Dagney is an AMAZING boy!

As a baby I new he was going to be an amazing kid as he grew older, but I also new he was going to have some struggles from how he reacted and struggled with certain situations and sensory in his life.
 Dagney, my oldest who will be four in August struggles with sensory and other things. It can be exhausting, challenging, frustrating, but also very fun and amusing with a child who is what one would call sensational. He is an amazing kid!
 With a lot of determination my husband and I figured we needed to look deeper into his struggles before he started Kindergarten so us as parents, perhaps his future teachers and any one else can help him thrive even more in his life. We decided to talk with our family doctor who agreed we should see a Behavioural Pediatrician, who we saw this morning. After explain Dagney's struggles and the Doctor asked a lot of questions too. He said it was clear to him Dagney is a sensational child who has Sensory Processing Disorder and possibly High Functioning Autism, BUT he wants to do another evolution with Dagney to get a better diagnoses. With that being said, both my husband, myself and the Pediatrician agreed that it wasn't just a blank diagnoses, he wants to put a name to his struggles so we can cater to that exact issue to help Dagney thrive. No medicating to cover anything up just yet unless everything else has been exhausted and it is something as the parents think he might need. Which right now I want to stay far from it.
  That being said even though in my heart he is still the same boy I birthed at home and have cared for, loved, had fun with and also been exhausted from(hahaha) it is comforting knowing we have a diagnoses to be able to access the specific help for that diagnoses. I am heartbroken, but yet relieved all at the same time. I am hoping this doesn't change anyone to be more negative towards him or treat him less, because of this. I hope others are more open minded and supportive of him and his struggles and differences. There is nothing WRONG with him, there is everything RIGHT with him. This just makes him unique and will possibly help him thrive in certain areas of life that most of us can't.

Building MY dream home

So lets build my dream home. Be warned this isn't the average dream home most would want. I am a simple living type of woman and LOVE the idea of living off the grid. So here goes.

1) What would the outside of my house look like. Imagine a small log cabin that has a few windows in the front with some flower boxes hanging below them and perhaps in the back or sides. It might remind you of a little cottage.

2) If we live off the grid, my family and I how would we heat it in the dead of winter you might ask? Well a wood burning stove! Now this will be good not only for heating the place in the winter, but also cooking, heating water up for warm baths etc. Plus we might have a wood burning fire place.

3) How big is the inside of this home of ours? Well small! One main room where the cooking takes place plus the family time, a small bathroom and a loft where we would all sleep. So maybe 800sq feet or less The loft is smaller in this picture, but it gives your mind an idea what there would be.And of course no air conditioner or ceiling fan. ;)

4) Lets talk the bathroom. Since there isn't any running water. GASP! I know crazy isn't it? There would be an out house style toilet that would be emptied daily into the out house we would have outside of our home that would be used mostly in the spring, summer and fall. Winter months and probably at night for the kids the inside one would be used for that time period. The bath tub would be a wooden tub with a hole and a hose going out the side of the home to drain. And last but not least where we would wash our face and hands? Well in a tin tub/sink so it can be dumped once you are finished.

5)How would we see if it's dark since we have zero electricity? Well well well! Oil burning lamps or candles! We have always used those while camping or at the cottage so it would be perfect. We just have to be extra cautious. We might have some solar power panel on our roof to make sure we are plugged in for our cell phones in case of emergency and having a small chest freezer and a refrigerator for food.

6) Lets talk washing clothing! Now a days most of us woman dread laundry, because it can be such a process and even so my way of doing it if we were have our dream home would be a lot of work as well. I want to get back to basics. So a stainless steal washing machine contraption. It rings out clothes manualy and bucket area I would use this neat looking plunger.And of course hanging the clothes to dry. Something I do in my life when the weather gets warmer.

7) Lets talk about the outside! This is something that is the most important to my home. A big piece of land with lots of garden area for flowers, herbs, veggies, fruits to be grown and a small amount of animals to raise for our food  consumption so we don't have to buy very much from the farmers market or grocery stores.

8) Let's not forget about kid geared stuff to have fun. I am sure the children's imagination would be just as good, but even so it would be nice to have some other fun things to do especially us adults who are still kids at heart. How about some tire swings, a tree house, slides, some hammocks to relax in and possibly sleep in at night when the nights are too hot to be inside. And a pond! one to swim in. I know I am sure some think that is kind of nuts, but I grew up swimming in ponds and lakes, it was tons of fun! The pond can also acts as a watering hole for the free roaming animals too. So just think while you are swimming around in the pond a cow is drinking from the shore just on the other side. What a lovely sight to see, don't you think?

9) Where would we get our water from? I guess I should of mentioned this before since we wouldn't have running water. A hand pump that's located outside somewhere, some rain barrels and if all else fails the store! But if you just boil the water really good it should be safe to drink. I've done it many of times while camping.

I think that's about it for how I would want my dream home one day. :)




**All of the pictures are not mine. I found them on pinterest**