I find it the sweetest thing in all the world that my baby girl wants to do everything I do and say everything I say. I also find it the scariest thing in all the world. So much flattery and so much responsibility all in one place. Here my love bug joined me in my (almost) daily effort toward keeping our glass top tables dust and dog hair free. Doing life with Georgea, even when it's just dusting the furniture, brings me an awful lot of joy. 
Sometimes when you're feeling like no one can possibly understand your unique situation, it really helps to find a friend who's in the same boat.
And, as a side note...WOW! Look at how beautifully Georgea's right hand is healing and how wonderful it looks. THANK YOU Dr. Au- you are amazing!
The big day. Surgery on her left hand and the last round of these procedures for Georgea.
Big, hard pink cast. All the way over her elbow and up to her shoulder. The placement of the extra finger on her left hand made the procedure a bit more difficult and required a different type of cast.
The day after. Having had a good night's rest and a hearty breakfast here sits the patient watching Dora, awaiting her discharge papers.
The cast. Pink is her color.
Get me out of here. She was in a fairly pleasant mood, but baby girl knew it was time to go and she was ready.
Georgea did so well that we decided to drive home the same day she was discharged. She was amazing, happy and in really great spirits for the seven hour drive. Her resilience is unbelieveable. And as for us....we were so thankful and appreciative that things went smoothly. Georgea will go back to LA for cast removal in March and then we are done. Hard to believe this is behind us. Thanking God for his grace and watchcare over our baby girl. 
Georgea inspires her Daddy, and I think he's turning into this very cool, kind of artistic photographer. The two of us were getting Georgea ready for bed and James grabbed the camera, just for a minute, and got these beautiful shots. He captures things that I don't even see. I love seeing Georgea through his eyes. It makes me love him even more. 
These are just some fun pics I took of Georgea in a new outfit, which was a Valentine's gift from her Aunt Becky. Here she's "putting on deodorant" like her Dada. So funny to me. This was the day after we removed her hand cast and it was really great to see her being herself and hamming it up!
On the lookout for Vida. Our girl loves her dog.
After waiting the recommended two weeks, we removed Georgea's hand cast at home, as we had done with her soft foot cast the week prior. This experience was different. She was much more somber during this process and really didn't "bounce back" until later in the day. I'm not sure if it was because she was attached to the extra finger on her right hand which she affectionately referred to as "pinky", or because of the obvious fact that her hand is closer to her face, easier to look at, touch, observe. Maybe a combination of both. So, we reminded Georgea of the conversations we had about her 12 and our 10 fingers (and toes) and how someday soon she would be the "same" as Mama and Dada. We looked at, touched and became familiar with her (dissolvable) stitches. And the following couple of weeks, once the dust settled, we talked about how her right cast was "off" and next her left cast would be "on"...and then that cast would be "off" and then....NO MORE CASTS! NO MORE STITCHES! This conversation (which we made very animated) was entertaining for Georgea and she ultimately joined in with lots of energy and enthusiasm.
Taking it in.
Learning what stitches are.
Comparing her right hand with her left (the only extremity which still had 6 digits).
I love this picture because Georgea was holding on to my ring finger with her left hand while she examined her right hand. These are the moments that bring tears to my eyes. Her tender touch and the security she finds in holding on to even one of my fingers gives me chills. God has joined our hearts in such an amazing way. I love the miracle of adoption....this child He has given me. I feel so undeserving, yet so thankful, grateful. My heart is full, full, full.
We love having my Dad here in Arizona as a winter resident. It's really a blessing to have family close by for at least a few months, when we have so many miles between us the remainder of the year. Georgea's "Haba" is her constant playmate. They chase, run, giggle, climb, build, laugh and cut up so much she screams when he's around. Seeing them together fills my heart and takes me back to my own childhood. So thankful for these moments.
"Tickles!!"
The chase is on!
Georgea still sporting her soft hand cast here. She functioned incredibly well while wearing it.
Five days after Georgea's surgery we were able to remove the soft casts on her feet. We were so ready for this. Georgea was "allowed" to walk immediately after surgery, but she had no interest in walking. It was obvious she was fearful of putting her weight on her feet. I'm guessing that the shape of the casts made the thought of walking on them somewhat intimidating as well. So we struggled for 5 days. It sounds like such a short time, but we were tired and anxious and worried about our baby girl. She was more fussy than normal, frustrated that she "couldn't" walk and struggling with things like making it to the potty on time. What an ordeal for a little girl who had only been potty trained for less than a month when this all went down. All in all though, she handled it like such a trooper. She is really a tough cookie and in some ways I think this whole process has been equally as emotional and hard for James and me. This was another learning experience for us that brought us closer to Georgea and helped us once again to know her more intimately, and for that we are thankful. 
Outer layer removed and now taking off the soft cotton wrap underneath.
Georgea did lots of examining and touching. This entire process was definitely an emotional one for her. We spent a good bit of time prior to her surgery talking about her fingers and toes. Counting them, and acknowledging the difference between hers and ours. We gave the simple explanation that someday Georgea's would "have 10, just like Mama and Dada." She would play this sentence back for us, so we know she absorbed the words. But the content....there was no explanation on our part, just the fact that it would happen. We tried so hard to give her the information she could process for her age and tried not to overwhelm her with more information than she would know what to do with. It was a fine line. We tiptoed across it to the best of our ability and I hope we gave her what she needed.
More touching and examining. 
Somber. Processing. Grieving??
The part of this process that I struggled with the most as Georgea's Mom came from the fact that these extra fingers and toes were the reason she came to us. We chose this special need prior to ever laying eyes on Georgea. So, we were adjusting, changing, altering the very thing that brought our baby girl to us. We thought about, prayed about, sought & received counsel from many about the right thing to do and felt confident that we were there....but there is still a grieving process, a loss. We love every inch of our baby and saying goodbye to those toes and fingers was hard on all of us.
Bouncing back oh so quickly. I saw the light in Georgea's eyes and her playful nature start to take over. A blessing.
Kissable, just like the rest of her.
Playing with her bandages.
Happy to see her "Ugg boots" and ready to wear shoes again after 5 days in hospital socks.
She insisted on putting her shoes on herself, which was great.
It took several days, 4 or 5 for Georgea to really get walking again after her surgery. We were running down the hall carrying her trying to get her to the potty, etc. But ultimately she regained her stride, her balance and her enthusiasm. She's running all over this house again which is an awesome sight for us to see.
