Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning started with lots of excitement as we noticed there were all kinds of new presents under the tree. Tessa spotted her piano from Gamma and Gampa and immediately started “playing” it. She loves music, singing and dancing so this is a great gift. Thank you!!!

We opened presents with Grammy and Grandpa thanks to the miracle of video conferencing. Tessa was most excited about ripping paper off the boxes but I know she will love bouncing around on her new Fropper too. Thank you!!!

Gamma, Gampa and Granny all came over to celebrate with us. We watched Tessa open presents and play with her new toys. It was lots of fun watching Tessa TV. Plus there was a big surprise for Momma and Daddy, a new dining room chandelier. Thank you!!!

Ryan was once again the master chef while Momma played with the baby. It was our best turkey ever, you're hired! After eating we relaxed by watching Mamma Mia. There is something so fun about seeing Pierce Brosnan sing and dance in sparkly lycra. As I rocked Tessa before bed I thought again how she is the most wonderful present of all. Merry Christmas everybody!

French Christmas Eve

Each year for Christmas Eve we choose a country and celebrate it's traditions at my parent's house. This year was France so our menu included cheeses, french onion soup, croissants, steak and frites, wine, champagne and a Bouche de Noel. Tessa even had an Eiffel Tower sippy cup. Everything was delicious, hats off to the chefs Ryan, Mommy and Daddy.

The toy du jour was Madeline. Tessa was so excited about everything that she ran around Gamma and Gampa's house like a little wind up toy. In fact, while trying to put on her jammies, she bolted away from me and we played chase while she streaked around the house wearing only her little monogrammed panties.


Before heading over to Gamma and Gampa's house, Tessa was parading around in her fancy party dress. She's such a doll. Enjoy the videos and I apologize in advance for my singing! Merry Christmas Eve!

Tony's Party

It was a week-end for parties! Tony and his wife Cindy hosted a Christmas party at their lovely home. It was also a farewell party for Ryan since he will be moving to a new postion in January. We had a champagne toast and everyone in the group was very complimentary of Ryan. He will miss the wonderful people he has worked so closely with these last few years. I think the highlight of the evening was when Tony, Ryan and Danny opened the "FRAGILE" (pronouced fra-jeee-lay) box and set the leg lamp up for display. Who knew Tony was as big a fan of that movie as Ryan was?

Santa Christmas Party

Our Sunday school class had a Santa Christmas party for the kids last week-end. The parents dropped off presents early for Santa to hand out at the party. Some of the kids were thrilled to sit on Santa's lap and receive presents from him, but not our child. Tessa didn't even want to get close to the big guy. So we opened our present in the vicinity of Santa. Fortunately, the Bee Bop Band toy was a hit even if Santa wasn't. Lots of children wanted to play with Tessa and her cool drum set. It was a wild and crazy party but the kids loved it. Merry Christmas!

Our baby is growing up so fast! We take lots of pictures and treasure each moment. Enjoy the slideshow below.

Welcome to our blog! Today our adoption of Tessa was finalized - yeah!!! In our hearts she has been our daughter from the moment we saw her sweet face on an ultrasound photo, we just now have the papers to prove it. Thank you to all of our family, friends and adoption professionals whose love, support and expertise made this day possible.

Stay tuned for clips from our everyday life as I learn how this blogging thing works!