Aunt Amanda's Reception and our trip to WI

We've been back from our week long trip to WI for a couple days now. Things have been quite hectic, especially with Tim out of town. It was a fun time-very hot up there though.

Here are the boys playing go fish. My sister Amanda's new husband Jason would be losing to my genius TJ but Owen kept Jason from completely bombing out of the game.


As Owen ponders, he sees he needs a Shark card...TJ says-nope, GO Fish!
Don't let the twinkly eyes and gorgeous smile fool you...Amanda kept her distance from her nemesis Owen-aka the puking baby. I'll have you know he got her at least twice-way to go Owey!
Geesh...being at ma-maw Becca's is tiring. ZZZZZZZZ
TJ kept busy playing computer games when his Uncles and Mam-paw Andy were away at work.

Dufus me, this is SERIOUSLY the only shot of Amanda I got and my camera was on some weird setting. So sad. She looked gorgeous though! And it was a fun time!

Here's "New" Uncle Jay showing Owen off...you can see here we jazzed up his band just for the occasion. He was the hit of the party..sorry Amanda;-)

The kids had fun trying the gourmet food, bottomless sodas and Jazz music.

I even got to enjoy the evening as Owen was a really good boy.
Jake's duds.
TJ enjoying an appetizer-yes, that is crumbs between his teeth. And no, he hasn't even a loose tooth in his near 8 yr old mouth;-)
We ended up coming home one day early after I got a cold and Owen seems to be teething. We actually came home to meet with Owen's new OT gal so we could see what she thinks of Owen's eating issues before his 9 month check up. We gave him some mashed potatoes at a restaurant and he choked.

All in all, it is always wonderful to get to visit, have my mom's great cooking, play games and laugh til we nearly puked. Oh and the shopping was good too!

The boys also got to go fishing -I think this was their highlight-thanks Mam-paw Andy! (and Uncle Zach)

Indiana Beach Trip

We went to a relatively "local" theme park, called Indiana Beach. It was our comp trip from my "other job" at the hospital. We had a wonderful day. We were blessed with incredible weather and everyone had so much fun...as you can see, even Owen LOVED riding around in his shady car seat;-)







This is a ride the boys went on. There was a much larger version right next to it that I braved alone because it required 52" height. You can see TJ was a bit reluctant to enjoy this "baby version".

Oh, I think a smile may be breaking...
Still trying to be "cool"...
Ahhhh...it's all over-he cracked...cracked up I should say-it was a fun ride!


A great photo of their heights...TJ could do all but 2 rides, Jake was a bit more limited, as for Owen-let's just say his ride band went unused;-)

While TJ and Tim tried a "big boy" ride, the little ones enjoyed the view of the water. A cool water ski and high dive show soon followed.

Jake in his biplane.
Mommy was a sucker for Jake's waiting times when TJ got to go on big rides so I got his face painted. He was worth the two bucks!
We enjoyed playing in the water. TJ and I even braved the water slides. Tim sat and watched from the beach. Me and the two older boys even went on a ride called the big flush which got me soaked. We enjoyed a full day of fun and finally headed home just before 11pm!

New Band Theme-Summer Fun

Breaking news...

AP-Lafayette, IN

This is the scene of one toddler's tragic end in a small town in the Midwest. Not just any end-his mom reports, but the end of the battle of staying in the bathroom until he would "make things right with his mommy". His mother explains "We were out doing errands and he just wouldn't obey." So once home, his mother relays, he was made to stay in the bathroom until he was ready to obey.

As you can see from the crime scene report photos, he gave in to his toddler ways and "passed out" from the exhaustion of being 'stubborn'.

Maybe in the end, he did win out as he probably won't remember why he was made to stay in the bathroom anyway once he regains consciousness. Sleeping angel or sin-laden toddler?-You be the judge.

His brother TJ adds, "he just wore himself out from being naughty".

His mother was let out on bond, paid via 2 sinks worth of dishes, 4 loads of laundry and lawn mowing duty. His father was not available for comment. One things for sure, you won't find him watching TV, nor riding his bike any time soon.

Beautiful Newlyweds!

Jason says:
Greetings from Jamaica!
I am very proud to announce my wife Mrs. Druxman!!! Mrs. Amanda Dawn Druxman!
Anyhow we wanted to get a picture off to you all and please forward it to those who may be missed as we don't have everybody's email address down where we are. As you might have guessed....knowing me....I have tons more photos to share.
We are having a fantastic time and have tons of stories to tell!
All the best to you all!
With love,
Jason and Amanda Druxman

(Renay says: I feel I forwarded it along nicely!)

A tribute to Amanda and Jason

I'm all choked up today...

My baby sister, Amanda Dawn, is getting married today. Actually, right now-her ceremony to the love of her life, Jason, is happening as I write, in Negril Jamaica. I am very happy for her. But, I am also very choked up that my baby sister is getting married so far away-without my hand to hold and hugs to give her to congratulate her and show her how much I love her and proud of her I am. Jason is a good guy.

Amanda is about 7 years younger than me and I've always thought of her as "little". She's not anymore though. She's a beautiful young woman, well on her way in this World. I pray her marriage is blessed with the Love of Christ at the center and that He uses their union to bless others. Weddings are always such happy and lovely events. I can only imagine what she looks like in her gown and he in his suit. I just pray they are happy (and enjoying the 80 degree weather that feels like 93 and partly cloudy skies;-)

Amanda's life is a really neat story. She came into this world, against all odds-my mother (who is doing well now) had breast cancer and was enduring treatment with Chemo, etc when she found out she was expecting Amanda. The doctors were appalled and tried to scare my parents into aborting her due to the likelihood of her severe and profound birth defects from Chemo, etc. I believe she was expected to have dwarfism and much more "wrong" at birth. Instead, she was born thriving at 7 pounds 2 ounces, 20 1/4 inches long. She's always been a fighter! Today, she is a beautiful young woman (as you can see from the photos). She has no ill-effects from the chemo (just genetic defects from being related, he, he-just kidding-kinda;-)

I can think of many funny stories and fond memories of her growing up...

3 that come to mind are of the "haircut", "alpine shake" and the "Teddy Ruxpin/Teletubbies Chronicles".

First for the haircut...oh dear. This will bring tears to my older sister Heather's eyes. Heather was about 19 years old and on leave from the military. Heather decided to take Amanda, in her 10 year old splendor, up the road in our home town, Linden IN to get her hair cut. While I don't know all the details, Amanda came home looking more like our little brother than our little sister. It was, to say the least, a BAD haircut. They still talk about it today-funniest part-she has the same haircut now (but it looks cute and trendy or her today, whereas it looked like a little boy's haircut back then).

Onto the next story...Teddy Ruxpin crazy was she-you know-back in the Mid 80's...it was a bear that was animated and read to you. It even had a hot air balloon and other accessories. She was nuttso over this little, yet very expensive bear (about $50 which was a lot back then-heck, it is today too!!!). Of course, as all good spoiled toddlers fare-she got Teddy and was very happy...wonder whatever happened to that pricey bear?

Now for the tele-tubby. Her's was Laa-Laa...the yellow one (wikpedia says this: She has a curly antenna and is very concerned with the welfare of all. She's the best singer of the teletubbies. "Drama queen", party-girl and mother type.) Funny thing is-this nearly describes Amanda to a tee-just not yellow;-) She needed this cuddly addition to her "girl" artillery in the late 90's when she was in HIGH SCHOOL! I called my mom this morning to ask her about it and she still had it and got it out and played it's sounds which, of course, made me laugh and cry. It's so cute because Amanda can make her voice high like Laa-Laa's and mimicked her little funny sayings and songs;-)

As for the "Alpine Shake"...it's a legendary story as I wasn't even there. But what I know of the story is that Amanda and many others in my family were at a restaraunt ordering their melas. When it came to Amanda's turn and she ordered an "alpine shake". The person taking her order said, what type of shake and she reitterated "alpine"...when he again asked what type and she was like "alpine shake" and was finally told alpine wasn't a flavor but their shake description like a mcflurry or blizzard-so she must relive us all poking fun of her desire for an alpine shake from time to time-I guess she needed some extra fiber in her diet wanting an alpine shake;-) I wonder if she even enjoyed a shake that day?

I also get COMPLETELY choked up when I think about Jason bringing Amanda home, all the way from WI when I had Owen. They rushed here (as did many others, but this story is about them;-) with all sorts of issues as to how it barely worked out-but they made it work. Drove the drive to be at my side and Amanda even got to hold Owen-I think she was actually one of the very first few to hold him-she was only here thru the weekend and then had to go, so it was really quite something for her to be able to hold Owen in the first hours of his miracle life. I think about it sometimes, how it must've felt for my family (like my mom, Amanda, and others) to be coming on a moments notice with me so sick and Owen's future grim. The drive must've been so stressful and somber. I can't put into words what it means to me that Jason brought Amanda home to me during the trial of Owen's birth. Thank you.

I am looking very forward to heading up to WI next week to be there for the celebration they have planned...and I'm very excited about the gift I got her/them (but I can't reveal it yet because she could read this before next weekend).

Anyway, Amanda is now married. She's all grown up. I am very proud of the little stinker!

God bless you Amanda and Jason!!!

Just a quick post to show off Owey's 8 month pix!!! He was so darling! I used major self control and just got the basic pkg ($8 bucks). Anyway, I'm off to Chicago in the morning-no, not for Owey's head check but instead for me!!! Yes, I'm off to 4 blissful days in Chicago for a conference for PChef-yea! Can ya tell I'm a bit giddy about it? It's always really fun and a real boost for the business as we enter the fall. I'll miss the boys but will enjoy the "me" time. Pray for our safety (5 gals going) and for the safety of our families while we're away. And for my sanity when I return. It's always a no win. Either the house is a wreck because they had so much fun or it's in tip top shape and makes me feel bad that I can't keep it all together and be a "fun"mom;-(

Oh well...life's short, right? Gotta get as there's tons to do to prepare for my excursion...on a "yea me" note, I made the boys lasagna so they'd have some good yums while I'm away-I can't wait to tell Tim! He'll be suprised and delighted by my sweet gesture. Oh, and he's taking the boys up for Owen's band check tomorrow too. Then, they may head to the museum (we somehow get free admission???)-we'll see, he's way braver than me;-)

An extraordinary eight months!!!

A note to Owen Elijah on his 8 month birthday from his mommy.

Owen, WOW! What an extraordinary 8 months it's been! You are such an amazing blessing in our lives. We thank God for the miracle of your life! You have come so far in what should be, just 6 months of your life!

You are trying to crawl, you can roll both ways and multiple times. You can sit well supported. You love to stand holding our hands-and for long periods of time. You are such a happy boy (and sometimes a craky boy!;-). You love to sleep in your bed-but only for 4-5 hours at a time, then you want to refuel your belly...it's ok- grow, grow, grow!!!

You are eating 5-6 ounces every 3-5 hours (mostly every 3 hours). You haven't taken to solid foods via a spoon well yet-you'd just assume get fast fueling via your bottle. You love to feed yourself by holding your own bottle.

You wear size 2 diapers, size 0-3 month clothes (some 3-6 month too). You haven't worn any shoes yet with your tiny feet-just out of newborn socks.

You enjoy your exersaucer, especially when we put it outside so you can watch your big brothers playing in our front yard. You enjoy taking bike rides in the bike trailer. When you sleep, you like to keep a blankie by your cheek. You are ticklish-from your piggies to your chinny, chin chin! You laugh out loud, babble-and we've even caught you saying da-da from time to time. You know your name and LOVE your brothers! Your aunt Heather can make you smile even in your worst moods (yes, you!). You've even become master of your binkie!

Your infectious smile and beautiful blue eyes catch the attention of even the hardest of hearts. Nowadays, with your so-cute band, you capture the focus from nearly everyone...they wonder things like: have you had surgery, do you need to protect your head, and so on. We don't mind-and you don't even really notice you are wearing it. Mommy has fun dressing it up!

You weigh 13 pounds 7 ounces and are 2 feet long!!!! Not bad from a starting point of 2 pounds 13 ounces and 14 inches long!!!

You still nap a few times a day and haven't been to the church nursery yet-in fact, you've only been watched by someone other than your mommy or daddy 2 times now for just a couple hours each. Thanks "Aunt" Kara and Aunt Heather/Uncle Lee for helping us out!

Thousands of visits have been made to your blog, including almost 600 visits in June!!! We are humbled that people want to keep track of you and follow your progress and cuteness!!! We've had visits from 3 countries including the UK, Switzerland and Brazil! And, from the good ole US there's been visitors from over half our 50 states!!! You have brought mommy friends across the nation because of your special-ness (a made-up mommy word).

You've made front page news, logged thousands of miles of car time, and lived up to your name-as mommy and daddy joke, we'll be owen on you for a long time!!!

You have nicknames: Owey, Owenator, Owester, Owey-cakes, Owers and more!

We love you and look forward to seeing how you grow and change each day! We pray for you and your brothers for your health and futures! Know that a great joy to me has been keeping track of your progress and changes and then passing it on for the enjoyment of others!