new events...

Mark and I are celebrating 5 years of marriage on Feb. 19, Brayden is 2 1/2 and potty training, Micah Joseph is due April 2010. We are getting cable, wireless internet, and phone next week. Only took me 5 yrs to convince Mark to get cable...but it's finally happened! yay! After working at NBCF for 3 yrs as the Office Manager, staying home with Brayden for 1 year, working at Ruth's House for 1 yr....I'm now a financial secretary with another church, yet I still attend NBCF. Things are going well despite Mark and I both being laid off earlier this year and facing financial struggles...we relied on God and things are going better.

Nikki Brendel

White is for those who deserve it.

White is for those who deserve it. On your wedding day, most women wear white, it's traditon. It is a symbol of their purity; their virginity. I think wearing white is something that you deserve. If you are not a virgin on your wedding day, you should not wear white. You can wear a white dress, just put a colored ribbon around your waist, it's the cool thing nowadays anyway. That way you are still wearing what you want to wear, and you are being truthful to your future husband, witnesses, and to God. If you are truely a virgin the day you walk down that aisle, go ahead girl wear white proudly! You deserve it! I know it is so incredibly hard to remain pure before your wedding day, but you can do it. If you do slip up, God does forgive, but you are no longer a pure spotless bride. God is a god of second chances, He gave me one.

Speaking of white at weddings...
Why do guests wear white? Hello?! You are just distracting the attention from the bride. It's her day, let her have the attention, not you. It is ok to wear a combination, such as a white skirt & colored top or vise versa, but not all white - again that is for the virgin bride.

Well, that's just my personal opinion.

Brayden is Growing Up soo fast!

Brayden is growing up sooo fast! He can wave hi/bye, still talking (mama, mom, dada, dad, ba ba, bob, has said na na a few times, and mamaw once), he blows kisses, gives hi-5's. He's still full of energy! He's crawling, climbing on everything, pulling himself up on stuff....he is a ball of energy. I really need to start baby proofing...I keep putting it off, but I really need to go buy that baby gate. I was creative and used some extra shower curtian rings to link together & put on some cabinets so he couldn't open the cabinet in the bookshelf. I've decided that I'm only baby proofing the living room that we are in 90 % of the time and his bedroom. Baby proofing is so expensive so I just want to save money where necessary. So, updates....We've moved twice in 2 mo.! We lived with our friend Jennifer Dick for 2 mo. when our lease was up at our apts. at the end of February and then on May 1st we moved into a rental house by the Stadium. We love it! The neighborhood is great! Full of families! We are soo excited to be right across from the Wesselman Park! We are not bound by a year lease, but a month to month...so we can get out when we need to & on the other hand she can kick us out at any time as long as she gives us a 30 day notice. She's kind of a stickler about things though 'cause it's the house she grew up in and the only thing she has left of her parents. So, it's understandable, but frustrating 'cause we can't hang pics in certain rooms...it's hard, but we are slowly figuring out where stuff goes. Well, I'm exhausted....I'll post some pics & then I'm off to bed. I can't believe I haven't posted anything since March, but it's been busy to say the least plus I'm on Facebook more!

Brayden's 1st Movie he watched - Elmosaurus, and 1st Swimming in a big pool........

I'm a horrible mom

So, the other night I had Brayden on the couch propped up on the boppy like usual when he started to get a little cranky. It was time for his bottle. So, I walked around the corner, put 3 scoops of formula in the pre-filled water bottle when I started to hear Brayden start to whimper. I walked around the corner to find him on the floor facing the opposite way he was laying on the couch. I freaked out and picked him up and checked him out. Mark hearing me freak out pulled up his pants and ran out of the bathroom. He checked out Brayden out to find that he was ok not even a red mark. Brayden only cried half-heartedly for like 2 min. and was over it. When he fell off the couch he was like 2 cm away from banging his head on a wooden chair next to the couch. He fell right in between the chair and couch. Praise the Lord! Well, that was at 7pm. So, thinking I learned my lesson that I can't just walk around the corner anymore & have to sit right next to me at all times when on the couch. Mark gathered that the 1st time Brayden fell he must have sat up, reached to get something that he wanted on the floor, and then toppled on to the ground. Well, at 10pm. Brayden was propped up on boppy again on the couch, my hand on him, I was giving him his meds and talking to him. I said to him, "I don't know where Daddy went (mark normally takes the meds for me to put it up), so I'll just set it down here." In the 2 sec. it took to lean over put the meds on the floor, I seen out of the corner of my eye...Brayden flipped over my hand, landed on his head, neck snapped back and he fell on his bottom. I completely freaked out! Mark came running around the corner again..but this time I have no clue where he was and his pants were fastened. :) I picked Brayden up again to comfort him and told Mark what happened. As I'm holding Brayden I put my hand over my eyes because I was soo ashamed and started balling my eyes out - this lasted for hours. Mark took him from me as I continued to cover my face and wail. Then our housemate, Jennifer Dick, took Brayden so Mark could comfort me. Unfortunately, it only helped a little bit. Then I remembered that my mom dropped my sister on her head, so I had to call my mom. I guess I needed to be comforted by someone who's been there. For the rest of the night before Brayden went to bed when he looked at me he started to cry. He only cried for like 10 min. after the 2nd tumble, which happened at 10pm. I felt like a horrible mother! Like seriously...I know that sometimes things like this just happens, but What mom has it happen in a 3 hr period? Well, the next morning when Brayden woke up he was all smiles at me and forgot the whole thing. I guess kids are more resiliant than we think..and Brayden does have a hard head. Everytime I think of it...I still feel horrible. Just the image of him falling is aweful!

The Ragsdale Twins!

I'm very exctied that the Ragsdale twins are here & healthy. As some of you know, the Ragsdale's, Nick & Kara lost their first son, Peyton Samuel, over a 1 1/2 yrs ago due to Vasa Previa. Kara had to be on Clomid (sp?) to get pregnant w/ Peyton which a side effect is Vasa Previa and possible loss of baby - which happened. If you don't know what Vasa Previa is look on the net, the website might be vasaprevia.org Anyway, so Kara & Nick did IVF (invetro.) this last time. They put in 3 eggs, and 2 got fertilized & attached themselves to the uterus. These twins are so cute! Let me tell you about them... They were born at 7:46am. on 3/15/08 by c-section (The orginal c-sect. date was supposed to be the following Tue. 3/18/08, but due to the mom's high blood pressure, they took them early). Marley Grace was born first weighing 5lbs. 3oz, measuring 18 1/2in. About 30 sec. later, Sam entered the world! Samuel William weighed in at 6lbs. 11oz (with a knack for sports :)), measuring 19 1/2in. Marley has fair skin, light hair, w/ small facial features and Sam has dair hair, dark skin, w/ large facial features. Well, below is some pics that Nick & Kara sent to me. So, enjoy!

pics

Here are pica from rock climbing and our anniversary trip to New Harmony...check out Brayden's Blog for pics of him at http://braydenisrael.blogspot.com

Now for anniv pics... We went to New Harmony Inn to stay & to the New Harmony White House to eat dinner Friday night & at the Red Geranium for breakfast!!!
This was the first time we left Brayden overnight!!! Scary!!! But, he was in good hands...my mom and Cassie came down for the weekend to help with Brayden & our move.
Oh..we moved and will move again in 2 months!!!


























Rock Climbing with Amanda Beaman, and Levi & Daniel Graham. Brayden & Daddy watched us & took some cool pics!