Day 2

Mandi here again. Melissa finally sent me an update and things seem to be going well. She hasn't sent any pics yet so I will go ahead and post this and post the pictures as soon as I get them.

Sorry, friends. I chose bed over the blog last night. We were all (four of us) asleep by 8:30. I'm exhausted. Cora has decided she wants me and only me, which is flattering, until it's time to try to do something. She won't let Brendan near her, and she's a little apprehensive of Olivia. Now on the other hand, Olivia has been the greatest big sister. It hasn't seemed to bother her (much) that someone new is demanding all the attention. She loves "Baby" and tries to give her hugs and pats her head. Yesterday morning she grabbed her hands and told her to "Dance!" as she started to swing her hips. She is one incredible kid - don't think we don't know how greatly we have been blessed!

Yesterday we had two meetings/interviews where we confirmed that we did, in fact, want to keep Cora. So we're now officially a family in China's eyes. We also had our picture taken with the orphanage director, and I'm so glad. (I almost forgot to have it taken.) It's just a little piece of Cora's past that we'll be able to give her. Yesterday I mentioned to the orphanage director that I had been talking with several other families who have adopted from that orphanage and that they were so pleased with how their children had been treated. I was suprised when she wanted to know which families I had been talking about, and she was able to tell me that one of the children was one of Cora's "roomies." It was something his mother and I had wondered, and I doubted that we'd ever know whether it was true or not. What a nice bit of information to walk away with!

Cora is starting to relax a little. We're hearing more and more of that voice of hers and seeing a few more smiles. (which are about impossible to capture on camera) I've heard the first few days are the hardest, and I hope that's true. Because that means things will only get better. We're anxious for her to settle in with the whole family. I have to wonder what's going on behind those big, brown eyes of hers. She has to be terribly frightened, and I'm grateful for moments that she can let her guard down and laugh a little.

I think we're off to the park today. As long as the weather holds up. And maybe a little shopping. We want to make sure we find special things from her home province that she can treasure someday.