Family Photo Shoot

These were taken a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving.  Cora was almost 3 months old. 

I think this is my favorite picture from the day. :)

These were taken a couple of days later at my parents' home.

I love Jill's smile in this one.

My dad was being our model while Darren adjusted the tripod.

You can barely see that Cora has a handful of Ashlyn's hair.  She had both handfuls at first, but I didn't get the picture in time.  It was a funny moment, for everyone one but Ashlyn.

Chef Nate

One of Nate's co-op assignments was to make pop-overs.  

They didn't turn out so great.  I don't think skim milk is best for baking.  Nate doesn't like breads/muffins that much so he didn't care how they turned out.  He did have fun making them though.

Since his popover assignment, he has helped me more in the kitchen.  His two favorite things to help with are pancakes and red beans and rice.  He loves to flip the pancakes and cut up the sausage for red beans and rice.

Fall Fun

Our absolute favorite place to visit each October is Old Baker Farm. It was hard to find a weekend to visit with Nate's soccer schedule, but we made it the last weekend in October.

Cora has the prettiest blue yes.  They sparkled in the bright sunshine.

Cora's first hay ride. :)

One of Nate's favorite things is climbing this huge hay pile.

He also loves the corn maze.

Cora was sound asleep by this point.  I wish she was in this photo with us. I love this old home and the porch decor.

That evening Nate and Darren carved Nate's pumpkin.  Nate insisted on having a "scary" jack-o-lantern this year.

This photo of Cora was taken on Halloween.  It's one of my favorites.  I love those sweet red lips and blue eyes.

I've gotten rid of most of Nate's baby things, but I still have this sweet pea costume he wore on his first Halloween.  

Sweet Pea Cora

 Sweet Pea Nate

Halloween evening, we went trick-or-treating with some new friends.  It was a fun night.  Nate was a Power Ranger for the second year in a row.  I wore Cora so she was just a baby. You will have to take my word for it because I have zero photos from that night.

Fall Soccer

Nate had another fun soccer season.  We traveled a lot (just about an hour away) because there weren't enough local teams during the fall season.  

I wasn't sure about traveling almost every weekend with a newborn, but Cora was a great.  She only missed a couple of games. We had a great time cheering for Nate's team.

When Cora Was "Brand New"

I am trying so hard to get caught up on blog posts and I am way behind.  I am still working on sweet Cora's adoption and birth story and will hopefully post that soon.  The entire story is beautiful and full of God's grace and goodness for us and Cora's birth mother.

Cora was born with a mild stridor and started spitting up when she was just a day old.  The hospital pediatrician changed her to a more broken down cow's milk formula.  She was on that formula for a few weeks.  Then I noticed blood in her stool, which was due to a cow's milk sensitivity/allergy and we changed to a hypoallergenic formula.  She was a trooper through all these changes and was never fussy or cranky.  She continued to spit up.  I actually had no idea babies could spit up so much. :)  If this kiddo was awake, she had a bib on.  I bought bibs and more bibs.

A sweet friend loaned us a rock-n-play.  It's a small cradle that allows the baby sleep upright instead of flat.  It was a life saver for our little spitter. :)  She slept in it until she was 5 months old.

The stridor was never severe and we only heard it when she was really upset and crying hard, which wasn't often.  The pediatrician still wanted us to have it checked by an ENT.  Thankfully, everything looked fine.  It was not a fun experience though.  They had to run a camera through her nose and down her throat while she was awake.  All of this fun stuff while I was holding her.  It was traumatic for both of us. :(

Cora was born breech.  We did not know she was breech until about an hour before she was born.  She had classic "breech legs" for several weeks and we would see them almost every time she had a diaper change.  Ultrasounds are required on all breech babies at 6 weeks.  Her ultrasound was perfect and we haven't seen those "breech legs" in a long time.   

This girl loves her Daddy.  Darren was the first person to get her to smile on a regular bases.  He would make funny faces and noises and she would just light up.  I would try doing similar things, but I didn't have as much success.  She started smiling consistently around 2.5 months and hasn't stopped.  She is a happy, smiley girl.

This was one of the first times I remember her being so intently focused on a person.  She was memorized by her daddy.

She was (and still is) an excellent sleeper and was always calm and content.  

This is one of my favorite newborn photos of her.  I love that wrinkled, bald head.  I also love that she is wrapped in the blanket Ashlyn made for her.  It was our favorite newborn blanket. 

We had lots of company those first few weeks.

Aunt Jill and Cora (it was homecoming pajama day for Jill)

Aunt Bill and Brenna still come by almost every Wednesday afternoon to visit Nate and Cora

Granna and Cora

Hadley didn't know what to think about the real, live baby.  I love Cora's toes. :)

Nan and Pops still come at least twice a week to love on Nate and Cora 

Ashlyn's classes had just started in Mobile and she also had a job that wouldn't allow her to be here until Cora was several weeks old.  We were so thankful when she finally got to meet Cora.  These girls share August birthdays.

Nate helped make tummy time more fun for Cora.

What a blessed time those first few weeks were!  She has grown so much and that precious time is already becoming a blur.  I cannot tell you how much we loved having another sweet newborn in our home - sleep deprivation, spit up, every part of it.  Having a much older child helped me remember how quickly the newborn stage flies by. Darren and I cherished all of it.  :)

Bath Time

I thought Cora's umbilical cord would never fall off.  It stayed on for about 6 weeks.  It finally fell off and we were able to give this girl a good bath.

She did surprisingly well with her first bath.  I prepared Nate for lots of fussing, but she did great.  No tears. :)

Baby Wearing

A sweet friend loaned me her ring sling and maya wrap to try with Cora.  I wanted to wear Nate, but never did.  This time I was ready and began wearing Cora soon after her arrival.  

I loved wearing her and having her close.  :)  I wore her to church, grocery shopping, soccer games, Christmas tree cutting, baby showers, birthday parties, and the list could go on.

Around four months, she decided she didn't like being snuggled up quite so tight and I haven't worn her much since then. Soccer is about to start again and I will give it another try.  Now she is old enough to be worn in several different holds.  Hopefully we can find one that makes her happy. :)