Small Business Saturday || Tiny Tribe Apparel

There’s something to be said for those willing to take on the inevitable hardships and joys that come with owning a small business, and Amanda Pennington of Tiny Tribe Apparel  is no exception. I knew that after I re-branded our family lifestyle blog that I wanted to pay tribute to the men and women who are the heart and soul of what being an American is all about, free enterprise. I first met Amanda through Instagram where I immediately fell in love with her adorable hand drawn t-shirt designs. (2 AM Instagram shopping at its finest people.)

Tiny Tribe Apparel was born when Amanda was inspired by the idea of being free.  She wants people who wear her designs to “feel trendy and true to themselves”. Although she’s only been in business for a little over a month, the planning that has gone into making Tiny Tribe Apparel a reality has been in the works for over a year!

For those of you who have toyed with the idea of starting a small business, Amanda’s biggest piece of advice is to “plan, plan, plan!” Use social media to connect with other like-minded entrepreneurs and find out what they did to get to where they are today. It takes a village to own and run a company, and having a solid support system is essential to taking your dreams from the planning  stages to reality.

Amanda has big plans in-store for Tiny Tribe Apparel.  One day she wants to have her own domain name and an office that’s not in her living room! OH, and SPOILER ALERT, she has plans in the works to design more than just tee’s! Not to mention a few new tee designs that recently dropped in her shop! 

It’s hard finding quality items that are affordable, AND stylish. Not to mention the fact that I get to MATCH my little mini….I’ll take twenty please! ;) Allison and I are so thankful to have had the opportunity to partner with this sweet lady and her ‘Tiny Tribe’ to share her passion with all of you! To celebrate, Amanda is offering all of you a 10% discount off of your purchase! Just enter HERITAGE10 at checkout. The discount code ends at midnight on Sunday.

Well. What are you waiting for? Head on over to Tiny Tribe Apparel and use that discount.

The post is sponsored in part by Tiny Tribe Apparel, all thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you all for supporting the small businesses that make this blog possible! 

The Joys of Motherhood || "Kids Say/Do the Darndest Things" Edition

Motherhood is full of joy and lots of wine but I wouldn't change any of it for a second (OK maybe a second, but I want it back :) ) This post is inspired by Allison and the many shenanigans and oh-so-funny things that she says. I wish I would have started documenting these things sooner, but better late than never!

"kkkyy": What Allison says when the sun is in her eyes and she refuses to put her sunglasses on.

"Leett Gooo!": When Charles or I have something Allison wants and we won't give it to her! She's a girl on a mission and knows what she wants!

"I Love Lou": Simple but effective. *swoon*

"Get Up!": Every morning Allison will come into our room and grab mine or Charles' face and tell us to 'get up!'. There's no time for sleeping apparently.

"Sit, Sit": Whether it be the recliner, bed, chair, or floor, when Allison wants you to sit by her, you sit.

"Nack": This is becoming one of my least favorite words she says. She says it ALL THE TIME. I swear she never stops eating. From the time her eyes open to the time her eyes close, she is constantly asking for a "nack" (snack). I promise we feed her!

"Patti!": I don't know why she does this, but she started calling me by my first name. I blame daddy.

"Penpens": Allison LOVES the Madagascar Penguins! I'm so thankful that Amazon Prime has actual episodes instead of the holiday shorts. I'm pretty sure I would have gone insane if I had to watch 'Madagascar Penguins Christmas Caper" one more time.

The other day when I was cooking dinner I gave Allison some yogurt to tide her over,  little did I know that her little toddler brain had other plans in mind for her 'nack'. It should have clicked in my head that when she kept getting off of the chair and walking around with her yogurt cup and spoon she was up to something. Next thing I know, she's in the corner feeding the cat yogurt like a baby. Sound effects and all.

Speaking of the cat, a few days ago Charlotte would NOT.STOP.MEOWING. It was driving me bonkers because I couldn't figure out what her issue was. She had food, water, and I had just cleaned her littler box out, but she kept incessantly meowing! So I go check her food, water, and litter box one more time...before I go any further I have to tell you a little about Allison and Charlotte's relationships. It's so sweet, Charlotte will scratch the dogs eyes out but will let Allison lay all over her and basically squish her eyeballs out. So how does Allison repay Charlotte for her incredible generosity? By shoving five pairs of Charles' boxers in her litter box so she can't use it. Source of incessant meowing found.

I absolutely love being a mom and even though her antics sometimes drive me crazy, I cherish each and every one!

Happy Tuesday!!

Oh Hey, Friday || Spring Favorites

I have to admit, I love having a little girl! It's so fun to see what each season brings in terms of fashion. No, Allison is NOT the most fashion forward little princess but I do love to 'window' shop. Right now these are some of my favorites! Coral is definitely in for the spring summer and I'm so excited, because well let's face it, it's SO pretty. What outfits are your favorites for the summer?

ONE//TWO//THREE//FOUR//FIVE

 

Cloth Diaper Journey: Part One

      Before Allison was born, I played with the idea of cloth diapering her but ultimately decided against it and chose to use disposables. Until recently. I know, I know, it sounds kind of silly to start cloth diapering when your baby is almost two, but Charles and I knew that we were (Lord willing) going to have another kiddo, and since Allison is nowhere near ready to potty train, we decided we might as well give it a shot. Let me tell ya, I'm so mad we didn't start sooner!! Sure I gagged the first time she had a poppy diaper and thought 'what the hell am I doing?', but I haven't looked back since.

     There are a million reasons people choose to cloth diaper, ours was purely economical. We were spending approximately $35 on disposable diapers A MONTH. I didn't really think anything of it until I was talking with a co-worker about how her daughter didn't have any interest until the age of 3.5 (despite her bribing & prodding) to use the 'big girl potty'. I quickly did the math on how much we were going to potentially spend between now and 3.5 and the number made me sick to my stomach ($630 if you were wondering). I get even sicker thinking about how much we have spent on disposables from birth to 20 months.

     I started really researching and reaching out to some of my friends I knew who cloth diapered and asked for tips, tricks, and suggestions. I was overwhelmed with all of the information out there and began narrowing down what I thought would work best for our family! Before I overwhelm you with the multitude of different options there are regarding cloth diapering (Part Two), I will tell you what we decided on.

     We chose to use pocket diapers because they are very similar to disposables in the way you put them on and I can add additional absorbency layers if I need to. Once I knew that I wanted to use pocket diapers, I started looking at brands. The most popular brands (the Mercedes of cloth diapers if you will) are Bumgenius, Grovia, and Blueberry. Diapers from those brands typically run between $18 & $30 a PIECE. I could NOT justify that in anyway so I looked into different brands and fell in love with Alva's. AlvaBaby is a company based out of China and although the diapers come in at a whopping $4 a piece they are so incredibly well made that I can't for the life of me figure out why more people don't use them! Sure they don't have as cute of prints or colors as Bumgenius or Grovia but for something that is just going to be pooped & peed in, I don't really care.

      I ended up spending a grand total of about $200 to build our "stash". For that I got 20 pocket diapers, 4 travel wet bags (this is where the dirty cloth diapers go when you're out and about), a large wet bag and  pail (to store dirty diapers in at home), and a couple of different kinds of laundry soaps. So for $200 we will finish diapering Allison until she is potty trained and diaper the next baby until he or she is also potty trained! Um...WINNING!!! Can you see now why I'm so mad we didn't start sooner? 

The part about cloth diapers that scared me the absolute most was the washing routine, it seemed so incredibly complicated! But like most things, it takes practice and trial and error to find the perfect wash routine that is going to get your diapers smelling clean and fresh every time. I used the website Fluff Love University, to learn what kinds of detergent to use, and to get my washing routine down. Now that I know what I'm doing, I wash once every 3 or 4 days and from start to finish it takes about an hour and  half to two hours! Not to shabby. Also, our water bill and electricity bill hasn't gone up even a cent! 

Added benefit: this adorable little fluff butt! Seriously, isn't she the cutest!? 

If you have any questions about cloth diapering or the process please don't hesitate to ask! 

DIY: Coffee Tray & Coffee Storage

For those of you who don't know, my husband is a coffee fanatic, snob, connoisseur, or whatever word you want to call an over obsessive, coffee lovin' fella. Since his coffee making stuff is literally in every cabinet, drawer, and on every inch of counter space in our kitchen, I decided I would make him a nifty little tray to try and contain some of the madness. I got the idea originally from Pinterest after seeing people use trays for different storage and decorating solutions and thought it would be a great DIY project.

For this project you will need: 

Sand Paper 

Wood Stain or Paint

Wood Glue

Measuring Tape

Straight Edge

Pen or Pencil

Nail Gun/Hammer & Nails 

Saw

2- Door Pulls 

2- 1x6 

1-1x12

And the most important.....a cute little assistant. 

After you've cut and assembled all sides, go ahead and stain! Once it's dry mark your holes and drill for the handles. 

For the coffee storage, I wanted to have a way to relabel them every time Charles roasted a new "flavor"! Naturally, chalk is perfect for this!!

I hope you enjoyed this DIY! Let me see your versions!!

Veggie Pizza

Charles and I could eat pizza for literally every meal but our pants would rather us not! So I finally decided that it was time to branch out and try some healthier alternatives to our favorite foods. This idea is obviously not new but I thought I'd share our version! 

Ingredients 

Whole Wheat Pita Bread or Flat Bread

Pizza Sauce, we love Classico Fire Roasted Pizza Sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Toppings of your choice (we went with red bell peppers, olives, & jalapenos!) 

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400°F. While preheating, start assembling your personal pizza!The possibilities are endless.  This is a great activity for those exuberant little sous chefs I know you all have! ;) Once you've loaded your pizza it's time to put it in the oven. I used our round pizza stone but you can use a regular baking sheet or even place them right on the oven racks. Set your timer for 10 minutes and wah-lah! A quick and yummy favorite the whole family can enjoy! 

I'll admit it's still not as healthy as a salad, but it's better than all the bacon, sausage, and pepperoni I usually load mine up with. *drool* 

We're Back!!

Many of you probably know that Charles and I made the difficult but exciting decision to sell our beautiful new home and move to the big city of Houston this past year; for those of you who don't, we moved. I am so happy to say that we are finally settled enough for me to start blogging again. It has been waaaay to long! I have some really exciting posts planned and can't wait to get back into the swing of things! 

First things first, let me tell you all about our almost TWO year old! I can hardly believe it!

Allison is exhausting, stubborn, beautiful, and extraordinary. I thank God every single day for blessing me with such an incredible little girl. 

She is talking in small sentences, knows all of the basic colors and shapes, and she can bust a move. Uptown Funk is played on loop in our house. 

We are pumped and ready to go! I hope you all have a spectacular week!