First time mom things #3 - Strollers!

Baby Trend Expedition® Race Tec™ jogging stroller.

This stroller is amazing, hands down. For the casual stroller user, who is NOT an avid Disneyland visitor, this stroller will do for just about anything else you would need one for.

Unfortunately they don't allow this wheel type at Disneyland, so we would need to find a different stroller for that, if we were to go.

I've taken my son on walks around my neighborhood with this, and also to many different stores. We have used this to explore downtown areas in different cities, and most recently at Gilroy Gardens! Ours has done a great job in all of those places, for us. My son even napped in it several times, so I'm thinking it's got to be comfortable enough to hang out in.

It feels so smooth and easy to push, and it's got a great big storage basket under the seat, which has been a lifesaver on day trips. There's a little tray for the child's snacks or drinks. There's drink holders for the 'driver' as well, and a little spot to set your cell phone.

As awesome as this stroller is, I wish it came in a more dynamic variety of colors. I understand they typically make strollers dark so the dirt isn't obvious, but it's just no fun! I did manage to snag it when they had the one with blue accents available, hooray! This one came in a couple of nice colors, but they are currently not in stock. Grays and blacks are almost always available (so boring).

I have thoroughly enjoyed this jogging stroller. Even if I had to have it in a gray or black, it's worth having.

This next stroller/car seat combo was my very first experience with a stroller and a car seat, but we'll focus on the stroller this time.

Evenflo Pivot Modular Travel System

Let me start by saying that this stroller was nice enough for what I needed when my son was born. There was no way for us to know that he'd be a fast growing child who would not fit in this by the time he was about 8 months old. Not everyone will have that issue!

This stroller was lovely. I loved the nice light color of it. I loved that I could use it with the car seat. It was very convenient for those early days going to the doctor visits, or even our regular trips to the store. I only got to use the bassinet a couple of times, and only a couple of times with it converted to the seated position, before my son no longer fit in it.

There were two key things that I did not love about this stroller. The biggest flaw was that going for a walk on any uneven surface was extremely irritating. It does not glide over bumps in the sidewalk or roll nicely over asphalt. It's bumpy, and will vibrate your hands and arms to death. Rolling it over shops with nice smooth floors, however? Just fine! There's also no tray to put a sippy cup or a bit of snacks on. If your baby or toddler is using this, you either have to tether a sippy cup to the front bar, or give up your own need for a drink so they can use the SINGLE cup holder that it comes with.

As a first stroller, for an infant, if you're not into doing a lot of walking, this is a very good option. If I could do it all over, I probably would not have gone for this one. Going for walks as a recovering new mommy is really good for you, and I wish I had got a smoother riding one for that season of my life.

As always, thank you for reading. God bless you.

E. G.