Caitlin's first, long awaited haircut!

Somehow Caitlin managed to get to be three and a half before we finally felt it necessary to get her hair cut.I'm sure it's at least partly just an attempt to deny that she's growing up, but it's even more a result of the fact that she looked so darned cute with her hair hanging down to her butt. Sucked for daddy trying to get her ready in the mornings tho, since I'm not really adequately trained to handle pretty little girl pigtails :-)

Anyway, we decided that we should finally get it cut before the holidays, and since both parents were off work and could be there it was the perfect time. Caitlin was really all for this plan until she actually got in the chair to have her hair cut, but when we explained that it would make it easier for other people to see her earrings she was back on board.

The place, Cool Cuts for Kids in Bakersfield, was a load of fun fire both kids, with loads of movies and video games for them to play. Caitlin even tried playing a snowboarding game while she was waiting, and was almost doing better than her mommy at it :-)

One of the nice things about waiting so long for her first cut, tho, was that there was plenty of hair to save from it for the baby book!

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In Memory of Erin Thomas

A wonderful person died this morning, and I am still in shock. Erin Thomas was a dwarf with Achondroplasia, the same diagnosis as Caitlin. I met her three years ago on Facebook via mutual friends and we've become good friends over the years, bantering about football and politics, both of which we disagreed on, and trading notes/insights on raising kids with dwarfism where we had much more in common. Her husband has SEDc, a more rare diagnosis, and both her children were dwarfs as well. Her son, Joseph, had lost his battle with medical complications in 2007 which had led Erin and her husband to start the Joseph Thomas Foundation which supported other medically fragile kids and their families. Erin's daughter Emma, a feisty little girl who had inherited both her parents' diagnoses, had just gotten her trach removed that she'd lived with her whole life because she no longer needed it, and had gotten to actually go swimming for the first time ever this summer. Today is her birthday, in fact.

Erin had also just come into her own as a parent advocate with a presentation she made at the regional conference for District 12 of the Little People of America last April in Valencia, CA. Her presentation had gone so well that there was talk of her getting involved with the national organization, providing support to parents who needed advice. She and her husband had also just opened their hearts and home to three new kids who didn't have families of their own, including a 17 year old average height boy who had immediately become the ultimate big brother to Emma.

I don't know any actual details at this point, but what I do know that John went to wake up Erin this morning, and discovered that she had died in her sleep overnight. To the best of my knowledge, and that of many of her friends (several of whom had just spoken with her yesterday) nobody suspected that anything was wrong, and certainly nobody thought something like this was a possibility.

I am still in shock and mourning, as are the many people that she touched in her life. Her humor, her lively personality, and her insight will be sorely missed.

Good night, sweet Erin/And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest. And give Joseph a hug for all of us when you get there.

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Eleven years ago I married my best friend

After a long night in Biloxi

On a Saturday eleven years ago, a much different day than today, my best friend became my wife.  I'd been fascinated by her from the moment we met - so beautiful, so confident, so strong willed - and yet completely confused by how different she was than me.  I figured the best way to try to understand this woman who caught my attention was to stick with her as long as possible - and while I've never begun to make sense of her, it's turned out to be the best decision I ever made.

Cherylle is intelligent, passionate, and deeply caring.  She is intensely loyal and fights hard for what she believes in.  She has been the logical voice of reason when I have come up with another hare-brained scheme, but has been my biggest supporter when I take a leap of faith.  Her drive for education and improvement have been my biggest inspiration even when I go in a different direction.

Supportive of my hare-brained schemes

She has been the best mother my children could ever ask for.  She patiently walks Evan through his questions when I can't seem to explain things in a way that makes sense, and reads with him for hours at night.  She's better equipped than nearly anyone when it comes to taking on the system and getting Caitlin what she needs - her recent travails with the Newhall School District transportation system really proves that.

The best mother these two could ask for!

And to top it all off, even though I don't always tell her the way I should, she's only gotten more beautiful over the years.  She has a smile and a look of love in her eye that no one gets to see but me - and I am forever grateful.

Our amazing family