Life as a Lewis

Well, we certainly stuck to doing nothing yesterday! I think as a result of her cold, Rory was very clingy and content to just stay on my lap yesterday so we read endless books and sang along of songs! Her language and vocabulary are just amazing to me. In the last week, and last couple of days especially, it seems that she has learned so much. For instance, the books we read yesterday, she is starting to know a few words from each page and to say them as she "reads" the books back to me. She now says "Nanden, 'mon" (Rory words for Camden, come on" and several other two word phrases. She started saying "milk" instead of "mmmmmmmmmmma" yesterday, which made me kind of sad. "Mmmmmmmma" was the first word she said for us. I think the Korean word for milk or more sounds like "ma ma ma" so that helped her make the transition during those early days. Brian and I both shared a little moment of sadness last night as she chatt...

Welll, our big weekend is over, and we're all feeling the effects! For some reason, no one slept well last night, including Brian who usually can sleep in any circumstance! I think we'll rest today (with the exception of a trip to the library and bank) and then I'll work on getting the house back in shape tomorrow. It looks like a tornado went through it! Camden's baptism and Rory's dedication went really well yesterday, and they were both very special. My dad did Rory's dedication (he did Camden's as well when he was a baby), and Brian baptized Camden. I have pictures on my camera, but haven't downloaded or edited them yet. We did show this video of Camden asking Jesus into his heart. If you missed it the first time around, here it is again. Rory and I both have colds, but hopefully we'll be feeling better soon. Rory and Camden are both worn out and wired at the same time. Camden has been up very late the last several nights. Not necessarily becaus...

Rory's birthday was lots of fun! She thoroughly enjoyed being the center of attention and spent lots of time entertaining us. I'll admit to being a little sad throughout the day because she is already two! I hate that we've missed so much of her little life. It was wonderful to have my parents in town for the weekend. Here are a few, okay alot of pictures. The whole group Gram, Gramps, and the kiddos Grandpa, Grandma, and the kiddos Funny faces with Gram Getting birthday congratulations from Aunt Becky Opening presents She had good reactions for all her presents (accompanied by Camden, of course) Oooh, money! Uncle Matt bought her a little baby carrier - she was soooo excited! Dancing with the balloon Feeding her new baby More money! Showing off her cupcake shirt Waiting for cake Singing Happy Birthday Yummy! Mmmm good!

I managed to make it through my 14-hour Tuesday with little damage to myself, the house, or the kiddos. They were actually very good, but I was still seriously excited to see Brian walk through the door. Yesterday, three of my friends and their little ones came over for a Bible study/prayer time/just chatting kind of morning. It was our first time, and we're still deciding what we're going to do exactly. We're going to start by reading Revolutionary Parenting together. It was alot of fun, and I'm very excited that we're going to be getting together once a week. Rory, of course, was all over the 5 month old and helped feed him, pat him on his back and begged to hold him. She also wanted to hold Emma, who was willing to cooperate. Then we added Camden, and called it our little Asian train. In typical fashion, as soon as Rory realized he was back there, she turned and pushed him off. I woke up this morning with a sore throat and just generally not feeling well. I hope ...

. . . until about 2 minutes in. You'll be happy you did. Funny stuff.

Today might be a long day. I've had 3.5 hours of sleep, Brian has a PTO meeting tonight and won't be home until 8:30 or so, there's still no gas around here so I'm probably not leaving the house except to go to soccer practice tonight. Alone. I typically LIVE for 4:30 when Brian walks in the door so I'm trying not to think about the next 14 hours. In an effort to bribe Camden into making better choices throughout the day, we start off the day with two bowls. One bowl is empty (mine); the other bowl (Camden's) has M&M's in it. Every time he pouts or tattles on Rory or disobeys, an M&M from his bowl goes into my bowl. This has actually worked really well for us. Yesterday, however, was a particularly bad day and Camden was losing quite a few M&M's. About halfway through the day I checked the bowl and noticed that the M&M's that had been moved to my bowl were all bitten in half. Not eaten, but bitten in half and then put into my bowl. My...

I think she might be excited to see Camden play soccer Camden is #3 Does this referee crack anyone else up? Cheering for Camden Determination This is my kid's version of playing outside I think she's tired of pictures Definitely tired A half smile Kisses for daddy

No success on the soccer field this weekend, and I think Camden's enthusiasm is dying off. This happened last year about half-way through the season - he just gets tired! Of course, it doesn't help that they haven't won any games. He asked on the way to the game, "why do we keep losing?" Ummm, maybe because your coach won't teach you anything is the correct answer, but we didn't say that to him. Because I'm sure you're all dying to know (ha!) - my hair is still intact. We decided that it was long enough but we should give the Pantene people another inch to work with so D-Day is now set for December 6. Camden has been a sleep walker in the past. Actually, I'm not sure if he's actually sleep walking or just so out of it when he wakes up in the middle of the night that he doesn't know where he is. The main thing that happens is that he tends to go potty in strange places. For instance, we've got him using the trashcan as a toilet. Righ...

I'm having trouble putting into words that aren't too boring how we've spent the last couple of days, and since I'm having no success, I think I'll just leave out the boring details! They did involve, however, a missed nap by Camden; two horrible crying/sobbing fits with Rory after naptime; church; a 3 hour trip to the grocery store; dinner at Gram and Gramp's house; soccer practice; trips to the bank and post office. I told you it was boring! Today is Grandparent's Day at school so I dropped Camden off this morning, came home, put Rory in the bathtub, got her ready, and we're headed back to school at 9:45 to catch his 2 minutes of fame on stage. Rory and I are meeting another adoptive family for lunch, then back to pick up Camden. Camden and Brian are going to a football game tonight while Rory and I stay home. Tomorrow is Camden's soccer game, and then I'm going to be kid-free for a couple of hours while I head into Nashville to get my hair cut...

Well, yesterday turned out to be fairly exciting, although not in the way you might wish! Rory started the day off by discovering the ice and water dispensers on the refrigerator and soaked two outfits. I've been waiting for her to find these, and am actually surprised it took her this long! She fell off the couch and banged her head; followed by a slip in the kitchen, and slammed her finger in the drawer (that she wasn't supposed to be in). Then she decided that swallowing a plastic marble would be a good idea (this was in retaliation to my playing a game with Camden). Did I mention this all happened before 9:00 a.m.? Ever since shortly after Rory came home, Camden has been wishing for a baby brother. Earlier this week he told me that his daddy said when he gets $20 in his wallet, he could start thinking about a baby brother. Yesterday, he drew a picture of our family on the sidewalk and included an extra person "because I'm going to have a baby brother." Last ni...

Yesterday was a pretty rough parenting day. Rory was out of sorts and whined the majority of the day (although she did take a 3 hour nap!); Camden was seriously cranky and spent more time in time out than I can even remember. It's pretty bad when the lady who works in the post office remembered the family whose little girl can't stand her brother and lets out the blood curdling screams he tries to hold her hand. Yep, that would be us. Today is laundry day so I don't expect it to be much more exciting, but maybe we'll get lucky. Kasia Designs: Dancing Elephants

Wearing Camden's shoes, carrying my bag, telling us goodbye and see ya later 100 times before she leaves the room is Rory's new favorite game.

Not much to tell today. Rory and I enjoyed our quiet day at home together while Camden was in school. He had a movie/popcorn party during naptime so he came home pretty hyped up. It was a rough few hours before bedtime, however, because even at 5, he still really needs a nap. When he's tired, it's as if he is unable to control his emotions and can be very difficult. Rory did watch about 10 minutes of Sesame Street yesterday and about 10 minutes of Curious George. She was quite taken with George and kept asking for JuJu after it went off. Saturday while at the soccer field, Camden and Rory and a few of his teammates were eating their snack together before the game started, and I heard the little girl ask Camden what oranges tasted like in China. Camden looked at her like she was crazy, and said "I don't know" in this incredulous voice. I'm pretty sure he had no idea that she was asking him that because of his Asian appearance! He is still quite oblivious to the...

. . . how happy this picture makes me. She's actually watching cartoons!

Our weekend was quite busy beginning with the trip to the airport Friday night. We were so happy to see the Mcgowans home and to meet Emma. It brought back alot of memories of our two arrivals in the Nashville airport with new babies. There is nothing better than finally landing and walking through the gates to see your family and friends waiting for you! Saturday was spent at the soccer field. Camden had team pictures as well as two games so we spent 4 hours in the blazing sun! They tied the first game (Camden made one of the team's two goals) and then lost big-time the second game. It was in the 90's and sunny so we came home with crazy sunburns (well, my little brown children didn't even have a tinge of pink) and attractive white marks across our noses where our sunglasses sat. Camden was so worn out and hot! We all came home and crashed, and then took Camden later on to spend the night at Gram's house. This is the first time Brian and I have been home with just Rory...