More Zoo-ing!
We had to make a drive up the coast to pick Brett up from school this past weekend. He didn't have his last final until Saturday 4-7pm!!! Unbelievable! Anyway, since we couldn't pick him up early, we thought we'd make a day of it with Georgiana. I found they had a zoo there so we figured, what the heck!!!

Santa Barbara Zoo is a super cute little place. Very nicely kept and just the right amount of animals for a little kid. They had 2 each of gorillas, elephants, snow leopards, and lions plus some smaller animals like otters and a fairly large stand of flamingos (yes, a group of flamingos is called a stand, I just looked it up to confirm appropriate terminology :-)

The zoo was nice in that the animals were situated so that they could be viewed pretty easily. I find this is a problem for Georgiana in some of the larger zoos--she just can't tell what she's supposed to be looking at. Its kind of catch 22 in my book though because I always feel like when they're in those easier-to-see-displays they may not be given enough room to roam. I'm torn between my concern for the animals and my desire to enjoy viewing them.

Anyway, we timed it so that G would have her nap during the 2 hr drive up there but, ummm, yeah, she didn't actually cooperate. She fell asleep about 15 mins into the drive which lasted for about 45 mins then she was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed -as my mom always says-- for the rest of the afternoon!!! She started running on empty at about 3:30 or so and got crazy hyper and super silly. It was actually kind of cute. Then, she crashed BIG TIME falling asleep in her stroller which she has never before done no matter how tired she was.

After that, we drove up to Goleta to pick up Brett, hit the Chili's for dinner (I love Chili's!!) and were back home by 11pm. That started the week of Brett being home, which is great! G loves Brett to absolute distraction. He plays with her all the time which she loves. You'd think that she'd kind of forget him a little since he hasn't been home in about 2 mos but, no, her face just beamed when she saw him for the first time!







Ladybug girl from head to toe!




I love the look on Bobby's face in this pic!!


Zoo'ed out!

Its official! We have a new tax deduction!

So, I've been putting off getting G a social security card because, well, I just really didn't feel like facing the hassle I was sure the social security office would be. The last time I was in a social security office was when Casey was about a year old. It was in downtown Ontario in kind of a seedy section of town in a dilapidated building. It kinda sucked.

With my previous experience not being that great and my concern that the workers were going to look at my chinese documents and go "huh???" it was easy to ignore. But, April 15th is coming and we got our taxes done last month. The CPA is just waiting on G's social security number to get the return mailed out to us so the time was NOW.

I have found that most people try to complete official business first thing in the morning. Sort of an early bird gets the worm kind of thinking. This usually leads to crowds in the am. So, I chose what I thought would be the slowest time for the SS office, Wednesday afternoon, about an hour before they closed. We pulled into the parking lot of the SS office (a new one in Fontana located in a modern, air conditioned building) and found it EMPTY. I almost thought it was closed. We walked in and, got a number and were called within 3 mins. Up to the window we went where we were met by a clerk who was not only helpful but also as happy as could be to respond to G's multiple greetings of "Hi!" --its new, she does it with just about everyone now, so cute. Ten minutes later, after being congratulated on our adoption by the clerk and his supervisor, we were outta there!!!

We should have her card in about 1-2 weeks! So, so easy. The only thing we have left to do now is the readoption which we can't start on until we have our 6 month post placement report from our social worker. For anyone who doesn't know, the adoption is complete in the eyes of China and the US but a readoption in California will give G a certificate called a "Delayed Registration of Birth" which apparantly looks just like a regular birth certificate. This will avoid us (and her someday) the necessity of dragging out her Chinese documents every time we want to sign her up for soccer or something.

Yeah!! One more task scratched off the list!

Park lesson #1: Do not lick the sand!
Seems obvious but I guess we all had to learn this one at some point in time. Georgie's turn was this past weekend. I must be a bad mom cuz I grabbed the camera first and wiped sand out of her mouth second.

No harm done, Georgie still loves the park! She especially loves to lay in the sand (either on tummy or back) and make sand angels!! This was the first visit that G decided to try the slide. She loved it!!!! Going down on her bottom was a little scary so she switched to the tummy which was fun, fun, fun!!!

Just before the sandtasting:


Yummmm!


Play, play, play!!




Such a beautiful girl!

My Lucky Charm!!!
Today is St Patrick's Day and to celebrate we took Georgiana for her monthly photo op. Again, these are the proofs so they have the watermark but you can still get the idea. Isn't she a doll???!! She's such a little stinker though. She absolutely refused to crack even the tiniest smile during the photos but, as soon as we were done, and we were waiting for the proofs HUGE SMILE and giggles galore! Ugh! Oh well, we still managed to get some cute shots. And because people always want to know, the outfit was purchased from an ebay seller who makes lots of customs and, yes, Georgie does keep bows and clips in her hair!!!

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful... beautiful girl!!!
While I was waiting for our referral--which turned out to be 31-1/2 mos from LID and just over 3 yrs from application-- I heard from people that "once we received a referral, the pain of the wait would just fade away." I never believed it, not for one second. In fact, it used to really piss me off as it seemed so dismissive.

Well, I definitely am not going to say that I have forgotten the pain of the wait. It was a long and difficult time of my life. As the months dragged on, I had many days that held more tears than smiles. I can say that even though the memory of the pain is still with me, it has dissipated somewhat. The hole in my life and heart that used to be filled with pain and longing is being replaced. Its filling with visions of G's little smile or the funny way she motions to me with her fingers squished together to let me know she'd like me to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to her one more time. The sadness is being slowly replaced with the memories we make daily. Like tonight when G was a little whiney and Casey sat on the floor and played toys with her and her face lit up!

Someday, the pain of the wait may be gone entirely. However, even if the pain never completely disappears I can say with all honesty, Georgiana was worth it! I truly believe it would be impossible for me to be any more in love with this lovely little girl. Looking at her face just melts my heart. Bobby and I have a discussion almost every day about how lucky we are that she entered our lives. We cannot believe our good fortune. Its official, she's perfect for us!

Love Without Boundaries:
LWB provides the most loving and compassionate help possible to orphaned and impoverished children in China. They do this through six main program areas: medical, education, nutrition, foster care, special assistance, and healing homes.

Love Without Boundaries began in the year 2003, after a group of adoptive parents came together to help save the life of one tiny boy in China. Following his successful heart surgery, they realized that people with a pure love for helping children can truly make a difference. LWB incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charity in the state of Oklahoma, and their worldwide team of volunteers went to work. In just five short years, their foundation has grown from providing a handful of surgeries and baby formula in 2003 to touching the lives of thousands of children today through foster care, medical, education, and nutrition programs. They work hard to maintain their overhead as low as possible in order to help the most children. In 2008, their overhead was less than 10%!!! That is almost unheard of in the non-profit world. That means 90 cents of every dollar donated goes to providing children with needed treatment and nutrition!

Below is a picture of a little boy from Georgiana's SWI, Zhangshu City SWI, who is in need of cleft and hernia repair surgery. His name is Zhong. LWB is raising funds to pay for his surgery. They currently need $1290 more before the surgery can be scheduled.

Please consider donating to LWB to help Zhong receive the surgery he needs to have a happy and healthy life. Even a small donation will bring him closer to the goal! Click on the link below to go to the LWB site. Donations can be made with a credit card, you will be emailed a receipt.

http://www.lovewithoutboundaries.com/

The Living Desert, etc.
We try to do something Georgie oriented each weekend. Its so fun to take her places and show her things. She particularly likes animals, all kinds. Its been kind of cold and rainy around here so Bobby suggested we try someplace in the desert where it would be warm and sunny!

Did a little searching and found a place out in Palm Desert called The Living Desert. Its like a wild animal park but just desert animals. One half is North American desert animals, the other is African Desert animals. I liked the giraffes the best but I think Georgie was most thrilled by the goats in the petting zoo and banging on the drums in the african village!

I also finally downloaded some of the pix from my camera and came across some of G in a few of her cute outfits. She wears the basics, jeans and onesies, all during the week the babysitter so I kind of like to dress her up a little cute on the weekends when we go out to dinner and stuff. Its funny, she definitely knows when she's "dressed up" because she gets really giggly and shows off a little. Really cute!!!

G petting the goats:




Banging the drum:


With daddy in the play area:


The giraffes were super cool!


My valentine flowers from bobby. I love, love, love the pink lilies!


My beautiful little valentine girl!


I love this outfit. Its a naartjie I picked up when they were having their winter sale (dress $9, tights $3, headband $1!!!). Georgiana wore it when we went out for our valentine dinner at Flemings. Lots of people were surprised we'd take her their but she did great!! We just order quickly and make sure she has plenty of snacks and she always does just fine. Isn't she adorable???








Thought I'd put this one in here too. These are my kitties now. They're about 10 mos old now. I love my kitties so much!!! They're so sweet.

I've been really busy...
Well, I'm back to work and Georgiana is halfway through her third week of daycare. I'll be honest, the first week was tough, on both of us. I took that week off so we could transition her to the small in-home provider we've chosen. The first 2 days she stayed for only 2 hours but by the 3rd day she was up to the full 4 hours. The first day, she cried. I gave her a kiss and a hug, assured her I was returning for her and handed her over to Sylvia --who is just perfect, very calm but firm-- and out the door I went. Hysterics from G. Surprisingly, no tears from me. I'm a practical and logical person by nature. I felt we'd chosen a good place, the right person and I really thought that Georgiana would be happy and enjoy being around the other kids. I knew she'd cry, I expected it, I knew that she'd get over it, I knew she'd be ok. Calm, cool, collected...right.

Bobby and I went to breakfast and I called Sylvia about 20 mins later just to see how things were going. I could hear G crying in the background and that was it, my heart broke. It absolutely sunk. All my logic went flying out the window and left me with only my emotions. My baby. was crying. for me. My baby, who had spent a year in an orphanage having some but not all of her needs met, was crying for her new mommy that she was just learning to trust. I am certain that she felt she was being ditched again. Handed off to some new mommy. Ouch. Daggers to the heart. Complete and utter guilt.

The first few days she didn't eat much while she was there, stuck around mostly inside, played with a few toys, and refused to let go of her stuffed monkey that she took as a comfort item.

But, things did get better. By the end of the week, she was down to a one minute whimper after the morning handoff. By the end of the week, Sylvia reported that G dropped the monkey after a while and played more.

The following monday, after the weekend break in our new routine, brought a little more crying but by the end of that week, the routine had taken hold. Georgiana now smiles when we turn the corner near Miss Sylvia's house and I begin to sing her the little song I made up to cue her to what we are doing:

"We're going to Miss Sylvia's house
Miss Sylvia's house,
Miss Sylvia's house.

We're going to Miss Sylvia's house,
where you can play and have fun!!!"

The reports are good. She's eating well, playing outside daily and seems super happy --although tired and ready to go home --when Bobby picks her up just after lunch. What a relief!!! So, objective and logical mom was right after all, but it was still rough on emotional mom and baby.

Hairbows!!!
I feel so lucky that G has so much hair. It makes hairbow and clippie shopping super fun!!! I ran across a link on RQ to a site by a fellow China PAP who is selling custom handmade bows and clippies to help finance her adoption. Super cute and original designs. I can't wait to get the Mulan clippie!!! Anyway, if you already have a little girl and need some hairbows or clippies or you're still dreaming of your little girl and want to prepare with some retail therapy, you should check out her site:

http://www.sarabethbows.blogspot.com/