It's an SUV world.

Orren has just about outgrown his infant car seat. For those who haven't seen our car seat, it's the Peg Perego Primo Viaggio SIP. It supposedly goes up to 30 inches in height and 22 pounds, but Orren is really beginning to get uncomfortable in there at 27 inches and (I'm guessing) about 18 pounds. So basically, we got almost four months' use out of this seat, but hey, at least we can still use it with the next baby. It still looks new. The reasons we bought a Peg Perego system are the excellent safety ratings and the fact that the upholstery is extremely high quality and easy to clean. It stays looking brand new for so long.

Well, now that we're in the market for a regular convertible car seat for Orren to ride in until he's preschool age and ready for a booster, we had to do some more research on what the best brands are these days. That's when we found Britax. Sure, the seats average $300 apiece, but can you really put a price on safety? They have some of the best ratings in the world. That piqued our interest, and reading reviews from other parents, in addition to talking with people we know who already own Britax car seats, cemented our decision to buy one for Orren.

Then it happened. We were at Babies R Us in Savannah one day, and saw these Britax car seats, and they were MONSTROSITIES!! I mean, one of them would take up over half the back seat of my car. It was totally impractical for us, especially considering that we do plan on another baby in the near future, and unless it's twins or more, we're not going to be upgrading to a larger car, probably ever. We need to fit two car seats plus Erin's booster in the back seat, and still be able to close the doors. It's a must.

Then on a fluke, we found the Britax Diplomat. Excellent! It's got all the safety features of the other Britax seats, but it's scaled down in size, made especially for compact cars. DING DING DING! We have a winner!

So this morning, I went online to order our new car seat, so excited about receiving it by the end of the week, or at the latest, next week. So I clicked on over to the website offering free 1-2 day shipping on all Britax purchases, and submitted my order. Oops. It wouldn't go through. Seems the bank has to change the address on my card and Thak's card separately. Silly me for thinking they could just change it on the whole account all at once... I know, what was I thinking?!

So we decide, screw ordering online. We live in a city of 2 million people. Somewhere in this city is a Britax Diplomat car seat for us to buy and take home with us today, so we took off to several baby stores, and found plenty of Britax, but only the huge ones. No dice. Finally, before driving to the other side of the mountains to check out some of the more upscale baby stores on the west side of town, we came home to call around and ask. (This city is too big to just drive around all day looking in various stores! You'll use a whole tank of gas in one day like that!) and in calling around, we did find ONE Britax Diplomat in the entire freaking city of El Paso.........

........and it was tan. The interior of my car is black and gray. We have to have the Onyx or Cowmooflauge print. (I want the cow print. Thak does not. We're getting the Onyx.) So no dice on buying in person today. We just have to order online and wait. :( We were looking forward to getting Orren out of that almost too small seat, and we still have to wait.

The thing that kills me is that in this entire city, there was only ONE compact Britax car seat to be found. The thing that kills me even more is that the people, when I'd call and ask about the Diplomat, would always try to sell me the Marathon or the Boulevard, both of which are pretty much the size of my entire car. Upon explaining that I drive a Chevy HHR, and have more than one child, I usually get a weird look, or an awkward silence. Please tell me we're not the only people who see pretty much anything with more than two doors and a functional back seat as a perfectly suitable family car. Does EVERYONE buy the massive SUV or minivan the minute they get pregnant with their first these days? It's as if people regard a giant vehicle as requisite to parenthood these days. What the hell, man....