mini-van's coming soon...

So I've been researching and forming a baby registry for about a month now. Hours of reading reviews, pondering, making lists. I have strived for a level of baby registry perfection that is yet unknown to mankind. I add, edit and delete items off my registry weekly as I change my mind. I am disappointed that the final list doesn't include a picture of every item. Just some items. And I think having a small picture with each item would help stear people in the right direction.
Some guidelines for making the perfect registry:
1. Research before you even get to the store. If your anything near a perfectionist you could find yourself pondering strollers for hours like it was the most important decision you've ever made in your life.
2. Read the reviews. Target.com has reviews on almost all their products. Babies 'r' us used to but then changed their website which I think deleted all the reviews. Many a time something "cute" will be disappointingly torn apart by reviews describing all the faults of a product you wouldn't have otherwise known.
3. Don't just register for things online. Some products you find online no one will be able to find when they go shopping for you at the store. Hence, there's one more thing you won't be getting. Now if you have a potential guest who actually does all their shopping online then it won't be a problem for them to order something that could have also been found in the store. It just doesn't work so good the other way around.
4. Make lists. Since most of your research will actually be done online make lists of things you found that you would like. Then when you go to the store you know what to look for and if it's not there I would suggest making an alternate list of what IS in the store and then researching those items. I had the perfect baby monitor picked out. Only to find it wasn't on the shelf at Target or Babies 'r' us. So back to the drawing board.
5. I would recommend not registering for things you can easily buy yourself. Like baby shampoo, baby wash, clothes for baby. For one, there are some things you will get that you don't have to register for. Such as baby clothes and bath products. And two, if you do register for particular outfits you will undoubtedly be sending your guests on a wild goose chase in which they will just buy what they want anyway.
6. Your husband will NOT be interested in any type of baby product except for maybe the stroller and the toys. I found it much better registering by myself and since it took me three hours I'm sure Van is secretly thankful. I did take him along on what I call the "husband registering trip" which is the trip where you show him both the stroller you want and another stroller and ask him which he likes better while you build up all the neat features of the stroller you want him to pick. Once he picks you show him a couple other things that might get his interest (like the mobile) and you're out of there. You have accomplished two things: making your husband feel included while not boring him to death for 30 minutes while deciding on what bottle type to use and re-inforcing the idea that yes, a baby is going to be in the house very shortly. This way it's not such a shock to him when it happens.