Party

We attended Evan Lemons 2nd birthday party at Chuck E Cheese Friday night! As always Keira had a blast except when Chuck E made an appearance, he brings the fear. It is kinda funny to watch her, she would literally crawl inside me if at all possible!!

Keira and Alyssa

What form this girl has already, and she actually made 2 shots! I was impressed!! She has better form than I had in high school, I was a hip shooter.

Nights

Well the past few nights have gone much better, Brock only got up once through the night, but of course Keira has to be up for all the action. Last night was awesome! He slept from 7:30-5:30 and then I tried to get him back down for about 20 minutes, but he wanted me to hold him. So I ended up changing him and giving him a bottle and by 6 he was asleep in his crib and is still down (it's after 7, now) Keira did not stir at all last night and I even heard Brock stir around 3:30 or 4 but he put himself back to sleep. The daytime schedule is working and Brock goes to sleep on his own at naps. Yeah!! I have been able to stay up this morning without having to go back in with Keira, and was able to workout, I hope this is a routine we can establish. It pays to be consistent and not give in to them. If only I had done this the first time around........

New Room Decor

Grammy Em came over and helped us put up a new border
Keira enjoyed stripping off the old border. She is such a helper!

The new princess border

I let Keira put the decorations on the walls

The new comforter

Romans 5:3-5

I came across this devotion this afternoon after I had finished my Bible reading today. I had been reading in Romans today and then came across this : isn't it something how God directs us exactly where we need to be or what we need to read, just like this verse, it so touched me today. I hope this devotion touches you also. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Butterflies beautifully exemplify this verse! Spring is a great time to witness the miracle of a lowly caterpillar becoming a magnificent butterfly through metamorphosis. You've probably heard the comparison made of our new life in Christ to the emergence of a butterfly from the cocoon, but did you know this other interesting fact about butterflies and their transformation? When the butterfly is ready to emerge, it may take several hours and a great struggle to break free from its protective barrier. So why not help the butterfly and cut off part of its cocoon? If you do, the creature will have a swollen body and small, shriveled wings. It will never be able to fly. The struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening forces fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings to make them ready for flight. Our struggles in this life serve a purpose too. If we breezed through life without any difficulties, we would not emerge as complete, strong and ready to fly. "Let us also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5: 3-5 (NIV) I love the part about how our struggles serve a purpose. If we think more along these terms instead of questioning or wondering "Why is this happening in my life?" then how much more will we grow as a Christian. Yes, I am guilty of doing this in my own life, especially when something doesn't make sense to me, or I begin to question why. But as I look at some things I have struggled with in the past few years, I can see how they have made me stronger in my faith and drew me closer to the Lord and even changed my way of thinking about people and situations. Even when I wanted to clam up, put up walls to keep others out, the Lord showed me that was not the way. He didn't give up on me when I had given up on myself, and boy am I glad, and I finally hit my knees and said okay Lord, I cannot do this on my own, and I turned it all over to Him and learned to lean on Him and not my self. The other thing I have learned is that the closer we walk with Him, the harder it gets at times, the more struggles we will have, but what a reward is waiting for those who walk the staight and narrow and how humbling to think He chose me as His child. I am trying to learn from my struggles, no matter how small and frequently they may come. As Phillipians 4:13 states " I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" My favorite verse!!!

Easter Sunday

After church at Papaw and Mamaw Leffews

After church egg hunt we went to my grandmothers for family fun.
The youngest cousins above!

Brock trying to get some eggs

Easter Fun Begins

Keira with her friend Ella
We started our fun at church

The best part of the egg hunt!

Keira Brooke

Eggs

Keira and I colored eggs friday evening- she didn't want to let them
soak long enough, but they turne dout fine.

We broke one - it ende dup under the table and landed on this toy

Update on Thursday night

Brock still isn't feeling great, but no fever anymore. He has a runny nose and a cough still. I think most of his is teething issues. He appears to have 4 more teeth trying to come in, his gums are swollen and one upper tooth has come through. Anyway, I took Keira to gym thursday morning and she refused to go to her class. Her teacher was not there again and she doesn't really care much for the Romanian teacher. She came back running out saying "Ms.Larissa scare me" So she decided to wait on Ms.Jenna, who is awesome, and we waited for 30 minutes. Ms.Jenna is leaving in May and since this was the second week in a row that Keira has done this at gym, I just decided to drop her from the class. Why waste $60 a month for her to cry. She loves gym but warm weather is coming so we can play outside. Maybe when fall rolls around, she can go back or try a new activity. Besides, she isn't going to have a gymnast body! It has benefited her in many areas, but we will move on. Thursday evening my mom came over an dplayed awhile, as she was getting ready to leave, the tears came and ddin't stop, Keira put on quite the show. My mom gave in to her and Keira went to spend the night. I just sat and laughed at them. Back to little man, I put him to bed after 8 and by 8:30 he was asleep. He woke at 1:30 and I ended up giving him a bottle b/c he is not eating solids good right now and he didn't take much before bed. After some coughing and change of clothes for both of us, he spit up everywhere while coughing- I think he gagged himself, back to bed. I put him down and he slept till 7:15. Thank you Lord! Brandon and I needed some sleep. Morning nap today didn't take long and he went to sleep on his own again. I think he is getting it!!! My mom said this morning that Keira cried for me last night and didn't go to sleep till 11:30, oh well, she was the one who decided to take her home.

Hanging out

I went to get something and upon returning sissy had climbed into Brock's bed.
I wonder what is going through his head here!

Can anyone find Brock?

He is beginning to try and pull up

Sleeping with "my hair"
Whatever works!!!

Update on our Nights

Tuesday night I began night 4 of our system. Little man did not sleep all night, I counted maybe 2-3 sleep he actually got. He ran a fever all night long and I still tried to keep him in his bed, I stayed in his rooma nd layed in the floor, that didn't last long. Then I put him in the bed with me, and I know he was feeling terrible since he wouldn't even lay down and sleep. Night 4 became null and void. Wed. he was feeling much better but I ended up laying with him in the bed at afternoon nap. Of course, I am thinking big mistake, but he doesn't feel good and he was so tired. Night rolls around and I am determined to keep him in his bed. I sit at the door again and it takes him longer to go to sleep tonight, but he eventually caves. He wakes a couple times when Keira and I got to bed. Then during the night he cried out but I did not get up. And he must have went back to sleep or I just tuned him out! Just kidding! He wasn't crying hard, just whine a little. I did get up once and that was it. So I think we are on the right track.

Easter 2

I want to finish my last post : Verse 29 says they put a reed in His right hand. The right hand was the hand of authority. And the reed was the symbol of a scepter and in those days the kings would hold a scepter of ten of ivory and gold. And this was to be His scepter. It was made out of a reed, just a common stalk.And there He is with a crown of thorns and a robe of scarlet and a scepter of a reed. And they carry on their little mockery. They bowed the knee before Him as if He were king, they gave Him homage. And they mocked Him saying, "Hail, king of the Jews." There was no sincerity in that; it was just mockery, sarcasm, cynicism, ridicule, scorn.And as they rise from their knees, verse 30, they spit on Him. Down on the knees, "Hail, king of the Jews," and on the way up they spit in His face. The ultimate human indignity, to spit on someone.If they only knew who they were spitting on. If they only knew who they were mocking. If they only had known who it was upon whom they placed a crown of thorns and a scarlet robe. If they had any idea.Verse 30 by taking the reed out of His right hand and ... the Greek text says... repeatedly struck Him on the head. More blows, slaps already, punches with the fist already, spit and now hitting Him repeatedly in the head with this reed.They did this primarily to show what a joke His authority was. What kind of a king are you, we can rip the very scepter out of your hand and beat on your head with it? Your sovereignty is a laugh. Your kingliness is a joke. Anybody who can spit on a king and hit him in the head with his own scepter and have nothing happen in retaliation is some kind of king. You're a farce.And though He endures it all, He says nothing. He offers no resistance. He says nothing. He is willing to suffer for sinners, TO suffer not only the death on the cross but everything that came along with it. He will fulfill His calling. To the crucifixion : Crucifixion originated in Persia and it originated from the strangest circumstance. The Persians had a deity by the name of Ormuzd, O‑r‑m‑u‑z‑d. And Ormuzd was the god who considered the earth to be sacred. And so anyone who was executed had to be lifted up above the earth lest that person being executed by virtue of his evil would defile the sacredness of the earth. And so the Persians devised a crucifixion as a way to suspend a person above the earth in execution. It passed from the Persians to the Carthaginians and somehow the Romans took it from those in Carthage and used it ... and I mean the Romans used it extensively. From the best we could ascertain at the time of Christ and around the era of Roman occupation of Israel, the Romans crucified at least 30,000 Jews. And they did it all over the highways in order to warn people what happens to someone who violates Roman law. Vivid illustrations of the foolishness of going against Rome.Verse 35, "And they crucified Him and parted His garments casting lots. in verse 37, "And they set over His head His accusation, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS." Jesus endured this without saying anything, complaining, asking why? , He did it for us! I look on my own life and think, boy I sure complain or whine about a lot of things, and my Savior never once complained when facing the most horrible thing on this earth in hostory. Mattew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples,"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and followe Me." How often do I do this? Is my life a total commitment to him in everything I do? I sure have a lot of things to change! I Praise My Savior for what He did so that I may live! May I never forget what He had to suffer and always know that I can endure anything with His help, no matter how big or small that may come my way.

Easter Part 1

As the kids are playing I was finishing my earlier time of studying the Crucifixion. We hear the Easter story every year, but do we really hear it and realize what Jesus actually suffered. Yes, we know He died on the cross, took our place, bore our sins,etc. and rose the third day. Do we fully "get it" Do we take the time to look at what this perfect, sinless man endured for us as we are so unworthy, undeserving,and wicked hearted people. I began studying the physical torment Jesus endured from the time of His trials before Pilate through the crucifixion. Take a look: (I cannot hold back the tears anytime I read this) It begins with scourging - He has been tied to a post by His hands, His feet suspended off the ground so that His body, is taut. Two men, one on each side, Romans soldiers, have wooden handles in their hand to which are attached leather thongs, the end of which are filled with bits of rock and bone and metal filed down to a knife edge. And they proceed to lacerate the body of Jesus Christ extensively until blood is oozing out all over His body and His inner parts are made visible. This is the first effort to satisfy the blood‑thirsty mob. This is carried on by the soldiers. Then in Matthew 27:27 And the soldiers take Jesus to the common hall and gather around the, whole band," By the time He gets to this moment, He is a tragedy to look at. His face has been slapped repeatedly. It has been punched until it is swollen and bruised. It has been spit on till His face is covered with spit. His body now is lacerated and He bleeds profusely from the shoulders down. They know that He is supposedly a king because the people are screaming about His claim to be that. They know the people want Him dead. They see Him as a rather pathetic fake and fraud, perhaps mentally deranged and worthy only of their mockery. And when all through this entire encounter with them, He never says a single thing; they no doubt questioned His intelligence and perhaps even His sanity. They play Him like a clown as they would with an idiot boy in the street. They are cold. They are they indifferent. And they are ignorant. And this mentally deficient faker is nothing more than the butt of their jokes.Already bleeding from the scouring which opened up His flesh, blood flowing out all over His body, agony in every nerve, His whole body quivering in tortuous pain, He becomes the object of the soldiers ridicule as they all gather around Him and begin their little game. The first thing they did was strip Him, they stripped Him. They love to do this. They don't do this reluctantly. They don't like the Jews. In fact they hate the Jews. They've had a lot of problems with them. And any way they can mock them, they can enjoy thoroughly. And so there's a certain kind of glee in what they do. And there are, by the way, no Jews in the praetorium. The Bible tells us they wouldn't come in there lest they would be defiled and thus be unable to celebrate the Passover by entering into a defiling Gentile place. So, here all these soldiers are. They don't have anybody around to whom they're accountable of a Jewish nature. They do just exactly what they want to this individual. They don't really know Him; they don't know who He is. He has never been cross purposes with theirs. He has never violated their goals or objectives or motives. He has never demonstrated prejudice against them. They have no idea who He is. And yet there is no interest in alleviating His agony. There is none of the quote/unquote "milk of human kindness." There is no concern for His suffering. There is no interest in healing His wounds. There is no sense of justice. They are bent only on the fun of aggravating His agony. They have been trained to torture. They have been trained to kill. They are thirsty for blood, for evil. And they express the wickedness of the human heart in a definitive portrait of wickedness that is ignorant. They really reflect their father‑‑the devil‑‑who is a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. They find their great joy in increasing the pain that Jesus Christ endures. They are without kindness and without sympathy. Now when Jesus was scourged, obviously He was naked. And after the scourging was over, they put back on His inner‑seamless garment, His inner robe. And only can be imagined the pain that that would cause Him, a rough cloth put over open wounds. And that has remained on Him for a time as He is brought back into the praetorium. And now it's time for their little game, so no doubt heartlessly they rip that robe off over His head, exposing again His wounds. They make Him naked.And then it says in verse 27, "They put on Him a scarlet robe." And so they place upon Him the scarlet robe that is intended to represent the purple robe, to mock Him as if He were some king. Verse 29 talks about the crown of thorns : around His head and crushed it down, no doubt, wrapping it around His head. The thorns piercing His brow and little streams of blood running down to mingle with the rest of the blood on His body.But all of this makes Jesus look ridiculous. He is a joke. He is bloody from head to foot. His face is now unrecognizable. He is hardly human. His face is distorted by the pain of emotion. It is distorted by spiritual anguish. It is distorted by the feeling of sin bearing and the very bearing of sin. It is distorted by bruises and swollenness and spittle mixed with blood and the dust and dirt of the day. And He is a scene of ugliness of which the prophet Isaiah says there is no beauty that we should desire Him.And they're not through- but I am for tonight. I cannot stop the tears as I cannot even imagine what Jesus looked like or how much He was suffering.........

Doctor Visit Treat

Little Man up to no good! No junk for you!!

Keira got a surprise for being such a good girl at the doctors office. It was a Dora paint book.

Nights 4-6

Brock is doing ok at night, although from 2-4 last night he kept waking up every 20 minutes or so.. then he slept till 8. Naptime today was rough - morning nap he fought and fought, I let him cry it out during the day and go in every 10 -15 minutes. This afternoon it took about an hour, he wasn't really crying, just whining and sitting up. I took Keira to nap and while laying with her he gave it up. Tonight I begin the 4th night. I will move my chair to the doorway and stay in it as much as possible and making "shh" sound as little as possible. Hopefully after two nights of this I will stay out in the hallway. Kids get ritualized easy and that is why the book suggest a change every 3 nights or less if possible. So hopefully by night 7 or 8 he will be on his own. My only concern now is that he has caught Keira's cold and I don't want him to suffer when he feels yucky! I think about the cry it out method and basically that is what nap time is, but since I have started this method I plan on sticking it out, if it doesn't work by the next week or so , then I will switch to it.

Doctor Visit

We ended up back at the doctors office this afternoon and sure enough Keira has an upper respiratory infection. Thankfully ears are clear and Brocks ears are clear also. No fevers either! We had a first today, Keira did not cry at all when the doctor checked her out. You just don't realize what a remarkable accomplishment this is for her, since birth and I am not making this up, she has screamed like someone was beating her at every visit, regardless of what they are doing. Even getting weighed is an issue! Brock on the other hand, grins at the doctor and lets them do whatever, he didn't even cry the last time he had shots. They are so opposite in everything, it is funny they come from the same parents. My prayer is that the Lord will use their differences for His kingdom and His glory!

Sleepless nights

Saturday night we began using "The Sleep Lady" method to get Brock back to sleeping all night and soothing himself back to sleep if he wakes. Nights 1-3 you sit by the crib and "shh" him and occasionally pat him on the back until he goes to sleep, only picking him up if he gets hysterical. It took 45 minutes, this was after 7:30. He slept till 12:30 and it only took a minute then. I was surprised. However, along came 3:15 and it wasn't happy. He lasted until 4:45! But I didn't cave, I sat beside the crib and prayed and almost cried. It is harder when you sit beside them and he is reaching through the crib for me. I tolerate it much better when I leave the room and don't have to watch him. He then slept till 6:45 and I put him in bed with me. I got Brandon up at the 3 wake-up to get in bed with Keira and they both slept through most of it. We woke him around 8. Sunday afternoon, as I am laying in the floor with him, trying to get him down for nap, since we are at the in-laws house, we put him in the floor to sleep for safety reasons. I come up with this bright idea (pic above) to attach my hair extension (and no I do not wear this, I am just glad I didn't toss it out!) to the teddy bear. The book suggests using a lovey (animal, blanket, etc) for security, well I thought he goes to sleep playing inmy hair so.......So last night I did this, and it worked!!! He stirred several times, but I didn't get up and he went back to sleep. I only had to go in one time around 2 and I didn't pick him up, but "shh" and pat him and put the hair back in reach and he was drifting off till Keira starts crying out. I get Brandon and then go back to Brock, which only takes about 2 minutes. On the other hand, I was up all night with Keira, because she was coughing every 10-20 seconds, I know this since I would count in between each cough. She could not sleep. This started at 9:30 with her and was all night long. Finally around 3:30 or later she went to sleep, but still coughed to wake a little and whine some. I noticed this morning Brock has started coughing also, I hope this isn't developing into another round of colds.

1st Bowling Trip

Keira went bowling, her first time, at Garrett Cliftons 6th birthday party. She had a blast! She wanted to throw way behind the line and I finally convinced her to move closer.

What form this girl has! Ha!

Hmmm..I don't think she was pleased with the outcome! I believe she is going to be a competitor like her mommy-I still hate to lose!

Mamaw Duncan

Mamaw Duncan turned 82 on March 12 and once again the Duncans gathered to celebrate. My sweet grandmother has battled alzheimers for 11 yrs now. Through it all she has remained the sweetest, kindest lady (i know some people turn violent), and she loves the babies. 5 minutes before this pic was taken she was trying to communicate with Brock and was making making faces, and touching him so sweetly. It was a natural response for her and that is amazing to me since she doesn't respond to much anymore, but the babies have always perked her up and she always says "Pretty Boy" The toughest part is having to watch my grandfather dealing with this, they have been married 61 yrs and I cannot even imagine what he must emotionally endure, but he has been a true witness of upholding your marriage vows as he has been by her side every step of the way and she has stayed at home the entire process and been taken care of by him and others. This has been the greatest example of love and support I have seen in a marriage, through good and bad they have stuck it out and are a true testimony to what marriage should be.

9 months

Brock had his 9 month checkup today. He is doing great- weighs a little over 22 pounds (75th percentile), is 29 1/4 inc long (81 st percentile) and his head is 47.8 cm (97th percentile) It is funny to look back at Keira at this age because she was off the charts in height and length her entire first year and I really thought Brock would be bigger than her, it is not a big difference, she was 2 pounds and an inch longer than him at 9 months. It really doesn't matter though, they are 2 different individuals. The only problem I am having right now with him and her is sleep! My kids don't like sleep! Wouldn't you think this would be a natural response, since our bodies are designed for it. Those of you who don't know, I made a huge mistake with Keira, I have slept with her since she was 2 weeks old. It started out that way b/c she wanted to sleep on her belly and of course as a first time mom I was terrified to do this. And my recovery from a c-section was not easy the first time, so I put her onmy chest and slept on the couch with her till around 6 months. Then we moved to the bed, she never slept in her crib a full night. We converted the crib into the bed, skipped the toddler bed phase. Going on 3 years later, I am still sleeping with her. Well back to Brock, I started from the beginning with him sleeping on his own, he was so easy. I could even lay him down awake and he would go to sleep, I thought I was dreaming! When he was sick, I of course held him more and rocked him to sleep, then the past month I have ended up putting him in bed with us. Yes, Brandon has a king bed all to himself. It got to the point that Keira wasn't sleeping at night, she thinks she has to get up when he does and help me, she doesn't cry or fuss, and does not want daddy to lay with her. It is actually sweet at times, when she tells me she loves me and kisses on me and Brock, but not good for her without resting. So the story goes, he wakes about every 3-4 hours. First time I put him in crib, around 4-5 am I put him in bed with us and they both sleep soundly. Well last night at midnight he wakes and I let him cry and cry, this went on for an hour and he finally caved. Keira was so tired she layed in bed with Brandon, but couldn't sleep b/c of the noise. She asked "What is wrong wrong wth him?" He actually slept till 5:45 and I put him in bed with me. I hate this for Brandon, right in the middle of tax season. I try to sneak out of bed at 7:30 and put Brock back in his crib, but Keira fells me move, b/c now she has decided to hang one leg around my waist, like she is pinning me down. Brock wakes and she has to get up, so I let them stay up since we have a doctors visit at 9:20. They are both so tired! Brandon and I both decided after the doctor said it is a comfort issue and nothing is wrong with Brock, to not give up and just go through a few nights of agony. I cannot and will not mess this one up about sleeping. We regret we didn't do this with Keira at an early age. I don't mid sleeping with her, it's just that she won't go to bed until I go. I tried to convince her I would come in later and sleep with her if she would get in bed at a descent hour. We will have to break her soon also, as she will be starting pre-school this fall. Oh the mess I have created!!

Playing

Playing in the activity center and also crawling in Keira's tunnel while she took a nap.

FLY Lady

I have to share this website with you all. It is http://flylady.net/index.asp This lady is awesome! It is all about being organzied, decluttering, routines, etc. I have found this very helpful and joined her email list. I am a FLYbaby!! Some of you may have it together, but I feel like I don't at times. Especially with 2 little ones now. The whole shine your sink thing may sound crazy and I was skeptical at first, but it makes sense after you get use to it. She can be seen on channel 10 on the Style show at times. She has so many great ideas and can really help you no matter what stage you are in regarding your home and childrens ages. Some of it applies to me and some of it doesn't. That is the beauty of the whole concept, you apply what fits to your lifestyle and go from there. Sometimes I follow the cleaning zones and sometimes I don't. Once you understand the concept she is having you do, it all comes down to routines. Hope someone finds this useful!

I have not took any pics since Monday, but I will re-cap some of our week. Wed. I took Keira and Brock to the library for storytime. Ms. Barb read 2 books and then the kids do a craft. Keira seemed to enjoy this and we will go back. She didn't say much during the activities, but I have learned if she is uncomfortable or isn't sure of people she is around, she tells me "Let's go bye-bye." I asked her after we left if she liked it, and of course the answer was "No." Brock enjoyed watching all the kids, 10 if I remember correctly. We then enjoyed the rest of the day at home and then went to church. I had to spank Keira at church. I went to pick them up after my handbook time was over in Awanas and like usual, Keira told on herself first thing. She had been pushing Evan. I asked the teacher and she said it was true, so I told Keira to apologize and she refused. We exchanged words for a minute and then I took her out in the hallway and she got spanked. However, she still refused to apologize. She is so stubborn! We are working on this every day when situations come up. I have learned she is quite the bully at church, yet she talks about her friends at home alot, and she even told me on the way to church that she was going to be nice. Guess that changed in the classroom. Hopefully this is one of those toddler phases and will pass quickly. She really is sweet majority of the time. Thursday morning Keira finally got to go back to gymnastics! She had such a great time and this has been good for her. She follows direction well and it has helped her learn to take turns and wait in line for things. After lunch we came home and my friend, Sarah, who lives in Nashville now, and I miss her dearly, came by to visit. We got to play outside some and just enjoyed the company. Both the kids love Sarah. The past 2 days we have stayed home and played and enjoyed visits form the grandparents. Keira is thrilled when they come over.

Good weather!

We took advantage of finally having a pretty day and without the kids being sick to play outside on Monday. At Papaw and Mamaw Leffews house they jumped (Brock didn't like it when Keira jumped since his face hit the floor) and then we took a wagon ride to see Aunt She-She. She-She was able to get some good loving since no one has seen us in almost a month.