Bubby BowWow

I have a strong feeling I'm having a little boy. This is based on absolutely nothing...I have had many phases of being convinced it is a girl. But for some reason, the closer we get, the more I think I will be utterly shocked if it is a girl.

We have our first and middle name chosen for a girl, set in stone. And we have our boys first name as well. But we are completely stumped for a middle name.

We brought the issue to Ivar a few weeks ago at the dinner table. We asked him, "Ivar, if you have little brother, what should his middle name be?" And he replied confidently and with volume, "Bubby BowWow."

So sometimes we refer to the baby as Bubby BowWow.

This week we have been spending a lot of our time down at the creek, throwing rocks and sticks in the water and watching the dogs, bikes and airplanes pass by. We've essentially discovered that the creek is the best babysitter ever. Ivar is completely entertained and we can sit in our camping chairs and take in the nice day with an occupied son.

And when I watch Ivar, so busy gathering tiny rocks to throw in the moving water, it makes me so excited for the brother or sister he has coming, who will join him in his adventures.

due in five days...

...and here's what I'm thinking:

*There was a sweet innocence and excitement about going into labor with baby #1. Now I know better. And I remember it all. And even though I am so excited for the baby to be here, I am really not excited about the painful process that takes place in the hours before the baby is born.

*In my wishful head, I had hoped the baby would come early so that we could have some down time before the moving day. I am now realizing wishful thinking is not very helpful because this baby will come when it wants to. And that might be a week late. And I'll just have to roll with that.

*Ivar has been especially snuggly lately and I love it. I wonder how aware he is of all the changes that are happening around him. He rests his head on my shoulder, needs lots and lots of attention and affection and is very concerned if Rory and I are out of his sight. He also gives my belly lots of hugs and rocks the cradle while repeating, "baby. baby."

*I am so glad we are pulling off this baby-and-a-move-craziness with baby #2. It would have been too much with baby #1, with how much I needed to be set up and prepared. With this baby, I am fully aware that a cradle, diapers and a few outfits will be plenty for baby until we can get settled into the new house.

country roads

We’re moving from 1/8 acre to 10 acres. It used to be a farm, but the barn and silo have been torn down and it hasn’t had animals for over 40 years. It is part wooded, part corn field rented to the neighboring farmer and a whole lot of lawn to mow. (We got the riding mower in our purchase agreement!)

The farm house was built in 1890 and is in impressive shape, considering its age. The owners we are purchasing the house from have lived in this house for the last 40 years, raising their kids, hosting all of the family gatherings out on the front lawn.

Rory has been looking for a rural property for a bit over three years now. When we lived in Nebraska, he would take weekend trips back to Minnesota and scout out the areas he loved the most. He brought me along to see some of these properties and I humored him. I knew he was serious about this dream, but I didn’t really see it happening anytime soon.

We knew when we got pregnant with baby #2 that we would either have to finish our basement and put another bedroom in down there, or find a new home. And after pricing out the basement remodel and then realizing that the basement would just be the start, we decided we probably would have to move…because everything else started to feel a bit cramped when we envisioned another kiddo running around in here.

So we kept looking. Not really expecting to find anything, but hopeful.

We didn’t tell anyone we were looking though. This was mostly because we didn’t know if it would take three months or three years to find what we were looking for. The house hunt felt very casual, very non-committal.

So we took our road trips, visited properties and kept this fun little conversation between the two of us. And strangely, as Rory continued to tell of his dreams for this rural life, I started to feel some of my own dreams come to life as well. I began to envision my days. In February we found a house that we loved.  It had a huge porch and a big sun room. I could see myself living there, content and really happy. That property ended up falling through because of crazy zoning stuff beyond our control, but I told Rory after that visit, “something big just happened. I just became un-tethered.” And from that moment on, I was fully on board with this house hunt. His dream had become my dream too.

I think this is such a crazy and amazing part of marriage: the birth of dreams. It’s amazing, because usually a dream is birthed in one partner.  But to watch this dream grow into our dream might have been one of the cooler things to behold in our marriage.

When we first drove onto the property, we let Ivar out and he quickly ran opposite of the house. We just watched him as we caught up with our realtor. He was giggling and stumbling, and kept turning around to see when we were going to tell him to come back. But we never did. He was free to run in any direction he wanted.

And in that instant, I wanted to live there.  I envisioned a whole lot of our future days running around that yard, exploring the woods and raising our kids with a big garden, forts in the woods and a gravel road.

The next day we bought the place. A week later we sold our place. That felt crazy and wonderful. And now we are due to have a baby in one week, and to move the week after that. Which also feels quite crazy and wonderful...

our new place: a sneak peek

I had every hope to write about our new place this week. But it's going to have to wait until next week. Until then, here's Ivar giving you a glimpse of where we're moving to. It is gorgeous and we cannot wait to spread out a bit.

olympic count down

Are you ready? Because the Olympic Opening Ceremonies are upon us. Today marks our three week count down. We had the greatest closing ceremonies buffet two years ago during the winter olympics...remember it? I think I'm still digesting it.

Anyway, I had high hopes of having another party for this Olympics, but instead I think we'll move that day. A different kind of party, really. But be sure you check out this post for some pretty awesome olympic ideas...if I do say so myself. A Doritos torch? That's clever stuff...