Gadgets we love

Who knew there was SO much stuff in the baby world! Although we are well aware that most of it is for convenience and not a necessity we do love some of our gadgets and would like to share some of our favorites with you. Let us know if you have other favorites we should consider or if you need more info on any of the stuff posted.

Strollers: We know some people have one for every occasion but here are two favorites that seem to fill almost every need for us. Our favorite and most versatile stroller is the Zooper Zydeco. The Zydeco is a bit pricey but if you look on line you can find some great deals on last year's models. This three-wheeler is sturdy enough to last through a few kids and can go just about anywhere. It has a reversible seat that also folds down completely so you can use it with your child since birth. It also accommodates car seats. It has a HUGE canopy that is great for TX sun and too many other features to name. We have taken it just about everywhere including the beach and trails as well as nice restaurants and jogging. Only drawback is that it is not really very compact and it does weight more than those umbrella strollers but we like how sturdy it is and how well protected our daughter seems in it. You can check out the Zydeco at We have the Red 2007 model and although the canopy is red and black we think it looks just as cool. Our second favorite stroller is the Karoo from KeeKaroo ... this is the quick in and out light weight stroller we use. After a lot of research we decided that for the price this was better than any Maclaren or like umbrella strollers. We also got the Height Right highchair and love them both. The only drawback to this stroller is that is sits lower to the ground and it does not "fully" recline but it does recline pretty far and overall that was not a big deal for us since our daughter loves to see the world around her now that she sits up well.

Car Seats: We have the Graco Safeseat and multiple bases for all the grandparents and other cars and although we really like it note that if your child is taller or bigger than most you might have to get a convertible seat sooner rather than later. The other seat we have and really like is the Sunshine Kids Radian 80. Checkout this site, hipmonkey.com… it donates its profits to help purchase car seats for children in need: You can also go to Sunshine Kids website for more detailed info. Our daughter is only six months but already measures more than 28 inches and weighs 20 lbs so we know that the Safeseat will not last long enough.

Cribs, etc.: Our experience is that although bassinets are cute (we got one at our baby shower) they don't last long if your child is tall. Solution… a portable crib. We purchased a portable crib by Delta at Babies R Us and love it. It fits into a corner of our bedroom where she still sleeps and we got one for each grandmother's house. The crib has two height adjustments and is easily storable and moveable. We did add a port-a-crib mattress since it only comes with a 1 inch foam that would be too hard for the baby to sleep on. Consider this, at $99 it cost less than a bassinet and will last you three or four times as long. Although you can buy these online, Babies R Us seems to have them at a lower price than online. Our full size crib is the Leksvik from IKEA and we love that it was not as expensive as everything else we'd seen and we liked the styling.

More gadgets to come…