6-4-18 chillin' with the baby:

Layla's just over 6 months old now (although we still have to remember that she was over a month early).  It's such a thrill watching her advance.  She's such a cute little thing and really has a fun personality.  Now she's even enjoying more time playing by herself. 

Seems like every week she's doing something new!  Today she even turned over from her back to her front twice.  Then she couldn't figure out how to do it again. 

She's so inquisitive! 

I'm so glad we get to spend so much time with her!

5-28-18 more Layla

This is what takes up a lot of our time now---a sweet little girl named Layla!  So glad she's come into our lives!

Layla hanging out with grandpa.

I never really missed being a grandma---but now I can't imagine her not being around.  Gonna miss living so close to her when we move 2.5 miles away!

5-26-18 a date with Layla:

Today the kids were off to do something---buy a car I think?  Josh had to get a newer car in order to keep his car package with work and this weekend their Civic turned 10 years old---the cut off age for the car package.  So Ken and I took Layla for the day and started it with breakfast at Lane's Farm.  There we even introduced her to tractors.

and other playground toys.

She seemed to enjoy herself as much as we enjoyed her.

Time for another tractor

Maybe she'll be a farmer some day in the future and it will all be because of today!

I guess all the excitement wore her out.

But she was up and ready to play some Mexican Train Dominoes that night!

Such an inquisitive face!

Again her Mommy and Daddy stomped us in dominoes, but at least they fed us first! 

5-22-18 Layla finds her toes:

It's been really neat watching Layla develop into the sweet little individual that she is. 

Every new discovery intrigues her so much.  This week she's discovered her feet.

Today I also found a camera club in Warner Robins, so we all headed that direction for dinner.  Love the ride through all the pecan orchards!

The sky was looking pretty nice---where's all that rain they said we're getting?

I think we found it! 

After a good meal at Freddie's, I headed off to my meeting and the rest of them went home.  It was a good group of people at the meeting.  Wish they met more then once a month.  Wish it was more like the club in Florida, but at least it was smaller and had friendlier people then the one in Lawrenceville.  I'll be back.

5-21-18 photographer in training:

Getting her started early!

Our sunny weather is about to come to an end---for quite a few days!

Time to hit the pool before the storms hit.

5-18-18 chillin' out:

Now that the moves are done (for a little while), the adoption is final, and we have a chance to sit and do nothing----this is my view!

Layla likes to sit and do nothing, too---on top of her Dad's head.  Love how she's in a stage of sucking on her lower lip.

And, of course, she's quite the drooling machine!

a look at our house for the next month or so.

Time to do some babysitting.  So up to the bonus room so Layla can play in her jumper.

One of the rare times she fell asleep without being held---at least during the day.

She got a new gadget, too,---something like a Bumbo child seat.  She seems to like it.  Since she can't sit up on her own yet, this does a great job of holding her upright.  There sure are a lot more things you need now than there were when her Mom and Dad were babies!

But if it makes her happy, why not.

And to finish off the day---Ken and I hit Golden Corral for dinner.  Love the plates of stuff Ken comes up with.  :)  This was his dessert.  On another note, I really like this Golden Coral.  They have blue cheese crumbles and cranberries for my salads!  Wonder how long it'll be until they quit carrying them like all the other ones we've gone to?!

Settling into our new life in middle Georgia.  I think I'm going to like it!

5-11-18  A-Day!!!!  Layla's adoption day is finally here!!!!

This is the day we've all been looking forward to for years now!!!  Too bad it didn't come a couple days sooner---while we were still in Buford!  But by they time they were given the court date for Layla's official adoption, we had already scheduled the truck and movers.  So we're back on the road heading back up to the NE Atlanta area of Lawrenceville.
We had given ourselves about 3 hours to get there, but didn't count on an accident shutting down I-75 just north of Macon.  So we were rerouted onto back roads and our travel time was increased by about an hour.

At least there were some interesting things to look at.  Like old barns---

ruins---

Lots of wild flowers.

and none of this traffic!  Which we hit when we were able to get back onto the highway.

Heading down from spaghetti junction.

Not far from where we use to live----THIS is what I won't miss!!!

Fortunately, Angie was able to get a hold of the lawyer and she was able to get in touch with the judge and have their time slot moved 1 1/2 hours later.  So glad they didn't have to wait for another date!

The soon to be official Hicks family.

She was a happy little girl!  Wonder if she could sense what a special day this is!?

Proud papa with his little cutie pie.

selfie time

look at those eyes!

Proud Mema and Papa. 

The lawyer with last minute advice.

In the courtroom now.

The judge meeting the happy parents.  She was great!  All judges should be as personable!

Happy Mama

Swearing to love Layla and take care of her forever.

 Proud Grandparents watching on.

 Questions asked and answered---they passed with flying colors.

The happy family and the judge that made it possible.

Plus the grandparents.

I couldn't be happier for them!

on to ordering the new birth certificate, SS card, and such.

It couldn't have gone any better---even if they had been on time!

We had hoped to celebrate over lunch afterwards, but with it already getting into rush hours, we decided to get out of town.  By the time we got out of town---by way of more country roads to avoid the traffic, the kids just wanted to get back to the pups and head to dinner in Perry.  But since Carol, Darrel, Ken and I were in a separate car and too hungry to wait, we stopped at Cracker Barrel on our way back.  Then we stopped at a park along the way---Indian Springs. 

Didn't spend a lot of time here, just drove through to see if it would be a place to come back to.

Nice lake and picnic areas, but not much else.

Our route took us along the Georgia Civil War Heritage trails.

Wonder if this is a store or someone's junk filled yard?!  There were a few of these places.

and some more farms.

By the time we got back to Perry, the kids were heading back with their dinner.  It was a LONG day, but a great one.  Layla is officially our granddaughter now and we had a nice visit with Carol and Darrel.  It's nice having friends to visit with.  Too bad they live so far away!