I will praise You in this storm

Yesterday was quite a long day in our family. Lee's visitation and funeral service were yesterday afternoon. Haley and Brianna sang a beautiful song for their Daddy, it was very touching. They held up very well under the circumstances. There were so many people who came to pay their respects, and the preacher gave a very warm message about Lee. He was always there waving a hand hello, and would pat me on the back and say "Love you, Mir". The circumstances over the years have been trying on Mom, but she loved him. He blessed her life with two beautiful little girls. I am glad we were able to be there for the three of them. Ethan went along and did very well. He craned his head around to watch Haley and Brianna when they were singing. He loves his aunts :)

After the burial, we went up to the hospital to visit Aunt Sheila. She had four big tests yesterday to try to determine her diagnosis and we were still waiting for the results to come back. Dr. Richards, the oncologist we had requested, had come early in the morning to see her. We headed home when Mammaw and Papaw left so we could feed Ethan dinner after his long nap, and to let Sheila rest. We were getting things together at home and getting ready to put Ethan to bed when I got a phone call from Mammaw. Dr. Richards had come back to see her and give her the results from her CT scan and bone scan. Uncle Rod, Simeon, and their pastor were there when he gave her the news. She does have a tumor on her left kidney that has metastasized to her liver and her spine, and he does not think that it is operable. He is calling in a nephrologist and a radiation oncologist to get their opinions as well. We're not sure what treatment options are available at this time. We hurried up and put Ethan to bed and I went back to the hospital to be with my family. It is so hard being a nurse and feeling like people look to you for answers. It is so hard looking at your aunt that is like a sister to you and having her ask you if I think they can help her. It breaks my heart. The women in my family all flocked to her room to be there and support her and pray for her. There is nothing we can do but pray. It is all in God's hands. He knows everything, and He is a healer.

Today after I got off work, I went right to the hospital to visit. She did have her kidney biopsy and paracentesis today, so we will have a few days to wait for those results before they decide how to proceed. The nephrologist and radiation oncologist both saw her today and were pretty much in agreement with Dr. Richards. He will be out for the holiday, so his partner, Dr. Lang came back to see us this evening. He discussed some different treatment options, but we are in the wait and see stage right now until those test results come back.

I really felt to stay and be with her and my family. She was so alive and vibrant tonight. She was smiling and cracking jokes and it was so nice to see her enjoying herself. We haven't seen her look this well in a long time. We had a room full of family and friends sitting and reminiscing, laughing, smiling, and enjoying ourselves, lifting her spirit. It was a wonderful experience that I wouldn't have missed for anything. It is crazy how much we take for granted. I have a wonderful, amazing family that I am so proud to be a part of.

Both on the way to work, and on the way to the hospital, I heard this song. I have never had lyrics to a song reach out and touch me the way this song has affected me today. It touched my heart and I feel like God spoke to me. She can pull through this. She is a fighter. We give God all the glory and are putting our trust in Him during this trying time. If you are reading this, please keep my Aunt Sheila, my Uncle Rod, her son Simeon, and my family in your prayers.

Casting Crowns - Praise You In The Storm

I was sure by now
God, You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say "Amen", and it's still raining

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can't find You

As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with You"
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away

I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth

Though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

Bittersweet Day

We got a phone call this morning that Uncle Rod had taken Aunt Sheila to the hospital. She woke up short of breath and having chest pain and her back pain was very bad. They admitted her into Mercy Fairfield immediately. We got things together and went up to see her. Right now they are just working on pain management, and they found out on her chest xray that she does have pneumonia on top of everything else. They consulted Dr. Richards so he will be coming to see her. Please pray for her. We visited for awhile and headed to Dad and Anne's when she seemed to be settled.

Today was the Gabbard family Christmas. We had a wonderful time celebrating. Ethan sat up and ate ham with all the trimmings and absolutely loved every bite. Anne told me how to make twice baked potatoes, so we will have to add that to our rotation :) We had such a fun, relaxing afternoon with Dad and Anne, Grandma, and we finally got to see Brad, Lindsay, and Shawn! Shawn was really sick last week and had to be home on Christmas. Ethan had lots of fun opening his gifts and loved everything - he got a cute pair of shoes, a monkey hat, his first Miami U tee shirt, some very cool puzzles, and some fun cars. Grandma's gift is going to go towards a baby gate for the steps which we really, really need, so we appreciate it very much!! We also got to share the last 'installment' of our special gifts that we have been working on. So now that everyone has them, I can share here :) We created a digital scrapbook of Ethan's first year, with dvd's of favorite family videos and a slideshow set to special songs of photos as well. We were very excited to make them and to share them with the grandparents!!

We went back up to the hospital to see Sheila and to take Uncle Rod some dinner. She seems to be resting a bit better and they're increasing the frequency of her pain medicine to keep her more comfortable.

After we got home tonight, Ethan was going around and playing with some of his new things. He discovered the Playskool Stack 'n Nest Barrels that Mammaw and Papaw got him. Well, this is the simplest little toy, and Ethan is enthralled with them! He sat and played with them a good 15 minutes, and then I grabbed the video camera and he proceeded to play with them even longer. He LOVES them! There are a set of 4 barrels that snap together and pull apart. You can nest them inside eachother and can stack them to make a tower. Ethan has been loving placing items in cups. In the bath, he puts his little ducks and boats into a cup. He loves putting his binkie in your hand. So, he was loving taking his binkie out and putting it into the little barrel, and trying to close the other half of the barrel around it. It was so cute! Ryan and I were loving it!!

Ethan's due date

One year ago was my due date with Ethan and we were anxiously awaiting our little guy to come meet us! I went to my 40 week checkup with not much progress, but my bp was up (did I mention I was anxious?) so I was sent to the hospital to have some testing done. I was sitting in a hospital bed listening to our little guy on the monitor! It is crazy how much a year can change your life. Just today Ethan has started walking all over the place, he is so steady on his feet now! He was just walking in between us about 10 steps and walking from toy to toy. We were at my aunt's all day for our family Christmas and he was walking room to room without any assistance or stopping! He walked all the way from the living room, through the dining room, and into the hallway to get to me - even managing to make some turns without stumbling!! I am simply amazed by him each and every day. I can't wait to celebrate his first birthday in one week!!

Speaking of Ethan's first birthday, here is his birthday invitation that I created!

We wish you a Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

Ethan was such a good boy and let Ryan and I work on finishing up a special project for Christmas. We cannot wait to share!! We have been working on several things and are very excited to give them out over the next few days :)

It is our Christmas Eve tradition to open stockings, so we continued the tradition with Ethan. He did so well opening his little stocking gifts and really seemed to enjoy them all! He got a set of little soft Tonka cars, a snowman embroidered with 2008, and two board books: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and
The Story of Christmas. He even managed to keep on his Santa hat part of the time :)
We went over to Aunt Sheila and Uncle Rod's this evening because Santa Claus was coming to visit! Ethan did a little better than our trip to Macy's, but it definitely wasn't a friendly visit for him. Ethan still had fun playing with Aunt Haley, Aunt Brianna, and his cousin Rylee :)

We changed Ethan into his new Christmas jammies and headed home. Ethan helped Daddy pick out cookies to set out for Santa, and also carrots for the reindeer. Ethan tried to gnaw on the carrots :) We read 'Twas the Night Before Christmas and then Ethan headed to bed!

Prayer request

We got some very bad news today. My little sisters, Haley and Brianna's dad, Lee, passed away this morning. We don't really know any information right now. Please keep the girls and my mom in your prayers.

Cookie swap #2

This morning we got up and ran a few errands, and dropped off the Edge to have the gas tank replaced. Then Ryan dropped Ethan and I off at Grandma's for brunch and a cookie swap! We had lots of fun and yummy food, and got to hang out with Grandma, Marla, and Mia. Ethan and Mia really love eachother! Mia really loves playing with her "Baby Ethan". Ethan was being super active and just wanted to walk all over the place! I made snickerdoodles and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies, and Grandma and Marla made yummy treats as well, so we have lots to share for the holiday festivities!
We stopped at Meijer on the way home to pickup a few groceries and got a small spiral sliced ham to make for lunch on Christmas day (they are on sale for 1.79/lb!). Meijer was much easier to shop at than Kroger!!

Megan and David came in town over the weekend so we were planning to meet up with them today. We picked up Brian and we all went to meet Megan and David at Fuji's House for dinner. Ethan slept through the cooking show, but woke up and chatted it up with us, and enjoyed some fried rice, zucchini, and chicken. We walked over to the party store so Megan could pick up some things for Christmas, and we looked at decorations for Ethan's 1st birthday party!! Then we went to Coldstone for dessert... because it is never too cold for ice cream!! They still have pumpkin ice cream - my fave!! Ethan enjoyed a few bites too and loved it :)

Ethan's First Concert

Ethan and I went to the grocery store while Daddy stayed home to work on a special project. Boy, was the grocery store packed! Remind me not to go to the little Kroger on Rt 4 the week of Christmas - you can barely fit down the aisles with a cart! We picked up some things to make Christmas cookies and for our french toast casserole for Christmas morning :)

Tonight we went to Ethan's first concert! We heard about a Christmas concert at the Landmark church in Cincinnati and picked up our tickets last week. Newsong, Rush of Fools, and Chris Sly (from American Idol) put on a fabulous show. Grandma and Grandpa Abrams came over and we all drove together. We had a great time! Ethan was awesome, and he loved looking at all the lights, and he stood up and danced and shook his little tush and clapped :) He hammed it up to the people around us, and started waving! He was waving by opening and closing his fingers up and down - he has not done this before! It is so cute! So we just really enjoyed ourselves and the music. My favorite performance was the Little Drummer Boy - they had a bunch of different drums and drummers walking through the crowd. Very cool!

Not a Santa baby...

Last night I said we were going to have a very productive day today, stick around the house, bake cookies, and maybe go look at Christmas lights tonight. The day went a little differently, but we had a very fun day! I called the firestation to see about getting Ethan's convertible carseats installed, and we had an appointment to get them put in but they had to go really fight a fire! Guess that is more important, huh?! So, Ethan will stay in the pumpkin seat a few more days. It is really starting to be a tight fit with his coat on, so we will definitely have to get it done soon.

I found out that there was a "real Santa" (aka real-bearded-Santa) at Macy's downtown, and we also wanted to take Ethan to see the train display at the Duke Energy building, so we headed downtown this evening. We went to see the trains first, and Ethan loved them! They have a really big train display complete with villages, little people, and lots of snow. There is a clear partition that you look through to see all the trains, and Ethan kept reaching for the top and sticking his head over the top to see them all closer up! He really seemed to enjoy it. I'm looking forward to continuing this tradition for years to come!


Next up, we walked over to the mall and went to Macy's. This Santa sure looked like the real deal! He was very jolly and looked just like what you would imagine Santa to be. Well, Mr. Ethan did not want a thing to do with this jolly man in the red suit. He cried and cried when I put him on Santa's lap and just yelled at us to pick him back up. LOL! I was bound to get a good photo-op, so we even stood in line again and tried for round two... and he did the same exact thing. And here I thought our little boy wasn't going to be one of those kids that cry on Santa's lap. Boy, did he prove me wrong!

After all that, we needed some relaxation, so we went for our dinner reservations at Palomino - we usually go for Ryan's birthday every year. They had our favorite special, a parmesan crusted tilapia. This is the best fish ever... I really wish I could figure out how to make their crust! Ethan did not want much to do with the food other than some bread, and then he loved the vanilla creme brulee for dessert... so much for fish and veggies! He's not been so keen on solid foods for the past day or two and has wanted to nurse more.

Ethan's favorite Christmas commercial

Ethan stops dead in his tracks every time this comes on tv! He lights up and laughs and just absolutely loves it :)

Finally clapping!!!

We went out today to pickup the Edge from Ford (the gas gauge has not been working right, so they're going to replace it Monday) and we went to Cincinnati Mills to walk around and look for a present for Mia - Ethan has her for Christmas this year. They were playing Christmas music out in the mall, and all of a sudden Ethan started clapping his hands together! This is the one thing he has not been able to do yet, and we were starting to wonder if he was ever going to clap! Well, Ryan and I both got excited, started clapping ourselves and saying "Yay, Ethan!!" He would laugh and smile really big and then clap some more. It was so cute!!

We stopped at Uno's on the way home for dinner. We haven't been there in a long time, and it was so nice! Ethan fell asleep on the way there and slept all the way through dinner. They were playing good Christmas music, had a big pretty Christmas tree, and nice lighting... we just really enjoyed ourselves and the food! We had a cheese and tomato deep dish pizza and a yummy warm white chocolate macadamia nut cookie for dessert... now I know what kind of cookies I want to make for Monday!

Ryan had a phone interview today, and got a call while we were out that they would like him to take the position! He will be refreshing, troubleshooting, and setting up systems for the EPA in Cincinnati starting in January. It is a temporary position for now, but it pays very well, so we are very excited for this opportunity!!

Better bath time!

Ethan is finally starting to really enjoy bathtime in the big bathtub. Every time we have been putting him in the regular bathtub, he would freak out and start crying and try to climb out. I thought it was the blow up rubber ducky tub, but we took it out and he was doing it in the regular tub, too. So, tonight he did great... he talked, played with his tub toys and splashed all over the place! He has always loved the water and loved baths in the sink, so we couldn't figure out why he was so freaked out by the tub.

We noticed Ethan coughing today, and with his afternoon nap he was very fussy and kept putting his fingers in his mouth, so his teeth must be bothering him. He was also running a temp of 100.1 then 101.6, so we gave him some Tylenol and Orajel which seemed to help. We also tried a new trick that Grandpa Jim told us about - putting Vick's on his feet and then putting his socks on. Hopefully that will help with his cough, and hopefully it won't turn into anything else! I have read some horror stories about this stomach bug that is going around with a lot of the kids and mommies on The Nest, so we are trying to keep this house illness free :) I am freaked out about it to say the least!!

Donald and Franni surprised us and stopped by for a "drive by Christmas" - LOL :) They came in for a short visit and stopped by to see us before they headed out. They got Ethan this super cute little radio that has little cd's to put in and it plays instrumental music. Ethan took to it right away pressing the buttons and dancing! I think it is a hit :) Thanks, guys!!

Prayer request

My Aunt Sheila has been having a lot of problems with back pain, nausea, and vomiting, and her doctor has been trying to find out what is causing it. She had an MRI of her back, which showed a mass on her liver and her left kidney, and they have referred her to an oncologist. Her appointment is January 5. Please, please keep her in your prayers!!

My first cookie swap

Mammaw was sick over the weekend, so Ryan stayed home with Ethan today and they hung out at home. After I got off work, I headed down to NKY to meet up with some of the other mom's from The Nest for a Christmas Cookie Swap! I had a lot of fun hanging out with some of the girls I have gotten together with before, as well as putting some faces to names I hadn't met yet. Becky has put this together for the past few years, and it was so much fun! Everyone baked their own cookies and brought them on a platter, and then we went around and got several of each cookie and recipes. Very cool idea! We have lots of goodies to sample now. Since I headed there from work, I wasn't able to bring Ethan, so he will be looking forward to meeting up with the other kids soon!

Learning to share already!

Ethan hung out at home with Ryan today while I was at work. They woke up this morning and Ryan brought Ethan to bed with him. Ethan loves to crawl and move around on the bed and climb on the pillows. He is also doing a new trick, if you will. If you say "Ethan, give DaDa (or MaMa, Mammaw, Papaw, etc) your binkie", he will take it out of his mouth, open your hand, and put it in your hand. Or, sometimes he tries to put it in your mouth ;) I think it's so cool that he understands that concept already!

Ryan and Ethan went to meet Mammaw and Papaw at their church this evening for their Christmas dinner. Uncle Rod, Uncle Mike, and Haley were there too. Ethan had fun hanging out and he sampled some macaroni and cheese (we've discovered this is one of his favorites), green beans, mashed potatoes, and a bite of pumpkin roll, too. This child is his mother's son if he loves pumpkin roll... it is my favorite :) I stopped by when I got off work too. Mammaw was not feeling good at all, so we didn't stay long so they could stop over for me to check her bp and then they headed home so she could get some rest. Feel better soon!!

"All done!!"

The past day or two, we have been thinking that Ethan said "all done", but we are really sure now :) He is saying it a lot! It sounds like "ah-duh", and he is using it pretty much in the right context, too! When we got home tonight, he was sitting on the floor after I took him out of his carseat. He proceeded to take off (er, rip off) his hat, and said "ah-duh!". LOL! Too cute! His first phrase :)

Ethan had a sleepover at Mammaw and Papaw's last night, and while Ryan worked on editing the pics, I worked on creating his first birthday invitations and our Christmas cards. We went and got them both printed today, so watch your mailboxes! We got his birthday invites printed at Kinko's. Then I discovered that you can do custom printing at Costco, so I will be using them in the future!!

Ethan was so happy and lovey today. He is really loving to cuddle and he'll tuck his head in for a hug and give huge wet kisses!! He doesn't pass out kisses to many others but Mommy, but we try to get him to share. He comes right at my face with his mouth wide open!!

Ethan is also learning to share - if you ask him "give me your binkie, Ethan", he will put it in your hand :) Then he wants it back, and so the cycle continues back and forth. He is such a good boy!

Christmas photos are in

We had a fun day today. Even though it was rainy, we got out and enjoyed the day! Ryan went to school for a microlab and got to talk to a rep from Robert Half - they provide staffing for IT positions. They have his resume and are going to give him a call! We're excited and a bit nervous to get in the swing of things with us both working again.

We went to Kenwood to walk around and Ethan had his first Chick-Fil-A meal. He loved the nuggets and waffle fries. We will have to be sure not to make this habit :) It's fun being out in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. We even ran into one of the other mommies from The Nest and her little girl, Adah! She is a little younger than Ethan.

We went to pick up our photos from JC Penney! I like how they turned out, but think that some of them could be better. I think we will take Ethan to Portrait Innovations to try to get a better picture in his outfit. We have not been there yet, and they have a $10 special, so we will try to just get one good shot!

Here are the pics! BTW, Ryan had to do some major re-editing of the backgrounds, which is why they didn't get posted last night. Their backgrounds were very wrinkly and had spots. They look much better now! So, I think this is the last of our visits to the JCP portait studio. It's silly to pay to have them done and then just have to come home to scan and edit them all. Anyways, I am working on our Christmas cards and designing his birthday party invitations, so watch your mailboxes in the next week or so :)

Alana's Birthday and Festival of Lights

Today we went down to Johnny's Toys in NKY for Alana's 4th birthday party! Happy Birthday, Alana!! They have a very cool place there called Totter's Otterville. It is a huge indoor playland for kids. There is an outdoor area as well, but it was closed since it snowed! There are different sections for kids of all ages, puppet shows, water play areas, animals to look at, trains, etc. Ethan is still a little young for most of the things, but we still had a very good time! Ethan sat at the kiddie table and ate pizza and had some ice cream, too. Alana got lots of fun princess and Barbie presents!!

We ran a few errands after the party, and then met up with Tom, Sheila, and Mason at the Festival of Lights. It was so cold and snowing! There were a ton of people there and we had to stand in line for awhile. Next time, we will definitely buy tickets beforehand! We had the boys (and ourselves!) bundled up from head to toe. It was so pretty with all the lights and the snow in the trees! Most of the animals were sleeping, but the boys both loved the fish and the manatees. They also got to ride the carousel :) We had a really good time. Ethan was pooped when we were done, so we got him changed into his jammies before we left - he conked out as soon as we got him settled in the car!

Where did he learn to climb??

I'm at work and just talked to Ryan - he is home with Ethan and he went up one step. Ryan stood behind Ethan to see what he would do, and the little booger kept climbing and went all the way up. It's about 15 steps. I can't believe it!! I guess we definitely need to leave a gate up all the time now. Walking and climbing the stairs all in one week... where has our baby gone??

Happy 11 months, little man!

I can't believe that Ethan is 11 months old today. In just one month, he will be one year old! How fast this year has gone. It is time to start preparing for his first birthday party!! We are having it in the afternoon on his birthday, which fortunately falls on a Saturday! Other than that, we are not sure of the plans.

We bought Ethan some YoBaby Yogurt when we were grocery shopping the other day, so what better day to start a new treat than the monthly birthday? He had the mixed berry yogurt with fruit and cereal, and ate it all up! He usually has oatmeal with fruit in the morning, so I wasn't sure how he would take to it since it it cold, but he did very well!

Ryan and I worked on putting Christmas lights outside while Ethan had his naps today. After his first nap, we bundled him up and he supervised us for a bit sitting on the porch. Boy, what a pain are Christmas lights! We didn't put them out last year since I was due right around the holidays, so we hadn't dealt with them in two years. All of our landscaping has grown, so they need more lights than they did 2 years ago. Our little 35 light sets only go about halfway down the topiaries, lol. So, we need to pickup a few boxes of lights to finish up.

While we were outside, we met up with our neighbor, Josie. She was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy. She has been getting chemo treatments and has her last treatment on December 16th. They were able to remove the cancer and her lymph nodes were benign! Please say a prayer for her. She has been through so much and has such a wonderful, positive outlook on life. She is really an inspiration for so many!!

After Ethan woke up from his afternoon nap, we headed over to pickup Mammaw and then we went to get pictures taken at JC Penney. We got a cute family picture and Christmas pictures of Ethan done, and we also had his 'one year' pictures done so we will have them back by his birthday. We brought a cupcake with us and did a shoot of him eating a cupcake for his first birthday! It just dawned on me that we should have brought the camcorder with us. He was eyeing that thing the whole time Ryan peeled the wrapper away, and he really dug into it and crammed it to his mouth. He absolutely LOVED it!! We kept trying to get him to smile, but he was not interested in anything else but eating that cupcake.

The photoshoot went really well, but they were absolutely packed by the time we were done. By the time we had our shoot, picked pictures out, and finally got to check out, we were there almost 3 hours. Ethan did so good the whole time, but we were starving, and he was in sugar overload, so we stopped to have dinner at Cracker Barrel, dropped Mammaw off, and then headed home to get out tired little guy to bed. He fell asleep in the car, of course, and didn't even make a peep while I was getting him ready for bed and nursed him. I think he had a good 11 month birthday :)

Little Drummer

Ethan loves music... he seems to pickup on music sounds anywhere you go. Whenever he hears music, he will start doing his little dance, rocking his body back and forth and bouncing his head. Ethan loves watching Ryan play Rock Band, and watches him play and dances along with Daddy. Well, now he is into the drums - Ryan opened it up on his birthday, and the drums can raise or lower. On the low setting, they are right at Ethan's height! He can hold the drumsticks with both of his hands and hit the drum pads. It is so funny! There's a slot at the top to hold the drumsticks, and when we put it away, Ethan walked around to the top of it and popped the drumsticks out and wanted to play some more. He's so smart!

I hope he doesn't grow up to be a real drummer... I don't think a real drumset would be so fun to have in the house!! And aren't drummers the bad boys?!

Cyber Monday scores :)

I had a really crazy busy day at work today. I was supposed to get off at 3:30, but I didn't get out of there until 5:15!! It's really weird even leaving at that time and it being so dark out. I was ready to get home, but I had a pitstop to make first. I was able to find one of the FP piano's that Ryan and I were hunting for on Black Friday. I scored on on craigslist for only $5! And the best part was that they lived right off Cincinnati-Dayton Road, so it was right on my way home :) I think Ethan will really love this toy. I love that it has a little seat! The family who we bought it from had 3 little kids, and the little girl, who was about 5, was showing me how it worked and seemed pretty enthused about it still, so maybe it will last us for awhile :)
Ryan really scored... he got an extra hard drive for his 360 when they sent his replacement, and they retail for $150, so he was able to sell it and managed to get Guitar Hero World Tour and a Star Wars game on Amazon for $100 total, so really it is free since he sold the hard drive! I think those two things retail for $160! I also got my trunk for the family room to store Ethan's toys!! That crazy Britax deal on Target a few weeks ago caused a huge uproar, and Target ended up emailing $25 e-certificates to those who had their orders cancelled. So, I was able to get the trunk with 10% off, free shipping, and use my $25 e-certificate! We also got a different carseat for Mammaw's car, so that is taken care of, too. We are still holding off switching to the convertible seats, but we will probably have to do it in the next month I would say.