Life as a Lewis

Here are a few pictures of the clothes I bought at the warehouse sale this morning. Things were so cheap! I paid $5 for shirts and skirts, and $7 for dresses, and $10 for the coat.

God must have known I’d rant and rave for days after experiencing life in the Lewis household yesterday if I hadn’t already said in the blog I wouldn’t, so in keeping with my new no complaining rule, I won’t. But, let me just scream say OH. MY. STARS. As I think about what my next paragraph should be, everything I can think of is complaining about yesterday. Oh, boy. Okay, here’s this. Last night at bedtime, we’re all (well, minus Brian) on Camden’s bed doing our regular routine, and I prayed that I would be more patient, not lose my temper so easily, that Camden would speak kind words, etc. When Camden prayed, this is what he said: “Lord, please help mommy to lose her yelling temperatures.” I think the consensus is that the picture of Rory is from her 100 day celebration in Korea , so she is approximately 3.5 months old. This picture is significant for several reasons. I’m happy that Rory will have something from her infant stage. I’ve thought many times how difficult it

The earliest picture we have had to date is when Rory was a little over a year old. Today I got in the mail a canvas, framed picture of her as a baby. I have no idea how old, but she is definitely younger in this picture. It made me cry. It's the first picture we have of her where she seems like a baby and not already a toddler. Sorry for bad quality. I had to take a picture of the canvas, and the canvas is textured so it didn't come out well.

So, not complaining, but you know how I mentioned that Rory is now calling me Mama? Well, she runs around the house yelling it CONSTANTLY in this high pitched squeal.

Camden and Rory yesterday "pretending" they were having a picnic outside with their snacks (it was cold and rainy).

I feel like all I do is complain on the blog, so I'll try to keep it to a minimum, but all the whining and general crankiness is getting to me! How long should I expect it to take before Camden realizes his sister is not going back to Korea and this is his new normal?? This is not related to Rory, but Camden's newest gripe is meal time. He's become more and more used to all the "good" food that he was getting at school. You know, cheetos and oreos for snack time, chips and ice cream for lunch, etc. He was able to choose not to eat his vegetables or meat or bread. Well, every meal time he throws a hissy fit and complains and says, "but I didn't want that" (imagine this in a 4 year old whiny voice). So this morning after I had got up early, made coffee cake for breakfast and he complained yet again (despite the fact he loves coffee cake), I told that him it's too bad that he'd chosen to not eat breakfast and sent him to his room. He wasn't

We put both kids in bed at 7:00 last night, and they slept in this morning. It was great! I've decided we have a new rule in the house. No kiddos allowed up until 6:00. I mean, seriously, it's ridiculous to have them up so early. It's too early for me to function, and it makes them cranky and ready for their naps much too early in the day. Today we're just getting back into the grind of every day life. Rory is Miss Cranky Pants as she adjusts back to home life. Hopefully, she'll settle down a bit. Brian left for a "meeting" this morning (he calls it a meeting; I call it leaving your wife behind to unpack, do laundry, and entertain over-stimulated kids while it's cold and rainy outside!). I got up at 6:00 and by 8:00 had already showered, did a quick pick-up of the house, washed a load of laundry, vacuumed the house, checked email, emptied the dishwasher, fed the kids breakfast (does dry cereal count?) and started to unpack. I just took both kids outsi

Here are a few pictures from the weekend (in case you don't have hours to spend looking at those monster slideshows in the previous post). My pictures are having blog-quality issues again, but you get the gist of it. Now I'm going to go crash on the couch since I just spent the last 3 hours uploading pictures!

I'm going to post a ton of pictures (probably family will be the only ones interested in these since there are LOTS) in several different slideshows. It was the easiest way I could think of to get lots of pictures on here. We had a great time - it was very busy, but good. We spent Sunday afternoon and evening with my grandparents on my dad's side, and also got to see my uncle. Monday morning we left and headed to an indoor picnic (since we had storms and serious rain) at my aunt's house on my mom's side. We had lots of fun. Camden really had a blast. His two second cousins were there, and they played and played hard! Rory did really well with all the people. She was clingy and a little anxious, but not so much that we couldn't enjoy ourselves. Monday night we went to my other set of grandparents with my parents, Micah, Becky, and their boys. I was thinking on my way home today how lucky we are to not only have such great immediate family, but to have such a wonderfu

I forgot to mention one very important thing: Rory is finally calling me Mama. She's been pointing to me for a long time now if someone would ask her where I was, but she is only just now calling me Mama.

We're going out of town for Memorial Day to meet family. This will be our first road trip since Rory's been home. She is still not too fond of the car seat, so I'm hoping it won't be too traumatic (a.k.a. LOUD) for all of us. She usually takes a 2.5-3 hour nap in the afternoon, and the plan is that she'll sleep during the trip, but we'll see. I'm curious as to how she reacts to being out of her own environment and with lots of unknown people. She's such a social butterfly, she'll probably have a blast. I know that Camden will have a great time. My dad is bringing a couple of his horses along, and there are lots of aunts and uncles and cousins to give him plenty of attention. Brian is now home for the summer, which is already helpful. He's been so relaxed the last two days now that his big responsibilities at school are finished. His interview went well on Friday, and they offered him the job right then so he will be at a new school in the fall. I

We've had fairly quiet days around here. Well, not quiet exactly, but uneventful. It's going to be quite an adjustment for Camden to not be in school every day surrounded by his friends. He keeps asking us when he's going back to school. We've spent alot of time outside since our days have been so nice, and they both really enjoy that. I took a late walk with Mayme last night and didn't get home until 8:30. The walk was so good. I needed the exercise and really needed the adult conversation! The result, however, was that I was wide awake until well after 1:00 a.m. I'm such a night owl, although I really try not to stay up too late because, ironically enough, my munchkins are both serious early risers. I did get to sleep until 6:00 this morning, which isn't too bad. Today is Brian's last day of school. He actually finished up yesterday, but he has to pass out report cards this morning, and then he will be officially done. He has an interview at another sc

I'm sure most everyone in the adoption world has heard this news by now, but my heart has been so heavy ever since I heard the news last night that Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, adopted from China, was killed in the driveway of their home. You can read the full story here . It's so hard to imagine this situation and the pain and grief that must come with it. Steven Curtis Chapman's organization Shaohannah's Hope provided a much needed grant to help bring Rory home, and he has done more than any other single person to promote and fund adoptions. I am certainly praying for them today.

We survived the first day home together, but barely! Camden was definitely in a rotten mood and difficult all day. Rory was clingy because she's used to having me to herself. Rory has taken a 3 hour nap every day for the last 3 weeks until yesterday. Yesterday's nap was only a little over an hour. It could be due to the fact that Camden kept calling out from his room (during his "quiet" time), "Is it time yet" "When can I have a snack?" "Is Rory up yet?" I think it's just going to take a little time for everyone to become adjusted to our new schedule. Our meeting with the caseworker went really well. She said Rory is doing very well and for the development checklist, she only had two things on her list that Rory isn't doing, and the list was for a 24-month old. I think I talked her ear off. Hey, it was adult conversation! Today is already off to a better start. The kiddos both slept until 6:30, and woke up in good moods. They'

Heaven help me - it's not even 8:00 on the first morning of having both kids home, and Camden is already complaining that there's no one to play with. I'm not sure I'll survive this. I'm such a slow mover in the morning that I can barely get them breakfast and be civil, much less PLAY! Not sleeping well at night does not help. For some reason, Rory was up several times last night, and this was after it took me over 2 hours to get to sleep.My plan before today was to not let him just randomly watch TV, but to use it as a reward and not a babysitter. Wonder how long I'll hold out. Our new caseworker is coming today for our 3 month post-placement visit. The house is pretty much ready. Now all I have to do is come up with a way to keep the kiddos from trashing it before noon. I spent yesterday morning running errands - six stops in all! Rory was VERY good and put up with all the trips in and out of her carseat. After Brian took Camden to school this morning, he real