I see you are in the USA; buy online, not at Babys R Us
this is the website we used recently to get our car seat for about 40% of the price seen elsewhere
http://www.albeebaby.com/carseats2.h...Fce8KgodoGIA4Q
amazon.com is also a great place to find deals. Register there and get an additional 10% off everything baby-related
get a car seat that's easy to adjust all the straps; the little buggers grow so fast, you will be constantly adjusting the belts, so you don't want to be taking the seat apart each time.
also, if you are interested in a Bob jogging stroller, apparently they go on sale once a year in August/September when the new model year comes out