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.

Christmas 2012

We had a great Christmas this year.  We stayed in town and spent a lot of time with the family and enjoyed a white Christmas.  It was so fun!  The girls got some great stuff, and it was fun to experience Christmas through their eyes.  We tried to downplay the whole Santa thing as much as we could; however Avery caught on pretty quickly so we did get a few things from Santa this year.  The tension between the sacred and secular at Christmas time is a difficult line to walk.

The girls are growing so quickly; I can hardly keep up!  Avery turned 3 in November, and we had a small family party for her.  She enjoyed being the center of attention for the day and helped me make the cupcakes, so she was a happy girl.  My Mema was even able to come from Amarillo for the fun, so the day was extra special for her.

She is really becoming this wonderful little girl.  She is sensitive and sweet and loves to play with other kids wherever we go.  She thinks everyone is her friend, so we will have to have to "stranger danger" talk soon.  She still loves going to "school" (Mother's Day Out) on Fridays and continues to soak up everything around her.  She is so sharp and remembers EVERYTHING, which can be good and bad.  She has a sweet personality and is starting to understand the basic foundation and principles of our faith, and I can't wait to see how the Lord is going to use her for His purposes.  I know He has big things planned for her.

Hailey is changing on a daily basis, it seems.  She is talking up a storm and says new words all the time.  My current favorites are "banana, bless you, apple, and thank you."  Her sweet little voice just melts my heart.  She adores her big sister and thinks she can do anything Avery can do.  This can be funny, dangerous and sometimes just plain annoying to Avery, but I think it is sweet.  One of my biggest prayers for them is that they will become close friends in life and not just sisters.  She is still a tiny little thing and is so much smaller than Avery was at this age.  She is still very much a mama's girl and does not want to be far from my side.  Her favorite thing to do is sit and read and is much less active than Avery.  I think she may end up being our introvert, but she does love to play ball so hopefully she will keep that up and end up being an athlete.

Since it has been so long since the last post, I have tons of pictures to share but I will just share the most recent that show just how big and cute the girls have gotten.

Bad blogger

That's me. I know it. I would like to say I am going to change and start updating every week, but that is probably a lie and I am not a liar. So, I will say, "Here is what is going on in our life now and for the past few months. Enjoy because you might not hear from me again for a while!"

 In all seriousness, we have been busy and enjoying life. I can't believe it is already August; however I am ready for a reprieve from the 100+ temps we have been having lately.

 Avery has had a good summer. She has been going to Mother's Day Out ("school" to her) twice a week and really enjoying it. She has the sweetest teachers, and I know we are both going to miss them when we move to the next class in a few weeks. They have been so good for her and been great for the transition out of our diapers. Speaking of that, we are completely potty trained except for overnight, which I think may take us a while. I am ok with that; I am so happy to only be buying diapers for one child. Our bank account is happy too. Avery really did a great job and only took a few weeks to get it all down. Well, by a few I mean about 6, but I still think that is pretty good. I know it can take some kids much longer.

 She has loved going to the pool over the summer, so we have tried to go as often as possible. Jenn & Tommy have a neighborhood pool, so we have hit that up many Saturdays over the summer which has been fun. I hope next summer to get her signed up for swim lessons since it will be a bit easier for me to keep Hailey entertained than it would have been this summer. I know Avery will really enjoy it, and I want her to grow up having fun in the water.

 Other than that, she has just been her crazy, fun-loving self. She is still such a good big sister and LOVES Hailey, sometimes a little too much. She knows her ABC's (capital letters), numbers up to 25, all her colors and is starting to memorize a bunch of the books we read. Josh and I always joke that her memory might be better than ours! She is such a joy, and I don't know what we would do without her. She keeps us laughing ALL THE TIME (mostly, she is still 2!).

 Hailey is also growing and changing faster than I would like. She turned 1 last month and is becoming less and less of a baby everyday. She has 6 teeth and can eat anyone under the table. She may even out-eat Josh at a few meals. She LOVES food. I just pray she has a high metabolism! If you even look at the kitchen, she thinks she needs a snack. She is still much smaller than Avery was at this age, but I don't know how long that will last!

She crawls like a crazy woman everywhere and is on the brink of taking her first steps. She loves to cruise around the furniture, pulls up and climbs on just about anything, and will walk around the house holding your hands for as long as your back will let her. She can say "da da" and "bye bye" but that is about it. Avery had 5-6 words by this age, so Hailey may not have the expansive vocabulary Avery did at such a young age. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying she is quiet; she just does not have the words - she has the grunting, pointing and screaming needed for communication. She was such a quiet and easy baby that we thought she was going to be a quiet and easy going child. Haha, were we ever wrong. She has plenty of spunk and attitude. I would even say more than Avery did at this age. It is so funny to see how God made them so different at such young ages. I love it.

 To say Hailey keeps our life fun and interesting would be an understatement. She has the most wonderful smile and laugh and makes everyone around her happy. She loves to cuddle and be the center of attention when her big sis will let her. She is truly a blessing.

 Here are some pics of life at our house lately (or the last 6 months).

 We celebrated Easter at church, then went to Pop Pop & CC's for the rest of the day.

We went to see Mir and Grandad in Midland and dressed alike, which we don't do often since most of Hailey's clothes are Avery's hand-me-downs.

Avery did some tutoring.

Avery cheered for Daddy's team.

Hailey celebrated her birthday and got some good loot.

She LOVED everyone singing to her.

She loved the cupcake even more.

We did a photo shoot in the backyard to document our cuteness.

We even tried some corn-on-the-cob on July 4!

We did some modeling on the couch one Saturday morning.

We even took time to take a bath!!

We are truly blessed with these two girls, and I couldn't imagine a crazier, happier life right now.

It's Been A While

Four months, to be exact. I have good intentions about updating this blog but never seem to follow through. Shame on me. I am going to do better. I loved chronicling Avery's monthly activities when she was a baby, and I have been so horrible doing that with Hailey. I guess that happens with the second one, but I still feel bad so here is my attempt to start letting the world know all about my girls.

I will start with Hailey since she gets the shaft most of the time. She is still the sweetest thing in the world. She is always so happy and joyful and makes my heart smile everyday. It is hard to remember our life without her. Avery still loves her and wants to take care of her all the time. Sometimes her hugs and kisses get a bit overwhelming for Hailey, but for the most part Hailey loves all the attention from her big sister.



Hailey has starting eating people food but does not get too excited about it. I have been making her food and try not to take offense that she doesn't like it, but I am starting to wonder if she doesn't like my steaming and blending. She will seriously eat three or four bites, then turn away. I try not to worry about her since she gets everything she needs from her bottle, but I hope she comes around soon or she is going to be one hungry girl when she stops getting 5 bottles everyday! She likes Cheerios and puffs, so maybe it is the consistency of the baby food that is the problem. I guess time will tell. She still doesn't have any teeth, so I am a little apprehensive to give her much table food. I have a fear of her choking even though I am sure she could handle more.





She is STILL not sleeping through the night and wakes up twice a night sometimes. I know that is probably our fault but I hate just letting her cry. Avery was always such a good sleeper that I don't really know what to do to make Hailey sleep better. This might be her way of keeping us from having another child... I tell Josh that this reminds us that she is not a perfect child because other than this, I might think she was.



She is not crawling but can get up on all fours and doesn't know what to do from there. I think crawling is in our not-too-distant future. She can pull herself up with a little help and is getting pretty good at standing while holding on to something.



She can say dada and mama but doesn't really say it to either one of us - just yells it out sometimes. She is getting more and more chatty to compete with her chatty older sister.

Those are the basics for Hailey. She is such a sweetie; I just can't get enough of her.



Avery is growing up so fast and is truly keeping us on our toes these days. Her vocabulary is ridiculous and she is very smart. She knows all her colors, shapes, can count to 20 and recognize numbers 1-10. She can sing the ABC song but we haven't really started working on letters too hard at this point. She has used the potty a few times in the past few days, so I think full-fledged potty training is right around the corner for us. She has been going to Mother's Day Out on Fridays and loves her "school." We will probably start going 2 days a week before too long, but I am enjoying being with my girls everyday so it is hard to give up another day with her. She is almost 2 1/2, so she spends her fair share of time in time out. I know it comes with the territory, but this is the part of parenting that I could do without. She is still hilarious and makes me laugh all the time. I don't know where she comes up with some of the things she says, and I will have to start writing them down because she is one funny girl. She is becoming such a little kid these days which makes me excited and sad. My baby girl is growing up, and I can't make the time go any slower.





As you can see, our life is always exciting and a little crazy too. I still LOVE being with the girls everyday and am so thankful to get to do that now. I can't imagine having two sweeter girls than we do, and they are truly wonderful blessings.