I'm in car seat HEAVEN!

So I'm a bit of a dork about car seats. I've been known to spend HOURS researching different models and features to make sure I'm going to get a good, safe, easy to use seat that will last a long time. To me it's like Christmas when we get a new one around here and getting to pick out three at the same time? I might as well be a kid in a candy store! And this time, I didn't even have to worry about finding the best deal (which sometimes means getting a cover patten that you aren't as wild about) since the seats should be covered by the car insurance company.

So far I've actually only ordered two new seats for Emmaline and Adrianne. Replacing their seats was pretty straightforward since I knew I wanted the exact same models as the seats they had, I just wanted different covers. Emmaline's seat actually arrived today and I'm SO in love with the cover print I chose:

TrueFit by the First Years in "Butterfly"

Adrianne's seat is taking a little longer to get here. She's getting older so she actually wanted to help pick out her new seat. I asked her what color she wanted, and she said she wanted a purple seat, but if they didn't have that, then a pink one. Well, when I went out and started shopping around, I found this one which I KNOW she'll just LOVE since she's been saying lately that she no longer wants to be a princess but rather a rock star:

Highback Turbo-booster by Graco in "Girls Rock!"

She hasn't seen it yet, because I wanted to surprise her, but I really like that it's a little more "grown-up" looking of a pattern, although still VERY girly. (I should add here that Matt thinks that her seat is HIDEOUS but agrees that she will love it!)

As for Riley, I'm afraid to say she's kind of getting the short end of the stick here. See, I actually already had a seat that has been sitting in Emmaline's room that she can use. And it does not look girly at ALL.

Nautilus by Graco in "Bravo"

It's actually a seat that I had originally purchased for Riley (and she used it some) but then I had Adrianne use it for a while when I had to do some tricky three-car seats-across installs in some of our cars with the infant carrier. Then when Emmaline got her last seat (that was the same model as her new seat) I had to retire the seat temporarily because it was too big to fit with Emmaline's seat and Adrianne's in our Corolla. But I tried this seat out with Emmaline's and Adrianne's seats in the Mountaineer (usually the car that Matt drives, but since we'll be down to one car until we figure out what's going on with the Corolla it works) and they all fit so I wanted to hold off on replacing Riley's old seat when she can just use the one I already have.

Part of the reason I'm trying to hold off on replacing Riley's old seat is because I want to actually upgrade to this seat:

Triumph65 by Evenflo in "OH!"

which I'd like to get for Little Brother to use when he arrives. (I still have to run this by the insurance company and make sure they will give me a credit for the price of Riley's old seat, which was less expensive than this new seat would cost. BUT if they let me do that, then I will only have to pay about half the cost for this seat out of pocket.) And I would be DONE buying any new car seats pretty much until all my children (including little brother!) are all old enough not to need to use them anymore! (well, baring we don't get into anymore accidents, knock on wood!)

Oh, and for those of you concerned over my poor husband's eyesight with all these bright and girly covers, you'll be happy to know that I am saving the old covers to Emmaline's and Adrianne's seats (which were gender neutral and unoffensive to the eye) , so if I need to I can switch them out and give his eyes and head a break!