought of starting a mommy blog to get my ideas out, pass along wonderful offers & ideas came :)

So, here it is :)