I promise that my kids had a great Halloween and I promise that I took too many pictures, as always, and I also promise that I will post those pictures before they are 20 and 21 years old but for now please indulge me while I whine and cry.
Halloween morning, Happy and I got up early and were wondering around the house doing our normal morning routine. She was fussy and saying she wanted to see our "punkins" on the front porch so I opened the front door to show her and noticed that my car was gone. Hmm.. I thought maybe Jeff let his parents borrow it or something so I came in and woke him up and said "where is my car?". He, still half asleep, moaned something about parked closer to the neighbors house so I probably couldn't see it for the bushes. So, I went back to the living room, put on my tennis shoes and walked out to the curb in my pajamas and looked down the street. Ya, my car was not in front of the neighbors house. I quickly ran back inside yelled at Jeff, "My car is gone, Jeff!" He jumped out of bed. I woke up Chris and Kristie, called Jeff's dad and hung up with him to call the Abilene Police. I knew all the info on my car including license plate (if you don't know yours, go write it down right now) and told it all to the operator. She asked me lots of questions and by the time I hung up Jeff's dad pulled up and Jeff, his dad and Chris went driving around just to make sure they didn't see it nearby. I called my grandpa in Fort Worth, just to give him the heads up, and by the time we hung up, an officer for APD called me back and said they found my car on the Northside of town and it looked like it was in great condition, except that it was out of gas. We loaded up and headed to the other side of town. What the officer did not know was what had been in my car when it was taken. I immediately noticed that my $250 double stroller was gone, Happy's $200 car seat was gone and the kids portable DVD player was gone. Also, stolen was my debit card (don't worry, not used.. I called and cancelled it). The officer said he got some "not so promising fingerprints" and that I probably would not see my stolen items again because they were probably "sold or traded for drugs". Gee, thanks, break my heart.. someone stole from my babies to get high! UGH! Anyways, as thankful as I am to have my whole car back (and in good shape) it was really sad to think about the things taken from my kids and now the struggle to replace them. Is it weird that mom's get attached to their kids "things"? I mean, I understand how blessed we are to have all the nice things and lucky that we got my car back in great shape but I still get sad thinking about the things we lost. So all week I have been searching, searching, searching online and in stores to find replacements. Mostly, for my babys car seat and the double stroller. The tv's are not a necessity and they can get those as Christmas presents.
So I did lots of research and picked this car seat for Happy. I love convertible car seats and the fact that she can use it as long as she will ever need a car seat. Her stolen one was convertible car seat, as well, in precious pink and brown and I loved it so much. I know that this one will do the job just as well :) It is a
Graco Nautilus 3-in-1 Car Seat in Rachel For some reason, they are not carrying it in the Abilene Target anymore so I found the last one that they had at a Target by my grandparents house in Fort Worth and my grandpa went by and picked it up for me. I love him :) He is going to meet me one day next week and I cannot wait to see it!!
The second debate, still going, is over the double stroller that was stolen. First of all, you should know when I found out I was pregnant with baby #2, precious Brylee, the first thing I did was start looking at double strollers. I couldn't wait to push my two babies around and after months of research I found
this not-so-little jewel and I have loved her ever since :)
The thought of replacing her with a different double stroller is a little heartbreaking, haha, but the truth is I really don't need that big one anymore. Braelyn is 3 years old and rarely, if ever, wants to sit in the stroller with her "baby" sister! So I debated buying another one just like it and changed my mind. Then I debated buying
this side-by-side but Jeff thought it would be too wide to get through doors or a pain when shopping in small aisles, which is a valid point, so I changed my mind on that one too. So my final decision might be in this one..
a sit-n-stand. It has a seat for the baby/toddler in front and a little bench in the back where big sister can sit or stand. Sound good? I think so. I have not made a firm choice but I am going to run by Target tonight to look at one. I think Braelyn might even think its fun to jump on and off the back, don't you? This will at least get us through a couple more years till we won't need a stroller anymore.. sigh.
If you read all this and have any advice or tips then you can be my new best friend. I know it shouldn't be so hard.. just go out and buy new things.. but I want them to be the right things and yes, I am this organized, structured, researched on all important purchases. And yes, Jeff is annoyed with talking about it :) Please leave me a comment with advice :)
