Great ideas, Gayle! Thanks! We are lucky that my mom works for a company that manufactures blinds and window treatments for interior designers and she has already told us that she's going to buy blinds for all our windows. My uncle (who contracts with her company) is going to install them for us.
So that's one big expense taken care of!
We also get an allotment for shrubbery included in the price of the house so before closing we get to choose what we want and plant it. We may need to add some more, but at least that's a start. We're also going to be doing the seeding before we close, but the contractors are supplying the materials.
I'm adding a lot of the other stuff you mentioned to our list and before we move in I'll organize it by season and buy a little at a time. We were lucky to get grants for some of the downpayment and closing costs, so we'll be able to use our income tax return for the "big expense" items without affecting our budget/savings at all.
Also, we were working at the house yesterday and met several of our neighbors. Our neighborhood seems really awesome. The neighbors across the street from us are three post-college single guys. One of them owns the home, but we met the other two who live there. They were both super sweet and even offered to help us move in. Our next door neighbors to the left are a couple with three children (12, 3, and 6mo) so Aiden will have a playmate! They already invited us to dinner and seemed very excited to meet Aiden. The husband is a professor at the university. I love how friendly and welcoming the community has been so far! I think we're going to like living there.