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.

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.

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!

                 

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.

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!

6 Months have come and gone

Wow, it's been 6 months with having Iszak apart of our lives. I couldn't imagine life without Iszak. He's brought so much joy and laughter to the family. His little facial smirks or just simply laughing at all of the funny noises that Chris and I make at him. Babies are so forgiving too, because they don't hold onto any grudges like adults do. Maybe it's a good thing that they can't talk yet at 6 months of age, because we may not be able to handle what babies would tell us.

I look back at my pregnancy and here I thought it was rough, being sick the entire time, marking plenty of parking lots in Salt Lake after just finishing a meal that I thought was delicious. I think Chris has decided that the next pregnancy, there will be less eating out, if all I'm going to do is puke the meals. All in all, we've been blessed with a very charismatic and dang cute little guy! He smiles at everybody and just loves to be around people. I hope that doesn't change one bit!

Today, Iszak was just making those silly sounds of a velociraptor and laughing at his quirky parents. Except for the occassional spit ups, which we may have to thank grandma for passing a cold onto Iszak. He seemed to enjoy his 6 month birthday! He's starting to sit up for a wobbly minute or so and figuring out how to brace himself from falling over. 

Here's a picture of Iszak enjoying a different place to play.  

Happy Birthday Iszak! Mommy & Daddy love you!

 

Quick update

I apologize for not posting on here regularly.. really just been playing with my new Mac and being a mommy, okay and a wifey. I wasn't kidding when I mentioned in my previous blog entry that the other PC is ready to die.. because I downloaded all of the wonderful cute pictures from Halloween to it, because the card reader is programmed for that machine. Then I tried to upload pictures not only to here, but to Walgreens to order prints for all of the wonderful out of state family members. And behold, I get a horrible error message that not only stops me from seeing the pictures... but restarts the program on me! I've got to get the pictures off the machine and just back them up before they're lost. Then I will be able to hopefully post them from my lovely Mac real soon! Anyhow, life's been great for the Urinko's!

More to come at a fashionable and sensible time.

New Computer

Today, Christopher was such a great husband and went around doing errands with me. What a trooper! From wandering around Babies R Us, going to Borders to purchase a birthday present to making a lengthy return to Wal-Mart, we finally made a stop to Best Buy. Chris has been doing some extensive research on Mac desktops and MacBooks these past few weeks. We've finally decided that our current laptop was on it's last leg, literally. The poor thing has been revived and given so much TLC this past year that it's finally giving up. So after about 45 minutes of shopping, we decided to make a purchase. We bought a MacBook and it's for ME! That's right, Chris said that now I have a way to do my scrapbooking. I want to start playing around with digital scrapbooking and see how it goes. Thanks for the great afternoon with my two boys!

Time Flys

I decided that it's time to start an 'official' blog. Since many people I know have a blog on this site, I thought about giving it a try. Plus it's a great way to keep long distance family updated with our new adventures. As of September 7th, Iszak is 3 months old. He's changed and grown so much since the day our eyes met for the first time. Iszak has doubled in size and has an amazing personality that's starting to shine through now. An attitude of his own, which he shows us everyday his many smirks and scowls. It's so amazing to watch Iszak grow and listen to the numerous sounds of laughter too. Iszak is a very happy baby and our family is blessed to have him in our lives. Our lives will never be the same with our free spirit, Iszak. Thank you God for giving us a wonderful son!

I've started my 2nd week back at my job. It's been a challenge to be motivated to leave my family every
day around dinner time to go to my job for 6 hours. I'm getting home from work, and Iszak is already tucked into bed. I'm afraid to miss the wonderful moments with Iszak, when he rolls over for the first time, sits up on his own, begins to crawl and those cherished first words. Those times are the joy of parenthood! It's time that Chris and I make a decision to do whatever it takes to build our business. I believe it's not fair for Iszak to see his parents part time and on split shifts. Chris and I got married to spend time with each other, not to be apart.

Happy Birthday at 3 months, Iszak! We love you!