Living in a Small Space with a Family

CityBaby Living isn’t just a theory in my life, I am living it. While we live on the edge of Boston, not the heart of it, we have four people living in 1,200 square feet. While for some this is a luxury, it is certainly a far cry from spacious and demands creative solutions and design choices.

Living in a small space with a family is something that my husband and I have consciously chosen. Are there days that we look at each other and wish we had a bit more room? Yes. Do I wish for a big back yard for my kids to run freely in? Yes. Do I feel jealous of friends who have converted basements and attics called Kid Land? Yes. But I wouldn’t choose to change my lifestyle. We have everything we need, and nothing that we don’t.

My CityBabies section is about my life – my family, my everyday choices, my design solutions and even, my struggles. So welcome!

Space Saving Tip for Toys

As Peep gets older, her toys and their parts just seem to get smaller but the boxes they come in just seem to get bigger and more annoying. Small puzzle pieces come in odd shaped boxes. Reading games come with wooden alphabet parts in odd shaped boxes. Board games have dice and come in all different shaped, odd shaped boxes. Legos (enough said). There’s a theme here. The toy companies are trying their best to make our lives miserable by having all different shaped containers – big and round, big and square, small and square but a different size square from the … Continue reading →

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Quality Baby Products Last

When Peep was born (5.5 years ago), my husband and I decided that we would purchase fewer things, and instead invest in well designed, high quality baby staples that we loved – you know, the whole quality over quantity thing. Our two big ticket items was the Stokke crib and the Bugaboo Cameleon stroller. Peep used both for 3+ years, and we remained very pleased with our decision. With the arrival of Teapot, both are back in our lives and used daily. When we moved Peep out of her Stokke, she started sleeping in the best example of “they … Continue reading →

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Teapot is here!

My little Teapot has arrived. She was born November 30th, weighing in at 7lbs 5oz and looking the spitting image of her big sister. Peep, as you can see in the pictures, is beyond thrilled with the addition of her sister. We are now home and getting used to our new normal. And, we are all, totally in love with this new addition. Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Bookmark in Browser Tell a friend

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Can 2 Car Seats Fit in a Mini Cooper?

We are 11 days away from meeting Teapot, and it’s starting to feel like Noah’s Ark around here – 2 kids, 2 kid beds, 2 of everything (actually, it’s not that bad, but you get the idea). One thing that we also have is 2 cars since the subway conveniently stops at the doorstep of our town. I have a Subaru Forester to do all my mom stuff in, and my husband has a Mini Cooper S since he spends most of his time in and out of the city. I should mention here that my husband LOVES his Mini – … Continue reading →

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Shared Kids Room Design Update

As I have written about, we have a 2.5 bedroom apartment. Peep is currently sleeping in the 0.5 bedroom and the plan is that she and her new sister Teapot will be sharing the full 2nd bedroom at some point in the near future. The original plan was to move them in together pretty soon after Teapot arrives, but Peep has since decided that she’d like to stay in her little room for longer. I don’t blame her – she wants some things to stay the same. So, that means that we will have an interim 2nd bedroom design. Currently, … Continue reading →

UrbanSitter – Date Night Just Got a Whole Lot Easier

Last week I found myself doing something I thought I’d never have to do since meeting my husband 13 years ago – speed date. This time though, I was speed dating baby-sitters. And more importantly, I was being introduced to an online service called UrbanSitter. UrbanSitter was founded by a few busy parents in the San Francisco area. It’s an online resource for parents to find & book babysitters, but that’s just the beginning. This FREE (yes free) service allows you to search your area to find sitters, post a last minute job you might have, set up an interview, see reviews, book them and … Continue reading →

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Make Your Own Art Gallery

DIY Display for Your Child’s Art Peep makes a lot of artwork both at home and at school. And she’s very proud of it and wants it to be displayed. So our refrigerator is covered (which drives me crazy, but I know it’s part of the kid-gig) and she’s now claimed a corner in our dining room. It’s a small corner that’s always been a bit “dead space” decorating-wise, so adding her artwork there seemed like a good idea. However, she’s been taping her art up, which is not the best look. And then I remembered a Pinterest Pin from … Continue reading →

Designing a Shared Kids Bedroom – Part 2

We still have months before Peep and Teapot will be sharing a room. It has been so long since I’ve had the ability to dream about re-doing a room that I found I’ve been thinking about designing this shared kids bedroom a lot. I’ve been mostly dreaming about kids room decor, but what I really need to be thinking about is how everything will fit, how I will organize it, and what will stay and what will go. The last time I posted about this shared bedroom, I shared the basic floor plan of the room in question. I’ve made a couple … Continue reading →

And then she turned 5.

Five years ago today, my Peep was born and turned me into a mom. I don’t really have the words to accurately describe the love, awe, frustration and fun I’ve had over the past 5 years – much better writers have tried and still can’t put into words what adding a sweet new life into this world does to a person. All I can say is I could not love her more and am so proud to be her mother. Recommend on Facebook Share with Stumblers Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Bookmark in Browser … Continue reading →

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This baby needs a name…

When I was pregnant with my 1st daughter, we found out the gender right around Easter time so we had friends lined up to bring pink Peeps or blue Peeps over to celebrate. She was then on known as Peep and is still often called that. Using her nickname on this blog was a no-brainer. This new child growing inside me needs a nickname here too. We’ve had lots of name discussions about what her actual name will be and boy does Peep have some good ones. I want to keep her as part of the process, but the reality … Continue reading →

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