Dey and Dee's Updates

Ups and Downs

Well, it has been a full week, but not too busy. Let's see where to begin...

On Monday, Deyan had his 3rd wisdom tooth removed. It was the simplest extraction which didn't even require surgery and only cost $20! As soon as the freezing wore off, he was fine and was able to eat supper and everything that night.

Tuesday, we had a visit in the evening from a second cousin of Deyan. His name is Delian and he is only a few months younger than Dey. He and his brother grew up close to Dey and Mitch. He is now married and has a baby one year younger than Simeon. He came with his wife, baby and mother, who is Ionka's first cousin. It was a nice visit. I learned a few more BG customs too. Whenever you have something to celebrate, people bring chocolates. Like, if it's your birthday, you are expected to buy chocolates and serve them to everyone you see that day. And if you have a baby, it's the same thing. Kind of opposite of the North American idea that when you have something to celebrate, everyone else brings you stuff, eh? But they do also always bring gifts for Simeon. Poor kid, it almost always involves interesting clothing, which is nice, and treats. I feel bad, but I can't let him have chocolate all the time and everyone seems to want to feed it to him! I have relaxed a bit and allowed him much more than I usually would, realizing we're on vacation, but I hope he doesn't go through withdrawl when we get back to Winnipeg! :)

Wednesday, we had more company for lunch. Ionka's cousin, Bonka, who she is very close to, came with her grandaughter Simona (this is Antoine's daughter, who you'll remember also met us at the airport when we arrived). She is 11 years old and very sweet. I felt bad for Mom because she had a plan to make a specific chicken dish for lunch, but at the last minute couldn't find the main ingredient. She is a great cook and I know she wanted to make a really nice lunch. She asked for my help about half an hour before they were due to arrive, and the only thing that came to mind was my favorite honey/curry chicken. Well, it saved the day and everyone really liked it. Whew!
That afternoon, Deyan had his 4th tooth removed. This one was the worst and boy was it a doozy! The surgery was traumatic both physically and emotionally. They had to shave off bone and all kinds of crazy stuff. And for the first time, Dey's face swelled up like a balloon! Poor guy. He is recovering, but it's still very swollen and he has a hard time eating.

Thursday afternoon Bonka invited us to go downtown with herself, her husband and Simona. We shopped a bit and sat in a cafe for a nice dessert. Then Deyan went home to rest while the rest of us continued walking around and shopping here and there. The downtowns are cool in this country because they are all blocked off and only available to pedestrians. Anyways, Kaleko Stuyan (Kaleko is kind of a special name for uncle I think) is a nut for kids so he spent the whole day just chasing Simeon around. Simeon of course was loving this! They later took us to a really nice little restaurant for supper. I love the restaurants here. Most of them have patios and/or courtyards. This one had a nice courtyard with a fountain in the middle and a small slide off to the side for Sim to play on. The food was excellent too, and still so cheap! Anyways, it was a nice time and we felt very spoiled!

Today (Friday), Vuicho is coming with his son Mitko who is back from visiting his sister in France. They will spend the day with us and then Vuina, his wife, will join us for the evening. We are going out to a nice restaurant for supper to celebrate a bunch of things. Deyan's grandparents had their 50th anniversary this year, his grandmother just had her 70th birthday this summer, and there are of course the other birthdays and Simeon's arrival, etc. It was going to be a big party with extended family, but Dey's grandparents felt too overwhelmed with this idea and decided to just do immediate family. We will also go tomorrow morning for a family portrait. I hope Dey's face isn't quite so swollen by then! :)

Well, that's the update. I titled this ups and downs because at times I've had an emotional week. Sometimes I am so ready to just come home, and other days I really don't want to leave. I guess that's normal. If you want to pray for us, I woke up with a sore throat and Simeon has developped a cough over the past few days. To be honest, I'm more stressed about how everyone else responds to his cough than I am about the cough itself. Everyone gets really uptight about kids getting sick here! And then comes all the advice (keep him dressed warm, don't let him sit on the floor, don't let him eat anything cold, etc.) and eventually I feel completely incompetent! Anyways, I'm also feeling a bit blimpish these days. Somehow I feel much bigger with this pregnancy. I know, you're all wondering how that's possible since everyone thought I was SO huge last time. Well, last time I really didn't feel extra big, but this time I do. I really hope this baby isn't any bigger than Sim was! I will be happy when the pregnancy is over, though. I'm pretty uncomfortable, especially at night.

Okay, enough complaining. Hope you all are well and we'll see some of you soon!

PS - Emma/Maddie/Marli - Simona's grandparents are wanting to send her to Canada next summer for a month to work on her English. They would love to have her live with a family and then have one or two girls her age come to stay with her for a month in exchange. It would be a great opportunity if you guys are interested! I'll talk more about it with you when I get back.

PPS - Jordan, welcome to Winnipeg! Can't wait to see you in a few days! Hope you have fun with the Guse's and that you recover quickly from jet lag and culture shock!

posted by Deanna Momtchilov @ 11:00 AM