Nora meets her first blonde...

Today was another quiet day at home, with Lewis home sick and Nora on her second day of a cold. We had a nice visit from our friend, Kim, who shared her delicious beef barley soup with us. Nora was pretty mellow, but definitely was intrigued by Kim's blonde hair. Every picture we tried to take of them together ended up with Nora staring at her! Was definitely fun for me to see a friend.  :)

Adjusting at home...

Hi all... the days are blurring by as we attempt to get back on our time zone together. The last three nights have been progress in getting away with not giving Nora a bottle in the night. The feeding routine is being more established in the day, so that's good. Doesn't make it any easier when she wakes frequently, and must I say... very cranky! Her fingernails are particularly deadly as she scratches our faces and digs into our arms. Lots of flailing as she's held, and then needing to be held standing up...(How do babies know when you're sitting?) We've been playing tag-team hours with Nora through the night. The twin bed in her room is quite handy, and one of us has ended up there with her in the wee hours of the night. Being close to us is comforting, and banging her head on the wall doesn't seem to bother her! Beats falling out of the queen bed. In the morning, all is forgiven and forgotten as she greets us with a beautiful smile.

On the opposite end of the scale, daytime naps are not a problem... she'll stir briefly when being placed in the crib, give a couple of whimpers and then roll over. Two hours later, she's happy! Sort of like in this photo... ( I guess I should wake her now, it's been that long...)

 This is more rare... but so delightful!

 Rosie's following us around frequently. May be a little jealous, but is not threatening at all. She's figuring out that good things land on the floor near the high chair...

Nora's made two brief appearances after school to the Primary and Middle School. James really doesn't want me to pace the halls of his high school with a baby, which I threatened to do... :) Everyone is very happy to meet her, and we so appreciate everyone's welcoming support. Thank you!

Sunday... why is it called a day of rest?!

Despite a restless night dealing with jetlag, we all got ourselves organized for going to church for the first time. Of course, Scott needed to go as he was preaching! We all felt badly for him, as he was tired, had a sinus infection and didn't have a ton of time to prepare. With a topic of "Corking the Whine of Complaining" already chosen for him, what's a guy to do?! :)

I had fun dressing Nora in her silk 2 piece "pant-suit", for lack of a better term! She looked so pretty. And talk about a lot of facial expressions... She can seem ever so serious, and then break out in a grin like this one. So sweet, she is.

Nora encountered many new faces on Sunday, most met with very intense observation on her part. As I wore her in the baby carrier, she fell asleep well all through the service, so I was able to enjoy being in there as well. Having survived our first public time out, we were content to lounge around the house for the remainder of the day. :)

Meeting my family...

Hi all... I know you're going through "Nora" withdrawal, so I thought I better write something! ;) We stayed close to home this past weekend as we unpacked, spent time with the boys, and tried to nap occasionally. We had a few short visits with extended family, which was a very sweet time. I missed getting a photo with my sister Ann, but managed to get her children trying on their new outfits. The girls looked great in their little cheongsams, but Aiden wasn't so sure about his clothes. Right away, he was rolling his shoulders looking very concerned... repeatedly saying "Too tight, too tight!" Good luck with getting him to wear that shirt again!

Thanks to Steve for a delicious chili dinner...

Rob, Kellie and their girls were over the following evening, kindly bringing pizza along with them. Kellie was so excited to meet Nora, and we had a fun visit. The girls were thrilled about their new dresses and cloisonne bracelets... I'm looking forward to seeing them dress up sometime.

And last, but not least, were Grandma and Grandpa... Nora had been sleeping Thursday when they helped bring us home from the airport. We all enjoyed watching Nora play with Grandma's sweater buttons, and smile at Grandpa's tickling. Yes, it's the simple things! There's no place better than being with those you love.

Life beyond the act of adoption...

It's unbelievable to me at times that it took over 4 years from our May 8th, 2006 LID to travel to adopt Nora. The wait is behind me now, and soon I will not recall what that was like waiting and wondering for so long if it would ever be a reality that we'd have a daughter. Her legal adoption is a huge, momentous step in terms of government paperwork and permissions but really, it is only the beginning. I never expected to blog about that wait for so long, and I would much rather talk about life with my child... becoming family. Others things, too, like what I'm learning along the way, how I'm coping with issues of cultural identity, race and family differences etc. Plus, it'll be fun to share her progress along the way without giving away too much of her personal life. I'll try to be careful with the balance.

I don't anticipate blogging too often, but I'll see how it goes. Thank you for coming along on our journey so far... it's been an amazing experience. Susan :)