Life as a Lewis

Well, my Wednesday did not go exactly as planned. Poor Rory woke up crying and pretty much didn't stop all day. She was running a fever and threw up over and over and was just completely pitiful. I ended up changing my clothes FIVE times, making an impromptu trip to the doctor and doing nothing but cleaning up vomit and laying on the couch with Rory yesterday. I felt so awful for her because she was so miserable. She finally collapsed against my chest and fell asleep about 7:00 last night and then only woke up once in the night so I'm hopeful that she's doing better. Our air conditioning still isn't working, but the repair man is coming this morning (I hope). I'm looking forward to cooler air! We definitely lucked out that yesterday wasn't quite as warm as earlier in the week, but the house still stayed at about 79 degrees all day (and night), which is much too warm for me. No idea what the plan is for today, although I imagine it will include catching up on eve

There's a sweet boy on Camden's baseball team who asks Brian every practice and every game, "so you're Camden's dad?" It's clear that he's noticed that Camden looks a little differently from everyone else, but he doesn't quite know how to process it. Last night we had dugout duty and as I stood in the dugout with this boy waiting to send him "on deck", he looked up at me and said, "so you're Camden's mom?" When I answered yes, he said, "hmmm, he doesn't look like you either. He looks a little bit like a Chinese boy." I told him that Camden was born in Korea, and he said "Oh! So he was born there and then you moved here?" I proceeded to tell him that Camden and Rory were both born in Korea, and when we adopted them, they became a part of our family. He said, "And now you're a happy family?" He was just so curious and interested in my answers, and really very sweet. His parents should

I have a love/hate relationship with the clothes line. (I know, it's a silly thing to even think about.) The frugal part of me (it's not a very big part of me) knows that it saves electricity, saves wear and tear on our washer and dryer, etc. Not to mention Brian really likes the smell. Personally, I hate the smell of outdoors and the number of bugs that I bring inside in the clothes makes me crazy. Every year I resolve to just do the extra work (and it seriously takes forever!) and use the clothes line when possible. And I stick it out for a couple of weeks and then just give up and use the dryer. Considering that it was roasting outside yesterday, I had a wasp land on my shoulder and a huge spider crawl down my arm while folding the clothes, I've decided that yesterday was the one and only time for the clothes line this year. Brian will just have to go back to smelling Gain instead of that outdoor scent. The kids played so well yesterday. While I spent half the day with t

So, where to begin about our weekend? How about the baseball game that Camden and his team WON on Friday night! Every single player got a hit; Camden had 2 doubles and 2 runs; he got a couple of players out at first base. The parents and coaches from the other team, however, were L.O.S.E.R.S. I've never seen adults scream and yell at kids this way in my life! They were really unbelievable. The head coach was almost kicked out of the game (and he probably should have been). Thank goodness that Camden and the other players on our team were completely unaware of how the adults were acting. And I'm so thankful that we don't have any parents on our team who behave that way! Saturday morning we decided to hit the city-wide yard sales. If you know us, then you know that for as much as Brian loves yard sales, I hate them just as much. But I decided to take one for the team and go along with the family. As usual, we were pretty unsuccessful at buying other people's junk although

Emma and Rory like to both be held so sometimes I have an armful during Sunday morning nursery!

We have skipped right over spring and moved to summer. We're supposed to be 87 degrees for the next 3 days! I've got to pull out my own summer clothes today (the kids have been ready for weeks now LOL). Camden has a baseball game tonight, but we have our first free Saturday in what seems like months tomorrow. Still haven't decided what we're going to do with it, although staying in bed all day sounds good to me. I'm pretty sure the kids will not agree with that plan! I'm operating on 4 hours of sleep and Camden and Rory were both up at 6:30 this morning so I'll keep it short and sweet this morning. Two quick Rory things: (1) She asked me why trees are so big yesterday. Seriously. She's 2. How did I manage to get 2 children who NEVER stop asking questions. She's had "why," "how come," "what happened," down for months now and Camden is a question machine. (2) She's learned that telling me she needs to go potty gets he

I made a quick trip to Nashville yesterday to run a few errands, and we had church last night. Other than that, it was a pretty boring day. Today Mayme and Emma, Angel and Mason are coming over and tonight is our Esther study. The kids (okay, Camden) have been begging to wear shorts and since it's supposed to be 80 today, they're both decked out in summer outfits. A few things about the kiddos recently: Rory asks for "The B-i-b-l-e" and "God is So Good" every night at bedtime and has for several months. A new development, however, is the fact that when I sing "The B-i-b-l-e" she sings "God is So Good" and when I switch to "God is So Good" she switches to "The B-i-b-l-e" and just sings over me. Camden surprises me every day with how well he's doing at teaching himself to read, and it's not because I'm a great mother with school every day (cause there's no schoolin' going on here!). I spend alot of ti

As you can tell by my lack of blogging this week, it's been a pretty uneventful couple of days! The kids have been playing really well together - lots of giggles, which is always a good thing. I left the mattress in the family room until last night since they were playing so well with it. Who knew that a blow-up mattress could provide endless entertainment for a 2 and 5 year old. Rory's potty training is going really well! We're on day 11 of no accidents, and she is wearing big girl "unawear" almost exclusively (except at naptime/night time). I think that she might be trained at night in the fairly near future as well because she's always dry after naptime and last night she woke up crying hysterically because she needed to go potty. In order to get Rory's social security card changed into her American name, we had to apply for a passport. We did that about 5 weeks ago and received a letter last week letting us know that we needed to send the final adopti

Dunkin' Donuts has iced coffees for .50 today. All proceeds go to Homes for Our Troops so if you're need of some caffeine, go enjoy it for cheap!

We had a great time with my sister and nephews, and my parents this weekend. I was a horrible aunt/sister/daughter/mother and did not take one single picture with my camera. Becky took a few and hopefully she'll put those up. We're going to be together again in a couple of weeks so we'll make up for it then. My parents left this morning, the kids are currently playing on a blow-up mattress, and I'm catching up on email and laundry. It's cold and rainy outside, and I just may not make it out of my p.j.'s today. Jodie McNally/Karah Fredericks: That's How We Roll Lauren Grier: Credits here

Well, my house is a wreck. Organizing is not a good idea when you've got company coming. Rory's room looks better than it's ever looked, though. It was a bit disconcerting to realize she has about 15 pairs of summer sandals and shoes (did I just admit that?). Good news is that I bought several of them used at a consignment sale and most of them I bought last year during end of the year sales. Oh, and she just outgrew her little Sketchers so that totally makes room for a new pair. (Just kidding) And don't even get me started on the hairbows. I have got to buy one of these . I've admitted defeat and am giving up on the rest of the closets and am hoping just to get Camden's room finished this morning. Our weekend is a busy one. My parents, sister, and twin boys are arriving this afternoon (hopefully sooner rather than later because I am not going to be able to contain Camden and Rory's excitement for much longer). Tonight Camden has a game; tomorrow we're

I'm taking a quick break from organizing the kid's rooms (why, oh why do I wait until we have company coming to tackle it!) to quickly blog. I've already made a trip to Rivergate, Green Hills, fed the kids lunch, done laundry, and have Rory's room pretty much done (after taking about 6 loads of junk valuable items to the basement). Next up is cleaning bathrooms and helping organize Camden's room which will involve alot of arguing that we can't keep every single picture he's ever colored in a pile in his room. The child is seriously going to be a pack rat. I thoroughly intended have a post this week dedicated to how independent Rory has become the last few weeks, but she's been clingy and a mama's girl the last couple of days. I've barely put her down, which has become pretty rare around here. We've heard lots of "up please" and "my sit on your lap for breakfast/lunch/shuppert", etc. We've also had alot of whining. Now

Because my dad is a CFP and owns his own business, tax day has always been a big day in our house! He and my mom can finally breathe a sigh of relief after several months of LONG days. They also always take a trip as soon as the day is over. This year they're headed to our house! In case you need some help spending your refund, here are some fun sales happening this week in the digi-world. Have fun shopping! Shabby Pickle Designs is having a 35% off sale this week. If you're a fan of Kasia Designs, she has an additional 30% off coupon available here that will stack with the 35% sale. After Five Designs is also having a 35% off sale. Kristen Rice is my new favorite designer and if you sign up for her newsletter here , you'll get a 25% off coupon that stacks with the 35% sale. Peppermint Creative is having a 40% off sale all month. I picked up some new templates ! Pencil Lines blog - free templates Girl Talk blog - some freebies Gina Miller: Spring Chick (retired) Lauren

I am completely blaming the Easter candy for the fact that Camden has been HYPER (yes, in all caps) for the past two days. For the fact that he can't stop asking questions like, "what are clouds? where do clouds go at night? how do we get clouds?" For the fact that Rory is Miss Drama and has whined around the house, screamed at Camden, and spent lots of time with her nose in the corner. For the fact that she played in her crib for 2 whole hours last night after I put her in bed. And not just played, but sang and laughed at the top of her lungs mixed in with a bit of yelling at Camden to "come here!" I warned Camden last night that I was putting away the Easter candy for a while, and he wasn't happy, but I've got to survive, right? Brian's 4-day weekend went much too quickly, and he's back at work today. He's still not feeling well, but he's not worse so that's good news. Our weather today is cold and cloudy so we'll be spending it

I am exhausted this morning! Our weekend was jam packed full of activities. Actually, last week was full. The fact that I saw my in-laws 7 out of the last 8 days is only one indication as to how many activities we had. I spent some time shopping (alone!) Friday and because of severe storms and tornado warnings was stranded in a DSW Shoes for an hour. It worked out pretty well for me since I walked out of the store with 2 new pair of shoes I hadn't planned to buy! Friday night we attended the Good Friday service, and it was lovely. I especially enjoyed the worship time (and completely wish we did that at our church!). Of course, since I'm the piano player, it might be my responsibility to work that up, and I'm completely incapable. Saturday we met three other adoptive families at a Korean restaurant, and while I may have almost collapsed from the smell of the cod and tofu stew the person next to me ate and recoiled in horror from the squid tentacles in the seafood onion pan

Random bits and pieces from this week: After studying himself in the mirror several minutes, Camden informed me that his beard is starting to come in. Rory has taken to plugging her ears when I am talking to her; usually when she's in trouble. Can I just say that it would have never crossed Camden's mind to do this. Girls are certainly more devious than boys. Camden and Rory are both bossy and tattletales. I am constantly saying, "Camden/Rory, worry about yourself. I'll worry about Rory/Camden." Last night at supper as I said this for probably the 703rd time, Rory piped up and said, "Daddy worry about you?" Rory is becoming more and more interested in choosing her own clothes. Much to my dismay, she chooses jeans every time. Fortunately, she's not too upset (yet) when I veto them. Camden did a good job last night at the baseball game. I can't believe how much they all seemed to have improved between last weekend and last night. He had two great h