15 weeks & First trip to Baby Store!

DH agreed that we could finally go to the baby store and check out some strollers and car seats and things! Now, maybe Saturday wasn't the BEST time to go, but it was pretty funny. We went up to Buy Buy Baby on 25th and 7th- I guess it is the biggest baby store in Manhattan. It was crazy! It was totally packed, things everywhere, strollers everywhere, pregnant women everywhere. We first took a look at the Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper which I was thinking I would like to use. It was cute, but bigger than I thought, and we could NOT figure out how to get the side bar to go down- DH hurt his hand trying to do it! No one was available to help, so we moved on to car seats.I like the Maxi Cosi because it is the cutest and it is European. DH liked the Peg Perego. I guess we will need to look up safety ratings before we decided.
On to strollers! DH LOVED the Stokke Xplory, it keeps the baby very high up and rolls well, but I can't stand it, it looks like a space ship. Plus it is $1200. On to the Bugaboo Chameleon and the Uppa Baby Vista. Well, It seems everyone has that idea some people were hogging those two strollers and not letting anyone else get a look. They seriously need more floor models! We took a look at some cribs and dressers then saw they were about to do a stroller demo on the Uppa vs. Bugaboo - yay! About 15 couples were gathered around intently watching the woman go through the features of each.
Basically, the Bugaboo is cuter. I prefer the canvas cloth and the color choices for sure. BUT the seat has to be taken off to collapse the stroller and I just don't think that is going to work. The things I like most about the Bugaboo - the things that are driving me to spend this much on the stroller are:

1. Baby being up higher (I had a back injury and surgery years ago so that is an issue)
2. Adjustable handlebar (I am 5'10" and don't want to bend down)
3. Baby FACING me. My GF had a McLaren and it drove me CRAZY always having to stop and look around the canopy to see what he was doing! I want to see the baby while I am walking these crazy NY streets.
4. Storage underneath for groceries or shopping (again, a city thing)
5. Bassinet ( just think it is so cute even though it only lasts 4 months)

SO the Uppa Baby does ALL the things I want and need - just in a weird mesh fabric and fewer color options. AND it collapses in one piece making it easier to leave downstairs next to neighbor's monster double stroller. It is also a little bit less expensive I think and has organic fabric in the bassinet.

After the presentation we waited and waited as the hordes descended and FINALLY got a few minutes with the stroller. It still took DH awhile to figure out how to collapse it -we were cracking up- but I am sure it gets easier with practice. I am glad we went now and got an idea of what we want, there were some crazy stressed out NY women in there! One woman was FREAKING out and shrieking to her DH that she didn't like the cup holder options on the Uppa!! Geez.

I also wanted to look at the Baby Bjorn vs. the Ergo Carrier- also a common dilemma around here apparently. We finally got DH strapped into the Ergo, but he liked to looks of Bjorn. We decided to save this for another trip and get out of there.

Bugaboo Chameleon

Uppa Baby Vista