18 mos old today!!!!
That's right. Today marks Georgie's 1/2 year birthday!!! It also represents 7 mos since we met her in Nanchang. She continues to blossom. Georgie is so much fun, its hard to imagine what life was like before she joined our family.

Georgie loves to climb... we're talking anything she can find with her favorite being the back of the couch so she can open and close and open and close and open and close (you get the picture) the window shutters. Her favorite new toy is her foam blocks which she loves!!! She puts them in the box and takes them out then puts them in all over again. Then she slides the box all around the house until she decides its time to dump them all out again!!! G still has a great appetite and particularly loves anything with noodles, Hamburger Helper is her meal of choice. G has a huge vocabulary including my personal fave "lub you" ahhhhhh, so sweet!!! Hearing her say it melts my heart. She also likes to give BIG hugs and squeezes so hard that she grunts a little :-)

Its official, we love her with all our hearts!!!

Georgie in the bath with pointy hair a la Daddy:


In the front yard:


Smiley girl!!!


I love this picture of Georgiana. Isn't she gorgeous???

Independence Day!!!!
This was our first July 4th with G! Everyone kept asking me if we were planning on taking her to see fireworks but we decided against it for two reasons. First, I think the loud noise would be frightening to her. Second, most fireworks shows start at 9pm, about an hour after G's normal bedtime. Pass.

Instead, we decided to do a July 4th activity and then come back to the house for swimming. All of this carefully orchestrated around G's nap schedule. Georgie --and Bobby and I of course-- is so much happier when she's had a good nap!!! Also, with the mid day temps hitting around 98 degrees, any non water-related activities need to happen in the morning or you'll melt.

In the morning we headed over to Claremont and wandered around a bit. G liked it. There were lots of people who'd brought their dogs along. Each sighting elicits a Georgie shriek "Doggie!!!!" They actually have quite a few activities for somewhat older kids but G was mostly interested in the toddler playground she eyed when we first got there. She kept saying "Pawk!!!" (park) "Wheee" (slide) until we went over there and let her check it out for awhile. Georgie loves the park more than anything in the world I think.




Then we came home, G had her much needed nap and then it was time to try out another one of her swimsuits. This one is so cute!!! Its from Gymboree and has matching sunglasses!!! OMG dressing a little girl is so much fun. This first one I call Georgie's "Diva Pose"



Georgie always has her tongue out when she's in the pool. Yes, she ends up drinking a lot of water!! Yuck!

Bobby and G enjoying the waterfall:

Butt and Sissy...
That's what G calls Brett and Casey. Its the funniest thing ever to hear her yelling out Butt!!! Butt!!! and then run up and hug him when he comes into the room. G loves her brothers sooooo much. She likes to climb on them and sit on them at every opportunity. She pretty much never tires of them although they do occasionally tire of her :-)

The other day, the boys went swimming and took G along. G was in heaven!!! Her two favorite things: brothers at her beck and call and WATER!!! The kids took turns holding her and trying to get her to kick her feet and splash the other. G thought that was great!!!!

Holiday (x2)!!!
June 21st, 2009 was a very big day in our house! Not only was it Father's Day but it was also our 23rd wedding anniversary! That's right, 23 yrs ago yesterday, two very young and fairly immature people got married and began a life together. We married on the third saturday in June on Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. There was a full moon of course, which I actually have a photo of and is fondly referred to as "The Honeymoon" :-)


My plan for Father's Day was in part to get daddy and daughter pix taken. I had big plans for this. I made the appointment about 3 weeks earlier, had chosen a super cute summer dress for Georgie, purchased a coordinating shirt for Bobby and gathered my very best Picture People coupons. To ensure success, we got up and out early, came back in time for G to have lunch and a nap right at noon. Like clockwork, G woke up at 2:15, in perfect time to get to the photo place at 3:00! I dressed her and combed her hair and she was just so cute! She must have remembered from last time because she started saying "happy!!!, happy!!!, happy!!" over and over again.


I thought, "this is going to be great!!!"

We went in the back, the photo guy had them sit on the floor and G's whole mood changed. Photo guy suggested having G lay on her tummy and Bobby tried to get her to do it and that was it... FREAK OUT!!!!

Let's just get this straight. Since we met Georgie, a little over 6 mos ago, she has almost always preferred Bobby over me. He's more fun I guess. She definitely prefers me over other people but, given a choice, its Daddy all the way. But on father's day, when mommy wants to get pix to memorialize that beautiful relationship, she began sobbing and ran to me to be picked up. Any efforts to extract the sweaty little velcro baby were met with blood curdling screams. Ugh. All I could think was "seriously??" We tried everything. We switched photographers, we changed photo areas to one that was in the front, we let her play with toys for awhile, we brought out her stuffed monkey, we tried to giving her cookies. No go, no way, she was having none of it.


After a while I admitted defeat. We viewed the few photos they took, picked the least bad (see below) for our free one and off we went. After that Georgie was as happy as could be!!!



Little kids are so confusing sometimes :-)

New look!!

I was getting tired of my blog. You can pay talented, informed people to create a custom blog design for you. I think it runs about $100. I kept thinking about going that route but it seemed kind of pricey. I'm not talented enough to create one of my own. I'm just not techie enough. Then I ran across a site called "Hot Bliggity Blog". They have all these premade blog backgrounds to choose from along with super easy instructions for installing them. So cool!!!

I tried to find one that coordinated with my flowery custom title bar. I'm not sure, maybe its a little too busy??? Anyway, I'll try this for awhile and if it gets to be a little much, I'll change it!

99 things...
Saw this on another blog and thought was kind of fun! I bolded 51 of the 99. It makes me realize, I need to travel more.

Here are the rules: Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyworld
8. Climbed a mountain-Or was it a really big hill? =)
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child –She’s home!
16. Had food poisoning-The worst!!
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill – It’s called a mental health day!
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon 3
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language--tried mandarin, it was hard but I'm going to try some more
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke!
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies-Gosh, hasn't eveybody?
62. Gone whale watching (when I was a kid, didn't see any whales though)
63. Got flowers for no reason =)
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square (I must have when I was in NY but honestly, I don't remember it)
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (Payless Shoes when I was like 19)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone --pinkie finger of my right hand
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Given birth to a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Six months ago today...
(or maybe yesterday its hard to tell with the time change) a frightened baby girl was placed in my arms. I had been working toward that day for about 3-1/2 yrs at that point. But, the dreaming and hoping for a little girl had been with me most of my adult life.

On 12/7/2008, we woke up, ate breakfast, and then began preparing for our "gotcha" moment which was to be that afternoon. We gathered things together, prep'd the crib in the hotel room and ogled over the little clothes that would soon be hers. A half hour before the babies were to arrive at our hotel, we went downstairs to the lobby to see if we could catch a glimpse of her coming through the door. Although our agency was receiving several referrals that day, only our little girl would be coming from that particular SWI.

Finally, a man and a woman holding a little girl walked through the door. She didn't look like our baby but I couldn't tell for sure. Our referral pix had been taken in July, almost 6 mos earlier, and I was prepared to not recognize her immediately. I moved a little closer and saw that this definitely was not our baby. That beautiful little girl was a little older. She would be joining someone else's family.

About that time, our guide arrived and said that our daughter would be coming a little later, they were going to another hotel first with 4-5 other children. I thought, "that's ok, I've waited this long, I can wait a little while longer." Soon other children began to arrive and all families were asked to go to the conference room. We waited a few minutes as some families began to receive their children. There was no logic or organization to it at all. Many children began to cry and scream. It was a mad house so I stepped outside and looked as another woman carrying a baby beautifully dressed in red silks walked up the grand circular stairway. Bobby said "I think that's her" but I knew it wasn't. Then, just behind was the last child to arrive that day. She had lots of straight black hair and was dressed in a brown, puffy, puppy dog outfit that was much more suited to a little boy than a little girl. Her skin was dark brown--much darker than it appeared in her referral pix-- and her cheeks were fiery red.

I took one look at her and said to Bobby "that's her." We followed her and her little entourage (the swi director and 2 women) into the conference room. Through our guide it was confirmed that, yes, we were the people chosen to be the parents of Zhang Nian Sheng. I wanted the hand off to be calm and as unstressful as possible. We'd had several discussions that day about how we were going to do things. Bobby and I looked at her a little and said "hi" and thought we would spend a few minutes to let her get a good look at us before touching her. But then, all of a sudden, the director said something in Chinese and then robustly grabbed her and placed her in my arms while saying "mama, baba." She still didn't cry. Her lip quivered a bit and she looked so, so sad and frightened. I held her and whispered in her ear "its OK little one, we'll take care of you always. Don't be scared, it will be OK."

We had some cheerios for her and a bottle of water which, if I recall correctly, she gulped down. After a few minutes, we took off her jacket. She was incredibly hot. The bright red cheeks were a combination of dry skin and flush due to being so bundled up. Her body was clean and her hair combed but it was obviously not washed in quite some time because it was plastered to her head and kind of crispy to the touch. We stayed in that room for about 20 mins or so, took pictures and tried to ask the swi staff some questions. Really though, its kind of blur.



Fast forward to today. In the last 6 mos, our little girl's life has completely changed. She has a new name, Georgiana, a family who loves her and two cats that she loves sometimes a little too much. That scared little girl has grown physically and developmentally in ways that continue to surprise me on a daily basis. G's vocabulary is huge!! she probably uses well over 125-150 words and seems to understand just about everything we say. Granted, some of her words are understandable to only us LOL! She's even started learning some of her letter sounds from playing with the Leap Frog fridge phonics "A says a..." She loves going to the park, being pushed on the swing and going down the slide "weee!" G loves to eat, and dance, and laugh! She loves to swim in the pool, take baths, and play peek a boo and chase with daddy. G loves animals and babies and saying "hi" to everyone she sees. She loves to give hugs, blow kisses and give five. G's favorite toys are probably her shape box and glow worm. She loves to wear hats, bracelets and sometimes makes a pretty good effort at putting on socks and sandals. Her favorite song is now "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and her favorite thing to say... is "happy!" which she squeals and then laughs and laughs.


Mostly though, she's just a joy; an unbelievable gift to our family every single day. She has her moments where she can be trying, of course, but her temperment for the most part is very even. She can be a bit stubborn but has never had a temper tantrum. She's smart and gentle and so beautiful.

She is the perfect match for our family and on a daily basis I am thankful for our good fortune in being matched with this beautiful little girl. I can't wait to see what the next six months will be like!