To Register or Not to Register...

So the question has came up...more than once...should I register for my baby shower?  I have been asked this question more and more often now that I only have 3 months left of my pregnancy.  My Mother-in-law and my co-workers have asked me to register and would like me to register.

I know that times are tough right now with the economy.  This is my first baby, so I will need everything there is to offer.  I'm not asking everyone to buy me everything.  I think that's one of the biggest reasons why I don't want to register.  If people decide to buy the baby a gift, I will be so happy.  I don't want people to have to choose from a list that I put together.  I want people to buy what they can afford and not feel that because something is expensive on my list that they should buy it...for example:

If someone wanted to buy me a stroller...but could only afford $100.00 and the stroller that I picked on my registry is $300.00.  I don't want that person to feel that they can't buy the baby a gift because of what is on the registry.  I would want the person to buy something that they feel is a comfortable price range for them.

Second reason why I don't want to register...Most people don't know how to use it correctly!  When you buy a gift off a registry...you print the registry...locate the gift you want to buy...hand the registry to the cashier so they can remove that item from the registry list....sounds simple doesn't it?? So why can't most people do it??  

I did register for my wedding...I had registered at 3 different stores...Wal-Mart, Target, and Sears.  I had just wanted to register at Wal-Mart and Target...the husband thought that we needed something that was more 'quality' and a little on the 'higher end'.  All of our gifts were from Wal-Mart and Target...except for 2 gifts his aunt bought us and a gift card that one of his co-workers gave us.  

Okay back to my point...We had to return so many gifts because we got double of almost everything!  No one had explained the return policy to me regarding registry items.  If you have items from a registry and didn't get a gift receipt, you are able to take them back and get store credit.  If you have a registry...but don't tell the cashier lady that you have one...they will require an ID to return the item and only give you store credit.  Since I didn't know this at the time...I was using my ID to return things.  You can only return things without a receipt 3 times a year....which means until I found out about informing them about my registry I had already used up all of my returns without the receipt policy.  I don't want to get double or triple the gifts and have to return them...remember I'm going to be 8 plus months pregnant at the time...I'm sure the first thing on my list after I wake up in the morning will be to eat and then take a nap!

I guess overall I would just want people to buy a gift (if they decide to) from the heart.  Something that they can't wait to see the baby use...or see the baby wearing.  I want them to walk into the store and have just as much fun as I do looking at all the baby stuff.  I don't want them to have to worry about a list and go on a hunt looking for a bib that I picked out.  Anyways he's going to be so little...he won't care if its from Sears or the 99 cent store!

P.S.
 My cousin's Daughter who is 9 years old bought the baby a blue CareBear beenie, mittens, and bottle...from the 99 cent store with her OWN money....do I plan on using it...you better believe it!