Just realized I never updated status of Teddy’s Transplant

It was cancelled about 15 hours before it was scheduled to start. We were extremely disappointed. Some of Teddy’s pre-transplant labs came back with concerning results and doctors (from new specialties) are trying to figure out what’s going on in his little body and if it’s safe to proceed with the transplant. In the meantime, we’re back to business as usual.

Welcome to Iowa

An amazing number of friends and customers have commented that this will be their first summer in the Midwest. Here’s Wallypop’s Handy and Only Slightly Sarcastic Guide to Summer Weather in Iowa.

1. There is either a drought or flooding. There is no middle ground.

2. A tornado watch means that conditions are right for a tornado to develop. A synonym for “tornado watch” is “late spring and summer.”

3. A tornado warning means there either is an actual tornado that someone trained has seen with their eyes, or they’ve seen one on radar. The tornado may or may not be on the ground. It may or may not be anywhere near you – just in your same county. Depending on the size and shape of your county, you may or may not be in any actual danger. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, however.

4. You might think that the distinction above about trained storm spotters is silly. It’s not. For fun, tune into AM 1040 during/after a storm some time when they open the lines up to callers to report in local weather conditions. You’ll learn quickly why you really only take the word of trained storm spotters seriously.

5. Tornado sirens are for the SOLE purpose of warning people who are outside to hustle inside and turn on the radio or TV. You’re not supposed to be able to hear them from indoors, and you’re not supposed to rely on them as your only source of information.

6. Your weather radio is a blessing and a curse. Yes, it’s good to know if there’s a tornado bearing down on your house at 2 am. However, you likely don’t care much if there’s a flood watch for your county at 2 am. Your weather radio will alert you regardless.

7. Find a safe place in your basement where you will go during a tornado warning. Preferably well under ground, no or few windows, sturdy structure. Clear it of things that could become airborne menaces during high wind, and make yourself a little safe cave. In your cave, keep a cordless radio with fresh batteries, some food and water, a pair of shoes for everyone in the family, a change of clothes for the whole family, baby items like diapers if you have a baby, a baby carrier even if you no longer have a baby, and whatever else you think you might need. Our tornado area has a Rubbermaid with medical and first aid supplies, some basic tools like a hammer and axe, and other things that I think we’d need in the event our house collapsed around us. Bike helmets are not a bad idea to keep your noggin safe.

8. Have a plan. Practice your plan. Have a plan for what you’ll do if you’re home and there’s a tornado warning. Practice it with your kids. Have a plan for how you’ll contact your family members if you/they are not home and there is a tornado. It’s a good idea to establish a central point of contact away from your immediate area -  a family member in another state for example. If a tornado were to strike, local circuits would quickly be overwhelmed, but it would be easier to reach someone outside the area. (If my husband and I are unable to reach other during any local disaster, we’d first try reaching each other through a friend of mine who lives about 40 minutes away, and our secondary contact is my sister in Omaha.)

Here’s more:
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/tornadoes/during.asp

Customs and Made to Orders

Right now, there is NO CURRENT WAITING LIST for made to orders and Customs. However, I have a string of emails and private messages asking about getting one before Teddy’s transplant. I’ve basically said that I’ll have time, but if EVERYONE who has emailed me about it places their actual orders at the same time, there’s almost no chance I’ll get to them all.

SO. If you would DEFINITELY or even PROBABLY like me to make you something custom or made to order BEFORE we shut down again (temporarily) for Teddy’s transplant, please actually reserve your custom spot here.  That will help me organize my time most efficiently and make sure I get to everyone who wants something.

Thanks so much!!

It is not a bother!

“I know you’re so busy…”

Let’s get this out of the way. Yeah, I am busy. More so now. Life is crazy and unpredictable. Teddy needs a lot more time and attention than most 1 year olds.

However, I would not be open if I didn’t have time to take care of my customers. Also, not to be wierd, but we could use the income from Wallypop, which is not a hobby, but a legitimate business and an essential part of our family budget.

So, yes, I am busy. But I am also capable of taking care of business, and capable of saying no if needed. So please don’t feel like you can’t ask me to get, pack up, make, or do something for you.

Changes made at Wallypop Diapering

As you know, things are changing around here. We’re planning to open back up on January 7, but you’ll find a slightly different Wallypop.

At Wallypop Diapering, like at Wallypop Babywearing, the main changes are related to our product line-up.

First, Naturally Luxe is out of business, so once we sell through all of our lanolin products, they’re gone. We’re sort of lucky (or you’re sort of lucky) that we’ve been mostly closed since they closed down, so we’ve still got quite a bit of inventory here.

I’ve cut out All in One diapers. I hate them. I just do not like All in Ones as a general rule, and I never have. I stink at selling them because of this. I also don’t enjoy making them. So, when I was looking to cut down on the number of products I offer, AIOs were an obvious choice.

Less obvious, Woolies Longies and Shorties. These are our Recycled Wool pants and shorts. In my current life, I don’t have time to shower daily, let alone load up all three kids and take them to Goodwill to look for secondhand sweaters. It breaks my heart, since the Longies and Shorties were among my first products, and they are some of my strongest sellers, but they have to go, at least for now.

Along those lines, Namies Woolies are on clearance and won’t be restocked. These were knit by my mom before she died, and are stored in the same box as the Longies and Shorties, so if they’re going, the Woolies will go, too.

Prefolds won’t be restocked when I sell through my current inventory. They’ve been more and more challenging to import the last 2 years, and at the present time, I just don’t feel like investing the time and effort to keep them in stock.

Basic Covers have been pulled, as well. Those are a CPSIA violation. (The PUL on the inside of the covers is exposed and is not an exempt fiber, so I’d have to have it lab tested. Not worth the expense or effort.)

I believe that’s it for product changes.

Changes Made at Wallypop Babywearing

As you know, things are changing around here. We’re planning to open back up on January 7, but you’ll find a slightly different Wallypop.

At Wallypop Babywearing, the main changes are with our product lineup.

I’m no longer going to be making Fleece or Cotton Pouches or Versa Carry Wraps.

It’s funny how much babywearing has changed since I started. 8 years ago, pouches were The Carrier Of Choice. Only a very few of us wore wraps, and the super padded Over The Shoulder Baby Holder type slings were quite popular. Pouches were all the rage. Today’s babywearer is generally a bit more adventurous, more willing to try out a wrap, less likely to be intimidated by one. Pouches aren’t as popular. But they are bulky, so they eat up a lot of space on my shelves. They’re also sized, so maintaining a nice variety of sizes and prints is more of a challenge than with the nonsized products.

I will still absolutely be making pouches Made to Order or Custom, so if you have your heart set on one of our awesome pouches, don’t fret!

I’ve decided to cut out the Versa Carry wraps mainly because it’s getting hard to find fabric for them. However, if you find fabric that you love and want it made into a wrap, I am happy to do that for you. In the meantime, we still carry the Wrapsody brand wraps, which are completely awesome wraps at a much more affordable price than the ridiculously-priced wraps that are out there, and are beautiful to boot. I’m also tentatively working on a new type of wrap carrier.

I’ve got all of our remaining inventory of pouches and VersaCarry wraps on clearance.

Changes Made To WP Living

Alrighty. If you read my first post of this series, you know some things are changing.

At WP Living, the main change is that I’m cutting out some products – Produce Bags and the Every Day Napkins. I sell plenty of both, but they’re small items that are hard to make a profit on. The produce bags are difficult to sew and have gotten much easier to find since I started selling them a number of years ago. The Napkins, likewise, are common in Box stores these days, and I’m also finding that more and more people want fun prints or colors to coordinate with their house, and I just don’t have the space to inventory a wide variety of colors of napkins.

We’re going to continue to offer Little Leg Warmers, but I probably won’t have many in stock for a while.

 

Things are Changing Around Here

Alright, folks. As we get ready to reopen next week, I thought I’d put up a quick blog series of the changes you can expect here at Wallypop.

First, what you can expect NOT to change:

• High quality, handmade products
• Great customer service
• Reasonable prices
• A nice variety of reusable products for a reusable lifestyle

Now, for the changes. I’ll be putting up separate posts about the specific changes for each store (Diapering, Babywearing, and Living), but here are the global changes.

• Shipping. I will ship once a week, some time Friday or Monday.
• Response Time. My response time might be slower.
• Closing up shop. We know we have at least one hospitalization this year (Transplant!!). We hope that’s the only one. We know that’s likely unrealistic. His hospitalizations tend to be lengthy and unexpected. I have a good support team who can finish mailing orders so nothing is sitting here waiting for my return, but I may have to close up shop suddenly and unexpectedly
• Product Lineup. I’m cutting out several products.
• Prices. Yes, prices are going up. My prices for fabric are going up. In a way, I’m fortunate that I’ve done basically no work since late 2011, so I’m still working MOSTLY with fabric I purchased at 2011 prices, not fabric purchased at 2013 prices, so the price increases are less than what they could be.
• Local Customers. I’m not going to have local customers in the “store” to shop any more. I can still do local pick-up, and I will still absolutely  help you use your carriers, but I just can’t have so many strangers through the house any more (yeah, you’re germy). If you want to see our products in person before buying, just contact me and we’ll figure something out!
• New Store! You might notice the LemonDrops button on our website – LemonDrops is my new store where I plan to sell reusable and adorable products for families with special needs. (Gtube button pads, syringe holsters, and reusable vesicostomy belts for starters.) I had hoped to have it stocked by this time, but it’s not, so you’ll just have to wait.

Current Status

Alright, after a fun-filled six weeks of Iowa City time (2 weeks inpatient, 2.5 weeks outpatient, 2.5 weeks inpatient, and another week outpatient), we’re home on dialysis. We had a rocky first few days, and one unscheduled trip back to Iowa City for the day, but we are getting settled in. We’re still working on adjusting to our new schedule.

I’m going to try to start carving out Wallypop time this week and we’ll see how it goes. I’ve got things ready to reopen – I’m eliminating some products that will be listed at clearance until they’re gone, and I’m going to actually add a product or two, as well. I’ve got new accounting software (I know, so exciting). I’ve got some giveaways lined up and some specials ready to go.

So… we’ll see. I’ll definitely post here when I have things decided!!

Closed until further notice

I made a somewhat sudden decision in the last hour. I’m closed. Not forever, hopefully, but at least for a while.

I just can’t do it any more. I sat down at 11 am to process 20 orders from the week we were in the hospital. It’s 4:00. I’ve had to stop twice to pump, and even so, I’m behind in pumping. Teddy’s thrown up 5 times. I’ve changed clothes twice before I gave up. I’ve stopped at least a dozen times to try to feed him. I’m only halfway through, and I’m so stressed out that I’m in tears.

It’s just not worth it right now. I can’t keep trying to do everything, there just is not enough of me to go around. When I think about the fact that we’re starting school again in a few weeks… I just honestly don’t know when I’ll get it all done. (If you’ve not been following Teddy’s blog and don’t know what I’m talking about, my 8 month old, Theodore, has kidney failure. I pump so he can have all breastmilk, and that takes 6-7 hours total every day, including at least twice overnight. He requires frequent hospitalizations and a fair amount of time-consuming care at home.)

Looking at my inventory, I’ve been able to restock only a very few things since about this time last year. I’ve remained open through most hospitalizations, but this has only meant that I’m selling off inventory much faster than I can replace it, which is quickly coming back to bite me. I don’t have any hope of being able to do any meaningful restocking for the foreseeable future.

And certainly more important – my kids suffer so much when I’m in Iowa City with Teddy, then I get home and I still don’t have time to play with them or enjoy them because I have to try desperately to get caught back up with Wallypop stuff.

So, some details:

1. Current Orders. I’m all caught up on current orders. I have a few orders here on my desk with questions, but those will go out as soon as I hear back from those customers.
2. Current wholesale order. I will finish and mail out as soon as possible, hoping for this week.
3. All current inventory. I don’t know. Give me a few weeks, I should have some sort of plan. I’m either going to re-open with some sort of new plan in place to prevent an emotional breakdown, or I’m going to sell everything off and reclaim my basement.
4. Outstanding made to orders. I will complete these as promised.
5. DiaperFAB remains open. Fabric orders are really easy and straightforward, no sewing required.
6. Baby Registries remain open and I will complete those orders in a timely fashion, as per our agreement when you opened your registry.
7. Questions? Please ask.