Set?

Amazingly, I think we may be all set as far as things we need for the baby. You're probably thinking that by the third, I should have had everything we needed already. But baby #3 is surprisingly expensive!

1. Because the car seat we bought for #1 and used for #2 has since expired.
2. Because the car we drove when #1 and #2 were born wasn't big enough for 3 car seats.
3. Because the playpen we borrowed from my mom while she was on a mission is now back at my mom's house.
4. Because I gave away my bouncer to a friend who needed it more than I did, and so we wouldn't have to haul it around through 4 moves (not that I knew it at the time).
5. Because they've invented new things since #2 was born (I've been considering a Bumbo, but since my kids have sat up and crawled so early, I don't think I'll get one)!

But thanks to Craigslist, we now have a minivan, a bouncer that converts to a rocking chair ($10) and a fancy shmancy Eddie Bauer Pack 'N Play ($50)! We just picked up that last thing today. It was a struggle to figure out how to put it together, but Jared and I managed it. Then the boys got Baby Jesus to see how the real baby will fit. (We think the previous owner put the mobile together wrong, so we took off the cute little teddy bears for now to try to fix it)This is the bouncer/rocker, also being tested by Baby Jesus. As a bonus, the nice lady who sold it to me said she'd bought it because it's built for large children--which we have!

And thanks to an awesome new girl at church, and the thoughtful lady who sold us the minivan, we don't have to worry about car seats for a long time. I had been researching infant seats, and when I saw a very cute one at church, I asked the mom where she got it. Her answer was, "Do you want it?" Her baby will be out of it soon, and she doesn't need it anymore. It's so cute, I'm so excited! And the minivan lady was about to take a convertible car seat to the thrift store when she decided to just throw it in the back of the van for us instead.

Sometimes I think that the blessings we needed while Ryan was out of work are coming a little after-the-fact, but they are blessings nonetheless and we are very grateful!