2011 - A year of love

December 2011

Happy together

As we approach the Christmas holiday and the end of the year, we once again reflect on the year we’ve had and the ups and downs that enriched and filled our lives. As our family’s tradition goes, we like to put on paper the highlights of our year. We hope you enjoy reading about us and hope to hear back about your lives.                                                                                                                                  

David’s year’s been an interesting one. He worked two jobs at Simply Mac and Borders Bookstore all the way until the end of July and got accepted into a Master Program at the New York Institute of Technology. As we were getting ready to leave, the school asked David to postpone starting school until January 2012 because of changes they were still working on. October rolls by and we learn that the changes were more drastic than we thought and involved an entirely online program. Our plans to move to NYC changed once again with us deciding to stay in Utah and continue with our lives. David still works at Simply Mac while looking into finding computer training jobs that he might be qualified for or even some other better paying jobs that could provide enough income for us to live a decent life.

Jane's Second Christmas

Dahlee had a pretty eventful year as well. Being a stay-home-mom for Jane, she worked at being a good example and a loving mother to her. Seeing Jane grow brings Dahlee much joy and a sense of accomplishment. In June, we found out that we are expecting our second baby, which we found out is another girl. We are so excited to bring Jane a little baby sister and hope that they will love each other very much. In September, Dahlee was sworn in and became an American citizen. She is very happy and proud to be an American and even changed her name to Dahlee Anna to make it a bit easier to pronounce for everyone. One activity that Dahlee became very interested in and enjoyed doing this year is crocheting. She’s made many cute hats and is thinking and hoping to be able to make more and to even sell them. She already has a few orders and sold a couple of hats too.

Jane is one

Jane turned one in November. We had a nice party for her and she received many cool gifts. She is as happy as can be and is developing ways to express her feelings and needs more. Sometimes that means she cries or screams, while other times it means smiling or pointing with her finger. We went to Disneyland in October and Jane loved the carousels. Some milestones Jane accomplished this year include sitting on her own, eating by herself, mastering the pincer grasp, crawling, walking while holding unto furniture, saying ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ and walking while holding our hand.

We had a good year and hope that the next will be even better, especially with the arrival of a new baby in February, the visit of my Mom and Jane growing taller, walking and talking. We are thankful for dear family members and friends who stood by us in good and not so good times and for the things we were able to accomplish this year. Now, at the end of 2011, we wish you to have a wonderful holiday season surrounded by your loved ones and a wonderful and successful 2012.

Jane loves stuffed animals and barks like a little dog when she sees one :)

Love, David, Dahlee and Jane

Changes, struggles, togetherness, life...

Well,we've had an ok year so far and I kind of forgot to be depressed. It's not that I enjoy it but last year we had so much depressing stuff going on that I had a hard time staying positive.
It's now almost the end of November and life's turned a bit on the depressing side again... We were going to move to NYC for David's school in August but they asked us to postpone it until December. Borders closed down and David lost his job there, so we moved from our apartment in Springville to David's parents' condo in Midway. We're very thankful for their help but it's still not the same as having our own place and with the snow coming in a lot more up here, winter would be really hard and unpredictable with David not being able to always make it to work or back home after work.
Anyway, at the begining of November David's school told us that his program is entirely online now and we don't have to move anymore. That was good news cause it would cost a lot less for his school and we wouldn't have to move during winter, with a young child and me pregnant. The downside is that we stopped looking for more reiable and better paying jobs since we thought we'd be leaving so now, we dont have many, if any options concerning where we'd be staying and if we could even afford the doctor visits for me and Jane. Heaven forbid any emergencies! Last week one of my fillings fell out and it was awful. We used a credit card to pay to have a new filling put in but it only proved how unprepared and poor we are in case of any unexpected expense and even in the case of expected ones. We looked at apartments and any two bedroom apartment, even the crappy ones, cost around $600/month plus utilities if you're lucky to find a deal. Even though David got a promotion a couple of months ago at Simply Mac, we still can't afford a decent enough place. We want to move before the bad snow comes in, before I get even bigger and definitely before Alyss is born but while I'm being optimistic and try to budget so that we might be able to make it work, David reminds me how we might not have enough money for food and definitely no money for any, even small emergency. I don't want to put our family in a situation where we woud have to be kicked out of an apartment and I definitely feel that since I don't work I shouldn't be the one deciding on our future. But I want to be positive and have faith that things WILL work out soMehow for us. David has a couple of job interviews lined up and the apartment we found is small and nothing even close to modern but clean and in a good neighborhood. It's close to David's work, so the weather won't be a problem, and it's close to grocery stores so I could shop for dinner if I need to and I won't feel secluded, like in Midway, away from even a road where Jane and I could go for walks.
So, I really don't like being in this situation again, where we don't know what will happen to us and if we can take care of ourselves. It is depressing when the afordable housing apartment gives you a limit for your income, where we'd be makjng too much to stay there, and you don't even make half that limit. We are happy to be together, to have Jane and to be expecting another bundle of joy in less than three months but given these circumstances, we feel that we want to be able to provide for our babies and at least give them the bare necessities a baby is in need of. We hope that things will work out soon and that we will make the best decisions for the future.

Bebe 2 Ultrasound Pictures

Ultrasound 1 at 13 Weeks 2 Days

On her tummy, bent legs - 13 Weeks

On her tummy, straight legs 

On her back - she moved a lot :)

Lifted her head

Ultrasound 2 at 24 Weeks 

Her face and tummy 

Her arm 

Her little heart

Her leg

She turned on the other side - her head and body again

Face detail - her lips 

Her hand

Your Day to Remember

My dear Jane, what a beautiful birthday you had! Here's your day in detail, for you and us to remember.
After a pretty rough night, where you woke up screaming and really scared me, you and I got to sleep in and woke up close to 12 noon! Since Daddy was at work, the house was very quiet and, since we were both tired, we just kept on sleeping. It felt pretty good :) Well, after we got up we had to go pick up your cake and a few more things for your birthday party. When we walked upstairs you were so surprised by the decorations that Mommy and Daddy put up the night before! You kept on smiling and looking excitedly everywhere around the living room. You were so much fun to watch. It made me happy to see you so excited.

Table decor

Decorations

Watching the decorations

So, to continue, we went to the store for a couple of hours and when we got back Mommy put everything away while you kept crawling into the fridge and dishwasher. :) Since after we finished the last preparations we only had a few minutes until people were going to start showing up, I gave you a quick bath, I took a quick shower and then we got dressed. Just then, Lia, Eni, bunica Palade and the kids (Aren, Lizzy, Bianca and Nadia) showed up. You were taken by surprise by the noise and started crying but very soon you got excited to see everyone. Not long after your Dad came home from work and helped me set the table. For food we had pasta salad, your Dad's specialty, chicken strips, chips and french fries and for drinks we had different kinds of soda. Everyone liked the food and the soda. Not long after we started eating, Eve showed up. We all had a great time together. The kids watched Cars 2 and us, grown-ups talked and enjoyed each other's company.

Yummy food

After dinner we lit the number 1 candle on your Baby Pooh and Tigger cake and sang Happy Birthday and Multi Ani Traiasca. It was fun especially afterwards, when you had a cake just for yourself. You got pretty messy with cream but had a great time. After Daddy gave you a bath to clean you up, we opened all the cool gifts that you received from your grandparents, all our friends and of course from me and Daddy. You got a lot of cute clothes, books and a couple of toys and Mommy got you a little Precious Moments porcelain statue for you to collect.

Everyone singing Happy birthday and Multi any traiasca

Family picture

You enjoyed your special cake

Opening presents

Later, when everyone was getting ready to leave, Carl, Karina and Liam came by to congratulate you. You had fun playing with Liam and opening the gift from them.

Playing with Liam

Karina and Eni talking about pregnancy

All in all, this day was a bit tiring but so beautiful. You are one year older and such a joy to be around. We love you so much and hope that you'll have much happiness in your life.

All the girls at the party

Our Sweet Pea, Jane is one!!!!!

Jane's Beautiful Birthday Cake

Yeah, that's right Jane! You're one year old today and such a joy to us. I can't believe that last year, today I first held you in my arms and nursed you and looked into your pretty face with tears in my eyes. Jane, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You make me happy every day. Every time we see your bright, beautiful smile we forget about all our problems. Did you know that there are a lot of people out there who stop us to just tell us how beautiful you are and how cute your smile is? It's true and it always makes us happy and proud. You are a wonderful little girl.

You love to crawl around and to walk while holding our hand. You love to talk to us and play with us. You love to be held close and fall asleep next to mommy. You love stuffed animals. A few weeks ago, when we went to Disneyland you got so excited when we found the stuffed animals in the baby section. You also liked the carousels. It was so much fun to see you so happy and excited. Another thing you love is music. You dance and smile real big when almost any kind of music starts playing.

Oh, and guess what you do when people say "bye, bye" or "pa, pa" to you? You wave back!!! You also clap your hands when you hear someone clap or when Mommy says "bravo" and when Mommy asks you "cum face pisica?" you meow in a really cute way. You still only say Mom and Dad or a combination thereof but just recently you started saying "ahdough. Don't know what that means but it sounds like you say "alo" especially since you say the word when mommy says "alo". Anyway, you are way cute and smart and can't wait for you to start walking and talking!

For your birthday, mommy and daddy prepared a cute birthday party. I'm sure you'll like all the gifts you get, the decorations and the Tigger and Pooh cake. Mommy will take lots of pictures for you and us to remember this precious event in your life.

We love you Jane! I will always be thankful for having such a good, beautiful and smart baby girl. I want you to know that we'll always be here for you and you'll always find a friend in us. Happy birthday Janeytsa!!!!

Mommy, Daddy and Baby
We're a happy family!

Bebe 2 is a GIRL!!!

Not much has happened since I last wrote. Pretty much me having a great time with Jane and David working hard for us. I had a couple of visits with a midwife in Park City and she told me that bebe is doing well and advised me on better nutrition and hydration. We then had an ultrasound that was a complete 10 minute fiasco and left me in tears and wondering why some people practice medicine. Then, last week we met with Dr. Taylor, a great family doctor at the Heber hospital and he was very encouraging and told me that everything seems just fine and that we could have a complete, head-to-toe ultrasound of the baby. My stats at the last visit, at 23 weeks were: blood pressure: 110/80, good urine, 168lbs and 25cm belly and bebe's heartbeat: 140bpm. He also said that if he gets to perform the C-section he'll make sure that he'll remove as much of the scar tissue as possible and try to give me a nicer looking scar :)
On Nov 1st we had a very nice and detailed ultrasound and the tech seemed happy with what she saw. She gave us a few pics and told us everything she was doing. All organs seemed to be okay, heartbeat 143bpm, two legs and two arms and a cute, active and healthy baby GIRL. We are so excited to give Jane a baby sister and really hope that they'll be best friends. She is very active and I feel her more every day, and night :) Our due date is still February 20th. She measures about 23 weeks at 24, which I'm okay with and gives me a little hope that she'll be smaller than Jane at birth and might allow me to even deliver vaginally. I'm still thinking about it and I'd love not to have to go through major surgery again. We'll do what's necessary, of course but I'm sure I'd recover faster from a vaginal birth and I'd be able to enjoy the postpartum days and weeks even more. Whatever the case, we're VERY happy and excited for our baby girls and can't wait to meet bebita 2 and to have our two girls together in our arms. We love you baby girls A LOT :)!!!

Bebe 2 - Cute Little Face

Trick-or-Treat!

Today was the first time ever that both Jane and Dahlee went trick-or-Treating! It was a lot of fun. I decided to go to the outlets in Park City. I dressed Jane in her cute pumpkin costume she got from Grandma and Grandpa Jo and I put on a shirt I got for the occasion and the cute ears headband and out we went. It was such a nice and sunny day which made the whole experience even better. We went from store to store trick-or-treating and got lots of candy! :) Funny story: when I entered the first store it was really quiet and no one seemed to give us any candy so we just left. In the next store there were a couple of kids with their parents, and the kids yelled loudly "trick-or-treat"! So that was the way to the candy! You gotta say the right words. So, we did and had a blast! On the way back home we saw other kids trick-or-treating in their neighborhoods and also a few nicely decorated houses. I can't wait to have house and decorate it for every holiday! :) I love decorating and celebrating holidays. Last year, I received trick-or-treaters for the first time and this year I went out and had fun with it myself. I love having kids. It gives me an excuse to do more fun things, which in return creates fun memories for the years to come. Trick-or-treat!!!

At the Tanger Outlets in Park City, UT 

Tangeroo and jane

Mommy and Jane

Beautiful day

Jane, our little pumpkin

Jane likes candy :)

Our Fun California Trip

After about two and a half years we were able to finally go to California and visit everyone there. We had a nice time staying at grandma and grandpa Barlow, visiting grandma Jo and aunt Kari, going to the beach and to Disneyland, Los Angeles and Knots Berry Farm. This was the first major trip for Jane and the first time she ever traveled to California. Here are some pictures of our adventures!

At the Jolly Bee Filipino restaurant in Las Vegas
A tradition for us to eat there 

Minnie Jane

Jane got really excited when she saw the stuffed animals

Disney family - at Disneyland 

Jane and Uncle Terry's nice dogs
They smelled and my pregnant nose couldn't stand it

Jane and great-grandma Jo

Jane and great-grandpa Barlow

Big one!!! Jane was soaking wet after that :) 

On the beach

Crawling in the wet sand

We are family

Foggy pier

Huntington Beach 

Jane on one of the carousells

Jane loved the caroussels

Jane was exhausted after we spent an entire day at
California Adventure and Disneyland

Snoopy and Jane

Yummy Tiramisu cake from Knots Betty Farm

See how tall I am?

La Brea museum - Jane sitting in a Mammoth footprint

La Brea Tar Pitts - LA

Eating at Rainforest Cafe - Downtown Disney

Jane and great-grandma Barlow