Thanks Michelle for the fun baby shower!

Michelle and I with the lovely table before it was devoured.

Michelle preparing for the party, me trying to help but really just trying to get a snack, and Maria our good friend who was the first to arrive.

All the ladies had to cut yarn in the length they thought would be the same size as my belly and then they all got to test their measurement. The closest one got a prize. This is our neighbor, who already loves Isabelle and always talks about how she can't wait for her to arrive. 

The ladies trying to decide who got the closest. Daniella, the one with her arm up won the game. But a little secret -- after the part Gabe take a try and he was perfect. He knew from always putting his arms around my big belly. 

Opening gifts.

Eleven women came to the party. (One left early and is not pictured.) It was super fun, b/c most of them had never been to a baby shower before and really enjoyed the American tradition. In Bulgaria it is customary to buy a gift for the baby after he or she is born, and many believe it is bad luck to buy something before. But most of these women are believers and recognized that this is superstition. 

Michelle, Donna and I after the food had been devoured. The mix of Bulgarian and American style snacks was a big success. 

The Belly

I can't believe I have more growing to do. I suppose every pregnant woman feels that way when the end gets nearer. Only five more weeks to go. We can't wait. 

A place for Miss Isabelle

So we had some panels laying around from our wardrobe that would never stay on the back of it. And we wanted to separate the spare bedroom, so we could have a nice place for Isabelle and still use part of it for our dresser and laundry area. A couple weeks ago I woke up with an idea.

I painted and stenciled and Gabe hung them up.

I actually didn't use the drill at all, but Gabe thinks it cool when I use the power tools. 

We hung flower decorations on the panels and bought the rug on our recent 

adventure to Velingrad.

It came together beautifully. We plan to use the little bin for a bed for one week until our pack and play arrives with the summer interns. We are waiting to buy a wooden crib until we move to Velingrad. Don't worry we are going to cover it and put some blankets down in it. She will be cozy. We also would like to buy a rocking chair to add to the room. We almost all ready for her to come. 

One Big Adventure

Everyone is happy and excited for our big excursion with the rental car. 

If we only knew how big.

Crippled and Preggo had to stop for a stretch. 

Beware of falling rock! They really mean it hear. The road looked like this for a couple of hours. And we actually went over one of the stones and it hit the under panel of the car creating a large dent and causing a great grinding noise in the gears. Good thing we got insurance on the car. 

Then it began to snow as we went up higher in the mountains.

Then it kept snowing, and our little rental car could go no more.

We had to stop in this little village and stay in a guest house. The man who owned the house was nice enough to track down some snow boots for us. 

The next morning we woke up to the sun shining over this beautiful mountain lake. The snow was melting, but the roads still wouldn't be cleared for several hours.

We decided to go for it after the roads had melted some, but of course with our city tires we got stuck after about a mile and a half. 

Then later, we really got stuck, and had to dig the car out with hands and a crutch.

We finally made it safe and sound to Velingrad, but discovered that our favorite pizza place was closed for renovation and our contacts would not have apartments to show us until the following week. We made up for it by enjoying the beautiful, now warm, sunny day and drinking some fun drinks at a nice cafe. We needed something relaxing. 

And in the end we got to explore some neighboring villages and find the Gypsy village and Turkic village that we had visited two summers before. 

This was one crazy trip, but overall we had a good time and our team grew closer from it all. We experienced Bulgaria in a whole new way. If you want to check out more photos of the entire trip check out our teammates site www.michelleinbulgaria.shutterfly.com/action/ and click on "Crazy Roadtrip". Also Gabe, Donna and Michelle will be returning to Velingrad this week to view some apartments. Our friend called the day we returned to Sofia to say they now had found apartments to show us. Funny how things work out.