Okay, so you know it’s been too long since the last post when people start emailing to say things like, “Are you still in Hungary?” and, “Do you still have my email address?”!

I mentioned in a previous post (for which I did NOT send out a notice – sorry, everyone!) that we would be very busy for a couple months. That was my way of saying, “don’t expect any posts.” So, in typical Keesha fashion, I extended that two-month reprieve to four months! As you can imagine, we have managed to stay busy anyway, and I’m finally relaxing enough to enjoy our activities. To keep the record somewhat orderly, I have recapped our doings by month:

MARCH
See the March 12 post for details on our new flat!
My friend, Suvi, had her baby... Welcome, baby Jimi!

I hosted – along with my neighbor, Kelli – NAWA playgroup in our new place. Some other moms and I decided to make it a surprise baby shower for Kelli, so I couldn’t tell her not to make anything! There was a great turnout, and everyone was very generous… loads of diapers for the baby and a nice salon gift certificate for Kelli.


APRIL
Elizabeth turned ONE!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!!!!!!
We had a sweet little birthday party with a few friends and their kids. I made dinner (the best enchiladas ever!), a chocolate cake, and – of course – a chocolate “smash cake.” I was so excited for Elizabeth… it was to be her first taste of chocolate, sugary goodness. However, to my shock and disbelief, she didn’t want to have anything to do with it! She barely let me wipe the frosting onto her lips, much less put any of it in her mouth! If I hadn’t been there at her birth, I might actually wonder where she really came from. ;) She is walking, running, talking (some real words mixed in with lots of baby babble), signing, and doing everything she can to keep up with her big sister. She's still in love with her Daddy, and is just thrilled when he comes home at the end of the day.

I hosted a baby shower for my friend, Holli. My awesome neighbor helped with so many of the preparations – THANK YOU, KELLI!!! In my zeal to pull off the “perfect shower,” I decided that I am finally ready to seriously start thinking about learning how to decorate cakes (did you catch the waffling?). The shower cake turned out nicely, but so far from what I would ultimately like to be able to do… think Martha Stewart.



MAY
I turned 35.
Lee turned 38.
Kelli had her baby... Welcome, baby Lila!

Lee started playing baseball! There’s an American here whose ministry is to share the Gospel with Hungarians through sports. Lee was invited to coach and/or play for two separate teams. That’s a lot of baseball… Tuesday night practices and weekend games, often on Saturday AND Sunday, many times out of town. He has given up football (soccer) while he’s playing baseball. I can’t tell you how much I truly appreciate this!

Elizabeth moved out of our bed and into her room! This was a huge deal, for which we are very grateful. To my amazement, there was no suffering for either of us, and very little crying. In all, we endured three evenings with a combined total of only 30 minutes of crying. It was awesome! From the first night, I have been able to put her to bed at 8:00, and not go back to tend to her until the next morning! I did nothing special, beyond being prepared for a week of physical and emotional agony. Of course, to prepare for such a thing requires lots of praying, which I did. Thanks be to God!

We hosted a dinner party for some of Lee’s colleagues who were visiting from the UK. We went out for drinks afterward, and I felt really awkward. As we got off the tram, I thought, “Wow, this is such an ‘adult’ thing to do. It’s so weird to not have a stroller, a diaper bag, or at least one child with me.” As if to read my mind at that very moment, Lee said, “Keesha, do you realize you have the diaper bag attached to your purse?” Perhaps it was my subconscious way of bringing my baby with me. ;)

We celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. To mark the occasion, we went out on a real date… all by ourselves! As we left for our evening out, I was very concerned that I wouldn’t know how to carry on a conversation – free of children’s interruptions – for more than five minutes at a time, but I did great! And that night, I remembered to leave the diaper bag at home…


JUNE
Baseball – lots of baseball (...for Lee; the girls aren’t very good spectators, so we generally don’t go to the games).

I took on coordinating Rhyme Time, a weekly child/parent activity hosted in people’s homes. We sing songs, read books, play with puppets, dance around, and otherwise encourage moms to play with their babies/toddlers. My friend, Marion, started it up some time ago, but she’s moving soon… I’m going to miss her!

Children’s Day at a park on the outskirts of the city. Abigail’s preschool arranged a morning of fun activities for the students and their families, to give parents a chance to meet and visit. (It can be so hard to do that during drop-off and pick-up times!) Abigail got her face painted; and she and I went on a rickety old carousel that looks like it should have failed every applicable safety test; but then, I’m not really sure safety tests are even required here…

My friend, Jen, and her family moved back to the States. She started the Bible study I’ve been going to for over a year, and I will miss her!

Abigail’s group (class) put on a year-end program. They acted out a little play, danced around, sang songs in Hungarian and English, and just thrilled all of their parents! Abigail had a key role in one activity, where she walked back and forth in front of the group, while the teacher asked – in English – “Is Abigail running/jumping/walking?” Abigail sang all the Hungarian songs, and even switched to Hungarian from English, right in the middle of one of the (predetermined) songs! It was awesome. They topped off the program with an unusually moist (by Hungarian standards) cake, with a huge "sparkler candle," very popular here!

Holli had her baby... Welcome, baby Will!

We’ve also been to several birthday parties over the last few months. The most exciting parties have been at the Zoo Playhouse, a very large indoor play area at the city zoo. At a party last week, Elizabeth had her own personal tea party, and Abigail got to feed the elephants (click here to see a video)… what an awesome experience! Thanks for inviting us, Caden & Maren!

Father’s Day… Lee played baseball on Saturday and Sunday, but we managed to prepare his favorite – yellow cake with chocolate frosting – with Abigail-led decorations. Thanks for the cake mix, Mom & John!

Rain – lots of rain. Just a few days ago, we had our first real thunderstorm of the season. Oddly enough, I really miss those familiar North Texas thunderstorms!

I finished reading a book… shocking! (I’m so bad about starting books and not finishing them.) The title is Budapest Diary, In Search of the Motherbook by Susan Rubin Suleiman. She’s an Hungarian Jew whose family fled from Communism when she was ten. She grew up in America and became a feminist and Harvard professor. She largely ignored her birth heritage until journaling a six-month fellowship in Budapest. It was exciting to see her write about places and things I am familiar with here. As an academic, her insights and commentary on Hungarians, their politics (especially in light of today’s economy and recent elections), and even on motherhood were thought-provoking. Now that I’ve finished reading her book, I can delight my own dear readers with more blog posts! :)