Thursday, December 31, 2009

Excuse the mess!

Hello all... yes, it has been a while.

I am in the process of uploading a new layout that I have been playing with for 4 hours. As you can tell by the time, and the way this all looks -- I was NOT successful.

I am off to bed, bare with the horrid look, and hopefully I can start the new year off right with an updated blog design and photo of Gavin.

Lots to share, can't wait. ;)

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Thumbs up for Snuggle Wraps!

I'm bummed I don't have enough time to do posts daily. I really want to document everything so Gavin can read this one day. This is just a trying time with his eye poking, and I honestly do not have enough time to do anything. The past few weeks, I have asked family members to take Gavin for a few hours here and there, honestly just so I can clean. I have noticed when he is out of his comfort zone, his eye poking/gouging is much less. Has anyone else encountered this? I'm thinking it's because he is in a different environment and he has other things to concentrate on, rather than the normal busy house we have here, and the sounds he is used to hearing everyday. Whatever it is, I am glad they don't have the challenge of constantly releasing his hands out of his eyes, this way, they can continue to take him and I can get an hour or two of cleaning, and maybe even an hour to blog or even start exercising again (something this past year I have completely neglected and honestly haven't even cared about). I know that's bad to say, but the truth. I need to get back on track with everything in my life.

That all being said, I broke down and I purchased the Snugglewraps arm restraints. I was in tears purchasing them, the thought of restraining Gavin made me cry. Honestly, they have really helped. For all you parents out there who deal with an eye poking baby/toddler, I'm sure the car rides have you stressed out. I realized, even a quick trip to the bank can be about 20 minutes in the car. That entire time, Gavin is poking his eyes, and I'm stressed seeing him in the car seat doing this and trying to stop him. It's not safe, and not good to add to the stress. These arm restraints are so HELPFUL for car rides. They are a must, and I think I am going to buy another pair to keep in Troy's truck. At home, they help when he is swinging or jumping. He is still getting vestibular stimulation but he is not pressing. I feel better putting them on when he does these activities, rather than when he is just on the floor playing since they really do restrain movement. I am able to throw them on, put him in his jumper and I can use the bathroom or grab a quick bite to eat. I have been caught in a nasty vicious cycle of stopping everything in my day to just be the eye poking police. This has helped when I need just 10 minutes to do something. If you have any questions, let me know. I highly recommend them!

Also, our Thanksgiving Dessert in the dark was a hit! About 20 members of the Bohannan clan experienced this. We all sat around the dining room table, shut off the lights and Troy and I served everybody. We had 3 different pies, and we sliced and served one serving at a time. We took it to the end person, told them what pie it was, and they had to pass in the dark to the appropriate person. It was awesome! I think everybody was able to experience Gavin's world and your different senses come into play. Some mentioned the different feelings of the forks, and the tastes of the pie when you are not looking at it. We even had some whip cream mishaps with my aunt and my sister, so we got some good laughs in too! This will be our new Thanksgiving tradition, and I am so happy and proud to be part of such a wonderful family who has embraced my son's condition to take on this experience with us.