Baby Organization

Those of you who know me, know that I am a neat freak, and that I believe there is a place for everything and everything must be in its place. I totally get that spending time with your child is very important, but for my own peace of mind, I need to have a clean and organized house too, or I frankly, will feel ill and crazed. So usually while Noah naps, I clean and organize. Also, at the end of the day, when the small human is down for the night, I put away all his toys and put his books away too. Once he's big enough, this will be his job whether he likes it or not. Mommy ain't no servant.

Let me be clear that I love being obsessive compulsively clean. I relish it. I live for it. So it's definitely not a chore for me! If I could dive into my organization a la Scrooge McDuck, I totally would. Plus, we've got a teeny weeny little apartment, which makes me want to keep it livable and clutter-free as much as possible.

I mentioned my love of Aden+Anais before, we've got a bunch of their swaddling blankets, washcloths, security blankets, burpy bibs, and snap bibs. In order to keep them accessible and easy to see, I've got them neatly laid out in a shallow drawer. (The blankets are in the linen closet.)

I don't like dealing with ripped open bags of diapers, so I take them out and arrange them in a diaper caddy. (Etsy) I like doing this cause I like to vary the designs he wears throughout the day too:

To save space, and cause it's actually kinda cute, I roll up the washcloths and put them in their own little basket (also Etsy):

Over Christmas I got this cute little gift set from L'Occitane that came in a pretty tin with handles, and it turned out to be perfect for some of Noah's toilettries! I also enjoy that it says "Bonne Mere" on it, which is French for "Good Mother". hehe

So far, the amount of toys we've got is pretty manageable. We were thinking of instating a toy rule, where he's only allowed a certain number of toys (say 15, for example), and if he wants more, he has to pick one of his old toys he wants to give away to charity before he can have a new one. He's still too little to understand that, but it's a good thing to keep in mind so that he doesn't get too spoiled or materialistic. We'll probably have a big toy rule and a little toy rule, which seems fair. Anyway, everything can still be contained in this felt cube I bought on sale from West Elm. It's great, cause I got to personalize it with our colours, and it fits in our Ikea console perfectly:

I realize that it's only a matter of time before the house is overrun with kid stuff (it kind of already is), but I can try my best to keep it under control! When we were up in Vancouver last weekend, I knew that I desperately wanted to go to Home Sense, because it's my favourite place to get cute household items for really cheap, and I think I shrieked with joy when I saw this cute basket, that has a typewriter key print all over it! Only 15 bucks too, so obviously we bought it. We don't have much to put in it quite yet, but that'll soon change, I'm sure.

So adorbs!!!

Baby food storage and portability was also really important to me, mostly for the powdered things, like formula and cereal. I found these really pretty, vintage style Ball mason jars that I am now in love with. We brought them to Vancouver with us last weekend, and one jar holds enough formula Noah needs for about a full day. Perfect for weekend trips or whole day outings.

Sure, not every day can be perfectly organized. Like today, the bed isn't made and the kitchen is a huge mess, and it smells like a dragon died under my sink, but you have to tackle it one thing at a time, or you will for sure feel overwhelmed! A stressed out mommy isn't a good mommy, so do what you gotta do to keep sane, I say.

Noah's Links: