CALLING ALL PRAYER WARRIORS

Our good friend Stacy, pregnant with twins, was admitted to the hospital on Thursday with a serious case of advanced pneumonia. Her twins, one boy and one girl were delivered this morning (several weeks early) and are being cared for in the NICU. Stacy is still very ill and will remain in the hospital until she turns the corner. Please pray for Stacy to make it through this illness and for the health of these new babies. Please also keep Stacy's husband & 3 year old daughter in your prayers. This is a precious family, and they need our support. THANK YOU!

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY

One year ago today we received the news of a lifetime. We saw your face for the first time. We began our journey to join your life "there" with our life "here." What a blessing, what a gift, love that runs so deep. We are yours and you are ours, forever.

HORSE SHOW

Georgea & I headed to the Arabian Horse show today with our friends Jillian & Rowan. It was an unusually cool & rainy day, but the horses and exhibits were all tented which worked out perfectly for four girls ready to shop, snack & observe!

Rowan & Jillian checking out one of the shopping exhibits. This shop had 2 little Yorkshire Terriers dressed in tutus which was pretty amusing. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any photos of the horses (had my hands full with three beautiful girls), but take my word, those Arabians were lovely. Lots of fun on a rainy Saturday!

SMITTEN

Our long time family friend Scott is visiting from Maryland this week & Georgea is quite taken with him. Georgea met & became aquainted with Scott during a few of our many trips back & forth to MD last fall and clearly she did not forget him.

Laughing so hard she was literally squealing! She had us all in stitches!

SATURDAY IN THE PARK

Georgea & I ventured out to a nearby park last Saturday with our friends Christina & Isabella. It was a beautiful day and a great outing for Georgea. We're working on sensory integration with Georgea, as prompted during her OT sessions and the park was a great environment to expose Georgea to all kinds of unique movements.

We've been trying to get Georgea acclimated to the swing during OT by swinging with Georgea sitting on my lap. I tried this at the park, and Georgea was not interested. (sensory overload!) So, we moved on to other, more enjoyable activities such as sliding & snacking. All in all we had lots of fun & really enjoyed the girl time with our friends!

The slide was Georgea's favorite & you can see her excitement as she looks at Isabella.

Love the "Transitions Lenses!" How cool is the 20 month old in her shades?!!

Isabella is not afraid of the swing! I think watching her peers do things that Georgea is tentative about has to be good exposure for our baby girl.

Seriously, this look? Too funny!

Freestanding!

Cutie pie!

LOVING the slide. She couldn't get enough of it!

Worn out from the activities.........snack time!

Isabella & Georgea are only 4 months apart, so it's pretty fun to see them together.

Do not disturb the snackers!

The lean of love!!

ROCKIN' THE WIREFRAMES!

We've made some discoveries these past few weeks since Georgea's developmental assessments have been completed. EI encouraged us to take Georgea to have both her hearing and eyesight checked. We found out during Georgea's eye exam that she is very nearsighted. Our baby girl has been looking a a whole lot of fuzzy blur when viewing anything more than a couple of feet in front of her. What a blessing to make this discovery and thus be able to get Georgea glasses and begin working toward getting her comfortable wearing them. She started out with total rejection, but Dada was able to coax her into them after a few days! Now Georgea is wearing her glasses for about 20-30 minute intervals several times a day. This will be a process we know, but one well worth the effort. Georgea is adjusting well & boy is she darling in her new specs!

We expect to see her comfort level with walking increase as a result of her improved vision.

"All finished Mama." She takes her glasses off & hands them to us when she's had enough. :-)

Lazy Sunday

We enjoyed a wonderful visit with Alexa (and family) this past Sunday as a part of our day of rest & relaxation. This is what lazy Sunday's are all about...

Chinese New Year Celebration 2010

We had an amazing Families with Children from China Chinese New Year celebration last weekend. This was an emotional day for me, which took me somewhat by surprise. I vividly remembered last years' event that James & I attended as "waiting parents." This time last year I knew in my heart of hearts that we were getting close to our referral. And I was right. Less than a week after the event we received news that we had been matched with a beautiful little girl from Guangxi province. I walked around at the event this year pinching myself all day, reveling in the reality of our new family and all the events that have transpired over the past year. Even now I find my eyes welling up with tears, thankful, blessed, overwhelemed with this new life, this adventure we are on. This event was one of the best days I've experienced with Georgea. We were honoring her Chinese heritage and she was having a blast. She walked, crawled, giggled, ate, played and never wound down all day. It's like she knew, even at her young age that this day was a biggie. We love you Georgea! We love who you are inside and out and we commit to honoring your heritage and your homeland.


We painted a t-shirt with a pagoda & two dragons. Dada is a dragon!


We're doing more hand holding & walking than carrying these days.


Haba joined us for the event & really had a great time too!


Enjoying lunch with Dada, Chinese style of course.


Sweet moment with Haba.


Standing unassisted!


The dragons were amazing!



Georgea couldn't take her eyes off the dragons as they worked their way through the audience.



Our girl still enjoys a good crawl!



Georgea LOVED the balloon maker!




Province parade.


Guangxi girl joining in with a little "support" from Dada.


With twins, Jillian & Joya



Practicing her walking with Haba. Georgea wanted to be DOWN, walking & crawling all day, which is quite unusual for her. I was really surprised at her comfort level in this environment, with so many people, many who she didn't know.


A sweet moment holding hands with her friend Rowan.


With sisters Jillian and Rowan, two of Georgea's beautiful friends.


The end of a sweet day & a sweet celebration. Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Chinese New Year!