Life as a Lewis

No immigration papers today, although it was a pretty fun mail day. A beautiful Asian baby doll I ordered arrived as well as two outfits I'd ordered for Rory. I did email our immigration office, and they said they would check into our paperwork because it should have arrived by now. I'm beginning to think it might have been more restful to go to work today! Camden is feeling quite rambunctious after being cooped up in the house for several days. He is alternating between being a soldier, baseball player, police officer (complete with handcuffs and a walkie talkie), singing with his American Idol microphone (thanks again, mom), and being a firefighter. And he's walking around with a long beaded necklace on that I have no idea where it came from. It's pretty noisy around our house today.

Well, it's only 7:06, but it's been quite a morning already. I realized about halfway through the day yesterday that I wasn't feeling well and thought I was probably catching what Camden and Brian had. I woke up this morning feeling awful and argued with myself the entire time I showered, got ready, etc. If I wouldn't have been home with Camden for the past two days, I definitely would have stayed home. To complicate matters even more Brian and Camden both are having snow days today because of the freezing rain. Yes, freezing rain. Our roads looked like a sheet of ice. So, I finally decided I better just suck it up and head off to work. I left about 6:30. After taking 10 minutes to drive about 2 miles and sliding all over the road, I turned around and came home, got into my sweats, put my hair in a pony tail, and I plan to stay on the couch all day long. I hate that I've missed 3 days of work, but they've sent work for me here at home, I check my email and voice

Camden is still not feeling well so I'm home again. He has a nasty, constant cough and stuffy nose so we decided to keep him home one more day. Fortunately for us, Camden is always a very good patient. His very sweet side comes out, and he's pretty snuggly. I think I may be coming down with the same thing, but maybe two quiet days at home with Camden will help me out as well.

No luck today. Maybe tomorrow! (wonder how long I can keep saying that)

Well, my new Tuesday routine is to stay home with a sick kid! Last week Camden woke up with a stomach bug, and today he woke up with a nasty cough and a fever. Since Brian was really sick all weekend, I'm not surprised that Camden caught it, but I was hoping we'd all escape! This has been a very easy winter for us, though. In fact, this is the first year that Camden hasn't had pneumonia at least once so we feel lucky. There's not much else going on here. I did not scrap last night so there are no pictures or pages to share. At least by being home, I can check the mail early for our I600. I really thought that it would arrive yesterday, but no such luck!

It wasn't as hard as it usually is on Monday mornings to get moving this morning. I think I'm feeling like I'm on the home stretch. I'm trying to not focus so much on how much I want Rory home, but focus on enjoying the last weeks at work and the last weeks as a family of three. I'm trying anyway - we'll see how long it works. Brian is still not feeling well at all. He has an awful cold. He even stayed home from church last night, and I'm pretty sure that's the first time he's ever "called in sick" for that! Camden threw a HORRIFIC two-hour (yes, seriously two hours) temper tantrum last night. Thank goodness he has outgrown that stage for the most part, because it was horrible. He can be so stubborn, but one of these days he'll learn that Mommy and Daddy are just as stubborn as he is and will always win. This week is a pretty normal week for us. Brian has a faculty meeting after school today, but other than that, we're home every ni

Rory is 16 months old today. We are hoping and praying that we'll be with her when she turns 17 months old. And just in case you've forgotten how sweet she is, here's my favorite picture. We're still really hoping we get an update and new pictures this week.

Little Andrew made his entrance into the world at 12:25 p.m. yesterday. He weighed 7 lbs, 9 oz. and is 20 inches long. He is just beautiful! He is about 20 minutes old in these pictures. It was a precious experience to share with Kathy and her husband and mother, and I am so happy that I was able to do it. We're keeping it pretty low key today. Brian is coughing up a lung every few seconds, and I've been battling the stomach flu since early Friday morning so hopefully a little rest will make us all feel better.

I'm posting tonight instead of tomorrow morning because tomorrow will not be a typical Friday for me. My average Friday involves "sleeping in" until Camden gets up at 6:00 and then helping Brian and Camden out the door; grocery shopping; laundry, etc. But tomorrow, my Friday will involve witnessing my friend give birth to her son. And in order to do that, I'm leaving my house at 6:00 a.m. and that's way too early for me to try to blog. I was so excited when Kathy asked me if I wanted to be with her for Andrew's birth, but to be honest what I am feeling now is anxiety. I'm pretty sure that 13 years ago when Kathy and I met as college roommates we never imagined several things about our current situation: (1) that we would be working together, much less working together at the college we were attending; (2) that I would attend the birth of her third child! I am really looking forward to Andrew's birth, but there is a small part of me that is also dread

I received an email late yesterday afternoon from the immigration office stating that our I600 was approved and in the mail, so we are almost there. I can't wait to actually have that paperwork in our hands! Now it's time to start obsessing over a million things. I thought I was just about ready, but now that we're hopefully 4 weeks away from traveling, I am feeling very unprepared! There are so many details to think about, from bibs and socks to booster seats and strollers. Camden's behavior has been really off all week. For instance last night he got home from school about 4:00, threw a big hissy fit over something little, then fell asleep on the couch. We tried and tried to wake him up several times for supper, and finally succeeded about 6:30. He continued to throw fits until church time (was still crying when we walked over to church), but then perked up after he went to class with Gram. He did wake up in a happy (but very hyper) mood this morning. I had a very bus

I do not have much to post about today. Camden is fine. He definitely had a few stomach issues going on in the morning, but by afternoon he was back to normal. Our I600 did not come in the mail yesterday. I pretty much met the mailman at the mailbox to check! It actually made things a little easier to know by 9:00 that it wasn't there for the day instead of sitting at work all day wondering if it's sitting there in the mailbox. Here's hoping for today! Steven Curtis Chapman's organization Shaohannah's Hope emailed us over the weekend asking us if we would be willing to volunteer at one of his concerts on March 14. That would be so amazing, but we don't know when Rory will be home, and even if she is home by then, I'm just not sure that a concert would be the best place to take her in the first few weeks! I told them that I hoped they would keep us on the list and ask again, though.

This has not been a good morning! Camden doesn't seem to be feeling well and has been throwing HORRIBLE fits all morning starting at 4:55 a.m. Bad enough that Brian made the executive decision to keep him home from school today even though I'm not quite sure there's anything wrong with him other than he REALLY got up on the wrong side of the bed. So while I'm glad to not be heading out in the cold and rain this morning, I'm frustrated with Camden. We sent him back to bed, and he's snoozing away so it's quiet for a while anyway. Hopefully he'll wake up in a better mood. Oh, and by the way, staying at home is not a treat for him - he loves school so he's going to be disappointed when he wakes up finds out he's home all day today. I've decided to look at today as reason number 647 it's better to be a stay-at-home mom: you don't have to make decisions about whether or not your child is sick enough to warrant you missing work. I'm sur

Brian and Camden have the day off school, so they're staying home snuggled up in front of the TV while I head out in the cold to work. I don't mind too much today because in the near future I'll be staying home every day! I think Brian was ready for a break. His class has been difficult since returning from Christmas break, and a new student transferred in last week, and he has been very challenging. A few tidbits from Camden during his stay with Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz this weekend. (1) When asked what kind of cars mommy and daddy drive: A Gran Dam (emphasis on the second word) and a Lifesaver (Brian drives a LeSabre). (2) "I got into a fight with the stool, and it beat me up." (after he fell off the bathroom stool trying to wash his hands) DWTS was quite entertaining. They were running low on stars - only 3 out of the 7 in the program were there. Monique Coleman from season 3; Wayne Newton (who sort of MC'd the event and did not dance; and Helio Castrono

It's going to be a good day. I can tell that already since I'm still in my p.j.'s drinking hot chocolate in front of the computer. Camden's Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz have been asking to take Camden for the day and let him spend the night so they picked him up at 9:00 this morning and he's staying with them until church tomorrow. I plan to spend most of the day right where I am. Tonight we're eating dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (using a Christmas gift card) and then going to see Dancing With the Stars Live Tour.I am so excited! My friend Kathy decided she didn't want to go into labor in the middle of that so she gave me both tickets and so Brian is my date tonight. Camden thoroughly enjoyed the Veggie Tales Pirates Who Don't Do Anything movie. Brian and I were less than impressed, but I guess it wasn't about us! It didn't seem nearly as entertaining as their DVD movies and certainly not as entertaining as other full-length feature cartoons. B

We've been working with Camden trying to get him to be a little less whiny and to sleep through the night, so he has a sticker chart on the refrigerator. He's been begging to see the new Veggie Tales movie for WEEKS, so we told him as soon as he filled up 2 rows of stickers, then we would go see it. That was actually good motivation for him because he hasn't woke us up the last 5 nights so tonight is Veggie Tales night. I'm picking him up from school and taking him for a haircut, and then we're headed to the movies as soon as Brian gets home. Other than that, it's a regular domestic Friday for me - laundry, grocery shopping, etc.

So, my big news is DWTS. Otherwise known as Dancing With the Stars – the Live Tour! My very pregnant friend Kathy managed to snag free tickets to the show on Saturday night and asked me if I would go with her. Of course I said yes since this is one of my very favorite shows to watch. It’s so fun and entertaining, but not something we would ever spend money on to see live. I should mention that Kathy has been having contractions for days now so who knows if she’ll make it there or not. With our luck, her water will break right in the middle of it! Another piece of good news is that Kathy has asked me to be in the delivery room with her when baby Andrew is born, and I am so excited about that. So I'm attached at the hip to my cell phone, and my camera is now riding along with me everywhere I go so that I'll be prepared when they call! My newest update in the roller coaster ride of adoption is that the immigration office is in the final stages of reviewing our paperwork and it s

We had a bit of excitement last night, but not a good excitement. One of Brian's boys in his youth group cut off a couple of his fingers using a table saw last night, so Brian had a late-night run to the hospital and neither of us slept well after that. When I did sleep, I dreamed of fingers and hair bows (sounds like a great mix, doesn't it). I don't really have time to blog this morning. Somehow I thought that I could add making a batch of Spinach Parmesan dip I need for a shower tonight into my schedule this morning, and I'd still have plenty of time to get ready, but that was a bit ambitious so I'm running late. Camden just woke up and is C.R.A.N.K.Y. so I think I'll just cut the blog post short. But stay tuned for exciting news tomorrow!

I feel like our weekend was very productive. We were able to get the nursery put together, curtains hung, closets partially cleaned out, clothes put away, etc. That was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. We still need to completely clean out the closets in the nursery so that we'll be able to store Rory's toys and clothes, but we made alot of progress, and it's really starting to feel like there's going to be a baby living in our house! I washed and dried 4 loads of laundry Saturday, but they never made it out of the laundry room so that's my project for tonight - folding and putting away all those clothes. Saturday night Brian was participating in a fundraiser for the college and was on a bowling team so we all tagged along with him. There was a lane for the kids to bowl, and Camden had a blast. He bowled for about an hour and then we spent the second hour watching Brian and his team bowl. Camden was the coach. He was so funny because every person who would come

Camden's new obsession - toe fuzz. He has to check for it every time his socks come off, before bath time, before bed, etc. As you can imagine, it gets a little tiresome to wait for him to go through all the crevices over and over again. So, tonight, before bedtime, here's how the conversation went. Me: (becoming frustrated) "Camden, hurry up. There's no more toe fuzz." Camden: (now he's becoming frustrated) "But I have to get it. If I don't get it, where is it going to go?" Me: "I'm not sure. Where do you think it might go?" Camden: "I think God just takes care of it for me."

This has been a long week! Camden has been cranky since going back to school. Brian's been exhausted. I haven't been sleeping. No word or news on Rory or our immigration paperwork. In some ways it feels as if time is standing still, but I know that isn't true. Today marks 5 weeks waiting for immigration. If the 10 week time frame is true, then we're half way through. I'm trying to look at that as a positive thing. I woke up this morning at 9:04! Can you believe that? I seriously think it might have been college since I slept that late. Of course I was up until 2:00. With the exception of Tuesday night, the last 5 nights have been rough. I just cannot sleep. Maybe this week will be better. I went to Old Navy this morning and had a blast shopping. Their annual fall/winter sale started today - extra 50% off all clearance, and I bought a ton of things. The most I spent for anything was $8 for a winter coat for Camden for next year. I bought him jeans for $3.49. The most

W e had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Paul Park speak last night. Dr. Park is a Korean man who moved to the U.S. with his family in the 1970's to be missionaries to the Korean-American's in the Los Angeles area. It was very interesting to hear him speak of his experiences here and in Korea. He gave us some facts about Korea that we had not heard before. For instance, the first Christian missionary went to Korea in 1884, and as a result of those missionaries, Korea has become a very Christian nation. Our of the 50 larges churches in the world, 30 of them are in Korea. Korea has sent out 40,000 missionaries to other parts of the world. I was impressed. I know that Camden is pretty oblivious to this right now, but I hope that one day he will feel a strong sense of pride in having Korea as his birth country. I will admit to being emotional last night, especially when he sang a hymn in Korean. Of course, I'm more emotional in general these days! Poor Camden is having difficulty

Just a quick post today! Camden's K-4 teacher is clearly hitting the manners class hard as they returned to school this week because Camden has been constantly reminding us to mind our own manners. Last night he asked if he could put my plate away and throw away my napkin, and I told him yes (of course he can work!! LOL). As he was taking it, he said, "Aren't you forgetting to tell me something? Aren't you forgetting your manners?" Brian and I watched The Biggest Loser last night. We've never watched it before, and I can't decide if it's inspiring or depressing. The fact that these people could spend 8 hours a day exercising with trained professionals and nutritionists and only lose 1-2 pounds doesn't bode well for us!

Getting back into a routine is hard! I think that we're all exhausted after only one day! Brian was snoozing away on the couch by 8:15 last night, and Camden was a bit cranky and asked to go to bed early. I, on the other hand, seem to have more sleep issues than ever! And if I was having trouble getting my mind to slow down so that I could sleep a couple of months ago, it's much worse now. I'm making lists in my head of things we need to remember to take to Korea, things I still need to buy for Rory, things I need to make sure I remember to pass on to whoever takes my place at work, gifts we need to buy while we're in Korea. The list could go on and on. Last night I was still wide awake at 12:30, and 5:00 came way too early this morning! I spent almost an hour on the phone with my friend Kim last night who is waiting for their daughter Emma to come home. They have been waiting for over 6 months and have had a paperwork nightmare. I'm so frustrated for them (and terr

This week marks a new start for me. Maybe someone out there in blogland can keep me accountable. Starting with last evening, there are two things that must be done before my head hits the pillow: (1) the kitchen and living room completely ready for a new day, and (2) my devotions finished. These seem to be the two things that are easiest for me to put off for some reason, so I am committing to making sure those two things are done. I’m also starting a sugar-free week. That means absolutely no sugar. Well, except for fruit since my husband reminded me that fruit does have natural sugar. I’m feeling pretty strong, but hey, it’s only Monday morning. Camden spent a couple of hours with his Gram and Gramps on Friday so Brian and I ran some errands, got the car mirror fixed and went to see I Am Legend. It was in a word: SCARY. We both really enjoyed it, though. And since it’s scary in an unrealistic, alien kind of way, I’m okay with it. I’m not okay with anything scary that is realistic.

Just a quick post today. Believe me, you'll be bored by the time I finish even the first paragraph - that's how exciting life is today. The guy didn't fix our driver-side mirror yesterday so we're heading out to meet him in a few minutes. Hopefully, he'll really be able to fix it this time. We're hoping that it doesn't mess up our plans for a movie because Camden is spending the day at Gram's. Then we need to grocery shop, pick up a birthday present for the birthday party Camden is attending tonight, go to Gram and Gramp's house for supper, then off to the party. Sound exciting? I'm feeling fairly discouraged today because late yesterday afternoon we got an email from our caseworker saying we should expect our I600 to take the full 10 weeks to process instead of the faster time we were hoping for. If it really takes 10 weeks, then we're looking at at least another 10 weeks before we travel, which puts us into mid-to-late March. I am so frustr

It is eleven degrees outside! Believe me, for Tennessee this is rare and quite frigid. So frigid, in fact, that our pipes froze on one side of the house! Thank goodness that most of our pipes are under the house in the basement and they were okay, but the back bathroom (which we use) nothing is working! Of course, by Sunday the temperatures are supposed to be back to 67 so I'm not complaining. Well, I will complain about the fact that I still have to wear a skirt to work in this weather (and yesterday the high was 20). Ridiculous! Remember how I said that the car wash broke off my driver's side mirror? Well, I've been riding around with it duct taped to the car the last several days. Classy. Brian is taking to have it fixed today, though. I don't have any layouts to share, so how about a picture from Christmas of Camden sledding. He had so much fun! We thought he would be scared, but he headed on down the hill over and over laughing the whole way.

I can't believe it's Wednesday already. My days are so messed up because of being off work (which I am NOT complaining about). I ended up only working a half day yesterday. I was here alone and there was absolutely nothing going on so I took another half day of vacation. When I got home, Brian was almost finished with the first coat of paint on the nursery and Camden was still in his pajamas (at 12:30!). Brian worked all day yesterday, but got the nursery trimmed, painted with 2 coats of paint, and the closet doors painted. Now we'll have to put it all together tomorrow. We have the dresser and bedding, of course. I also have a couple of baskets from Pottery Barn that match the bedding, curtains, and I've ordered hand painted wooden letters that spell her name, but they haven't arrived yet. I'm still deciding on what else I need to finish off the room. Here is a picture from the Christmas parade we went to in early December. Camden kept watching for the parade t

It was back to work for me this morning, but since it was New Year's Day, I had the roads to myself. Turns out I also have the office to myself since there's no one else working today (hence, the blog post from work). It's been almost 2 weeks since I've had to use my alarm clock and both times it went off this morning, I rolled over to punch Brian to tell him to turn off his alarm. Only it wasn't his, but mine, and 5:00 a.m. came way too early! Brian came home from the lock-in sick. His voice is almost totally gone. Well, not completely - he sounds like a mix of Alvin the Chipmunk and a girl. It's hilarious, and we've gotten quite a few laughs from it. I do hate that he's sick though. My own throat is sore this morning, and I was hoping it was just sympathy pains for him, but since it's not going away I may be coming down with something. I wanted to share a cute Camden/Uncle Matt story. Uncle Matt was Camden's new favorite relative this trip, wh