Bradley Birthing Class Reunion

We all joked that we had the best Bradley Class ever... but I am pretty sure that is the truth! Our birthing class was full of the funniest pregnant ladies I've ever met!

The craziest thing about taking this class- is that we were the only 3rd time parents and yet we learned SO MUCH! I was a bit envious of the other moms who were smart enough to take it the first time around! Why oh why did we take hypnobirthing?!

After all the babies  were welcomed into the world, we gathered at our house to reunite and talk about babies and share birth stories! Seriously- it was so much fun!

Tony was so stoked to talk to people about contractions and placentas!

We had the parents paint the baby tootsies and then step on 10 onesies... Each baby got to take a shirt home with the foot prints of his/her "class mates!"

 Here is a table-o-onesies!  After the onesies we done, we foot printed the table cloth and signed it as a gift for our fearless leader Heather!

Photobombed by a baby!!

New Mom Chatter... probably about puke or sleep schedules or lactation...

This conversation was about scheduled feedings... 

Here was an exciting birth story!

Mercury came downstairs to steal the show!!

A baby line up! By Birth Order! Ten babies were lying on our floor all at once. It was awesome!!

Azalea has some pretty rad hair, I will admit... but check out the baby on the right!! She has a full head of super thick hair with natural highlights! She looks like a cute baby surfer!

One of the finished onesies! Azalea did the pink with blue top one.

My sweet model showing of her new threads!

Moral of the stort- if you have a baby, then invite  9 other babies to your house- it is real fun!

The End!

Military Photos!

When we were cleaning off our old Desktop Computer I found a bunch of photos from Tech School. I thought they were too cool to not share!

  This is me working in the cockpit of an A-10. Pretty much the coolest aircraft ever!

  Tony and Me. I was about 20 weeks pregnant with Bastian at this point!

 This is my Tech School Graduation!

 Here are some random shots of our tech school experience. The group around the table is playing poker at one of the many poker tournaments that Tony and I arranged to raise money for an Organization called Airmen Helping Airmen (AHA). I was the president and it rocked!

Hooray Air Force!

Roles, Goals and Mission Statements!

I have been following a few blogs that have been talking about the importance of a Mission Statement. I started one a while ago an just took the time to finish it.

The easiest way for me to get started was to define my roles and then outlining how I would like to perform in each of those areas.
My Current Roles are;

1.   Daughter of the King

a.       Spend Time in the Word Daily (As a Priority, before TV or Computer time)

b.      Spend Time in Prayer Throughout the Day

c.       Attend Church Weekly

d.      Attend Bible Study Weekly

e.      Attend Small Group Study Weekly

f.        Read No less than 1 Book per month

2.  Wife

a.       One on One time daily

b.      Devotional Time together (3 times a week)

c.       Make lunch for Tony to take to work

d.      Make Breakfast for Tony to eat each morning

e.      Date Night once a month

3.  Mother

a.       Read Bible each night before Bed

b.      Purposefully pray throughout the day

c.       Daily devotional before breakfast

d.      Singing & Praying each night before bed

e.      Model Godly character in all areas

4.  Teacher

a.       Highlight God’s Glory in every possible way

b.      Aim to make teachable moments everywhere we go

c.       30 Minutes in Lesson Daily & Lesson focused play daily

d.      30 Minutes of reading daily (Before any TV/Gaming  is allowed)

e.      1 Library Trip per week

f.        1 Educational Outing per week

5.  Homemaker

a.       Prepare Quality Meals for my Family

b.      Maintain order throughout the house

c.       1 Load of Laundry Per Day

d.      Plan Week each Sunday Night (Meals, To Do’s, Lessons)

6.  Friend

a.       Host dinner for friends at least twice a month

b.      Send Cards/Encouragement to at least one person weekly

It looks like a long "To Do List" but really this is pretty much how we live and it is nothing to "Do" but really it is just aiming to be purposeful in all that we do. For me as a list person, I really like having my "duties" all written out... it's a really easy way for me to organize them mentally!

Now for the mission statement. It seems to work well for now, but The Lord has been strong in conveying that he wants Tony and me to live simply and to focus our life on the Mission of God and less on ourselves. We feel like He is pushing the need to be purposeful in everything and wasteful in nothing.... so here is my mission statement!

·         To Love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and follow His commandments.

·         To live purposefully and simply in all aspects of my life.

·         To Love my husband and encourage him constantly,   To submit to his God given authority and to be his partner in all things

·         To be a good steward of all of the gifts that the Lord has trusted us with

·         To cherish our children and show them the Love of Christ.   To teach them to live intentionally for the Lord and with good character

·         To be a blessing to others and to constantly encourage

·         To Live my Life for the mission of God and to actively serve the Lord and Others.

I plan to print a few of these to place around the house, in my bible and in my journal to keep me mindful of the Lord's directions and where he's pulling me so that I will not get lazy and forgetful. 

I highly recommend this exercise to everyone it is a great way to ensure personal accountability and to give more direction to your daily life! 

Peace,

Nikki

 

Read This, Not That!

I like to read. I usually read non-fiction books about health, nutrition, parenting or something biblical or based in christianity... although I love to read fiction, I have a hard time finding books I like.

My two most recent reads would fall into the parenting category.

We are "attachment parents" through and through... I'm not sure what would possess me to read a book that even mentions crying it out! But I did! The book started out with some great information about sleep patterns and nap timing... but once you get into the actual advice it was junk! The idea of letting Gabriel cry for an hour at nap time and then indefinitely at night makes me sick to my stomach.

The book I'm referring to is Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Dr. Weissbluth.
I do not recommend it at all! Not that anyone asked my opinion... but just in case you wondered!

The book I DO like is called Night Time Parenting by Dr. Sears. We love Dr. Sears anyways... so it is no surprise that we liked this book. Dr. Sears books are what introduced us to attachment parenting in the first place and from them we learned to trust our intuition as parents rather than follow schedules or allow our babies to cry.
This book is much more aligned with our thinking. I truly believe that a child cries to communicate and not manipulate and as the parent it is our job to keep our babies feeling comfortable and give them a general feeling of "rightness"

I know this is a touchy subject... but these are just my thoughts!
Peace,
Nikki

Happy Birthday to Me!

On August 20th I turned the big 25! That's right friends, I can now rent a car! We were in VA beach with friends and it was a great way to spend  the day! (With the exception of Bastian yakking all day long!)

When we got home there was a mysterious box on the table... When I opened it I found these!

My sweet thang noticed my ridiculous excitement over the stainless steel cups at Michie Tavern and he bought me eight 16oz cups and four 32oz cups for my birthday! I was so excited! We are one step closer to being completely plastic free! ( Our goal is by Jan 1st to be completely plastic free... I sure hope we make it!)

So anyways... whatta guy! I must say I feel like a lucky lady every day anyways... but I feel super special when my dude pays attention to my ramblings and then buys me some sweet cups!

Peace!

Nikki