A Moose with Spots

Yesterday, we had quite the ordeal. My little Moose had his first visit to the ER... at 10 months old. He just finished up a 10 day bout of antibiotics for a sinus infection and bronchitis. We knew that there would be a bit of a gamble with giving him mold based antibiotics as I am allergic to them, and now we know apparently he is too.

We went to Urgent Care, and then he was directly omitted to the ER because his hives were so swollen they looked like they could have been chicken pox. Both Monkey and Moose are vaccinated for them, but Moose only newly so. It was still a possibility. Luckily the ER was not very busy. We got in and out of there almost immediately. My Moose has spots.

They gave him a huge shot of Benadryl in the ER to make the swelling hives go down. He has to take Benadryl every 6 hours now. And Prednisone once a day that makes him completely wired and act like a crazy person. He is now also an official Epipen carrier for life because the chances are that he has a severe mold based allergy. While it's a "precaution" knowing that it's my reality makes it more likely.

Even though he's had several doses of both, he's still pretty spotty, but the hives have reduced. His poor little toes are swollen like sausages still. He isn't walking as well as usual, likely because his toes aren't cooperating. Overall, he's a pretty tough guy. He's fussy because he's angry about his spots that cover him head to toe, but he's in fairly good spirits.

Who would have thought?!

When I first started my Monkey and Moose line, I never thought that it would be so popular. I had high hopes that it would boost my sales and help bring in some extra income. Which it has. Significantly. However, I never thought that it would take over like it has and become nearly the only thing that I sell in my shop. I make a few other sales hear and there but it's mostly my onesies and the decals that I've recently began to sell separately.  So far these two are my most popular.

I've sent these two designs all over the world. Most recently, this Hola onesie went to England. While I'm grateful for the extra income making these onesies and putting them in my shop has brought to me and my family, I would like to sell some of the other things I make as well. I have a large line of items from Baby wearing wraps and slings, baby blankets, bibs, stuffed animals, and I am working on getting into some other clothing items that will *gasp* force me to stretch my capabilities and learn zippers as well as perfecting sleeves. 

Locally, I have sold quite a few items that have been popular like Stockings at Christmas time, and Halloween trick or treat bags that can also double as library bags the rest of the year. However, I am finding that I'm now stuck between a rock and a hard spot because I want to keep sewing and make new things, however, I don't want to keep a huge stock of things that I'm not selling. It's a catch 22 for sure, and hopefully once I get moved and have my own space to work in instead of taking over my boys bedroom that they don't sleep in, things will be different because I can do more things, offer classes, and all kinds of other fun things that i can't do now. 

Here's to hoping!

Welcome, welcome!

Welcome to Monkey & Moose Co. I've started this blog because I needed a place to talk about the shenanigans my boys, Monkey and Moose get into, as well as my clothing brand, also named Monkey & Moose, as well as the rest of the goings on that affect our daily lives, small business ownership, and the fun things that we like to do that may not fit into my little store, like the kids crafts, and home projects, that are still fun and useful to someone.

A little about us. I'm the momma. I run a little Etsy shop called Rose City Crafter where I sell primarily children's items. I started my shop to help make an extra income after we found out that my oldest had Autism in 2012. Crafting was primarily a way to escape the sometimes difficult realities of living with high functioning autism, misdiagnosis, eating disorders, seizures, self harming (the boy-- not me) and sleep disorders and dysfunction. It's been a CRAZY roller coaster and we've finally reached a level of calm until we recently. This blog will largely be about my kids, crafting, fun DIYs and food -- since I used to be a professional baker. It will also be a place to share works in progress, vent about small business ownership, and vent about the craziness of life.

My shop is mostly children's and baby items that have been created from wants (of my own kids) and necessity from being a plus size momma. I have a subsidiary clothing line called Monkey & Moose Co. named after my boys (they design most of the things in my shop!) when I couldn't find anything for my Moose that I liked in stores.

Monkey is my oldest. He's 5 and in preschool right now. He hasn't quite figured out how to interact with the kids in his class but really wants to make friends. He has high functioning autism, seizures, sensory processing disorder, eating issues, severe anxiety boarding PTSD and a sleep disorder. He loves the beach, the zoo, gardening, Hot Wheels, Sesame Street, books, and jumping in puddles.

Moose is my mischievous 10 month old who walks, talks, bites, and loves to chase and antagonize his brother. He's soon to be a middle child, but doesn't seem to mind. Moose loves to eat everything, dogs,  Sesame Street, stuffed animals (mainly his mooses), banging all the Tupperware together, and going for walks.

Hubs is a property restorator and spends as much time taking apart our house as he does putting it together. He also does some really beautiful woodwork which he hopes to get back into soon.

So this is us, this is Monkey & Moose and  Rose City Crafter. Welcome and we hope to see you again soon!