Baby-Proofing Your Home & Choosing a Home with Kids in Mind

🍼 A safer home starts before your baby takes their first steps.

Whether you're planning for your first child or preparing your home for a growing family, the right layout—and a few simple safety upgrades—can make everyday life much easier.

🏡 Episode Summary

Preparing for a baby changes the way you look at your home. In this episode of Off the Record, Joe Reitzug and Makayla Mast discuss what buyers should consider when searching for a family-friendly home, from practical floor plans and outdoor spaces to storage, neighborhood amenities, and thinking several years ahead instead of just today.

The conversation then shifts to preparing your current home for a newborn and eventually a toddler. Joe shares lessons from raising three boys, while Makayla offers the perspective of a first-time mom getting ready to welcome her baby. Together, they explain why baby-proofing doesn't have to happen all at once, the safety upgrades that matter most, and how to create a home that's functional without becoming overwhelmed.

Whether you're buying your next home or simply getting ready for your growing family, this episode offers practical advice every parent can use.

⏱️ Episode Highlights

[00:01:40] – Why Growing Families Should Think Beyond Today's Needs
Joe and Makayla introduce the episode by discussing why home buying decisions should be based on how your family will live over the next several years—not just your current lifestyle.

[00:06:29] – Choosing the Right Home Before Baby Arrives
Learn why functional floor plans, nursery space, manageable stairs, storage, outdoor play areas, sidewalks, and nearby parks deserve just as much attention as finishes and square footage.

[00:08:22] – The Home Features Parents Appreciate Every Day
The hosts explain why fenced yards, community parks, neighborhood amenities, and plenty of storage become everyday conveniences once children enter the picture.

[00:11:07] – Preparing Your Home for a Newborn
Makayla shares how she's getting her home ready by creating dedicated baby spaces, improving indoor air quality, deep cleaning, and making sure smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are working properly.

[00:15:09] – Baby-Proofing Doesn't Need to Happen Overnight
Joe explains why parents shouldn't feel pressured to childproof every inch of their home before the baby arrives and how a gradual approach often works best.

[00:17:02] – The Biggest Safety Risks to Address First
From securing furniture and televisions to locking cabinets, covering electrical outlets, and installing anti-tip oven brackets, they cover the upgrades that offer the biggest safety improvements.

[00:20:01] – Let Your Toddler Show You What Needs Baby-Proofing
One of the episode's most practical tips: once your child becomes mobile, observe your home from their perspective to identify what naturally grabs their attention before adding more safety measures.

[00:22:13] – Planning Ahead Creates a Better Home Search
The episode wraps up with advice for buyers: tell your real estate agent if children are part of your future so they can help you find a home that will continue to fit your family's needs.

Connect with LivPortland

Whether you're preparing for your first baby or searching for a home that will support your family for years to come, the LivPortland Team is here to help.

Visit LivPortland.com for buyer resources, neighborhood guides, and Portland real estate insights. And if you enjoy practical conversations about homeownership and the local market, subscribe to Off the Record wherever you listen to podcasts.

Thank you for listening to this episode. Stay up to date on the latest trends and insights by subscribing to our podcast and following us on social media.

For more information about buying or selling in the Portland Metro real estate market, please visit www.LivPortland.com or contact us directly.

We appreciate your feedback, so please leave a review and let us know what topics you would like to hear more about.

Transcript

00:00:08:20 - 00:00:23:07
Joe Reitzug
Welcome to Off the Record talking real estate with Joe and Makayla. If you're interested in the Portland, Oregon real estate market and want the unvarnished inside scoop, you've come to the right place. Thanks for giving us a listen.

00:00:23:09 - 00:00:44:21
Makayla Mast
Okay. Welcome, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Welcome to the Off the Record podcast with Makayla and Joe. Hi, Makayla. Hi, Joe. You? I'm good. How about yourself? I'm doing well. This is a different atmosphere for us, and I gotta say, I'm loving it. I am loving it as well. This is like a professional studio, I know. I feel so blessed.

00:00:44:21 - 00:01:02:12
Makayla Mast
So for the listener, my brother in law does some social media, podcasting, marketing stuff, and he built the studio outside his house for podcasting and all the things. And we're he's letting us borrow it and it's fun. We've never not set at a desk. This feels so informal, but I think I like it, I do.

00:01:02:12 - 00:01:05:07
Joe Reitzug
I love it, actually. So if you're listening.

00:01:05:07 - 00:01:23:20
Speaker 3
Right now, remember we do all of these podcasts on video. You can go to LivPortland, LivPortland on YouTube and watch and hear us for the podcast. So and while you're there, go ahead and just hit that subscribe button.

00:01:23:21 - 00:01:25:16
Makayla Mast
Why not? Please.

00:01:25:19 - 00:01:38:07
Speaker 3
I can subscribe. Okay. Well, we've gotten very, very interesting show today. And it goes to the heart of where my dear friend Makayla is at in her life right now.

00:01:38:08 - 00:01:40:00
Makayla Mast
Yes, very relevant for me.

00:01:40:01 - 00:01:41:09
Speaker 3
So did you tell us what we got?

00:01:41:10 - 00:01:56:21
Makayla Mast
Well, there's going to be a two parter. Not really. We have two sections. Not a two parter, one episode. But we're going to talk about what you should look for in a home if you're thinking about having kids soon. And then we're also going to talk about baby proofing your home.

00:01:56:23 - 00:01:58:19
Speaker 3
Oh, sorry.

00:01:58:20 - 00:01:59:22
Makayla Mast
Very relevant.

00:01:59:23 - 00:02:05:15
Speaker 3
Very relevant for you coming up, I know you've done a ton of research, obviously.

00:02:05:19 - 00:02:06:10
Makayla Mast
Obviously.

00:02:06:11 - 00:02:13:00
Speaker 3
And yeah, you've got family members that have little ones right now. So you're you're deep into it.

00:02:13:01 - 00:02:18:06
Makayla Mast
It's funny how you see a home so differently, right? And you no longer care about all the pretty things.

00:02:18:07 - 00:02:18:19
Speaker 3
Right.

00:02:18:22 - 00:02:21:04
Makayla Mast
Exactly, exactly.

00:02:21:06 - 00:02:32:07
Speaker 3
So yeah, we've got an interesting show. I do have experience all by it's, you know, 17, 18 years old. My youngest is now he just turned 18 last weekend.

00:02:32:08 - 00:02:33:11
Makayla Mast
So, so crazy.

00:02:33:12 - 00:02:52:11
Speaker 3
But I remember him as a baby and my other two boys when they were babies. And it was just nuts. Absolutely nuts thinking about, especially with our first born. You know, you're just like, oh my gosh, our house is a completely different animal. Now what do we do?

00:02:52:12 - 00:02:52:22
Makayla Mast
Yes.

00:02:52:23 - 00:03:01:12
Speaker 3
So yeah, good stuff. But as always, we start off with our off the record moment. I got it right.

00:03:01:12 - 00:03:02:17
Makayla Mast
That's right.

00:03:02:18 - 00:03:10:17
Speaker 3
Jeez. All right.

00:03:10:19 - 00:03:22:16
Speaker 3
Let's start with you. What is your off the record moment right now. And remember, this is it can be business related. It can be fun. It can be whatever you want. But usually it ends up with a bug for us.

00:03:22:17 - 00:03:44:05
Makayla Mast
Yes, yes. You have a bug. It's always a bug. It is. My bug is how expensive coffee is. I feel like I've talked about this before, but coffee is always my vice. But being pregnant, it's my only vice. And I can also only have it once a day. So my coffee is like the highlight of my day. It's a big deal.

00:03:44:07 - 00:03:48:22
Makayla Mast
But that being said, I cannot pay. Guess what I paid yesterday for my latte?

00:03:48:23 - 00:03:50:05
Speaker 3
I don't even want to know.

00:03:50:07 - 00:04:01:06
Makayla Mast
About dollars, bucks, $8, I know, and I'm never going back to this coffee shop again. I'm so mad. But it feels like the baseline is $7 for a latte.

00:04:01:07 - 00:04:03:10
Speaker 3
What are they putting in these coffees?

00:04:03:12 - 00:04:15:09
Makayla Mast
Old? She's telling you that. But yeah, that's my bug. Everyone needs to chill out about it. If you already have all your alternative milk stocked. I don't know why it costs a dollar more for your alternative milk.

00:04:15:11 - 00:04:20:16
Speaker 3
I'm gonna go ahead and say the coffee I've had at your house. Better than coffee in the coffee house.

00:04:20:17 - 00:04:22:08
Makayla Mast
Really? I don't know what it is.

00:04:22:09 - 00:04:23:09
Speaker 3
I love your coffee.

00:04:23:09 - 00:04:24:05
Makayla Mast
Oh. Thank you.

00:04:24:06 - 00:04:28:04
Speaker 3
A little bummed when we were in the studio today and not at the home studio.

00:04:28:05 - 00:04:28:22
Makayla Mast
At.

00:04:29:00 - 00:04:30:04
Speaker 3
Casa Mast.

00:04:30:05 - 00:04:34:10
Makayla Mast
Yeah, I don't know what it is. It's not the same. Doesn't do it for me.

00:04:34:12 - 00:04:59:04
Speaker 3
Well, that's a legit bug because it is so, so expensive right now. Thank you. I am also on the bug train today and my bug is business related real estate related. I am always shocked when we have deadlines in a transaction and brokers are all of a sudden, oh my gosh, we need to get this and this and this done and that done.

00:04:59:05 - 00:05:10:09
Speaker 3
You know, we were on one side of the transaction and the other brokers are on the other side of the transaction. And my bug is when they don't understand the deadlines. And it's just.

00:05:10:10 - 00:05:11:21
Makayla Mast
Like urgency.

00:05:11:22 - 00:05:18:16
Speaker 3
Or no urgency. And it's like, come on, people, why do we have to have a fire drill every single time?

00:05:18:16 - 00:05:31:11
Makayla Mast
I know I'm like, do these brokers not wake up at two in the morning thinking like I'm, you know, or I feel like we collectively were always so paranoid about the deadlines that were hyper aware of it.

00:05:31:12 - 00:05:52:07
Speaker 3
I know I had a double check for me this morning, a deadline that I've looked at 50 times, and I'm just like, okay, I need another set of eyes on this to make sure I understand the deadline, because this other broker is like wanting things to be done four days in advance, because as people all of a sudden are going to be out of town and it's like, that would have been good to know.

00:05:52:09 - 00:05:53:18
Makayla Mast
Yeah, really good to know.

00:05:53:23 - 00:05:55:18
Speaker 3
I get it doesn't always work out that way.

00:05:55:19 - 00:05:59:04
Makayla Mast
Things happen. But yeah, it's frustrating when there's no urgency.

00:05:59:06 - 00:05:59:22
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:05:59:23 - 00:06:08:12
Makayla Mast
At the beginning when you should have urgency. Yeah. So okay. That's our bugs. Hopefully you're still listening, right. Exactly. Like these people are negative. We're over.

00:06:08:16 - 00:06:29:18
Speaker 3
I know we're gonna end with positive, though. We always make positive. So yeah. So let's talk about baby proofing your home and choosing a home with kids in mind, because there are so many people out there that I know are like, I never thought about this or holy smokes, what do I need to think about when this is the case?

00:06:29:19 - 00:06:38:16
Speaker 3
So we're going to run through it real quick, which I love. So number one, what to look for in a home if kids are in your future.

00:06:38:18 - 00:06:59:16
Makayla Mast
Yes, I love this conversation. I feel like we don't need to overcomplicate it. It's pretty straightforward, but obviously the floor plan and in general. But the space, right? Obviously no brainer. You're going to want that extra bedroom. But if you're someone who's already a little sensitive to stairs, right. I would think maybe keep that in mind. I have try level home.

00:06:59:16 - 00:07:18:04
Makayla Mast
It's not a split level, but it's a tri level. And even just being pregnant, walking up and down all these stairs, I'm exhausted and I shouldn't be, but I am. So think about that. When you're pregnant or your wife's pregnant or. Yeah, and then, you know, it's only going to get more difficult once you're carrying newborn up and down all those stairs.

00:07:18:05 - 00:07:19:01
Speaker 3
100%.

00:07:19:01 - 00:07:20:05
Makayla Mast
And then.

00:07:20:07 - 00:07:24:21
Speaker 3
What is it, six months when they start getting mobile? Nine months.

00:07:24:22 - 00:07:27:11
Makayla Mast
Like 8 or 9 a year? Yeah.

00:07:27:12 - 00:07:45:19
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah. That's when you start thinking about gates for those 2 or 3 steps down to the living room and all that type of stuff. But yeah, I, I vividly remember even when my firstborn was in the crib looking at our stairs, just going, there's no way I'm gonna have to barricade this, I'm going to have to do this and that.

00:07:45:19 - 00:07:50:00
Speaker 3
And the other, there's so many good ways to yeah, to get around that now.

00:07:50:00 - 00:07:57:02
Makayla Mast
But, you know, if you can avoid a flight of stairs or if you are really stair sensitive and you want something single level, then maybe think about that.

00:07:57:03 - 00:08:16:09
Speaker 3
Yeah. The other thing is a nursery. Yeah. A lot of people are like, they buy a home, they know they're having kids, and all of a sudden they've got their bedroom, they've got an office, a bedroom that's an office. And then maybe they've got another bedroom that they don't even think about, but it just doesn't work as a nursery.

00:08:16:09 - 00:08:22:11
Speaker 3
So all of a sudden they're like, where am I going to put my baby at? Right. So always good to remember about that.

00:08:22:12 - 00:08:39:16
Makayla Mast
Yes. Another thing that is really important to me is outdoor space, making sure it's safe. You know, it doesn't have to be an incredible outdoor space. It's something that's fenced just so you can send them outside or be outside with them and not be worried about cars or too many foot too much foot traffic in general.

00:08:39:16 - 00:08:47:20
Speaker 3
I was at a house a couple of weeks ago that had a pool that had baby gates around the entire pool.

00:08:47:21 - 00:08:48:12
Makayla Mast
Good.

00:08:48:13 - 00:08:57:14
Speaker 3
I mean, that's great, but it was kind of like, oh yeah, they bought the home. Didn't really think about it. Yeah. And it looked really funky.

00:08:57:16 - 00:08:58:13
Makayla Mast
Oh, totally.

00:08:58:13 - 00:09:04:10
Speaker 3
Really, really funky. But I get it. They're like, okay, we got a cord in this place off.

00:09:04:11 - 00:09:08:15
Makayla Mast
Totally. I could never sleep. Oh my gosh. What? The pool.

00:09:08:17 - 00:09:13:08
Speaker 3
With a pool. Yeah. Yeah, that would be. That would be stressful. Tell me about storage.

00:09:13:13 - 00:09:17:09
Makayla Mast
Oh my gosh. Babies come with so many items as I'm sure you remember.

00:09:17:10 - 00:09:20:13
Speaker 3
You just had your shower and you were telling me about how much stuff you got.

00:09:20:14 - 00:09:20:23
Makayla Mast
Yeah, I had.

00:09:21:00 - 00:09:23:01
Speaker 3
Like, where's all this going in your house?

00:09:23:04 - 00:09:42:00
Makayla Mast
Mostly the nursery, the garage and the closet under our stairs. And the closet. Our coat closet upstairs to everything is taken over with baby stuff. So you want to make sure there's some storage? I would say at least more than one big closet. So you can put all the big things in there. Yeah, because they come with bouncers and.

00:09:42:01 - 00:09:50:08
Makayla Mast
Yeah, just things bigger, more than strollers. You know, I think people mostly just think about strollers or car seats, but yeah. Yeah, there's a lot of stuff.

00:09:50:10 - 00:09:51:15
Speaker 3
A lot of stuff.

00:09:51:18 - 00:09:52:23
Makayla Mast
Consider storage.

00:09:53:00 - 00:10:12:13
Speaker 3
I think this is a big one. But what about parks and community spaces? Schools are down the road obviously. And you know, we can talk about that a little bit. But just parks and community spaces where you can go get into nature, throw a blanket down and let your little one kind of be out in the open air.

00:10:12:14 - 00:10:31:09
Makayla Mast
Absolutely. Yeah. I think that's critical. I feel like around here. Most of the neighborhoods are planned pretty thoughtfully to where they have at least some kind of park. And we're always aware of the parks and trails nearby. So that's something, you know, we always help buyers with. But, you know, some other big cities don't have that luxury. So.

00:10:31:10 - 00:10:49:13
Speaker 3
Right. And it's always I think it's always a perk, whether you're planning on babies or not, to be around community spaces and parks and all that type of stuff. But when you know you're going to be, you know, having a family soon or whatever, it just makes all the more sense in the world to just, you know, have that space.

00:10:49:13 - 00:11:06:02
Speaker 3
We've got a property on the market right now and Forest Grove that has a beautiful park right around the corner. I think about that now when it comes to kids, and we've put that in the listing, you know, to highlight that. So yeah, I mean it's just it's one of those things that you just got to be mindful of.

00:11:06:03 - 00:11:07:00
Makayla Mast
Definitely.

00:11:07:00 - 00:11:32:19
Speaker 3
Yeah. Preparing your home for an infant I remember we did not for Nicholas, our youngest or oldest, I should say. We didn't really think about a lot of it or plan for a lot of it until he was actually home. And then it was like, oh, wait a second, we really need to plan this out because, you know, the months go by fast and all of a sudden they're mobile.

00:11:32:19 - 00:11:37:02
Speaker 3
And it's like, how do we keep this environment safe?

00:11:37:03 - 00:11:42:11
Makayla Mast
Yeah, totally. Did you bring him home to that house that you lived in downtown Hillsboro?

00:11:42:12 - 00:11:44:06
Speaker 3
No, we were in Bethany at that time.

00:11:44:07 - 00:11:52:06
Makayla Mast
Oh, okay. You guys bounced around a lot at that time. No, it just seems like it was probably a longer span of time for you. I just.

00:11:52:07 - 00:11:57:02
Speaker 3
Yeah. No, it was kind of our first big boy house.

00:11:57:03 - 00:11:57:20
Makayla Mast
Oh, cool.

00:11:57:21 - 00:12:12:06
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah. And nice neighborhood. Great spot. But, yeah, you know, the craziest thing. And this is a little off topic, but I cannot wait for you and your husband to drive home from the hospital.

00:12:12:07 - 00:12:14:14
Makayla Mast
I know you've told me this before.

00:12:14:16 - 00:12:44:06
Speaker 3
That is the craziest, most surreal moment when you're. We were at Saint Vincent and we were driving down highway 26, and I remember just not freaking out, but being, like, aware of how hyper I was about traffic. And like, someone sped by me and I'm like, dude, you know some of those baby on board stickers? Not that I would ever have one of those, you know, if you have it, great.

00:12:44:06 - 00:12:51:06
Speaker 3
That's just not my style. But I get that now. I get that now. I'm like, okay. Oh, yeah, like, give me space here, brother.

00:12:51:07 - 00:12:53:09
Makayla Mast
Yeah. Drive a little softer.

00:12:53:11 - 00:12:54:13
Speaker 3
Precious cargo.

00:12:54:14 - 00:12:55:23
Makayla Mast
Yeah, absolutely.

00:12:56:00 - 00:12:56:16
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:12:56:20 - 00:13:01:21
Makayla Mast
So I heard that someone said that recently. Just drive like everyone has an infant in the car.

00:13:02:00 - 00:13:06:11
Speaker 3
That is good advice. That is really good advice.

00:13:06:13 - 00:13:24:00
Makayla Mast
But, yeah, we're in the thick of this phase because we're like, six weeks out from bringing home an infant. We have our nursery done, which I'm so proud of because that was a big project, and now we're prepping our bedroom because of course, baby will sleep in our bedroom for the first couple of weeks before he actually lives in his bedroom.

00:13:24:01 - 00:13:24:08
Speaker 3
Sure.

00:13:24:08 - 00:13:44:23
Makayla Mast
Sure, I'm already a clean freak, but like, the dusting I feel like is really important. We have our air purifiers going, you know, we want that quality air a lot of people invest in, like, indoor plants to help purify the air. So we're thinking about doing that, which is probably overkill. You know, all of that together.

00:13:44:23 - 00:13:59:19
Speaker 3
But we had I forgot I forget who ordered us this. Probably my mom, but we had someone as like a baby gift for the shower or whatever bought us a complete home deep cleaning.

00:13:59:21 - 00:14:01:08
Makayla Mast
That is such a nice.

00:14:01:08 - 00:14:03:11
Speaker 3
Gift, right? Yeah, right.

00:14:03:13 - 00:14:03:21
Makayla Mast
Genius.

00:14:04:00 - 00:14:18:11
Speaker 3
And I didn't even think about it, but it was like, oh, yeah. And I mean, it was a full, like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. they were there deep cleaning everything, and it was awesome.

00:14:18:11 - 00:14:19:08
Makayla Mast
That's amazing.

00:14:19:09 - 00:14:26:22
Speaker 3
So if you're thinking about a gift for someone in your life that's having a child, the deep cleaning is will be much appreciated.

00:14:27:02 - 00:14:44:13
Makayla Mast
Oh my gosh, that's genius. I'm already thinking, who can I gift that to? Because yeah, that's yeah genius. The registry tends to go fast. So like, you know, if you need other ideas. Also, if you're in the Portland metro area and you want recommendations on cleaners, you can reach out to us and we'll connect you with the people we like to use.

00:14:44:14 - 00:14:58:12
Makayla Mast
Yeah. Yeah. I feel like with infants, it's it's mostly about the, you know, the sleeping space and making sure things are clean. But also, you know, things like smoke detectors and two detectors. We want to make sure those work.

00:14:58:14 - 00:15:24:17
Speaker 3
A piece of advice that we got that I really loved was, you know, that first year baby proves the things you need to baby proof, but you can still keep portions of your home for the life. Yeah. And I thought that was really good advice, because you do want to have those spaces where people come over and it's like, oh, sorry, let me unlock this for you so you can get into the living room or whatever.

00:15:24:20 - 00:15:25:13
Makayla Mast
Toy kitchen.

00:15:25:18 - 00:15:27:03
Speaker 3
Yeah. Yeah, exactly.

00:15:27:04 - 00:15:29:08
Makayla Mast
So that is good advice I like that.

00:15:29:09 - 00:15:37:00
Speaker 3
Yeah. But once you have baby home and they become a toddler, what's the definition of a toddler when they start moving around?

00:15:37:01 - 00:15:40:04
Makayla Mast
I think so like around one when they start walking.

00:15:40:06 - 00:15:42:02
Speaker 3
Wow. That's.

00:15:42:03 - 00:15:45:09
Makayla Mast
Which seems so young, like a toddler. I would think of a two year old, but.

00:15:45:11 - 00:16:09:08
Speaker 3
Yeah, I, I was so surprised when Nicholas came home. They don't even cry. It's like a little birdie chirping. It's, it's. And then, you know, within a matter of I don't know how long all of a sudden they get their vocal cords and it's like whoa, holy smokes. What happened to my tiny little infant that barely made a little chirp?

00:16:09:10 - 00:16:10:22
Makayla Mast
You're hurting my ears, right?

00:16:10:22 - 00:16:24:15
Speaker 3
But then the next stage after that is when they start moving around and, you know, the first time they flip over or whatever, and you're saying, oh, that's so cute. And I remember my mom going, yeah, so things are about to start to get real.

00:16:24:17 - 00:16:25:05
Makayla Mast
Totally.

00:16:25:06 - 00:16:41:18
Speaker 3
And she was not kidding because toddler stage is something crazy. It is where all of a sudden you're like, oh, I'm, you know, you go from an infant where you put them down in a spot and you're doing whatever and this and that and keeping an eye on them to win their a toddler. You put them down and man.

00:16:41:19 - 00:16:42:10
Makayla Mast
All bets are.

00:16:42:10 - 00:16:52:05
Speaker 3
Off, all bets are off. And if stuff isn't locked down or exits aren't closed or whatever, boy, they gone. They're gone.

00:16:52:06 - 00:17:02:05
Makayla Mast
Yeah, they are so funny. It's so funny to watch them throw things out of, like the toy bin. You're like, why? Why are you doing that? And they don't even know. They're just checking things across the room.

00:17:02:05 - 00:17:12:17
Speaker 3
I had that one. Yeah, he had a good arm. I love your advice that you have on here. Once their mobile get down on their level and see what catches their attention. Such good advice.

00:17:12:22 - 00:17:34:07
Makayla Mast
Thanks, thanks. We were talking about this with Stephanie yesterday. Your lovely wife who gave us this idea was so smart. She said to kind of let the baby baby proof the home, which makes a lot of sense. Follow them around. You're going to be following them around anyways. You're gonna notice really quickly what they're interested in. Yeah. And what they're not.

00:17:34:09 - 00:17:43:08
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah. I was surprised at how interesting the underneath the sink was.

00:17:43:10 - 00:17:44:12
Makayla Mast
Scares me a lot.

00:17:44:13 - 00:17:59:06
Speaker 3
It's really, really, really scared me to the first time I was like, okay. Howdy doody dough. And all of a sudden he's like, opening underneath the sink where all those chemicals are and all that sort of stuff. And it was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, okay, baby, latch on that thing, right?

00:17:59:08 - 00:18:13:00
Makayla Mast
Or it goes in a new location because it is scary. I agree, I think that's one of the bigger ones. Obviously the electrical sockets, some kids are interested in that and others aren't. Just be safe by the dollar plastic thingy.

00:18:13:00 - 00:18:24:08
Speaker 3
And my kids never were. Well, I shouldn't say that. My two oldest ones, yeah. Could care less about that. Little Jimmy like to take the coverings off.

00:18:24:11 - 00:18:24:22
Makayla Mast
Oh.

00:18:25:00 - 00:18:35:08
Speaker 3
And chew on them. Awesome fun. Yeah, just like a puppy. That's crazy. Yeah. Wasn't interested in the electrical part just to cover and am going to gum on that.

00:18:35:14 - 00:18:38:07
Makayla Mast
Crazy, actually. Get that out of there.

00:18:38:08 - 00:18:40:11
Speaker 3
I know he's a weirdo.

00:18:40:13 - 00:18:43:04
Makayla Mast
He's sure cute. He turned out he turned out all right.

00:18:43:06 - 00:18:46:14
Speaker 3
Secure furniture and TV to walls. Love that.

00:18:46:15 - 00:18:47:15
Makayla Mast
Yes. Essential.

00:18:47:16 - 00:18:58:19
Speaker 3
Anything that they can pull down on themselves, they will. Because at that stage where they're trying to pull themselves up or whatever, if it's not nailed down, if they grab it, it's coming down.

00:18:58:20 - 00:19:00:00
Makayla Mast
Yes, it is.

00:19:00:01 - 00:19:00:21
Speaker 3
Which is scary.

00:19:00:22 - 00:19:14:21
Makayla Mast
It's so scary. Also, we talked about this at an inspection yesterday, but this is a very common thing that comes up on an inspection report. People often look over it because it's like an easy fix. But I'm sure you know what I'm going to say. The oven is an.

00:19:15:00 - 00:19:15:18
Speaker 3
A tip guard.

00:19:15:19 - 00:19:18:07
Makayla Mast
Yes. What is that called, some kind of bracket?

00:19:18:08 - 00:19:18:22
Speaker 3
S bracket.

00:19:18:23 - 00:19:41:04
Makayla Mast
S bracket. Well, fact check that for sure. But yeah, ovens aren't really secured in their very well. So if you are like if your baby is pulling on the oven door or falls on top of the oven door, the oven could very easily fall over onto them, which is terrifying. Yeah. So it's Oregon code to have your oven secured with that bracket we talked about in the back.

00:19:41:05 - 00:19:42:17
Makayla Mast
Not hard to do, but.

00:19:42:18 - 00:19:43:13
Speaker 3
Not hard to do.

00:19:43:13 - 00:19:47:16
Makayla Mast
But just do it before you questioning whether you should do it or not.

00:19:47:17 - 00:20:01:21
Speaker 3
Well worth it. Yes, the baby gates they make now are so much better than they used to have. Makayla, the baby gates that they used to make were also Joe proof I o the locks on those things. I'm like, is.

00:20:01:21 - 00:20:03:22
Makayla Mast
This still think that's true? Yeah.

00:20:04:02 - 00:20:07:16
Speaker 3
I like there's ones now where it's just single push and you're boop boop.

00:20:07:17 - 00:20:09:15
Makayla Mast
Okay. But then it's too easy.

00:20:09:16 - 00:20:17:00
Speaker 3
No, you push and kind of move over a little bit okay. It's a two step process, which, you know, I can do.

00:20:17:02 - 00:20:18:09
Makayla Mast
But thank goodness.

00:20:18:10 - 00:20:22:17
Speaker 3
The old ones were like, I couldn't. Maybe I'm just dumb, but.

00:20:22:20 - 00:20:40:00
Makayla Mast
No, they are freakishly hard. I was just going to say I used to nanny for this family in Southwest Portland. They had like 100 stairs and beautiful home. But I remember holding the baby and there was a little toddler and like we had to get downstairs because that's where their play area was. And I couldn't figure out the lock.

00:20:40:01 - 00:20:51:09
Makayla Mast
And I was like, they were both like screaming at me, and I couldn't figure it out. And I was like, I just climbed over it. I had to climb over it and then just walked down the stairs. Yeah, these things are tricky for sure.

00:20:51:10 - 00:21:13:10
Speaker 3
I think just doing a once over on your house is great, and love the idea of getting down on the, you know, at their level a little bit to figure it out. That's also really super handy. But yeah, I, you know, closing thoughts on this. You know, once we got over and got through the actual baby proofing, you really don't worry about it after that.

00:21:13:11 - 00:21:31:01
Speaker 3
Right? There's always a couple of surprises where you're like, well, I didn't think about that. Babies are so freaking industrious. They will do things that you're like, what just happened here? But for the most part, once you get through that initial stage, it's not hard. It's not rocket science, right? Yeah.

00:21:31:02 - 00:21:38:05
Makayla Mast
But it does take some prep, so worth thinking about. But yeah, like just alluding to it's not rocket science. Yeah, yeah, it'll be just fine.

00:21:38:08 - 00:21:52:06
Speaker 3
Just fine. I think the real challenge comes when they become toddlers. Yes. Then you're like, okay, it's game on. Yeah it is game on. You know the great thing though, Makayla, is you guys right now have a two on one double team.

00:21:52:09 - 00:21:53:03
Makayla Mast
We do.

00:21:53:04 - 00:22:07:16
Speaker 3
Right. You guys can go. You know when it gets to be two v2 and you're man to man so to speak right. That's more challenging. The third you're in a zone defense. And sometimes it's just crazy.

00:22:07:19 - 00:22:13:22
Makayla Mast
Totally. Exactly. I don't know if I'm ready for that one step at a time because that does break me out, I agree.

00:22:13:23 - 00:22:33:04
Speaker 3
Hey, another thing to think about is if you are planning on having a family or you're, you know, getting ready to have that family tell your broker, right. Because that helps them become a little bit more aware of, oh, okay, this is in the mix. And maybe we should start thinking about different things when it comes to the search or whatever.

00:22:33:04 - 00:22:39:14
Makayla Mast
So yeah, you don't want to be super pregnant and and trying to make a move.

00:22:39:16 - 00:22:41:07
Speaker 3
I've seen it happens.

00:22:41:11 - 00:22:50:16
Makayla Mast
It does. And it it just adds to the stress. There's already a lot going on. If you can avoid it, you know, things happen for sure. But, you can be prepared.

00:22:50:17 - 00:23:09:00
Speaker 3
Yeah. Okay. So that is baby proofing. And, you know, not a lot to be said about that, but we thought we'd have fun with this and kind of throw it out there for you. Hopefully you picked a nugget or two out of there, but, we are oh. We need to talk about what we're loving right now.

00:23:09:02 - 00:23:10:07
Makayla Mast
You should go first, since I'm.

00:23:10:07 - 00:23:19:00
Speaker 3
Afraid I will go first because I just got back. I'm loving vacation. I hadn't had a real vacation in a while.

00:23:19:00 - 00:23:20:04
Makayla Mast
Yes. No, you have not.

00:23:20:05 - 00:23:41:22
Speaker 3
And, yeah, we've been grinding. We went down to Florida, did a cruise, my mom's birthday, the whole thing. It's just so nice to be in the sun knowing that things are taken care of. Thank you very much. You and Rica and Laura. Holy smokes. Thank you guys. Really appreciate it. But that's I love a good vacation. So yeah that's my.

00:23:41:22 - 00:23:50:12
Makayla Mast
Love work life balance. You've taught me that I think it's important. So I'm glad you're fine. Yeah. Come home. Thank you. You are tan I haven't I?

00:23:50:14 - 00:23:59:09
Speaker 3
Yeah. I don't usually get tan. I got the usual red, but then it kind of morphed over and didn't really get to burned.

00:23:59:11 - 00:23:59:22
Makayla Mast
So surprised.

00:24:00:00 - 00:24:07:17
Speaker 3
Didn't read the sun down there. We were in the Bahamas. Good Lord, that is some intense.

00:24:07:19 - 00:24:11:05
Makayla Mast
I expected a pretty bad sunburn out. You. Honestly.

00:24:11:06 - 00:24:17:00
Speaker 3
No, I limited myself. You know, when you can hear the sizzle, you know, you got to kind of get out of the sun.

00:24:17:00 - 00:24:17:11
Makayla Mast
That's true.

00:24:17:12 - 00:24:17:22
Speaker 3
That's true.

00:24:17:22 - 00:24:19:11
Makayla Mast
Yeah. Good. Well, I'm glad you're home.

00:24:19:12 - 00:24:19:19
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:24:19:19 - 00:24:25:17
Makayla Mast
Thank you. Glad you loved it. I'm loving this little podcast space that we're in. Yeah. It's cute.

00:24:25:17 - 00:24:33:19
Speaker 3
I do like it as well. And, you know what? Hopefully we get to use the space more, and, because it's super comfortable and convenient.

00:24:33:20 - 00:24:40:17
Makayla Mast
Yes. Shout out to my brother in law who built this space because he has another baby on the way.

00:24:40:19 - 00:24:44:00
Speaker 3
Nice. Very nice. Well, we'll have to send them the pod.

00:24:44:01 - 00:24:47:00
Makayla Mast
Yes we will. Well, thank you so much for listening.

00:24:47:00 - 00:24:48:12
Speaker 3
Thanks, guys. Have a great day.

00:24:48:13 - 00:25:02:17
Makayla Mast
Bye. Thanks for joining us today. If you're interested in finding out more about Joe, myself or the livPortland team, you can go to livPortland. Thanks for giving us a listen and see you next time on the Off the Record podcast.