My husband and I bought a family car long before we decided to start trying to have a baby.  It wasn’t a minivan or anything, but the PT Cruiser was much more family-friendly than the Eclipse that my husband drove to and from work.

When my daughter came along we were glad we had the family car because although her rear-facing car seat fit in the Eclipse it was a very tight squeeze.  Pretty soon my husband started hinting that it may be time to trade in the small car so we could have two cars that comfortably fit all three of us.  I resisted for a few reasons, but mainly because the car was paid off and I really wasn’t looking to deal with a new baby in addition to a car payment.  I managed to stave off my husband’s desire for a new car for quite some time, especially when we realized (much to my delight) that once my daughter was forward-facing we all fit into the smaller car quite nicely.

Then came the second baby.  My husband started talking about a new car again, because we knew that all four of us would have problems squeezing into the Eclipse and the PT Cruiser seemed to have a new and interesting problem arise every time I took it in for a routine oil change.  Still, I resisted, part way because I didn’t want a car payment and also because I knew that we weren’t quite finished with demolishing the insides of the family car.

I’m a pretty clean person.  I’m usually able to keep things somewhat orderly, so at first it really made me crazy that I wasn’t able to keep the inside of the car clean.  Cheerios, splatters of juice and little pieces of toys that had broken were scattered all over the car.  Infants make small messes in cars, but once the kids start snacking, look out!

I know what you’re thinking.  “I just won’t allow my kids to eat or drink in the car.”  Well, good luck with that.  Sometimes the only thing that will calm a screaming toddler down is a well-timed bag of crackers or a juice box, so it wasn’t long before I relented and let my kids snack in the car.

So, going back to the question of if you should buy a new family car when you’re pregnant or when you have a new baby, I advise you to wait until your kids are just a little bit older.  As long as your car is safe and seats all of you, there really is no reason to rush out and get a bigger car.  Besides, chances are that whatever car you buy is going to get trashed.  Trust me.  When we did finally trade in the PT Cruiser, I was actually mortified to hand over the keys because I knew that the person at the dealership who was tasked to detail the inside of the car would be cursing the day I drove on to the lot.

As for the Eclipse, we sold that to a teenager who lives down the road from us.  Every so often I see him drive by and I really do miss zooming around in that small car.  Then again, at least my new car doesn’t reek of juice.

With an active toddler and another baby on the way, it can be a challenge to find snacks or dessert items that are both healthy and fast. In addition, my daughter is becoming increasingly picky when it comes to food; her breakfast meal can be especially difficult. We like to get her day started with a somewhat nutritious meal as much as possible, preferably made at home with minimal ingredients, and have this fall discovered one food she just can‘t seem to get enough of: pumpkin.

My husband and I aren‘t terribly fond of pumpkin ourselves. Sure, we‘ll eat pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving or a slice of pumpkin bread here or there, but it’s not something we‘d seek out. However, since discovering just how much our daughter loves the taste of the orange stuff, we‘ve changed our habits to accommodate her - and have begun to eat healthier ourselves in the mean time.

The best and easiest pumpkin recipe I have found is for pumpkin cupcakes. These are simply made with a box of spice cake mix and a can of pureed pumpkin mixed together and baked. Can’t get much easier than that, can we - In fact, if your child is old enough, he or she can even help out with this one, by opening the box of cake mix, stirring the bowl or helping to fill the muffin tins.

To make, combine a box of spice cake mix with a 15 ounce can of pureed pumpkin in a large bowl. Stir until moistened, then use an electric mixer to beat for about 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour into a prepared cupcake tin and bake at 350 degrees for15-20 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pans on a wire racks for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Serve with cream cheese frosting, or plain. The cupcakes bake up to a somewhat dense, cake-like consistency, and are a great toddler breakfast or snack.

I’m not the kind of person who looks for things that are wrong with the merchandise I buy or the services I pay for, but I’m also not the kind of person who ignores things that are blatantly wrong. After all, when you have young children you’re probably already working hard to stretch your dollars, so when you pay for something naturally you’ll want to get what you pay for.

I wholeheartedly think that when you buy something and it isn’t what you paid for then you need to let someone know. Here is an example from today…I bought a 12 pack of soda from the local grocery store and when I got it home and started to unload it into the fridge I noticed something weird: one of the cans was completely empty, even though it was sealed.

At first I thought it was a quirky, fun thing, but then I started thinking to myself about how I paid for that soda, so I was entitled to the soda. I called up the toll-free phone number on the side of the can and talked to a very nice man who apologized profusely and explained the semantics behind how these things happen. Then he took my address down and told me he’s sending me a coupon for a free twelve pack.

I had a similar situation with a box of fruit chews. For one reason or another one of the packs only had three pieces in it, which resulted in a huge fit with my toddler. I called up the phone number on the box and they sent me a envelope stuffed with four coupons for free boxes. About two weeks later I got another envelope with four more coupons for free boxes.

You don’t want to be rude when you call these companies, but you should call them. You need to get what you paid for, and whether it’s one can of soda or a few fruit chews you shouldn’t feel apprehensive about calling and telling the company when there is a problem. You never know when you might get an envelope full of coupons as a result.

I’ve already revealed in a previous post that my house is a bit of a mess. I keep up with the housework as best as I can, but working from home leaves me with little time to scrub the floors and dust in all those hard to reach spots. I’ve accepted this, and I figure when the kids start school I’ll get it all together.

Then there’s my car. Sometimes the inside of my car gets more cluttered than my house does. The problem with that is the fact that not only is the car cluttered, but I can’t escape it. We go to the store, the clutter comes with me. We go to the park, the clutter comes with me. It’s awful.

I try to get it cleaned out as often as possible but the kids have a tendency to load it back up no matter what I do. For a while, I banned any toys in the car and only allowed books, but that only lasted for so long. Don’t even get me started with how many Goldfish and Teddy Grahams are in crevices I can’t reach. (shudder)

It’s certainly better now than it used to be, and it sure seems as though the car gets just a little cleaner the older the kids get. At least now that we’re past the sippy cup phase, I don’t find sippies filled with mystery liquid under the seats anymore.

Every so often my husband will mention getting a new car, and each time I ask him to wait. Why get a new car if we’re only going to junk it up? Let’s wait until we’ve sufficiently wear this one out with the constant assault of toys, mud, and snacks and then we’ll talk about getting another one.