Life as a Lewis

It's official - the cat is staying and she even has a name. It was a toss up between Ruby and Rumbly Tumbly and Bessie was thrown into the mix a couple of times, but Camden has settled on Ruby. Aren't those names funny? He came up with all of them by himself. I never knew he would enjoy a pet so much. He just plays and plays with her - it's quite sweet to watch. And who knew Brian was such a softie! I think he's enjoying it almost as much as Camden. Our Friday was full of the usual things - housework, grocery shopping, etc. (I'm boring even myself as I type this out!) I sent Camden to school because I had a big work project to take care of, but they called us about 11:00 and said to come get him because he didn't feel good. Not sure what was wrong because he sure seemed fine to us! We thought it would be a fun treat to go see Ratatouille last night, and Brian and I both thought it was really fun, but Camden didn't like it at all. He's developed a real av

Yes, somehow I got sucked into letting Camden have this kitten! Someone dumped it off at church and after 3 days of listening to it meow, Brian caved and let Camden bring it home. He is so excited and keeps saying, "I have a pet now!" Look at that face - he's loving it!

After 3 months of living here, we've finally got a new dishwasher so no more dish pan hands for me! I am so excited! Poor Brian spent all afternoon working on getting it hooked up. He thought it was going to be an easy task, but two trips to the hardware store and 5 hours later, it's finally finished. He accidentally broke a water line, so our kitchen floor was flooded and it started draining into the basement, which is not a good thing! I think he used every available towel and blanket in our house to soak up the water. But it's all cleaned up and the dishwasher is working so it was worth the trouble! Brian started working on stripping the dresser that we're going to repaint for the nursery last night. I'm very excited about that! Now I've just to find a crib! I'd love to buy a new one that transitions into a toddler bed and then turns into a full headboard, but I'm pretty sure that's not in the budget. We're planning to find a used one and then

Not much going on today so I just thought I'd post two of my newest pages. I did notice something weird going on with blogger yesterday - I actually posted last night about 8:30 and it shows up as 1:18 yesterday afternoon. Guess it really doesn't matter what time it shows up! Had a near-miss catastrophe last night! We were working on finishing up some more adoption grant applications, and there is one particular application that is just HUGE and very detailed and long and we had spent several hours working on it a couple of weeks ago. Well, we tried to pull it up last night and couldn't find it. After about an hour of searching, we finally located it. It had been saved on Brian's laptop as a hidden file! It was good to get that one off in the mail today. We have two final grants we're applying for, and we've collected almost all the paperwork for them. Then we just sit back and wait. I don't have too much hope for them because adoption grants are few and far

It's Monday evening, and another week is off and running! Our weekend was uneventful (translated - boring!). Brian was pretty busy with church work since he was at camp last week, so Camden and I were on our own. I am so happy to say that Camden came home from camp a very happy camper and has been so good! I thought it would be a rough transition back home, but not yet. He did come home ultra-hyper, but we've had several good laughs from that ultra-hyper mode so it's okay. Yesterday, he played "church" for the first time. He sang, led singing, preached - all of it. It was so funny! Since our pastor (a.k.a. my father-in-law) was out of town this week, Brian was in charge of the services. He preached on Sunday morning and did a wonderful job. I was very proud! For Sunday night, he put together a 20 minute video showcasing the last several weeks of camp, and I was quite proud of his technical ability as well! Because I was still debating on whether or not to keep my

Camden's opening sentence this morning: "Hey, look at me. I growed!"

Have I ever mentioned I love Fridays! I love the casual morning, the fact that my alarm doesn't go off at 5:10, that I can stay comfortable for a while, that I don't have to leave Camden while he's at his sweetest, and many more reasons. Brian and Camden are still at camp today so I actually slept until 8:30, which is VERY late for me! I went to lunch with my friend Kathy and her two girls yesterday. It was so much fun - her little almost-2 year old Meredith is the funniest girl! She's got such an expressive face and is just so cute (and she lets me hold her!). No big plans for the weekend here! I'm sure Brian and Camden are going to come home this afternoon and crash! Poor Brian's been there taking care of a cabin full of boys, and after Camden joined him, he had even more to do! Brian says the little teenage girls are spoiling him rotten - he'll come home in rare form I'm sure. A year later I'm still working on scrapping Elizabeth's wedding pic

Brian came home yesterday afternoon to teach youth group at church last night and took Camden back to camp with him. Camden was sooooo excited to be going, and was so funny! Brian called this morning and said that he had a blast his first night away. He's in a cabin with 8 other 13 year old boys, and he said the boys kept saying, "why didn't you let him come all week" because Camden laughs at all their jokes! We have read this cute little book to Camden once or twice about a little raccoon that is scared to go to school so his mother kisses his hand, wraps his fingers around the kiss, and tells him when he is lonely and scared to put his hand to his cheek and remember his mommy's kiss. Well, last night when I was telling Camden goodbye I told him I would miss him, and that sweet boy (who is obviously a genius to even remember this story we read to him several weeks ago) kissed my hand, folded it up, and told me not to be scared. He is just precious! Then he said,

Seriously! How do single mothers (and fathers) handle parenting all on their own! Camden is keeping me hopping this week while Brian is at camp. These early mornings are killing me. I went shopping on my lunch hour yesterday and bought nursery bedding for 60% off at Pottery Barn Kids, but I'm having second thoughts. I really love it, but it's just not the vision I had in my head for the nursery. Although to be perfectly honest, I've got many different visions so not sure I'll ever be totally happy with it. We'll see. I had a three and a half hour meeting this morning which was pure torture, but we did get to have lunch on the boss when it was over, so that was nice. Now that I've got Camden in bed for the evening, I think I'm going to go crash in front of the TV.

Our father's day was quiet. Brian headed off to church camp with several of the junior boys yesterday so there was not much celebrating going on! After a week of Camden's general crankiness, I was not looking forward to having him all to myself, but he was really good yesterday. Spent some more time in the pool, watched the movie Cars for about the 648th time, played with the lincoln logs, etc. This morning was busy, but I managed to get both of us out the door by 6:20, and I even made it to work a few minutes early. I didn't sleep well, but I never do when Brian is gone. Sometimes I even resort to having Camden sleep with me, but that never lasts since his idea of sleeping with mommy starts with a death grip on my neck and then ends with laying on top of my head. It's torture! So, one night down; only four more to go. Today's page uses pictures from September 2005 - look at Camden's chubby cheeks! Becky came home from France for a quick visit and brought Camden

I don't think I said anything in yesterday's post, but it was a rough parenting day. Camden was not his normal cheerful self; he was pretty horrible. We had one issue after another, and it was just a discouraging day. That boy can throw some huge fits! Today, he's been much better, although still a little whiny. Brian and I worked in the basement for several hours this morning going through boxes, labeling things for a yard sale, etc. Camden happily played around riding his tricycle, making birthday cakes out of dirt and planting a "tomato garden." We played around in the pool again this afternoon. He loves it as long as he doesn't actually get too wet. Made a quick trip to Walmart and picked up a pizza and a movie for tonight. Here are two layouts - the first is from last July when Camden first learned to wink. The second page is a picture I took of Becky, William, and Xavier in May.

I got some very good news this week - Dani Mogstad asked me to be on her creative team. I am so excited - I already buy everything she designs anyway so this will be fun! (Becky, you should keep an eye on the Girl Talk Blog for fun ideas.) I hit the jackpot yesterday on my lunch hour. At the last minute I decided to stop into Gymboree to see if there were any good sales. I've been staying away so I'm not tempted to buy! Camden certainly doesn't need any more clothes and I've already done some shopping for the new baby. BUT I went in and they were handing out surprise percentages off - mine was 50% off my entire purchase. So I did do some shopping. Who can pass up shirts and shorts and dresses for just a few dollars apiece. This little bathing suit (or babin' suit as Camden calls it) is adorable! Camden got quite a bit of things for next summer for $3.80/apiece. But mostly girly things because I can't seem to pass them up! Camden had his first big pool exper

So, I took a little mental health day yesterday and stayed home from work. I struggle with insomnia every few months, and I've been averaging about 3 hours of sleep every night for the last week. I am so tired! Last night was a little bit better - I think I finally drifted off about 1:30. Brian and I spent about 3.5 hours last night working on adoption grant and loan applications, and we're not even halfway through our stack! It felt good to get some of that done, though. Camden thoroughly enjoyed bike day at school yesterday! His teacher told us he's quite the competitor. Well, we knew that - even at 3 he is sooooo competitive! Right now he just has a tricycle, but I think we may try to get him a bike with training wheels for his birthday in July. Of course, we also wanted to get him a swing set, so we'll have to see which he'll use the most. Here are two pages I completed yesterday. I especially love the first one - lots of color!

I've been trying to make a concerted effort to be healthier. My plan was to implement something new every week. The last 3 weeks I've actually worked out 3 times/week. Last week instead of having my Diet Mountain Dew in the afternoon, I substituted a bottle of water with Crystal Lite. This week my plan was to drop my Starbucks frappucino, but I caved. My throat is sore; I was tired; it's Monday morning - need I say more. Camden is usually SUCH a daddy's boy, but yesterday he wanted me to put him to bed and came straight to me (completely bypassing his daddy) when he got up from his nap. He kept saying, "you're such a nice mommy." Maybe it was all those cookies I let him eat after we baked them Saturday!

The weekend has flown by! I spent the day Friday getting a pedicure, grocery shopping, and working around the house (4 loads of laundry takes a bit of time!). Friday night we headed out shopping for the house. We finally picked up curtains and accessories for our bedroom as well as organizers for Camden's room. I feel much better to have that taken care of! Saturday Brian had to take the second half of the state education test, so he was gone for about 12 hours! Camden and I worked together, made cookies, played, etc. I haven't felt well at all today - even stayed home from church. Hopefully I'm not getting sick again. That's happened way too many times this year! Here is a picture of his new fashion accessory, as well as a picture from this afternoon. We bought him a bike helmet for "bike day" at school this week, and he does not want to take it off! Also bought a little pool for the backyard, but he has serious water issues ever since the little hot tub inci

I'm in a slump today; a bad mood is just hovering around me despite my attempts to shake it off. Sometimes life just gets in the way and things don't go as planned. It's silly, I know, but there are several things going on that are annoying and one major disappointment this week. This boy, however, is not in a slump. Look at that face - he thinks wearing these glasses and the hat Grandpa and Grandma bought him makes him so cool. He's adorable, if I do say so myself! Enjoy the weekend!

Not me, my flowers from Brian. At the table last night while we're eating supper, Camden noticed that a few of the flowers were dying. He said, "Mommy, your flowers are dying. They drank all their drink and now they're dying. It's just their time to go." It was hilarious! He got that little "it's their time to go" phrase from my mom after we watched Charlotte's Web, and when he asked why Charlotte died, my mom (probably caught a little off guard) said, "it was just her time to go." Words of wisdom he's remembered and used many times - usually referring to bugs or flowers! Another funny Camden story - last night while finishing up supper and getting ready for church, Camden was following me around asking a dozen different questions as usual. Finally, needing a little break, I headed to the bathroom and closed the door to fix my hair. Well, he sits outside the door of course and continued with the questions (seriously, he never stops!

It has been an embarrassingly long time since I bought a new purse (I am a girl, right?). Seriously, probably over a year. Not that I've been carrying the same bag, but still! Anyway, I finally used my birthday gift card (from all the way back in November) and picked up this cute Vera Bradley hobo bag. We went for a walk before supper last night. Camden was so funny telling us all about his day. His new best friend at his new school is Anne-Katherine (it's quite funny to hear him say that over and over cause he gets stuck sometimes!). What's unique is that Anne-Katherine is adopted from China, and Camden's best friend at his other school was Ashley, also adopted from China. They're the only Asian children in the entire school. Today is swim day, so I'm sure he'll come home with lots of new stories. Brian's grandpa is having open heart surgery today. His heart was almost completely blocked, and it's a miracle he was even alive and doing fairly well.

I'm doing a little blogging here on my lunch hour, so I've got to type fast! Our weekend was good. We went to the baseball game Thursday night, and as expected, Camden had a blast. This kid seriously likes baseball! He sat next to me and asked question after question after question after. . . well, you get the point! Friday, I sent him to school and Brian and I headed out to do some shopping for the Kids Carnival on Saturday as well as some grocery shopping for us. Brian and Camden spent the evening doing fun things like putting up a dunking tank, filling water balloons, setting up a pitching game, etc. I scrapped! :) Saturday was the big carnival, and it was a great hit. We had lots of families and kids attend. Camden had a blast. He had three (!) cans of pop, which seriously put him on a sugar high. It was alot of fun, but a very long day for Brian! Sunday was pretty normal - church, then a lazy afternoon. Well, lazy for me anyway! Brian headed off to take some teens to camp