I don’t know what it is about being a mom that whipped my butt in to organizational shape, but I’m here for it. I’ve always tried to keep a planner in January, when the new year’s resolutions kick in and I tell myself I need to get my ish together. It never worked out. The last month has been a whirlwind of family visits, doctors appointments, Target runs, and me wanting to do something and then it immediately leaves my head before i can even think about getting it done. Planning has definitely been something that has been a saving grace in motherhood.
My job had taught me early on to have a list of things you need to get done because you’ll have so much to do that if you don’t have an ongoing list, you’ll forget about half of the things on your to-do list. This planner has just taken it one step forward with keeping other things in focus. I use this planner to keep track of things like Grey’s appointments, when family want’s to come by, how often I’m using my breast pump as well as how much I’m pumping each time, bath times, etc. The possibilities are really endless when it comes to what you can keep track of here.
The planner itself is a part of the May Designs for Target collection. I don’t see it available or purchanse online, but my store has plenty of them. Maybe it’s sold out? Here are more of the other designs by this brand. I personally love simple designs, and the inside cover has a beautiful print on it that I love. It’s pretty simple inside with your typical monthly calendar, daily planning pages, note pages at the end, and contact information. It comes with two pages of stickers in the front as well (that obviously wasn’t enough for me!). That’s all that I really needed for Grey and I. If I keep up with it, I may splurge on some kind of Mommy Planner that has special lay outs for feedings, diaper changes, etc. At this time I have a separate, smaller book for that.
After I came home with the planner I went on Amazon to look for mom-friendly stickers. Unfortunately there wasn’t a ton. The only one I could find was one that looked like it was more for pregnancy, but there was a page or two that had milestones and other things i could use now. I love the mom quotes and the fact that it had several stickers for “me time”. Other than that sticker book, I found another collection I liked and bought but it didn’t have anything really baby related. This pack had really cute inspirational stickers as well as things like hair/nail appointments, parties, doctors appointments, holidays, etc. I loved the color palette as well.
The etsy stickers are what I use most often I’d probably say due to the nature of them. Since I’ve switched to strictly pumping milk instead of breast feeding, I found it important to keep track of my times and results with each pump session. That way I could see if maybe I ate/drank something that effected it, or if maybe I was too tired. I really want Grey to get the nutrients she can only get from me, so I’m trying not to give that up too quickly. These stickers I use for just that for the single day pages. In each box I write the ounces I’ve pumped and to the right I put the time of day. It’s been really helpful so far, and it helps keep myself on a schedule. The other sheet I got from this seller are typical baby things – bath time, feeding time, emotions (good day bad day), fever, diaper changes, etc. I use these in the month pages to mark when I had to give a bath, had a particularly bad day, or a doctors appointment. The shop lets you customize colors, but these matched the interior of my planner.
Another sheet I purchased off of Etsy was Grey’s milestones. These include “I can lift my head”, “First Solid Food”, “I can walk”, and other things like that. These I haven’t decided whether will go on the month page or the daily pages, but I think I have some time to figure that out. Some of the other sheets I have feature first holidays so I bought these for more developmental milestones.
Like I said, I’m just starting to use this planner. So far, so good. In a month, once I’ve used it thoroughly, I’m going to check back in show you another look at how I got organized and if it’s changed! Here are the links if you’d like to get these sticker books for yourself!
Ekstraordinaere 