Anna Banana and Baby Banana

A quick update on what's going on with the babes. Anna is still doing great! She is so much fun from the moment we wake her up with her poofy little eyes, fuzzed hair and sheet marks (yes, she still sleeps through the night, now with Mr. Frog) till the time we put her down again at night when she curls up, butt up, with her dear Mr Frog once again. Our we have our moments with her, in which she acts like we tore her little heart out. Tears stream down, mouth wide open with her little tongue flickering as we just tell her no about climbing up on the curio cabinet. We have to laugh b/c she's such a drama queen sometimes and it's so cute to see her little face turn so sour. She will now follow one of us up the stair if she sees us go up there. And she will bolt! As she climbs, she peeks out in between the slats and smiles as she knows she really shouldn't doing that but feels so accomplished at the same time!

She has at least tried every single food we've given her and the latest thing she seems to pick around is broccoli. Yay for dad, boo for me. :) I needed a partner for the broccoli thing. She'll come around.

We've found that she likes to take things in pairs, stuff animals, rings, books, whatever it is, and crawl around with them on the floor, one under each hand. One, it's great that she figured out that she can crawl a little faster with some skidless objects under hands and two, that she can pair 2 like things together without our prompting! It's awesome.

Tiny Tidd #2 is half way there! I'm at 20 weeks this Friday and starting to feel pregnant now. It's the length of a banana (hench the title to my post) and I can certainly tell it's getting bigger.

It's a little more of a struggle to get up and bend over now. I've moved on to a couple maternity clothes, but still use most of my regular clothes yet. At my last appointment, everything looked great and the heart rate was in the 140's. I still say this one's a boy, but at this point, I don't have a clue. I'm feeling flutters more and more and I hope soon to share that with Gary again! Our ultrasound is next Wednesday and we're looking forward to that again. We're not going to find out again as we loved not doing it with Anna. Baby's room will soon be under way after the crazy summer winds down.

We're heading out tonight on the ferry to spend the weekend with Ryan and Angela in Wisconsin and spending a day and a half in Chicago for Grandma Madany's funeral. It'll be a bittersweet, busy weekend but it'll be nice.

Have a lovely Labor Day weekend (I can't believe I'm saying that, summer is almost over)!

GaChAn

Reflection

August once was a month filled with excitement and birthdays, nothing to deter the celebrations and gathering school supplies. But as we get older, things change. Not only do they change in how we view our birthdays as just another day, but life happens and hits closer to home.

On Sunday, August 24, the Lord took home another wonderful woman. A woman that has only been in our lives for about 4 years but has been a wife for over 50 years, a mother to 6 and dear grandma and great grandma to many. Grandma Madany went home to be with the Lord she served for so many years. She has had some major health issues the last couple years, first a battle with thyroid cancer. She fought through that, then in the last 6 months, pancreatic cancer took hold and the thyroid came back too. After a short delibration with her doctors and with Grandpa, they decided to forgo any more treatment. With most of her family around her, she took her last breath and entered a place we can only dream of.

Wednesday, August 27 will be the 6th anniversary of my mom's passing as well. Time has healed some wounds, but sometimes feels like yesterday. Each year brings reflection of how much has happened and how much has changed since then. Here I sit, 5 years married, in our own home, with a beautiful little girl and another on the way. She didn't see any of that here on earth. I know others have come in to my life that I wouldn't trade because of what happened, but you still have to wonder what would it have been like. We'll never know.

All we'll ever know is that the Lord's will will be done on earth as it is in the place where Grandma Madany and Mom have been rejoicing with their Savior. Ironically, both of these women were born in this month and their birthdays have been replaced with their homecomings in to Heaven. We'll never forget the impact they've had in our lives, long or short.

July/August Videos!

Alex sandboarding down the dune on Silver Lake. The weekend before was a lot more eventful than this trip, but he couldn't stay up for me to video it. :)

The first time we saw her, she was butt up in the air trying to get her pipe out of the car seat and got stuck. It was hilarious! So we tried to reinact it, but she got too smart for our own good. :)

I've never seen storm clouds like this before, they were incredible!

She was doing some cute stuff, but quit when I starting taping. Oh well. :)

Busy busy busy!

As the summer continues on, we're still just as busy going here, there and everywhere. I'm ready for a break, but I don't know if there's one in site. So until then, I'll manage and relax when I can.

Baby Tidd #2: I'm still feeling fine (aside from indigestion). With the first pregnancy not that far behind me and the worries that come with the unknown, this pregnancy is a piece of cake. I'm still doing shots which some I don't feel, others I feel too much and a bunch bruises that look like I punched myself in the gut numerous times. I'm not showing yet, but I can definitely start to feel my tummy getting bigger now. The baby is as long as a bell pepper at 18 weeks - about 5 1/2 inches long and 7 ounces. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and my ultrasound early September, so we're almost half way there already! As soon as the summer slows down, we'll get started on the baby's room and the pictures will be coming once again!

The Booger: Anna had her 9 month check up (she's actually 10 months today) on Thursday. She's a whopping 18 pounds 2 ounces and 28" long. She's a normal size baby and everything looks great on her. I think she's more advanced, a bias and unbias opinion, that most babies her age. She's crawling, fast, everywhere. She can climb stairs easily, but hasn't figured out how to come down yet. So we pretend to roll her down whatever way she tries to go down to show her what would happen. Who knows if thats working... :) She has stranger anxiety right now, doesn't usually smile at everyone right away like she used to, but she'll grow out of that. She's still very social and doesn't miss a thing with those big blue eyes. She's climbing up on furniture and can move all over from there. She's even stood on her own for 5-10 seconds at a time! She loves walking when you hold her fingers, so we're very close to moving to the next stage of craziness! She's eating a lot of table food now and has liked most of it - mashed potatoes and scrambled eggs are the 2 she hasn't cared for so much. But she's not picky - yay! She's drinking from a sippy cup and most of her feedings and we're down to 3 bottles today. She's been not finishing her bottles, so we just kept cutting them out (according to my chart, we're right on track) and she seems to be fine with it. She knows when to wave bye most of the time, it's so cute! She likes to mimic our noises or movements with our mouth and does really well with that! She's so much fun and everyday she seems to get bigger! She's still such a good baby despite her being everywhere all the time. She's keeping us moving, that's for sure!

The Parents: We're keeping busy with life, who isn't, right? Work is going fine for both of us. Gary is ready to go back to school year hours as school starts up in a few weeks. I'm keeping busy with mine, as well. We're still working on large and small side jobs that occupy some time. Still working on painting rooms, keeping up with house stuff and getting ready for baby. I like keeping busy, but on the other hand we both just need to say stop once in awhile and take a break from it all as it's draining on us doing work and not enough of free time/relaxing time/more time with Anna. Balance is a key we need to find yet. :)

Here is a sneak peek at the Tidd Family Photo Shoot with Jenn and a link to see them all!







http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=52622&l=9937d&id=501622976

This past weekend we were in Chicago for a host of events! Saturday was my birthday but I shared that with a baby shower for a friends in the morning, followed by a photo shoot with my mom's side of the family for my grandparents 50th anniversary. I think that's the first time all 26 of us were together in a long time! I'll post those as soon as we get them back. Then with all this, we planned a surprise 50th birthday party for my dad. With pictures not taking near as long as expected, we had a lot of finagaling to do with dad that was way out of character for all of us, so he had to have known. He knew something was up but won't admit to knowing fully. :) It was a lot of fun with family and friends, having pizza and goodies and getting a lot gag gifts. We were also able to see our friends Andrew and Dana and their baby, Ryan for the first time (and for Andrew and Dana in a couple years!). Ryan and Anna didn't quite know what to do with eachother, but I'm sure as years go by, they'll be good friends. :) So needless to say it was a busy weekend.





Prayer Notes: Grandpa and Grandma Madany have decided to forgo any more treatments for Grandma as her cancer is spreading rapidly throughout her body. She's in a bit of pain and discomfort, but are taking measure to find ways to releave the mental and physical pain. Please pray for peace for the both of them with their decision and with what the future holds. That the Lord's will will be done and know that this life is temporary and she'll be meeting the Lord she's served so dilegently throughout her life and move to that beautiful mansion He's prepared for us. As hard as it is for us to let people here on earth go, we have full faith that they are going to a much better place than here and we'll see them again!

Also we ask for prayers for Gary's Grandpa Hall as they figure out the course of action this week for his cancer treatment. They haven't determined what kind it is yet, but know that it's wrapped around a main artery. So pray for Grandma and Grandpa as they decide where to go next and with all the family that surrounds them in love and support through this difficult time as well.

Finally, Gary and I are participating as walkers this year for the Light the Night walk - a walk to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We ask for your prayers for this wonderful cause to help others who are going through or have gone through battling these blood cancers and if you're able to support them monitarily at: http://www.active.com/donate/ltnMadiso/2363_Christabelle81

Have a wonderful week!

Gary, Christie and Anna

The month's weekends in review

All is well in the Tidd house. Keeping busy with the busyness of life, that's for sure. Since our Beaver Island vacation, we were able to spend the following weekend with Kelsey and Samantha (our cousins). They were able to enjoy some life in slow motion for the weekend. The pampered themselves, played with Anna and I helped Kelsey get started on her new business venture with a logo, business card and start of a website. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed their company!

The last weekend in July we did a family photo shoot around Grand Haven with our friend, Jenn. It was a lot of fun, Anna cooperated once again with us dragging her around and we got a lot of really nice shots! (I'll post a link for those when I post those).

The following Saturday (last weekend to this past weekend), we spent our week vacation in Silver Lake. My parents rented a cottage (my great great aunt and uncles old place) on the lake for all of us to enjoy. Since this is a very familiar place, I don't have a great adventure timeline to share as I did with Beaver Island. Don't get me wrong, we, well maybe Gary, had some adventures throughout the week and we had a lot of fun! We ate a lot of junk, read books and magazines, tried to plan gardens, went swimming and to the dunes, built campfires and ate lots of smores, went into town for Silver Lake garb (oh the steals at 40% off at the RV park!), went to Pentwater and to Little Sable Point and made sure Anna didn't get to everything that she shouldn't. :) It was nice to sleep in a smidge (if Anna let us), see the beautiful view of the dunes every morning, enjoy the sunshine, catch up on some reading and play some vicious Euchure. :) I have a bunch of pictures, so I'll post a few but add the links to my Facebook albums for your viewing pleasure.











http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51326&l=01d89&id=501622976
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=51328&l=a64ce&id=501622976

We got back home on Saturday afternoon to get back into the swing of things again. It's always wonderful to have a vacation, but it's always nice to come back home again. Libby stayed the weekend with us to check out GVSU's masters program on Monday and to visit with friends. It was nice to have her around for the weekend.
Right now, we're doing work and email catch up and getting ready for the weekend. I have a busy one as Saturday is my birthday, a baby shower for a friend in Chicago and the big Boss picture for Grandma and Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary. So lots to do of course!


In regards to prayer, please pray for Gary's Grandpa Hall as we wait for Wednesday to see what the diagnosis is of what kind of cancer he has and what the next steps to take are. Also pray for Grandma Madany (Martha's mom) as she didn't receive good news at the doctor yesterday in regards to her cancer. It's spreading and treatment is limited. Be with both of our families as tough decisions are needed to be made shortly and that there will be peace with their decision. God is the Great Physician for our bodies and for our minds, pray that His will will be done.


I'll post updates of us in another post. This poor 2nd child doesn't have near the updates as Anna's pregnancy did. :( Maybe that's a good thing as things are a bit boring on that front anyway. :) There will still be lots of pictures.


Love to you all,


Gary, Christie and the girl who gets into everything now

Beaver Island Adventure!

Friday, July 11

3am: Alarm goes off. Groan but realize we're going on a mini-vacation, so it's ok.

3:45am: Out the door, all packed with Anna awake, not sleeping like I want to, meeting mom, dad and Sheila at the Speedway.

4:15am: Arrive at Speedway, get Krispy Kremes and chocolate milk jugs for Gary and I. Gary gets Micky D's.

4:30am: On the road, headed to Charlevoix!

Between 5:30 and 6:30am: We're listening to our book, I start nodding off, so we turn it off b/c I keep missing things. Anna falls asleep shortly after we leave the gas station, by the way.

7:15am: After a beautiful drive through East Jordan, near Charlevoix Lake, we arrive at the Beaver Island Boat Company to await our ferry.

7:30 - 8:15am: Change Anna, feed her her bottle, sit around waiting for Gary and dad to park the cars and to get on the boat.

8:30am: We take off into Lake Michigan on our 2 hour ferry ride to Beaver Island. It was an overcast day, a little wind but a nice day nonetheless. Anna did fine on the boat ride. She didn't quite find her sea legs, so she looked like a drunken sailor trying to stand up on things. She ate and played, and took about an hour nap before we arrived at the harbor. Gary enjoyed being outside taking in the view, I enjoyed the company, a cat nap and Martha Stewart.

10:45am: Arrived at the harbor on Beaver Island. From a distance it's what I expected - a small area with some shops and restaurants and lots of cottages/homes. It was beautiful.

11:00am: Unload our stuff and walk to our first nights lodging. Yes, we walked with a large suitcase, overnight bag, duffle bag, pack-n-play, booster seat, Anna, her car seat and base along with the rest of the families belongings. It was less than a mile, but that was not fun.

11:30am: Arrive at the house Gary's friends own and graciously let us stay. This was a place rich in cherished memories, lots of laughs, history and family. Mismatched furniture, rooms closed off with curtains rather than doors, a wood burning stove for heat and no screens for the summer. A vintage stove and an old way out of tune piano complete the picture (oh yeah, creepy crawlies that didn't sit well with my mother in law and sister in law). The water ran cool, even on hot. We figured out sleeping arrangements and figured out our day.

12:00pm: Head over to Dalwhinnie's for some lunch. A small eat in breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant with a bakery counter filled with sugary baked goods.

1:00pm: Stopped by the grocery store for some essentials and headed back to the house.

1:15-2pm: Walked the property, took my "Christie pictures" as some of my family call it, full of wildflowers, unidentified metal objects and mossy rocks and trees. Got the Trooper ready for the grand tour of the island.

2:00pm: Loaded in the trooper to begin the adventure of the day. We headed over to the Whiskey Point Lighthouse for some photo opps of the beautiful lighthouse and watery vegetation. Stopped by the gas station (it was $5.49 a gallon, the highest in the country) to put 5 or so gallons in. The guys talked to the lady in the gas station and got a map of places to see. So we got the low down on where to go and started driving. Gary was driving, so we harassed him as we drove right by a few of those highlighted places. Finally we arrived at the Beaver Island lighthouse to climb 52 stairs to the top. This is where it got ugly. Gary's dad took over driving and we were looking for the big tree and the big rock. We felt like we were driving around in circles for hours. We did do a little circle tour but eventually found the big rock (which was very large) and the big birch tree or the Bicentennial Tree of the state. We headed back home, which seemed like it took forever.

6:00pm Arrive back at the house to repack for dinner. We had a nice (and expensive) dinner at Nina's on the lake. Good food, great company.

7:30pm: Back at the house, got Anna ready for bed and we were all sitting around the table in what the Wyman’s refer to as the, “Big House” when my dad found a poem in the living room titled, “Ode to Anna”. Thinking that this might be something cool to read dad brought it into the dining room where we were all hanging out and read it out loud to all of us. I wish that I had the text of the poem with me now to place in the blog, but I did not think that far ahead. In short the poem was about a woman named Anna from Beaver Island who according to the poem was the, “Emerald of Beaver Isle”. The poem talked about her life and death and her wishes for the family to continue on. Upon our return to the mainland I made a point to ask both Matt and Mike about the poem since I was very curious about the history behind it. It turns out that the Anna of Ode to Anna was their grandmother who was born on Beaver Island; their Grandfather met their Grandmother when he was stationed on Beaver Island while working on charting the great lakes. The history of the property then turns out that the, “Big House” was their grandparent’s home, and the, “Small House” was their grandmother’s brother’s house who was from what Mike remembers a lifelong bachelor which is why the small house is so small. How neat is it that we had another Anna back on the property once again, I can’t help but wonder if their grandparents were looking down and smiling?

8:30pm: We wanted ice cream and found that the whole town shuts down around 8. Not a soul in sight. So Gary and I headed back to the house.

10:30pm: We all started to get ready for bed and turned in for the evening.

Saturday, July 12

5:00am: Anna wakes up coughing and seems slightly un-rested, probably because the air in the house felt damp and musty. I hear her coughing so it's time to get up and check on her, in the living room I'm greeted by mom and Sheila also checking on Anna. We put Anna back down and hope for some more sleep.

7:00am: Anna wakes up for good this time so Gary and I get up with her and begin our day. Everyone follows suit shortly there after, some brave a cold shower and the rest get ready for the day.

8:15am: Head out to Dalwhinnie's for some giant full of goodness cinnamon rolls.

9:00am: Take a walk around town. See some people setting up for a small art show, take a picture of a giant hole in a tree and visit mom's friend Terry at the Harborview Motel. Strolled a bit more and went in shops that were open and visited with the locals.

10:00am: Mom talks to Terry and says that with how congested Anna was, we were going to head back that day to the main land and stay in Charlevoix a night because of it. She says she has vouchers she can give out a couple times a summer and she would love for us to use it. So we obliged as we were loving island life, packed up our things from the house and moved into the motel.

10:45am: Sheila stays back with Anna while dad, mom, Gary and I head out to Whiskey Point to see the Poker Run come in. Anna sleeps a bit, eats and plays.

12:00pm: We head back to the motel, regroup for lunch at Daddy Franks for some good ole island deep fried food.

12:45pm: Gary and Anna stay back for a well needed nap for the both of them. Meanwhile, the girls and dad head out to check out the shops and stock up on Beaver Island gear.

3:00pm: We get back to the motel, wake up Gary to head out to the Antique Toy Museum and Marine Historical Society. The toy museum with very kid oriented nickel and dime treasures, along with beads, little toys, games and a strange woman who runs it to boot. She seemed to fit in well. The marine museum was cool. Filled with history of the marine life that once was. The man was very friendly and talkative until..... he asked me what I thought of global warming. Ha. I laughed and said I think it's a big marketing ploy. He said well I think George Bush would agree. After that he wouldn't look or talk to us much more. Apparently he didn't like my answer. With that said and the face of that crazy lady at the toy museum has sign and stickers made that said "This mama's for Obama", I was charting democratic waters. :)

4:15pm: Head back to the motel where mom and Anna are hanging out. We decide to go sit by the pool (the only pool on the island). Anna of course freaked out at first, but soon loved kicking the water. So I brought her in to get her suit on. I gave her to daddy and she loved being in the pool! I went and got my suit on, so we played pass the baby in the pool between Gary, Sheila and I. We swung her around and even dunked her under once. She did awesome, didn't cry once. We had such a good time in the pool. I miss having one or at least a lake to go to! Someday. :)

5:30pm: All of us head in to get ready for dinner. We asked Terry what would be a good place to grab some good food. So we packed ourselves up in the Trooper and went to Stoney Acre Grill, a barn like restaurant with Donnegal Danny's Pub attached. We had a great dinner with great company.

7:00pm: Back at the motel for some R&R. Anna had a bath in the sink, ate and drank some grub and went to bed. She was quite tuckered out from the busy day we had!

8:15pm: Gary, Sheila and I walked up to Daddy Franks again for some ice cream - the only way to end a vacation day. It was a hoppin' place with it being a summer kids hang out. When we approached the counter, we found two high school, we thought, guys running the place. One seemed like a surfer, punk kid and the other a hippie, super happy guy. Gary asked for extra butterscotch on his sundae (after I saw him dump a ton on already), he got it back and said "thanks for hooking a brother up". All this after the bantor between the two of them on how many people were in line, running out of ice cream or hot fudge and various other oddities, he comes back to Gary with "keepen it real for all the gangsters all across the world." Say what? The very last place or person that we thought would say something so old school, so.... Gary. :) It was great.

8:45pm: Return back with 4 sundaes and a flurry enjoyed by all. Upon finishing our sundaes, we chat a bit and turned down Sheila's request of playing games as we were all so very tired from the past 2 days activites.

10:45pm: We start to all turn in for the night.

Sunday, July 13

5:30am: Anna starts to wake up and desparetly needs a diaper change. After waking Sheila up, we get her situated. I bring her into my bed (yes Gary and I slept apart in twin beds, hehe) to see if she'll cuddle with me for a little while. It worked for a while in Anna terms.

6:15am: We get Anna ready for the day and we follow suit. We were all showered and ready to go by 7:30am I think. Crazy!

7:30am: Packed up and headed to where? Dalwhinnie's of course. Again a repeat of a yummy breakfast. We take note that it's a tad bit windy out and hope our boat ride will be ok.

9:30am: After packing up the room, the guys bring our luggage down to the dock, bring back the Trooper and we await to board our ferry to go home.

11:15am: We finally board and notice it's still windy. The winds were out of the west and some knowledgeable guy, ahem no, said the waters should be calmer. Nope. Everyone but Sheila and Anna spent the 95% of the boat ride finding a way not to lose our lunch if you will. For Sheila, the woman behind her gave her the push to lose her lunch along with a dozen other people. Not cool at all. Anna slept the whole way home. :) It was probably the worst boat ride I've been on. But I remained focused on my breathing and ended up in the clear. Gary laid on the floor and the parents sat back and held their own pretty well. An older guy turned white and, pardon the language, ralphed like I've never heard anyone before. That's where self restraint played a big role.

1:45pm: Arrived back in Charlevoix with much enthusiasm to get off that boat! Yeesh. We packed up the cars and got out of dodge. Gary and I visited Matt and his fiance Tammy for a little while, saw their new house and where Matt works. It was nice to see them again.

5:30pm: On the road again, listening to our book where I stayed awake to listen and even drove a bit. :)

7:50pm: (GPS told us when we'd arrive home) Got home after an adventure that we'll never forget!

A new approach

I might have to do this blog in terms of updates on the family and other adventures. We'll give it a whirl. :)

Baby Tidd #2: I'm at week 14 and all seems to be well in baby land. According to my trusty Baby Center newsletters, it's about 3.5" long and the size of a lemon. I'm still feeling well, no morning sickness or nausea this time. But this time is different as in the last month or so a lot of food I eat doesn't sit well with me. Leads me to believe it's a boy - but that's what I thought last time. :) And for all you curious souls, we aren't going to find out again. We loved finding out at the end, it made all the work so worth it. Sorry Grandmas. :) You can always get us diapers! :) I'm gathering more ideas for the room, haven't put them all together yet. The room will be a sherbert orange, I can tell you that much. I haven't felt any fluttering yet. Some pants are too tight, but I'm by no means showing yet.



Anna the Banana: She will be 9 months on Friday - hard to believe! It's amazing where she started and how far she's come in such a short period of time. She truely is the joy of our lives. We still go in every night to watch her sleep (and for daddy to move her back to the center of her crib to prevent dents in the head or stuck limbs). If one goes in there before the other, we usually find the other one and say "come look at her." She's gotten so big as the first time we put her in there we felt so bad that this crib was swallowing her. Now, she gets stuck in the rails, pulls herself up in the morning so we can get her out. She's amazing. She's crawling everywhere and into a lot of things. She's eating more and more adult food and not gagging near as much anymore (that's a relief to her parents). She becomes clingy closer to bed and just needs you close to play on or climb on. :) She babbles more and more - I hear a few more syllables of words come out every once in awhile. She has 2 teeth on the bottom and is getting better at letting us see them. She still is a trooper with letting mom and dad drag her all over town and on crazy vacations! She rolls with it like no baby I've ever seen. I swear we lucked out with the best baby ever born (Anna if you're reading this later in life, remember that we said this about you. :)).

Mom & Dad: We're boring. We wake up, do our routine, go to work, pick up Anna, come home, eat, play with Anna, do Anna's nightly routine, relax or do other things we have to get done before we head to bed. Wash. Rinse. Repeat. :) Everything is going well for us though - we can't complain at all considering the economy these days. We are truely blessed to have eachother, our jobs, money to pay our bills and great family.

So that's are update on our growing family of soon to be 4. I'm going to post again this week, maybe even today! Gasp. I know.

Love to you all!

Gary, Christie and Anna the Banana