Four can live as cheaply as three.

My wife and I are expecting our second daughter next spring. As is typical with couples in our circumstance, we are somewhat more confident facing the arrival of our second child compared to the first; experience and sleepless nights I suppose build confidence.

We have recently begun telling friends and family of our expected arrival with many such conversations including laughter, hugs, tears and advice.

We are fortunate as a couple and family to have a circle of many people who care about our well being; such is the sort of blessing one appreciates most in times of great need and great celebration.

Like many expectant parents, we have been busily re-baby-proofing our home, arranging the nursery and the like. We have also begun to dust off the sage advice given to us as the birth of our first child neared. The advice we are rediscovering runs the gamut from how to sterilize a bottle, which diaper trash can is most effective, how to time contractions, that three can live as cheaply as two but only two-thirds as long, etcetera.

One friend who, due to the fact he is a father of three, has very credible advice; he is also one of those rare friends that has a perfect track record of giving good advice when I need it.

His advice is simple:

-Go to the movies at the drop of a hat, the late show, and drink caffeinated soda.

-Sleep in Saturday mornings, really late like you used to do in college. Both of you. Then get a box of cereal to eat in bed while watching cartoons.

-Both of you call in sick to work some day, just play hooky. Go to a museum or to a park or just bum around at the mall.

-Take weekend trips, don&8217;t even plan them. Just go, pick a compass direction and see what you find before you run out of gas. Stay in some quaint dump and eat bad delivery pizza for dinner.

Chiefly, he advised that we make the most of our time as a couple, realizing that our lives would become diametrically different with the birth of our first child. And he was right.

Obviously, our friend&8217;s advice requires a bit of modification as we approach the arrival of our second child:

the modification of adding, &8220;call the baby sitter to make certain she is available and then.&8221;