Holidays's

     The holidays are a special time for all of us. Whether we celebrate Kwanza, Christmas or Hanukkah its all about family and friends. Pasha has a large family and so do I. He has 6 sisters and 2 brothers. I have 1 brother and 4 sisters. This tribute is to them. I love all of you and you all make our lives full of love and generosity. You have taught me things that no one else has and I love you all for that.You have accepted me as your sister (the only sister in law they have). We may not always get along, hence us all being different. I love you all so much I don't know what I would do with out you all.

 Nastya with my brother Ben.

 My sister Meredith with Nastya

 Pasha's brother Sasha with Nastya

 Pasha's brother Misha with Nastya

 Nastya with her cousin Leah, Pasha's sister Tanya's daughter (Sorry Tanya I don't have a picture with you and Nastya)

 Lenny Pasha's sister with Nastya

 Yana, Pasha's sister with Nastya

 Nellya Pasha's sister and her Daughter Maya

 Yana and Oleg Pasha's sister and brother in law

 Me and my brother Ben

 Max Nellya's son

 Maya Nellya's daughter

Leah Tanya's daughter

The little gang

 Pasha's sister Raisa's kids Sam, Sasha, Nik and Dima is missing

Pasha's sister Olga and her son Vadim

     This holiday season we will be cooking here and having a feast. Hope all of your holiday is just the way you want it and try not to stress over spilt milk. I am hoping I am better by then I have a sinus infection and it just started.

Health Scares

     When Nastya was 7 months old she ended up with Pneumonia. It was a great day to start the weekend. Sunny warm and a little windy just the way May should be. She was a little fussy but I thought it was from the teething she had going on, but she felt to warm for that. I took her temperature and it was 102. Not so bad so I gave her some acetaminophen.  I told Pasha that if it doesn't get any better I will take her to the doctor on Monday. Long story short she didn't get better and her temp became worse. We went in right away and the doctor told me that he lungs sound clear but he wasn't all the way sure. He told me that it can sometimes be harder on babies this young because they always have funny sounds. We went and got a chest x-ray and boy was that not the best moment.

     As you can see it is like a torture device from the 1800's. She started to cry right away and I was crying as well. Her temp went from 102 to 105.5 with in 2 days and they took it rectally so it was a more accurate temp. It broke my heart to see this but the x-ray technician had a great point it may not be hurting them but sometimes we have to do things that will help our babies get better. This was one of them. I am normally all about the natural way to heal but this needed medication and I couldn't help.

      I got her meds and just in one day I could tell she felt so much better. She started to eat more and become more active than before. I take each day as it comes and this was a scary health crisis. I know that the first year of a child's life is the most dangerous. Why? Well for the most part not a lot of kids made it past one. Between getting sick and diseases it is hard to make sure they survive. I am so great-full she survived something so easy to cure.

 Us at Target.

Camera Shy

     As Nastya was being born the one crucial part to the puzzle we forgot was a camera. Thank you technology  for the phone you gave birth to. If it wasn't for the phone we had no way to show the world what our baby looked like and who she took after. When my husband got to hold her for the first time he was shocked at how much she looked like him. You be the judge. She used to love the camera and when you asked her to smile she would oblige with a huge smile. Now it is more of an obligation when she doesn't want to do it.

          One of the first couple days home.

             Nastya is about 1 and 1/2 months

                  About 2 months

                    2 1/2 months

                      Pasha and I. I was pregnant here.

                        2 months

                              3 months

                             About 4/5 months

Hello skadhfdhfsdhfidhf Bye!

     Nastya loves to talk, but when it comes to the phone she is apt to stay quiet instead of talking. I was finally able to get her to talk on the phone. It was to her Papa who was in Sacramento at the time installing my in-laws new hardwood floors (he does it for a living so if you live in San Diego County he is the best one for the job). He was gone for a whole week and Nastya and I had time to us. It is the cutest thing and every time I see this video I laugh out loud. You might have to listen carefully because it is so fast. You may even have to play it over and over. She says hello and then a bunch of gibberish and then bye.

She is so funny. I love her with all my heart and can wait till she gets older.

Babysitter

     My brother's (here is a peek of him, oh he is single by the way) birthday was on 1 December and Pasha and I went out to celebrate with him. He had it at a Japanese restaurant where they prepare it but you cook it on the BBQ at your table. We as a couple don't get out to much and we probably should take the time to do it more often. However the dreaded babysitter comes into play. We only really have 2 sitter's that we have off the top of our head and both are very busy people so when we do get one we try to do it in advance enough so that it doesn't conflict with their schedules.

      If we lived in Sacramento we would have babysitters no problem but we don't so we make do with what we have. It was a nice place and to just relax and enjoy the time with new people and to celebrate my brother's night of festivities. What do you do on date night? Do you have the same problem I have in the sense of finding a sitter is harder?

Von, Two Haha, Tree

     I remember as a little girl watching Sesame Street and I loved it. I watched it through all of my sisters up until I moved out. It seems that Sesame Street is the same except for the story lines, as we become more tolerant of everyone they are teaching the teachings that most parents should be showing their children. Lately we have been on a counting kick and it has been so much fun. We do it in the car while driving so as to make a game out of learning. Just for a nostalgic go here is a clip of Count Dracula from Sesame Street.

One 

   Uhg-dean

Two

   Dva

Three

   Tree- just like the word tree but roll the "r"

Four

   Chi-teryee-roll the "r"

Five

   Pyat

Six

   Shay-ste

Seven

   Seeym

Eight

   Vo-seem

Nine

   Dev-yat

Ten

   De-syat