Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!

It's never too early

I'd heard from several good friends (yes, you Meredith) that moms can potty train their babies. When it was first explained to me, it was in the context of tents and dirt floors and a matter of just holding little baby over the 'toilet' til they go. I'm sure it was my imagination that painted the desert scene, but even the thought of holding my baby over a nice white toilet bowl sounded like a huge time-waster to me. Then my friend Sarah showed me this baby potty and I couldn't resist giving it a try. Holding the baby over the toilet -- definitely not. Letting the baby sit and do his/her business -- maybe. For a few dollars I figured it might be worth a try if it meant getting a head start on that dreaded milestone.

So... how has it worked so far? I'd say pretty well. Though Janey doesn't tell me when she has to go potty, she is fairly good at filling it up whenever I place her cute little bum on the pot. Don't believe me? I have pictures to prove it!


I'm supposed to do what? where?

Oh! I get it!

See!

(Admit it, we all turn around and look at what we did in there)

Our little Scooter

Facepainting - What a party!

I had no idea kid birthday parties could be so cool! One of our new friends, Linda, put together a fabulous birthday party for her twins. She had fun activities like decorating cupcakes, various games, and a facepainter! So of course, I had to see how cute Jane would look with a little mariposa ("butterfly"... see, I'm slowly learning Spanish!) on the side of her face. Jane sat intently while the lady, who's name happened to be Leidy (sounds like "lady"), gently painted. Then, one of the other mothers at the party suggested I get my face painted too! So I did. Then another mother, with two daughters, one Jane's age, had her and her daughters all painted the same too. It was so so cute! Here's the result.

You can kinda see Jane's two small bottom teeth!

Isn't this just so cute!!

DC Deaf Branch Anniversary

Our family attended a deaf congregation in Washington, DC before moving to Bogota, Colombia. Well, the group celebrated their 30th anniversary and we put together a little "birthday message" for them. I thought it'd be fun to share it with all of you too. Enjoy!

Jane's first sign - Milk!

I wasn't sure she knew what she was signing... until she did the right thing at the end ;)

Look what I can do!

Babies are fun to watch as they develop and figure out their bodies...

Jane is learning to sit up.

And she's discovering that she has a tongue... and it can stick out! Nah!

Yummy Nectarine...

We haven't started Jane on any foods per se, but she has started grabbing at things. She almost nabbed a cookie out of Nils' hand as he was enjoying a simple desert after dinner. Fortunately he had something else to tempt her with since he hadn't finished his vegetables and instead he handed her a cooked stalk of asparagus to munch on. As I entered the dining room from the kitchen I was quite surprised to find Jane happily munching on the asparagus stalk! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture.

Luckily, a few days later, Nils found himself in a similar position. This time he was enjoying a nectarine so when she reached for it he let her take a few bites and taste it for herself. I remembered the camera this time....

All You Had to Do Was Ask

So this weekend Nils mildly complained that I don't bathe Janey enough. I had planned into my day today a time when I would give her that much needed bath. This morning, we got up early, read some words of wisdom; I made Nils breakfast and lunch; I did the dishes and put them away. I was earning points right and left by my estimation. So, having done such a great job in the first few hours of the day, I decided that I deserved to lay back down in my nice warm bed. Janey needed to eat anyway, and why not sit back and relax? She finished eating and was fussing a little. I figured she just wanted to practice using her voice. Being new to talking to infants, I didn't realize she was saying, "Hey lady. What about that bath?"

Still unaware and lacking an interpreter, I decided that perhaps I could conk her out with a little more milk. I gave her more. She obliged but once filled she continued to vocalize. Of course, I still thought she was just practicing for a day when I could understand her.

As any mother does, I went through her basic needs as she continued to make her presence known and I continued to lazily enjoy the warmth of my bed. I had fed her, so she wasn't hungry. Ah... I needed to change her diaper. But it could wait a few more minutes, right? I decided to put it off for a few more minutes. She continued to vocalize and I eventually decided to at least check if she was wet. My hand met a big patch of wet on her pajamas. I sat up and examined the area to find it wasn't just wet, it was poopy. *Sigh. I had waited too long. Blow out. Taking a rag and placing it under her, I started to examine the damage. Uh, eww... Blow out indeed. Lots of poop out of the diaper and all over her leg. Accepting the consequences, I started to clean it up. The thought occurred to me that now might be a good time to give her that bath I'd been meaning to give her. "Nah," I thought. "I'll do that later this afternoon." I continued to wipe and clean. Suddenly Jane started to cough and gag. I stopped what I was doing and focused on her, making sure she was okay. "Janey, you're okay." I soothed. "You're O...NO!" As she coughed she proceeded to bring up everything I had just fed her and then some. Curdled milk coated her arms and neck. I started laughing. Bath time it is then. Serves me right for making her go to such lengths to get one. Here's what the mess looked like...

Take note of the poop I had been in the process of cleaning and the milk curds that now covered her. You can't see the actual volume of what came out since most of it slopped over the sides of her face, arms and all over our bed.

Okay, okay... I got to work warming up her water and right then and there gave her a bath. Jane looked quite satisfied with the result.

Totally worth it. :)

Have a tour...

Jane has been asking us for the last three weeks that we have been here to post pictures of our new place. Finally, we let her make a tour video so that you all can see. Hope you enjoy!

For transcript, please send an e-mail to Emily. Processing time is 6-8 weeks. Just kidding.

Aww....

I know, I know... it's been too long since our last post. And there's a lot of events yet to cover. In the meantime, here's a short clip of Jane in action. I promise to do my best to catch up... :)

Baby Time!

Hello, this is Nils speaking. I am very happy to announce that our daughter, Jane Vera Bergeson, was born yesterday at 6:21 pm. We'll give more details later, but for now, enjoy these pictures!

Baby's Due Date... Where's the Baby??

Today is officially Jane's due date (notice the number on the baby counter is zero). But our baby seems completely content to stay where she is for now. That's okay with me since that means a few more days of a full night's sleep and the assurance that I know what I'm doing. Within a few days, all that will go out the window... and we welcome it! :)

Since I don't have pictures of the baby to post, instead, I'll share some pictures my mom took of me yesterday in honor of my 40th week and still being pregnant. That's the other lucky thing... I hadn't really had any "glamour pregnancy" photos taken of me yet, so we were able to squeeze it in before Jane squeezed out. :) Enjoy!

Like Mother, Like Daughter... I wish

After a recent conversation with my older brother, I discovered that I am surprisingly large. According to him, my mom was MUCH smaller than I am when she was pregnant. Fighting back tears, given the emotional roller coaster of my current state, I decided rather than take offense, I would simply prove him wrong. Okay, actually, I didn't feel like crying and wasn't the least bit offended, but I did find it funny and thought it'd be nice to take him up on his "challenge" and see just how big my own mother was when she was pregnant.

This quest proved only one thing... My mother is gorgeous! She even makes pregnancy look like pages from a model's portfolio. So... whether or not she truly managed the weight of pregnancy better than I am, it's just fun to see what she looked like when she was starting her family.

1975 in Washington DC

1977 in Louisiana

1981 New York (She was pregnant with me here!)

Me ... today.

Mormon Thinking - Worth Thinking About

Some of you may already be regular readers of Nils' blog "Mormon Thinking". You can attest to just how great the blog is. For everyone else, this week's post of particularly interesting... because I wrote it :)

The topic is about gender roles within a typical Mormon household, particularly pertaining to whose job it is to appoint someone to say the prayer. I'm interested in your thoughts since a lot of you have families of your own, have grown up in Mormon homes, or may have developed your own way of doing things.

Take a look and leave a comment if you'd like!

Gender Roles in the Family: A Matter of Prayer

A Personal Triumph

You know, being back in the United States after serving in the Peace Corps proved to be a fairly easy transition. One thing that I had completely forgot about, though, was setting up house. In preparation for Peace Corps service, we sold practically everything we had in order to reduce storage and junk we'd need to haul around. My older brother who is now residing in Australia did a superb job describing the purging process as well as the next steps of reacquisition. For me, I'd been able to put off reacquiring household items for over a year and it took a decided mental adjustment to bring me back to the reality of making a house, a home.

So, upon our arrival and subsequent settling in, Nils and I went about purchasing a variety of things we needed to make our living situation more comfortable. Among these items was a futon, purchased for a reasonable price from craigslist, which folds out into a rather spacious queen-sized bed. When it's transformed back into a "couch", however, it's slightly less appealing. You can see hospital wheels sticking out, a sturdy metal frame, and a bland off-white covering tri-folded indelicately. To remedy the problem, I determined to make a cover that would make it look more like a couch.

First things first; finding the right fabric. After a little searching, I found a Calico Corner store (which doesn't actually sell calico at all, but more home decor fabric) and tried to see what would both work and not cost too much. Upholstery fabric is surprisingly expensive unless you're fortunate enough to catch a sale. In my case, I didn't hit a sale, but I had in mind what I wanted and found a roll of fabric on clearance that suited the look I was going for. At an affordable $5/yard, I worked it out with the salesperson to determine how much fabric I would need. At first she was confused since I used the word 'futon' and she thought I wanted to cover the futon mattress rather than make a couch cover. Anyway... In the end, fortunately, I purchased enough and didn't have too much left over, even after cutting piping on the bias :)

Okay... so the material sat in the corner of the living room for a while. I admit, I'm a procrastinator and I had the perfect procrastinator's excuse of not having a sewing machine (though I could have borrowed my roommate's machine from upstairs). Anyway, Nils bought me a new sewing machine in November for my birthday and with the upcoming arrival of Nils' family for Christmas, the stars aligned and I finally got the couch cover done and in time for its debut. In addition to doing the couch, I also made 5 pillows, which were quite necessary as the couch lacks back support.

Triumphant at last, I present to you... my living room couch!

The Year of 2009

For Emily and Nils Bergeson, 2009 provided one of the most adventuresome and fulfilling years in living memory. Moving across an ocean, beginning a new career, learning of a new addition to their family, and several other adventures all over the world add up to an entertaining 2009. Read on to learn more about how the Bergeson family spent their last year in this exhaustive recap of the 2009:

As 2008 came to a close, Emily and Nils found themselves spending Christmas high in the Carpathian mountain resort town of Predeal. Christmas day was spent giving skiing instruction to Romanian children who had come from all over the country to spend their holiday on the slopes. At this time, the Bergesons had been living in Romania for nearly 10 months, having completed nearly half of their period of service as volunteers with the United States Peace Corps.

As the new year approached and the ski camp ended, Nils and Emily headed for Bucharest to catch a train to Istanbul, where they planned to welcome the new year after the manner of the Turks. As they approached the ticket window to secure their passage, they were dismayed to learn that a number of mis-communications from earlier ticket agents meant that they would be unable to travel to Turkey. Not to be disheartened by the need for flexibility, Nils and Emily improvised. They visited the beautiful Romanian cities of Sibiu and Brasov, then returned to Bucharest where they officially rang in 2009.

Returning to their host city of Bralia, Nils and Emily got back to work. Nils' primary project, a youth extra-curricular civic education group, aptly named “The Youth Vision for Democracy,” was well underway. Every other week, youth from the city would gather and be trained on how to be more active and contributive participants in their community. Together they planned service projects, held trainings, and enjoyed many other fun activities together.

Emily not only helped Nils in his work with the youth, she had her own projects with her assigned organization, the Center for Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise Development. Emily helped in revamping their website, hosted a number of trainings and assessments, and helped in any other way she could. In addition, Emily worked hard in putting together a book, “Romengleaza,” which was a Romanian/English dictionary and phrasebook. Not only did she write, design, and organize the nearly 300-page-book and it's cover, she recorded and edited an audio version of the book as well. All proceeds from the sale of the books and CDs went to fund the Youth Vision for Democracy. Not many Peace Corps volunteers end up becoming a published author in their time of service.

In late January, Nils was fortunate enough to enjoy an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC. Along the way, he had a stop-over in Madrid, and was able to visit Spain's capital for the first time. The purpose of his trip was for a job interview with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Nils had long been eying a career in the Foreign Service, specifically with USAID, and was surprised to be invited for an interview months earlier than he expected. During his trip, he was able to find a few days to sneak over to Utah and visit his family, as well as spending time with his brother- and sister-in-law and their three children in DC. The interview was a success, and in February he was given a conditional offer. Thus began the long wait for medical and security clearances to come through.

Knowing their time in Romania was limited, Nils and Emily sought to complete as many projects as they could. One project was done in conjunction with the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Romania Bucharest Mission covers all of Romania and Moldova, with over 100 full-time missionaries, mostly from the United States and Canada, spread throughout the two countries. Calling on his experience as a missionary in Russia, Nils helped design and organize a mission-wide English teaching program. Emily contributed to the project as well, which ended up providing a number of trainings, as well as a manual for use throughout the mission. They were able to travel to Arad, Brasov, Bucharest, and Chisinau, Moldova to help present the project to the missionaries. Nils and Emily felt privileged to be part of a project which not only helped provide a service to the Romanian people, but helped support the small Mormon community in Romania as well.

In addition to completing as many projects as possible, Nils and Emily tried to take advantage of the relatively cheap travel in the region to visit places they hadn't before. In April, they were visited by Peter, Nils' youngest brother, who had been studying abroad for a year in Germany. After a few days in Sinaia, a quaint Carpathian village, they finally took the long-anticipated train south to Turkey.

Nils, Emily, Pete, and fellow Peace Corps volunteer Cynthia Yeh, spent the next four days in Istanbul. The ancient and historically relevant city was full of endless excitement for the travelers. Of course, the famous sights, such as the massive Hagia Sofia mosque, and the Sultan's Palace, were wonderful to visit. They also enjoyed traveling across the Bosporus to Asian Turkey, walking along the boardwalks of Istanbul, and eating plenty of inexpensive and abundant kebab.

Continuing their journey, the group hopped a train for Thessaloniki, Greece. Another beautiful historic city on the Aegean, the Greek city was well worth the visit. Besides being caught in a massive downpour, their time in Thessaloniki was fascinating, and the Greek food, carefully selected thanks to Nils' Greco-expert of a cousin Tyler, was well worth the price.

For the travelers' final day in Greece, they rented a car to drive south to the monasteries of Meteora. These amazing structures, perched high atop rock outcroppings in central Greece, provided fantastic views and a chance to really ponder the significance of life. Staring out across the panorama, Nils and Pete discussed how they could think of no better place for one who has dedicated their life to exploring the mysteries of Godliness to live in pensive solitude. They were also able to hike along a portion of Mount Olympus, and enjoyed a crowing Greek experience as they were forced to wait for several minutes as a shepherd led an enormous flock of goats across the road.

The four wanders left Greece and arrived early the next morning in Sophia, Bulgaria. By now they were very weary from their travels, and spent a good portion of the day sleeping in a park. Nevertheless, Sophia provided a number of historically significant points of interest. They also saw the government buildings situated in Bulgaria's capital. Leaving that evening for Bucharest, the companions arrived in Romania the next morning. They were able to enjoy a decent a night's sleep after negotiating with the conductor for discounted couchettes.

As if Nils and Emily hadn't traveled enough, they decided that May's arrival of Emily's younger sister, Ellen, provided the perfect excuse to see more in the region. Thanks to the budget airlines of Europe, they flew from Bucharest to Venice, Italy. A few days in the city famous for romance was wonderful indeed. One can truly wander the streets of Venice for hours and find something of interest around every corner without needing to spend a cent.

Continuing through Italy, the three traveled by train to Rome, with a stop over for a few hours in Bologna. In Rome, they were happy to again be joined by Nils' brother Pete, who celebrated his birthday in Italy's capital. Each of their three days spent in Rome had a different “theme.” The first day was spent seeing the archaeologically preserved sites of ancient Rome, including the Colosseum. The second day was dedicated to Catholic Rome, and was spent primarily in the Vatican. Sites included St. Peter's Basilica, the Tombs of the Popes, and the Sistine Chapel. The final day was spent visiting modern Rome, including the government buildings, as well as catching up on other sites we hadn't seen in the days prior. We arrived in Rome just as the movie “Angels and Demons” was released, and were able to see all of the significant sculptures which played a part in the story's plot.

After Rome, Nils and Pete returned to their respective European nations, but Emily and Ellen hadn't had enough. The sisters traveled on to Florence and Pisa, where they stayed near the world-renowned leaning tower. They then flew on to Paris, where they spent the next few days visiting the sites around the French capital. It was the first time either had been to Paris, or France for that matter. They both returned to Romania tired from their journey, but satisfied at having seen so much.

After returning from Italy and France, Nils and Emily received wonderful news. It began as Nils got the sneaking suspicion that something had changed about Emily. He suggested that she might be pregnant, but she was unsure. Determined to know if his hunch was correct, Nils stopped at a local pharmacy, and purchased a pregnancy test. It came out positive! Nils and Emily were going to have a baby!

Ellen remained with the Bergesons in Romania until early June. Before she left, they were able to throw in a few quick day-trips in Romania, including a Saturday spent in the Black Sea port of Constanta, and another weekend in the Medieval Carpathian village of Sigisoara. They hiked through the hills overlooking the ancient castles of the city, and again were caught in a summer rain, this time complete with lighting. It was a memorable experience however, and Nils and Emily were sad to see Ellen leave.

After seeing her off in Bucharest, the Bergesons returned to Braila only to immediately turn around and go back to Brasov, to host a training camp which concluded the Youth Vision of Democracy program for 2008-2009. About 10 youth from Braila spent two days hiking in the mountains (carefully avoiding bears) and being trained in leadership skills.

As they were returning back to Braila to get things organized for the summer, Nils received an e-mail he had been waiting for. He was to report to Washington, DC by July 20th for work. This left the Bergesons with less than a month to finish up their projects, pack up all of their belongings, say goodbye to friends, fly to the United States (specifically to Utah, where all of their stuff was), arrange the move to DC, drive across the United States, and get settled in.

Nils and Emily said goodbye to their Romanian friends, sad to be leaving a few months earlier than they had previously expected, but excited to begin their new adventures. They successfully managed the move, even having a few days to stay with Nils' family in Utah, and being able to stop and visit Emily's family in Kansas for a few more. They arrived in Vienna, Virginia, their new home town, on July 16th.

Nils spent his first five weeks of work in orientation. He was sworn-in as a U.S. Foreign Service Officer on his first day, then had to wait five full weeks to learn where their first country of assignment would be. Just before leaving Romania, Emily had shared an impression with him. “I think we're going to move to South America next.” It was an interesting thought, but there was really no way to say where they might end up in the year to come.

As the orientation ended, they were happy to learn that they would indeed be headed to South America for the next two years. More specifically, Nils would be working from the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia. In November, he began six months of intensive Spanish language training. The Bergesons expect to depart for Bogota sometime in the summer of 2010.

In September, Nils and Emily learned that their growing baby is a girl! For now, they plan to name her Jane Vera. She is expected to come on or around February 18th. As the time grows ever nearer, Nils and Emily are becoming more and more excited for their baby to come.

The last few months of 2009 were enjoyable, yet busy. Nils stays occupied with work and Spanish everyday, and Emily has worked most days as a sign-language interpreter. They managed to find time to make a few quick getaways to South Carolina, Shenandoah National Park, Harper's Ferry, and New York City. Emily was able to get back to Kansas for a couple of weeks in November to spend time with her family as well.

All and all, 2009 has been an adventurous and full year for Nils and Emily. If you successfully made it to the conclusion of this recap, then you are commended for your stamina. They wish you and yours all the best in this New Year!

Here's looking forward to the adventures 2010 will bring, including a baby girl and yet another intercontinental move! Start planning your trips to South America now, as the Bergesons hope to see you all in Bogota!