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

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.

Hello Second Trimester!!

First milestone - done! We're officially in the second trimester, which means less morning sickness and more good times (if you know what I mean - wink, wink)
The first trimester's been a bit tougher than when I was pregnant with Jane. I was still pretty tired and emotional but also had more morning sickness and my sense of smell is even stronger this time. When I was about 13 weeks along I had a bit of bleeding too, which never happened with Jane, and we went to the hospital to get it checked out. It turned out that everything was okay and the ultrasound confirmed that the baby is healthy and very active. It was fun to see the baby move, do somersaults, open its mouth and move its legs, body and head. I was so relieved to hear the heartbeat which was at 166 and very normal. Recently, I also started having the weird dreams that I had last time, but this time are not about babies but mostly about water. I drowned once, I saw a talking female shark in another one and I learned about a woman who ate a dog for breakfast after drowning it. Weird, I know. I haven't woken up crying or laughing out loud yet, like I did last pregnancy but these dreams are just as weird if not more. :)
We're excited for the new baby and can't wait to get to 20 weeks to find out the gender. We don't know if we want a boy or a girl so I guess either way we'll be very happy.

13 Weeks 2 Days

13 Weeks

The Newest Citizen of the United States

On August 16, 2011 David, Jane and I went to the Emigrations Office in Salt Lake City for me to take the citizenship test in order for me to become a US citizen. I became a US resident on March 3, 2008 and earlier this year we decided that becoming a citizen is the next logical step. Here is what happened at the interview. I must say that I was pretty nervous that I might have the interview with some mean officer but I'm pretty sure that I got the nicest officer they got. He smiled and helped me feel at ease and he even made fun of me when he jokingly scolded me for not changing my address before I came to the interview (we recently moved from Springville to Midway).
Reading question: How many US Senators are there?
Writing question: There are 100 (one hundred) Senators.
Civics questions - you have to answer 6 questions out of 10. Since I answered the first 6 correctly I didn't have to answer all 10 :)
What is the rule of law?
How old do citizens have to be to vote for President?
What major event happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States?
What ocean is on the West coast of the United States?
Why does the flag have 13 stripes?
What is the name of the national anthem?
All the questions and their answers are provided to you in a booklet but I mostly studied them off an app we installed on my iPad.
After passing this portion of the interview, we went through most of the questions in form N - 400 that I previously filled out and submitted and the officer went sure that everything looked good there. We then went over the name that I'd like to have when I become a citizen and I signed some papers saying that the reason why I want to change my name is not because I want to escape some felony or other legal issue. My official name is going to be Dahlee Anna Johansen. I love to be called Dahlee which sounds like "Dali". My family's always called me that, even when I was in trouble :) and ever since I came to the US I told everyone that my name is Dahlee.
After we went over the section asking if I'm a terrorist or if I've ever been in jail, which I passed :) the officer signed and approved my application and then congratulated me for doing such a good job and passing the interview. In a month or two I will be sworn in during an Oath ceremony in Salt Lake and then I will officially be a citizen of the United States of America. I'm proud and excited to become a US citizen and I hope I will always represent my new country with pride and honor.

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.

Independence Day 2011

I love Independence Day and the activities related to this holiday. This year we celebrated pretty well. First,  Jane and I went to Eni's house in Payson on the 2nd and had tons of fun with her family and Lia and her kids. On the 4th, David came home from work early and we had mici and hotdogs and fireworks. We also had smores with a few of our neighbors and lit our fireworks and watched others light theirs. It was pretty cool to celebrate together and to remember that the United States is our home and the place where we are free and have many opportunities to be happy and succeed. Happy Independene Day!!!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Something wrong?

Well, for the past couple of weeks I haven't been feeling very well. I've been tired and nauseous and from time to time, lightheaded. Since we haven't been using protection for the last month, I thought that I might be pregnant; so I tried a test a couple of days before my period. The test looked positive for a few seconds but after the two minutes that you're supposed to wait, it was more than clear that I wasn't pregnant. Why did I still feel sick then? In the next couple of days I started getting some back aches and definite symptoms that my period was just around the corner but then it was late for a day, and another, and another. So, I thought: why don't I try another test? Even though I never got nauseous with Jane I still thought that something might be happening. All the sensitivity around Jane's poopy diapers and spit-up, heart burn, headaches, tiredness, back aches and tummy problems had to have a reason. Well, I was right! I AM PREGNANT! I haven't been to a doctor yet to confirm it but the second test was a definite YES. Don't know the due date since I'm not 100% sure when the first day of my last period was but I'm more than sure that sometimes next year a little Johansen Junior will join our family and make us happier than we already are; if that's even possible. So, here you have it. We're expecting and I'm thrilled  and terrified about it. Since my birthday was on May 25, this is the best birthday present David could have ever given me :)

POSITIVE

Closer view :)
Hello baby # 2!

Getting ready for a new adventure

Not many people know that David got accepted into the Technology Teaching Master at the New York Institute of Technology, the Manhattan campus. We've been really excited about it but at the same time have been feeling a little stressed out about the move and the whole new experience. I, for one am really excited to live in NYC but I'm definitely not looking forward to the move. It will be hard to do it, stressful and very expensive. I know we'll manage but knowing that I'll have to do most of the packing and planning alone is not very appealing. However, I'm happy and excited for this new adventure and David is too. We're planning to leave at the beginning of August but before that we'll need to find an apartment, and make flight and moving truck reservations. We'll have our stuff shipped to NY and David will go first and hopefully be able to sign an apartment contract before we all go there. We'd very much appreciate some suggestions from those of you who survived going through a big move like this and have more experience at it than we do. : )
I really hope that things will go well for us this time and that we'll be happy and successful. We will definitely miss our friends in Utah and hope to keep in touch. And of course that everyone is welcome to come visit! We'll let you know once the move is all planned and definite.

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

Mother's Day

This year I celebrated my first Mother's Day and it was wonderful. It fell on a Sunday and I was lucky that David was home and didn't have to go to work. Even though he rarely gets a day off, he watched Jane most of the day and picked up around the house a bit too. I, on the other hand got to take a looooong shower in the morning, crochet a bit and plant a few things in the little garden by our apartment. The day before David got me a crochet book and we went to Red Lobster and had a wonderful dinner. Thank you honey for a wonderful Mother's Day.

Yummy food

A bit of gardening

My new crochet book

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 :)