Weighted Blanket

This mama is one excited little lady!

In one week, Jocelyn received not one, but TWO out of this world, crazy, awesome weighted blankets!!!! One blanket came from Jocelyn's Grandma Garlow and another came from a company called Weight on Me http://www.weightonme.webs.com/.

{The skulls & lime green blanket is from Weight on Me. The pink & black 'love'

blanket with the cutest little paw prints on the back, is from Grandma Garlow}

In case you don't know much about weighted blankets, or how incredible they can be, let me give you some quick information on them.

Weighted blankets are just what you think they are, blankets that weigh a certain amount to provide deep therapeutic pressure for a person that enhances relaxation and comfort. The great thing about pressure, is that it causes serotonin (which is often known as the "happy" neurotransmitter) to be released into the body, and then converts into melatonin (the chemical in our body that aides with sleep). So who can benefit from a weighted blanket? EVERYONE! :)

Specifically, weighted blankets have been shown to be extremely useful in the following populations:

• Cerebral Palsy/Brain Trauma (hence why I'm even interested in the 1st place)
• Sensory Processing Disorders
• Hyperactivity (ie ADHD)
• Anxiety Disorders, Austism, Alzheimer's
• Fibromyalgia, Generalized Pains, Restless Legs
• Parkinson's, Dementia, Insomnia
• and the list goes on and on!

The Weight on Me website, along with a variety of other information that I came across, recommended that in order for a weighted blanket to be therapeutic, take 10% of the person's total body weight and then add one pound. That's simple enough I'd say!

Both blankets are different but similar. Grandma's blanket weighs 7lbs and is filled with corn feed, and Jocie will be able to benefit from the added weight for a longer time. The other blanket from Weight on Me weighs-in at 5lbs and is filled with non-toxic polypropylene pellets. It will be so nice having two blankets as we still have quiet a few messes these days. The beautiful thing about these blankets? They both were made with love for our sweet "bad-to-the-bone" princess!!!

{She says "aaaaaahhhhh, feels so good!"}

{Miss Giggle Monster!}

Tactile Sensory Balls

One of the activities Jocelyn has engaged in during a therapy session to work on gross hand movement/coordination, is to lift, remove or "give-me" various weighted sensory balls.

Like with any item that is categorized as a "therapy" item, the price is out of this world crazy. I would love to be able to buy anything and everything for Jocelyn, if there was any chance at all that it would help her. What parent wouldn't want too? In the meantime, I also try and think of ways to recreate an item, think outside the box, etc so we can perhaps get the same result with a fraction of the cost.

So the other day I got to thinking about these tactile type of sensory balls that we were using, and figured I could use balloons and household items to mix up the textures, weights, etc.

I used plain old balloons and the following items in the house:

1. Dry beans
2. Rice
3. Dry noodles (elbow or shells work great)
4. Dry tapioca
5. Flour
6. Sugar
7. Cheap hair gel

Here are the filled balloons.

{You can really see the shells as they are the lumpy balloons. The flour

felt surprisingly cool as it would mold to your hand almost like clay}

You could use anything really that can either funnel or slip in the balloon one by one. I have to admit, I thought this would be a super simple task and it turned out a little more difficult to fill the balloons than I originally thought.

I filled two balloons with the same item so we could eventually play "which ones are alike." I also used 2 different colors and have more white than red so we can work on numbers and colors as well.

This probably took me at least 30-45 minutes to complete as I just didn't have the finesse I needed today, and I didn't preplan, so I had to come up with the items as I went. But for a project and learning opportunity that only cost around $5, I thought it worked pretty good! :)

  

Putting the balloons in its own labeled storage container only helps keep things that much more organized. She did really well with all the different types of balloons and it was a solid 20 minute activity!

Lafes

Really quickly while its on my mind, I wanted to share something with you that has been a lifesaver for us.

Over the last several months, and we are talking for about the last 6 months or so, Jocelyn has become quiet literally our "little stinky." There are several kids that are simply more "stinky" than others, but in our case, Jocelyn has REALLY strong underarm odor. I'm sure she wouldn't want me sharing this with you if she could tell me and was old enough to care, but for some reason, her armpits are steamy little sweat factories that smell of onions and dirty teenage boys. Its awful!

Being her mother, you don't want to have the "stinky kid" on the block. We have asked her doctors and therapists (and we have a lot of them) and no one could really point us in the right direction of what we could do to minimize the smell or why at only 2 1/2 years old, she has such strong body odor.

Some have suggested it might be a sign of precocious puberty which is when a child beings to mature earlier than normal. Typically in girls, puberty begins between the ages of 10-14, but for some kids, they can begin puberty earlier due to changes in the brain.  With all that has happened to Jocelyn's brain, this could be a very likely thing for her.

Thankfully there are no other signs, except maybe that she is growing fast. It is something we are keeping an eye on, and I am probably going to opt to have a blood hormone level to see if there is anything else going on.

In the meantime, as her parents, we don't want her to continue to smell only an hour after receiving a bath, so I did some investigating myself and ventured over to the health-food store to find this:

Now mind you, many will say that children are too young for antiperspirant and deodorant which I totally agree. However, this Lafes Deodorant Spray only has three ingredients: water, mineral salts and organic aloe vera. I am not going to try and sound like an infomerical, but this stuff is hypoallergenic, no perfumes or dyes, parben and proplene glycol free, no harmful aluminums, is completely natural and completely EFFECTIVE!

I of course tried this on myself first, and it even worked on me which I was shocked because I thought "no way this puny stuff will work on an adult...there's nothing in here!" The instructions say to spray 5-6 times under each arm or on feet, and 2-3 sprays are plenty for Boogs.

Needless to say, this stuff WORKS!

Just in case you or someone you love has a similar problem, I wanted you to know there is someone else experiencing the same thing, and there is something that helps.

I personally couldn't be more thrilled that we found something safe, natural and that is effective so Jocelyn smells as clean and fresh as her sweet little personality.

No Power, Some Glow & Poo

Yesterday the power at our house went out for several hours and that was supremely enjoyable (insert A LOT of sarcasm here). In all honesty though, I really didn't notice all that much for the most part since we did a lot to keep busy and cool.

Boogie and I went for our morning trike ride around Lake Shawnee, read some of her books while getting in a good bench sitting workout and swam in the pool. Since Boogie hadn't had a bath yet and we were both sweaty and covered in chemicals (our pool doesn't smell of chemicals, but I know they are in there), so I thought a bath before lunch was needed.

At this point we still didn't have electricity, so we had a "Glow-in-the-Dark Bath-Time" day! Its amazing how dark a bathroom can be, so I lite a candle just so there was a tad bit more light.

I really wanted some glow-in-the-dark washable paint to make the whole wall light up, but I used what we had. She got in the tub with toys of course, and an array of glow sticks, glow necklaces, balloons filled with those things and a princess balloon that already had an LED light in it (thats the brightest balloon you see -- these are AWESOME!).

This was maybe one of the most fun bath-times we have had! Woohoo! I think that's a point scored for mommy!

At first Boogie didn't seem to really care (mind you, I was making her stay up and she was REALLY tired, so I'm sure that didn't help), but then it was like a light-bulb went off and she started grabbing for the lights, hitting the balloons and splashing everywhere.

Here's some pics of our fun! They are dark but uh, the camera flash took away from the glowing (duh)! :P

{Glow sticks in her water pot)

{Wham! 1 balloon down! haha}

{Love her!}

After about 15 minutes of playing I heard this grunt and then bubbles. Hmmmm, can you guess what happened? Yes, she POOPED! Have you ever tried to get a slippery kid out of poopy-filled bath water without getting EVERYTHING filthy, wash the tub, put your kid back in the tub to wash AGAIN all by LED lights and a small candle? Me either, until now! It was actually quiet funny and even harder to do when your laughing!

This will definitely be something we do again but I'll up the ante in the glow department for next time, and maybe we'll get lucky enough for it to be poo-free!

Forbes Field Combat Air Museum

This past weekend we did another activity from our Summer Bucket List and ventured over to the Forbes Field Combat Air Museum.

I stole these two pictures off the Internet so you could see the front of the museum and a good glimpse of several of the aircrafts!

{I seriously love air museums and I think Fort Rucker, AL and

Pensacola, FL have some of the best I've seen by far!}

This was my first time going to this museum and we even had Grandma and Papa Powers here to join us for the fun. Visiting this particular museum is something you want to do as early as possible during the day, or not during the summer, because this museum is not air-conditioned. Shocked? Yea, me too! I've never been to a museum that was not air-conditioned and I gotta tell ya, I don't think I ever will again. It wasn't totally intolerable, but at times it was pretty dang close!

When you first walk in, there is a cute little gift shop with a variety of different things, some of which were cool, and of course it had its fair share of crappy little nick-nack stuff. There were two separate buildings for the museum that housed a variety of aircrafts, POW items, an array of motor vehicles and so on.  The first thing that got me excited was seeing the aircrafts, in my opinion, that were specifically designed and there just for little Miss Jocelyn!

{She pretty much said "It won't be any problem at

all to fly these...I got this! My daddy taught me!!"}

We all checked out a variety of helicopters like the Sikorsky CH-53A Sea Stallion and got to go inside of them.

{That's a happy Grandma & Boogs!}

Boogie also wanted to try out some of the machinery and as predicted, she was a natural! ;)

{Daddy showing her the ropes}

{Checkin' it out for herself}

Mama got in and tried to show-off her war face.

As I mentioned before, it was pretty steamy in there, so we found fun ways to keep cool.

{She thought the fans were hilarious!}

Daddy got some good "Snuggle-Boogs" time in as well.

Although not a very cool one, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Not sure if it was the heat, walking around or a combo, but we all were pretty tired afterwards and took it easy for the rest of the evening. Definitely glad we all went!

Giving

Over the last week, our family has been tremendously blessed by the giving hearts of so many around us. I find myself almost feeling guilty with how special we have felt and at how much love we have experienced in light of everything going on around us.

With all the destructive fires that are ripping families from their homes and shattering their current dreams, to the devastating lost of innocent lives in the Auroa shooting from which some perhaps will never recover from the physical &/or emotional wounds.

Since there are so many horrible things happening all the time, I wanted to take a minute to say thank you!

Laura Piland, as you and Josh embark on a new journey of house hunting/buying, new jobs and all the crazy things that come with moving, you somehow found time to think of our sweet Jocelyn. In the mist of your busy, hectic life, thank you for giving Jocelyn such a fun gift! She is absolutely loving the beach ball!

To our new neighbors, thank you for taking the time to welcome us to the "country" and for putting together such a thoughtful gift basket! For you to include Jocelyn into your gift, spoke volumes to us and we couldn't be more excited to be your new neighbors.

{I think the Russell Stover's chocolates were specifically for me

...or at least that's what I think haha}

To my beautiful sister, thank you for your constant, unwavering love, support and encouragement. You have so much going on in your life right now and yet you somehow continually think of my family. You made my day when I got the new pictures of the boys as I miss them beyond words. Justin and I are super excited that we get to watch our "show" from the past several seasons whenever we want, and the clothes that you sent Jocelyn are out of this world crazy cute! You always go above and beyond, and please know you don't have to do that. We can't wait to put her in each and every outfit and trust me, we will have the pictures to prove it just for you!

To Greg and Kristi (aka Grandma/Papa Powers), this last weekend was a total joy and we were so happy that you guys were able to come up to see us. It was obvious that Jocelyn loved all the attention she got and she totally didn't know what to do with herself with having everyone in the pool! Ha! I want to say a special thank you for taking the time to research and learn about things that can/could help Jocelyn in regards to her vision, motor and overall development. I can't help but have a happy heart when I see something that I know will motivate her, create a learning opportunity or stimulate her in some way. Rest assured that all the "goodies" you brought will be going to very good use.

{All of these things are visually enhancing/stimulating to a person with CVI --- so excited!}

I really don't know how we got so lucky to have such incredible people in our lives. Its not the gifts that make you so special please know this. What makes you invaluable is your love for us!

With going about our day, God keeps reminding me how often we all need to give and be given too. To give doesn't mean you have to buy something, and many of us know that. Sometimes simply listening to a person, if even only on the phone, can be the most "expensive" thing you can do and yet speak volumes to the person that needs a lending ear. Or, we all have talents (whether you believe it or not we ALL have talents because God does not create talentless people) and those talents can be used as a "gift" to someone. Whether you are best at baking, superior at sewing, creative with crafts, a mean-mechanic machine or easily able to light-up a person with laughter. I encourage all of us to use our talents and find some way to give to one another and there will be change in us all!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Norman MacEwan

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring... all of which have the potential to turn a life around." - Leo Buscaglia

"Every kind of work can be a pleasure. Even simple household tasks can be an opportunity to exercise and expand our caring, our effectiveness, our responsiveness. As we respond with caring and vision to all work, we develop our capacity to respond fully to all of life. Every action generates the energy which can be shared with others. These qualities of caring and responsiveness are the greatest gift we can offer." - Tarthang Tulku

Fluffy Shaving Cream Paint

The other day, Monday I think, I saw a simple idea on Pinterest for making and playing with fluffy shaving cream paint. I thought this would provide Boogie fun with texture, a different sensory opportunity, a way to talk about colors, to be outdoors and did I mention have fun?

You only need 4 things for this activity which is great in my eyes! If you wanted to try it, you would need some shaving cream obviously or you could use Reddi-Whip or pudding for something tasty, food coloring, a few bowls and something to "paint" on.

{I always like how pretty the neon colors are!}

In less than five minutes everything was ready to go because all you had to do was squirt the shaving cream into the bowls, add food coloring and stir.

I saw where some were using paint brushes or other items to paint with, but since those things are hard for Jocelyn to hold, we used the best tools we were given --- OUR HANDS!

Take notes from me:

1. What you see above is entirely TOO MUCH shaving cream!! It doesn't take a whole lot, but I didn't want to have haul Boogie back inside just to make more, so I made a lot which was still way too much! Daddy no longer has any shaving cream which I'm sure he'll be thrilled about when he gets back home.
2. Be careful how much food coloring you use because we looked like we went through a skittles machine for a few days on certain parts of our bodies.
3. Look around and make sure you don't put this anywhere near ants because apparently they are attracted to manly scented shaving cream.

When I originally saw this idea, I was really excited because I thought this would definitely be something fun for Boogie, but sadly we both were pretty turned off by the whole activity. It wasn't bad at first, but then the stuff really starts to stick to you, leaves a really nasty feeling film and overall, this was not one of our more favorite activities as we probably won't do it again. I did get a few smiles throughout our painting party, and I always love getting those!

{Showing Boogie the cream paint}

{Getting started --- this is the expression I made too haha}

{First smile & its a beauty!}

{Silly, messy girl! After just a few minutes we nixed

the paper because it wasn't working so well anyways}

{Being twins! Don't judge our frizzy hair &

sweatiness --- its hot people! haha}