Why I Became a US Citizen

The newest citizen of the United States
28 September 2011
Salt Lake City, Utah

On September 28, 2011 I because a US citizen. The oath ceremony took place in Salt Lake City at the Rose Wagner Theater. It was a beautiful Wednesday morning. David, Jane and I arrived in Salt Lake a few minutes before 9:15am, my appointed time to report for the oath ceremony. We got separated and I was instructed to seat with the other new citizens on the lower level of the theater, while the friends and family would seat at the balcony. The ceremony started at 10:00am and there were 191 of us. It was fun and emotional to sing the US national anthem and recite the Pledge of allegiance for the first time. After a musical number by a former Mormon Tabernacle Choir couple and a nice patriotic talk given by a Daughters of the American Revolution member who advised us to write down why we wanted to become US citizens, we were told to stand up, hold our right arm up and repeat the oath of allegiance. The oath was pretty long but easy to follow and understand. After, the presiding judge talked to us about his own experience becoming a US citizen and he even interviewed a few people from the audience. It was interesting to hear the different stories; one person's wife was still back in another country, another came to get an education, another wanted freedom, another looked for safety, while one woman described with tears in her eyes how she spent her childhood in refugee camps and wanted her family to be united. Next, the words of Barak Obama welcoming us to this country of opportunities and freedom and the song 'God bless America' brought tears to my eyes.
I am now a citizen of the United States! But why did I want to come here? Why did I decide to become a citizen? To answer these questions, I would have to go back to the time I was about 13 years old, back in Romania. It was about then when I decided that I would move to America when I grew up. The thought always gave me a feeling of happiness and anticipation. I didn't know what America was like, I'd never met anyone from there but I knew that it was the place where I wanted to live my life. Like, a woman at the oath ceremony said, I wanted to be an American when I grew up. :) I knew that here I'd be happy. I didn't think it was going to be easy and I had no idea how I was even going to get here, but I wanted it with all my heart. I started studying English on my own, even during the summer vacation. I liked learning anything about America and I even wrote stories about the day I would leave Romania. I still remember drawing a picture of the New York skyline from memory, with the twin towers in it. I was pretty much obsessed. All I wanted was to grow up and leave. I wanted a different way of life and a job that would provide me with enough money to help my family in Romania. So, at that time, my main reason, other than purely loving America, was to take care of my family and be able to afford different things that they needed. As time went by I realized that I needed to study and learn quite a bit if I wanted to have a good, dependable job. So, after I graduated from high school I went to a two year college of massage therapy. It wasn't what I loved but it was the best and only option. It was during this time that I met the missionaries of the LDS church, from America. They helped me learn more and even study more English. After about two years I was accepted to attend school at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah, where I started in January 2003. I was finally in America, going to an American university and experiencing what I'd only been dreaming for the past ten years. Utah was different than the East coast, where I always envisioned myself living, but it was nice and not too cold in the winter. While going to BYU my reasons to coming to America changed a bit. In a way I became a little more selfish. I knew that this was where I wanted to be and I still wanted all the other things for my family but now I wanted to make a life here. I wanted to do well in school and succeed. I wanted more for myself and I knew that I had the opportunity to get it. Just like the judge at the ceremony said, you'll never get anything here without work but you'll always have opportunities to do anything you want in life. I definitely agreed to that and I still think that is definitely the way of life here. Nothing without hard work but always being able to find opportunities to achieve anything in life. While at BYU I met my future husband, David and after dating for 10 months we got married in Manti, Utah. My dream life was starting to take shape. I could have a family and be happy and I found the man that loved me and that I loved. So, America turned out to give me even more than I expected. I never thought that I would actually marry someone here. Like I said, my reasons and dreams were a bit selfish involving pretty much me doing all these wonderful things for others and being the one who saved the day. Well, school took longer than I thought, life kept rolling by and three years after we got married we became pregnant with our first daughter, Jane. I knew now that my life might be a bit different than what I envisioned but I was very happy. And with the birth of Jane my reason for coming to America and becoming a citizen changed once again. The main reason why I want to live here and be an American is now to provide our children the opportunities that they might not have had if they were born somewhere else. I know that one can receive good education and many other wonderful things in many other parts of the world but I know for a fact that in America my babies will be able to pursue whatever dream they might have and just this knowledge gives me hope and love for this country. I know America is not perfect but it is still the land of opportunity. I don't know if my reasons will change again. As of right now,  I'm pretty sure that  they will stay about the same at least for a while. I still want the best for my family back home and I'll keep working at achieving that goal but living here gave me a new perspective and way of seeing and doing things. A perspective I like. A way of life a I like. I have a wonderful family and how many people can say that they have two wonderful countries to call home? I'm thankful and happy to be a citizen of the United States and I hope to be worthy of my new status and to have many opportunities to do great things in my new home country.

9 Months update

Jane eating her puffs

Jane, you're 9 months old. You've grown so much and are really cute. You weigh 17 lbs and are 28.5in long. What a big girl!
These last couple of months you started doing a lot of big girl things. You can say 'mama' and 'dada' or 'tata', you love to crawl everywhere, you even stand up while holding unto couches and other furniture! We think you might start walking soon. You also understand more of what your mommy and daddy tell you. You smile when mommy asks you if you're hungry. You also like to clap your hands when mommy says 'bravo' and you wave hello and bye-bye even to strangers. You do have a bit of stranger anxiety. That's when you cry if someone you don't know comes too close to you or wants to hold you. It's really cute when you turn towards mommy or daddy and hug us tight.
You still sleep in the big bed with mommy and daddy and you love it. You go to bed late, around 11pm but sleep until 9 or 10 in the morning. You still ask for a bottle around 2am and then again around 6 or 7am but you're a good girl and fall back asleep before you even finish the bottle. You take a long 2 to 3 hour nap with mommy every afternoon (mommy loves that!) and sometimes even a short one when you get too tired after crawling and being very active during the day. You still love your Similac sensitive formula but now you like to try a little bit of everything mommy and daddy eat. You also love fruits and veggies purees, especially those colored orange or yellow. Your favorite fruit is banana. Speaking of bananas, we went to Jason's Deli, a nice restaurant in Orem with your grandparents and you loved eating all of mommy's banana pudding! Grandma and grandpa thought it was so cute how you would try to reach the spoon and jump in the high chair for more that they nick-named you 'banana puddin' It was so fun to see you so excited and to see grandma and grandpa Jo love you and enjoy being with us.
Jane, we love you so much and are so excited to see you grow. You'll soon have another baby brother or sister to play with and will become a big sister. We know that you'll be a very good big sister and will help mommy and daddy take care of your little sibling.

What is sleep?

Sleep's been a rarity for me since the third trimester of pregnancy on. When Jane was born she woke up to eat twice at night and slept quite a bit during the day but once she was about 2 months old she started sleeping less and less and now, at 8 months she takes a one hour nap during the day if I'm lucky and wakes up every couple of hours at night crying and wanting to take a few sips of formula. I don't know if she's hungry or just wants the comfort of that bottle but she wakes up and interrupts our sleep. We expected sleepless nights while having babies but not like this. I read about letting your baby cry-it-out - ask my neighbors if they'd like that - giving her the pacifier (that doesn't help, she still cries until she tastes the formula) or trying to ignore the cry for a few minutes, soothe her and then let her cry again for a bit. I'm willing to try this last one but having David work so much is pretty much not an option right now. He needs all the sleep he can get so I always try to give her the bottle as quickly as possible. This routine has really taken a toll on me and now that I'm pregnant again I find myself tired, irritated and even depressed at times. I need a good night's sleep. Jane sleeps with us right now because we didn't have a crib. We got a crib now but we're waiting to move before unpacking it. I hope that having the crib will help but I'm worried that I won't get to sleep at night even more then, not having her with me and knowing that she's ok. Plus, whenever she'll be crying I'd have to go all the way to another room to see what's wrong. I don't know what to do and how to treat this situation... I really need some rest.

Sleep baby, sleep...

Sleeping... What is that? Any new parent knows what I'm talking about. Here's our experience so far (Jane's 7 months old)
- First month - Jane would sleep most of the day and night but would nurse every 2.3 to 3 hours - not much sleep for me
- 2nd to 4th month - Jane would sleep a few good hours every day and night but nurse every 3.5 to 4 hours and cry because of colic sometimes until 3AM - still not much sleep for me and even for David sometimes
- 4th to 6th month - Jane would not go to sleep until 1AM would ask for a bottle at night every 4 or 4.5 hours. She would take a couple hour long naps during the day. Jane eats every 3 hours during the day - more sleep for me than before but I'd also be more exhausted from watching her during the day
- 7th month - Jane has a bedtime routine and goes to bed around 10PM. During the day she has one 2 hour nap and sometimes a short 30 mins nap. She still eats every 4 or 5 hours at night and every 3 hours during the day - I get more sleep now but still can't go to bed earlier that 1AM
- 8th month - when she doesn't fall asleep during the last feeding, Jane rolls all over the bed and cries really loud when I try to hold her still. She naps for about an hour during the day. She wakes up every couple of hours crying for a bottle at night. Sometimes she only takes a few sips and falls back to sleep. Pacifier only doesn't do the trick
Bedtime Routine
- we start around 9:30PM by dimming the lights in the bedroom, turning the Zen fountain on and sometimes playing lullabies
- I give her a bath - she loves her bath and playing with the rubber ducky :)
- David makes her a bottle while she's in the bath
- I get her dry, rub her with baby oil and get her into her pajamas - almost always she screams really bad during this part
- I give her the bottle, her sleepy-time blankie and her baby-doll Veronica
- David or I read her a bedtime book or story - sometimes she's already asleep before she finishes the bottle
- if she's still awake, I lay her in bed

7 months, baby!

At the Highland Games Scottish Festival - Thanksgiving Point

Fun in the sun
Domnisoara Fifi - LOL

Jane is 7 months old. For her anniversary we took the traditional pictures and it was so great that David was actually home and is in some of the pictures. Since a month ago Jane has grown two teeth in the bottom front, sits up by herself for extended periods of time, cries less, has a bedtime, eats almost everything that is easy to chew (mashed potatoes, boiled carrots and rice, fruit in small pieces and Gerber puffs) and is as happy as can be. People always comment on how cute and happy she looks. She loves to dance, go on walks, smile for pictures and play with Sophie the giraffe and with Veronica, her first baby doll. Here are a couple more pictures of our beautiful baby girl.

Stylish Jane

Oh, yeah! Dancing is FUN!

Jane and photo contests

* I entered Jane's pictures in some photo contests and we also participated in a couple 'cutest baby' live contests. So far we didn't win anything. I'm not upset that she didn't win. It was fun participating.  What made me a bit upset was that they didn't think she's cute enough. Well, she is to us and many, many others so, who cares about those judges.... LOL

- On the Parents magazine website

At Red Lobster

Kid of the Year: http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/857012/40
Parents Cover Contest 2011:
http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/862560/46

- Cute baby contest in Salt Lake City

Jane's outfit

- Springville baby photo contest

Category: 6 months
By the Springville Civic Center

Jane at 6 Months

It's sometimes hard to know what a baby thinks or feels but I think that parents usually figure it out, especially if they spend a lot of time with their baby.
In our case, I love how David, who works 16 hour days still understands Jane and can tell the different types of cries she has. It's mostly three types that are very prominent and easy to understand. The screaming cry that usually shows that she is experiencing some kind of pain or discomfort, the 'strained' cry that shows that she's hungry and the whiney cry that means "I'm sleepy". What I like most though is the fact that Jane tries to communicate with us her thoughts and feelings even though she is very young. I love how she shows excitement by moving her arms and legs or by smiling really big, especially when David comes home from work, or how she tells us that she's upset by scratching or biting us. I don't necessarily love the last one but I think it's cool that she figured out a way to express her feelings. The best in expressing her feelings is when she grabs our face or neck in a big hug way and then kisses us or licks us. I know then that she really loves us.
On a different note, Jane is 6 months now and life with her is getting more and more exciting every day. We watch 'Baby can read' together and she gets excited when the "Itsy bitsy spider" or the "Twinkle, twinkle little star" songs come up. She eats cereal in her milk once or twice a day and fruit/vegetable/meat purees once a day. She sits up even without support for a little bit but still falls over on her side when she gets tired. We go for walks and to the library and she really likes it - she usually falls asleep in her stroller for about 30 minutes.What Jane doesn't like is crowds and noises. Every time we are in a situation where there are many people and a lot of screaming or loud laughing she just cries and is not happy. Hopefully this will pass in time.
We went to WIC on her 6 months anniversary and she weighted 16lbs 15oz and was 26in long. She's in the 75th percentile and is very proportionate. The nutritionist was very happy with the way she's developing and growing. In a week we'll have her 6 months, well-child appointment and she'll get another round of shots. I home the doctor will be happy with her as well. She's got no teeth yet but it looks like she might be teething. After having a growth spurt last week, when she ate all the time, now she just wants to sleep, is not eating much and is pretty whiney and her lower gums feel swollen. I think it will be so cute when she'll have teeth :)
We love you, Jaynitza!

Parties!

In May we had some more partying. We did our nails and Eve was our nails expert, and we also had a ZUMBA workout and sweated all the bad stuff out. Meeting with my dear friends once a month or more often makes me really happy. I'm so thankful to have them close and to be able to hang out and have fun with them!

Beautiful nails and hands

ZUMBA fun

This pretty much sums up the party :)

Happy Easter, spring and haircut

Life in pictures

First time seating in a high chair (Cafe Rio restaurant in Provo)

First time in a shopping cart (Buy Low in Provo)

The day Jane and Mommy were really sick (April 15) - Jane slept all day

Mommy's little bunny (at Joanne's in Orem)

Dying eggs with Mommy

At the Great Cloth Diaper Change in SLC  (we help set a Guinness World Record - 63 little bums changed in Salt Lake and 10000 worldwide)

Cute outfit chosen by Daddy

With the Easter Bunny at the University Mall in Orem.
Jane liked touching her furry face and didn't cry one bit

Bunny ears are fun :)

Christos a inviat!

'My First Easter' outfit - at uncle Daniel's apartment in Provo celebrating Easter and Daniel's graduation - Easter day

Jane excited to open her gift

First time opening a gift by herself!

Cute pyjamas from aunt Terri

Jane rolling over all the way - Easter - 24 April 2011

New haircut - haven't had my hair this short since I was 10 or so :)
I love it and it's so easy to take care of and dry after a shower 

Daddy's little girl - Jane loves her Daddy

With my friend Codruta (at temple Square) - She is 7 months pregnant
I have so many friends who are due in July. So exciting. Can't wait to see all the little babies.

Easter with Momma - Christos a inviat! Adevarat a inviat! Cioc!!! 

Mommy and Daddy sleepy on Easter morning :)

I just turned five months!

Oh my goodness! I can't believe that our little Jane is five months old. She's growing up so fast. I'm excited to see her do 'big kids' things soon but I also enjoy spending every minute of the day with her and seeing her grow.

This month's been pretty good for us and for Jane. We still miss mama Lucy but we're doing ok. We talk with the grandparents and our siblings on Skype every week and they are doing ok as well. We had another party with Eni and Lia at Lia's home and made cute Easter tutus for the girls. Also, Charity, David's sister went into the Missionary Training Center on March 9 to prepare to go on a LDS mission to the California - LA mission, Spanish speaking. She's excited and writes to us every week with updates on how she's doing as a missionary.

Hermana Charity Johansen went into the MTC on March 9th

Jane and I go walking every day and we love the spring warmth and scenery, such as flowers and blooming trees. We decided to take different routes occasionally to explore and see new neighborhoods. It's fun!

Out for a walk in our neighborhood

Jane in her St. Patrick's Day outfit that she wore outside that day

We both enjoy springtime and the nice weather

A month ago I tried giving Jane more solid foods such as oats and vegetable purees but she started having diarrhea so I decided that she might not be ready. Her diarrhea is gone now. I started giving her organic brown rice in her formula and so far she's good; just a little gassy. I'll wait a week and try some puree again. I know that I need to wait a week between introducing a new food and that she needs to get used to the green vegetables first then the fruits and only after all this she can have two things mixed together. We'll see how feeding solids will work out this time... I'm not too eager to have her eat solids but she gets really hungry with just formula so, since the doctor said that it's ok, I'll try solids and see...

Here are the different milestones Jane's accomplished.

She sits up with support and for a few seconds even without support (she supports herself by leaning forward and holding herself up with her arms), she can roll-over from back to front and on her side from her back (almost going all the way to her tummy!), she 'talks' a lot with her toys and with us and sings when I sing to her, she holds her toys and if she drops them she picks them up again, she can put her binky in her mouth by herself, she occasionally sits up by herself in her stroller, laughs when she's excited, looks at us when we call her by name and is very curious about everything.

First time Jane sat up in her stroller

One of the cutest things is to see Jane so happy when David comes home from work or how she looks at me with questioning eyes when she hears something loud. I just love to see her interact with us and develop a personality (sometimes a quite strong personality) :) She knows what she wants and asks for it :) It's so cute when she sees me make her a bottle, how she waits with anticipation but if I take too long she starts screaming and pulls the bottle to her mouth eagerly when I bring it close to her face.

Jane doesn't cry as much when she's on her tummy. She can roll over now! 

No teeth yet and no sign of them either but she still drools a lot and puts everything in her mouth, including her fist or my face :)

Jane sits up with little support for a few seconds

Sleep-wise, we tried co-sleeping in the beginning and it was great when she was a tiny baby, and then we wanted to do it again just recently but it didn't work out anymore. Jane is used to feel the walls of her bassinet in her sleep and would wake up for anything and we were always careful and would wake up whenever she moved.  She's been sleeping in her bassinet for the past couple of months. For her naps, sometimes she wants to be put to sleep on the bed and falls asleep alone but most of the time she requires a bottle. I tried the CIO method once but I just can't have her scream for minutes on end and then wail in her sleep for hours. I'm here for her so I can afford to be her mom and care for her. She goes to bed at night around 1am and asks for a bottle every four to five hours by crying in her sleep. I got her to sleep for about 5 hours just by giving her the binky but she gets really hungry and wakes up early (7am) if I don't feed her. She usually sleeps until 8 or 9am, wakes up, I change her diaper, play a bit and feed her and she falls asleep for another couple of hours, then plays and eats a bit again and falls back to sleep until around 1PM. It's an interesting routine but I don't mind it too much since I need the sleep just as much as she does.

One of Jane's 5 months pictures

Another thing that I like is taking showers with her. She doesn't mind the water running on her face and doesn't cry afterwards like she used to when we gave her baths. Of course that she still takes baths in the sink sometimes but she can sit up now so it's much easier to do then before. Oh, and she loves typing on the keyboard, looking at the pictures in books, listening to music, playing bowling on the Wii in our arms and watching the 'Baby can read' video.

All ready for Easter with her tutu and stuffed animals

Here's a sample of Jane's typing: Ω®rc4zç fhjjjjjjj                  nnnnn                   kk7700  y∫      9n3638hhhn.l5nA8T116YFCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCXdeddl.,t6t6. .7`   (Isn't she smart? :) I don't even know how to make some of those characters. Hahaha)

I'm glad that, even though Jane is becoming more independent, she still loves to cuddle and play with us. We love you Janney, so much!

Four Months Already

Jane is four months old and she just had her well-child appointment. She was so good, even when the nurse gave her the two shots in her legs and one vaccine in her mouth. She didn't even cry for the first shot and the nurse was impressed that she swallowed the vaccine, unlike other babes who just spit it out. Good girl, Jane!
For her stats: Jane is now 14lb 7oz and 24.5in long - big girl
Her doctor was happy with her and congratulated us as parents for doing 'everything right'. Hooray for us!
So, what is Jane doing new this month? Well, lots of cute things! She smiles all the time, looks all around the room to find her mommy and daddy, makes lots of cute noises, sucks on her fist and drools all the time getting her bibs and clothes all wet :) sits in her Bumbo seat all by herself and loves it, reaches for toys that are not in front of her when she lyes on her gym mat, sleeps all night (goes to bed around 10PM and only cries in her sleep a couple of times through the night for some milk and doesn't wake up until 8 or 9AM) eats organic oats cereal with milk and even some yummy green beans after the doctor okey-ed it and she even laughs when something is funny, like looking at mommy's face from above or when mommy and daddy tickle or zerbert her. She is such a happy and alert little girl and we love her A LOT.

Ready to eat!

First time eating organic oats cereal

All messy

My favorite toy-blankey

Reaching for toys 

Only two shots this time!

Plastic bib this time!

First time eating green beans. Pretty tasty!