2013

What a crazy year we had.

January started out with some great news - Josh won a FREE cruise for he and I for being the top salesman of the year (yes, he's awesome).  He was awarded a 7 day Caribbean cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.  It was time for me to hit the gym hard and go on a strict diet.  A few days later we found out we were pregnant.  Haha - I HAD to abandon my diet, modify my exercise, and be ok with being a little heavier than normal on the cruise - fine by me!  In all truthfulness we were so excited to be welcoming baby #3 to our family.

February was a month of highs and lows.  We started Hailey at Mother's Day Out, so I was given 5 hours every Friday to myself.  It was a difficult transition for Hailey, as she was a huge mama's girl, but it did her some good to be away from me in the long run (I think).  She cried EVERY time I left her for about 6 months, right up until we took a break from Mother's Day Out altogether - I guess she got what she wanted!  My pregnancy did not move along as smoothly as the first 2, and we found ourselves in the ER one night fearful we had lost the baby.  All was fine (obviously) but this would begin 2 months of weekly doctor visits, specialists, and lots of prayers, tears, and stress for this mama.

March was a quiet month for the Tidwells.  I honestly have no idea what happened besides going to doctors.  My pregnancy had me worn out and sick everyday.  The girls were such sweeties and will never understand how much I appreciated their sweet spirit and easy-going (even Hailey) personalities during this time.

April was a big  month for us.  We found out baby #3 was a BOY and went on our cruise.  Thanks to my wonderful parents and sister, we had a wonderful, relaxing time.  Josh would tell you he was "working" since there were a few other folks from his company there and some customers, but the amount of time we had to ourselves far outweighed the "working" he had to do!!  I loved every minute of the cruise, but 7 days away from the girls was more than we could handle.  I think we literally ran off the boat to get home.  Once we got home, I immediately went to the doctor and found out all my pregnancy issues had been cleared and I would have a normal pregnancy from thereon.  I think the R&R was exactly what I needed!!  We also celebrated our sixth anniversary on the boat.

May brought an event in my life I never thought would happen - we bought a minivan.  I was NEVER going to buy a minivan.  If my 16 year old self had any say in it, I was way too cool for that.  Fast forward 14 years, and there I was.  It just made sense for us to buy a van.  We were going to have 3 small children who would be in car seats for many years to come, so we gave in.  And let me tell you something, I LOVE that thing.  I wouldn't trade it for (almost) any other car.  Jenn and I tested it out 1 week after we bought it by taking the girls to Midland to see family.  It was great, and I may never let go of that thing!!

June was another month where I did something I never thought I would - I became a dance mom.  Well, if you are considered that when your 3 year old signs up for dance class.  As you can imagine, I had NO idea what she was supposed to wear, where to find it, or how to properly tie her little ballet shoes.  We figured it all out, thankfully, and she has LOVED it.  I've said before, Avery is a girly-girl and I love it.  She loves dressing up, being "fancy", all things glittery and princess-y, and I couldn't love that more about her.

July was Hailey's 2nd birthday.  We had a Rapunzel-themed pool party and had a blast.  Hailey is our crazy, spirited, super smart, emotional, bundle of energy.  She could count to 15 (which she proudly did for her pediatrician when she was skeptical after I told her) and talked better than most 4 year olds.  Her emotions were (and still are) that of a 2 year old, don't worry.

August was a busy month as we began house hunting and preparing for Brady to make his arrival.  What a crazy ride that was.  Thanks to my parents (notice a theme in our life!) we spent just about every Saturday with our realtor looking at houses.  We found one we really liked and made an offer at the end of the month.

September 4 our family was competed with Brady.  I was honestly nervous about having a boy since I've kinda figured out the girl thing (for now, at least), but from the moment he was born, that boy had my heart.  He is the SWEETEST baby in the world.  He has been so easy; I am truly thankful for the precious gift he is.

October was a month of waiting.  It seemed like our closing date for our house kept getting pushed back for a number of factors.  We literally spent the month with most of our things packed, waiting to move.

November - we bought our first house!  What an exciting day!  We have had to make a few sacrifices over the past few years for me to be able to stay home with the kids, and our own house was one of those sacrifices.  Thanks to Josh's HARD work over the past few years, we were able to do it.  We are loving our own home, and I'm so thankful for such a hard working husband to make that a reality for us.  We also celebrated Avery's 4th birthday at our new house, which was a lot of fun.  I loved having plenty of space for our family and friends to gather and celebrate our big girl.  Don't even get me started about how there is no way she should be 4.  I look at her at times and can't remember life without her, then I think she was just born.  She is seriously the sweetest, most kind-hearted little girl you could meet.  She is the BEST big sister to Hailey and Brady.  I'm excited to see how God is going to use her because He has given her the sweetest spirit and she is such a servant, even at such a young age.

December was a great month of celebrating our Savior and was fun to see everything through the girls' eyes since they are starting to get it all.  Avery really got the point of it this year (as much as a 4 year old can) and kept thanking Jesus every night in her prayers for his birthday.

If you made it this far, I'm impressed.  2013 was a big year for us, and I really don't want to forget anything.  I look forward to 2014, and Josh and I are excited to watch the kids grow and become who God created them to be.  I'm so blessed to be their mom and get to spend my days with them (even if some days are longer than others!).  Here are a few pics because, if you made it this far, you should at least get to see some cute kids!

Brady

We welcomed Brady David Tidwell into the family on September 4 - what a great 11 days it has been.  So far, he has been my easiest little one and our transition into a family of 5 could not be going smoother.  Don't get me wrong, I know there will be hiccups along the way as we are all adjusting to our new normal, but I'm so thankful for how great life has been the past week and a half with our little man.  By the way, he is the prettiest baby boy I have ever seen.  As you can tell from the pictures below, he is getting A LOT of love from his big sisters.

Hailey is 2!

My sweet Hailey, 

I can’t believe you are 2 years old.  You are one of the biggest joys of my life.  Your sweet yet crazy personality lights up my life every day.  I can’t imagine our family without you.  A year ago I thought I had you pegged.  You were going to be the sweet, sensitive little sister that let Avery boss you around and never put up a fight.  Haha, boy was I wrong.  You are a feisty ball of energy who doesn’t take orders from anyone, not even mom & dad, but we’re working on that!  You are ridiculously smart, and I often forget you are just 2.  You are talking in paragraphs and can say ANYTHING.  Everyone who meets you is so surprised at how verbal you are.  You are a chatty cathy, and I love it.  You talk non-stop and are never short on words.  You can count to 15, know all your colors and are getting pretty good at your shapes.  I think I may have to start teaching you to read soon because you are such a quick learner. 

You are still very affectionate and adore Avery, even though she drives you crazy sometimes.  You think you can do everything she can do, so we have to keep our eye on you constantly.  I can’t wait to see how you handle being a big sister to Brady.  I know it will be hard at first, but I’m sure you will adjust quickly and will be bossing him around before we know it.

I love you sweet girl and know God has big things for you.  I can’t wait to watch you grow and keep laughing at you all along the way!

Party of Five

You might think I am talking about the awesome TV show of the 90's, but you would be wrong.  I am talking about the Tidwells - we are about to be a party of five.  We are happy to announce that we will welcome baby #3 to the family in early September.

We told my parents, Jenn and Jeff by letting Hailey wear Avery's old "Big Sister" shirt to dinner and then sent the picture around to the rest of our family and friends to share the news.

I think she is going to make a pretty cute big sister!

Hailey is obviously too young to understand what all this means.  She does know that there is a baby in my tummy and will point and say "baby" but I think that is her complete level of understanding.  Avery is more excited and is adamant that we have another sister.  She has even asked God, so hopefully she won't be disappointed if we find out it is a brother instead!  We are going to find out with this one, so I think Avery will need the time to get used to the idea if we are going to have a little boy.

Along with this exciting news, things are going well for us.  The girls are growing like crazy and keep me busy and on my toes all the time.  It has been a bit of a struggle lately with morning sickness in full force, but the girls are sweet and have shown me a lot of grace - more than their little minds could know.

Avery is still our social butterfly and loves going anywhere that there will be other kids around to play with.  She loves our Tuesday morning Bible study, Sunday School and Mother's Day Out.  We are thinking about getting her into a dance class or on a soccer team soon, so that should be fun.  Of course, you know what I am pulling for, but we have a little dancer on our hands.  She always says "Mommy, I need to dance!"

Hailey is growing so quickly I can hardly keep track.  Her vocabulary is off the charts for a 19 month old.  She knows more words than I can count and can string 2-3 words together to form short phrases.  She started Mother's Day Out this month and is really thriving.  I am glad we decided to take the plunge and get her going.  She has had some real issues with separation for a long time and it seems they have just disappeared.  All of a sudden she wants to go everywhere and is fine when I leave her.  I am so relieved that we may have passed this stage because it was starting to take a toll on this mama.  I hated leaving her crying every time we went somewhere.  She is definitely more shy than Avery, so I think she just needs to have some extra security and it took her a little longer to feel that.

I am so thankful that our girls are happy and healthy and growing and developing as they should be.  I never want to take that for granted.  We are praying the same for baby #3, whether it be a boy or girl.  What a blessed life God has given me.