My little night time wanderer

Since moving into our new townhouse last summer, my husband and I have been having quite the time getting our 2 1/2 year old to stay in his bed.  He shares his bedroom with his older brother and I thought this would be such an exciting thing for them and they would love hanging out and talking with each other until they fell asleep, but not so much.  My 4 year is usually out in about 10 minutes and then it's 2 year old toddler on the loose!  This is not only a problem because I need him to get an adequate amount of sleep, but this is also cutting into my very limited "me" time.  After along day at work and spending the next few hours getting dinner, bathing and hanging out with my three boys, I am usually in need of some down time for myself.  I find myself policing the door, watching for any little eyes, nose or fingers trying to peek their way through the crack from the door way.  I try to remember that consistency is the key, and not give into his boyish grin.  What's this mommy to do?  It's a nightly exercise, but it definitely keeps me on my toes. :)

My son on the lookout. :)

Starting the year off on the right organizational foot

It's a new year, and although I'm not big on new year's resolutions I am thinking about new ways to help me stay organized and better manage my time.  Call me crazy, but in this age of smart phones and iPads I still love an old-fashioned day planner.  I've been using them for years, but now as a mother of three I wanted to look for a day planner created with busy moms in mind.  I checked out a few options on Amazon, but the Mom's Organizer by Plan Ahead got my vote.  It has the standard features of any other day planner (monthly, weekly, resources and notes section), but what I really liked is how the weekly calendar is split out so you can devote one row to each child and keep track of their schedules separately.  Other mommy-approved features are the party planning pages, expense report pages, and the list/notes section that you can actually tear out.  But one really cute feature is that you can put a photo of your cuties on the front cover.  Here are a few pics of mine.

Front cover with a place for your child's photo

 Weekly calendar with space for each child's schedule

 Extra pages for vacation ideas, shopping lists, and more

I've been using my day planner for about a week now and I really like it.  My 4 and 2-year old have a lot of different special days at their school and it's nice to have them listed in one place so I don't miss anything.  It's reasonably priced at $14.99, so I think this is a great investment for any busy mom.

Here are my MomSense scores:

Time Saving:  3

Money Saving: 0

Stress Reducing: 2

Fun Filling: 0

Infant Survival Kit

Over the Christmas holidays, I planned to take some time off of work to relax a bit, and catch up on a few things I've been placing on the back burner for awhile.  But as with life, the unexpected happened and I found myself nursing my poor 5 month old son who was fight a nasty stomach virus.  Although it derailed my plans I'm glad I was able to be home with him for the two weeks I was off since the daycare center won't allow him to be there while he was ill.  

The worse of it occurred in the middle of the night as my son was unable to keep anything down.  It was a little scary for me as a mom.  I'm always thinking the worse, but fortunately I had some pedialyte in the cabinet to give to him since formula and breast milk were out.  This got me thinking though, how fortunate it was that we happened to have a bottle left over from the last patient of ours.  Since it was the middle of the night, it saved us having to drive around finding a 24 hr drug store.  So it makes sense for moms to have a little emergency kit with some essentials to help your little one should they get sick in the middle of the night. Here's a list of items I think should be included.

1. Pedialyte - for when your child is vomiting or has diarrhea
2. Teething gel or tablets - for when your child is in teething and in a lot of pain
3. Infant pain reliever - for when your child has a fever
4. Saline Spray & Nasal Bulb - To help keep your baby's nose clean so he can have a better night sleep.
5. Ice Pack - This is great for multiple uses such as reducing your child's fever or minimizing pain & swelling for those bumps and bruises.
6. Gripe water -  a definite must have with newborns.  Helps with colic and relieving gas.
7. Band-aids - for those unexpected boo boos.
8. Pediatrician's contact info - It's good to have your child's doctors phone number close by in case of emergency.  Time is better spent caring for your little one rather than searching in your purse.

A pic of my infant survival kit.

Here are my MomSense scores:

Time Saving:  4

Money Saving: 0

Stress Reducing: 4

Fun Filling: 0

It always helps to be prepared and especially when it comes to your kids.  Just one less thing to worry about.  Keep it in the medicine cabinet or in your child's room for easy access.  Now that makes MomSense!!

Happy New Year!

2013 is now history and we are at the start of new year.  The holidays are always a hectic time for moms so now is the perfect opportunity to stop and reflect on the past year that undoubtedly had its chaotic moments. :) As crazy as my life is, I am so thankful for my three boys.  They always make my life more interesting... in a good way. :)  I couldn't imagine life without them.  So with the new year ahead I look forward to finding new ways to make my life as a mom easier and sharing them with you.

From the MomSense Mama

Paper Chaos

With three boys in school and daycare I find myself bombarded with notes, homework and reminders... in a word, chaos!! A lot of the time these papers would find themselves on the kitchen table or one of the empty chairs during mealtime mixed up with the junk mail and grocery store ads. It was hard to keep all this information straight and I actually lost forms that I need later on. Something had to change. I needed to find a way to organize this paper mess so I can keep better track of my children's activities and work.  So I went on amazon.com to look for some organization tools and came across this Wall File Pocket from Staples ($12.46) and to keep all those school dates straight in my head I also purchased a Dry-Erase Calendar from Quartet ($16.91).  What stood out for me about this item was the espresso trim that gave it a more sleek look and the cork board below where you can add your own reminders. I think these two items together are a mommy's dream come true!  I can now keep each my boy's papers separate and stay on top of all their special days at school.  I keep them in the kitchen for easy access.  Once I had everything set up it was like I could breathe a little easier. So I definitely would recommend this set-up for any busy mom.  

Chaos (Before)

Momsense (After)

Here are my MomSense scores:

Time Saving:  4

Money Saving: 0

Stress Reducing: 3

Fun Filling:  1

The greatest benefit this item gives to moms is the time saving and stress reducing benefits. If you decided to buy these items, let me know how you find them in the comments section below.

Welcome!!

Welcome to my mommy blog, "From Chaos to MomSense"!!  I'm been wanting to start a blog for awhile, but wanted to find a good topic to blog about. A couple of weeks ago it came to me to write about my journey to discover new ways to make my life as a mom for organized and less stressful.  I'm a mom to three wonderful boys who just happen to also be quite a handful. My oldest boy is 4 years old and my youngest is 4 months.  After having my third child I just found myself having less and less time in the day to get things done and realizing how much more I need to get things in check (as much as possible) to help me get through each day. This is where "MomSense" come in. MomSense is the answer to those mommy problems of time management, stretching yourself to thin, and finding balance.  I created a "MomSense" scale based on 4 different criteria:

(1) Time Saving:  If there's a more efficient way of doing something this clearing makes "MomSense", who wants to waste time when there's so much to do?

(2) Money Saving:  A little more money in your pocket will always put a smile on a mom's face.

(3) Stress Reducing: Stress is a part of life, but we can certainly find ways to keep it down to a minimum, and use that energy for conquering new challenges.

(4) Fun Filling:  As much work as there is to do as a mom, you still have to have fun, not just with your little ones, but also doing something fun for yourself.  

I rate each criteria on a scale from 1 to 5.  1 being the lowest rating and 5 being the highest rating.

So I invite you to read along and join me in my journey.  I trust all us moms need a little more "MomSense" in our lives. :)