Windows XP and bootcamp issues

I am having difficulty in loading the Windows XP I purchased for my macbook this week. I am needing windows to be able to use the software my company uses as they are not Mac OS compatible. I knew nothing about bootcamp till I started reading that you could in fact have windows and Mac OS together so this is what I am hoping to achieve.

This is what I have done so far:
Before I began I timemachined my whole system (backed up with external hd)
1. downloaded bootcamp and bootcamp assistant which gave me all the instructions i needed to load XP (i thought)
2. Partitioned 8gb for windows
3. popped in windows xp, it ran, and restarted
4. pressed on the option key as directions said this is next after reboot and nothing
5. So i ran and got my 2 discs which i received with my macbook and popped them in but this is where i am lost. Which disk do I pop in and is this the next step?

the directions from bootcamp installation are confusing...

Any advice please? Thank you very much!

OK first things first, are you sure you are using Windows XP Service Pack 2?

If you try and use boot camp with a Windows XP disc that is below Service Pack 2 then it will potentially muck up the partitioning and cause your machine to boot up as per your decription below (I found out about the SP 2 thing the hard way!).

As I don't own a CD with a pucka version of Windows XP SP2 (only Windows XP) I just installed VMWare and ran it through that, but this does not answer your question.

If you have just purchased your mac book then I believe you have about 90 days of free technical support from Mac. I used it once and the service was excellent. I'd recommend you call them before doing anything drastic.