Organizing Baby Gear: a house log

Since the day that we announced there was a bun in my oven, we have been getting comments and emails to request details about how our house is changing thanks to our growing family. And now that Clara is two months old (time flies!) we chose that it was high time we took some candid photos to show exactly how our home has changed thanks to all of the baby gear that we have accumulated thus far (and yes, we know it’ll only grow from here, so stay tuned to see how we deal with everything else as we go).

The following photos were not edited or cleaned up in any way- they are actual snapshots. And you know what? We truly like our house this way. It is lived-in and casual and convenient and functional- all the things that we strive for when it comes to home decor. And the best thing about every single item is that we have a place for it when it is not in use. And we are thinking this is the key. So although all of these photos show you how things look when they are out and about, they could all be tucked away if we felt the need to de-babify the house for company (although all of our visitors these days are here to see Clara, so they enjoy observing her in her natural habitat).

So without further ado… the baby-tastic-keeping-it-real-a-day-in-the-life reveal.

This is what the bedroom looks like on the regular. We do not make the bed anymore, ever. Well, except perhaps if we are having company (even then we sometimes skip it since we somehow have this “get out of jail free” card thanks to the whole you-have-a-newborn concept). And yes, Burger sleeps in until about noon so he can typically be found in bed next to some books that we have read to Clara earlier that morning. The cutest thing is that when Burger does at last drag his lazy butt out of bed he immediately seeks out his little sister…

… as demonstrated by this photo of Burger hunting down Clara, only to find her in her swing in the den (it in fact gets moved back and forth between the den and the office, depending where we are).

See, Clara loves her Boppy Travel swing. It is certainly her go-to “baby item” and it is worth its weight in gold to us. We opted for a smaller and less pricey “travel swing” (which we use all the time, not simply when we are traveling). Thankfully, it has a smaller footprint. And amazingly, it comes in a quite neutral color scheme that in fact goes with a ton of the items in our house. That is certainly not a necessity, but it is consistently a welcome bonus. We in fact hoped this swing could multitask as a bouncy seat of sorts, since you know we’d rather buy one item that can serve a few purposes. So while it does not have a vibrating setting like most bouncers, it is low to the ground and when the swing is not on it serves as a convenient non-vibrating bouncy seat-ish device (which is handy to set Clara in when we eat for example). Of course every baby is distinct – Clara’s cousin hates his swing and loves his bouncie seat – but we are so glad that we did not bring in two items when we found one that does the job of two.

Oh and see that pink blanket folded over the back of the chair in the photo above? That is for playtime/tummy time in the den. We have learned that it is easier to keep two plush floor blankets around (one in the den and one in the office) so they are consistently on hand wherever we are for some floor playing, neck exercising, rolling over, and ceiling staring. It is remarkable what babies like to do in their spare time.

Next we have the laundry…

The arrival of Clara has certainly meant that there is more to wash and dry, but thankfully her clothes are all so small that we can cram about a million onesies into one energy efficient load. Of course we cannot wait to break out our cloth diapers (Clara is still a smidge too small for them) which will add even more to our laundry pile, but will make buying the Seventh Generation disposable dipes that we have been using a thing of the past. Wahoo!

The bathroom does not consistently look like this, but every other day it does thanks to bath time. Clara LOVES bath time, and thanks to a pointer from John’s sister (an expert mother of three) we do not have to struggle to store a big hulking plastic baby tub since she recommended this yellow foam version from Target (which is so straightforward to squeeze out and store in one of the baskets in our open linen closet). It is especially cushy and comfy, amazingly inexpensive, and it’ll work for at least a year or so (when babies get bigger they can sit on them, which is how John’s sister washes her nine month old). Gotta enjoy a $10 solution like that.

Here is the other blanket that we consistently have on hand. This one lives in the office, but instead of being folded over the back of a chair when it is not in use (like the one in the den) this one is fairly much consistently on the floor with some toys on it. It is a strong little station for Clara to play, put in some tummy time, and even sleep on occasion (sometimes with Burger curled up next to her).

And since one of us is consistently on Clara-duty while the other one is on journal-duty it is also pleasant to have so much rug space for one of us to get down there with her and hold up a few toys while she smiles adoringly and tracks them with her big blue eyes.

The other thing to note in here is the Boppy on the sofa (we think it is cute that it kind of looks like a C shaped pillow for Clara). Since I nurse anywhere and everywhere (the bedroom, the office, the den, the living room, the nursery, the sunroom, even the car…) I like to have it on hand, so it typically travels from room to room. But thanks to the soft blue color it fairly much fits into most of our spaces without looking too crazy. It is certainly not a designer pillow but it does not stick out like a sore thumb (like some of that primary-colored kid gear would in our more subdued casa).

Next we have our much-enjoyed Joovy Kooper stroller (we opted for one stroller that does it all from newborn to big kid age instead of having to purchase and store a number of distinct varieties). Thanks to daily walks around the neighborhood with Burger and Clara this thing gets a ton of action. And as we mentioned, all the items that you see in this post typically look simply like this, but they do have a designated “stash spot” simply in case we want to clean things up. And the stroller’s stash spot is in fact the trunk of the car (we enjoy that it is fairly much consistently with us that way, but when we are feeling lazy we do not bother folding it up and simply pop it in the sunroom instead). It certainly does not blend in with the beachy white daybed, but it is convenient and we have a two month old- so again, we are glad to give ourselves a pass. Update: We later invested in a jogging stroller since our do-it-all-stroller could not fill that function, but never picked up/needed a snap n’ go stroller or an umbrella stroller, so it is helpful to truly consider what you will use before buying them all.

In the nursery it is typically not too messy thanks to the big bin o’ toys under the bench (it is so straightforward to pull things out and pop them right back in) but Clara has been LOVING her Bumbo so that has been making regular appearances in there. It was in fact a hand-me-down from a friend, so we are shocked/thrilled that it works so well with the colors in the room. And although it might look staged, that book in front of it was right there when we walked by to snap a pic. No funny business. If my memory serves me correctly, we were simply in the middle of reading it when there was a spit-up incident that had to be tended to. Hence the half-read book…

We in fact feared that the kitchen would explode once Clara joined the pack, but so far (since she’s not yet on solid food) we have simply brought in three lively glass bottles by Weego and a small bottle drying rack from Target (she’s on an 100% momma’s milk diet, but on rare occasions I do pump simply to be sure she’ll take a bottle). Many friends and family members warned us not to go crazy buying tons of bottles so we heeded their advice, and these three bottles have been all we have needed (in fact we have likely only needed one so far). Oh and the reason we picked orange, blue, and yellow for the bottle colors were because we plan to use as much of our baby gear as possible for future bambinos, so gender neutral color choices seem to be more practical for the long haul.

So that is how Casa Petersik has evolved thus far. And in case anyone’s wondering about our “stash spot” method, it was likely an extension of our “if everything has a place it is easier to clean up and maintain the house on autopilot” theory. Therefore we devoted the small skinny cabinet right above the drying rack to bottles (and future spoons, sippy cups, and snack holders) while the Bumbo has a spot on the top shelf of Clara’s closet in the nursery. And simply as the stroller can be folded up and tossed in the trunk of the car, the Boppy and the blanket on the floor of the office can easily be tossed into the closet in there on a moment’s notice. The foam bath mat gets wrung out and slipped into one of the baskets in the open linen closet while laundry can get folded and put away if we are trying to tidy up. And since the swing is in fact a travel swing it can be folded up and stashed in a closet (we have also been known to tuck it up on the shelves above the laundry behind the bamboo blinds so no one’s the wiser).

And of course we could make the bed if we felt the pressure. But lately we must admit that we have been loving the distinct lack of pressure around here. We have consistently been cool with imperfection (which is why we paint paneling instead of removing it and make our own Hands-on art instead of springing for the good stuff by the pros) but having a baby has been fairly strong for hammering home the fact that a glad home is a lived-in and enjoyed home… especially when it is so functional that it buys you more time to hang out as a family.

Note: None of the makers of the baby gear that we have mentioned above have paid or perk’d us in any way- they are simply items that Clara has grown to enjoy, so we are glad to share the goods.