From personalized baby books to convenient apps, there are countless ways to track your baby's big milestones [1] these days. But documenting your children's lives when you're busy raising them often falls at the bottom of the to-do list. The two empty baby books I received at a shower that are sitting in a closet somewhere come to mind!

Which is why my friend's advice [2] to start an email account for each of my kids is so genius. It's as simple as signing your little one up and then emailing them whenever there's a memory that needs capturing. Pro tip: you might have to fudge their age since some services won't allow users under a certain limit.

Just got their first steps on video? Email them the footage with the date in the subject line. Cracked you up with a hilarious phrase? Shoot them a message recounting their words. Scrolling through pictures of them after they fall asleep? Send a sweet note along with your favorite snap.

I opened accounts for each of my boys, and not only do they now have emails with their names to use in the future, but I have an easy way to capture memories of them that's a little more lasting than the notes section on my phone.

Beyond sharing those obvious milestones and fun photos, for me it's become something more. I also use their accounts as a sort of journal to share stories about my husband and me or family history that I want them to know one day. I've written about our vacations and even documented their birth stories. I find it's such a sweet way of communicating with them that I hope captures the nostalgia of these early years for them when they're older.

I'm hopeful their full inbox will be something they cherish and read through fondly after I pass the accounts off to them some day. But for now, I've loved being able to keep track of all those memories in one place, all from my phone.