Coupons!

Thanks to two batches of Babies "R" Us coupons -- one from Terry, one from the mail -- and a very lucky purchase at a consignment store, we made our first baby purchases this weekend.

At Babies "R" Us, we got the crib for a great price because the cashier accidentally gave us 15 percent off twice! We also bought the crib mattress (15 percent off) and the car seat (15 percent off). (Although in general we don't plan to buy much until after the showers are over, we thought it made sense to go ahead and use these coupons to buy the big-ticket items we're sure about since the coupons expire on Thursday.)

Someone had given us a car seat that we'd originally planned to use, but later we decided not to since it's already five years old, which is kind of pushing it, safety-wise. It might be fine for Claire, but we definitely wouldn't use it for future kids. Matt did his research and just Friday decided on this one: The next day we were driving by a local kids' consignment store, Doodlebugs, and saw the matching stroller sitting out front! We stopped and looked and it seemed to be in great shape. Best of all, it was about 40 percent less than it would have been new. It's considered a "full size" stroller, and we'd planned to get a slightly smaller one, but SpringFest with Lauren G. and her two kids last weekend already had me reconsidering.

Lauren's stroller has two separate handles, which makes it hard to steer if one hand is otherwise occupied, and it doesn't have a cup holder so she had to prop her drink in the under-the-seat basket. I'm definitely not buying a stroller based on its cup holder situation, but having one would be very handy since I believe in getting refills to-go. This stroller has a bar, not separate handles, and places for a drink and keys.

This just happens to be the same stroller/car seat combo that Carrie and Jacob have for Riley (but in green), and they gave it rave reviews. Yesterday Carrie went to Doodlebugs with Matt and me to make sure everything worked, and after getting the thumbs-up from her we bought it. We even got another 10 percent off for a stain that I think will come out (and if it doesn't, I'm sure it's just the first of many). Score!

We also ordered our glider this weekend, unfortunately not because of a coupon, but because its expected delivery date is six or eight weeks out, which is already cutting it close to the baby's due date (10 weeks from tomorrow). We thought about splurging on a really nice glider but decided not to. I'm sure it will get some good use, but we already have dozens of other places to sit and hold a baby -- it's not going to be the exclusive nursing spot or anything like that.