We’re all set for baby!

Well…sort of.  Today we made our last major purchase in preparation for baby’s arrival – a stroller.  It is a major purchase that didn’t cost us a major amount.  For several weeks I have been watching the Craigslist ads for a stroller in good condition at a reasonable price.  Today I went and bought this stroller for $20.  It hardly has any wear, the colors are neutral, and the price was fantastic!

A couple of weeks ago we received a wonderful gift from Ben’s Aunt Paula, Aunt Jennifer, and Grandma Hamilton – the car seat!  We were able to find an extra car seat base on Craigslist for $5 to leave in the second car.  Things will be much easier if we don’t have to move the base!  Since we already had the car seat, I was searching for a stroller that would be compatible.  The car seat easily snaps into the stroller to form a travel system.

When I brought the stroller home I pulled all of the pads off and washed them.  Ben helped me reassemble the stroller.  Then we opened the car seat and put it all together.  I am pleased with several features of the stroller:

• The baby tray doesn’t scrape the ground when you collapse the stroller.  I had read many reviews and this was a common complaint.
• The basket is easily accessible.
• It folds down with one hand – very easy!
• The child seat folds all the way flat, instead of just reclining.  This was another complaint in many reviews.
• The sun-shade is adjustable to shade from the front or the back.
• It is a full-size stroller, and it is compatible with our car seat.

Ben sarcastically asked if I was going to put a baby doll in the car seat and practice carrying it around.  Just because he didn’t think I would, I went and got my Molly doll and strapped her in!  (Don’t worry…I’m not going to carry her around for practice!)