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. 

Source

 

What We're Doing

Yesterday, while my kids were that  their therapy appointments, I was talking to our speech therapist and said, "Some days, I just don't know what to write about. I know people are reading this, I see the stats, but what are some things to talk about? She simply said, "Jeri, talk about your every day life."

Okay. 

Here are the things I'm doing today:

Let my kids take a bath this morning

Making my husband his favorite noodle salad (it's really good)

Making laundry soap, we're dangerously low

Sewing the biggest weighted blanket I've ever made- 16 Pounds!!

Making a cute princess vest for a little girl 

(I'll have to tell Kayleigh it's not her's about 100 times today)

Getting a babysitter for tonight's game night

and hoping the sun comes out so we can play outside.


And just because this picture makes me laugh everytime I see it:

 

 Have a great weekend!

Disorders

My daughter, Kayleigh, has been in speech therapy for 3 years. For 2 1/2 years we were making progress but there were still some set backs and we couldn't figure out why she couldn't understand some things. Her therapist at the time said, "Repition, repition, repition."

In the fall of 2013, we switched therapists for my son and due to schedule conflict, we ended up switching speech therapists for Kayleigh. She was sad, but after meeting her new therapist, she was excited! At the first appointment she was evaluated and within the first month was "diagnosed" with:

(The speech therapist can't officially diagnose. We are waiting for our appointment with the specialist to be confirmed.)

*Sensory Processing Disorder

*Auditory Processing Disorder

*Expressive Language Processing Disorder

*Articulation Disorder
*Phonological Processing Disorder
*Symbol Recognition Disorder

And is suspected to have:
*Aprexia
*Visual Spatial

In August, Kayleigh went to kindergarten. She loved it and was so excited to ride the bus! A couple weeks after school started, I received a call from her teacher and we talked about how Kayleigh was having a hard time. We made the difficult decision to pull her out of public school and to start homeschool. At first, she didn't understand why she couldn't go to school with her friends, but after a couple weeks, she didn't bring up the topic again.

We worked hard, and soon she was enjoying it! She also started seeing an occupational therapist and he worked on numbers and letters with her. She still wasn't very confident in herself, but she was showing improvement. As of today, Kayleigh can write numbers in order to 20, write her ABC's, and she has even started to read!!

A couple weeks ago, I was talking to her therapists and after discussing things with my husband, we decided to put her back in public school this fall. She will go into kindergarten again and be one of the older students. She is so excited and we are so proud of all the hard work she has done!

Weighted Creations

Last year, I was advised to look into a weighted blanket to help Damien. Weighted blankets help the body process sensory input, which will make them less restless and help them sleep better.  

 I looked online and quickly realized that they are expensive! Ranging anywhere from $60-$100 or more! I did some research and after purchasing the materials, I had made my first weighted blanket. 

I don't have a picture, but it was just a baby blanket size and was made out of minky. He had picked out the fabric himself and he loved it! He would carry it everywhere and it helped him sleep good. After a couple months, he had taught himself how to better regulate his body, and wasn't using it anymore. One day, I decided to put it on the local facebook yardsale page, and within 20 minutes, had about 10 people interested in it! I ended up selling it for $40.

That night, I layed in bed and thought about all the other people that NEEDED a weighted blanket, but couldn't afford the ones online.  After talking to Ryan, I decided to open up a little shop on facebook and named it Weighted Creations.

(To check out my facebook page, click on the facebook tab on the right hand side bar)

The support was amazing! The first couple months I received a couple orders a month, getting me used to how everything would work out. I took a break in January to deal with some medical issues for my son. In February, I opened up shop again, and orders starting pouring in! I couldn't believe it.

So far, I've shipped to Washington, Texas, Oregon, Iowa, Georgia, and all over Idaho.

These are some of my past creations. Usually when people order, they just say I want dinosaur theme, or my son loves blue, etc., and I go to work to try to find something fun and cute!

If interested in ordering a weighted creation, contact me!

Preschool

At the beginning of this year, we decided to put Damien in preschool. He was doing great at handling himself in situations, he was talking, and he was smart. He learned the letters of the alphabet in a week, by himself. He could count, and he knew his colors. Often times, he would get bored, and that's what made us look into preschools. 

He got into the preschool program at the local university, where there are six "teachers." I put teachers in parenthesis, because after my experience with them, I don't consider them "teachers." Anyways, the class Damien was assigned to, had 21 students, ranging from 3-5 years old. (Ridiculous)

Can you already tell how this experience goes?? 

Yeah, it sucked. Everytime I would go to watch my son during preschool hours, I became upset.

Here is one experience that I encountered...

The first couple weeks, when I would go pick up Damien, I would ask how he was doing. They always answered, "well, he has a hard time with transitioning." I decided that after the third time I was told this, that I should probably go check out what's going on.... cause at home, we don't have a problem transitioning...in fact, we've NEVER had  problem transitioning anywhere.

 When preschool days came around the third week, I asked him if he was excited to go to school. He replied, "No." I was a little surprised. Damien loved going to school the first couple weeks. So I asked again, "Damien, you're going to preschool today, aren't you excited to go play?" Immediately, he yelled, "NO!" I decided that day, I would stay and watch to see what was going on. 

When I dropped him off,  he was upset at me. He clung to me and wasn't his happy self. It took 10 minutes to pry him off of my leg and convince him to go play. (At this preschool, the first 1 1/2 hours is self play. They have stations set up all around the room, and the kids can choose what they want to play, or they can go outside. They also have an area where parents and professors can go and sit in and watch how the kids and teachers are doing. We can hear everything, but they can't see us.)

I watched as Damien played by himself. I've never seen him be a loner... but there he was, in a classroom full of kids and teachers, playing by himself. If one kid came over to where he was, he shared the toys, but never played with them. If three or more kids came over, Damien would just get up and leave and find another activity. He never smiled or laughed.

It broke my heart. 

My could tell that my son didn't like it there.

Finally, it came time for them to pick up the toys. The teachers all sang a quick clean up song, and the kids all helped clean up the room, and then transitioned to circle time, where a teacher would share a small lesson. 

I watched as Damien started picking up a couple toys, and noticed how it started getting very loud. Once that started happening, I watched as Damien seemed to change. He started getting frustrated and walking around the room... that day, I watched in shock as Damien started running around the outside wall, looking for a place to hide. He ran around for a couple minutes, running over furniture, pushing kids out of the way, trying to escape the teachers hands that were trying to catch him.

One teacher finally caught him and he started yelling, "OW! IT HURTS! LET GO!!! Over and over and over again... and I was done.

I asked the professor to tell the teachers that I wanted Damien and we were going home.

For the first time in over a year, my son went into sensory overload. Now I knew why he had a hard time transitioning... he was like a pot of water getting ready to boil over, and today it happened.  But one thing that bothered me more than that was I told the teachers and professors that Damien had Sensory Processing Disorder. I told them that this would happen if they didn't help regulate him. Their responses were always, "It's ok, we know what to do. He'll be fine."

They were wrong....

The professor called me that night to find out what was going on. I told him what had happened, even though he witnessed it himself. He apologized and said to bring in some things that would help Damien in those situations. He was referencing the lap pad and brushes that are used to calm kids down. I dug them out of the closet and found a babysitter for the next time he went to preschool. I was going to be there the whole time.

The next day of preschool, I went in there with the brush and lap pad when he was getting overloaded. He was so happy to have those, and within 2 minutes of sitting down with his lap pad and brushing his arms, he was calmed down and finished out the rest of the day. The next day, a teacher tried it and I watched as she successfully copied what I did. 

But the next week, it was back to experimenting. They didn't have the lap pad or brushes out like they used to. And when he started getting overloaded, and ran to a dark corner, they tried bribing him out, but it didn't work. 

I sat there watching helplessly as they went back to there old ways. I honestly don't think they knew I was there.We talked to our occupational therapist, who went and observed one day, and when asked if Damien's behavior had changed the whole month he was in preschool, he responded," Yes. He's gotten worse."  The next day, we pulled Damien out of preschool.

It took about a week for Damien to get back under control and to get his behavior back to being on track. It's still a work in progress, but we're coming along...

If I could give any advice out of what I learned with this experience, it would be to ask the teachers if they are comfortable dealing with a child that has SPD. Ask them if they've had experience with kids with SPD, or if this would be the first time. Talk openly with them, and don't let them tell you they know what they are doing,  when it's clear they don't. (There were a few times I could have slapped the professor's face.)

You know your child better than anyone.

You know what makes them go off and what calms them down.

You are the parent. 

The Beginning...

It's been a year since we've realized our 3 year old, Damien, had sensory processing disorder, SPD. He had just turned 2 a couple months before, couldn't talk at all, and wasn't the happy kid that we knew. Often times, little things would set him off and he would go into meltdown mode, or we noticed he would go missing, only to be found, hiding in the closet. 

He couldn't handle going to church, or places with crowds. The noise and people were too much for him. Many times, my husband and I would get so frustrated that we would put him in time-out, only to realize that made it worse. He was being punished for something he had no control over.

One thing we really worked hard on, was to try and find an outlet for him. We knew he loved to play on my tablet. If he needed a little downtime, we would put him somewhere and let him play games for 15 minutes.  He loved to cuddle, and we noticed that was one way to get him to calm down. After a few months, we taught him to go to his room if he was overwhelmed. It wasn't long before he was able to recognize and do things on his own. He still needed help with church or play groups. But we always made sure we had what he needed. 

The one thing I've realized through all of this, is to have patience. Things will get better. You and your child will find things that work. Talk to your occupational therapist, and be honest. If they ask how are you doing, answer them honestly. I don't know how many times I've been asked that, and have said, "today sucks." They understand and are there to help you along the way. 

Are there still hard days? Oh yeah.

Are there days I want to lock myself in the bathroom? Yep.

Are there days where I look at my life, and just laugh? Yes.

I mean, come on... I have THREE kids with SPD! 

These kids are my life, and I've realized that my attitude has a huge impact on how I look at and handle situations. Be strong, it WILL get better. 

 

Have you?

Have you ever wondered if something was wrong with your child? Have you ever wondered if that something was just imagined, or if it was real? Have you ever been in an argument with your husband or wife and placed blame on the other, whether it was telling them they were too hard on the child, only to have them say you were spoiling them and they were just acting out? 

I have. 

This blog is to help those that have been in my shoes. It's to give insight on what it's like to live with three young kids who have Sensory Processing Disorder, and other learning disorders. It's to reach out and hug that mom who is confused and worried, who wonders if she is doing something wrong to have her child act out or have meltdowns.

I will give real-life stories of the past year, of how I managed to make the most of my children's young years, no matter how difficult it will be. I'll give advice, and if you have any questions, email me! But most importantly, I want people to know there is help. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Don't let people tell you that you're making things up. That SPD isn't a real thing... it is.