Nesting and minimalism.

lately these 2 words seem to be an oxymoron to me.  is it even possible to prepare for a baby and have a minimalistic mentality?  i've been determined to think so.  but john and i ventured into buy buy baby today and i instantly got overwhelmed.  there is just so much stuff out there!  and i know, deep down inside, most of the items that are available are not needed.  particularly during the newborn stage.  right?    

we've decided to forgo the usual accoutrements of a swing, a bouncer, and a jumper.  we've even decided to ditch a crib, for now, and simply use a pack 'n play in our room for baby gabriella.  of course there are the necessities, such as a car seat, a stroller, wipes, blankets, a breast pump, diapers, etc.  which we are more than willing to buy.  but in the hopes of being as cost efficient as we can, i am planning to breastfeed for at least 6 months (buy hopefully longer) and use cloth diapers.  yes, that's right...you read it right...cloth diapers.  after much research i've decided on the bumgenious elemental one-size cloth diapers.  i'll be writing more posts on our experiences with cloth diapering once that journey begins.  but for now, i'd love to hear from experienced parents, what were your registry favs/necessities and what were the items you could've done without.

as for all you non-cloth diapering folks out there, here is what they look like.  they have come a long way from the sterile, white, pinned cloth diapers of the past.  i don't know about you, but the thought of these diapers taking our baby gabriella from a newborn all the way to toddler hood sounds amazing to me.