The convertible car seat debacle

When we were pregnant with the girls, we decided that instead of getting the "standard" Graco 22 Snugride car seats (or other equivalent models) that we would pay the extra $60 per car seat to get the Graco Snugride 35's (which got way better side impact safety ratings than the 22's) and we could use them for a longer period of time (until the girls were 35 lbs or 32" tall).

We have about gotten our use out of these lovely car seats. The girls aren't even close to the weight limits for their current car seats, but at their 1 year check up the girls were up to 30", so it's just a matter of time before we will have to make the transition to new seats. As such, we are now in the market for our next step in car seats. The convertible car seat.
(Right?? That is the next step, isn't it? I'm only confused because some of these convertible car seats say they could have been used from birth on! Really?! We could have used a convertible the whole time? How?! These things are massive! Any insight group?)

I've been trying to do some online research and find out what convertible car seat is the best, but what I keep running into is a statement that "the best car seat for you is the one that fits your car, your budget, and you will use correctly every time." Um, okay. But that doesn't answer my question!!! What is the top rated car seat? And do consumers love it?

We are looking at getting these car seats...Britax Marathon 70 in Cowmooflauge (or we could do the pink, but I think the cowmooflauge is precious!!)...it looks like they got very high ratings (top rated on Amazon), but they are also quite expensive. Si doesn't think we should spend this much on convertible car seats. I think you can't put a number on saftey. It's not like they are $1000 a piece or something...but they are about $275 (normally - but Aha! - currently on sale for $220 on Amazon Prime! Eat it Si!). Not that that still isn't expensive because it is, but, if that's the best car seat, and they are going to be in it for a while, well, it's worth the money to me. Right?

I know I'm not the first of my bloggy friends to make the switch to convertible car seats, so help me out here guys! Should I save my money and get a cheaper car seats? They have what I suspect to be the low end of the Britax car seats at Target for $150...should we just get those? Or a different brand all together? There are a couple others that look good to me...then again, I guess I don't really understand what I am looking for!

Diono RadianDXT Price: $309 (Si will never go for this one - lol - but it's PURPLE! HA!) It raves that this could be the ONLY car seat you could ever need...birth up to 100 lbs! That's just nuts.

Graco Nautilus Price: $149. See, but again, this is so confusing to me - this seat can only be used forward facing?! I thought the new guidelines were to keep kiddos rear facing as long as possible, or until they are 2 years old or meet the height or weight guidance provided for rear facing on the particular car seat. So...this isn't an option for us at this point? Confusing!

Safety First Complete Air 65LX - Price $227. Not a huge fan of the color, but I like how it is nice and tall...it "looks" safe...HA....can you judge a seat based on appearance? LOL!

So, what do/did you use? Do you like it, and why or why not? Was it uber expensive?

Thanks as always ladies! You guys rock! I've got to keep these two peanuts safe!

Miss Bri, sporting her Christmas dress and actually SMILING for the photograher (the one picture from the entire shoot she was smiling in - lol!). She is very particular with her smiles...reserved for the ones she loves =)

And Miss Livvy, hamming it up for the camera, as usual! I love her beautiful little smile! It lights up a room!

Until next time -
Megan