Life as a Lewis

This week has been the strangest week. So many odd things have happened. Some really tragic, and others just a series of strange inconvenient events. I could pick up and continue on my previous post with another crazy series of events in my life, but yesterday it was all put in perspective. While I was working yesterday at the college, one of our students collapsed and died. I cannot imagine the grief his parents must be experiencing right now, and I'm so sorry for them. This is the second student in our small school who has passed away this school year and I can't help but wonder what lesson God wants us all to learn from this. All week long I've been reminded of John 16:33 that says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

You ever have one of those days? Weeks? Let me describe my lunch hour and you'll get a good idea of what my whole week has been like. Brian is in town today and we were going to head out to look at some bedroom furniture for Camden. At the last minute, we decided to hit Sam's instead because I've got to pick up a few things for a reception here at work tomorrow. We make it about 2 minutes from school and get stuck in traffic and stuck and stuck some more. Finally make it out of that mess, turn around and decide to head to Qdoba for a quick lunch. Guess what, more traffic. An hour later, we make it back to work. No lunch break, no lunch to eat. Just an hour's worth of traffic.

I've been looking for weeks to find cute new bedding for Camden's room. He's moving into a full-size bed when we move and I want to have his new room set up and ready when he returns from Grandma and Grandpa's house (did I mention he's staying with them for TWO WEEKS when we move!). I finally found this from The Company Store. It's exactly what I've been looking for and it's on clearance. I think he will love it. I had no idea it would be so difficult (and expensive) to find cute, non-cartoonish boy stuff! I 've been working out at night at home and while I work out, Camden plays basketball behind me. Last night, I told him to go ahead and get started while I got the video going and he says, "but I want the lady to say hello to me first." So he waited until Leslie Sansone said hello and then he happily turned to his basketball goal. We finally got some good news on the adoption front yesterday. Looks like our homestudy should FINALLY be r...

I'm just popping in quickly to post a layout from last night. I think the picture I used from the weekend is so sweet!

Our family day Friday was alot of fun! Brian went to work as usual, but Camden and I picked him up about 3:30 and we headed to the local river and dam for a picnic and a few pictures. Camden thought it was neat that he got to pick out his own drink and chips when we grocery shopped earlier in the day and he had a ton of fun playing baseball and running on the small, sandy beach. The weather was absolutely perfect. It was about 85 out, which was pretty warm, but by late afternoon and with the breeze off the river, it was really great out. We headed home after a couple of hours and had Cookies and Cream Coldstone Creamery ice cream cake! all of us Camden and Brian this boy can play baseball! Camden and mommy this smile just melts my heart just messing around with the camera while Camden played And here are a couple of layouts I worked on this weekend. This first layout uses a picture I took of Brian and Camden after his first night at home.

Three years ago today, Brian and I got up very early, flew to Chicago's O'Hare airport where we met our sweet Camden for the very first time and our lives changed forever. I've loaded some pictures below that tell our story from that day. The first peek Our picture with Kim Jung Ho, Camden's escort, who had tears in his eyes as he kissed his head and said goodbye. Look how bright-eyed and cheerful he looks even after a 24 hour trip from Seoul, Korea Camden's first nap with me This is how I found Brian and Camden the first morning home Already a daddy's boy after just a couple of days I've got two layouts to share today. The first is from this past weekend - Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz with Xavier. The second uses a picture of KellieP and our kids from a visit in February.

I don't have much to say today, other than I'm glad the week is half over! I'm always ready for my weekend to roll around. Camden and I watched American Idol last night, but I've decided that I'm going to have to cut him off! If I let him stay up with me, then he's all geared up and it takes him FOREVER to go back to sleep. If we stick with his regular routine of bath, read a book, and then I let him read a book or play with his leap pad on his bed for 30 minutes or so, then he goes right to sleep . Camden is at his Gram and Gramps house today. They've been wanting to have him over for the day for the last month or so. I know he'll have a good time. They're keeping him until church tonight. We'll hardly know what to do with ourselves coming home to an empty house! Here is one layout I finished last night. These are pictures from Brian's cousin's wedding a few weeks ago.

We have somehow attracted a cat to our house. She camps outside our door meowing day and night. Camden calls her "his best friend." He's so funny! He wants to pet her, see how she's doing, all the while referring to her as his best friend. I'm sorry to break it to him, but she's not ours and we're not taking her when we move! I do think that he would really like a pet. Maybe I'll have to cave and let him have a puppy when we get moved and have a bigger yard. We'll see. I've been trying to get back into working out. I actually made it two times to Curves last week. I know, still not nearly good enough! I pulled out the old Billy Blanks Tae bo tapes last night and made it all of 11 minutes before I was dying! I'm headed to Curves today at lunch and maybe I'll pull out the tapes again tonight and give it another try. Dancing With the Stars started last night. I love it! I'm a big Apolo Anton Ohno fan, and as a little girl, I loved watc...

Well, after 3 out of town trips in the last 4 weeks, I think we're home to stay! We headed to southern Illinois this weekend to see my family, and had a good time even it was only for 24 hours. We got to spend time with my parents, two sisters, two brother-in-laws, and two baby boys! They're so adorable! They're going through a bit of an attachment phase, so they weren't too happy with any of us unless Micah and Becky were around, but that's all right. Chocolate seemed to help that situation a bit! I stopped by Starbucks for my regular Monday morning tradition and decided to try something new: a caramel macchiato. It's quite bland! That's what I get for trying something new! Camden came home from church yesterday and was so proud to tell us that he learned in Sunday School that God made Adam from dirt and Eve from ribbons. So funny! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. As I look at them, there are many more of Xavier than William. We love William, too. ...

It's my free day! I'm home alone this morning, and I intend to enjoy it fully! I'm going to read and scrap. We're headed out of town again tomorrow morning for a quick trip to see my parents, two sisters, twin nephews, and two brother-in-laws (how's that for a list!). We're all meeting a couple of hours from here so it should be fun, and not nearly as long of a trip as we've had the last couple of weeks. I've already posted this layout, but thought I'd post it again because I found out yesterday that I'd won a contest with it and now I have a $25 gift card to My Digital Muse and I've very excited about that. This is a layout that Kellie did using a picture she took of us when we met up a couple of weeks ago. I've got to get to work on my own LO using this picture. And, finally, a layout from me. I really like the bright bold colors!

I talked to our caseworker yesterday, and there's still no progress on our homestudy. She also let me know she'd be out of the office the rest of the week and on vacation next week so we're looking at another 2 weeks at least. She also told us about an addition $450 fee they've decided to start charging. Brian decided to put a call in to her supervisor to very politely voice our frustration over these delays and also to protest the extra fees. We signed a contract in December based on the current fees. It just doesn't seem like they can add fees mid-process. I am trying not to be very upset about all this, but it's hard! The good news about this week is that I worked Tuesday and today, but am off the rest of the week. I'm looking forward to a little "me" time tomorrow. I'm sending Camden to daycare and heading off to maybe do a little shopping and then for a long over-due haircut! I got a bit of scrapping done yesterday, and the first one is ev...

I know that we were only gone for 48 hours, but it feels like alot has happened since I last blogged. First, the wedding. Our drive down on Friday was good. We rented a mini-van, which definitely helps since there were 4 adults, 1 carseat, and Camden. Camden has got to be the best kid traveler ever. He is just so good. Doesn't need alot of entertaining, just lots of good snacks! The rehearsal Friday night was a bit of a nightmare. We arrived at the church at 7:00 and didn't leave until almost 10:30! When we got back to the house, Camden was just burning up with fever and miserable (how did that happen during a 10 minute car ride?). We put him to bed and then hung out with the family until midnight or so. Camden slept with us (and, believe me, he was the only one sleeping!). He tossed and turned as many ways possible. At one point, his head was down laying on my knee and he was kicking my feet, just radiating heat the whole time. It was not a restful night! He woke up the next m...

I'll admit it. I bribed Camden with a fancy cookie in hopes he would sleep all night last night (yes, another couple steps backward this week) and it worked. I'm happy and he's happy. No more cookies for breakfast this week. Unless I get really tired! We're headed to West Virginia for a quick trip this weekend. We leave bright and early tomorrow morning, drive 9 hours, attend a rehearsal. The wedding is Saturday afternoon and then we're driving 9 hours home. Camden is the ringbearer and will be wearing the second tuxedo of his life. Here are two layouts I've done this week. The first one is just for you, Becky, using those messy pics you sent me for mom's calendar. The second page is using a picture of Camden and his cousin Cheyenne.

Camden woke up bright and chipper this morning, as he normally does, and ran into our bedroom, climbed in my lap and said, "so, let's talk about something." It was so cute! Here is a two page layout I did with various pictures from our trip last week to Pigeon Forge. I've got lots of really good pictures that I'll be doing more pages, but just wanted to do a synopsis of our trip. In other scrapping news, I've resigned from Penny Springmann and Lori Wiley's creative teams. I just needed a little more time to scrap for myself. Life is kinda hectic right now! I've got a new blog header courtesy of Gina Miller and the Shabby Princess to celebrate our nice spring weather (71 degrees today!).

So, what's new this Monday morning? I've been pretty busy at work so not too much time to think! Brian is off school for 2 weeks, which is great. Poor Camden is sick this morning. He been developing a cold over the weekend, and now it's full-blown. He spent all night coughing. He did, however, for the second night in a row, get up and go to the bathroom all on his own and didn't wake us up to take him. This is a huge victory! I got to see Micah, Becky, and the boys on Saturday for the first time since Christmas. I can't believe they're walking. Aunt Melissa got to give Xavier his first taste of M&M's, and I was his best friend after that! It's so great to spoil them when they're not your babies - you don't have to worry about the consequences! Uncle Michael and Aunt Liz did a bit of spoiling themselves. Camden thoroughly enjoyed his blue Gatorade and the carousel ride on Saturday. I really wanted to scrap more this weekend, but I've got s...

We apparently dodged a bullet yesterday! Well, dodged a tornado anyway. I did end up having to go pick up Camden early (and I'm not complaining about getting off work 2 hours early!). The storm that caused all the tornadoes in Alabama and Georgia were the ones headed our way, but they weakened and went around us. We spent one last evening with Brian's older brother, sister-in-law and their kids on Thursday night. We had a really good time. They live in UT, which is about a 30 hour drive for us so we don't see them very often. I wish we could see them more - they're family, but also very good friends to us. All the kids played so well together! It was sad for them to say goodbye. Camden is really keeping us hopping with these temper tantrums. Brian and I both are feeling quite discouraged about parenting in general right now. I know it's not supposed to be easy, but I don't either of us ever anticipated it being quite this hard! I went clothes shopping this afte...