Tonya's Moved!

For everyone who follows Tonya's blog, it can now be found here. Please update your links!

Remembering Friends!

At some point every year in December/January, we have the "calendar saga". This is not as long and drawn out as the "diary saga" (a story for another day!), but is nevertheless quite arduous. The problem arises because Clare is looking for the "calendar of her dreams" and unsurprisingly 99.9% of shops do not stock this.

Unfortunately, her criteria for a calendar are quite specific in terms of size, layout, content, pictures and so on. This coupled with the fact that she will automatically ignore the first 758 calendars she sees (or the calendars in the first 98 shops she goes into...which ever comes first) tests my normally patient attitude to its full.

Luckily this year, having casually rejected a number of perfectly decent candidates, Clare stumbled upon a brilliant idea....we would make our own! Andy had an initial stab at producing something mediocre in Publisher before deferring to Photobox for a more professional finish.

All we needed now were some photos and it turns out our little America trip produced more than enough suitable ones.

So February is devoted to some of our good friends who we got to know even better whilst in Monroe. Here's the finished article!

(working left to right we have: Tonya and Knoah greeting us upon our arrival; Clare and I with Jennifer, Cat and Owen; and the best of all...Knoah demonstrating "monster baby!")

An excellent way to remember all our good friends and the amazing time we had with them!

The Party!

First of all, apologies for taking so long to post the next installment of our trip to Tonya's. We all know how hectic life can be but there's really no excuse to keep you all hanging. Sorry!

On the second day we were with Tonya, she organised a party for us and invited some of the people we'd been in email contact with. This was great fun and certainly another fantastic highlight of our trip. It was really nice to be able to finally meet in person all the people we had been emailing.

So here are some quick introductions!

First up there is Cat, Dan and their son Owen.


Cat has a blog which we started following very soon after we found out Theo had Achondroplasia. If you haven't check out their story, please do (or at least check out the latest set of pictures they've posted... Owen is so cute!). Just to prove the point, here he is!


Next there is Jennifer, Cat's mum. Jennifer has been tremendously supportive and regularly checks our blog. She always has time to send us a thoughtful email or post an encouraging comment. Unsurprisingly, she bought us a little present of a Willow Tree statue to add to the many in Clare's collection. We were very touched by this gesture. It was also lovely to meet Jennifer's mother who, just like her daughter, kept us entertained with humour and wit!


This is Clare with Sarah and Kaela. Check out her blog here. Kaela is such sweet little girl and it was nice to meet her family (including Dad and brother Will) and talk through their trials and joys.

We also got to meet Aiden's family and so, all in all, it was quite an overwhelming experience!

The party was fantastic! As you would expect, there was a fair amount of eating done. My personal favourite was the giant cookie that Jennifer had made for us (but then it would be!)

It was great to get to know all these people a bit better. We all talked the afternoon and evening away, comparing our stories and discussing the differences between America and the UK... hours of fun!

A big thank you for all those who travelled to see us and to Tonya for organising and hosting the day. We were incredibly touched by your hospitality and friendship.

Next stop: Chicago!

Visiting Tonya!!

There were so many highlights of our American trip but one of the major ones was definitely visiting Tonya. When we found out Theo had dwarfism at his 20-week scan, it was Tonya's blog - and the delightfully cute pictures of Knoah - that convinced us that everything was going to be ok. We've communicated a lot over the last year but it was an amazing experience to finally meet her and her family face to face.

I can't believe that anyone reading this blog doesn't know who Tonya is because she seems to be the social and information nerve centre for so many people who have kids with dwarfism. But in case you haven't heard of her...

From left (going clockwise) we have Will, Jacob, Tonya, Knoah, me and Hannah

Here's Knoah again!

Clare and I arrived at Detroit airport and found a welcome committee waiting for us.

Tonya's family live in Monroe, Michigan which was about a half hour drive from the airport. They live in a lovely house which Clare and I decided was typically American... all that was missing was the swing-chair on the front porch.

The first evening was spent at their favourite restaurant (excellent Italian food!) followed by a Jazz festival which was running over the weekend we were there. Much to my delight, we ended up at a lovely ice-cream place where I enjoyed what I thought was the best ice-cream ever (my opinion would soon change when we went to Maggie Moos the next day!)

The next day, we were lucky enough to have a party to meet lots of other people who we've met via the blog and who have supported us tremendously over the last year. I'm not going to say anything more about that... it's the subject for another post!

After the party, we went to the ultimate ice-cream experience! Maggie Moos serves the most amazing ice-cream ever. They make it on the premises and you can choose not only which flavour you want, but also from a whole array of sweets and goodies to have with it. I eventually decided on Peaniut Butter fudge with pieces of Reese's peanut butter cups and snickers. Definitely a peanutty extravaganza!

During our time in Monroe, we got to know the family really well. It was fantastic to finally get to meet people we had been emailing for so long. The experience was every bit as amazing as we thought it would be. Even though we were only there for a short time, we found a really close bond, especially with Tonya and Knoah.


How could you not love Koaah? Here he is doing "Monster Baby"!

I think this video captures the essence of Monster Baby a bit better!

Overall we had an superb time! Both Clare and I had a little cry once Tonya and Knoah left us at the train station. We missed them already! But I don't want to end on a sad note... tune in next time for details about the fantastic party Tonya organised for us where we got to meet even more people we had made contact with through the blog!

If you want to see more of our time with Tonya, check out the pictures here.

We're going to America!

Well, it's been over a month since I last blogged for two reasons; we have no further news on our baby situation and we have both been unbelievably busy with our jobs. I think it's fair to say that the work/life balance in the Dungey household is definitely off-balance!

We do have some good news though! We are taking a three-week holiday to America and we are going to meet up with some of our new blogging American friends! Our schedule is pretty hectic but here's a little breakdown:

New York - to see the sights
Monroe via Detroit - to spend some time with Tonya, Knoah and family
Chicago - whirlwind tour
Las Vegas - to meet with Candi who's flying in from Utah
L.A - Hollywood fame at last!
San Francisco - to soak up some American culture
Home - to sleep off the jet lag!

Tonya and Candi have both been incredibly supportive of Clare and I throughout the whole process of the pregnancy, birth and loss of Theodore and we are thrilled to have the chance to meet them in person at last! We may also have the chance to meet Jennifer who is Grandma to a little boy called Owen who has Achondroplasia. She has also kept in constant touch with us. We are very grateful to have so many people caring for us, both near and far.

"You were always on my mind"

Clare was teaching her year 3 class last week and was looking at silent letters with them. And what better example of a silent K than.....Knoah! Here's the proof!


Speaking of which, Knoah is back home after his recent hospital trip which is a real answer to prayer. Check out all his latest adventures here (including some very cute pics!). To top it off, we got a phone call from Tonya last night which is always a lovely surprise. I think she and Clare concluded that both a trip to London for Tonya and a trip to America for us was the best plan!

Anyway, we are both doing ok, although Sunday morning services are proving to be emotional at times. My sister, Mum and Dad came to visit yesterday and there wasn't a dry Dungey eye in the house (not very helpful when Clare and I had to do a drama half way through the service!)

But we're ok. Clare's off on half term this week and I have a few days leave which will be very nice.

The number of hits and comments from people has pushed me into thinking that I haven't spent enough time blogging recently. I will endeavour to write far more reguarly from now on so please keep checking.