strollers and car seats

You know, I really like the cute little blue and green polka dots on this website. If only they made a stroller in that pattern. I have spent soooo much time researching strollers---or more specifically, strollers and car seats because I have my heart set on getting a "travel system." (Travel System: Infant car seat snaps into stroller or stroller can be used by itself at about 6 or 7 months old. This eliminates moving the baby when sleeping from car seat to stroller.) There are so many features I want. Car seat fits on a shopping cart, adjustable/rotating canopy, light weight and durable aluminum frame, "ergonomic handle” on the infant seat, adjustable handle bar, highly rated on safety, in a gender neutral pattern I like (for future babies), stroller folds up vertically, easy access to storage basket, stroller reclines fully, good turning radius, etc. I feel like I am shopping for a car!

Right now I think I have to settle for Baby Trend's Grey Mist travel system. It has some of the most important features I like. It was only one of two car seats to pass a Consumer Report's crash test at 70 mph. This does make the car seat a bit heavier, but safety is more important to me... And I could use a little more muscle tone in the arms. (It turns out that CR had to retract the story because car seats are apparently rated for travel at approximately 50 mph or less, which I find sad because we all drive on the expressway. Even on the revised report, CR still gave it their "best buy" recommendation because it's priced very competitively.)

I like the fabric of the Grey Mist. It is a bit masculine, but I think it will still work for a future baby girl (I'd love to hear your honest comments on this). The "ergonomic" triangle handle on the infant seat is a must to me! Only Even-Flo makes another handle like it, but Even-Flo has nothing else to recommend their brand to me. After seeing all my friends with babies carrying around their infant seats everywhere they go, I think the handle is probably more important than the weight (they're ALL heavy with a baby in them after all). I pretty much ruled out Graco's SnugRide infant seats because of the handle, even though that was the only other car seat to pass the CR test at 70 mpg… So, I come back again to the Grey Mist… Which is only getting a disappointing 3.5 star rating on Target's website because it turns out that the awesome ergonomic handle on the infant seat is difficult to adjust. ::sigh:: This is so difficult.

By the way, I did find the perfect travel system, that I couldn’t have designed any better myself. It’s the Italian made Peg Perego Skate---I would call it the Porche of strollers. http://en.pegperegoskate.com/ ...It’s $900. Yeah, enough said. I never should have even tempted myself by looking.