Final Decision

Drum Roll.... 

                            I've decided to go private on my blog. So if you want to be a regular reader, then give me your email address, either through a comment on my blog, text it to me, or email me personally. I will remove the email comments after I get your email address, so your safe.

Sorry for the news, but it's something that I feel necessary at this time.

I will post some actual events that have been going on over this last month, real soon. 

Also, some of the people that I follow.. have actually gone private before I was able to give you my email address. I'd love to be on your preferred list...  Thanks!

Pondering Going Private

I know how much of a pain it is for everyone to deal with at times. I'm only tossing the idea around. If it happens, it will be finalized by sometime next week. I will let you know for sure, so I can get everyone's email addy.

Sorry, it's a short post. I have a few posts that needed to be added soon.

A Year Old and Loving It!

Today marked a historical day in our house. It was only a year ago that Chris and I were holding our little 7 lb .08 oz baby boy, Iszak.  He's growing like a wild weed,big smiles, laughing non-stop and making all kinds of sounds, saying dada, eating all kinds of fruits and vegatables, loves spaghetti with loads of sauce and of course ice cream.

Iszak was lucky enough to start celebrating his birthday a week before his actual day. We attended a BBQ at our friend's house and brought a birthday cake for dessert. It was one of the best tasting cakes ever. Yeah, so Iszak had 3 cakes to celebrate his 1st birthday. Yet, we only allowed him to divulge in one of the 3 on his actual birthday.

On June 6th,  we went to the Hogle  Zoo for the first time with Iszak. We invited some friends and their kids to join us. Daniel made the best cake ever and went well beyond my expectations. I only asked for a monkey hanging from a branch, but actually got this:

                                                          

Thanks for the impressive cake! All I was expecting was a sheet cake.

A spotlight of Iszak's first trip to the zoo.

We love you!!

Highlight's from Iszak's birthday on 6.7.09

Iszak didn't want to dig into the cake with his hands, no he expected it to be spoon fed. We managed to get Iszak to take the spoon and was loving it! At the very end, Iszak grabbed the cake and ice cream with his hands. Overall, it was a fabulous weekend and non-stop excitement.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ISZAK!!

                     

Back in the Saddle Once Again

I've taken a break from blogging for a couple of weeks. Now it's time to get some updates and post a few pictures of what's been happening lately.

We did make it to Alaska on Wednesday, May 20th after a long day of traveling and through multiple TSA checkpoints in Salt Lake and Seattle. Yes, I did have to go retrieve luggage and turn around to check it back onto another plane. Note to one's self.. never do it that way with a squirmy 11.5 month old and expect to make it a quick process.

Disclaimer now:

Not a lot of pictures were taken on this trip, as it was constant wedding preparation the majority of the time. I had a blast actually, because I think there was more connection between me and the family this time. There's a stronger bond and I wouldn't have asked for anything more.

I got to talk more with Jennifer and have one on one time. We actually have more things in common, so we plan on spending more time together. Actually started planning the next trip already which includes camping.

It's really cool to have that older sibling connection with a female, as I haven't had that in my life.. nothing against my older brother, but we had too many differences. He simply grew up too fast.

Here's the steps with Iszak displaying that he was done traveling, as these are from driving down to Soldotna from Anchorage.

1) Pretty happy being chill

2) Maybe I'll will see what blowing bubbles brings me

3) Getting comfortable & adding some fiber to my diet

4) I'm just mad now and want out

These chain of events happened within a 2o minute period and yet 1.5 hours left of travel via car.

Yet, he was superb on all 3 airplane rides. Iszak was still a big act in the show as the wedding photographer loved how photogenic he was the entire time. Who wouldn't be with Iszak's big smile that he loves to share with everyone.

Overall, the wedding was fantastic and the ceremony was amazing. Patience and Mike were a beautiful Bride & Groom!

The weather was perfect and we saw quite a bit of wildlife, which is always neat. Especially when we can point out to Iszak, that those big brown things staring back at us from the road are called a Moose.

We enjoyed a bonfire & roasting hot dogs on the Kenai Beach on our last night in Soldotna. Where we spent that time with Chris' brother, Josh and his fiance, Jennifer.

On Saturday afternoon, we packed up to travel back to Anchorage. We spent the last 10 hours in Anchorage, prior to boarding a plane to come home.

I miss Alaska and the beauty that the state has to share. It's such a unique place to visit and explore, truthfully a picture or video doesn't do justice until you see it for yourself.

Three Days and Counting

Only 3 more days left!

We're getting excited to see the family and also nervous as Iszak is having separation anxiety issues of his parents... more so his mommy. I have an idea that I will have to be with him 24/7  as he just screams looking for his parents.  Good thing that Iszak is pretty great out in public and loves people.

I hope it's not as bad as I make it.

Other things happening in our world.. other than Alaska. We're planning Iszak's 1st Birthday party at the Zoo on June 6th. As my mom has this crazy idea to take him there and has been talking about it since he was a month old. 

12 Days Left

A little less than 2 weeks, until we're landing in Anchorage, Alaska. It's piling into a rental car and driving 150 miles south to a town called, Soldotna. Chris' beloved hometown, Soldotna is where he spent the majority of his childhood. Soldotna is located on the banks of the famous Kenai River, which is well known for all varieties of salmon fishing.  In 2001, Chris packed up and moved to Orem, Utah.  Heck, we're not here to talk about Chris' journey from Alaska to Utah... that's for another day.

I thought it would be fun to give a brief introduction about Alaska. As many people rarely have a chance to visit Alaska.

Here's what a map of Alaska looks like:

Few Facts about Alaska:

• Largest state in the USA, 2 times the size of Texas
• Has tallest mountain in North America, Mt. McKinley at 20,320 ft
• Capital: Juneau, which is the only American capital that's not accessible by road
• State Tree: Sitka Spruce
• State Flower: Forget-Me-Not
• State Marine Mammal: Bowhead Whale
• State Gem: Jade
• State Mineral: Gold
• State Sport: Dog Mushing (Dog Sled Racing)

This is where we'll be spending the majority of our time, on the Kenai Peninsula:

A Chance To Make A Difference

Check out Maggie's story.

Ever since it became apparent that the economy was heading down hill I have made it a point to find ways that I can to serve and help others. It was my little way of creating insurance through karma I guess. Well, I won't go into details but I will just say it works and highly recommend it.

For those of you that would like to start your own karma insurance program here is an opportunity for you:

Maggie is a little girl in my friend's neighborhood. Some people in the neighborhood are holding a fundraiser on May 15th & 16th to help Maggie's family out with the overwhelming expenses involved with her medical care and also to help her get to Boston to see the specialist she needs to see. This trip involves getting a ventilator while on the plane among many other things I am sure.

So what can you do?

• Donate to the yard sale. I will even come get your donations just email me or call me. If it's easier, you can bring the donations to me.
  
• Donate to the bake sale and/or boutique sale, again I would be happy to pick things up for you.
  
• Come spend some $$$ at the fundraiser.
  

Copy and paste this to your own blog to spread the word about helping this little girl!

Thanks,

Jessica

A believer in that good goes around.

Baby Jaws

This is what my sister does for fun, while babysitting my child. 

Now Iszak is our little star in the making.

Countdown to Alaska

Yippee! Only 27 more days, until our little family boards an airplane to head to The Last Frontier! It's been less than a year ago that we were in Alaska visiting. Iszak was only 2 months old during that trip, because of course the family had to meet their first grandson/nephew sooner than later! 

As we were flying back home last August, we decided that we weren't going to go back for a few years.. 5 to be exact! There's plenty of places to see in Utah and neighboring states that  Chris hasn't seen and the excitement to show Iszak as well for the first time. It was less then 2 weeks of being home, that we found out that not only 1 sibling... but 2 got engaged. Darn it, back up to Alaska! Our plan so far hasn't worked in our favor.  A wedding on May 22nd and another on August 9th. 

I imagine that someone else had a hand in this plan to make sure their grandson was getting the attention and love from Baba! As it has been 11 years this month of Chris' father's passing. 

As I think about Chris interacting with Iszak and developing their father/son relationship, it's amazing and priceless to watch them. I'm thankful to have such a loving husband that would do anything for Iszak and myself on a daily basis.  I can only imagine how Chris' dad was as a father with unconditional love, nurturing and admiration for his own children.  A wonderful father,that I'm sure of, as all of the 3 kids are very respectful as adults. 

 

Thinking about it more and more.. I'm excited for Iszak to see his daddy's side of the  family more often  as we currently live in different states. Plus who wouldn't want to go to Alaska, right?? 

I really enjoy spending time with the family too, as I haven't gotten to know them as well as I've hoped, with the long distance between us. I do have to give myself kudos for doing a better job in keeping the phone lines busy talking to mom in Alaska. 

One night, Chris had called his mom to chat as they usually do on the weekends. We put the phone up to Iszak to "talk" to his Baba (Babushka is grandma in Russian) and he actually made joyful sounds and laughed with her. It was priceless! I'm sure once Iszak is talking non-stop, then learning the phone number.. we won't have any say  in what our child does when the phone is dialing to Alaska! 

Congrats to Patience & Mike!  

Congrats to Josh & Jennifer!

Here's some pictures of Iszak's 1st trip to Alaska, August 2008:

Expressions that Iszak made while riding in the car.

Iszak making faces at his toys in Homer, AK.

Chris, Patience, Josh (siblings)

and a bundled up Iszak

Baba and Iszak

A Tie Dye Easter

A glance of our Easter Weekend. 

There are captions on many of the pictures, just have to hover over them with your mouse.   :)

Chris came up with the idea of tie dying t-shirts as a family tradition  vs dying hard boiled eggs for Easter. An odd idea coming from Chris as he's not into tie dye whatsoever. I was so excited that I was instantly thinking of all of the many possibilities.  I have always loved tie dye with the bright colors as it shows personality and the uniqueness with every creation. I love how Iszak's shirt turned out the best! 

Next year, I will do a better job with finding more color mix and intense colors, as the red went more pink after washing the shirts. Chris stayed pretty moderate with using one color, but he was proud of how his turned out for being the 1st tie dye experience. 

The project only cost us $25, so it's definitely a keeper.

Tooth #2

Hooray! Iszak is no longer a snaggletooth. He finally has a companion that came in just next to the other little one.  It's been a rough couple of days with Iszak waking up in the wee  hours of the morning  and being  cranky. He's definitely shy to show them off yet, so I haven't snapped a picture to show off how adorably cute it is. So I borrowed this one to show the next step in the TEETHING ADVENTURE:

Daddy & Son Game

This is a game that Chris and Iszak play together. As you can probably tell what it is by watching. 

Just in case, Chris will make the same sound or tone and Iszak will do his best to match it. Iszak really gets into it and sometimes just goes and goes without taking a breath. Especially watch his eyes as they go really big and eyebrows raise. This is probably one of the best videos of their game. It really starts at about 11 seconds into the video. Enjoy!

                 

What would anyone be doing at Midnight?

BATH TIME! Too bad for any sort of routine with Iszak these days, while daddy is in charge at night. That's right, I got home from work and guess who was wide awake and going strong... Iszak. He was crawling up the stair (yes we are lucky to only have 1) to meet me in the front room. I just took one look at Chris and knew that he was done for the night and needed to go to bed. Since I knew that he had to be up at 6 AM for work.

I took over the task of deciding what to do next.. well, let's get Iszak in his pj's to start out. As I was getting Iszak ready for bed, I decided maybe a bath would wind him down for the night.  At first, I didn't think it was going to happen.. because the splashing began, then onto the drinking from the faucet, and then more splashing. 

                                              

Iszak was dressed and ready for bed after having a playful time in the bathtub. He had a bottle, then started to snuggle in my arms.. Hooray it worked! I put Iszak in his bed and within 5 minutes, he was snoozing. Poor little guy had a rough day and 4 hours of non-stop errands that we had to do. I have to admit, shopping for baby clothes for someone else's wedding is a nightmare of it's self. Even though I'm excited for my sister in law's wedding and seeing the family in May!

  First picture of Iszak showing off 1st tooth.

Irish Blessing

For each petal on the Shamrock.

This brings a wish your way

Good Health, Good Luck, and Happiness

For today and everyday.

From our family to yours Happy St. Patrick's Day!  We sure did and have proof to show it!

Iszak showing off his festive attire.

Pay It Forward

Read closely...this is how it works...
The Rules 1. Be one of the first THREE bloggers to leave a comment on this post, which then entitles you to a handmade item from me.
2. Winners, you must post this challenge on your blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a handmade gift for the first THREE bloggers who leave a comment on YOUR post about this giveaway!
3. The gift that you send to your Three Friends can be from any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your blog at least until you receive your gift and have shipped your gifts. And, remember: It’s the Spirit and the Thought That Count!
4. When you receive your gift, please feel free to blog about it! If you are not one of the Top Three Commenters on this post, you can still play along.
Start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your blogging friends to do the same!

A favorite baby item

I would have to say that this invention is one of the coolest around for cribs. I had heard all of the scary things with crib bumpers, that you want to stop using them once your baby can roll over. Because they can get stuck underneath them and suffocate, so Chris and I decided to not use anything at the beginning. Until Iszak was constantly waking up in the middle of the night trapped by his bed and needed a leg rescued. I began to search around and came across, Breathable Baby. I agree with it not being the most adorable thing for a nursery, but it's awesome!

It's a hypoallergenic poly mesh with satin trim that wraps around the crib slats and attaches with velcro. The mesh tucks below the mattress for extra protection, soft and padded, and plus machine washable. The key factor with the breathable mesh, it promotes air flow and helps maintain air access. At the time, I could only find them in blue, pink or white. Now they come in more colors such as sage, brown and ecru.

We haven't had a problem with Iszak getting any limb stuck or funky climbing tricks, so I would recommend these any day over bumper pads. They're reasonably priced for $27.99 at most places.

Iszak's crib with the breathable mesh.

Iszak doing one of his lease favorite activities.

Journey through the Teething Adventure

Yep, that's right Iszak is starting to break the barrier of that gum only smile to pearly whites. Iszak had a rough previous night with waking up screaming every two hours and couldn't be comforted, unless his daddy was holding him. Iszak didn't have a fever, so we just thought he kept having a bad dream or something.

Finally at 4:30AM, Iszak finally fell asleep to be woken up another 4 hours later. Just to head out to Village Inn for breakfast to celebrate my dad's birthday. I'm sorry Iszak! We for sure won't be doing that again, because being rudely woken up for such an interesting hour.. is not one of my #1 choices of fun.

Iszak and I went back home to hopefully catch some more zzzz's, which didn't happen.. I just couldn't figure out why Iszak wasn't being his usual cooperative self, but the runny nose and drool increased. The light came on in my head to check Iszak's mouth for teeth, first I wash my hands, then glide my finger along the bottom gums to feel definite bumps. The whole time, Iszak is pushing his tongue over his gums to block my curiosity. I check a 2nd time to feel something sharp, so I maneuvered around Iszak's tongue to see this time. Indeed, I did spot a little white poking through the lower gums in the center. The left side tooth(incisor) has been confirmed to be coming in first. I was excited for a split moment, then it was followed by darn.. my little baby is growing up too fast!

I waited for Chris to come home to share the news, which was hard for me all day. I didn't want to ruin it for Chris via a text message.

Hopefully Iszak decides to get tired soon, as he's rolling around on the floor at my feet and being as talkative as ever. It's now 12:35 AM and mommy needs to get some decent sleep this morning.

Here's a guideline for the appearance of baby teeth:

Iszak's Happenings

I thought that I would make this real quick, while I'm working on my other posts that are pending some pictures that need to be uploaded from the great camera. Hooray, I'm figuring out more and more with every posting.       Enjoy! 

Valentine's with the family

Phew, what a day! It started with going to work to make up hours that I missed from Tuesday. I thought work was never going to end.

I got home to a great surprise from Chris and Iszak with these waiting for me:

Close up snap shot. 

I just love the color, darn my sweetie did such a great job!

Oh yeah, and some chocolates that I'm sure are yummy. I haven't tasted them yet.

I totally felt guilty for only getting Chris the 1st Season to Sarah Conner Terminator TV Series. I ended up going grocery shopping with my mom. I bought a card and some candy for Chris. 

Thanks to my Sweetie for the wonderful day!

8 months of JOY!

Today marks a milestone for Iszak. It's unbelievable how just 8 months ago, Chris and I were at Jordan Valley Hospital holding the most loving baby boy. As we just admired all of Iszak's little features from ten fingers to ten toes. Contemplating who he looked like the most, which was most definitely me. Now, he's starting to balance out more and actually looking more like Chris.

Iszak loves many things, here are some of the favorites.

Food:

• Baby Mum-Mum snacks, which all he has to do is see the box to get excited.
• Sweet Potatoes
• Banana with mixed Berries
  

Toys:

• Duo Chime & Rattle, Elephant & Lion: These go everywhere with Iszak and rarely hanging from the car seat. They're usually found in Iszak's lap or being played with constantly.
  
• Grandma & Grandpa Mac's TV remote
• Fisher Price yellow dump track
• Daddy's cell phone

Activities:

• Talking lots & lots
• Drinking from a cup over a sippy cup
• Loves to pull himself up to standing
• Sucking on thumb or all fingers, depends on the moment
• Crawling all over the house
• Splashing in the tub
• Laughing on an hourly basis
I'm just so amazed with how Iszak is wanting to be independent and is very determined to figure out how things work. I wouldn't trade those little moments for anything. Even though sometimes my wits are at end when Iszak is voicing his opinion with having his face cleaned. There's definitely a little boy in our house!!



Iszak, thanks for being you and teaching us so many new things on a daily basis!

Happy Chinese New Year

2009 is the year of the Ox! It's the sign of prosperity.

The Chinese New Year is the liveliest traditional holiday in China. Since Chinese New Year occurs at the end of winter and beginning of Spring. It's now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Beginning of Spring.

Chinese months are reckoned by the lunar calendar, with each month beginning on the darkest day.  New Year festivities traditionally start on the first day of the month and continue until the fifteenth, when the moon is full. The 15th day of the Chinese New Year is celebrated as "The Lantern Festival" where lanterns are displayed everywhere and lantern parades are carried out by kids in the streets.  In China, people may take weeks of holiday from work to prepare for and celebrate the New Year.

My zodiac is the Rooster, which I always thought was cool as a child. Some of the characteristics are: sociable, hard working, courageous, reckless, creative, dreamers, compassionate, brave, loyal, enjoy singing and music. They like to speak their mind, make great hosts and love entertaining. Roosters have a strong independent spirit, and have difficulties accepting advice. 

Christopher's zodiac is the Horse. Iszak's zodiac is the Rat.

What's your Zodiac?

 

Reference: http://www.allchinanet.com/chinese_festival/spring_festival.shtml

YIKES!

I thought I was being clever and creative at the same time.. I ended up with a disaster! I wanted to change my background to something more fun and colorful, when I have really caused a bigger mess in the end. This has caused me to loose all of the blog URL's that I had for my family and friends list. So.. if you come to my blog to check up on my new posting.. please leave a comment, so I can make sure to fix my list again. In the future, maybe I won't be trying to change my blog at 2 in the morning. In the meantime, I will have to figure out how to get my blog in normal functioning mode again. 

For the next little while... this blog will be under construction or I will be having my head checked. 

Sorry everyone!

Pictures are finally here!

It's 2009

Lately, I haven't been very motivated to post anything new.

Christmas was great for us and had quite a few surprises along the way, which one was getting a phone call from my little brother from the mission field in North Carolina on Christmas Eve. We were all at my grandma's house for dinner with my Uncle and his family, my older brother and his girlfriend and my two younger sisters. When the phone rang.. it was my brother, Sean calling to wish us an early Merry Christmas! We all took an opportunity for a few minutes to talk to him, which was awesome! I tried to keep my conversation short, since it was a church member's phone bill racking up. It was a Christmas present to Sean from the family that he's living with until the next transfer comes around. Granted, we also had the chance to talk to Sean again on Christmas morning! I'm glad to know that my brother is doing well and sharing his strong testimony with people. He's always been a big and lovable little brother, and yes I mean big.. he's a lot taller than me and built like a house. I only was able to tease him many many years ago, because now he can slug back a lot harder. He's getting ready to come home, there's been a lot of changes in the family since he left in 2007. In 8 months and 13 days, he'll be back home to Salt Lake. For sure, a nephew to come home to play and get acquainted with for the first time. We love you Sean!

Iszak had a hay day on Christmas with figuring out that wrapping paper can come off pretty easily and makes a wonderful noise in the process. Overall, Iszak was the most fascinating person to watch this holiday.

New Year's wasn't what I was hoping for, since I came down with Strep throat and was miserable. At least I was with my favorite people that day, even though I rung the new year with two sleepy heads. It always seems to happen that way with movies that I manage to stay awake through, but Chris nods off. His excuse is that those are bad movies, yet I seem to watch them to the end. By all means, it's only happened with two movies: Reign of Fire & The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I can't complain too much.

Then this week, has been a challenge for me personally. January 6th is an anniversary date of my late husband's passing. It going on 7 years now, you'd think I would be over it.. somewhere emotionally, it's still rough and certain memories just flood those gates. I hope as time goes on that it will diminish. It was such a short lived time and for the most part, not the most positive either.

Now, my life is living large and I have the joy of sharing it with Chris and my little Iszak! I'm so proud of Chris for what he's doing for our family. He sacrifices so many things to make sure we're taken care of every single day. Every week, Chris is busy going on appointments to help other people's lives change forever with creating hope and opportunity financially.

Thank you Christopher for being my knight in shining armor and being the best Daddy to Iszak!!

Onto my last thought for this round of blogging.

Iszak has turned 7 months on January 7th, 2009.. wow, he's growing up so fast. He's so creative and has an amazing determination with things. For instance, Iszak is just about got crawling figured out. He basically can get moving in all 360 degrees with his legs and scooting. Now it's just getting those little hands cooperating in the same direction and he'll be all over the house.

At his 6 month and 3 week check and definitely well beyond the 6 month mark. We've got to thank the rescheduling from the doctor's office end for that one, hence another reason why we're shopping for a new pediatrician. Any suggestions, let me know.

Iszak weighed in at 17.1 lbs and 27 inches tall, which is average for his age. It was exciting because Chris was able to attend Iszak's doctor appointment this time. Chris was a little saddened that his hopes of having a really tall star basketball player may not be in Iszak's future. I think it's perfectly too early to jump to conclusions at such a young age.

We still look forward to every new daily adventure with Iszak. Along with the many desires to pull on every ceiling fan's chain in the house to turn the light on as we walk by. Thanks Daddy for teaching me that new trick!

Pictures of these last few weeks will come soon, as the camera is in my car at the moment.