Twilight/New Moon Party!

So my friends and I are so excited for the New Moon movie that we wanted to get together and re-watch Twilight before it comes out. Well, we couldn't just do that, we had to go all out and do a Twilight party. We had so much fun...I laughed so hard last night!!! We acted like total teenagers...LOL Michelle made goodie bags for everyone.

I had a cake made, it turned out great!

Here is the content of my goodie bag...LOL!!!

We played the game Scene it...at this point we all had a little too much to drink to the point of taking pictures of a TV screen...yeah I know we should probably be embarrassed but we're not! LOL!!

After playing the game we watched the movie.

Lots of laughing...

Sometimes to the point of crying...lol

Such a fun night!

Twilight/New Moon make over!

We are officially in November which means the movie New Moon comes out soon!!!!! I am so excited!!!
My girlfriends and I already bought our tickets for the midnight show, I can't wait!!
For the occasion I wanted to give my blog a Twilight make over with the music from the movie and all! For those of you who are also obsessed with the Twilight saga, I hope you enjoy the make over. For those who are not into it, well try to put up with all my craziness until the movie comes out. LOL
Tuesday night, my friends and I are doing a Twilight party...can't wait!!!

Trick or Treats!

Tonight we went trick or treating with our friends. Sam got so much candy!! My friend had a smoke machine in front of her house and this picture turned out pretty spooky.

Sam and Merrick were the oldest kids in our group and they had fun leading the way.

Sam looking very excited about all her candy:

It was a great Halloween, I am kind of glad it's over though. ;)

Halloween party at Michelle's.

Tonight, my good friend Michelle threw a Halloween party. Her parties are always amazing. The food was delicious, the decorations were great but most of all it felt so good to be surrounded by so many wonderful friends! We are very lucky to have such great friends. I seriously have the best friends EVER!! When I took this picture of Jeff and the girls I didn't realize that Sam was getting poked in the eye by Anaïs' antennas! lol

Sam loves doing crafts. She stayed at the craft table for at least an hour!

Anaïs is such a daddy's girl...can you tell? lol

Sam and her friend Addy. These two get along so well, they love each other!

My friends Gooya and Michelle...LOVE them!!

It was a great night...I can't believe that October is almost over...CRAZY!!!!

LPA Halloween party.

Friday was our chapter's Halloween party. We had crafts for the kids, face painting, cookie decorating, games and food. The kids wore their costumes and everybody looked great.
Here is the little ladybug crawling all over the place:
Sam and Eva:

Anaïs ate pretty well that night.

Face painting...even Jeff got his face painted but I didn't get a picture of that because I had camera issues which explains why I don't have a lot of pictures of that night.

Sam showing off the cookie she decorated:

Some of the kids at the end of the evening. I couldn't take a picture of all the kids together because of my camera issue...oh well. :(

Fall Festival at Sam's school!

Tonight was the Fall Festival at Sam's school. They do it every year and it's always a lot of fun but I must say that this year was even better than the last three years. They really did a fantastic job. The kids got to wear their Halloween costumes for the first time of the year. This year Sam wanted to be a witch and Anaïs is a ladybug.

Anaïs actually did really good tonight. I thought she was going to be fussy and would be annoyed with her costume but she surprised me, my little ladybug did great!

Sam got to do lots of fun things: jump in a bouncy house, get a tattoo, decorate a pumpkin, do a Halloween craft, play bingo etc...she was busy all night long.

We are so lucky to be able to have Sam go to such a wonderful school. I can't say enough good things about it!

The little bakers!

Yesterday we went to this place called Little Pastry Chefs with our LPA chapter. It's a place where kids can bake and decorate cakes and make pizza.
As you can see Anaïs made herself comfortable right away by hanging out on the table.

Sam chose to make a pizza and decorate two cupcakes. I think everybody else decorated a cake.

Anaïs had fun tasting the frosting.

Here is Sam posing with the pizza and cupcakes she made. I think she had more fun making them than actually eating them. When we left, I decided to undress Anaïs and have her just in her diaper in the car because she was so hot. She thought it was so funny to have her onesie stuck on her head and she just looked so funny!

When we got home they were both pretty tired and went to bed early...of course they were up at 6:00 today, as usual. ;)

Last minute picnic

We decided to have a picnic at the park today. It was kind of last minute so we all threw something together but it turned out to be so great! We went to the park right behind our house which made it extra easy for us. Sam and her friend Addy play so well together, they love playing girly games and making faces for me when I take pictures.

The kids got lucky because the ice cream truck came. They were SO excited to get a special treat!

Don't bother me, I'm eating! lol

It was such a relaxing evening. :)

First pumpkin patch of the year.

Friday evening my girlfriends and I took the kids to their first pumpkin patch of the year. It was fun to finally get to do some fall activities although I must say it was pretty hot! lol
The kids got to go on a couple rides.

They also had a petting zoo. Sam enjoyed feeding the goats although one of them was pretty aggressive and kept and chasing Sam for more food.

I told Sam she could get a pumpkin and she picked out a "baby one".

Anaïs was there too but her eyes were closed in every picture.

The M word

October is dwarfism awareness month. I thought I would write a post about the infamous "M" word, "midget"".

I understand that most people who have never met a little person are simply not aware that the word "midget" is offensive to little people, their family and friends. Well, I am writing this in an attempt to make it crystal clear to everybody, whether they know a little person or not.
The word midget is highly offensive so please do not use it. You could compare the "M" word to the "N" word that some people use towards African American people. Those are words that are never acceptable. If you want to talk about a little person, you could say "little person", "dwarf" or a "person of short stature". I personally don't understand why we can't just call them by their name, it is not because someone is shorter than the average that we should automatically label them or put them in a category.

See, my daughter does have achondroplasia but that doesn't define who she is as a person. She is just short, that's it...nothing else. She is just like any 17 months old baby...short or not.
The thing that bothers me about dwarfism is that as a society, people think it's somewhat ok to laugh at little people, people think it's ok to think they "look funny", people think it's ok to stare at them...

Well I say NO, it is not ok.

They are people with a genetic condition, there is nothing funny about that. They can do anything, just in a different way. They lead the same exact life as average height people do. They have jobs, get married, have kids etc... They are people and like all of us they want to be respected for who they are.

So please, let's all try to make this world a better place for our kids and spread the awareness.

This is my daughter, her name is Anaïs and I love her for who she is. When I look at her I see HER, not her dwarfism.

Please, appreciate people for who they are because if you don't you will be the one missing out.

LPA regionals.

This week end we went to Sacramento to attend the regionals. We had a great time hanging out with our LPA friends and making new friends. Jeff's mom and step father joined us and I think Jeff's mom really enjoyed it as this was her very first LPA event. Our friend Brian was also there with us.
We flew because the drive would have been way too long for the girls (and for us too!). They did really good on the plane.

The first night there we went to the welcome reception and got a chance to hang out with our friends and meet some new people, which is always nice. It's very easy to talk to people at LPA events because you automatically have a bond.

On the second day, we attended the medical forum and the parents discussion group. I think the parents dicussion group is my favorite part of every conference! Then we went to lunch with all the people from the POLP (Parents Of Little People) message board.

On Saturday night, the kids got to enjoy a magic show.

When the magic show ended we headed to the BBQ for some food, games and friends.

On Sunday, we went to the old down town in Sacramento. There were lots of cute candy stores so of course we had to hit one! Sam had fun picking out some candy.

Another great week end with our wonderful LPA friends, I don't know what we would do without them!!

The girls this morning.

This morning, right before school, the girls were playing on the floor. Sam likes to act like she's a baby and crawl around with Anaïs. I thought this video was funny.

Evening at the park.

Tonight we decided to go eat at the park since the weather was so perfect. I love this time of the year in Vegas...when everybody else is enjoying fall weather we finally get to enjoy some bearable heat. The evenings are just so nice!

We put Anaïs in the baby swing and she loved it. She was so cute in it...she looked so tiny!

As always, Sam was such a good big sister. She wanted to push Anaïs and was very careful about it.

On the car ride back home, we had all the windows opened...check out Anaïs' hair!! lol

She loved the wind in her face.

It was a great evening!

When Sam is not around...

...you can be sure you will find Anaïs playing with Sam's stuff! Every morning while Sam is in school, Anaïs loves to go in Sam's room and snoop around! LOL
Today she wanted to touch Sam's markers and coloring books. She has been showing interest in drawing/coloring lately.

She's looking at me like "what did I do?" lol

Back on track!

So, these last couples days I have been having a hard time staying on top of my blogging...but that's all over now, I AM BACK!! lol
Yesterday, we went to my friend Michelle's house to celebrate her son's birthday. It was a small and casual gathering, the best kind!
As usual Anaïs got plenty of attention...here she is with Gooya:
The cake looked amazing and was delicious!

The kids had tons of fun as always.

Tonight, we went to another friend's house for dinner.

The kids spent a lot of time playing outside and Anaïs was dying to join the fun! Good thing Sam made sure to give her hugs and kisses all night. :)

This is how she spent most of the night: in the doorway looking at the older kids playing outside.

Things have been pretty busy and hectic around here with Jeff being out of town more often. This week end, my girlfriends and I are giving ourselves a major treat. We booked a suite on the the strip on Saturday night! We are going out to dinner and then on Sunday we are going to the Spa at Encore, can't wait!!

15 months check up.

Anaïs had her 15 months old check up at the doctor's this week. She is doing very well. Going to the doctor's office (or anywhere for that matter) is getting a little more difficult now that she's 15 months old. She gets impatient and wants to move around and it is becoming harder to keep her entertained.
Here are her stats:
weight: 17lbs3oz
height: 25 1/2 inches
head: 19 1/2 inches
She is around the 40th percentile on the achondroplasia growth chart, so I am happy with that. :)
Here she is playing with my phone while waiting for the doctor.

When she lost interest in my phone, she moved on to my purse.

The visit went really well but ended with 4 shots so she wasn't too thrilled about that. She also received her flu shot and we will go back when the H1N1 flu shot is available.

Right after her appointment we went to the airport to pick up Jeff who was flying in from Salt Lake. It is so good to have him home.

After we picked up Sam from school, we met up with our LPA friends for a park playdate. The girls had fun playing and running around.

Here is Anaïs eating apples:

Jeff took her down on the slide but she wasn't so sure about that! lol Hanging out with Rachel drinking her bottle was more her thing. LOL

A girly playdate.

Yesterday, Sam had her good friend Addy over for a playdate. They had a such a great time, they played non stop from 11:00 to 5:00.

They both came to me saying they wanted to paint their nails so I gave them a manicure, here they are trying to show off they freshly painted nails.

They took a break from playing to eat lunch.

I told them to make funny faces for this picture, of course Sam masters this skill!! lol

It was wonderful to see them having so much fun together.

In the meantime I was able to get caught up on my laundry...I even had a little helper:

The ballerina.

Sam had her very first ballet class yesterday. She loved it!!
I like the fact that this place (Nevada Ballet Academy) is serious and pretty formal. The parents are only allowed to watch the class once a month. So we waited out in the hallway which allowed me to meet some really nice moms. :)
I could only take pictures right before class started.

Here is the teacher, Miss Monica going over dress code guidelines.

She demonstrated the proper way to fold the socks on Sam, she was pretty proud about that.

I am so happy that Sam enjoyed it, she can't wait for next Tuesday!

10 years!

10 years ago, I married the love of my life. I am so lucky to have found Jeff, or should I say that he came and found me! :) We have been together for 13 years, I was 16 when we met and he was 20. Since it's our 10th anniversary I thought I would write 10 things I love about him and our relationship.

1) First of all, I love that after all this time together we love each other as much as the first day, actually probably even more. Our love for each other has grown deeper.

2) I love that Jeff knows me better than anyone else!!! I don't even need to talk sometimes he just knows what I'm feeling.

3) From the very first moment we met, Jeff has NEVER stopped making me feel like the queen of his world...NEVER! He always finds that cute and sweet comment to say or that loving gesture to make my day.

4) Jeff always knows how to make me feel better when I am down or not having a good day. I have never had a moment when I thought "I wish he would be there for me". He is always by my side.

5) Jeff is such a good person. He is always good to people. This is a very rare quality nowadays!

6) I always feel like with Jeff I can learn something new everyday! Jeff is the smartest person I know.

7) Jeff is a WONDERFUL father!!! He is always there for his girls and enjoys being around them. He always wants to take care of them and play with them...they love him so much!!

8) I love the fact that I am the only one who knows Jeff's silly side! This is a side he doesn't show to other people and I just really love being the only one to know him that way. He does the most funny things just to make me laugh...even when I feel like being mad! LOL

9) I love the way we can just hang out and talk. One of my favorite things to do with Jeff is going out to dinner and spend several hours enjoying each other's company.

10) Most of all, I just love him because I feel like he was made for me. I could not imagine my life without him, and I have felt that way since the moment we met. I KNEW he was the one. Even if I was only 16, I just KNEW.

Happy 10th anniversay Jeff! I love you so very much!!

Week end with friends.

My good friend Michelle invited us to spend the week end at her cabin in southern UT. We had a great time hanging out with our friends and as always the kids had so much fun.

We went to an apple orchard to pick organic apple. The kids really enjoyed that!

Anaïs was fascinated by a lady bug that landed on her hand.

We went through a cave that was pitch dark...kind of freaky!

The guys...

Jeff caugh a horney toad and of course all the kids wanted to touch it!

LPA beach party

This week end we drove to California for the Orange County LPA Beach Party. We love going to LPA events in CA because a lot of our LPA friends live there! We got there on Friday night and stayed at a local hotel. Our friends the Mallinsons stayed at the same hotel so we got to hang out on Friday night which was fun for us grown ups but also for the kids. Anaïs was fascinated by the beer bottles and just HAD to hold one all by herself, so we rinsed one out and let her have fun with it. LOL I want to emphasize that we rinsed it out though, I swear we're good parents and don't give beer to our baby! lol Sam and Evan spent the evening wrestling on the sofa bed...lol

Anaïs and Caitlin were pretty good considering how late it was for them!

The day after, on Saturday, we headed to the beach party. It was so much fun and we always enjoy catching up with our CA friends!!! Once again, I wished we lived there!!

It was a lot of fun!

Poor Anaïs got a pretty bad sunburn even though we put lots of sunblock on her.

How can your heart not melt...

...when you see this.After I put the kids down for the night, I went to check on Sam and found her asleep holding a picture of Jeff, Anaïs, Sam and I. Seriously, how sweet is that? She is such a loving person and has such a good heart!

Also, I wanted to post pictures of Anaïs sitting up, she has been doing so good lately!!

I am so very lucky to have these kids in my life, they are the best!!!

First day of kindergarten!

Today Sam started kindergarten...what a great day for her! She has been talking about it for weeks and could not wait to go back to school. She goes to such a wonderful school, I can't wait to have Anaïs go to that school!!
She had a brand new backpack and lunch bag which she was very excited about. She picked a Barbie backpack and a Hannah Montana lunch bag.
This year, class starts at 8:00. This is a big change for us because she used to start at 8:30...it's crazy how much of a difference 30 min can make! I was so scared of being late that we got there super early! LOL

At this point, she was starting to seriously get sick of me taking pictures. On this picture she was telling me "come on!! let's go to my classroom mom!!".

She could not get there fast enough!

It's nice because there are a couple of her friends from last year which makes the transition so much smoother!

She did a really good job today, we are so proud of our big girl!!

My little baker

Today Sam and I decided to bake a cake. It's is one of her favorite things to do. We made a french recipe, a yogurt cake. My mom used to make yogurt cake with me all the time when I was a kid and I keep such wonderful memories of those moments. I sure hope Sam will remember these times later on just like I do.
The great thing about this recipe is that it's very good and SO simple to make!! I swear Sam could probably make it on her own. The ingredients are very basic: flour, sugar, 1 cup of yogurt, oil, baking powder and eggs...that's it. Oh and I just add a couple drops of vanilla extract.
Sam did everything by herself, I just helped with the dosage and breaking the egg shells.

As you can see, Anaïs was supervising our work from her high chair. LOL

Now, the best part: licking the spoon...or the cake mixer.LOL

Here is the before... And the after:

In France, we don't really put frosting on our cakes. I know I know, most Americans would say "but it's the best part!!!". This cake is VERY moist and rich with the yogurt so I really can't imagine putting frosting on it, besides I feel like the frosting would take over all the vanilla flavor of the cake.

I mentioned that Sam loves baking, however she doesn't really enjoy the cleaning up and waiting until the cake is baked part. So she just joined Anaïs who was cruising on the hardwood floor and had some fun with her.

Finally, we got to taste our cake for dessert, it was a success. :)

Also, tomorrow is a very exciting day for Sam: first day of kindergarten!!!! She is beyond excited! She is staying in the same school so the transition should be pretty easy. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Sam built a playhouse

Sam's new favorite thing to do when we're home is to build a playhouse. Nothing fancy needed! Just a couple blankets and she has a blast. I remember that I used to do this all the time when I was a kid with my sister, we loved it!
You know, I must say that I love that about Sam, she has so much fun with the most simple things. She doesn't need the latest toys to have fun.
Here she is in her new "house". The cheetah blanket is actually the door when you fold it down. She took some of her favorite things to put in her house. I thought it was very cute because she put a picture of Jeff, Anaïs, her and I in her house.

Then, she had her first guest over...Anaïs of course!

They had tons of fun in there, I kept hearing them laugh from the living room.