final countdown

The Doctor confirmed that tomorrow at 8 am the baby will be born. yipee! Melinda is doing well. I will soon have what I've always wanted, a large Hungarian family. (That's kind of a joke as three children constitute a large family in Hungary.) I'm happy non-the-less.

This is your last change: boy or girl. Write it in the comment and we'll see who's right. While your thinking, reminisce with this video. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

long overdue

There's a young Canadian couple out there who just had twins boys . . . you know who you are . . . this post is for you!

For the rest . . . there's a discount store in Hungary called Plus and their paper products have interesting yet logical names. For example napkins and paper towels are labeled 'serving.' Their facial tissues are labeled 'feeling.' This label also seems rather well suited for the product, but there's something just wrong about it, wouldn't you agree?

Jill

Here's a video from the last vasarnapeste (Sunday Night) I did. It's a rare original song I wrote 10/12 years ago about Jill's entry into Narnia from the Silver Chair. I hope you like it.

Health care happenings...

Bocsánat, de megírtam ezt a kis szösszenetet és nagyon hosszú lett. Egyszerűen nincs energiám lefordítani, ne haragudjatok. De holnap reggeltől a kórházban leledzem és várakozok, úgyhogy nyugodtan hívjatok és mesélek! :)

When you are expecting, going to the different examinations is like a sociological study. You can learn a lot about people by making observations in the waiting room. If you haven't lived outside the States or another "western country", you have no idea about the style and the red tape involved in health care here. I remember what it was like to be an expectant mom in the States: smiling nurses, carpet and soft music in the waiting area, everything about courtesy and convenience (and money, of course). Seems unreal now! :)) Please don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the provision we get here. I am glad we don't live in a country where I would have to give birth in a bush. There are good doctors, nurses, hospitals, ultrasound machines, etc. And if you use the state and not the private system, it's all free (mind you, we pay huge amounts of taxes for this!). Yet it's sometimes hard to focus on the joy of expecting a baby when you are treated like you have some serious illness, have to go through 35 exams, ultrasounds, blood tests, wait a lot to get a paper to go to the next place where you get another paper, etc. And for some reason, the hospital in our town is even worse in this regard than other ones in Hungary.

Anyway, I wanted to write about my experiences on Monday, when I went to the hospital for a check-up (they monitor the baby's heartbeat and movements with a machine: it was all fine!!!) I told Matthew about these things when I came home and he said they would make a good blog entry. So here we go.

Scene One: I am hooked on the monitor, listening to the baby's heartbeat (you can't ever get tired of this!!! :). Meanwhile another mom is being examined. I don't see her, but I can't help overhearing some things. She tells the doctor that this is her seventh pregnancy. Wow! It is very unusual in our country to have a big family like that. She is called by her married name so I assume it's one big happy family.

Scene Two: I am walking towards the ultrasound room, which is right next to the ear-nose-throat specialist. I hear a little child screaming like crazy. I feel really bad for her, thinking she just had something done to her ear and is in great pain. However, when I get there, I realize that it is not a little child but a girl of about 9-10 years in the waiting area for the ultrasound. She is the one yelling like crazy, while she is surrounded by three adults (dad, aunt and grandma I figure), who don't seem to mind the noise and have no intentions of taking her away or doing anything. In a few minutes, her mom (I assume) comes out of the ultrasound, the girl calms down immediately and they all leave. What?? She was pitching a fit for her Mama to come out!!!

Scene Three: I sit down to wait for my ultrasound. Next to me is the mother of seven and her husband. We start chatting. She goes in and from what the guy tells me it soon turns out that this is not one big happy family. He refers to her as his girlfriend and tells me that they're expecting their first baby. What?? Well, yes, both of them have more children from other relationships. OK, I didn't grow up in a bubble, I understand that this happens. Then he asks me: "Did you see the woman who was in before?" (the one for whom the girl was yelling). I say, yes, why? "Well, she has a kid from me, too!" Oooh, I see! I ask him how many children he has. The answer is: 16!!!! Whooa! I am not sure if this is polite at this point but so far he volunteered all the information and made me curious, so I ask, "Uhm, well, but they're not from the same woman, uhm, are they?" He looks at me with a face I can't call proud but more full of regret and says: "No, they are from 9 different women!" No comment. Curtain.

Scene Four: I am in the ultrasound room. I had had this specialist before. He is not rude, but he is always distant, always impersonal, always in a rush, and when he is looking at OUR BEAUTIFUL BABY on the screen, he might as well be a farmer examining a cucumber on the field. I know he sees this every day, but still, I think he would make a better farmer than an obstetrician... Anyway, below is kind of a parallel dialogue. We are in the same time frame, him rattling off the numbers to the nurse in a matter of fact voice, me trying to capture those few moments when I can see our baby on the screen. Mind you, I am lying there alone, as per the new regulations, nobody can be present at the exam other than the "patient with the illness," i.e. the expectant mom.

Dr to nurse: BDP 98 millimeters.
Me to baby (not outloud, of course :): Hi, baby!!! I think I saw your hand!!!!
Dr: AC 338 mm.
Me: I saw the heart beating!!! Thank you, Lord!!!
Dr: Aorta and umbilical flow normal.
Me: Bye sweetie!!! See you very soon!!!

Scene Five is yet to come. I will be admitted to the hospital tomorrow morning. After all this I think it makes sense to say: I appreciate your prayers!!! :)

Bowling

Bocs, hogy még mindig nem babahírekről írok, de még hivatalosan is van egy hét hátra és gondolom, addig is el kell szórakoztatni a lelkes olvasóközönséget. :)

Szóval tegnap este el akartunk menni valahova családilag most, hogy még pelenka-, cumi-, babakocsi- és egyéb mentesek vagyunk. :) Ha a srácokat megkérdezitek bármikor, hogy hova szeretnének menni, az egyöntetű válasz: bowlingozni! Így is tettünk. Van egy jó hely egy kis településen tőlünk nem messze: gyerekbarát (csak két pálya van, nincs tömeg, hangos zene, cigifüst) és utána meg is tudunk kajálni. Egy kétszemélyes tálat szoktunk rendelni, amivel mind a négyen jól lakunk és még a másnapi ebéd is kitelik belőle. :) Természetesen az elmaradhatatlan képes beszámolót is láthatjátok alább.

Sorry that I'm still not writing about baby news, but even officially there is one more week left and I thought we should entertain our faithful readership until then. :)

Well, yesterday we wanted to have a family night now that we are still diaper-, pacifier-, stroller- and other-free. :) If you ask the boys any time about where they want to go, the unanimous answer is: bowling! So this is what we did. There is a good place in a small town not far from here which is kid-friendly (only two lanes, no crowd, loud music and smoke) and afterwards we can have dinner there as well. We usually order a two-person plate, which satisfies all four of us plus it covers lunch the next day! :) Of course you can see the illustrated coverage of the evening below.

Still waiting/Még mindig várunk

This is where I found Benjamin yesterday. Pretty cute, eh?
Itt találtam Benjáminra tegnap. Elég cuki, nem?
Then he came into the room and announced that he has a baby in his tummy.
Aztán bejött a szobába és bejelentette, hogy baba van a pocakjában.
And finally, the baby was born! :)
És végre megszületett a baba! :)

Esztergom

Pár napja felmentünk Esztergomba, mert Mattet meghívták, hogy vegyen részt egy ottani bibliaórán. A legérdekesebb az volt, hogy a szabadban tartották az alkalmat.

A few days ago we went to a town about an hour away called Esztergom, because Matthew was invited to serve at a Bible study. The most interesting thing was that we were outside in a park.

Ha jobbra néztünk, ezt láttuk.
When we looked right, we saw this.
Balra pedig a megáradt Duna.
And on the left was the flooded Danube.
Az óra után láttunk egy szép naplementét is.
After the study we saw a nice sunset too.
És ilyen klassz épületek is vannak ebben a városban. Láttok rajta valami érdekeset?
And the town is full of cool buildings like this. Notice anything interesting?
Hú, de bátor valaki! Ezt asszem én még pocak nélkül sem vállalnám be! (Na jó, ha mondjuk ha a gyerekeimet kellene onnan felülről kimentenem, akkor persze gondolkodás nélkül felszaladnék a falon :)

Wow, what a brave guy! I don't think I would ever attempt that even without a belly! (Well, of course if I had to rescue my kids from up there, I would be scaling those walls in a heartbeat :)
Aztán átruccantunk vacsorára Szlovákiába. Talán sokan vagytok így vele, hogy hihetetlen érzés egy határon átmenni megállás, ellenőrzés, pecsételés nélkül! Persze a mi gyerekeinknek mindez már történelem lesz, és ez így van rendjén.

Then we crossed the river to Slovakia to have dinner. For you Americans out there I think this is even more interesting: you cross a river and find yourself in a different country, with a different language and a different currency (now because of the EU we can do all this without stopping and showing our passports).

Szlovák szomszédainknak nyílik a legszebb kilátás az esztergomi bazilikára.
Our Slovakian neigbors have the most beautiful view of the basilica in Esztergom.
Szóval szép este volt. A mi városkánkban éldegélve az ember sokszor el is felejti, milyen gyönyörű is kis hazánk! :)

All in all it was a nice evening. Living in our town you tend to sometimes forget what a beautiful country this is! :)

no baby yet

No Baby yet, but we have diapers!

Sour cherry harvest/Meggyszüret

Here is a little account of what we are doing to keep busy waiting for the baby in the summer heat. Although our yard is pretty bare, our neighbors have some fruit trees, so with their permission and encouragement we attacked the sour cherry tree.

Csak egy kis beszámoló arról, mikkel is foglalatoskodunk a meleg nyári babavárás közepette. Bár a mi kertünk igen kopár, a szomszédékéban van egy jópár gyümölcsfa, így a bácsi engedélye, sőt bíztatása után megtámadtuk a meggyfát.
Pitting the cherries (it's a handy little tool and Oliver worked hard, but it still left quite a few pits in and needed a check-up so nobody would crack their teeth)
Magozás (ügyes ez a kis szerkezet és Olivér is jó munkát végzett, de még így is bent maradt egy jópár mag, úgyhogy ellenőrzésre volt szükség, hogy nehogy valakinek kitörjön a foga)
Sour cherry soup: these cold fruit soups are very popular in the summer!
Hideg meggyleves: a legkirályabb nyáron!
Sour cherry cake (by the time I remembered to take a picture, this is all that was left :)
Meggyes süti (mire észbe kaptam, hogy lefotózzam, már csak ennyi maradt :)

Pocak/Belly

Néhányan kérdeztétek, miért nem rakunk fel pocakos képeket a blogra. Nos, nem tudom, talán szégyellősségből, de mivel hivatalosan már csak 12 napunk van hátra, megragadom az utolsó lehetőséget, miért is ne? :) Íme egy pár sztárfotó.

Some people asked why we haven't put any belly pictures on the blog. Well, I guess I have been self-conscious about it or whatever, but since we only have about 12 days left officially, this is my last chance, so why not? :) Here are a few snapshots.