TWENTY MONTHS OLD

How can it be that my baby girl is 20 months old? We've been together as a family for 8 months now and the time is just flying. We are so in love with you Georgea Lin Zi Luo. Thank you for filling our life with more love than we ever imagined.

Have I mentioned?...

...that I'm thankful to wake up in Arizona every morning.

...that my baby girl is teething like crazy.

...that Georgea will turn any & everything into a walker, including the bucket we use to bathe Vida.

...that I LOVE Georgea's "post-nap hair!!!"

...that our baby girl is the light of my life.

Loads of photos, and some updates too

We've had a lot going on the past few weeks. We completed our 6 month post placement home study visit, and started our paperwork for our second adoption (also from China). Soon after getting the ball rolling for our adoption process we met with Early Intervention to have a developmental assessment for Georgea. Since Georgea is 19 months and not yet walking independently, nor talking (just a few words that sort of come & go) we decided contacting EI would be a good idea. The results of the assessments showed delays across the board for our baby girl. Thus we are beginning the road to getting some professional support in working on Georgea's speech and overall physical development. Georgea will start 3 x weekly therapy sessions including speech, occupational & physical therapy at the end of this month. We also have hearing & vision tests on the calendar. In addition, we will be adding a Developmental Pediatrician to the mix to help us keep an eye on Georgea's overall health, development and growth. Putting this plan together and the ongoing management of the process to get Georgea "caught up" is going to require a lot of time and energy from us as a family. I'm really excited about getting started and thankful that we have access to these support resources, but I'm also exhausted. I'm exhausted emotionally from worrying about Georgea's well being, and from the energy expended making phone calls, appointments, meeting with strangers and hearing their professional "opinions" of what is going on with Georgea. It's draining to say the least. I guess this is parenting though. I wish I wasn't such a worrier. I love my girl and I just want her to be healthy, happy and have all the support and love she needs. We would do anything for Georgea, and I hope that she knows that, or that someday she will.

All that said, no sooner did we start our second adoption paperwork then we decided to hit the pause button. We feel it is critical for us to focus our time and energy on Georgea's needs. She is here with us now and she needs our undivided attention. I was a little sad at first to set that adoption paperwork aside. I do truly believe though that everything happens for a reason and that this probably just means that Georgea's little sister isn't ready for us just yet. We are trusting God's timing, as always.

Shifting gears now, James & I got a family gift this year for Christmas, a new camera! We were so tired of missing great shots of Georgea due to the long delay on the camera we had. We have been having a blast firing away, taking photos of our beautiful, perfect little angel. We really haven't taken the time to sit down and figure out all the bells and whistles, but we've still gotten some pretty fun shots. Georgea is such a delight and I love recording her everyday activities on "film." She makes me smile, she makes my heart beat fast....oh how I love and adore my little girl.

Giggling with Grandpa. This was taken with our old camera.

Saturday morning at our favorite pastry shop.

Delicious!

I love seeing how Georgea makes us light up.

On to the dog park. Vida girl still needs to have some fun with her friends!

I'm such an animal lover. I just get happy when there's a crowd of dogs. Georgea loves animals too. She had a great time watching all the canine chaos.

I have more fun fixing Georgea's hair every day. I just love it! And, seeing her "post-nap do" is almost as fun as fixing her hair in the morning. She is a crack up! I don't know how it happens, but the way her hair looks sometimes when she wakes up, it just makes us laugh.

More of the post-nap hairdo & lots of walking with her push toy.

One of my new favorite photos. This one really captures her personality.

The molers are coming in. Bless her heart, she's a trooper. Teething makes her drool like crazy.

....and bite everything, including the family room table!

Georgea is really dying to walk. She turns everything into a walker including our kitchen chairs.

Loving Vida. The two girls have become very good friends.

Just starting to stir from a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap. (ps- does it bother anyone else that Kai Lan's eyes are the wrong shape? I hate to nit pick, but those are NOT Chinese eyes. I don't get it???)

Soooo sleepy. These moments are especially sweet.

One eye open & literally half awake. Georgea likes to wake very slowly.

Finishing wake up time while snuggling with Daddy. I love Sunday afternoons.

Organizing the bib drawer. Georgea is venturing into all manner of cabinets and drawers these days.

Kissy-kissy Vida.

More walking. We are looking forward to the day when our girl can do it on her own. We know she'll get there in her own time.