First Halloween

Decided last minute to go ahead and pretty her up even though she is terribly crabby(teething)

She really enjoyed the lights and screamed every time we pulled her away from eating the pumpkins.... Enjoy!

Tessa's 1st Birthday!!!!

Tessa was 1 on the 2oth and we had a quiet family birthday which is what we have always done.The traditional 1 cupcake to grab and stuff if interested... I can't believe Tessa has been home almost 3 mos now. It feels like she has always been home. Maybe because Taiwan provided us with monthly updates and we were able to watch her grow. We will be forever thankful for those pictures, videos and updates on her height, weight and development.

We feel very lucky to have celebrated her 1st birthday with her. She is our earliest walker out of all the children. She loved the frosting but didn't much care for the cake. I knew we should have given her ice cream. He He. She loves... that...

She loved to tear into the paper but once the gift came out of the paper she wanted the bows.

I knew that. We were able to play her the birthday song in Mandarin(Chinese) one of the girls on our adopting group emailed me this and I burned it to a cd. We played it over and over, because everytime it quit she screamed.... Thanks Katie!

All in all it sure was great to have her home to celebrate her 1st with us.

We Love You Tessa Yi Ling!

Our Morning Girl

It is around 6:30 every morning when Tessa lets her presence be known. She doesn't want to miss a thing. She looks great with her bed head and is always ready to play spidy girl if we are watching.... Never in my life did I ever think that I would have a climber.... I do.....

Travis was standing back behind her so I could get these pictures. Normally I will pull her down and redirect her quickly onto something else. I really wanted everyone to see she is going to keep us on our toes. Whenever we cook we have to gate her out of the kitchen now and the oven is always in LOCK MODE!!!!!!

Great Friends! Great Times!

We had a great weekend on the 13th and 14th. Some friends that I met at the Fam Taiwan picnic in Salisbury NC came down this weekend to see Beaufort and the coast of Atlantic Beach. They had a great excuse to come meet Tessa in person. Amanda and Scott have 2 beautiful adopted daughters Katie is 7 and is from Russia and Emily just turned 4 and is from Taiwan.
We celebrated an early birthday for both Tessa and Emily with a princess cake, the pool at the Sheraton and the Beach... Tatumn and Katie had a blast together and Emily is just a smiley little girl... We enjoyed great weather and great laughs together.... Can't wait to visit with them again.
Never did I imagine that adoption could bring so many families together to create a lasting friendships for us and our children. I have a great family in Raleigh who now has 2 beautiful daughters from China. Sarah will be 7 and Mary is 18 mos. She has been home about 3 mos now.
Pat has been my mentor throughout this whole process. I don't think we would have gone through intl. adoption without her help. Pat was their through every crazy ? I had and every worry I had in the beginning. Thanks Pat for everything you did for us and guiding us through these crazy years..... I also want to thank my fellow bloggettes on our adoption group that we formed with other adoptive parents who are adopting through Commonwealth in the Taiwan Prog B. We had formed quite a great little group. We all have each other through these ups and downs, and twists and turns in intl adoption. They have been my saving grace.... Thanks Girls!!!!
For anyone who doesn't know how rewarding it is to bring a child into your lives through adoption you have truly missed a great gift. She is ours..... We feel like Tessa has always been ours....

On My Own Two weeks before My Birthday

Fish kisses

I can do it now with a toy in my hand
I get tooo excited then I crash
Off to my toys

My favorite Elmo book.... I like to taste it also

And she's off on 2 Feet!!!!