Introducing you to Pekpi Mumma - Brooke Richie. Brooke and her partner Nathan share two gorgeous boys - Acre who is two and a half and six month old bub Tallow. Just like our founders, Brooke and her lovely young family reside on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland and we love to follow her sunny lifestyle that she so beautifully documents on her Instagram.
After her first role as mum, Brooke also lends her creative eye to two businesses alongside her content creation - Sundae Interiors her interior design studio and Bouncinette Baby Bouncers. We are so grateful to have borrowed Brooke from her busy schedule to chat family life, baby essentials and their household's approach to conscious living.
Brooke's bub, Tallow, wears the Nomad Swim Nappy.
What does a typical day in the life look like for you?
Our typical day involves mum-life of course! Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and multiple day snacks, washing and daily chores, lots of content creation for my personal instagram, interior styling projects for Sundae Interiors alongside my other small business ‘Bouncinette’. This keeps me well and truly busy as a mama, I love being busy.
We also live the FIFO (fly in, fly out) life 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off which is challenging. We began this when I was 12 weeks pregnant with Acre.
What is your favourite thing about the stages of life your children are currently at?
I love the newborn stage and struggle to accept my boys are growing up (way too fast I might add!) but I also am loving the 2 year old stage minus the tantrums! I love being able to interact with Acre now, it feels like yesterday he was just a baby so this time around I am really trying to soak up the younger newborn days with tallow before they fly by.
What are your top three newborn essentials?
The Pekpi lifestyle is all about the journey to sustainable living. What are some of the ways you try to be more eco-friendly as a young family?
We try to be as eco-friendly as we can in our home, such as investing in eco cling wrap and reusable products for our pantry and fridge, including all of our groceries etc. We also try to buy second hand before new, giving clothes another chance at life instead of landfill.
Do you have any eco-friendly baby or toddler essentials?
Bubba organics for baby wash
Eco washing detergents
Bath toys that are made from eco materials
An assortment of Baby clothes that are organic or made from recycled materials
We adore your minimalist aesthetic, what is it about this pared-back style that you are drawn to? How do you go about maintaining this with small children?
Thank you, I just like to keep things minimal. The less the better. The less items and more sustainable items the less you need in your home. Pepki reusable Swim Nappies are a great example. You could be buying a 10 pack of swim nappies for every swim class but switching to reusable means no landfill, you can just wash and wear.
Don’t get me wrong, we do still have a lot of colourful toys- not everything is neutral in our home but most of it is. I never want the boys to grow up looking at just neutral toy because it suits ‘my aesthetic’ so they see and have a lot of colourful toys too which is important for their development.
What is your favourite mum-hack?
We store all of our reusable silicone bibs on the back of the high hair on a command hook to make life easier at dinner times. We also have a storage box in the boot called our emergency box. It’s filled with a first aid kit, nappies, clothes for the boys, sunscreen etc, so if we forget something when we go out we always have backup.
What would we find in your mum-bag?
Nappies, Baby balm, 2-3 sets of clothes, a baby toy, portable white noise machine.
The best advice I could give to a first time mum…
Is never to read books and never wake a sleeping baby... that is my own personal opinion. Always go with your own instinct, it’s crazy how strong our motherly instincts are and they are usually right too! Every baby is different. A book is usually written according to personal experience (no one can ‘teach’ you how to be a mum). At the end of the day do the best you can, don’t compare yourself. All we want for our kids is happiness if we can make sure they’re bathed, fed and happy - what more could they want!
Thanks again to Brooke for sharing with us.
You can follow Brooke and her family's adventures here.