Every year I put tons of thought into my holiday card (see past photos here). I come up with a theme, I get props, I go all out. My friends have begun to expect, even anticipate what I’ll put out every year. So when one of my friends was telling me that she couldn’t have a fun holiday card because she could never get her girls to sit still for a photo I thought, “But why do they have to?”

My favorite photos of kids are always the ones where they have cake smashed on their face, where they’re playing on the swing set or holding out their sticky hands toward the camera. Kids are active and messy, so why do they have to sit still for a posed photo?

So I proposed a solution: let’s let the girls throw flour all over each other to capture the holiday spirit. The girls got really into it, and we all had a blast. And I think the result was pretty close to perfection.

Are you sending out a holiday card this year? What fun ideas do you have for family photos?

Cute holiday card ideas from The Bump

Last weekend my husband and I finally got to get out of our apartment after being cooped up post-Hurricane-Sandy and test drove some strollers. We’d done our fair share of online research (or if we’re being accurate, my husband looked at every detail and I looked at all the color options) so we’d already narrowed it down to two front runners: the Uppababy Vista and the Baby Jogger City Select.

Living in New York and having to walk and take public transit everywhere, the stroller is a top priority.  Some things we considered before going to test drive:

• The City Select is about $200 cheaper, but doesn’t come with the bassinet. City’s car seat attachments cost a bit more than the Vista’s.
• Vista only has one way to position a second child, where the City Select boasts 16 different positions.
• Vista weighs slightly less, but they’re basically equal here.

Both fold fairly easily (but I’m going to give the win in this category to the City Select) and have big enough wheels to navigate the bumps and curves of the sidewalk. I preferred the under-seat basket on the City Select, but really that category is another close call.

I left the store leaning towards the City Select, and then of course passed the Bugaboo display on the way out.  The Bugaboo has been my dream stroller for years, but the combination of price and having to remove the seat to fold the stroller are big deterrents.

We’re still just as decided today as we were last week.  The frivolous side of me wants to spring for the Bugaboo and the practical side of me thinks we should probably go with the City Select.

It will be a relief to finally decide which stroller is “the one.” Then all we have to decide on is car seats, cribs and gliders. Oh, and a birth plan.

Which stroller did you choose? What made it “the one”?