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7.05.2018

Our Work in Progress Sensory Corner/Playroom

I recently joined a Sensory Processing Disorder Support group for Cason and have been sharing what we've learned along the way. Below is a post that I posted to the group and the feedback and response was so heartwarming to say the least. I am so happy that the post has reached so many and brought other mamas insight, encouragement and inspiration. Several people have asked for a way to share the post but because it is in a private group I couldn't find a way. So I thought I'd use my blog as a resource for those who wanted share and save. For now I am simply copying and pasting the post. We haven't shared our journey publicly with too many yet so for those who are reading this and have no idea what is going on I plan to share more details at a later time. I hope to blog more about everything rather than just dumping this post here but that is life right now so this will have to do. Please free to reach out to me with any questions.









Post from support group:

"I've seen a lot of mamas on here crying out for help on things that we struggled with for SO LONG. And I have to say my heart goes out to you because I was there almost in tears at the end of every day wondering where I went wrong. Posts pertaining to how to get through daily activities, transitions, behavior, public outings, meals, sleep discipline etc. These were some of many of the problems we were having before our DX. Prior to our DX I felt so burnt out, my patience was few and far, I began becoming reactive instead of responsive because NOTHING was working. We went to parenting workshops, tried so many different techniques for all the things listed above and everything would work great for my daughter but not my son and I felt so hopeless. Then entered our DX and all of the stars aligned but I couldn’t help but think okay it all makes sense now but is this what our life will look like from now on with no improvements. Then we entered OT and we have absolutely fallen in love with our therapist. She has been so resourceful and I saw such a change with the things that she was doing with him and his behavior throughout the remainder of the day after therapy but we couldn’t do therapy every day of course. We began to make a plan together of what we could do at home for a sensory diet. We have started to incorporate a sensory gym area/corner and some tools for meal and bed. The things we have done at home has CHANGED our lives. Not just my sons but my mine and my husbands and his siblings. Of course this isn’t a cure and we still have our challenges but we are getting through our days much more smoothly. I’ve talked to so many mamas who’s occupational therapists and ABA schools who aren’t equipping them for home life. So I thought I would share what we have incorporated at home in hopes of helping others get some inspiration for needed relief and give some of you some hope in how powerful providing these tools can be.. not just for your little one but your entire family.
Our room/area is still a work in progress. We are currently in the midst of trying to determine if we will be selling our home so at this time we had to make the space work for us rather than losing an entire room. Down the road the goal is to have a room entirely dedicated to this space. 
If I had more room I would incorporate a slide that can go into a ball pit, a rock wall and interchangeable swings. Also would love to have a wedge mat and large building foam blocks. Just to give some further ideas if you are able to have an entire space devoted to a sensory room rather than a corner.
We still have a bean bag that will sit between the two pod swings coming and a saddle roll ball/ peanut ball coming that will go with the rest of the items on the trampoline and a weighted ball. We are also trying to incorporate a platform swing on the other side of the room where it says “play” and if we cannot make that work we will resort to a sit and spin for the time being. The platform swing will be probably only pulled out for when in use/supervision can be provided and for the sake of saving space. We will also be installing wall mats around the climbing gym for protection with Velcro 
Down the road we plan on adding a sensory/busy board and Some snoezelen items. We’ll put the EZ blackout panels/coverings on the windows that can roll up and down for when that is in use to provide the darkness needed. I also intent on having a custom crash pad cover made just for aesthetics so it will match and flow better. 

***** PLEASE RESEARCH THE BENEFITS OF VESTIBULAR INPUT AND PROPRIOCEPTIVE INPUT to get an idea of why the tools are listed below and how they can benefit and even correct the way your little one is processing their senses.

We currently have:
- two pod swings
- crash mat
- climbing gym
- trampoline
- bilibo
- teeter popper balance board
- bouncing/jumping ball
- hedgehog balance pods (would also like to get the gonge hill tops)
- bean bag
- Velcro dart board
- sheepskin rug
- down throw pillow
- firm lumbar pillow
- 2 foldable gym mats
- foam roller
- wiggle cushion
- foldable tunnel (stored)
- tee pee (stored)
In our calming area we have a black and white striped bin that we call our feel better box for when his engine is running too hot. The items in this bin include:
- sensory sock
- weighted snake
- chewies and chewlery
- fidget toys
- weighted blanket.
The rest of the room has educational toys in the drawers and bins for building, creating and manipulating. We also have a dress up area where that mirror wardrobe is that has masks capes different textures costumes 
Items not in this room for sensory (which we can’t keep in the room because I have a seeker that will eat, dump etc) include:
- water bead box
- bean box
- kinetic sand box
- play doh box 
We also have some vestibular toys that we keep downstairs because they won’t work on the carpet
- little rider wiggle car
- a little tikes car
- game craft security scooter
- ride on snail
- stroller and shopping cart that we fill with “heavy” items for pushing 
For eating we have a speech mirror and wiggle pod for his chair
For bed we have a rotating star projector nightlight and we incorporate the weighted blanket and melatonin. We do story time in the pod swing as research has shown that the swinging and compression that comes from the pod swing is calming and great before bed.
UPDATE: SOURCES (Please let me know if I have left anything out)
......................................................................................
- LITTLE TIKES HOPPER BALL (originally purchased from toysrus here is a similar one)
https://www.amazon.com/…/B…/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_MEypBb4GVTVK5
- SPEECH MIRROR (used for visual stimulation while eating)
https://www.amazon.com/…/B07…/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00…
- SHOPPING CART: (recommend filling with homemade weighted rice bags)
https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Shopping-…/…/ref=sr_1_1…
SENSORY BINS:
- Lakeshore Learning Store
BUILDING & MANIPULATING TOYS:
- Lakeshore Learning Store
......................................................................................
A GREAT RESOURCE YOU CAN FIND FOR DIRECTION THAT I HAVE FOUND HELPFUL IS THE FUN AND FUNCTION CATALOGUE.
- some of the items are pricey and some are no brainers but its a great resource to get ideas and then start researching where you can purchase that item from a different source.
......................................................................................
DECOR & Furniture: (Decor and Furniture was purchased quite a few years ago so I will just source the store it's from. Decided to go ahead and source this since it has been coming up in the comments.)
SECTIONAL: IKEA
WALL STORAGE SYSTEM: Pottery Barn Kids
CORNERY CABINET/SHELF: Pottery Barn Kids
THROW PILLOWS: Pottery Barn Kids
RUG: At Home
BINS: At Home
PLAY LETTERS: Hobby Lobby
PICTURE FRAMES: IKEA
COFFEE TABLE: IKEA
POTTED PLANT: IKEA
WOOD CRATE (on shelf): World Market
DRESS UP WARDROBE: Kid Kraft off of Amazon
GREY STRIPED PAINT COLOR: Cumulous Cloud Benjamin Moore
CURTAINS: Land of Nod
CURTAIN RODS: Home Depot
......................................................................................
RESOURCE: Sensory Diet: explanation and break down of different types of possible sensory needs to give you a starting point in understanding the tools sourced above and their purposes. You can do further research on how to work on each of these different senses and what the benefits of each are.
1. Proprioception
2. Vestibular
3. Tactile
4. Auditory
5. Visual
6. Smell
7. Taste
8. Interception
https://www.sensorysmarts.com/sensory_diet_activities.html
......................................................................................
SUPPLEMENTS WE USE: (These supplements have been suggested to us by our neurologist for our sons particular needs and I do not advise nor suggest self medicating your kiddo but am simply listing these out as some suggestions to inquire with your doctor about to see if your child would benefit from the following)
- Melatonin
- OMEGA 3
- L CARNOSINE POWDER
- Multi- Vitamin
......................................................................................"

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9.23.2017

HARD IS NOT THE SAME THING AS BAD

Over the past few months my heart has been stirring to get back into blogging and sharing our little life here with you all. I'm so excited to announce that we're back!

Where have we been? Well we've been: transitioning. We've been in a state of constant transition from one transition straight into another. Shortly after Addelyn was born we decided to stir the pot, pack up our world and move to Hutto. Moving to Hutto was the catalyst to change that our family would endure over the almost three years. Unfortunately Hutto was just not a place that we felt "at home". But for the time being we got to be closer to Jimmy's work and it enabled us to build some equity in a starter home; so that we could soon find a house to grow into rather than grow out of. So we stuck it out for two years and as soon as it made sense, we got out!

If we're being completely honest here, being in a state of transition is actually something that makes me uncomfortable to the core. Don't get me wrong a lot of the changes we went through were to get us to a better place in which we could feel rooted. I actually love change. But getting there... getting there is the part that I'm truly not a fan of. And then bringing kids into the hustle and bustle of that said change makes it even more of a challenge. The one mantra that got me through it all is just because something is hard, doesn't mean it's bad. 

Throughout those two years we moved to a new city- although not hundreds of miles away but far enough to be in a foreign community. Jimmy went back to school full time for a year to further his degree, while still working. We brought our second child, Cason into the world. The first six months of Cason's life were some of the hardest months of my life. Cason had a lip tie, tongue tie, reflux, milk protein allergy and colic. All of his feeding struggles were endured while Jimmy was working and going to school which was again HARD! While adjusting to motherhood with two under two, I launched an event styling company- at the worst possible time in life- HA! Running a business while being a SAHM with a toddler and new baby was just not do-able for me in the season we were in. I hope to re-vist that passion of mine later in life but time will tell.  Jimmy took a promotion at work which meant more hours. And that was the pivotal point at we which we decided that we were stretching ourselves too thin and needed to make a change. After a lot of thought and prayer we decided then; it was time to end our adventure in Hutto and move on.



We searched endlessly for an existing home that could meet our needs and continued to come up short. So we decided to build. We found a new neighborhood with the perfect floor plan that met our needs.We began the grueling process of getting our home ready to go on the market, selling moving and so on. We had three offers within the first 24 hours of showings. Our new home was supposed to be a 6 month build which meant we would have to find temporary living arrangements. We ended up putting all of our belongings into two storage units and moving to a beloved friends house. In the end we ended up only staying with her for a portion of the time. We could only child proof her home so much which ended up making it unsafe for the kiddos and super stressful for me. So we moved again to my Dad's house which would mean an hour plus commute for Jimmy. In hindsight we should have moved to a nearby apartment. Originally signing a lease didn't make sense to bridge the gap from closing on the sale of our old home and moving into our new home but little did we know at the time it would take 8 months and involve two moves.



The first year in our new home involved quite a few transitions as well. Getting settled in our new home entailed unpacking, redecorating and many many projects to get it to where we felt at home. Jimmy and I both ended up needing surgeries over the course of the first year. CRAZY. I ended up having some issues with kidney stones that needed surgical intervention. Six months later,  Jimmy had appendicitis and had to have his appendix removed. We also decided we were ready to grow our family by one more and were blessed with Rowan, baby number three. Enduring pregnancy number three was hard to say the least.



Again I can say that all of these things were HARD and TRYING but that does not mean they were BAD. This past season of ours revealed so many truths for us. Relationships with family and friends were tested to their core, leading us to discover the depths of our support system. They say it takes a village and I wholeheartedly believe it to be true. Don't get me wrong it was definitely hard discovering how small that little village of ours truly is but I can say I'm at peace knowing the truth. Our marriage is now stronger than it ever was. I've also come to learn how much stronger I am as a Mom than I realized. And the biggest of all my faith in God has been strengthened and remains through it all.

In the book of Luke God gives Satan permission to sift Peter and the twelve disciples like wheat. To give you an idea, sifting wheat is much different than the concept of sifting flour. This image Jesus chose is not to be mistaken. It's intended to be interpreted of being torn apart and left in pieces. When wheat is sifted it is quite literally done just as that. He is referring to the violent action used to separate the grain from the stalk and the chaff. Vigorous shaking is also required to separate wheat kernels from debris. Satan's goal when he sifts believers is to damage our faith in Him in hopes that we will fall away from Jesus like chaff. Satan uses the power of fear in attempts to destroy our faith by attacking our strengths. The areas that we believe to be invincible and well protected. He wants us to be useless to God. 

I truly believe that Satan has tried to use this season of transition to sift us like wheat and I am so thankful to say that our faith remains. So much good has come of these transitions and we've finally been able to root ourselves within a community that we love. Have you been in a season where your faith has been tested? Maybe you're in one now? Feel free to reach out to me or share your story with me, I'd love to pray for you and connect with you!

We've committed to joining a church finally. We're part of an amazing church group who are like family to us now. We've established some wonderful friendships. The kiddos started at a new school. We are closer to the stores we frequent and feel good about the school district. I truly feel like we are finally out of the stage of transition. Praise God!

Whew! Are you still with me?! I'm so excited to finally be in a place where we are finding our new normal and have the time for the things that we are passionate about like this little blog here. As the years have gone by and our family has grown it's become much harder to stay in touch with family and friends and share what all is going on in our world. I hope to share our adventures as well as document life here. Blogging also kept me committed to taking pictures - which I need that accountability! 

That's not all I'll be sharing here! Throughout making our house a home so many of our friends and family have inquired about decorating tips and organizationals tips and I feel honored that I've been able to inspire so many and I hope to continue to do that here as well! I'll be sharing our home decor, projects that we're up to, DIYs, crafts, organizational tips, recipes, parties, motherhood and much much more!

I can't wait to see where this journey takes us! Thanks for stopping by!
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6.19.2017

Rowan's Nursery Reveal


 























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5.14.2017

Mother's Day 2017













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3.27.2017

Cason's 2nd Birthday Party























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