Bruin Don Hansen

Happy 7-week Birthday Bruin!!! I never announced the birth of my newest little nephew, because I wanted to show a picture of him. Well finally I stole a picture off of Stacy's new blog. Cute little Bruin was born May 5 at 3:31 p.m. 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 19.5 inches long. (Same height as Maks, but a little heavier). My brother, Aaron, and his wife, Stacy, soon learned after Bruin was born that he had bilateral clubfoot. When I first heard the news, I was a little stunned and speechless. I wondered to myself, "What are they going to do???" And then you ask yourself, "What would I do if this was my child????" Well, Stacy and Aaron are very strong individuals and have tons of faith. Stacy is seriously such a Wonder WOMAN and great example to me. I am so glad and proud she is my sister-in-law!! She recently started a blog and you can check it out to see Bruin's progress. He is making great strides (no pun intended)! I can't wait to meet him in July when I go and visit. And I know Maks is so excited to have a new little boy cousin (no offense Hincklee)!

Hi Everybody!

It's been a while I posted an image of Maks, so here you go. He's as happy about life as he's ever been as he's about to turn 1. BTW - he now weights 21 pounds. Big boy.

Happy late Father's Day!

I had the absolutely BEST Father's Day weekend! And I am not even a father. This was seriously more my celebration than Ivan's beginning with my mom arriving on Tuesday afternoon. She, Maks and I enjoyed shopping for fabric at the Vietnamese Fabrics-R-Us for my curtains. (No, I have never used my sewing machine that my mom gave me for my bridal shower. She is the only one that has ever used it. Sad -- I know.) We had so much fun at Trader Joe's and hanging out watching the HGTV channel. On Thursday, I took my mom to Dr. Grace, an Acupuncturist, as a late Mother's Day treat. My dad and sister, Lea, travelled 12+ hours on Friday and met us at In & Out for a delicious hamburger and shake. On Saturday, we all drove to Oakland for a temple session (thanks Lea for watching Maks) and then crossed the Bay bridge to San Fran for a walk on Fisherman's Wharf and some ice cream at Ghiradelli square. Sunday was designated for a Father's Day BBQ at my mom's cousin's home. It was fun chilling out with some of my fam and watching "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio". Then at 4:30 a.m. this morning, I gave hugs and kisses to my mom, dad, and sister as they embarked on their long journey back to UT! It was a short visit, but I am so glad that my DAD (and Mom and sister) could spend Father's Day with us.




And finally, a SPECIAL shout out, to the best father for the Makarov family. Ivan - Maks and I are so grateful to have you in our lives. We love you! Happy Father's Day! And thanks for sharing your See's with us.

Dealing with Oil Crisis

Last Friday morning I was reading several articles in the Wall Street Journal written by economists who thought that we're finally at the point when oil prices were stabilizing and we should see a drop in retail oil prices. On the same day, someone somewhere in the Middle East said that an attack on Iran is inevitable and that caused the oil to skyrocket to $138/barrel. The prices jumped $11 in one day (remember the day when it was the price of a whole barrel?). We may not see a spike in retail prices for a week or two (retail prices lag behind market prices by a bit), but don't expect your gas bill to go down any time soon. What do economists know?

We can't control the markets, and unfortunately, living in the States, we can't just stop driving and start taking public transport everywhere (for comparison, I never drove living in Moscow, there was no need to). Our pay does not increase whenever gas prices jump, but the life is getting more and more expensive, since oil is a live blood of this country.

I don't know how you all feel about gas prices, but Becca and I are at the point when we feel it is time we do something about it. First, last year we upgraded our cars to more efficient vehicles. My Civic gets 35 miles a gallon on a freeway versus 25 I used to get from my old Prelude. Second, we are driving together as much as possible. Third, we decided to cut on other expenses by switching to cheaper cable, better cell phone plan, cheaper car insurance (yes, we actually did switch to Geico and saved 50%!), eating out less and drinking water with cereal instead of milk. Fourth, we will take less road trips this year than we used to. It's getting too expensive to drive out of town.

Personally I predict that the oil will hit $5/gallon in Northern California by July 4th. However, there are plenty of ways to deal with this oil crisis and someday we'll recover. America will finally begin using more of its own oil. We'll see more public transport in use. We'll use alternative energy vehicles. Until that happens, we'll all have to find our own ways of dealing with these rising costs.

How are you dealing with these new gas prices?

Really Worth It?

So, one of my best friends, Amanda, is expecting her first child in September. And yesterday, she sent me an email:

"Did you ever go to any of the Lamaze classes? What are your feelings on them?"

This was my reply, "Hmm... very good question about the Lamaze classes. Ivan and I did it all wrong, but we didn’t want to do classes. I don’t know if birthing classes and Lamaze classes are covered together. I think Lamaze classes could be helpful, but honestly, it is mainly to help you focus on breathing and not the actual birthing pain. And depending upon whether you go natural or have help then you might not need anything to distract you. I heard from some women that the nurse really just tells you know how and when to push. I have a birthing DVD that you can borrow. I will send it to you. Ivan and I tried to watch the 5 – 1 hour segments at once. (I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS!!!) We got sick of it and then turned it off. Several weeks later, we decided to watch it to finish it, but this was after my water broke (not gushed), so very bad idea. You want to take it in strides, so Adam (her husband) won’t get bored and so that he will pay attention. (Nothing against Adam, but this is what I should have done with Ivan). Actually, I watched the whole thing, but wanted him to watch it, too so I turned it on that night while he was working at midnight finishing up some last minute things, just in case we went to the doctor. I don’t suggest this at ALL!"

Since I can't really answer my friend's question. (I'm a bit subjective.) What would you tell her? What are your experiences? Are Lamaze classes covered in the Birthing classes? And are they really worth it?