Friday, April 16, 2010

Things we love


Sometimes I can have a bit of an obsessive enthusiastic personality. This has definitely proven true when it comes to finding baby items that I love. I watch for sales, read lots of reviews, and ask every mom I know what they use, trying to leave no stone unturned, lest I miss out on a great deal, or fantastic item!

That all being said, I thought that it would be fun to post some of the stuff that I love every few weeks incase any of you out there are like me and like to do your homework! The one thing I have learned is the best way to learn about something is hear about it from someone who uses it everyday! There will probably be a lot of baby stuff in here but I'm going to try and add some other things too... you know to show that my life doesn't completely revolve around my child:)

But for today I think I will stick with a baby item, since It's late when I'm writing this and I can think of lots of great things to say about this item!


THE BOB REVOLUTION:


So, I researched strollers like a mad women when I was pregnant! I wanted something that would not only work for walking around our neighborhood but would also stand up to some "off road" trails. I loved the idea of a jogging stroller as well, because I was very ambitious and thought I would be back to running right after I gave birth (don't even ask me the last time I went for a run... I'm still working on a good excuse for why I still haven't started back up).


Well I debated between the finalists for awhile, but in the end the BOB revolution won my heart! Aside from the fact that it fit all of the stroller criteria that I listed above, it had so many other extras that I loved. First of all it is pretty light weight for a jogging stroller (23lbs), that, combined with the fantastic inflatable tires make it feel like you are pushing air (I'm not even exaggerating here the stroller practically drives itself). Another selling point for me was how easy it was to fold up. All you have to do is push the little levers up top, it folds over and you grab the little handle, wrap the strap around and away you go... no complicated gear for me thanks! Another selling feature for me was how far down the sun shade went. I had heard from a lot of mom's that getting something that provided a lot of shade was a big plus in a stroller, especially in the summer!
Finally, I really wanted something that had a car seat attachment and a "snack tray". I wanted to be able to easily transfer Jacob from the car to his stroller, so that if he fell asleep in the car I wouldn't disturb him. With the BOB the car seat adaptor includes a snack tray (and as an added bonus there is also 2 mesh sippy cup/bottle holders on either side of the seat). So I was set for one purchase I got both!



So, as good as something can sound on paper, the real test is how much you like it when you use it. The first time we tested it out with Jacob was in the endowment lands in Vancouver when he was about a week old. As a side note, I was so paranoid of him being too cold I swear that I checked the temperature of his face around 50 times before Adam made me stop. We couldn't believe how well this stroller drove, you barely had to touch the stroller to steer it! The shocks were another aspect that we really noticed, we could go over tree roots, side walks, gravel, and Jacob barley noticed. Even going down stairs was pretty easy (not a whole flight but the 3 leading down to our apartment). Another thing that we loved was between the car seat cover and the sunshade it was a perfect dark cocoon for Jacob to nap in while we went for walks, with the added bonus of a little "peek window" for neurotic mothers to peek in and check on their babies.



So those are the main highlights for us on the BOB revolution. I would definitely buy it again if we had to re-buy a stroller! Aside from what I mentioned there are lots of other great features such as: a 5point harness, a safety strap, foot brakes, decent storage, lots of mesh pockets for storing extras, a reclining seat, the option to lock the front wheel or let it swivel, etc. But for us the things that I talked about are what we really loved about the stroller.

Since a good quality stroller is an expensive purchase (although I think of any of ours, probably the one that was most worth the money we paid) I thought I would share a few tips on how we saved money. First of all if you plan on being in the States at any point - buy there it's much cheaper. Secondly if you do buy in the states plan ahead and keep an eye out on stores like REI (like an american MEC). They do free shipping to your local store and are always having promotions on items (20-30% off). Doing these few things saved us over $130.00 on our stroller, which with all the expenses that come with having a baby, is a big savings!

Well that's all for me! Stay tuned for more "Things we love"

Suzanne

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