Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by and visit! We hope to share with you our journey of raising a child with Achondroplasia, the most common type of dwarfism. If this is your first time here, please start by reading Caitlyn's Story. It will share the beginning of her life with you. Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Comparison…

I’m friends with most of you on Facebook so you’ve probably seen this picture that I put together.  For those of you that aren’t, I wanted to show everyone how much the girls look like me. 

Ready….

me and my girls

Some Hanna cuteness!

Hanna is approaching 12 weeks already!!  I thought that I would share a few new pictures and videos.  She’s smiling all the time, okay, well most of the time.  She is sleeping well – a good 6 hour(sometimes longer) stretch at night.  She’s got great head control and back strength; she’s going to be a show off around here.  Caitlyn was on the early side with her milestones, following the Achondroplasia milestone charts.  She held her head up around 4 months, sat with assistance by 10 months, and was walking at 18 months.  I think with Hanna, she will also reach milestones early on. 

Enjoy the pictures!

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See she’s not always happy

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Okay, so don’t judge me on my singing…

Weekend at Nana and Papa’s

Caty, Hanna and I ventured down to my parents house for the weekend. Scott had a big paper due for his Masters Program and I thought we would give him some piece and quiet to get his work done. 

We drove down on Friday and luckily Hanna slept for the whole trip, which is about 2 hours.  I had some Kohl’s cash so we made a stop at the Kohl’s closest to my parents.  They were also having a 15% off everything and here in CA a tax free day, even better.  Hanna decided that halfway through our shopping that she was going to wake up and of course she needed to eat.  This sped up the rest of the browsing, especially since I was now carrying Hanna around and pushing the monster of a double stroller that we have.  I had a few pairs of shoes and some dresses for Caty and we got into line with our loot.  She cashier started to ring up our stuff and halfway through, the register froze.  She restarted it and we tried again – by this time Hanna was not just crying but screaming – only to have it freeze again.  They moved me over to another cash register and tried it again.  Then the cashier decided that she better run to the main computer at the back of the store to check and make sure that my card wasn’t charged from our attempt on the first machine.  She was gone a few minutes and finally returns, luckily saying we weren’t charged.  She finally got it all done and decided to give me an extra $10 off for the “inconvenience” – sounds good to me.  The total before the discounts, Kohls cash and the inconvenience cash was $85.  After all the discounts our total was $35!!  I was so excited and thought to myself “I sure wish that I had grabbed more things!” 

Onto my parents…

Saturday morning we had some friends over.  Keith and Annette are the parents of a good friend from my childhood, Melissa.  The last time I saw them was about 15 years ago.  Melissa moved to CO for college and the year after that (95) Keith and Annette moved to New Jersey.  After college, Melissa moved to Pennsylvania and that is where she, her hubby and their two boys live.  Keith and Annette split their time between Nashville and New Jersey.  Anyways, they were out for a work related reunion and had Saturday morning free.  I invited them over and it was so wonderful to see them – I just wish that Melissa and the boys could have been there.  More on Melissa, Keith and Annette in another blog.

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The weather was really nice so we were able to get some swimming in on Saturday afternoon.  This was Hanna’s first swimming experience and from this first picture you can see that she wasn’t too thrilled with it.

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But once I had her, she calmed down and was okay with it.  She was in the pool for about 30-45 minutes and actually was quite relaxed.

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Caty swimming around with Papa

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What time spent in the pool will do to a baby

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Caty practicing her swimming – actually going underwater!!

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Bathtime for Hanna

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Talking to Caty and Papa

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Friday, August 14, 2009

A Trip to the Zoo

Caty, Hanna, my mom (Nana) and myself spent a day at the San Francisco Zoo.  They were having a special demonstration put on by Fisher Price and children were able to try out their new line of toys.  We got in line so Caty could try out one of their motorized vehicles.  She wasn’t able to fit in any of the cars, however the Harley Davidson Rocker was just her size – no pedal extenders needed!  I wonder if it comes in pink?
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Playing with the Precious Places Swan Palace
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Decorating a Gemz necklace
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She still loves Dora
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I think that these belonged with Handy Manny
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Hanna trying out a tambourine that goes with the Little Superstar Jammin Band Musical Microphone
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Trying out the Smart Fit Park
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Playing Dr Murphy
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From here we headed out to see some animals.  First up were the giraffes and let me tell you, the baby giraffe was just about the cutest thing, aside from my two girls!
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Caty and her little elephant
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The penguins
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Mrs Lion
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The koalas are adorable
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This chimpanzee went crazy – swinging from here to there, on this and that
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and then did this…climbed up a pole, stood there, and then just sat down staring over the trees
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Caty and Nana watching the chimps
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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Natalie’s 4th Birthday

Caitlyn’s friend Natalie (from our playgroup) turned 4 on July 28 and her birthday party was at Chuck E Cheese.  We headed over there after Caty’s swim lesson and joined in on the fun.  We got there a little late, due to the swim lesson, but arrived just in time for the pizza and a visit from Chuck E himself.  Caty had a great time playing the games and cashing in her tickets for a tootsie roll pop. 

Caty and Natalie

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Natalie was so excited when Chuck E came to see her!

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Hanna admiring the flashing lights – kept her entertained for quite awhile

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Everyone loves Skeeball!

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Going for a ride with Barney

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CHEESE!!

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Riding a pony – this “ride” actually sort of galloped like a horse and she was supposed to pull back on the reins to make him jump – yeah right!

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HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!