Life as a Lewis

Today is a pretty big day for Brian. He has his college exit interview, which will officially end his educational career (for the second time!). I am so proud of him for the way he has worked sacrificially for our family to get this second degree so he can start a new career. A career that has helped us to adopt Rory and will allow me to be a stay at home mom. He has done so well, but it has taken alot of work on his part and I just want to tell him thank you! The exit interview today is a big deal because he has to turn in a huge project, which is basically the sum total of all his college work for the last 18 months. I think that the interview itself is just technically a formality since he's been a star student in the Teacher Education Department, but it will be a relief to finally have that finished. We would like for him to continue on and get a master's degree, but I think he's ready to take a couple of years off before undertaking that! I have one page that I've ...

Rory is 14 months old today! I hope that she had a fun day with her foster family. I would imagine that she is walking by now. At 12 months, she wasn't quite walking on her own, but close according to the social worker's reports. We are still waiting for her legals, but am hopeful they might arrive this week. I am feeling quite anxious about it all, and I feel the burden of this wait weighing heavy on me. Its been 5 weeks, and we haven't even started the big wait for our immigration paperwork. While we're on Rory and adoption, just a little rant from me. Over the last several weeks, I have had so many crazy, uninformed comments made to me that I've about had it! So let this be a public service announcement: PLEASE think before you speak! This is only one small example, but if one more person tells me how great it is that we won't have to deal with the infant/newborn/sleepless nights/endless bottles stage, I think I'll scream. Does anyone really think that ...

It's back to work this morning! I'll admit to being a bit cranky and tired, but hopefully some coffee will wake me up nicely. Camden's newest phrase is, "see how much I've growed, mommy/daddy." It's the first thing out of his mouth every single morning! Here is another picture of Camden and Cheyenne. I actually did not stage this one - they were playing peek-a-boo with the tree. Here is the Lewis family at Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, these pictures I took did not come out that well, but here it is anyway.

I am finally taking a quick moment to blog and say a belated Happy Thanksgiving. We have had a very busy week! Between cleaning and preparing for company and all the dozens of small projects around the house that you always plan to take care of, but never do until company is coming, we were very busy the first part of last week. We spent a couple of days visiting with Brian's brother, sister-in-law, and niece. We had a great Thanksgiving with the Lewis's. My parents arrived Thanksgiving night. Camden was so excited to see them. I think he probably drove my dad nuts - he wouldn't leave his side for 3 days straight. We did the standard Black Friday shopping and I got quite a few Christmas presents bought. My mom bought Rory this adorable dress from Gymboree along with polka dot tights to go with it. It is adorable! We also bought new luggage so that we would be prepared for our trip to Korea. We spent Saturday shopping for a Christmas tree and finally brought home a beautiful...

I've never taken "leaf" pictures with Camden so I wanted to make sure I did so this year, but Camden had other ideas. He really wanted to play in the leaves, but wanted nothing to do with pictures. So it finally happened. We resorted to potty humor to get laughs. As soon as the inappropriate noises started, so did the smiles. Now, how to explain that those inappropriate noises are not appropriate in every day life! We're spending today cooking, running errands, and getting the house ready for company. We're excited to see Brian's younger brother, sister-in-law and our niece. And my parents arrive tomorrow night. Camden is so excited to see them. We've been counting down the "sleeps."

My favorite day of the month is here - lunch bunch! And it's my turn to choose the restaurant this month. I'm pretty sure we're heading out to Pei Wei ! What makes today even better is that it's our last day of work before Thanksgiving break - we have 5 whole days off! Woohoo! Here's a random Camden tidbit for you. His new favorite word is dude. It's hilarious!

Let the shopping begin! I've noticed the last couple of weeks that traffic and crowds have gotten busier, but today I made a quick trip to Target on my lunch hour and boy was it crazy! I'm sure that it will only get worse from now until Christmas. I love Christmas shopping and all the good sales, but I will admit that standing in lines is not so much fun. Today was one hectic work day. I'm glad I don't have days like this too often. I like to be busy, but this wasn't busy - it was madness! Too many deadlines all happening at one time. Tomorrow will be similar, but it's my last day of work for the week so that will make it manageable. Camden is having so much fun at school this week. They're learning all about the pilgrims and Indians, making lots of cute Thanksgiving crafts, etc. Today he came home with an Indian head dress and vest as well as a Thanksgiving placemat they had decorated with their hand prints and then laminated. There are so many cute things ...