My Help

"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come?” Psalm 121:1 This verse was in a daily devotional I receive via email daily. This verse makes more sense when you realize what the writer of this Psalms was seeing when he wrote this. The terrain surrounding him was mountainous. I learned it was common for those walking by to look up in this mountainous landscape and see pagan worshippers worshiping their false gods on the mountaintops. When people had fears or needed a spell to ward off an evil spirit, they went to the mountaintops seeking help from the false gods, and pagan priests or priestesses. Which brings forth the question "Where does my help come from?" Does it come from another person, a family member? a close friend? Does it come from songs? TV? Books? If we answer yes to some of these then we are relying on false hope. Or how many times do I think I am in control of my surroundings? This is false also. I might as well worship a pagan god if I think I am in control. But the next verse brings such comfort My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth What an awesome verse - My help comes from the Lord- nothing else will or can help me throught each day. When the world around me feels like it is spinning out of control, when people I thought so highly of act in a way I never would have imagined or do something extreme, when my family at times feels like it is slipping further and further apart, when I hear another episode of drama going on in my family, I can think of this verse and have the assurance that the Lord will help me, sustain me, deliver me, and rescue me from this chaos. Oh Thank You Lord that when I turn it all over to you, it is taken care of. Because as evident in my life , without Him I am nothing and I could not make it through the storms of life.

Learning "NO"

Brock is beginning to find out what "NO" means, he is constantly trying to hit the buttons on the satellite and eveything else here under the tv. Thing is he laughs when we say "No" and push his hand away. And it is hard for us not to laugh also.

Makes it hard when he looks at you like this

Myrtle Beach

The fun begins......this pic cracks me up. They went down the waterslide and she cried and needless to say never got back on it the entire week.

Keira is a know it all. Brandon tried to show her how to putt and she said she could do it and knew how to do it. We are in trouble with this one.

Looking like papaw riding his motorcycle

I put Brock on the table sitting down, I turned my head for a moment and next thing you know he was standing up- a first for this (without holding onto something)

More Pics

Silly Papaw - he liked the duck more than Keira

I love the water

Brock looks like he has had enough loving for the morning!

Inside

Our condo had an indoor water park complete with this fun kids place, waterslides, heated pools, lazy rivers, and we had access to both indoor facilities. Keira favorite thing to do was jump off the side of the pool, Brock loves the water and would float around in his raft and just chill.

Beach

Brock had no fear of the sand or water. He was only 4 months old the last time we were here, so this time he was able to explore. He loved it! He took right off towards the ocean and wasn't goign to stop! Keira likes to "attack" the waves as we call it.

Wii

We gave in and purchased a Wii before we left for vacation. We should have been packing but ended up doing this instead. I am not a fan of video games, but I actually love this one. Let the competiton begin in the Leffew household.

Talking

If my dad and step-mom had not been witness to this, I would not have posted this. Brock said "Bye" as we were leaving their house tonight. Peggy was saying "Bye, bye" and he looks at her and goes "Bye" None of us were expecting that!! Then in the car, my dad goes " See Ya" and Brock said it back. We looked at each other in pure shock! I promise I am not making this up - it was as clear as an adult speaking. Now he probably will not say anything since I have bragged on him . PS One more day of tax season!!!!!!!! Then we get a husband and daddy back. :)

Pulling Up

Brock has learned to pull-up. He did it once yesterday at Papaw and Mamaw Leffews house, but I missed it. Then today at Big Papaw and Mamaw Duncan he pulled up twice. I got to witness these :) Of course no camera!!!

Posting

I have not posted lately due to the fact that my daughter ripped my memory card from the computer while it was downloading!! This caused it to not function anymore. And the only other card I have is the one that came with my camera, but only holds like 13 photos. So I have not taken pics. I have to get one this week because we leave Saturday for the beach. We are so excited!!

Fun stuff

Brock thinks this is such fun to try and do every single day. He dumps the cat food everywhere and loves it. He does not eat it however. Nothing goes to his mouth!! I cannot get him to even try any finger foods!!

SHE DID IT!!!!! Keira rode the bike without any help Sunday afternoon. This was the first time this year she has been on it. We were so proud of her.

Little Man doing what he loves best, trying to figure out how something works. This has been a huge difference between a girl and boy. He likes to turn Keira's babydoll strollers over and turn the wheels, something she never tried. He likes to bang more on toys and she didn't. He also goes for any electric socket, nightlite, the humdifier running, etc. It is so funny to see how different boys and girls are from the start.

Ready for the beach!

Keira decided to try on a bathing suit while I went through my swim drawer. And by the way, I do not wear this suit anymore, I only kept it as a reminder of how little I once was and I convinced myself I could get back down to this size in a short amount of time, truth is no more bikinis!!
I have finally accepted that I will never be this size again and that once you go through a pregnancy or more than once, that your body (or belly) will never be the same. And I have noticed after a c-section your skin is just a piece of flab since they had to cut all the way through and I currently wonder if this part can ever be reduced without a surgerical procedure. So maybe that could be a 10th wedding anniversary present from my hubby :) Yeah right!!! So now I have to go shopping for a granny suit or maybe I should just wear my maternity suits I still have.

Easter pics

Our Basement

We finally got our basement carpeted (after months of talking about it) and now have a playrooom and office. We are so thrilled to get all the toys out of the living room!! It looks liked we will be downstairs alot now.

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