Heather, a set of dumbbells is pretty inexpensive (as long as you actually use them
) and you can do a whole LOTTA weight training with them. Over the long-term, they will be much more beneficial to you than the bands. I know they can be intimidating at the beginning because you don't know unless someone tells you, how to do the exercises, how many to do, if you're doing them right, etc. But truly, it's not rocket science, and there are some really great resources out there (most notably stumptuous.com and exrx.com, and of course our own champs over at LWL.) So once you get them, you can get started right away with some basic exercises. There are some books also that I could recommend -- they're helping me as we speak. I know there are some videos out there, I think Cathe Friedrich and Kathy Smith each have a respected weight training series, so those could be alternatives as well.
I think the dumbbells are a must-have though, either way. (And your hubby could use them also!) If you want to talk more about the benefits of the different kinds of weights, I'd be happy to help out to the best of my ability!