Life as a Lewis

The only way I know how to describe our "gotcha" day is gut-wrenching. Obviously, we were thrilled to have Rory as our daughter, but the dread we felt for the moment we had to leave Rory's foster mother almost overwhelmed the day. It was so hard, and what I remember most about this day is how sad Rory was and how completely aware she was that something was happening to her (and she thought it was not good). You see in the video that she is biting her finger on our walk back to the room, she was biting so hard that she left deep marks in her finger. At the end of the video, you see her little face start to crumble. She just cried and cried. She also slept ALOT while we were in Korea and on our way home, and I really think it was her way of coping. When she would wake up, she would peek out to see if we were still there and then shut her eyes tight. That first night and then the next day, she clung to me desperately except for the times she would climb off my lap, go get he

One year ago today we met Rory. It was such an amazing day and one that feels just like yesterday. You can read everything I wrote about it (and see pictures) here . The two things that stand out to me the most are hearing her giggle for the first time and then the one time that I held her during that visit was to carry her down the steps at the apartment. Our taxi arrived, and I turned toward Mrs. Park and Rory launched herself into Mrs. Park's arms with just pure joy and hugged her. I think that's when it really hit me how hard this was going to be for both of them. Brian and I were both so calm during the experience - we didn't cry at all. The tears hit hard the rest of the day, though. Here is our meeting Rory video - she was 17 months old. And here she is one year later at 2 years, 5 months. I CANNOT believe how big she is these days. She looks like a little girl instead of a baby. I'm keeping her little and on my lap as long as she'll let me. Thank goodness t

I feel like I haven't blogged much this week; every day I think of things or the kids do something funny, but when the morning rolls around, I've got nothing! We've had a normal week - ran some errands (how do people manage with more than 2 kids? I feel like shooting myself by the time I get back); did another all-day laundry marathon; played with Emma, Mason and their mommies yesterday (there's progress, by the way - Emma sat on my lap and ate her cereal while Rory sat on Mayme's lap and ate cereal and there was no screaming from either side!). Today we're home all day (except for the coffee run I already made this morning). I was planning to take the kids over to the church parking lot and let Camden ride his bike (still with training wheels - isn't it time for those puppies to come off?) and Rory to ride her tricycle (yes, she's only 2 and can ride the tricycle; I think Camden was like 4 before he managed - they are SO different!). It's rainy this

One year ago today we left for Korea! It was such a BIG trip to prepare for and to experience. Nothing can really prepare you for that 14 hour flight, though - pure torture! Here's a video Brian put together last year on our last night home. It's worth watching, just for the little Camden clip in the middle (I can't believe how much younger he looks there!). Dani Mogstad/Manda Bean: Don't Rain on My Parade Dani Mogstad/Manda Bean: Don't Rain on My Parade

Rory and her Build-a-Bear bunny (a.k.a. "mommy") This is how Jessica spent the week. One of the very few times Rory and Miley existed in harmony (Rory is now calling Jessica's mom "grandma") How Logan and Camden spent most of their week Let's try a group shot -I think we still need some work Oh, there are some smiles I think they're finished with photography 101 Camden and Rory had a good day yesterday - much better than I was expecting, which is always a nice surprise! I spent the day working on consignment sale clothes and will take them to the sale today. I can't wait to get them all out of my house! Short and boring sweet today. Have a good Tuesday!

We were able to go shopping with two cousins, my sister-in-law and her mother on Friday and had a great time! I found some good deals for Rory's summer wardrobe. My sister-in-law's mother treated the three cousins to their first Build-a-Bear experience, and they were so cute! They all had very specific ideas of what they wanted, and Rory promptly named her bunny "mommy." Rory (and mommy) survived her first sleep-over this weekend. She and Camden stayed with Michael and Liz Saturday afternoon and night while Brian and I were able to have date night. We headed to Opry Mills and ate dinner at the Macaroni Grill, saw Confessions of a Shopaholic, and did a bit of shopping. Rory didn't do quite as well as I hoped, but she is fine. I think they wore Michael and Liz out! I have a feeling the kids are going to be coming off a cousin high this week and it could possibly be a rough ride! We'll see - maybe they'll both surprise me and settle back into a regular routin

This post by Fiddledeedee made me laugh uncontrollably so I made Brian read it. He laughed pretty hard too, so you know it's good. Come on, you know you need a good laugh!

We spent the day yesterday with the family and had a good time. My day was pretty packed: I was up at 5:30 to go get coffee from the local coffeeshop; back to get myself ready and the kids up, bathed, and dressed; headed to the bank and post office, then to Gram and Gramp's house; back home for lunch and naptime; took advantage of naptime to sweep, mop, dust, make brownies; woke the kids up from naptime to meet the family at the Chinese restaurant; brought everyone home to our house for dessert and snacks and then made it to bed at 10:00, which is very early for me, but I was exhausted! Camden had a sleepover with his cousin Logan last night. I cannot even describe to you how well these two play together. Seriously, we never know they're around (well except for all the fun Star Wars fighting noises). They disappear together and there is never a cross word - just pure fun. Last night when Brian got home Camden informed him that there was no need to play games with him because Lo

Not much time for blogging this morning so I'll just leave you with a story. Camden has eczema and is scratching ALL the time. I turned around last night to see him with a bare butt rubbing against the wall. When I asked him what he was doing (trying to keep the irritation out of my voice), he replied very calmly that he was just scratching. I told him in the future, it might be better to not use the wall to scratch his butt. Not something I ever imagined saying before becoming a mother. Here are a few pictures from Tuesday. The big kids Don't let them fool you - they don't love each other this much all the time! The ONLY smile I got out of them! Yes, we made them hold hands. :) Are you tired of seeing her in this outfit yet? Oscraps February collab kit

I'm getting lots of email requests about this so I've decided to do a blog post so I can just refer back to it instead of re-typing it every single time! In order to begin digital scrapbooking, you will first need a computer, lots of hard drive space, computer software, digital pictures, and digital kits. Scrapping on the computer is essentially the same as paper scrapping except you are moving pictures, flowers, papers around on the computer and then printing the final version as opposed to using glue or tape on a real piece of paper. There's no mess, you can hit the "undo" button as many times as you need to, and you can make as many changes as you want without ruining a picture with a pair of scissors. First, the software. I think most people use Photoshop Elements. The current version is 7.0 and you can purchase it here . I think you could also browse eBay for older versions if you'd like. You can download a free, 30-day trial of Photoshop Elements on the

Here is a link to some of Camden's spring/summer items from last year. Almost everything is Baby Gap and Gymboree size 4. Shipping will be $4 for the first 3 items, then $6 for more than 3 items. You can email me at camdensmommy @ gmail dot com if you're interested. Thanks for looking! click here

This week is flying by! Camden and Rory had lots of fun at Gram and Gramp's house yesterday playing with the cousins. Well, Camden did anyway. Rory and her almost 2-year old cousin don't really play, just co-exist. Camden stayed all afternoon while I took Rory home for a nap (and a quiet afternoon for me). Here are a few random thoughts (most of them not about the kids for once): I've got everything that didn't sell from Rory's closet up on eBay and the auctions end this morning. If you're interested, click here . I read this devotion last night and thought it was excellent. I happened to catch Kurt Warner on Ellen the other day, and he is one classy guy. You can see the video here . We all watched American Idol last night (you should see Rory imitate the singers), and Danny Gokey was really good - the only one I liked. Camden's cousin has been teaching him about (collecting) fossils, which means I now have some rather large rocks in my house. Rory puts a &

We spent a couple of hours yesterday with Brian's brother, sister-in-law, their kids, and his parents and had a great time. Camden's cousin, Logan, is 2 years older than Camden, but they always immediately hit it off and play together so well. We only see them every 12-15 months, but they're always able to just pick up as if it were just yesterday. It is so sweet, and they play HARD! After they left, we let Rory take a short nap, woke up her up, grocery shopped, came home, ate supper, and sent the kids to bed! I helped Brian with standardized tests last night - so repetitive! With everything teachers have to do, it's kind of crazy that they have to hand-write the student's names, class info, etc. on EVERY, SINGLE PAGE for EVERY SINGLE CLASS for EVERY SINGLE STUDENT! Hours of work! I'm taking the kids over to play with the cousins again this morning, then we'll come home for naptime and I'll work on the laundry. It worked out pretty well last week to do i

It was a fabulous weekend at the Lewis household. We had a fun family Friday night; Saturday Brian kept the kids (see more on this later) while I had a facial, which was wonderful! Saturday afternoon we celebrated Emma's birthday party and got to visit with other adoptive parents. After we got home and got the kids in bed, we ordered take-out and enjoyed a quiet evening. Brian made this video for me for Valentine's Day. He worked hard the 3 hours I was gone Saturday morning! Here are a few pictures from Emma's party. I left my Nikon at home and our little Canon just can't shoot quick enough to catch 5 kids looking in one direction at once! I was taking pictures for Mayme during cake time so I didn't get any on my own camera. The kids had a BLAST playing together! Rory, Ella, Camden Emma, Emmi Ella, Emma, Rory As we approach our one-year of having Rory in our life, I've been reading through my posts from this time last year. It was a year ago yesterday that we go

Rory says Happy Valentine's Day She is rotten! (and look how long her hair is getting) So excited to show the camera me her craft from MOPS Daddy's turn to see

Things I've heard this week: That's cool - from Rory. Kill is such a sad word - from Camden. Too bad, too bad - from Rory (as she holds a toy just out of reach from Camden). Watch this cool trick, mommy - from Rory. While praying, "and help mommy to remember that she should always be patient with us" - from Camden. "When we're fighting the bad guys in Iraq, do the bad guys think they're really the good guys?" - a pretty deep thought from Camden. No, mommy do it (x 100) - from Rory. Things I've seen this week: Camden laying on the sidewalk spitting in the dirt pile off the side of the sidewalk. Rory flouncing (there's no better word for it) off when she doesn't get her way. Camden having a blast outside on Wednesday playing Starwars in the craziest wind I've ever experienced. Camden running around the bases at the baseball field over and over and over. Rory singing along with American Idol on Tuesday night - Brian swears she's goin

Tuesday was a very busy day. Who knew getting all the laundry done in one day (including stripping beds) would take ALL day! Wednesday was good. Mayme and Emma came over for a bit in the morning and Rory and Emma (kinda) played together. One of these days they're really going to love each other. For now, there's a bit of 2-year old rivalry going on. :) Today I'm dropping off 3 boxes of clothes off at the consignment store and running to the post office. Tonight Rory and I are headed to MOPS, and I'm very excited about that. I went for the first time in November then there was bad weather in December and I had the wrong date for January so it's been a couple of months! Camden and Brian are staying home to eat popcorn and watch the Survivor premiere. These two scrap pages are two of my all-time favorites. First, 'cause the pictures are so darn cute. Second, because I've had a thing for ladybugs for years. In fact, I was sure that when we had a daughter would

Credits here Credits here

I try not to get too bothered by some of the strange and offensive comments you hear regarding adoption, internationally adopted children, etc. However, a friend linked me up this Etsy listing , and I am shocked and more than a little offended. Here is the description of the shirt, " Color Blind seem to be all the rage in Hollywood these days. I mean, international babies are sooo 'the new dog' (which was 'the new purse' in a not so distant past). Are Madonna and Jolie ready for the commitment? Ah who knows. Love is love right? You,my friend don't have to find a foreign baby to show your color blind spirit, nope, you show your spirit with this fancy pants shirt. The sleeves have been sewn into a capped style. " Are you kidding me? I sent her a flaming email asking her to reword or delete the description, and if you'd like to do the same, click on the listing; on the right you'll see a place to contact the seller. Funny Rory story - the kids general

I'm not complaining because it's really nice outside, but it feels a bit strange to have 73 degree weather in February; especially since it was in the single digits a couple of days ago! The weather this weekend was really nice, and I think we're supposed to have warm weather all week although I'm sure rain will kick in soon. The kids enjoyed being outside, and Camden has resumed his favorite outdoor activity of playing with sticks and nuts. You'd think he has no toys! We ran a couple of errands Saturday and took the kids to their favorite place - McDonald's Playland. Camden is quickly growing out of all his clothes so we stopped at Old Navy to pick up a few things - he is already in size 6! For the first time, he showed some preference as to what he wears so I let him pick out the shorts and shirts. Brian had a really busy weekend. His fellow teacher and friend's mother passed away so he took care of her lesson plans and grading papers, as well as attended

My favorite. . . . . . . but you needed to see the boots too.

I think I linked up to a post written by this family several weeks ago. Their 3-year old daughter Abby (adopted from Guatemala) is undergoing treatments for leukemia and is very ill. Please pray for Abby and also take a moment to read some of their blog . Their faith and trust in God is so encouraging, and it humbles me to read how strong they are in the face of such adversity when I am so weak in just normal, every day occurrences.

First, let me say thanks for all the emails about the clothes. I've sold about 75% - Rory's new wardrobe thanks you. :) Apparently spring is on the way (in February). Our temperatures for the next 7 days are supposed to be in the 60's. Camden will be quite excited to be able to get outside and play for a while. During the cold days when he would get too energetic, I'd bundle him up and send him out to run around the house a couple of times. He'll be happy to just get to play! Rory has developed a new habit this week, and it was cute the first time or two and now it's getting out of hand! When you tell her no for something (like no parade candy at breakfast!), she says "pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase, pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase" and on and on. I don't give in to her, but how do I make her stop? I don't remember Camden going through this begging phase. Side note: I told my sister yesterday that I feel like I didn't become a real parent until Rory came along. Fo

Thanks to a few pre-sales, my inventory is reduced almost by half (thank you, ladies!), but there's still lots of good stuff. If you haven't used photobucket before, click on each picture, and there is an item number, description, and price underneath the photo. You can email me at camdensmommy @ gmail dot com if you want to purchase anything. Make sure to send the item number(s). Shipping is $3 for the first 3 items and $5 for more than 3 items. Thanks a bunch! Password is closet Dresses Jackets Outfits Shoes

I'm officially a grown-up - I now need coffee to function in the morning. I've always just been a social drinker, but after several weeks of coffee with family at Christmas and my string of sleepless nights, I've just given in to the fact that I need coffee to function in the mornings. So far, a small half cup gets me through. I'm determined not to become one of those people that needs multiple cups throughout the day. We'll see! Rory's cold is still lingering, although I do think we're on the home stretch. I am so grateful that both kids have been so healthy this year. Rory's had a few colds and I think one ear infection in the past year, and I think that's pretty good! Credits here Credits here

I took a little trip into Nashville last night partially because I had library books due, but mostly because I was dying to get out of the house! We've been house-bound for what feels like weeks, and since Rory was running a fever I thought that I might not get another chance in the next couple of days. I was only gone about 2.5 hours, but it was SO nice to get away for a bit! I bought Rory this cute sundress at Gymboree. And this cute swimming suit at Gap. Do other mothers like to dress their girls like I do? I loved dressing up Camden too (when he was younger), but there is something seriously cute about girl's clothes. Rory is pretty good about letting me try things on her, but as soon as she's got the outfit on, she goes straight into this crazy wrestler/muscle pose Camden taught her and says "nakey, nakey." Every single time. And we laugh every single time. I also made a Starbucks run last night, which probably isn't the smartest thing when I already ha