Hello,
I had the same idea about using this stuff at my house (it forces you to use it more), and the best option I could come up with was a 2821. They are fairly cheap on eBay and have two gigabit ports. They also function quite well as a Call Manager Express router, if you have any interest in voice. Most people seem to overlook them for some reason, so they can be had for fairly cheap, although I haven't looked in a while to be honest.
Of course, gigabit WAN really doesn't matter unless your internet speed is faster then 100Mbps, but hey, I like having speed too, so I get it.
As for gigabit switches the cheapest option I could find was a 3550T-12, the only gigabit 3550 as far as I can tell. It can be a layer 3 switch (with the right IOS, all the hardware is the same) and has 10 gigabit ports, and possibly two more if you can get one with some GBICs (gig ethernet GBICs ran me $20).
2800s and 3550s are a bit more expensive than what most people seem to recommend, but they work well, meet your requirements without being too expensive, and can easily take you up to the CCNP if that is something you are interested in. I don't own any 2600s, but to me those are getting pretty old.
Kudos on getting real equipment too, GNS3 is great, but nothing compares to actually sitting down in front of a real router and totally blanking out on even your terminal emulator settings =)
Have fun,
Christopher Ebert - Network Support Engineer
Cisco Small Business Support Center
CCNP, CCNA, A+, Network+
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