The 70d is great. This lens and flash are also very good without breaking the bank. The first few years of kids you'l be taking alot of pictures indoors, so a fast (low f-stop) lens + flash will work well for you.

70d body: $700 Canon Refurb store Sigma 17-50mm OS $300 - 400 Amazon YN 685 Flash $110 Amazon

I just purchased a new lens, and I realize I have no real appreciative knowledge about lens filters. All I really know is that I have an inclination that it will protect the lens itself from damage. I usually shoot landscape (nature, parks), or nighttime (milkyway, stars). Is a lens filter like this one cheaping out? It seems to have positive reviews, but I thought I'd ask you all! I would like to protect the lens, but I don't want to degrade the quality of the lens. Thanks!

24 mm f2.8 pancake. It is incredibly tiny, has a decently fast aperture, STM autofocus, and costs $150 with a Tiffen CPL (great for landscape shots) on Amazon. 24mm is a decent intermediate focal length on APS-C; not very wide, but not telephoto either.

If you needed a larger aperture there is the fully manual Samyang/Rokonin 24mm f1.4 for ~$430 and is two stops faster than the 24mm pancake, but you lose autofocus.

You could also get a new or used Sigma 17-50mm f2.8. It won't be as sharp as the primes (it is still a top performing zoom) but it is more versatile; having a 17mm f2.8 option could be invaluable for landscapes on an APS-C camera.

If you wanted something even wider, Samyang/Rokonin make a 14mm f2.8 and a 16mm f2.0 that are both fully manual lenses. They run about $300 for the 14mm and $350 for the 16mm. Both are bitingly sharp and are perfect for landscapes/astro but might be a bit too wide for portraiture unless you like the wider perspective.