Baby's First Christmas

This was Corinne's first Christmas!! We didn't go too wild with presents this year because we figure she won't remember until later years anyway. Nathan found a deal on Amazon where he got Corinne the Disney movies Car's, Up and Monster's Inc. on blue-ray for $30. We thought they would be gifts she would enjoy later, but she seems to be pretty entranced by the TV already.

Having gone to Seattle in July and again in October to pick up Corinne, we decided to stick around Houston for Christmas this year. This was our first Christmas by ourselves. We hung out with a number of friends from the ward that also do not have family in the area. This was also our first wedding anniversary not spent with family in Seattle or in the airport headed to Seattle. So what do we do? We both forgot until that evening and went to lunch together a few days later.

Making faces: 8 weeks

Cora has gotten more responsive and makes funny little faces.

Leaa's Blessing Outfit

While in Seattle mom gave me the outfit I was blessed in. My grandma Perkins knitted it. I was six weeks in the photos I have of me in it and Corinne is six weeks in these photos too. Corinne will be much bigger by time we bless her or we could have used the same outfit. I love the little rhinestone buttons.

First Dr. Appointment

We took Corinne to her first doctor visit here in Texas on the 19th. Since being born she has grown more than three inches and gained almost four pounds. All that in six weeks! She is in the 90th percentile for height, at 23", 70th percentile for weight at 10 lbs 10 oz. and 40th percentile for head size at 14 3/4". She is a good little eater and it shows. She also had immunization shots, which she actually did pretty well for. It was later in the day, after a nap that I think they hurt the worst though. That afternoon was the most I have ever had her cry. She is doing fine now though.

One Month Photos

I took Cora to get some one month photos at Target. She slept through the first part where she was wearing the cute little outfit I picked out, but she was awake for the ones where she was just wearing the diaper cover. So of course I like the ones where she is awake better.

These pictures are from Corinne's first bath after leaving the hospital. We used my sister Becky's bathroom sink. Even with warm water, Corinne was not too happy about the whole experience. She was pretty upset until she got her bottle. She likes her bath time much better now that she has had a few more.

Daddy's Day

I am playing a bit of catch up on some important events. Nathan did not come up to Seattle when the birth mother was in labor. She went into labor Tuesday night and delivered Wednesday. We knew Nathan would not be able to stay in Seattle the entire time we were waiting for ICPC to clear and be able to bring Cora home. We thought it would be more important for him to be able to help bring her home with juggling Cora and everything on the plane so he came up on Saturday after Cora was born. The photo below is Nathan's face as he got to see Cora for the first time in person.

Nathan was understandably distraught about not being in Seattle right away. I don't think he was expecting that. He also had a hearing on Friday he needed to attend for work, but he was itching to get out out Houston and to Seattle as soon as possible.

He had to unwrap her and get a good look at her. So tiny. So pretty.

I swear

Nathan was sworn in as an attorney a few days after getting back from picking up Cora from Seattle. He could have done it for like a month before we left, but we just didn't make the time.

Cora and I got to stand up front with Nathan I felt a little silly up there but it was nice to have the close up view. I am really proud of Nathan and all the hard work he has done.

I forgot my camera battery charger for our point and shoot in Seattle so all these photos were taken on my phone. We met a nice lady who offered to take the photos.

At home we used the big camera we didn't want to take to the court house. Cora is making the cutest face here.

This is the cute little dress she wore to the court house. We will have to pick her out another special dress in a few months next time we go to the court house together.

Four weeks

Corinne is now four weeks old. It is hard to believe that it has been four weeks since we got that 2:30 am phone call telling us the birth mother is in labor, so hop the next plane to Seattle. Adopting has been an amazing experience. We feel incredibly blessed. Corinne is a beautiful and easy baby. She slept a full 8 hours last night!!

Belly Button

Corinne's belly button is so cute. The little swirl looks like a cinnamon roll.

Halloween

I am late with this post, but I figured Halloween was not too long ago so still timely enough. We didn't do anything exciting for Cora's first Halloween. We just stayed home and handed out candy. We thought three weeks might still be a bit too young for her to be going door to door. It was such a cold night and Cora's little teddy bear halloween costume was so snugly and warm we just let her sleep in it. It is from the Carter's store and is just one of those winter suits. They had some other cute ones too like a reindeer and a polar bear. I liked this one the best.

Ashli Leifson in our ward down here made the cutest little bows for Cora to wear and this Halloween bow is one of them. I remember Halloween being such a fun holiday as a kid. I am excited for when Corinne is a bit older and will get excited for the costumes and candy too.

The Cora Borealis

The name I chose for this blog comes from a few different things. When Nathan and I were trying to decided on a name for our little girl Nathan asked if I liked the name Cora. One of his favorite books is the Last of the Mohicans and Cora is one of the main character's names. Cora also happens to be my paternal grandmothers name. We both like Cora, but I hesitated to use the name Cora because my grandmother did not actually like her name and went by her middle name Marie. We decided to name our little girl Corinne to give her an option in case she also does not like Cora. We have been calling her both Corinne and Cora though probably more Corinne.

Another nickname for Cora is Cora Borealis (which of course, is the inspiration of the name of the blog). The princesses name in Sleeping Beauty is Aura which is a reference to Aura Borealis, the northern lights. At the end of Sleeping Beauty while Aura is dancing with the prince her godmothers change her dress color from blue to pink repeatedly while she dances with her prince in the clouds. This is a reference to the Aura Borealis, the northern lights. When I lived in Alaska, I would often watch the northern lights and thought they were beautiful. Since Aura rhymes with Cora sometimes we call her the Cora Borealis. She really is our little sleeping beauty too. At just under three weeks she still sleeps more than she is awake.