Star Spangled Girl
July is here and its that time of month again.... calendar picture day!!! I was able to locate the most fantastic and ridiculous get up ever for this month's installment.!!! Don't you agree! I just loved it and was able to find G a little red, white and blue wand to go along with it. Too fun!

I think the pix are overall pretty cute. They were able to get some good expressions and smiles but, the hair, not so good. Its pulled back in the headband because there's an uber cute matching feathery headband I wanted her to wear and I love to be able to see her pretty face, but every time I came near G with it in my hand she'd shake her head and say "no-Oh!" Oye.

Anyway, here she is. Even with the messy hair, still gorgeous!

Employment!!!

Big day for Casey.... it was his first day of work!! He'd been looking for a summer job since before school got out and, because of this crappy economy, having lots of trouble. But, lo and behold, after lots of applications and several interviews, he finally got hired and began today. He said it went pretty well, lots of forms to fill out, had to watch a video explaining why stealing is wrong, etc. He was pretty excited because the retail job he got is at a shoe and clothing store and their "uniform" is that they have to wear a shirt and shoes that came from the store which means he got to pick out 3 tshirts and a pair of shoes for FREE!

He's pretty excited and I was happy for him. My baby is growing up for sure... darn.

18 mos old today!!!!
That's right. Today marks Georgie's 1/2 year birthday!!! It also represents 7 mos since we met her in Nanchang. She continues to blossom. Georgie is so much fun, its hard to imagine what life was like before she joined our family.

Georgie loves to climb... we're talking anything she can find with her favorite being the back of the couch so she can open and close and open and close and open and close (you get the picture) the window shutters. Her favorite new toy is her foam blocks which she loves!!! She puts them in the box and takes them out then puts them in all over again. Then she slides the box all around the house until she decides its time to dump them all out again!!! G still has a great appetite and particularly loves anything with noodles, Hamburger Helper is her meal of choice. G has a huge vocabulary including my personal fave "lub you" ahhhhhh, so sweet!!! Hearing her say it melts my heart. She also likes to give BIG hugs and squeezes so hard that she grunts a little :-)

Its official, we love her with all our hearts!!!

Georgie in the bath with pointy hair a la Daddy:


In the front yard:


Smiley girl!!!


I love this picture of Georgiana. Isn't she gorgeous???

Independence Day!!!!
This was our first July 4th with G! Everyone kept asking me if we were planning on taking her to see fireworks but we decided against it for two reasons. First, I think the loud noise would be frightening to her. Second, most fireworks shows start at 9pm, about an hour after G's normal bedtime. Pass.

Instead, we decided to do a July 4th activity and then come back to the house for swimming. All of this carefully orchestrated around G's nap schedule. Georgie --and Bobby and I of course-- is so much happier when she's had a good nap!!! Also, with the mid day temps hitting around 98 degrees, any non water-related activities need to happen in the morning or you'll melt.

In the morning we headed over to Claremont and wandered around a bit. G liked it. There were lots of people who'd brought their dogs along. Each sighting elicits a Georgie shriek "Doggie!!!!" They actually have quite a few activities for somewhat older kids but G was mostly interested in the toddler playground she eyed when we first got there. She kept saying "Pawk!!!" (park) "Wheee" (slide) until we went over there and let her check it out for awhile. Georgie loves the park more than anything in the world I think.




Then we came home, G had her much needed nap and then it was time to try out another one of her swimsuits. This one is so cute!!! Its from Gymboree and has matching sunglasses!!! OMG dressing a little girl is so much fun. This first one I call Georgie's "Diva Pose"



Georgie always has her tongue out when she's in the pool. Yes, she ends up drinking a lot of water!! Yuck!

Bobby and G enjoying the waterfall: