The great stroller debate

After refusing to buy a double stroller for over two years, I am finally going for it! With three babies and dreaming of Spring walks, I decided it will be so very worth it!  I've looked online and in stores at pretty much every double stroller they make. 

We have the Bob Revolution SE single stroller that we purchased just before our first daughter was born. We have loved that stroller and still use it frequently. How you ask? Generally I wear the baby, our oldest daughter walks or rides her bike and our two-year-old rides in the stroller. But it is almost a given that our oldest daughter will get tired and want to ride half way through any trip. It would also be nice to be able to put the baby in the stroller, especially as she gets bigger and we head into warmer days ahead. 

I have narrowed the search down to these two very different strollers. The Bob Revolution SE Duallie and the UppaBaby Vista with Rumble Seat and Piggy Back. 

The Bob Revolution SE Duallie

What I like about the Bob Duallie:

• SOOO easy to push - seriously, I could push this thing with my pinky. This with the two big girls riding, while drinking a coffee and wearing the baby. Probably a no-no, but you get the picture. 

• Front wheel locks to run or take it on trails (not sure how much I will actually do these things, but nice to have the option).

• Familiarity - since I already have been using the Bob Revolution single for the past four plus years, I know pretty much how it works.

• Easy to fold - even though this thing is a fairly large, wide ride, it is easy to fold and pop in the back of the car if needed.

The UppaBaby Vista

What I like about the UppaBaby Vista:

• The picture says it all - look at all of the possible configurations of this thing!

• This is an inline stroller so it is smaller and fits through the same spaces as a single stroller. (I could potentially take the kids into the city on the train without having to fold up the stroller.)

• Piggy Back board gives the possibility of a stand that easily folds up or comes off for my almost 5-year-old.

• Both the rumble seat and the piggy back can be removed completely if I want to go out with just the baby when the older two kids are at school in the fall.

Does anyone have and love either one of these strollers? Or is there another you would highly recommend? Would love to hear from you!

We welcome with love

Our sweet baby girl is now 6 and a half weeks new. She is eating, sleeping, and growing exactly how she should be. She has two adoring big sisters who are constantly hugging, kissing and drooling over her. We are truly blessed with three beautiful, healthy girls. But wow... these last six weeks have not been easy. 

The adjustment to life with 3 kids has been challenging. Maybe it is because our second daughter was so easy (at least that's how I remember it), or maybe it is this winter baby thing, or maybe it is just the simple fact that taking care of 3 kids under the age of 5 is hard work. 

I thought winter would be a breeze and the fact that we would have to be out and about to get the big girls to school and various activities would be a good thing. But I didn't really think about the fact that I would have to get us all dressed, bundled, and out the door every morning in the freezing cold and snow. 

Luckily I've had some wonderful friends who have volunteered to help out by picking up our oldest for pre-school on some of the coldest mornings so I didn't have to bundle the whole crew and get out the door. Needless to say, I am looking forward to spring this year!

In the meantime, I think I'll just curl up with my sweet little baby and take in every noise, every smile, every snuggle. 

Snow Days!

The "Blizzard of 2013" has come and gone to New England and with it a very fun weekend of building snow forts, sledding, baking cookies, sledding, drinking hot cocoa, staying in pajamas all day, and snuggling on the couch is drawing to a close. 

Our oldest daughter absolutely loved being outside in the winter wonderland. We practically had no snow last year so it has been a while since she really got to get out and enjoy the winter weather. The younger two were not quite as thrilled with the whipping winds and snow in the face. Their weekend consisted more of the pajamas and couch time. 

We do hope that you all stayed warm and safe and that you had a chance to get out and enjoy the long overdue New England weather!

Procrastination

I am sitting here on this stormy night finally writing the blog post that I had planned to write on Monday. We wanted to follow up on the Calling All Runners post from two [and a half] weeks ago. But the thing is... we didn't hear from you and I'm not feeling particularly motivated to run in this cold and wintry weather. 

Oh, and I have a one month old baby. So I'm using that as my excuse for doing almost nothing for the last 4 and a half weeks. Though she just weighed in at 10 pounds, 4 ounces and is 22 inches long so I suppose that is an accomplishment. :) Here is a photo of my chunky little lady.

Right... so back to running. I do think I will get back into running at some point this year. I have aspirations of running a half marathon sometime this fall, but right now I'm starting small with a goal of being ready to run the Fast Chicks 5K the first weekend in May. Registration for the race opened earlier this week so I think it is a perfect goal. 

I am serious about the half marathon in the fall so please do share if you have used any great training plans. I used this ten week, three day half marathon training program from Runner's World a few years back and really liked it. Committing to more than three days a week of training sounds intimidating to this busy mom.

We would also love to hear if you have run any races that you would recommend. Any race suggestions are welcome, but we would especially love to hear about half marathons from September through November.

We hope you are all staying warm and dry on this stormy night. I can't start training now until we dig out from all this now! 

Spread the love

Create your own custom Valentine's Day card to spread the love this February!

Last year we launched our Kid's Valentines Day Card line. These adorable cards are available again this year!  

Still a staff favorite is Sidewalk Chalk

And how can you not love Whale You Be My Valentine

Any style you see in our birth announcements or holiday cards can be customized to be a photo Valentine's Day card. And if you have your own ideas or style, we would be happy to work with you to create a completely custom Valentine for your family. Contact sona@loveandlifecards.com to create your custom card today.

For the next two weeks, use the code LAL1 at checkout to receive 10% off of any Valentine's Day card order including custom! 

Also, we are still looking for your favorite running schedules and what motivates you to get out there and run! Check out this post Calling All Runners from last week and leave a comment. We will follow up and feature your tips next week.

Calling All Runners

As it's January, I have the usual resolution to run more and eat more healthily. But somehow, I still manage to use my kids as an excuse as to not fitting it in to my busy schedule. I often see friends on facebook who post they just did a run with Nike+ or just completed a race, and I think, how do they find the time? So, I'm looking for some advice for those of you who don't daydream about running, you "just do it"!

Do you put a race in your calendar to keep you motivated?  
Keep a running log or journal?  
Follow a training program?  
Use any cool apps?
Run in the morning or at night?
How many times a week?

Please share your running tips and we will share them on our blog...

Say Cheese!

One of the best parts of working at Love and Life Cards, is the photos we see. We get images of all sorts of things. Gorgeous professional photos, family vacation photos, wedding photos, sports photos. Pictures of friend's children, and aren't we always amazed at how much they have grown in a year? It's nice for us to be able to reflect on this aspect of our work after a busy time like Christmas. This year in particular, we seemed to have quite a few emails from people saying they were planning on ordering, but couldn't get quite the right shot of their kids for their Holiday Cards. That's one thing we can relate to and thought our blog readers would as well. So we asked one of our friends if we could share her Christmas card as it just cracked us up and summed up what a lot of you probably experienced:

Thanks Betsy for letting us share - it's still making us laugh!