Is Christmas really over already?

Can it be true? Can it almost be 2009 with Christmas behind us? Can Aidan be fast.... REALLY fast approaching his 1st birthday?! It is all going by so fast!

Aidan's 1st Christmas was fantastic! Grandpa Bell came to visit all the way from Tajikistan! For not having seen him since July, Aidan took to his Grandpa really well and quickly! No stranger anxiety there. We spent a lot of time doing absolutely nothing but enjoying each other...but some highlights was visiting Santa and seeing the Christmas lights on Thompson Avenue; our mini-trip to Sacramento; Christmas Eve with the Sloans and of course, Christmas day at home. Pictures of these times will be posted soon. We're still "decompressing" from the holidays and haven't had time to upload the photos.

Besides, we're running behind on our blogging and need to post some pre-Christmas photos...getting the tree and decorating!

Here we are picking out our tree on the 7th of December - we must have picked the wrong weekend to go because all the good trees were gone. Nothing but wimpy Charlie Brown trees left. We somehow managed to find a decent Noble Fir which disappointingly didn't smell like Christmas...unlike the Douglas Firs, but given that the lot was barren, we went with it.




Grandma and Grandpa Sloan, Nino, Nina and family came over for some chili, cider and Aidan's first tree-decorating:








I've always found it rather odd when grown men/women dressed up and hidden in large costumes (ie. Barney, and in this case, Frosty). There's just something a bit unsettling for me but I can't articulate it...maybe its that fact that I can't see their faces or read their body language, or maybe its that these are adults dressed up as characters appealing to younger audiences, I'm not sure. But something about it all makes me feel a bit creepy. Aidan seems to deal with it okay...here he is meeting Frosty:

The Many Faces of Aidan

I can't believe how much our little boy has grown...each day it seems, a new development. Its so incredibly exciting to see his personality start to form - all his new facial expressions, his moods, etc. Here is a smattering of his expressions taken in just a short few-minutes timeframe:

Aidan's 1st Halloween!

Aidan was a monkey for his 1st Halloween... we found this only fitting! Mark took the off and we started the day's festivities at Wee Play's Halloween Potluck. In the evening we went over to Uncle Gary and Auntie Estella's for pizza and drinks and trick-or-treating for dessert. "How did Aidan like it?" people ask ... personally, I think he was letting us indulge by getting him dressed in a funny costume and taking him about the neighborhood knocking on strangers' doors. For someone fighting a cold, he hung on well - despite being tired and feeling lousy.

Being a monkey at Wee Play:









Trick-or-Treating...what a tried little trooper:

Oh My - How they Grow!

I remember being 16 and complaining to my Dad about how slllooooowwwwlly time passes and how I wish it would pass faster. Where I was off to in a rush or why I wanted things to hurry up and happen? ... Who knows. It obviously wasn't important enough for me to remember. What I do remember is my Dad telling me that one day I will wish time to stand still, or at least to put on the brakes, so I should just enjoy. At the time, I thought my Dad was just being a parent and not being understanding. It was only with time and age that I began to understand how wise my Dad really was (still is) and how true what he said was. I don't know where the past 14 years went. Sometimes it feels like I was only 16 a few years ago - 

Time flew by in college, the years of life after college in my early-mid 20s, getting engaged, married.... but never has time moved as fast as it has these past 8 months. And now that I'm a bit wiser, I know that it will only move even faster, impossible as it may seem. 

It has been amazing to see how much Aidan has grown these 8 months, with his 1st birthday approaching quickly. Before I know it, he will be 16 and complaining to me about how time moves so slowly and my turn to share with him the wise words of his granddad. 

And here are some images that inspired this blog post and more wishes from me for time to slow down...just a wee bit:

And my favorite:

Aidan's 6 month photo shoot w/ Monica Wharton

And she does it again...Monica took some beautiful photos for us to commemorate Aidan being half-a-year old!

There were so many taken that we want to share so we created a slideshow. Check it out:

Munchkin with the Pumpkins

Mark and I were so excited to take Aidan to a pumpkin patch this past Sunday! We were much more excited than Aidan was and went a bit overboard with the photo-taking. It was tough to get Aidan to look at the camera and even tougher to smile...there were too many wheel-barrows and running tots that captured his attention. Here are a few of many:






Trying to get both Aidan and I to look at the camera and smile at the same time was impossible:



Gotta love the facial expressions:




Aidan was much more interested in trying to move the pumpkins:

Aidan at the Airshow

Every year in the beginning of October, the roaring sounds of the F18s rattling the windows of San Francisco's skyscrapers, marks the start of Fleet Week and the arrival of the Blue Angels. The San Francisco Bay - their practicing grounds before the weekend show. Die hard fans who are lucky enough to work in the Financial District, bring their binoculars and cameras with the uber-lenses to work the Friday before the air show to watch the pre-show from their office windows. My husband is one of these fans.

Mark has been dragging me to these air shows since we met, now that we're married, I have no choice. :-) I have never seen Mark so excited about any one event than the yearly Angels air show! (I think my being from the Pensacola area - home of the Blue Angels - was really what sealed the deal...as far as Mark proposing). Aidan...ah, Aidan...he has absolutely no choice! Aidan did really well for being out all day long. He was able to make eye contact with the planes and watch some of their acrobats. And the deafening engine roars didn't scare him at all. Here are a couple of photos from his very first of many...many...maaany shows to come.




You can't see them that well - but in the pictures above, the planes are behind Aidan (these were actually the Snowbirds from Canada). Mark was trying to capture the perfect shot of the planes in the background and Aidan in the foreground.

Below, he's watching intently as Dad describes what's going on:






Trying to lessen the loud roaring sounds:



Has had enough:

Aidan discovers the pantry!

I was in the kitchen this morning making my coffee - I turned away for a quick minute and Aidan had pried the door open to our pantry cabinet and was in search of something...turns out he knew exactly what he was looking for! I had to get it on camera.






And off he goes....