Friends...

A sweet Sunday morning visit for the two girly-girls.

Georgea has a lot to learn from Alexa, and Alexa is a willing mentor.

Georgea & Alexa

Georgea catching up with her buddy Alexa at the airshow. I love seeing these two together.

Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara is one of my favorite places on earth. I love the laid back attitude, the dog friendly atmosphere, nearby wine country & the astoundingly beautiful beaches. James & I have really enjoyed our road trips to Santa Barbara with Vida and were super excited to take both Vida & Georgea at the end of September.

This was a quick trip that we tagged onto an already planned trip to LA for work. Short but sweet. We packed in a nice sunset walk on Friday evening, dinner at our favorite, "Brophy Bros." for clams & fish, and some more time on the beach with Vida and Georgea before heading home Saturday afternoon. James played photographer & I think he captured some great shots.

Sunset snuggle.

Vida is in heaven here more than anywhere. She loves romping in the waves!

Upside down girl enjoying some giggles!

Vida soaking from her swim & waiting for a treat. We let her off leash here & nowhere else. The rocky cliffs alongside the beach keep her "fenced" in.

LOL! She really cracks me up. Vida runs so hard for so long that her legs hurt at the end of the day. She does this to herself, she just can't help it.

Making a friend along the way.

Peaceful. We've had a lot going on lately, that's caused worry & stress. This day and a half was a gift that really brought some calm and peace.

After waiting so long to hold Georgea in my arms, it really was a dream come true to take her to this special spot. I loved walking that beach snuggled up with my angel.

Reaching for Vida while she takes a drink. Georgea LOVES her doggy.

A girl needs hydration after such a hard workout!

Beautiful Santa Barbara sunset. A sweet moment with with James, Georgea & Vida.

Breakfast beachfront Saturday morning.

Patty-pat Vida. This dog puts up with a lot from Georgea....but she sure has learned to appreciate all of the items falling from the high chair.

The two girls did remarkably well together on the drive. Here Georgea catches a quick nap as we head from breakfast to the beach.

For a 70 lb. dog, Vida finds a way to fit in some rather cramped spaces & get happy there. She really is an adaptable girl.

Saturday morning on the beach.

Playing Catch Up

I'm way behind on posting photos, so I'm playing a little catch up. Georgea is long over her chest cold from September, but I think these pics are so darn cute. My little angel taking her nebulizer treatment while playing with her toys, smiling & doing a little texting on Mama's blackberry. :-)

Frightening how young this starts, really!

I LOVE it when she smiles so big that her eyes almost close! One of my favorite things in life!

My baby.

Random photos

Georgea has had some chest congestion & is on a nebulizer breathing treatment regimine. She was so hysterical when they treated her at the Dr's office that she was soaking in sweat when the treatment was complete. At home, quite a different story. Here, playing with her brush & cup while Mama sings to her, administering the breathing treatment.

Soooo boring, she fell asleep!! I'm going to take this picture to Georgea's Dr. She won't believe it!

My little angel. Such a good girl.

Sunset fun with Dada. The swimsuit is a bit large, but Daddy picked it out & Georgea was oblivious. :-)

I'm telling you, this little girl has special smiles that she reserves, just for Daddy. She really knows how to work him over!

I can't believe how long her beautiful hair is growing.

Checking out the sunset.

Go Phillies! We have to root on Uncle John's team. :-)

Georgea loves to splash on the side of the pool. She splashes & giggles....so sweet!

Growing Girl

We've had a full few weeks, including Georgea's 15 month visit to her Pediatrician. It's hard to believe we've been together for 3 and a half months now. Georgea is in the 95th percentile for height & 60th percentile for weight on the Chinese growth chart. Our girl is tall! She's also crawling like crazy now. This is something we worked hard to accomplish & we have checked that box, no question! She is all over the place.

An update on my Mom. She is home from rehab and has recovered well from the brain surgery. Mom is currently going through radiation treatments, and will continue to do so 5 days a week for the next 6 weeks if all goes well, and she is able to continue to tolerate the treatments. My Mom's condition is not cureable, however the radiation should help keep the growth of additional tumors at bay for awhile and for this we are thankful. She has been very brave with regard to her surgery & treatment. I love and admire her so much.

Breakfast on the patio. Blueberries are Georgea's favorite fruit, thus the telltale purple lips!

I love the breeze blowing through her "bed head" hair.

Georgea has discovered Vida's water bowls. We really have to keep an eye on her these days. She's into everything. :-)

Saturday brunch. Georgea holding her own cup. We had to capture this on film because it still doesn't happen all that often. Our baby girl likes to be "babied", and we're not sweating the small stuff right now.

Daddy's girl. Georgea "dives" into her Daddy's arms when he reaches for her. Really precious to see.

Another gorgeous, sunny day. I love living in Arizona, even in the summer. The sky is so blue it's hard to have a down day living here.

Girly-girl. This sweet dress was a gift from Aunt Lisa & Uncle Randy. I love dressing the princess.

Baby girl found Mama in the shower. Love the Juicy Couture bloomers. From Aunt Lil', of course.

Exploring the kitchen...

On the move!

Getting ready to watch the Volunteers with Daddy!

After the game. :-(

Visiting Aunt Becky at school. Georgea LOVES books!

Taking A Break

We haven't fallen off the face of the earth, in case anyone was wondering. Life has just been extremely busy, and difficult for the past couple of weeks. My Mother ended up having brain surgery week before last and is currently recovering in an excellent acute rehab facility. The surgery went well, however my family was dealt some painful news post surgery regarding my Mom's prognosis. Mom has an aggressive type of brain cancer and things don't look good. I'm not sure that I've really come to terms with the reality of this situation. My emotions are like a swinging pendulum right now...the joy of Georgea on one side and the painful thought of what is happening with my beloved Mother on the other. So, I'm taking a little break from the blog for now. I'm not sure for how long. Could be a few more weeks, could be months. I just don't feel up to it at the moment, with so many other things tugging at me.

I do have some sweet photos from our trip back to Maryland, when we traveled for my Mother's surgery. Friends, family members and my parents neighbors rallied around us in support and what a huge blessing that was, and still is. Georgea, in her sweet innocence, brought smiles to our faces when we just didn't think we had it in us. I'm thankful for my baby girl in a new way during this walk through the valley.

Georgea with her cousin Jordy

At the hospital with my Aunt Lillian, Mom's sister. It was so good to see her. Totally off her schedule, Georgea hung in there like a trooper & napped on Mama's chest in the Ergo carrier.

My rock. So thankful James could be there...I needed him and so did Georgea.

Carla, my lifelong friend. We've been friends for going on 35 years. Mom and I both melted into a pool of tears when Carla showed up. My family loves Carla & Mom still refers to her as her "other daughter." Mom was still asking for Carla the next day after her visit.

Happy girl, reminded us to smile.

My joy.

My beautiful friend Heidi brought a meal to us at my parents house. Heidi is just as beautiful inside as she is out......love her!

Clappity-clap, in a borrowed high chair. My sister & some friends pulled together lots of baby items for Georgea to help make our stay comfortable. We found out about my Mom's surgery & caught a flight the same day, so there wasn't much time to prepare.

James stayed at my parents house and hung with Georgea a couple of days so that she didn't have to go to the hospital every day. We learned that a hospital is not an ideal place for a baby due to all the germs floating around.

Three of the 5 Chiavacci kids...Lindsay, Luca & Georgi. They came by with their Mom (my good friend Kelly) 2 different days to help entertain Georgea while I was with my Mom at the hospital. This was a major gift.

Kelly is an awesome photographer & all of the photos from their visit are Kelly's handiwork. I'm so happy to have these sweet shots of my girl.

Georgea with her new friends.

Georgea & Luca.

Georgea with Kelly. Sweet snuggles.

And smiles.....

Georgea's first experience with bubbles. A mother of 5 clearly knows how to entertain!

She loved the bubbles.

A walk in the stroller that another of my sister's friends handed over on loan. Amazing how people cared for us in such a big way. I'm still in awe.

Sweet dreams my little angel.

Florida Sunshine

In the midst of a crazy week including me heading back to work and my Mom going into the hospital....I received the gift of some Florida SUNSHINE!! My three nieces, Caitlynn, Allison & Meghann are here! My brother-in-law, sister-in-law and our nieces are visiting us and touring Arizona this week. What a huge blessing! Diving back into work & having the girls here have both been amazing and much needed distractions from the worry of what is going on with my Mom right now.

Georgea loved her cousins immediately. They make her smile and giggle as the photos show quite clearly. What a gift to have this time with them!

Caitlynn, Meghann, Alli and John surrounding baby girl, who's being held by Daddy.

Georgea takes a close look at her cousin Cait

Let the giggles begin!

More giggles! Georgea's Uncle John was cracking her up.

Four beauties

Change

I'm not the most flexible person by nature. Those who know me well are probably laughing, as this may actually be an understatement. I have however learned over the years that flexibility is not only important but necessary. Necessary to function well at work, in relationships, necessary...period. And, I've become much more flexible with a lot of concerted effort toward this cause. Becoming a parent has forced the issue for me. This is another on the long list of ways that Georgea has had a positive impact on my life.

This week we are facing a lot of change in our household. I go back to work tomorrow, after a wonderful maternity leave, bonding with my baby girl. I am anxious & excited to get back to work. I do struggle though, as most working Moms do I suppose, with "leaving" my baby while I go off to enjoy my career. My Mom stayed at home and was such a wonderful Mother, and role model for me. I'm sure this is where some of my struggle comes in. How do you "do it all", "have it all?" What does that even mean? I know balancing this new life of ours will be a learning experience for all of us.

In addition to my return to work, we are faced with a family struggle that is not so positive. My Mom went into the hospital on Friday. She was having some unusual memory loss and ultimately my Dad ended up taking her to the ER. After some testing the Dr.'s discovered that my Mom has a mass on her brain. That's all we know right now. There will be additional tests run early this week and we are all so anxious to better understand the details of my Mother's condition and what is next. My Mom is one of the great loves of my life. This news...oh it just makes my heart so heavy. And living so far from "home" makes it really tough. Your prayers for my Mom's health and for my entire family are very much appreciated.

It's been such a busy time preparing to go back to work & then dealing with the news regarding my Mom's hospitalization that photo ops have been pushed to the side. James did manage to snap a few shots of our girl glaming it up in her white sunglasses yesterday afternoon though.

Our baby girl is changing too, right before our eyes. Georgea is growing taller, her beautiful hair is growing and actually lightening from spending time in the Arizona sun. She's smiling and "talking" more often, and filling our hearts to overflowing with frequent hugs, pats and sweet raspy laughter. Change is good.

First Family Trip

James had a business trip last week that was going to take him out of town for several days. After thinking long and hard we decided that going with him, as opposed to Georgea being away from Daddy, was the better choice. I was excited as this trip was taking us back to our old "stomping grounds." But as the time to depart grew near I began to worry about how the travel & time away from home would affect our baby girl who has settled so nicely thus far.

Thankfully we had a great trip & a very smooth return home (we've been back for almost 4 days). Georgea handled the flight out & back beautifully and put on her game face for the 3 hour time change and lots of friends and family dropping in to meet her for the first time.

Our dear friends the Shepherds opened their home to us which made our stay much more comfortable than staying in a hotel. Georgea's sleep pattern was not as consistent while we were gone....she ended up in bed with us several nights, but all in all she did great.

It was really fun to see friends and family and to share our baby girl. Everyone was so wonderfully respectful of & sensitive to the "asks" we made (short visits & no holding). I can't say thank you enough to those we were blessed to see, for the amazing support of our continued bonding with Georgea. I know it seems foreign to many these "odd" boundaries we've set. We have spent much time studying, reading, praying and receiving cousel from experts and we thank our friends, family and loved ones a million times over for trusting the decisions we have made and for supporting us ongoing through this journey.

Georgea made the trip home smoothly, clapped her hands and her feet and giggled most of the drive home from the airport (no doubt, she knew she was home). And, she has resumed her normal 12 hour sleep pattern starting the first night home. Life is good!

With Matthew and Amanda....oh I love these kids! We stayed at their house & Georgea loved hanging out & playing with them.

We kept on our routine of lots of floor time to work on crawling.

Cheering Georgea on as she works herself into the crawl position. Progress!

Georgea loves babies! Tyler is our friends Ivy & Tim's little one. Tyler and Georgea have birthdays that are just days apart.

I love this shot. Sweet baby girl.

The lean of love! Georgea thought Mariela was pretty cool.

Matthew & Georgea. She was quite smitten with him. She'd follow Matthew with her eyes every time he left the room. Pretty sweet.

The Tipton girls! James & I were there when Lauren and Alyssa were born. They were so sweet to come & visit with their Mom & Dad, Mike & Trish, our long time friends. You can see by Georgea's giggling that she enjoyed their company.

With Olivia and Peyton Andry, and Amanda. Getting 3 little ones to "pose" is impossible & this is the best we could come up with! :-)

Much better this go around, with just the 2 girlies.

Our family in Indiana drove over to see Georgea. This is Georgea's second cousin Jackson, our nephew Isaiah's baby boy.....adorable!

With cousin Annalee, Uncle Dave & Jackson (oh, and poodle "Toodles!")

Georgea was really into Jackson. She is in heaven when a baby is around.

Ahhhh, Aunt Sherry. James' sister Sherry was the only person who held Georgea on this trip. Sherry was so sweet and open to going home without a hold, but Georgea needed to get into her Aunt Sherry's arms. I love the sweetness of this photo.

A week with Aunt Becky

We had the most wonderful week with my sister, now known as "Aunt Becky", last week. Becky flew out from MD during the heat of the Arizona summer to see her new niece and we were all blessed by her joyful presence. Aunt Becky was the first to hold Georgea since she was placed in our arms a little over a month ago in China. The transition was seamless. I plunked Georgea into Becky's arms before we even got home from the airport, during a quick stop at Whole Foods, and Georgea smiled and went happily to her. Wonderful!

I thankfully got a week long break from the role of photographer and Becky captured lots of great shots. All of these are hers.........come back Becky, we miss you terribly!

Georgea after a shower with Mama (the only way we bathe these days). Love this personalized towel from my friend Nancy. So adorable, it's our favorite!

We spent some time every day practicing crawling. We've been educated that it's important to crawl before you walk. So....we've removed the walkers for now & it's all about placing Georgea on her belly and encouraging her to crawl. She makes progress every day & we feel confident she'll achieve this important milestone.

I love this shot! Georgea is thumbing through the photo album we sent her when she was in her foster home. It has her Chinese name (now her middle name) on the front & the photo that's visible is her referral photo...the first image we ever saw of our beautiful baby girl.

Enjoying three of her fave's...Alphabet caterpillar from Sascha & Christine, Taggie blanket from Castle House in Cincinnati and Pat the Bunny from Natalie and Luca. A happy baby girl!

My new Ergo Carrier. This is my favorite! We've got a few carriers & they all serve a different purpose, but this is my all around favorite. Easy to put on, great support (no back pain) and Georgea can sit front (snuggly) or backpack style (productive), which means I can do things like vacuum and mop with my baby girl attached to me for bonding. This makes us both very happy. Oh, and Vida enjoys the "hands free" aspect too.

Dinner at Pei Wei. Georgea does really well eating from her Daddy's chopsticks.

Snack time. We're working hard at encouraging Georgea to pick up food and ultimately begin feeding herself. She's got the "picking up" part. Getting the food to her mouth is another story. I'm learning to tame my type A, get it done, check it off the list personality. One thing at a time Mama!

A quick Target run on the 4th of July. Georgea happily relaxes in the cart. She's an easy girl.

Back at home on July 4th. My dear friend Sue has waited so patiently to get her hands on Georgea. She understands our waiting though as she made this same decision with her sweet daughter Alexa when they returned from China. This is Sue's first time holding Georgea and again, Georgea was happy to go to Sue and happy to be held.

Fourth of July celebration at the home of our good friends Nicki & Tom. Our American girl was sporting a red white & blue "sparkle" top from her friends the Chiavacci's who continue to spoil her like crazy!

4th of July snuggles and giggles with Aunt Becky!

Sporting the Ergo backpack style. Love my little package back there.

I enjoyed this beautiful sunset behind our house with my sister....

Late bloomer. This "golden rod" in our front yard bloomed on July 5. That's late, but we'll take it. This is one of the many things I love about the desert. The miracle of a beautiful, delicate flower growing out of a prickly cactus..........God's hand at work.

We trekked to the lake near our house on Becky's last morning with us. We wanted her to see this awesome beauty. It was a little warm, but my east coast sister hung right in there with the Arizonan's, despite the heat. I was proud. :-)

Attempting to protect my girl from the hot desert sun. No amount of spf 50, or sun hats, etc. are going to keep our little brown bunny from getting super dark. We keep trying, but she is like a magnet for the sun. No burning, but she sure gets brown.

Back home & heading for the aiport. Let the tears begin.........

Georgea geared up and ready to take Aunt Becky to the airport. An awesome week comes to an end. We are so grateful for this time....memories to last a lifetime. We love you Beck'!

Giggle Box

My sister aka: "Aunt Becky" is here and Georgea is quite happy about her special visitor!

Fun in the sun

We had an awesome weekend with Georgea this past weekend. We made some real strides toward getting her comfortable in and actually enjoying the pool. We've been working on this gradually a few days a week. Sitting on the side of the pool, splashing & patting the water, etc. to ease her in. Sunday we were able to spend the bulk of the day in and out of the pool. Georgea was giggling, splashing, smiling, just having an all around great time. We finished the day with a tribute to the iconic Michael Jackson via a "best of" CD blaring from the patio stereo and some serious dancing in the shallow end of the pool. Georgea LOVED it! That's my girl.

She has so many darling sun hats that sometimes she models more than one per day.

A little tentative in her "floaty" from Ginger & John, but she warmed up to it after a bit.

Snuggle bunnies.

Georgea was chewing up a goldfish cracker, but the look on her Daddy's face....oh so sweet, I just had to post this picture.

Contemplative....I spend a lot of time wondering what's going on in that sweet little mind of hers.

One of Georgea's familiar expressions. We have a couple of referral pictures from her early days in China where she is making this face, pulling her lower lip in. It still amazes me that she's here, in our arms, and we're observing these "looks" first hand.

Smiley girl! And just look at all those teeth. They are coming in like crazy. If my count is correct, we're up to 14!

Pulling that bottom lip in again. :-)

Love this little "smirk!"

Making progress

James & I really hope to give Georgea a sister from China....someday. But for now, this is what we have to offer and it seems to be going fairly well. :-)

Georgea is actually doing her "happy feet" in this photo. She claps her feet together quite often when she gets excited. Pretty cute.

Time is fleeting...

They say "time flies when you're having fun", and I can attest, this is true. Today marks one month since Georgea was placed in our arms. It's hard to believe that a month has passed. I look at these pictures of our very first day together in Nanning, China and in so many ways it seems like yesterday. In other ways though, the passage of time is evident. Georgea has opened her heart to us. She says "Mama" and "Dada." She smiles, giggles and reaches for us. She's sleeping comfortably and through the night in her crib, in her own room here at home. We've graduated from a bottle to a sippy cup, and moving from formula to milk will happen in the next week or so.

We opened our hearts to Georgea before we ever laid eyes on her, years prior in fact. Our hearts connected with her at a new level when we saw her beautiful picture for the first time, at the end of February. And we became one with her, when we were blessed to hold her for the first time on May 25, 2009.

With the two employees from Yulin Social Welfare Institute that brought Georgea to us in Nanning.

Back at the hotel, a physically & emotionally exhausted Georgea Lin Zi Luo sleeps. This was one of life's sweetest moments for me.

More paperwork on day one. Baby girl rests peacefully on her Daddy's chest.

Beautiful and sweet beyond our wildest dreams. We love you baby girl and are so thankful for this day.