Long over due update

I know it's has been a while since I updated the blog. Things have been crazy busy lately, so for now I will just update with pictures.

FCC Cultural Day, making Great Wall pictures with Daddy.

Tressa playing with the Dragon costume at FCC

Digging for diamonds with Daddy at Crater of Diamonds, Arkansas

Tressa's first day at elemantary school for PALS (speech therapy) program. Tressa goes every Monday and Wednesday for two hours and gets to ride the school bus. Now when she sees a school bus she always tells us "I ride cool bus!!!" She loves to ride the bus like a big girl.

Tressa was Tinkerbell for Halloween and got way too much candy, but she had a blast.

We took Tressa to Santa's Village in Richardson. She was not interested in seeing Santa, but had fun running around looking at all the lights and decorations.

Happy Birthday Nana Merritt

Tressa wanted to send a special message to her "Nana Merritt". She has been saying "happy Nana Merritt" all evening.

2yrs already

It doesn't seem like 2 years have gone by already. That sweet little face that was pale and thin has turned into bright, round, chubby cheeks. I sometimes think back to the first time we held her and remember the curiosity in her eyes. As if she were mesmerized by who we were and what we looked like, just trying to take in everything that was happening. That small baby has turn into a little girl, full of energy, yet that inquisitive nature still remains. I still see that same look in her eyes at times. I am so proud to be her mommy.

Happy Birthday Grandma J

Tressa wanted to send a special message to her Grandma J or as she calls her "Mamma J"

China Panda

When we were in China the hotel we stayed in put a panda in the adoptive parents room for the children. It was Tressa's first stuffed animal and she just loves pandas now. She carried this particular panda around so much and it has been washed so many times that it no longer shows the hotel name on it. So, recently I contacted the hotel to find out if it was possible to purchase another one as a keepsake for her when she's older. I received an email saying they no longer give those pandas out, they have a different item for adoptive families. However, they would try to locate one and asked for my address to send it if they could. At this point I resolved that I wouldn't be able to get one for her and didn't think about it any more. A couple of weeks ago I received a note from the mailman that there was a box I needed to pick up at the post office. Since I had put the thought of the panda out of my mind I had no idea what was being sent. Imagine my surprise when the postal worker handed me a box from China. I was shocked, they had found a panda and sent to me free of charge. I am so thankful for their kindness in finding another panda for Tressa and have sent a thank you note to them for all their help. I included the pictures above so they would know how happy she is with her favorite toy. For now, it has been put back in its box and away in her closet until she is older.

Fun in the pool

On a weekend we actually didn't have rain Tressa got to enjoy some time in the new pool Nana and Papa got for her. She definately loves the water. I guess we'll be looking into swimming lessons next summer.

4th of July -a little late

Here's a few pictures from of our 4th of July celebration. A little late, but better than never.

Spring Wildflowers

We have the most beautiful wildflowers here in Texas. The City of Richardson has a festival ever year in May called Wildflower Festival when the flowers are in abundance. Since Ed works for the city he knew the flowers at City Hall were in full bloom. This weekend we decided to do the typical parental task here in Texas, take pictures of the little ones playing in the flowers. It took Tressa a little bit to warm up to the idea, mainly because she had fallen asleep in the car on the way. But eventually she decided it was ok to play in and pick the flowers.

Tressa's Baptism

Tressa was baptized on April 29th. Ed had picked out her dress when we were in China just for this occasion. The dress fit perfectly and she looked even more beautiful than I had imagined. Usually Tressa goes to Sunday school after Children's Service, but since Ed and I were joining the church and having her baptized she had to stay a little longer. She was very well behaved and sat in Mommy's lap until everything was finished so she could go to class.

Easter '06 and '07

What a difference a year makes!!! Last year it was a beautiful sunny day, this year was extremely cold and windy. Tressa still enjoyed herself.

Easter and more egg hunts

Well Tressa definitely had her fair share of Easter Eggs this year. She went on 4 different egg hunts- school, church, neighborhood center, and Easter Sunday. She might be off her sugar high by the time Easter comes next year. Tressa sure changed from last year when she really wasn't sure what to do, to this year trying to grab all she could get. And by the time Easter came she had no doubt and no hesitation about grabbing the goodies and finding what surprise she had waiting for her.

Fun at the zoo

I know it's been a while since I last updated the site. Everything is going really good. Tressa had another sinus infection, but it cleared up pretty quickly once she received more antibotics. I then got one and am just about over it. A couple of weeks ago we had a beautiful Saturday afternoon so we took Tressa on her first trip to the Ft. Worth Zoo. It was her first experience at a zoo, well in the US anyway. It was a great day and the animals were pretty active for the most part. We took our time so we weren't able to see all the animals, but she was able to see most of them. Tressa really enjoyed the experience, especially feeding the fish, seeing the elephants, and watching the lion roaring. I think she enjoyed being able to pull the wagon herself more than anything else though. Our friends Waring and Bethany went along with us and between the four of us I think we took about 200 pictures. The picture of her sleeping in the car is not after the zoo, but actually shortly after leaving the house that morning. She was able to have her nap before going to the zoo and she had a blast. We can't wait to take her back, but maybe to the Dallas Zoo next time.

Here are a few new pictures of Tressa from this week. The bottom one was after eating powdered donuts, what a mess huh!!