Sweet photos! And it's wonderful to record those precious moments and share with friends and family. 

But... when you're exhausted and suffering sleep deprivation, it's difficult to maintain the photos and notes about baby's early development. And it's even more difficult for subsequent children. 

So, check out these suggestions: 
Story of you is a free ipad app that makes it easy to upload your photos and add the details to create a unique story of your little one that can be shared and printed. The site includes a step by step demo, here, but really it seems very simple, just create, view, share and print. There are multiple design templates to choose from if desired and simple fill-it-in areas for noting special details or to journal milestones and special moments.

But if you'd rather a hands-on version but something can be created in less time than it takes to talk about it, check out My First Year Cards.

These cards are simple and easy to fill out and are a great way to record baby's first year. They come as a set of 5 for $20 from Strange Birdy Studios. The site states: 'We like to think of it as a uniquely fun “annual report.” No boring numbers or obscure data to decipher – just a great looking, interactive way to record the most important milestones of a baby’s first year.' 

Sports practice, school concerts, end-of-year
events, appointments…keeping track of all the family’s commitments is always a
headache but at this time of year, it’s almost impossible. 
The award-winning Cozi is a FREE family organiser and mobile app that
  helps you organise your busy life- Family Life.. Simplified. It’s well worth
  checking out, especially as the mobile app is now available for Australian
  families.


FAMILY CALENDAR
 A calendar for the whole family is easy to set up along with reminders for everyone assigned (txt or email) and a weekly emailed list of the upcoming events for the week. Recurring events like school schedules can easily be included. And, it syncs with other calendars.

TO DO LISTS
 Use the To-Do feature and receive timely reminders.  Assign tasks for kids, too, and print off a chore list for each child. Use a premade planning check list for any upcoming event from the lists of household cleaning, party needs, birthday party checklists, pantry needs, school supplies and more.

 FAMILY MEALS
Plan meals with the drag and drop recipes feature to create your weekly dinner plan. Add recipes and ideas to the online recipe box and add ingredients to your shopping list. Your shopping list is available on your app or can be emailed so that it’s always available. 

FAMILY JOURNAL
 Easily add family memories and milestones to the family journal/blog and share family news via email, on a private family website or on Facebook. The Cozi homepage also includes regular, helpful family articles and ideas. Find Cozi HERE...

 Cozi wins awards year after year and you’ll find it invaluable as a family organiser. There are other apps available from Cozi, too, that you might like to check out: Cozi Password Vault and Cozi Kids Colouring.

 Check out the Cozi clip below for a comprehensive overview of the Cozi organiser- specially designed for busy families.

When your children are young, you sometimes feel like you need to make a weekly appointment with your family doctor. Certainly, it is time-consuming to keep track of childhood growth and development, vaccinations, childhood illness, allergies and other medical records.

Now, you can easily maintain a mobile family medical record using one of the iPad/iPhone apps available. This type  of app is essential for emergencies or when there’s been an accident and medical information is needed on the spot. But you’ll find just as much use for this type of app in recording the progress of your children’s development, illness history, vaccinations records and allergies.

Two apps of this type stand out- My Kid’s Health and My Medical for iPad. Both of these apps sync with your iPad calendar for ease of use when making doctor’s appointments and receiving reminders. Medical contact information is automatically included from your contacts.

My Kid’s Health includes personal vaccination schedules for your child from the World Health Organisation and national health organisations. It has an easy interface and attractive graphics. Growth records- weight, height, head circumference etc can be easily viewed in table or graph format. It is the more expensive of the two but requires no upgrades.

My Medical includes common medical test templates to track results- height, weight, blood pressure, CAT scan and more. Files can be attached and a report can be generated from the medical records and printed or emailed as required. My Medical can be used for the whole family.

Someone has mentioned that a Notes area would be useful to record any questions to ask the doctor or to list any instructions given verbally, but I’m sure additional features will be added later.

Check out both these useful apps and find that your medical record keeping becomes a breeze.

You've been planning it and looking forward to it for months and now, it's just a few sleeps way... a wonderful travelling holiday for the whole family. It's going to be great! You've planned the exciting destinations along the way, the stop-offs to visit extended family on-route, the special tourist attractions and the 'must visit' scenic rainforest and bush walks and mountaintop panoramas.
But, are you organised for those long hours in the car with bored children? 
Here's a couple of suggestions that might help to quell those painful 'Are you there yet?' questions.

* Travel Journals Provide each child with a notebook to create their own Travel Journal that they can fill with drawings, pressed flowers/leaves, lists of places you visit and more. Even better, check out the Smiggle's 'Are we there yet, Journal. These idea-packed spiral bound notebooks contain pages and pages of fun activities to keep kids occupied. There are note pages as well as sticker pages and heaps of places to store mementos.
*If you're thinking of creating a travel journal yourself, why not consider My Vacation app. You can take photos and videos and add a caption to each. View a map of where the photo was taken. Keep a diary of each day of the trip. Keep a list of important travel information and things to pack. Enter travel destinations and see useful travel links including weather and timezone information. Generate an email postcard to send to friends and upload journals to Dropbox, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and more. Find it in the App Store.
* Travel Blogging If you're wanting to blog on your trip, check out Travel iBlog HD, a writing blog that helps you create beautiful travel entries.
*Find-it books Check out your local bookstore for some copies of FInd-it Books with pages and pages of pictures with small items to locate hidden in each.
* Find It Adventure Australian Geographic have a similar idea created as brightly coloured, solid, sealed tube with hidden items to find.Twist, shake, spin or roll the tube to try an bring new objects to the surface! It is a great travel game, terrific learning center activity, or is fun played as a timed game with others. There are no pieces to lose and the list of objects to find is conveniently printed on top of the tube so you'll never have to worry about losing part of the game.
* Puzzles Download some activity sheets from Momsminivan and keep the kids occupied for hours with Travel Bingo cards, as they look for animals, road signs and more to complete their sheet. Or, hand them each a sheet of Lines & Dots to play together.  
* Apps If you're running out of time, just download the iPhone 'Scavenger Traveler' app that puts a new twist on the classic scavenger hunt. This is a multi-player, multi-level game that challenges adults and kids to locate different objects within their surroundings. On the road, in the air or around your lodgings, the five categories of lists: easy peasy, kind of easy, not so easy, super star and champion. Each one challenges players to search and find items ranging from the very general for younger ages (something round, something green) to the very specific (a napkin, a pine cone), checking them off as they go.
* Scribble art Give all passengers a washable marker, paper, and a hard surface to write on (use a book or lap tray). Have everyone draw one squiggly line on the paper, then trade with someone else. Now try to make a picture out of what's there. Can each of you guess what the other's drawing shows?
*Handmates Take finger puppets or, with a marker, draw funny faces on your child's fingertips. Then let him put on a puppet show for you or his seatmates (a good way to keep a younger sibling entertained).Homemade puzzles On your child's tray, break a large cracker into several pieces and see whether she can put it back together. She can make new puzzles by nibbling at the pieces!
*Twisty creations Pack a bag of pipe cleaners. What contraptions can your child invent?*Hue hunt Give all passengers paper and a pencil, then have each person pick a different color and print it at the top of his page. When you yell "Go!" everyone should look for passing cars and trucks in the color they chose. The first one to get ten wins. Pick new colors to start again. 
* Snacks  Provide plenty of snacks to help while away those hours. Check out this list of healthy snack options..here
* Where to Eat or FastFood app might be useful to help you find a cafe or restaurant wherever you stop and check ratings.
I hope these suggestions and help, and that you have a wonderful holiday together filled with heart-warming memories. 

We all have the best of intentions and carefully purchase an attractive baby book to record our new baby's photos, milestones and important mementos. But life, especially with a new little one, is jam-packed with time-consuming routines, unexpected delays and mounting fatigue. It's really difficult to find the time to journal these events, no matter how special.
TinyBeans makes it easy and simple to take a photo that is automatically uploaded to your child's photo journal. Your journal is private by default, but you can invite your family and friends to view your expanding record of the growth and development of your children. Reminders can be configured  and both parents can upload photos to the same journal. 
Start your precious keepsake now!