Author: Helen

I just realized that it has been over a year since we have started this blog, yet another reminder of how fast time is slipping away.  Every single day, I am grateful for the gift of being a mom.  It is truly a gift from God, I am also reminded daily that being a parent is the most challenging job you will ever be given and in our case, these are just beginnings.  Isabella might only be 16 months of age, but she definitely finds the best way to test our patience on daily basis 🙂  God’s creation is extraordinary and I love everything about our little daughter!  Mother’s Day was wonderful, as it was spent with family.  I received my first bouquet of flowers from Bella and when I say received it, it was handed straight into my hands and when her daddy tried to take the flowers and put them in water, she got very upset and took them back to once again hand them to me.  I could not help it but laugh in disbelief 🙂  We did a little picnic in my parent’s back yard, simply relaxing and enjoying each others’ company.  I am above and beyond blessed with my mom, she is a true gift in my life, definitely a great example of what a mom should be.  I can’t count the amount of phone conversations about excitement, sorrow, advice and many times simply about nothing.  Those are very precious to me.  Thank you Lord for blessing me beyond measures!

It’s hard to believe that Easter is over, it seems just yesterday I was thinking, it’s going to be a while before Easter and here we are, almost in May.  What a precious holiday it is.  Somehow Easter is represented by bunnies and eggs, when it’s truly about Christ paying the price for our selfishness, cruelty, ungratefulness and the list can go on.  He paid for all the sins with His blood so we can have eternal life and oh how we take it for granted.  I thank my God every day for letting Himself be known to me and for sending his One and Only Son to die for my daily sins.
Our Easter morning started off with church celebration at Arco Arena, where over 20,000 people gathered to praise the One and Only!  I was a bit hesitant in the beginning about going to Arco to celebrate Easter, knowing that it was going to be a big event and I was thinking I needed something more private, but I was wrong, as I left joyous and content and couldn’t have asked for a better Easter service.   It was absolutely breath taking.  You can see a few photos below.
After the service we all went to my parents house and by “all” I mean, my dad, Robert, Oleg, Dima, Barry and I.  My mom and Lois stayed with Bella at home.  We had a wonderful family time with some egg hunting of course and lots and lots of candy.  The praise goes to Jesus Christ!

Since Easter is coming up, I decided to bake something different than I usually do and what I came up with were the cookies from my childhood.  Our mamysya made these for Oleg and I when we were little and we just loved them.  I had a special baking form brought from Ukraine and spent good 2 hours making these, but very worth it.  The filling is a cooked condensed milk with a hint of nutella and pecans.  They are definitely a hit and I will be making another batch for Easter Sunday.

Somehow, I have managed to go to Napa two weekends in a row- definitely something I have not done before, but I can easily say I enjoyed it to the fullest.  Each trip was very different as one of them happened with Bella and one without.  At first it was a spontaneous idea which turned into reality, we even had Dima join us and the following weekend was somewhat planned and I went with my parents.  Some of the things we enjoy about Napa valley is the beauty, bakeries, little boutique shops, wine tasting, picnics and simply a good time.  Going with a toddler is not necessary relaxing but it was fun sharing the things we love to do with Bella, we are sure she loved the trip 🙂  The following weekend ended up somewhat of a vacation for me, Bella stayed home with daddy and I left for the day to enjoy my parent’s company.  Before we had Bella, we often took little trips to simply spend time talking, laughing and  catching up.  Now days, trips like these come about once a year, so I treasure them dearly and this one was definitely one to treasure.  I had a wonderful time re-connecting while having a picnic, taking pictures, driving around and going to the outlets on the way back.  I couldn’t ask for a better day 🙂

I can’t believe Ezra is one, it seems only yesterday we got a text message, that Ezra was born after a very challenging labor.  We praised God that everything went well enough that everyone made it and recovered quickly.  Today, Ezra is a huge blessing to his parents, crawling around and smiling from time to time.  He is a very precious boy and I know that God has amazing future in store for him.  Barry and I were happy to attend Ezra’s first birthday party, it was sad that our princess was sick with cold so she stayed with my parents to whom we are very grateful!  Here are a few words to describe the party:  home made delicious pizza, delicious and beautiful ducky cakes, pretty decor, great family, games, fun and of course presents.  If you did not have a chance to come to the party, please enjoy a few pictures below, I only ended up shooting a little over 200 of them 😉  HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZRA!

It has been a while since I have left my fingerprints on this blog, so I finally decided to find time to sit down and update it.  It seems like so much has happened during the last few months, but then it feels like a lot happens every day when you watch a little miracle grow and get molded into their own little person.  Sometimes I have to drop absolutely everything I am doing and record a special milestone or moment.  To this day I get amazed at how much information their little brain holds.  From what I have read, babies can learn on average 16 words a day, does that not sound crazy to you?  It does to me and I certainly try to teach my daughter all that surrounds her.  Can you imagine not knowing anything around you?  It’s so normal when you are a baby that we often don’t even think about it twice and from time to time I will hear someone say, oh, I am not the type to push my baby to learn, they need to have time to be babies and will learn eventually when it’s time.  To me that statement sounds completely selfish, it is the same as robbing your child of knowledge and not giving them a chance to be familiar with what’s around them since early on.  God created us to have brilliant minds and since very tiny, humans can grasp so much, if only given a chance.  I can easily tell the difference between babies that had enough time dedicated to them and the ones that are just left alone to learn on their own.  A big milestone for Isabella was on March 11^th, when she said “Thank You” after Alyssa handed her a toy.  I stood there in disbelief, not expecting it to happen so early.  I have become somewhat of a machine with my words and I repeat some of them very often, such as please and thank you, hoping that she will remember when to use them and she did.  For please, she says “pease” and for thank you “tanka” it’s adorable.  One phrase I did not expect that caught me off guard, was when my precious daughter told me she loved me (I ya ye) and blew me a kiss- WOW.  Of course that happened only twice and I got it on camera, but what a huge deal! And she was not even 14 months.  Potty training has also been in the works, this milestone is a little difficult to conquer as we grasped a concept of having a great time playing on the potty and holding all the business in, until we are off the potty…it’s been quite a journey, but I know we will master it when we are ready, so far we will just keep trying.  Please don’t forget to check “Isabella’s page” and “Fun Facts” for the latest milestones.

One of the highlights of February was my dad’s birthday.  I can not express the gratitude to God for gifting me such a wonderful father.  Fathers are HUGE role figures in child’s life, someone to look up to, someone to protect you and someone to simply love you.  My dad is above and beyond of what one can ask in a father and I just pray that God continues to give him health and joy as he has all these years.  Happy Birthday my dearest Papi! I love you very and very much!  Below is a tiny glimpse of how we celebrated this special day.

We have also been busy fully redecorating Isabella’s bathroom.  It all started with towels that I found at Home Goods- such a great store!  I was thinking about it from time to time and wondering what the theme might be and there it was, love at first sight, the rubber ducky theme.  I did not want it to be a very bright bathroom but more of pastel colors, so we all went to Home Depot and picked up the perfect paint.  It was a huge hit, not only with Isabella but with Lissy and Kaitlyn (girls I watch) It seems every child likes duckies and who wouldn’t, they are so happy and cute (below you can see some pictures)

I don’t believe I have mentioned that I am now watching another girl, her name is Kaitlyn and she is 2 ½ years old.  It has been exciting and tiring at the same time to have another little bundle of joy to watch, but definitely worth it.  My favorite part about these three musketeers is how much they care for one another and how Lissy greets Bella with kisses every morning and hugs throughout the day.  My heart melts every time.
Another exciting thing that Barry and I did, was going skiing together.  WOW, I never realized how much fun it can be.  I can’t wait to take our Bella doll skiing, we decided we will wait until she is three J at least that’s when they start offering lessons.  I can just see her absolutely loving it 🙂

Today, I am proud to say that I have completed my first half marathon.  I call it experience of a lifetime and wish that everyone could try it, there is something unexplainable about running with a couple of thousand other people.  At first I was a bit nervous, then extremely excited and on the day of, a little bit of both, which made me shiver until the race actually started.  It was so thrilling watching everyone participate and run towards the same goal- the finish line!  As I ran, I thought to myself, it shouldn’t be a big deal, I have ran 9 miles in the past, what’s 4 more but boy was I wrong, those last 4 miles were the most challenging.  I have told myself and Barry that as long as I run under 9 minutes a mile, I will be satisfied and it was until mile 11 hit.  The next two miles were definitely a test, as I was ready to quit and kept asking myself, why am I dong this.  I prayed to God to just let me finish, no matter what my time was and He came through.  My average speed ended up being 9.2 minutes per mile and I thought, I will be disappointed for a very long time, except to my surprise that disappointment disappeared as I crossed the finished line and got to hug the best husband and suporter, he not only cheered me on, he even took pictures, which you will see below.  Now that I have fully recovered, I am definitely looking forward to running more half marathons and hopefully one day a full marathon.

I would have never imagined that time would fly so fast, it seems only yesterday I met my precious daughter for the first time.  It’s amazing how vivid that day is to me, I remember every detail, from beginning to the end.  God’s creation takes my breath away every day, to have a living soul go from just lying there to walking and talking and eating on her own- WOW!  I love watching her grow and am still giving all the praise to my God for providing me the opportunity to be home with Isabella.  I love watching her learn things and receive her priceless kisses and hugs J  She is my little “boo-boo”   I never imagined having a little girl for some odd reason, but God has a great way of surprising us and she has definitely become my little buddy J  We read together, play together, clean together, do laundry together and of course go on walks and runs.  It’s easy to forget that someone is constantly watching you and listening to you and then the next thing you see is them demonstrating what they have learned J
As time got closer to Bella turning one, I thought we would have a small family get together and celebrate the special day.  However with time, I realized that I was planning on nothing small but somewhat big and very pink. My baby girl will turn 1 only once, so I took it to a higher level J I chose a cupcake theme, which had pink, purple and white colors.  Everything was decorated and served that represented those colors.  The party was wonderful, family came from Fresno, friends and neighbors joined us as we celebrated our  daughter.  She was the most beautiful birthday girl, in her pretty white dress with balloons and a birthday hat.  Bella was amazed at all of the balloons her grandpa blew for her, there were over 25 of them.  This child LOVES balloons!  She did absolutely amazing throughout the party; accept for when she got her Happy Birthday song and full attention as she tried her first cupcake- then there were some tears.
Bella’s progress up until this day:  set up at 5 ½ months, began crawling and pulling herself up at 6 ½ months, took off walking at 10 months 6 days.  Today she is running around, twirling, clapping, singing and much more.  Her vocabulary is quiet big and she does fantastic pointing at pictures and animals in books that we have been reading since she was only 3 months young.  Some of the words are:  milk, socks, water, bathie, doggy, cat/kitty, mixer, Buddy, mama, daddy, Nana, Papa, monitor, vacuum, car, apple, cookie, bottle and so many more.  She also makes sounds for cow, doggy, cat and sheep.  We have begun learning the alphabet and practicing to potty.  She loves her potty and she spends at least 4-5 times a day sitting on her potty while playing with toys, learning the alphabet, singing and clapping.   Current favorite food:  yogurt, strawberries (whole), apple (fresh), grapes, chicken katletu, potatoes, cheese, bread, eggs and mandarins.  We have days where we don’t enjoy food very much, but that’s because we are teething.  Bella currently has 12-13 teeth and they keep on cutting.  That has been the lease favorite process.
As I look back on this wonderful first year of her life, I am in awe of God and His abundant love for our little girl.  He keeps blessing her every single day.  Thank you precious Jesus for gifting her to us and keep guiding us as we keep raising her in ways that You desire.  Thank You, thank You, thank You….!

As I sit here and reminisce on the past year, I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude to my one and only God!  He has blessed us beyond our understanding.  We started off our year at home lifting glasses with apple cider to the new 2010, wondering and hoping to meet our precious new life, but God intended for her to join us on the 11^th instead.  I will never forget the foggy and wet weather when Barry and I drove to the Dr’s office, hoping for some good news at 9:30 A.M. and later that day at 2:20 P.M., Isabella Nellie has joined our family.  That is when the 2010 made its’ first mark for me.  I was in love with the year from that day on.  Today, I write this entry while my sweet daughter is sleeping in her crib after celebrating her first year of life.  It is a true privilege to be a parent and I am so grateful that God gave us opportunity to become them.  If you asked me what comes to mind when I think of 2010, I can easily say, the first glance at my daughter, the first giggles, the first hug, the first kiss, the sound of the word “mama”, the first steps.  I loved every single day, no matter how difficult it was at times- it is by far the most rewarding job on this earth.  The decision to stay home with my baby girl was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I will forever be grateful to God that he keeps providing us with opportunities.
On another note, Barry’s business has been taking off quite nicely, his confidence is growing every day in what he does and the best part for me is watching him loving what he does.  I absolutely love the fact that he works from home, I wouldn’t have it any other way and when you think one would get tired of another, it is actually quite the opposite as I have come to appreciate him even more.
Summing up 2010:  Pregnant (Helen), Barry starts his own marketing business (Spotlight Marketing), Bella arrives on 01/11/2010, we celebrate 5 years of marriage, first trip as a family to Monterey in June, I began watching Alyssa twice a week, trip to Pismo in September with my family, my dear brother Oleg is engaged to Lilya on 9/25/2010, new Bible study by Priscilla Shirer, I started working for TWPhotography on Mondays, Christmas spent with family, Barry turns 29,  Barry got into his first car accident which shook us all up a bit, once again we saw God’s amazing work in it, when we found out that our insurance covers a rental until we found something else.  A dear friend of mine Tamara decided she was ready for a ner car herself and sold us hers (Honda Civic 2004)  We love it!   Sometimes I think that not that much has happened, but it’s quite the opposite.  It was my best year yet and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us in 2011, but I know for a fact that He never stops surprising us.
Many people tend to declare resolutions for the New Year and I am not usually the one to say anything, but this year, I pray that God gives me strength to love, when it seems impossible, a power to forgive, courage to trust and to never stop talking to Him.

Christ is born!  Praise Him!

Christmas is by far my favorite holiday.  What a joyous event to celebrate, the birth of our Jesus, the Savior born in the manger, oh how I wish I was one of the shepherds to be there when the angel appeared to tell them great news.  What an honor for them to be one of the first ones to meet Jesus Christ, the Only Son, I have goose bumps as I write this.
This year we have received the best gift, a living soul, our daughter Isabella.  I have never imagined the love that is this huge, it is indescribable.  Thank you dear Lord for gifting her to us!
I don’t know if anyone else notices but it seems to me that during this wonderful season of celebration, people are more angry, rude and simply cruel especially on the road and in stores.  Somehow it has become a race to get the best gift, sign 50 or so cards, cook the best meal and ect.  We get so caught up in all the busyness that we forget the main purpose, the celebration of Christ.  As I read the story to Bella from her little Bible and she tried to bite the book, it brought a smile to my face, it was written so simple and wonderful for kids to understand and to rejoice.  I believe she liked the story, because she moved on to biting other books and left the Bible alone 😉
This year Christmas was a little hectic or at least it seemed that way.  We started our celebration on Christmas Eve at our home with my (Helen’s) parents, Oleg and Lilya joining us for a special dinner.  The next morning we opened our stockings at home and went over to my parent’s house where we had a great fellowship, food and presents.  Bella got spoiled as always with many wonderful gifts, especially her first bicycle, what a surprise it was J  Thank you Papa and Nana for such a generous gift!   On the 26^th we drove to Fresno to spend time with Barry’s family, including his brother Del, sister Lily and their babies that he sees about once or twice a year.  It was a wonderful time of reconnecting and most of all getting to know Bella’s little cousins who are just as cute as they get.   It’s hard to believe that they are all within 6 months apart, they will have a lot of fun playing together as they grow up.  It was so wonderful to finally meet Ava, Lily’s and TJ’s  baby girl, what a little cutie she is J  All in all it was precious time with both families.  Below you can see all the fun that took place.  Enjoy!