Baby Dedication

After our weekend away both grandparents traveled back to Sealy with us for Campbell's baby dedication. It was an honor to stand before our family and our church and promise to raise Campbell in the ways of the Lord. We are humbled that God has trusted Campbell's life to us. We hope our lives will reflect Jesus in such a way that our children will also fall in love with Him.

Us with Brother Mike, our interim pastor

Campbell with Maw-Maw and Pop

Campbell with Nonnie and Bubba

Our family of four

Sweet Baby Boy

Amazing Jakes

This weekend Judd took the youth to a conference in Dallas so the kiddos and I tagged along for a weekend with Maw-Maw and Pop. On Friday Maw-Maw took us to Amazing Jakes for pizza and fun. After we ate we went upstairs and the first thing Bailey wanted to do was to ride the choo-choo train. It had an engine and one car and traveled very slowly one time around a circle. As soon as the ride started, Bailey started crying and didn't stop until it was over. Our next attempt was the carousel, which worked out well because I was able to stand up with her.

From the carousel she spotted the airplane ride and said she wanted to ride it. I tried to talk her out of it because they not only went round and round, but also up and down! She insisted so we tried it out. She ended up riding the same pink airplane several times!


She also played her first game of miniature golf. She had a great time hitting her pink ball into the hole, although not without cheating!


And Campbell took it all in from his stroller. He's such a happy boy!

Kung Fu Panda

Last Saturday, on my 27th birthday, we took Bailey to see Kung Fu Panda. It was her first movie theater experience and her daddy says she won't be going back until she's four! Momma says we may try it again if the movie is about a princess. She enjoyed popcorn and a coke (which cost us an arm and a leg) and that kept her occupied for the first half of the movie. After that was a different story. She had to go to bathroom. Twice. She wanted to sit in Daddy's lap. Then her seat. Then Momma's lap. Then... you get the picture. It really wasn't that big of a disaster, but not something we'll be doing again anytime soon!

What's in a name?

I love names. When I hear that someone is expecting, I'm curious about what they will name their child, what it means, and how they will spell it. As soon as Judd and I got married (and maybe even before) we started discussing names we liked. Here's the story of each of our names:

Judd Tidwell - Judd's dad wanted something short like Todd, but not Todd. Thus, Judd. Tidwell is his mother's maiden name.

Jennifer Nicole - Jennifer was the only girl name my parents agreed on. And I was born in the early eighties so it was very popular at the time.

Bailey Kaye - When we learned we were pregnant, we began thinking immediately of what we would name our first child. We already had a list of favorites, but we had to narrow it down. We spent two hours one night at Barnes and Noble going through baby name books. In the end we didn't come up with anything that wasn't already on the list. We left with a boys name and a girls name. Bailey is Judd's maternal grandmother's maiden name. We loved the name and that it was a family name. Kaye is my mother's middle name. We loved the way it sounded with Bailey, the way it was spelled, and wanted to honor my mom.  By the way, if she had been a boy her name would have been Caden Thomas.

Campbell Clark - I love my daughter's name so much that after she was born I didn't think I could love another name as much. I remember almost feeling sorry for my next child because I just knew their name wouldn't be as perfect as hers. Little did I know. As soon as we found out we were pregnant again, we got our lists out. We thought of several girl names...Brooklyn, Avery (I loved it, Judd hated it), and decided if it was a girl her name would be Evelyn Joy and we'd call her Evie. We could not come up with a boy name to save our lives! We threw around the idea of Brant Thomas, but I thought it sounded like "brat". Then it was Caleb Thomas, but that was too common. We also liked Cale Thomas, but it just didn't do anything for me. (Thomas is Judd's dad and grandfather's middle name and we just assumed we would use it as a middle name as well.) I was the one that kept changing my mind. I'm sure I was driving Judd crazy. We finally decided not to talk about boy names again until we knew what we were having. In the meantime, Judd's mom mentioned the name Camp (among others) in an email to us. Judd really liked it. I thought that "camp" was where kids go in the summertime, not a name! But, the day before our ultrasound it came to me. I remembered a little boy that went to Bailey's babysitter in San Antonio whose name was Campbell. I loved it and I thought that Judd could call him Camp someday if the nickname fit. We liked how it sounded with Clark, which is Judd's dad and grandfathers name. We knew it was perfect. So when the ultrasound tech said, "It looks like a little boy," we knew we were looking at our Campbell Clark. And I was wrong...I love his name just as much as hers.

Happy Father's Day...

to the best husband and Daddy EVER!

We love our Daddy!

Check out that outfit! What a stud!

Recent Pics

Campbell meeting his Nana for the first time.

Bailey took this picture of herself. I thought it was kind of cool.

Our girl playing in the bathtub - fully clothed.

The little guy snoozing after VBS one day this week.

Look at that smile!

See, his hair can lay down!

Both kiddos after baths.

VBS

This week the whole family participated in Vacation Bible School at our church. Judd played the role of Al (for all you FBCK people ) by providing great snacks and drinks every day for the teachers and volunteers. I helped in the planning and decorating prior to this week because I'm not ready to leave Campbell in the nursery. Bailey was in the 3 and 4 year old class. She loved singing and dancing on the stage during music and playing outside for rec. And Campbell hung out with me as I ran errands for people and helped Judd.

We had Family Night on Friday evening. This was the first time for Bailey to be on stage in front of a crowd of people. We were so proud that she actually stayed on the stage! She even did some of the hand motions for the songs. I took some pictures, but for some reason they turned out dark, even with the flash. She's standing in the middle wearing brown and white.




Best Buds - Kadon and Bailey

One Month

Campbell Clark,
Today you are one month old. It's hard to believe that it was only a month ago that you entered our lives. We are so grateful for the joy you bring to our family. In your first month of life, you have had many visitors ... Maw-Maw and Pop, Nonnie and Bubba, Uncle Kenny and Aunt Meike, Nick, Jaime, and Paisley. You have already traveled "home" to see Aunt Calie and Uncle Matt, cousins Beau and Charlie, and your great-grandparents Nana, Ma, Memommie, and Grandaddy. You've even met your Great Aunts Brenda, Kim, and Liz, Great Uncles Lee, Boogie, and Tommy, and mom's cousins Justin, Tracey, and Kamden. It took your sister almost three years to meet those relatives from Colorado! Our church family has fallen in love with you and there's hardly a minute while we're at church that you're not in someone's arms. You attended your first VBS this week even though you're not even in the nursery yet. You still sleep most of the day, but you're beginning to stay awake for longer periods of time. I love to look into those big brown eyes. You've gotten better at sleeping at night too. For a while we thought you'd never get your days and nights straight! Your big sister loves you so much. She calls you Baby Brother even though she knows and can say your full name. She likes to bring you pacifiers, blankets, and toys. She pushes you in your swing, but we usually have to remind her to be gentle. She loves to give you "lots of kisses" on your face. Momma and Daddy can't get enough of those kisses either. We can't wait to see what the next month brings.
Love,
Mom

Weekend Fun

Our good friends Nick, Jaime, and Paisley came over on Saturday to play.  The dads grilled hot dogs and hamburgers while the moms tended to the children.  I think Aunt Jaime held Campbell the whole time they were here!  The girls had a blast in Bailey's new whale pool.  It's quite an improvement from the frog sandbox.  Jaime had the brilliant idea of moving the cube slide up to the pool which kept them entertained for hours!  

 

Paw-Paw

Russell W. Bruner

May 19, 1925 - May 31, 2008

My grandfather, or Paw-Paw as we called him, passed away last Saturday. His health had been declining for quite some time, but it still wasn't easy to say goodbye. Over the last week I have been thinking of the fond memories I have of Paw-Paw. Here are just a few of my favorites.

• When my family lived in Garland I loved to spend the weekend with Nana and Paw-Paw in Kaufman. I would sit on the front steps of our house waiting for Paw-Paw to pick me up after he got off of work on Friday afternoon. I would always fall asleep in the car when they took me home on Sunday. When I woke up and realized they were taking me home, I cried. This happened every time!
• Nana and Paw-Paw lived on a farm in Kaufman and Paw-Paw took care of the land. Nana and I would make him breakfast and drive the pick-up truck to where Paw-Paw was mowing in the pasture and we'd eat breakfast on the tailgate.
• Also on the farm, Paw-Paw and I were driving out in the pasture. He got out to open a gate then opened the door to the truck on the passenger side where I was sitting. He told me to scoot over and drive. I think I was only 10 years old! I was so scared and didn't want to drive, but he made me! He helped me and I ended up having a great time!
• Paw-Paw's favorite attire was plaid western shirts (with snaps, not buttons!) and suspenders.
• His nickname for me was Jericho. I have no idea why, but he always called me that.
• Paw-Paw loved dogs. He and Nana had a white poodle named Ashley forever and then they had a mut named Trapper. Both of those dogs were great buddies with Paw-Paw.
• One of my favorite things about Paw-Paw was how much he loved my Nana. He was very protective of her, even until his last days. He called her Momma and she called him Dad. When I was little, something that caught my attention about them was that they always kissed three times. Three short kisses...so sweet.

We will miss Paw-Paw dearly, but we are comforted by the fact that he is dancing with our Savior in Heaven.