Christmas Day

We had a lovely Christmas and Aria enjoyed it as only a little one can. She was so full of excitement with all of the presents, the tree, and the stockings. Here are a few of the photos of the day.

The perfect start

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. The little ones are for the kitties. We all had nice goodies in our stockings.

Learning how to cut vegetables.

Doctor Aria practicing saying "ahh" with her new medical kit.

 Am I sick Doctor Aria?

One of the biggest hits was a wooden train set. She has it set up with her new barn and other buildings in her room. She calls all of it "the city."

Aria and Mommy Read in Funny Voices

Karen reads to Aria a lot and they have started a new and fun way to read. Enjoy. Video taken Dec. 19, 2010.

Aria Trims the Christmas Tree

Aria is enjoying getting ready for Christmas this year. She is really loving all the lights, singing Christmas songs, and she has especially enjoyed trimming the Christmas tree the past few nights. It is so much fun for all of us now that she can fully participate in decorating the tree. Videos taken Dec. 15-17, 2010.

 

Thanksgiving at Aria's cousins

Aria and all of us had a wonderful thanksgiving at Karen's cousin Anne's house. We visited with Anne, her mother Ruth, and her daughters Belinda and Angela. It was also extra special because Karen's sister Lisa and brother-in-law Rich are visiting from salt lake City. Aria has been having a great time with all of them.

Click on the photo below to see more photos of Thanksgiving plus a few bonus photos.

Thanksgiving 2010 and snow

Trick or Treat - Grrrrr says the Tiger!

Aria had a wonderful time trick or treating in our neighborhood on Halloween. As you can see, she went as a tiger. She really got excited as we went to each house and found that the person at the door put another wonderful goody into her bucket. Before we left each house I would ask her what the tiger says and she would give a little roar. I don't know if she enjoyed it more or if I did. Photos taken Oct. 31, 2010.

A happy tiger prepares to head into the wilds

Tiger out trick or treating in the neighborhood

And for her last trick or treat for the night Aria knew that she would get something yummy from Mommy

When Mommy asked Aria what she wanted the pumpkin to look like Aria said that she wanted it to look like a kitty. So that's what Mommy did.

Aria's new school

It's hard to believe, but Aria's started school! She's attending the toddler program at Bellingham Preschool of the Arts. It's from 10 - noon on Thursday and Friday mornings, and so far she's loving it! Here's a photo of the artist at work from today. Photo taken September 16, 2010.

Aria Reads us a Book

Aria used to want us to read to her before bed time but recently she stared also wanting to read to us. Here she is reading from one of her recent favorite books. It is a cookbook for cat food. You will hear her say "Ellery" many times. That's because the main character in the cookbook is a cat named Ellery Cream. Video taken August 15, 2010.

Aria and Mommy Tour our Orcas House

Aria and Mommy walked through our Orcas Island house as it is under construction. There is a special treat at the end when you get to hear the words and thoughts of the master designer. Video taken July 29, 2010.

Birth family visits

This month Aria had the rare privilege of visiting with extended family on both sides of her birth family. We had a wonderful time seeing the sights around Bellingham and Orcas Island, as well as plenty of time to just hang out together. I'm so happy that Aria has the opportunity to know the people she came from. Here she is pictured with birth father Charlie, Nana Sheryl (Charlie's step-mom) , and GiGi (Charlies' grandmother, Claudia.); and with birth mother Amber, Granny Vicki (Amber's mom), and Aunt Janice (Vicki's cousin).

Photos taken June 10 and June 24, 2010.

Ready to roll!

Great things happen when you leave your kid alone to play and explore (not too far, of course, from Mom's watchful eye). While I was doing yard work, Aria discovered this skateboard in the neighbor's yard, did a few physics experiments by pushing it up to the top of their gently sloped driveway and letting it roll down, then dragged it up to the flat sidewalk to try getting on herself. When I saw this happening I ran inside to grab the camera and got this shot. Photo taken June 16, 2010.

Aria Makes her First Trip to the Folklife Music Festival

Aria, Mommy and Daddy traveled to Seattle over Memorial Day weekend to visit the Folklife Music Festival. Aria got to experience lots of different kinds of music ranging from very skilled fiddlers, to high energy Afropop dance groups, to young girls playing violin on the street corner. Aria loves to listen to the violin so we made sure to listen to lots of violinists. Folklife also has lots of people selling art and fun foods, not to mention nice dogs to pet. She also enjoyed dancing in the rain in her cool rain suit. Aria had a great time with this new experience and will probably enjoy the festival even more next year. Photos and videos taken May 31, 2010.

Aria Rides her Bike Outside

Once Aria decided that she liked riding her new balance bike it was only a matter of time until she would want to take it outside. One of the first times she did she asked Daddy to go on the trail. So off we went. Along the way we met some of Aria's animal friends. A week later we took a trip to Orcas Island and brought Aria's bike. She had a great time touring through our house which is being built there. The contractor just got started framing the first floor about a week earlier and has made great progress. The last part of the video was when Aria had a special time with her friend Jacob who lives across the street. Videos take April 30, May 1 and May 8, 2010. Photo taken May 1, 2010.

Here is Aria riding on the sidewalk next door with her 6 year old neighbor friend, Annika.

Aria Rides Her New Bike

Aria has a new bike! And it doesn't have training wheels. It's called a balance bike. We got it for her a few weeks ago after seeing other children riding and enjoying them. Yesterday she decided that she was ready to ride it without Daddy or Mommy's help and ride it she did. I bet she will have a ball with it when she takes it outside, especially when she learns to pick up her feet and coast. Photo taken April 25, 2010. Video taken April 24, 2010.

A Silly Walk Down Our Orcas Driveway

We went to visit our cabin on Orcas Island this weekend and had a wonderful time. As usual, Aria just loved being there. At one point Daddy was having fun and walked backward all the way down our driveway to the road (which isn't much of a road since there is only one occupied house on the entire road). You get to see the whole unedited silly video. Video taken April 10, 2010.

Here's Aria and Daddy on another of our walks on Orcas this weekend. Photo taken April 11, 2010.

Aria's Second Birthday

We had a quiet birthday with Aria visiting her little friend across the street and then going out to dinner with Charlie. Here is a video of Aria with her birthday cake as she learns to blow out candles. Amongst many wonderful presents, Aria received a fun book about Dudley that Mommy read to her for the first of what will surely be many times. Now Dudley helps Aria brush her teeth at night. Videos taken March 17, 18 and 20, 2010.

Aria's first trip to Arizona

Aria, Mommy and Daddy traveled to Arizona where Daddy's parents live (she calls them Oma and Opa - German for Grandma and Grandpa). Aria had a great time seeing her Oma and Opa again and getting to meet Aunt Kathy, Aunt Margie and Uncle Mike, as well as cousins Mike and Brian.

She really enjoyed the flight to and from Arizona (although she slept through the landing going there).

Aria got to swim nearly every day and really enjoyed the hot tub. She also enjoyed all of the attention from the people at the retirement village where Oma and Opa live.

Photos taken March 7-13, 2010


Aria rides the horse sculpture outside Oma and Opa's building













Fun in the hot tub













Climbing the stairs to Oma and Opa's and full of life


















Aria enjoying a moment with Aunt Kathy


















Aria, Mommy and Daddy with Oma and Opa

Aria eats Waffles

Aria asked for waffles this morning and she really chowed down, as you can see. Sure do love those yummy waffles. Part way through the video I turned the monitor around so she could see herself. We think Aunt Jennifer is right - she's a ham. The music in the background is from one of her favorite CDs. She often likes to rock out as she listens and claps to it. Video taken March 6, 2010.

Recent Photos from Early February

Aria has had a busy and fun life, as usual. Here are a variety of recent photos from early February.

Last week, Karen and Aria visited a friend who lives on 20 acres and has some farm animals. Aria got to feed the sheep and the chickens, and play ball with her friend ...


































... and then Aria got to partake in one of her very favorite pastimes - stomping in the mud! Photos taken Feb. 5, 2010.















Just this evening Aria enjoyed swinging with one of her buddies, Winnie the Pooh. Here are a couple photos of the two of them playing together. Photos taken Feb. 13, 2010.


















And then when Aria isn't busy having such active fun, she likes to sit and read to her friends Raggedy Ann and Andy. By the way, the book she is "reading" is a travel guide. She has been asking us to read to her from a Hawai'i travel book a lot lately. Maybe she is making plans. She likes Daddy to make up songs about the photos in the travel books and she will often bring the book to Daddy and say "Daddy, sing picture." Photo taken Feb. 8, 2010.

Aria's fun day in the snow

We went up to the snow on Mt. Baker last Sunday. Aria got to run around in the snow, talk to skiers, help mommy build a snowman and throw snowballs. There is some special bonus video included (surprise) and time in the car eating lunch and making faces at the camera. Videos taken Jan 31, 2010 and April 11, 2009.

Cousins visit

A few weeks ago, Aria's cousins came up from Snohomish for a visit. Here she is pictured with second cousins Angela and Belinda, then with the whole crew, including Anne (Karen's first cousin) and her husband Hendrik. Belinda was taking the picture. Photos taken January 2, 2010.

Christmas Video

Aria opened presents over several days as presents arrived in the mail from many relatives and we had time to enjoy the process. That worked out well as we all got to savor each present. Videos taken Dec. 25, 26 and 29, 2009.

Publish Post

More Photos from Christmas Week

Here are some more photos from the last week. Aria got to spread her presents over several days and in the middle of it all we took a short trip to Orcas Island to enjoy our cabin and the beautiful sunny weather. Photos taken Dec. 26, 28 and 30, 2009.

Aria takes her baby for a ride in her stroller.


















Aria and Mommy play in Aria's tent and cuddle in her new blanket.


















Aria enjoys eating dried strawberries as she sports her new vest and dress


















One of the games Aria loves is playing airplane with Mommy.













Out for a walk in the woods on Orcas Island. It was a cold sunny and beautiful day so we all got bundled up and headed out.















Riding her inchworm