The holidays are a crazy time of year and this year will be the exception… it’ll be EXTRA crazy for owner Kristen Moux!  We’re expecting our third baby to arrive in early December and as expert planners, we’re starting now.

So how will this mom of soon-to-be three, wife, owner, and lead planner plan for the holidays?  Let’s just say, it’s all hands on deck!

PREP FOR THE HOLIDAYS

In a previous post, I shared my favorite tips, tricks, and print-outs to help plan for holiday success!  I’ve added a few extra things in that post that I’m doing this year.  Read all about it here.

PREP FOR THE BABY

Needless to say, we’re nesting here already… so early baby showers are super helpful!  Normally they’re done about a month in advance, which doesn’t give you a lot of time to purchase anything left over from your registry in preparation for the baby’s arrival.  We’re doing them all this month which means I’ll be able to get the rest of the items we need at a discount during our one-time redemption purchase from Target and Amazon.  If you’re expecting (or getting married! lol!), I definitely recommend signing up for a registry for both… whatever loved ones don’t purchase for you can be purchased with a 10-15% discount!

We also set up reminders for our family to stock up at the one month marker (as if you’re getting ready for a hurricane or natural disaster…) on daily used items like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, gummy vitamins, toilet paper, etc. as well as food items to help us get through the first few sleepless weeks – like individual non-refrigerated Horizon chocolate milk, frozen breakfast sandwiches, and individually packaged trail mix packs.  In leu of asking friends and family for gifts, you can also ask them to sign up for a night to bring over dinner in the first couple of weeks!  This is SUPER helpful, especially when you have other kids, and my church sisters already have us taken care of for the first two weeks of baby’s arrival.

Also, pack your hospital bag! One of my favorite pieces of advice to my clients is to not wait until the last minute to get things done… free up your time (and thoughts) as the big day approaches and try to get things done early so you don’t have to rush and stress as d-day approaches.  You’ll be glad you did… trust me!  Third time around for us, you can be sure we’ll be packing the essentials and just a few fun luxuries for those new born photos we’re all so fond of.

Ideally, both you and your spouse should take off at least a full month to help get the baby and yourselves into a groove with a new addition to your family.  I would recommend that mothers take three full months off work before returning especially if this is your first baby.  Ease back into work part time, if possible, for a couple of weeks, and then return to work full time after you’re adjusted.

PREP FOR WORK

Definitely talk to your Human Resources department when you find out your pregnant!  Ask about paid and un-paid time off, TDI, and even using vacation or sick days as options to stay home with baby.  While taking off before the baby comes sounds tempting, if you have a limited amount of days you can stay home, you’ll probably want to save all of those days for after baby arrives.

If you’re in a managerial position, you definitely will want someone to handle the day-to-day tasks (and emails!) you normally take care of, so prep early and have a plan to get as much of that done by someone else.  I’m a process driven person, so automation, templates, and written instructions with examples instructs my team on how I like things done.

If you’re a boss lady, congratulations!! It’s a huge feat (emotional and physical), but you can do it!  For our office, we have prepped emails for our weddings earlier in the year and our office assistant will be handling answering all of our clients emails during December when I’ll need it most.  Starting in January, we’ll start opening the office again for limited and scheduled days before jumping back into the swing of things in February.  I purposely have not taken events for the first three months of baby’s arrival for the benefit of our clients (and our baby!).

We hope this has helped you a bit on your journey, whether it be with tackling the holidays, having a baby, or taking leave from work for a bit.  Tell us, what have you done to prepare??