The Bluebonnet Escapade

In Texas, every year around April/May is considered bluebonnet season.  It's the short period in spring when the state flower blooms all over the state.  The flowers are beautiful and sprout up alongside highways and parks.  For all you non-Texans, bluebonnet season is a big deal here and it's no joke.  There are websites devoted to updating the public on bluebonnet sightings and families flock out to remote locations to capture their yearly bluebonnet family pictures.

Being Cora's first bluebonnet season, I thought it might be fun to try and get a few family pictures of our own.  So, I checked out the Texas bluebonnet sighting facebook page (yes, that actually exists) and found a location in The Woodlands, which is a suburb north of Houston.  It just so happened that we were planning on having dinner with some friends up there so we left a little early to take a few pictures in the optimal late afternoon sunlight.  Well, optimal sunlight or not, things did not quite go as planned.  The sun was still strong and Cora was getting hungry.  I managed to snap a few photos of Slik and Cora before the little lady just about had enough.

Cora - not too thrilled with taking pictures

"The sun is too bright for my little blue eyes."

"This is not my idea of fun."

A picture where Cora looks like a sleeping angel - I assure you, this was not the case.

"Please mommy, just let me be done!"

I had hoped to get a family picture, but Cora did not last long enough for that.  So I gave up and left to meet our friends.

A few weeks later, we were heading home from Austin and drove by a popular bluebonnet spot.  The highway was lined with parked cars and there were tons of people taking pictures in this big field of bluebonnets.

  

This photo shoot wasn't getting off to a good start either.  Poor Cora was blinded by the strong sun.

There was lots of crying, but once I figured out how to pose with Cora's face in the shade, she let us snap a few more pictures.

In the end, I still wasn't able to achieve my goal of getting a good family shot, but I think we did get a few good ones after all.  Maybe next time, I'll save myself the grief, spend the money, and hire a real photographer to do the photos instead.

Cora's Second Month

In Cora's second month, she had some exciting firsts.  Having passed the 6-week mark without any incidents, we started to take Cora out more to introduce her to the exciting world she lives in. 

Just after she turned a month, she had her first public debut at her sip 'n see:

All dressed up and ready to be spoiled!

Some of the ladies in my church Sunday school class threw us a beautiful sip 'n see.  For those of you (like me) who don't know what a sip 'n see is, it's basically a baby shower that is held after the baby is born.  This way, you can sip your tea and see the baby.  Cora and I enjoyed being spoiled and showered with love and gifts.  It was an awesome party - definitely pinterest worthy.  Unfortunately, I didn't get as many pics as I planned since I was too busy enjoying the party!

Cora and some of the ladies at the sip 'n see

We also took her on her first road trip:

My mom came to visit and we decided to take a girls' trip and drove up to Dallas to visit some friends and family.  On our way up, we just had to stop for a picture with the iconic Sam Houston statue.  Slik and I have driven past this statue many times over the years but have never bothered to stop.  I've always wanted to stop and get an up close look so my mom and I decided to stop and take a look.

On her trip, she had her first encounter with a dog (My in-law's bulldog, Beau):

I think they are on their way to being best buddies

Back home, she had her first playdate at the park:

Pretty much while one baby slept, the other was awake and vice versa.  The babies didn't get much interaction, but the mommies had a good time!

Later in the month, she went to her first concert (Uncle Joe's band, Hardproof Afrobeat) while on her second road trip:

   
Not surprisingly, she slept through Uncle Joe's concert.

However, I think my favorite first during her second month are these:

Her first real smiles!

Cora's First Month

I know you guys are probably just dying to see more pics of Cora.  I mean, she's approaching 10 weeks and all I've posted so far are some pictures of her first couple days of life.

Life has been great with our little girl and we are just enjoying every minute spent together as a family of three.  My days are much busier and a little longer now but I LOVE being a mommy.  Cora is just the most amazing baby ever and after two and a half months, there are still days I wake up and still can't believe she's ours.  It's funny, when I stare into her blue/gray eyes, I don't see my features reflected in her face, but I feel like she is a part of me and always has been.  She truly is a child of my heart - hoped for, longed for, and prayed for.  I just love her so much!

I'm making an effort to catch up so I'm just going to summarize her first months in a couple of posts.  Not much happens here besides eating, pooping, and sleeping anyway.

These are from her very first photo shoot when she was just a week old.  While looking through these pictures, I realized how much she's grown since these were taken.  She looks like a completely different baby now!  First things first though, I have to catch up with these photos before I post more recent ones!

 

 

"Mom! Haven't you had enough kisses already?"

Daddy snuggling with Cora

We've had most of our family visit and meet Cora.  While Slik's parents were here, we took Cora out on her first outing.  We took her for a stroll around Hermann Park:

Our first family photo

Proud grandparents

While grandma was here, Cora had her first hair wash and blow dry.  We discovered that Cora loves getting her hair blow dried! She's a girl for sure...but hopefully not a high maintenance one!

Cora getting her hair done at Grandma's salon

However, once Grandma left, it was up to Mommy and Daddy to set up shop.  This is what happened when we let Daddy blow dry her hair...

Needless to say, we have not let Daddy do the blow drying since!

Another photo shoot - I just love doing photo shoots with my little girl!

Boy, it's tough being a baby!

These are from our first family photo shoot.  We took Cora to the water wall and got some nice family photos.
  

We were getting drenched by the mist of the water wall but managed to snap a couple good shots.  Next we moved over to the park in front for some more relaxed pictures.

 

To celebrate her first month, we invited some friends over for Cora's "Man Yue".  In Chinese culture, parents often throw a party for their child when they turn one month old.  "Man" means full and "Yue" means month.  It's sort of like a birthday and coming out celebration since the baby and mother are confined to the house for the first month after birth.  Usually it's a fancy affair and held at a nice restaurant, but we opted for a low key version.  My mom was visiting so she cooked a yummy dinner and we had cake afterward. 

Happy One Month (that is er....1.5 months ago) to my sweet Cora!

Cora's Story

I know I kind of kept silent about our adoption on the blog and when I finally made the announcement, I didn't leave much time for people to digest it before we received our precious baby.  So, in case you're wondering how the process works, here's how it went down:

In October we began with our first orientation meeting with the agency.  Over the next couple of months, we filled out applications, created a profile book about ourselves, and interviewed separately and together with the agency.  By early December, we had finished our homestudy, marking the end of the administrative part of the process.  And so we began our wait to be chosen by birthparents as the adoptive family for their child.

Two months passed without a call from the agency and I finally got the nerve up to call the agency and get an update.  I didn't want to be that crazy woman who was hounding the agency for her baby, but I thought two months of no contact warranted my call.

On Thursday, February 7th, I called Jan, the agency director, and asked how things were going.  She responded with "Well, I would never call and tell you this, but.....".  Basically, she told me we had been selected by a birthfamily, but she did not think that the birthfamily would go through with the adoption.  She said she had been working with the couple for months and it really looked like they might decide to keep the baby in the end.  Normally she would not call an adoptive family and share that, but because I had called her wanting to know how things were going, she decided to tell me.  She just told me to keep praying for our birthparents, hoping that God would guide them to make the best decision for the baby.  In the mean time, we were considered "off the market" for other birthparents choosing adoptive parents for their babies.  The good news was that our birthmother was due February 22, so we only had to be in limbo for a couple of weeks.

At this point, Slik and I really had mixed emotions and we got down on our knees and prayed hard for our baby (if this was even really our baby).  The next day, Friday, I called Jan back and told her we'd be willing to meet the birthparents even if they had not made up their minds up in an effort to do our best to convince them that we would be great parents for their baby.  In the pre-dawn hours Saturday morning, I came down with a case of food poisoning.  As I was lying in bed, Jan called and said the birthparents had a change of heart and wanted to meet that evening.  Not wanting to put them off, I agreed thinking that I'd be over the food poisoning by then.  It was an anxiety-ridden day as I felt pretty sick up until an hour before the meeting time.  However, with the help of prayers from friends and some Immodium, I was well enough to make the meeting.

Our first meeting with the birthparents went pretty well.  I mean, there's no doubt that both sides were a bit nervous at first, but Jan was there to faciliate and once we got warmed up everyone felt more at ease.  We talked for a few hours that night and Slik and I walked away with a positive feeling.  However, when I talked to Jan the next day, she warned me that she was not fully convinced that the birthparents would follow through with the adoption.  She said meeting us was a huge step for the birthparents, but when it came time to relinquish their parental rights, parting with their child would be very hard for them.  It was really hard for us to guard our hearts and emotions while anxiously hoping that this was our child.  Regardless, we continued to meet during the next week, and our hopes that the birthparents would stick with the adoption grew.  Due to the uncertain nature of our situation, we chose only to share this news with family and close friends.

We continued meeting over the next couple of weeks and the birthparents kept us updated on doctor's visits.  With each meeting that passed, we felt more and more certain that our birthparents were set on their decision.  Jan also agreed and told us they were definitely working an adoption plan.  On Thursday, February 21st, a day before our birthmother's due date, our birthfather called after their appointment and said that they were going to induce our birthmother that night!  Apparently her blood pressure was high and since she was pretty much at her due date, it was time to have the baby.  Thursday night passed with no news of the baby.  Friday morning came and I decided to run a few errands before the baby's arrival.  I'll never forget how I was in line at FedEx when I got a text that our birthmother's water had broken.  I went home and continued to wait, trying to get some crazy last minute sewing done (no surprise there!).  Finally around 4 pm, we got the call telling us to come to the hospital and meet our baby!

Here  we are, getting ready to start on the biggest adventure of our lives - parenthood!

We walked into the birthmother's room where we first laid eyes on our little girl.  She was quietly lying under the heat lamp, basking in the warm glow of the light.  I felt with all of my heart that this sweet little girl, lying sleepily under the lamp would be our very own soon.  In all the excitement of seeing our baby for the first time, I did not remember to whip out my camera and take a picture, but later on, I snapped a photo of her when the nurse put her under the lamp to check her out:

The nurse bundled our baby up and handed her to me.  It was an amazing experience to finally hold her in my arms.  We got a few moments to soak in our baby before the birthparents introduced us to their family.  It was quite a whirlwind as we met sisters, brothers, parents, and family friends.

I'd like to think that this was my first time holding her, 

but with all the craziness, it was probably more like the 2nd or 3rd.

I'm pretty sure this was Slik's first time holding our daughter

The birthparents allowed us to spend most of the evening with our baby and the nurses at the hospital were nice enough to find us a small vacant room so that we could spend some time alone with our baby.  We stayed until around 10 pm and then gave our baby a kiss goodnight.

Slik giving her a kiss goodnight.

We spent most of Saturday hanging out with our birthparents and our baby.  It was a nice and quiet time, and we treasured the time we got to spend with our precious baby and the people who were giving us this amazing gift.  Of course, during all of this, there was still a small sense of uncertainty since nothing was final until 48 hours after her birth when the birthparents signed legal documents and relinquished their rights.  We left the hospital Saturday night, very excited and unable to take advantage of our last night of quality sleep.

Cora holding Daddy's hand

Sunday morning, we watched church online and counted down the hours.  We were texting our friends and family, keeping them posted on what was going on.  Our Sunday school class was praying for our adoption and I'm sure there were many people praying when 2:43 pm rolled around and the signing began.  

The birthparents asked us to show up at the hospital at 2 pm and we got to spend some time with our baby.  We left the room to give the birthparents privacy while they signed their papers and the nurse gave us discharge instructions. 

Slik, almost a daddy!

Afterwards, we went back to the birthmother's room and prayed together, packed up, and left the hospital together.  Everything went extremely smoothly, thanks to all the prayers lifted up!

Cora, in her carseat

Ready to go home!

I can't really describe all the emotions of that day.  The anticipation, the nervousness, the joy, the excitement, and later at home, the feeling of being blessed beyond belief.  We woke up on Sunday, just the two of us, and by the end of the day we had brought home a baby, changing our lives forever!  Our adoption was a bit of a roller coaster, but in the end, now that we have Cora home with us, I can definitely say it was worth it!