An Update and an Apology!

Dear Readers,

Back when I started this blog, I had a goal to write once a week, if not more. That lasted for like...a month. Life got in the way and business started growing like crazy, and this blog got put on the back burner.

I happened to check on pinterest and found that people were pinning my items, and more importantly, asking questions! I told my husband I had 5000 page views (!!) and I've decided to make this blog a priority.

So here's what's been happening with Weighted Creations!

**When I first started this, I thought, "One or two orders a month will be okay." HA! Right now,
I'm averaging about 4+ a day. With Christmas coming up, I've been slammed with orders. We're talking of having a list of 100 weighted blankets that need to be shipped the week before Christmas!!

** I've hired a couple people to help sew and fill. My husband thinks I need to hire another person that sews so I can focus more on the emails, etc.

**A nursing home reached out to me and ordered quite a few weighted blankets to help with the elderly. The feedback was amazing and they sent out an email to the other centers in the state, who all ended up ordering a couple to try out. This was an amazing accomplishment for me!

** I have a website that's ready to go live....but I can't seem to push the button :( Darn nerves!


I just want to apologize to anyone who left comments and didn't hear back. I'm going to try harder, promise!

Make sure you check out my facebook page: Weighted Creations

Bye!

Busy.

It’s been about a month since I’ve actually sat down and wrote something. Lately, I’ve been so busy. Busy with appointments, busy with family, and very busy with orders. I’ve always said that my goal was to get 2 orders a month, but my customers are awesome and I have been getting 2 or more orders a day! So a huge THANK YOU to all of you!!

A couple of weeks ago, we traveled to town to have our first meeting with the autism clinic. This is the closest place to get the actual diagnosis for our two older kids, without having to travel to Salt Lake City. At this appointment, they asked about 200 questions for each child. They asked if we wanted them to check for autism, and I said yes. Kayleigh had no pointers, but Damien had quite a few. We have 2 more appointments and then in early May, we get the official diagnosis. I’m a little nervous, but am looking forward to the results.

 It seems like most days, I sit at my sewing machine all day and just work on orders. Here are some of my favorites I've done! If you follow my facebook page, you have already seen these!

These aren't all of them! I can't wait to show you some more!

The Reason I'll Never Use Organic Materials

I've been thinking alot about what to write about. Do I stick to just sensory processing disorder? Do I talk about daily life? What?! And then, I had something brought to my attention, and I knew that was what my next post will be about.

I'm going to talk about why Poly-Pellets are the best thing to put in a weighted blanket, lap pad, etc, instead of organic foods; rice, corn, or beans.

 I've done ALOT of research on poly pellets and this is what I've found:

1. Out of everything you could put in the blanket for weight, poly-pellets are the BEST. Poly pellets (polypropylene) will not melt in the washer  and you can throw them in the dryer! It's best to stay away from corn, beans, rice, or even aquarium rocks. Reason being- the corn, beans, and rice could get moldy... (tender subject for me, more on that later) and aquarium rocks could rip the fabric of the blanket.

 2. To go along the lines of #1- while organic materials are readily available (corn, rice, beans) and inexpensive, eventually over time they will break down and rot, they'll create a dust that will get all over the blanket or lap pad, etc. BUT, you can't wash it off!  If you get this dust wet by washing it, mold or mildew will grow.

3.  Don't put metal rings in the blanket! I know some people want add more weight but they want it to be cheap. Metal rings are loud and will make a noise when they hit each other. Poly pellets are extremely small (see picture) and don't make alot of noise. I can't imagine sleeping with metal in a blanket, personally. I think it would be uncomfortable.

I know weighted blankets are expensive, trust me, I know! That's why I started this little business. I wanted to make things cheaper for families that needed it.

Now, why is mold such a touchy subject to me? Well, I'll tell you.

Two years ago, we lived in Montana. My husband was working over in North Dakota in the oil fields, and we were SO happy!  We had it all; a great paying job that took my husband to work for a week and then he was home for a week, and the house we LOVED. We talked numerous times about buying it...

 We lived in a canyon with the river on one side of us and the mountians on the other. During the summer, we would see a mama bear with 2 cubs come down on the mountain and walk the base of it..
The house was part of a small subdivision. There were 7 other houses around us, each on an acre. But this one was the only one with a finished basement. When it came open for rent, we snatched it up. It was to die for! There were 5 bedrooms, including a huge master bedroom and bathroom, (I still miss it dearly), as well a 3 1/2 bathrooms. The basement was huge and we had all the toys down there with my craft room and our entertainment area.

Shortly after we moved in, Damien, who was 15 months at the time, started getting ear infections. Every week we were at the doctor, and everytime he had an ear infection. We tried every antibiotic and even resorted to the steroid shots. But nothing would kill it. This was at the crucial time where he should have been talking.

A couple months later, in May, we welcomed our son Brody into the world. He was always a loud breather, and sometimes still is. When he was 6 weeks old, he got a cold, but it sounded like he had a sore throat. I took him to the doctor on a Monday and they just said he had a virus, but it couldn't be treated, it had to run it's course. But the doctor said, "if he gets a fever of 100.3, get to the ER right away."

You know what's coming, don't you?

He never got better that week, but he never developed a fever. So by Friday, I was still worried about him, and took him to my pediatrician again. The nurse weighed and measured him, and then took his temp... 100.5. She ran out of the room...literally ran, and the doctor came running in. She looked at him, and said, "We need to get him over to the hospital. He'll be staying there getting tests done for a few days. We need to find out why he's sick."

I was scared. The doctor had no idea why he was sick. I had 2 little kids with me, and worst of all, my husband was in North Dakota working, and had no way home. Luckily, I called a friend who showed up and took my two kids for the weekend.

I remember walking into the pediatric floor and the doctor and nurse were standing at the door and grabbed Brody from me and ran to the room. They immediatly started tests. There was the urine test, where they had to insert a catheter. Blood work, where they had to draw blood from his head since they couldn't find a vein in his arm, and a spinal tap. It was horrible.

You can see where they drew blood- see the bandaid near the mattress?

That whole weekend, I sat in the room with him. We did x-rays, more blood work, etc. But there were never any answers.

We were released a couple days later with no answers and went home. A couple months later, Kayleigh got sick. She had a horrible cough and she complained it hurt to breathe. We took her to the doctor and did breathing treatments. The doctor talked about asthma and prescribed an inhaler. She even sent us home with antibiotics and breathing treatments. Nothing worked. Finally, after a couple weeks of this going on, we had x rays done on her lungs, but they were clear. Another sickness with no answers.

These illnesses went on all summer and Damien ended up having to have emergency surgery to have tubes put in his ears. The doctor told me that they were the worst he has ever seen.

I was so sick of going to the doctor multiple times a week, never getting answers. It wasn't my doctor's fault, she just had no idea what was causing these problems! On the drive home, which was 30 miles, I finally broke down and prayed. I remember pleading, "Please help me! Please let me know what's causing our kids to be so sick." And as if someone was sitting in the seat next to me, I heard, "it's the house."

It made sense. My kids were healthy until we moved into the house. But then I felt sick to my stomach. How did I not know?

I called a friend who built houses and talked to him about what was going on. He told me to call another friend who has worked for a company that took care of fire, water, mold restoration. He came out that day and offered to take a look at the house. On our way into the basement, he stopped and said, "notice that smell?" I always noticed that smell, it was musty, like a basement. But then he said, "have you had any water damage down here?" The whole time we were there, there was never any leaks. But when I toured it, there was a machine down in the basement running, and it was to suck water out of the air. I didn't think anything of it, nor had the property manager.

He walked around and noticed some slight discoloration along the bottom trim and said there had been a water leak  someplace. He went into a bedroom, that my sister happened to be staying in at the time, and underneath a window noticed the color was a little worse. He asked if he could pull back the trim and I said sure. When he did that, there was black mold behind it. He knew that if he was to cut into the wall, that there would be lots more. He had found the problem.

This bedroom was right underneath our kids bedroom and when the air conditioner was on, it blew air up into the kids room, so they were breathing in the air that had mold in it. Luckily, it was during the summer, and we had our windows open alot and the kids were outside most of the day, otherwise, it could have been alot worse.

Our property manager had someone come out and test the mold, as well as the water in the carpet throughout the house. We were told we would hear the results in a couple days. My husband was home during this time and we went to Spokane for the day. When we got home, we had a voicemail and it was our property manager. The results were back and we were told in an urgent voice, "pack a bag of clothes and get out of the house!"

To shorten the story, we were homeless. For a month we stayed at different places; my parents, we went to Seattle to visit family, hotels, etc. Finally a deal was made with the landlord. He would take care of our stuff, getting everything professionally clean, reimburse us for alot of things, pay for us to move, etc. It was either that or head to court.

I know what mold can do to you. I saw it firsthand. Why would you buy a blanket made of corn, beans, or rice and risk the potential risks? Personally, I think it's a waste of money.

I'm not trying to harp on the people that have these types of blankets or lap pads, but PLEASE know the risks.

Damien's Experience with a Weighted Blanket

It's been on my list of "things to do" for months,  but I never had enough pellets or I was busy with another order. But earlier this week, I didn't have any orders and I had 5 pounds of pellets on hand, so I made him a weighted blanket. 

I have loved this fabric when someone first ordered a dinosaur blanket and knew I wanted it for my kids.

The first night he wasn't so sure about it. He didn't want it on him so I made it into a game. I showed him how soft the green fabric was, and he started petting it. Then I showed him the dinosaurs and we played the "find the blue dinosaur" game. After a few minutes, I slowly put it on him and watched as he got comfortable. You could see his little body relax. I left the room and five minutes later went in to check on him, and was surprised to find him asleep. Most nights, it takes an hour or so for him to fall asleep and he wakes up 3-4 times a night to come in bed with me.

That night, he slept all night and I was so happy. He wanted his blanket all morning and we took it to our therapy appointments with us. Last night, he went to bed with it and fell asleep fast again and even slept in this morning. 

While I was cleaning the house, he layed on the couch with his blanket and watched a few shows. 

This weighted blanket has been a life saver this week. I felt like I had a new baby, getting up as much as I did.  Now, he'll drag it out of his room and just sit with it on the couch. Now, I have to make his sister one :)

The New Preschool

A couple days after I took Damien out of preschool at the local university, I looked into an elementary school that my daughter had gone to. They help kids with special needs. My kids had to take the PLS 5 test and if they were under the 7%, then they qualified to go to school for free and were able to have a bus pick them up and bring them home.

We scheduled Damien to take the test 3 weeks ago and he qualified for his speech and language. He's at 3% for his expressive language, or equivilant to a 1 year 11 month old. 

While this may be surprising to you, I wasn't surprised at all.

 

Once his teacher called us, we needed to have him observed. She told us she has him come preschool for two weeks so she can see what he needs help with. He did great the first week and loved going to school! His class size was half the size, and it was structured. The second day he went, he had a short tantrum, but the teachers had him calmed down within two minutes and he was even sitting during story time. I was so happy! 

The next week he did okay. The parents have to wait in the lobby for the teachers to bring the students out. I was sitting there, not paying attention, and all of a sudden Damien was in front of me with his teacher. I was surprised, and then noticed his eyes were red. My heart hurt for him. You could tell he was sad and having a hard time. His teacher quietly said,"Could you come with me?"

As I followed her to a more private spot, she simply said, "I now know what you mean about his meltdowns."  In a way I was glad she saw one. But at the same time, I was sad that something happened to cause this. She told me that he was having a hard day and things just escalated when it got noisy during clean up. She took him out in the hall to get him to calm down. He sat in the hall with her for 20 minutes. She asked him if he wanted a snack. He said no. She asked him if he wanted to go back into the classroom. He said no. She accidently touched him to sooth him, and he didn't like that. Finally he said, "I want my mom."

We had our IEP meeting later that afternoon and I was worried he wouldn't want to go to the school, or see his teacher. But he was excited. We talked about what to do and the goals he was going to work on. I truly feel like this is the best thing for him, and that he'll get the help he needs. He'll be going to this school for two more years and I'm even thinking about requesting the same teacher. 

One day, we'll figure him out.

Etsy Shop!

Did you see?!?!?! 

My Etsy Shop is now open! 

You can find it by clicking on the right side bar that says Etsy Shop. It will take you right to it. Right now I only have pictures up of items I have made in the past. If you click on the picture, it will bring it up with other pictures, and you can find prices for different sizes/weights. 

If you are interested in ordering anything, send me an email! I usually get back to you within an hour. 

Don't know what you would like? That's ok! I have had a couple mothers tell me to just pick out something.

I hope you have an awesome day!

My Support Group

I remember there was one day last year, where I took Damien to the doctor and after a little bit, my doctor looked at me and said, "Jeri, do you have the support that you need? Do you belong to a support group yet?" 

I remember thinking, "No. Not really." I didn't want to go to weekly meetings and talk to a bunch of strangers about the problems we were facing. It would be just another thing to add to my  huge list of things to do during the week! 

But then I thought about it. I don't need to belong to a support group that meets every week, I already had one. I had my sister-in-law. She had some of the same things going on and had been dealing with a couple kids and disorders already for a couple of years. In fact, when I started noticing the changes in Damien, she was the one that mentioned sensory processing disorder. I know I can call her anytime, whether its for advice, or to vent about frustrations. 

I have my family. I can call any one of them and just talk. And sometimes  that's all I need.

I have the speech and occupational therapists that we work with. I've found that if you have some great therapists, ones that aren't just there to help your kids, but also there to talk to, it will help alot. We probably spend the first 10-15 minutes talking about the frustrations or triumphs of the week. 

You don't need to belong to a real "support group." As long as you have friends to talk to, friends that understand what you're going through, that's all you need. 

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