Thursday, October 31, 2013

Cora's Big Day

I know this day was a long time ago, but since I've been giving you glimpses through the adoption process, I thought I'd share the last part of how Cora became ours.

At the end of August, soon after Cora turned 6 months (a day after to be exact), we arrived at the local court to legalize our adoption.  Basically, during the 180 days following Cora's placement with us, we had to complete 5 visits with our adoption agency, including one home study.  Although Cora's birthparents relinquished their parental rights 48 hours after Cora's birth, we had to wait 6 months before we were legally named Cora's parents and thus issued a new birth certificate with our names on it.

So, we woke up bright and early and got to the courthouse early.  This was an appointment we didn't want to be late for.  Good thing, because we were the first ones to go!

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Cora, excited for this great day!

In a proceeding that lasted a total of 5 minutes,  we were sworn in, asked a few questions, and legally pronounced Cora's parents.  The judge even gave Cora a little teddy bear and let us take a picture with him.
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The hearing was so quick that a friend we invited, who got stuck in a little traffic, just managed to catch the end of the hearing.  But, she was gracious enough to take a few pictures for us.  Thanks Auntie Jeanie!

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We're legally the Sliks!

2029

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My happy girl!

Truly, a wonderfully meaningful and joyful day for our family!  I am just amazed at what God has done in bringing our family together.  7 years ago, when Slik and I got married, I would have never dreamed that we would end up adopting a child.  Now, I can't dream of our life without our precious daughter!

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

While I've been away...

(from blogging that is) lots has happened and Cora has grown like crazy.  I didn't mean to take a break from blogging, but sometimes life just gets in the way and I didn't really want to spend my 45 minute nap breaks editing/uploading/blogging my pics.  So, sorry for the hiatus, I'm going to attempt to catch up with a photo dump of our life in the past 3 months.

So, while I was away lazy...

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Cora learned to sit

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and stand up in her exersaucer

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She deepened her friendship with her favorite doggie, Uncle Beau

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She tried her first solids - avocados.  This was her reaction.

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Cora learned to read.  (Not really!)

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There were lots of naps

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We visited friends
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We visited family
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Cora learned to ride a scooter

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She went to the beach for the first time
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(Immediately after Slik snapped this pic, a huge wave drenched me up to my knees.  It was COLD)

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We've really just been enjoying time together and with friends and family these past few months.  As Cora has become more interactive and active, I'm understanding how life as a mom can be so busy even if at the end of the day, all you've done is "played" with your child.  I wouldn't trade these moments for anything though - I just love how Cora has been changing before my eyes.

Right now, we're visiting my family in NJ, so hopefully I can carve out some time to catch everyone up on our lives and some big changes coming ahead :)  So, that's it for now!

Before I sign off, here's a bonus picture of my blue-eyed loves
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