Random Stuff from the Weekend

So I'm excited to say we bought our stroller and car seats!  I was really stoked because I got a 20% off coupon from BRU for this weekend only, so Eric and I were very strategic in hitting up a couple BRUs in the area so we could use the coupon for each purchase (little did I know this deal comes around ALOT, so the amount of work we put into it was pretty moot, but still, its nice to have them purchased).  With the discount, we spent around $500 for all three, which Eric's dad and step-mom are taking care of.  We have been very lucky with how helpful our parents have been, first with my parents buying our nursery furniture, and now with this.  It really helps and I couldn't be more appreciative! 

Anyway, we ended up going with the Combi Twin Sport and the Chicco KeyFit 30.  I used the "box is banged up, better be on the safe side and open the stroller" excuse so I could play with at least one thing... and I total plan on pulling out the car seats sometime soon to see how they fit in my car (I have a Mazda6 and hubby has a Ford Escape, so I'm trying to determine if Eric's car is going to have to be our day to day car, at least while they are in the infant car seats).

In other weekend news, I had a total meltdown on Saturday about child care.  I'm not sure if I have ever talked about it here (although I know I have on WTE), but childcare in the Northern VA area is ridiculous.  To use an actual "school-type" day care costs $350-400 per week PER CHILD.  They do sometimes give a discount for multiple children, but its mostly on the order of about 5% off.  And to top it off, these places have HUGE waiting lists.  I mean, apparently you have to put your name on a list the second you start thinking about trying for a baby, and you're screwed if you wait until 3-4 months.  So, obviously, these places are out for us for these two reasons (although, its mostly due to the cost).

For the past couple weeks, I've taken up a mission to look up in-home day cares.  The Fairfax County web page has tons of listings for licensed people, and I even took some advice and looked at CraigsList (which made me cringe at first, but there have actually been some great people on there).  I've seen a pretty large range in the total costs, which is basically about $250-300 per child per week, again with many of these places offering discounts for multiple children.

So I decided this weekend, Eric and I would sit down, go through all our bills and monthly costs, and determine how much money we have available for child care.  And the results made me have a mental breakdown.  I mean, I knew money would be tight as long as we were in this area, but it's coming down to penny pinching.  We decided we really can only spend a maximum of $500 per week on childcare.  The place in the lead right now will be $450 a week, so at least we are still in budget, but all I could think was how we will not be able to give our children everything they need if we are living paycheck to paycheck.  I mean, I feel my husband and I are pretty well established, and I know we do have some extra expenses, but I am still baffled that people in the area have multiple kids all the time.  I can not see how they do it!  This utter panic coupled with raging hormones turned me into a balling crying crazy lady unable to listen to reason, and left Eric utterly bewildered on how to proceed without making it worse.  After about an hour of crying, I calmed down.  I'm still worried, but I guess that's only natural. 

Anyway, this basically re-established that we need to get out of NOVA.  So operation "Lindsay find a new job in Richmond" continues to be the plan for the Fall.  Everyone please keep their fingers crossed this works out.

Those are the big notes for the weekend.  Tomorrow is another OB appointment, so I'm very excited to hear some heartbeats!