2010 Little People of America Conference in Nashville – or BUST!

Last year Carsten was blessed to get a full paid scholarship to the LPA conference (Thank you, thank you, thank you!). He has wanted this for so long. We were all so excited to finally be able to go. We registered as soon as we were able and I do believe Carsten packed a couple of weeks in advance.   And yes, I made sure I checked, double-checked, and rechecked Andrew’s suitcase so that we would not have a repeat of past trips.

The SUV was loaded and we weren’t even out of Baton Rouge when I began to hear this:

“Mom! He is touching me with a Triscuit!”

Really? I mean c’mon boys. We have nine hours to go!

We stopped several time to feed Matthias and to get snacks and coffee. Between Grandma Bayliss and I we must have drank 3 pots of coffee. Yes, we woke up that early.

We finally got to Tennessee, checked into our hotel, and tried like crazy to get some sleep. That was hard. The next day would be like Christmas. The anticipation was numbing. I wasn’t sure how Carsten would react or feel. I wasn’t sure I was ready to learn more about his condition – if it meant that it was something I didn’t want to hear. And this last fear may sound a bit ridiculous but I was afraid of him growing up; afraid of him not needing me.  He had been all ours for years and now he is going to meet a group of people who will love and accept him just like we do. We would have to share him. That really scared me.

That fear was short lived.

Once we walked into that building and Carsten looked around I saw something that made my heart melt. My baby was glowing from top to bottom. He could not stop himself from smiling. He stood there, blocking the entrance, trying to take it all in. I had to push him forward so he didn’t get run over by a stroller that was about to zoom by. He had found comfort. There were no stares, whispers, or pointing. Well, except for the little girl who pointed and said, “That boy is fine!” (Yes, I will have a chat with her mama just as soon as I figure out who she is. *smiles*)

Carsten ate it up.

Then, as if it could not get any better, when we were going to check in guess who got in line RIGHT BEHIND US! Mr. Roloff himself. I thought I would have to pick Carsten up off of the floor. He kept pulling on my shirt and grinning ear to ear. I wanted so bad to have a chat with him and get a picture but he was being mobbed. Person after person came up to him until finally we had to go check in. He did notice Carsten’s joy a few times but we weren’t able to get to him for a chat. I WISH we would have but I didn’t want to be rude and jump in front of others or anything like that. I just hoped we’d get to see him later.

After we got our itinerary and passes, we took a seat in the diner to formulate a plan. And low and behold who walks in… no not a Roloff but Martin Klebba. Carsten thinks he is the coolest! He played in Pirates of the Carribean. Then, while we were walking across the hotel to our first event we saw Amy, Molly, and Maxon Roloff! They were too far away to make contact and we had to get to our meeting so we just smiled as we walked past.

While we were in the newcomer’s reception my mom-in-love stepped out to feed Matthias and she runs into The Little Chocolatiers. We were pretty much star struck on the first day. My only regret about the whole trip is that each time after that when we saw them we either didn’t have a camera or didn’t have time to stop. I wish Carsten would have had the opportunity to actually talk to them. He adores them all.

There was no where to stand to get a good photo of everyone so I used the escalator. Of course, that meant that it would be blurry but I actually like the way it looks.

Carsten was already making friends by the end of the first day. During an icebreaker exercise he got to go around and meet and greet. They wrote their names down for each other so they could be found on Facebook. Oh the wonder of technology!

We got to meet some amazing little people, like Ms. Lee, who has the same condition as Carsten. I can’t wait to tell you all about it. I was also able to meet lots of other moms & dads and chat with them.

Carsten had a teen ice cream social to attend. After they got their ice cream they could retreat to the teen room for fun and games on the XBox, Wii, and Playstation. I could not get him to go in the room. I finally had a chat with him and that is when I realized something. He said, “Mom, no one wants to talk to me.”

You see at home people flock to Carsten because he is different. Once they are drawn in then they tend to stay because of his great personality. Carsten has never had to work a day in his life at making friends… except here. Here, everyone is just like him. He doesn’t stand out. He had to actually make an effort to meet people.

And he finally did… inch by inch he walked into the room. I kept going back and forth checking on him and finally he looked at me and was like, “Mom! Quit hovering over me!”

Oh my. Yes, he did. I went back to sit down and I almost cried. My baby is growing up, y’all..

But, I couldn’t help myself. I had to go back and take one more picture.

I finally resigned myself to sitting on the bench with Ryan and taking pics of the child who isn’t old enough to tell me no yet. Then we actually left Carsten alone and went to get more coffee. He didn’t even miss me. *sigh*

There is so much more but I’ll post again tomorrow. I have a little one who is requiring my attention as well as some other work to do. More to come!

Print this entry