LIGirl

Hm, I didn't even think of that, thanks for the tip! I might have to peruse Etsy one day and see if there's anything or anyone who could be of help. I just wish I was a millionaire so money would be no object with getting things custom made. Ah, well.

Yes, I live in the suburbs of Long Island. I honestly don't know why Bill endured more hateful bullying than I. Bill actually grew up on LI as well, not too far from me, and it sounded like he was bullied even before college. I would think that because NYC is such a huge melting pot of races, ethnicities, and personalities, people would have been more accepting of him overall. Apparently not? Hell, surely there are a lot "freakier" people walking the streets of NYC than a nice looking guy who just happens to be a little person. :P I grew up in a town that was also a very big melting pot of people and I thought that may be one reason why I wasn't physically bullied. But who knows? I was also pretty outgoing, tended to make good friends easily with different groups of people, and did extremely well in school, but I thought Bill was the same way. Bill isn't much older than me, so I also don't think "that's how it was back then" is a likely reason, either. The more I think about it, though, the more I think that maybe my case was not the norm. Not only do we have stories of Bill being viciously bullied, but we have heard several stories of bullying on "LW: LA" and "LW: NY." Plus, I remember as a teenager, I was asked to speak to my aunt's friend's young daughter who also had dwarfism. One of the things she asked me was how I handled all of the bullying and not having any friends. I swear to you, I honestly didn't know how to answer that question. I felt terrible and yet so lucky that I didn't truly know what that was like. Sometimes I think I may also be blocking out some of the more scarring experiences for all I know, LOL, but overall, I just think I got really lucky. I will tell you that if someone ever dares to get physical with me, I'll get all Dorinda from RHoNY and get in their face telling them, "You better cut that shit and back that shit up quick!" ;) That said, I was running errands today and it was one of those days where I wish I could have been invisible. I wish more than anything that parents would teach their kids from an EARLY age that you do not make a spectacle of yourself when you see someone who looks "different." I know kids are naturally curious, but kids need to learn how to be respectful and approach their parents quietly if they have a question about my "difference" and not to scream out, "Look at her!" with the pointing and laughing with the other kids. Parents also need to shut down their kids if they start following me around everywhere to the point where the kid is out of their reach. I cannot tell you how many times this happens to me. Obviously, I would never flip out on a kid, but I'm still like, "Seriously? I'm short, but I'm still a STRANGER!" I'm sure parents wouldn't want their kids to follow around any other stranger to the point where they can't even see their kids. Stranger danger much?

Sorry, I guess I should have clarified that if Barbara HAS/HAD the legal authority to do so, a part of me wishes she would/could have put up Jace for adoption. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that Jace turns out alright and runs off as far as he can to a productive and successful life the second he turns 18.

Wait, so Jo and Vee explicitly move to be closer to to Isaac and Kailyn decides to move away to another state again? Seriously? Or is this move related to a military transfer? I would hope so because I'd be enraged if I was Jo.

A part of me hates it when people say Jace is better off with Barbara. Well, yeah, when you look at Jace's options - Barbara or Jenelle- Barbara is definitely the lesser of the two evils there. But honestly, I don't think Jace is better off with Barbara at all. Besides her own kids being fucked up, I don't see her as the type who holds her tongue about things, especially Jenelle, in front of Jace even when Jenelle is not right there to scream with her in front of him. Sometimes, I wish Barbara would see the bigger picture of what's really and truly best for Jace and place him for adoption where he would hopefully get a much more stable family life and a better chance at having a good life overall. But sadly, he's already at an age where he would feel abandoned and that would probably fuck him up even more. I hate to say I don't have much hope for him, but ugh... I don't. :(

Seriously? A part of me feels like people are just making shit up about Leah because... well, she's Leah and look at her track record. But if it's true, maybe she should've gone to a rehab for sex addiction instead of for "depression and exhaustion." Then again, if she went to rehab for sex addiction, she'd probably fuck (pun intended) that up, too.

I know this has been tried before. In fact, Lifetime's show "Little People: NY" had some of the cast members walk the runway in a little people fashion show during NY's Fashion Week. And one of the cast members on "Little People: LA" was trying to start her own line of little people clothes, but she also wanted to make it for both little people and regular sized people. I've never been to a little people convention (I've never had any interest in it), but I can imagine clothing is a big topic of discussion. However, to be honest, I don't know if a clothing line made just for little people could ever become "mainstream" enough to be successful. The reality is that there are so many different forms of dwarfism and we all have different body proportions. For example, even though Jen is shorter than me, she has the type of dwarfism where her limbs are more in proportion to her body, so she could probably get away with not having to tailor her sleeves as much. With my type of dwarfism, my limbs are shorter/not in proportion with my body. Besides the variations in body proportions, dwarves can be anywhere from under 3' to to over 4'; I think there is just too many variables to ever come up with a clothing line that would work really well for little people. Thanks, I know the actual return process isn't difficult, but sometimes, you are charged return postage and this shoe company - Cinderella of Boston - makes you pay for the return postage and they advise that I pay for insurance on it. That could add up for me. But I think at some point, I might try one or two pairs and see how it goes. We'll see. Oh, how envious I was of Jen when she had Chloe Dau design dresses for her! I absolutely loved Chloe! Sadly, I'm sure she doesn't come cheap. If I was rich, I would totally try to find a personal tailor to custom make some things for me. Better yet, I'd also love to have a personal shoemaker to make some shoes I'd love to have as well. I doubt most of Jen's clothes are custom made, but rather often tailored like I have mine. It's not like she's a conjoined twin who needs special clothing made; she can buy off the rack (even in upscale department stores), which I'm sure she often does, and just have things shortened as needed.

I bet whatever books were brought home were for both of the kids, not just Will. I cannot see Bill or Jen ever purposely leaving out one kid over the other. Everytime I hear about the amount of bullying certain little people have gone through, I thank and count my lucky stars for never having endured the same. It just blows me away how cruel people can be and I cannot imagine how I would have handled being physically bullied. Sure, I got PLENTY of stares, snickers, and sometimes some verbal taunts from strangers, and I still do to this day, but to be actually physically assaulted? God... just heartbreaking. That said, even though I may not have gone through the physical bullying, I have to be honest and admit that I can still relate to Bill moments of "dark thoughts." Although I'm so unbelievably grateful for my amazing family, friends, and personal accomplishments thus far in my life, it's still not easy living in our shoes. Not easy at all.

I guess now that Jonny has the whole boyfriend thing out in the open, he's more comfortable (or maybe now allowed by the producers?) posting pictures of his boyfriend on Instagram. I'm happy for him! The guy seems like a good guy so far, not like a famewhore like Bobby, ahem. Jonny and Balthazar make a good looking couple (and he certainly has Jonny's body looking on point!). :)

You're not being intrusive at all! I realize people are curious about things, and if people ask me in a respectable manner, I totally don't mind answering questions. :) Shoes are the only things I get in children's sizes. I buy all of my clothes in regular adult sizes (or petites if they have them). The reality is that I wouldn't fit in children's sizes because even though I'm short, I still have the "curves" of an adult woman (i.e., hips, chest). The really, really unfortunate thing about clothes and being a little person, though, is that it's like I end up paying double or more for the clothes because I have to get things altered. Since I tend to do really well in stores like Ann Taylor, LOFT, New York & Co., Banana Republic, etc., that makes my wallet wince sometimes. But the way I see it is if even if I have to spend more on shortening sleeves, pants, and dresses, as long as it's on good quality clothes, then hopefully, I'll get my money's worth and they'll last me a while. (I still wish I could get alterations covered by insurance or something, though! :P)

Since I'm a little person as well, I have often wondered where Jen gets her shoes, too, because I love many of the ones she wears. I obviously have to get kids sizes, which is often frustrating because, since I'm in my 30's, I don't want cartoon characters, big bows, sparkles, or lights on my shoes. Fortunately, as gunderda said above, I've noticed more of an "adult" classy style in more girls' shoes these days. I actually found a few that I really liked at Stride Rite in the past year and because I tend to wear through my dress shoes quickly since I'm a working professional, I have had to buy several pairs to have on hand as back up because I may not find the same style several months or a year or so down the road. It's still too bad that I can't get nice, classic adult-styled shoes in my size with heels, though. Although I think Jen is shorter than me, she looks like she has narrower feet than I, so she probably doesn't have as hard of a time as I do getting shoes, especially dress shoes. Besides the childish appearance of little girls shoes, I run into the trouble of needing wide shoes, which are either hard to find or straight up ugly. (Why can't shoe designers understand that wide footed people like to be stylish, too?!) So even if I knew where she gets most of her shoes, I bet I couldn't fit in them. :( I do know that little people and those who are shorter than average have also had luck getting smaller shoes with a company called Cinderella of Boston. Despite the name, it's actually based in California, which sucks for me because I live in NY and it's not easy for me to buy shoes online. I need to be able to try them on due to the width of my feet and I'd hate to have to buy and return several pairs of shoes through the mail.

As a little person, I can 100% vouch for this. Although, unlike Will and Zoey, I didn't have any little people family or friends to "teach" me how to safely navigate countertops and other high surfaces; I just did it on my own as I got older. To this day I do it in my own home and if my grandmother is around, she practically watches me like a hawk. And I'm like, dude, I've been doing this for over 30 years, give me some credit! LOL I know it could take just one split second for me to fall and crack my head open, but eh, I guess I'm so used to it that it's no big deal to me. Plus, I swear, it's like my body/mind somehow knows that my balance is much more crucial when I'm up on my counters because my balance is like that of an Olympic gymnast when I'm up there, haha. Oh, and while I don't step all over my counters with grimy shoes or bare feet, I still make sure all the surfaces of my home are pristine just like I'm sure Bill and Jen do with their home.

I was wondering about that myself. The ladies' private flight probably took no more than 1.5 hours. If Heather is standing on the tarmac in/by Napa announcing to the girls that she received word that the guys were on their way (by car, no less!), you mean to tell me that the ladies couldn't wait another 1.5 - 2 hours for the guys to fly with them? That's bullshit; I'd be pissed if I was one of the guys.

Christ, I feel like I stumbled into the Twilight Zone version of "The Little Couple" thread. Where the hell am I? I am not a hawk-eyed viewer that watches every single scene with a microscopic and analytical view of the kids and how Jen and Bill opt to parent them. But I do see way more than enough to know that Zoey is not abused, neglected, pushed away, or mistreated in any way, especially in comparison to or in favor of Will. I also fail to see this supposed spoiled screaming banshee version of Will, but rather, a typical little boy who literally just turned 5 years old and is still very much testing the boundaries of his parents and learning how to modify his behavior and ability to understand what is expected of him with them, his sister, and in general. I don't know of a single, solitary preschooler who doesn't throw a fit over what is "Mine!" with a sibling, when it's their turn at a task, or the struggles of sharing lots of things, including their parents' undivided attention, at that age. If they are perfectly behaved and complied in a completely civil and peaceful manner with never a tantrum or disagreement, then I expect that child grew up to either be Ghandi, Mother Theresa, or a monk. Zoey fell and hit her head last year because it was an unexpected and most likely unpreventable accident that literally happened within a split second. This is what happens with children all the time at any age. You cannot hold their hand or keep every adult's eyes on them every second of every day in fear of them never physically hurting themselves because it's impossible! Should Zoey be up on the counter? No, not in a perfect world. But Bill and Jen were both right there and I am sure they have had the talk with their kids not to climb on anything high on a regular basis, especially without permission or under the watchful eye of a responsible adult. We don't see every minute of every day, conversation, and interaction of Bill and Jen with the kids; we only see a small and edited portion of their lives. Furthermore, I believe that if Jen cried over medical things that happened with Will, it was probably first child nerves and uncertainties. Many, many parents are much more stressed, scared, and tense over things that happen, especially the unknown and medical things, with the first child than they are with each subsequent child because by the time the 2nd, 3rd or 4th child arrives, they often know what to expect! Please don't also forget that because of Jen's health situation, she missed the physical (and maybe having any overly emotional reaction) that Zoey needed in order to be permitted to go home with them (Jen flew home early), and one of the first major medical appointments had Jen meeting them at the hospital while she was in an already precarious state during an in-hospital treatment cycle. Bill and Jen are also first time parents to two little, but active (read: not newborn!) children who arrived pretty close together in time. What set of new parents aren't going to make mistakes or fret over the right thing to do in terms of discipline, socialization, education, food choices, medical needs, etc. with their child[ren]? I'd be more worried if they never, ever made a mistake and the children were quiet, perfectly behaved robots every second of every day without nary a hair out of place at any moment. With all of that said, I think the bottom line for me based on this episode and every other one I've watched, I have yet to see one single reason why we shouldn't trust that the kids are in very good, very capable hands with Bill and Jen. If they make a "mistake" one day or another, then that's fine by me because then I know that they are still human and not some stepford robots who are operating under unattainable standards.

If anything, I can imagine Jenn and Bill being more "unusual" for Will and Zoey to see at first than their grandparents or other kids since I doubt there were any other little people children or caregivers at their orphanages.

Sadly, I think these two things are not exclusive to just Jenelle; that seems to be the mindset of a LOT of girls these days.

If your hero is Ke$ha and you're willing to become a fugitive on the run from jail to go see Ke$ha in concert, then you might be Jenelle.

Exactly. Plus, his family has deep political SC roots!

Cameran made one tweet about it regarding donations, Shep has tweeted some stuff, Craig tweeted a few things, and Patricia has basically retweeted a bunch of stuff about it. I refused to check Whitney's Twitter because I don't want the douchebaggery to infect my eyeballs. Kathryn hasn't said anything other than retweeting info about a prayer vigil from Jennifer's Twitter, but I'm kind of raising an eyebrow over the fact that Thomas has been radio silent about it so far as well. As someone who ran for political office more than once, you'd think he'd be in the mix of things or at least publicly condemning such heinous acts on innocent SC citizens.

Leah could wash or sweep up hair at the local salon, or open a loose meat sandwich place with her sister.

Exactly. I get really annoyed with parents who put those oversized headwraps/headbands/bows/flowers on their baby's head, especially if the baby is sleeping. It just looks so uncomfortable for the baby. Not too mention looks stupid. The cute little bows and then elastic headbands are fine, no need to get hair accessories bigger than the kid's head. :P

I'm kind of ashamed I follow her, heh, but she and Kroy really do make some adorable kids together. But she needs to fucking stop with those damn headwraps on Kaia's head. She thinks they look cute, but I think they look horrible. I think the poor kid hasn't lived a day in her short life without one on her head.

Tons of pictures of pretty much all of these things - Brielle's graduation, Ariana, the little ones - and then some, are on Kim's Instagram page: https://instagram.com/kimzolciakbiermann/

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but my impression from the clip has always been that Leah was yelling "Shut up!" to Jeremy in the car, not to the girls. It didn't seem like she fully turned around - not that she has to - so I just figured she was having the usual screaming match with Jeremy but, unfortunately, in front of the girls. I guess we'll see who she's really yelling at once it airs. As much as she doesn't need to be displaying that kind of behavior in front of the girls, I am hoping she really is yelling at Jeremy.

Will's verbal and cognitive skills seem to be growing leaps and bounds when you consider how recently he came over to the U.S. I loved how he said they'd need a fireman with the firetruck ladder to get the balloons down from the ceiling without Bill's prodding to come up with a solution. I'm not a teacher or anything, but that just melted my heart because I just thought, "He JUST turned 5; he is so smart!" I simply can't get enough of him.