My friend Jill has a co-worker who's son is a furniture maker. They came up a plan several months ago to get supplies donated and my friend offered to help pay for material. A few weeks ago my friend and her co-worker delivered us a beautiful gift. It came just in time as our baby changing table had finally fell apart and was not usable. I had been changing the children in the kitchen on the counter on a changing pad for almost a week. My friend said she did not have to pay anything and the the gentlemen who made my son's table donated all the time and lumbar to make it. The foam was donated to him when he went to purchase it and told them what it was for. What a Blessing they have been to our family. It is so wonderful to have a table that I can change my son on without his legs hanging off the end or fear of it collapsing when one of my children were on it. It will hold him for many years. I am so grateful for the generous gift to my family. Thank you!
 |
| Jacob's 1st time on the table |
 |
| Getting it all set up |
 |
| My Jill trying it out. :-) |
Anyone that know me in real life knows I have a huge stroller addiction. I think of all the different stroller combinations that will help make our lives easier. We have a Baby Jogger City Mini double stroller that we bought early 2010 with income tax. By far one of the best investments I have made in baby gear. I've been through several "cheap" single strollers that never last long. Ive had triple stroller, triple sit and stand strollers, a quad stroller and a Valco Tri-Mode double with the 3rd joey seat which was great but didn't work for us or Jacob. Several month ago I 1st invested in a convaid stroller for Jacob that did not give him the support he needed, so I resold it for what I paid for it. Then bought a the Special Tomato stroller. We have been using this ever since. This stroller is still very large and takes up a big chunk of our truck space. It also not very easy to push. The wheels just aren't right. I'm not sure if it is just my stroller or all of them. The wheel don't swivel right and constantly have to jerk it around to align the tires to go or turn. It is a cheap option (in the special needs world) for a stroller that holds a larger child and has some support. The lateral support is not the greatest. I still have to add an insert on top of the existing support to make it better. Overall it is a 3 out of 5 starts for us. In the future I would love to get the Baby Jogger Liberty. I find it hard to drop $1000 on a stroller so that will be many moons from now. Back on track. So Jacob's sister Hannah is going to be 1 in a few days and I was really looking for a single stroller for her as we use the snap and go Graco frame and car seat for her still. (another thing I LOVE) I started searching craigslist weeks ago to find my perfect used "new" stroller. I am a stroller snob and must stick with the best. I had narrowed down between the baby jogger city mini single, the GT model, or a Britax B-Agile. Already owning a baby jogger I was leaning more toward that. So, I happened to find a GT model city mini for sale for 1/2 the retail price that was less than 6 months old. I started researching the difference between the 2 and learned that the GT model goes to 65lbs instead of 50 and the seat is a little larger and more padded than the regular city mini. Also it has all terrain tires! Still has the 1 hand fold, folds super small and flat, reclines almost flat, had the super big canopy, and the GT model has an adjustable handle and the basket is easier to get to. I'm in love. Can't you tell? Well Jacob is 40lbs, but quite tall. So then it occurred to me that I could ditch the big Special tomato add the insert into this one and HAVE TRUNK SPACE AGAIN! I can now fit my double stroller, my Graco car seat frame stroller, and my single city mini ALL in the trunk of my Ford Windstar Van. So temporarily Jacob has taken over "Hannah's stroller" I am constantly looking of things for Jacob to sit in at restaurants. He has been using the special tomato over my other options. I tried this stroller out at a local restaurant that day after I got it. I don't think the Special Tomato is coming out of the garage for awhile. :-)
Anyone who has a smaller child that will need a stroller long term I think you should check this stroller out as an option. I've had my other baby jogger for over 3 years with regular use and it is goig strong.
