The new house

We've been looking at houses on Finn.no (the Norwegian equivalent of Craigslist) since the beginning of the year. Our requirements were that it allowed pets, was walking distance to the city sentrum (downtown) and had at least 2 bedrooms (one for us and one for baby.)

When this house popped up I immediately forwarded the link to Arthur. Not only does it meet all our criteria, but it has a nice backyard, is one level (no stairs, which is super important for Blitz), is nicely furnished, and has a guest room and bath.

The procedure for renting property is different than in the states. Property owners have more of a choice when it comes to who they rent to and, as was true our case, can accept multiple bids. They can even choose to not accept an offer simply because they don't want to.

We submitted a bid on the house Friday afternoon but had to wait until Monday to know if it was accepted by the owners. We were eating lunch when we finally got the call that our offer had been accepted and the house is now ours!

Entryway and hall-way

Our bedroom (door opens up to a small deck)

Guest bedroom (check out that chandelier!! I love it!)

 Main living area and dining room (looks out onto the yard)

Another view of the main living area

Guest half-bath

Full bath with shower (not pictured)

This will be the nursery eventually

Kitchen

Another kitchen shot

The house is a short walk to Mosvannet and Stokkavannet, two of the major lakes in downtown Stavanger. It's about 5 minutes walking distance to 2 local grocery stores and 10-15 minutes walking distance from Stavanger Centrum.

I love the house as it is but I'm sure i'll make some changes after we move in to make it our own. Now all we need are some wonderful visitors! :)

"Has it hit you yet?"

Somewhere over the North Atlantic Ocean it finally hit me...

I'm moving to Norway.

I'm having a baby in another country.

People keep asking me, "So...has it hit you yet?" I always answer some variation of "Yes...we've wanted this for a long time so we're very excited." But now I realize, NO! It hadn't hit me yet. Because now it has. It smacked me in the face like a ton of bricks. Five hours into our over-night flight it hit me hard!

I looked at Arthur and said, "How is it possible to feel so scared and excited, so sad and joyful all at the same time!?" I finally realized that I'm not just visiting another country. I'm going to be living there. For three years. Living in a country where I currently speak 2 words in the native language..."takk" (thanks) and "dagmamma" (nanny...not dog mama/sitter like I previously thought.) I will be spending my day-to-day life always a little bit out of place, a little bit not belonging.

And then, three months after moving to this foreign country I'm going to bringing a child into the world. A BABY! He won't be born into the world of bar-be-que and blue-bonnets, but into a world of brunost and brød.

Yeah, all that and more hit me hard. So many questions. So many decisions. So much to prepare. I pulled my scratchy airline blanket up over my head and let the emotions flow.

Then Arthur grabbed my hand...and I looked at him and realized I'm not doing any of this alone. This is STILL something I've always dreamed about doing. This is STILL something I'm crazy excited for. No, our son probably won't eat his weight in flour tortillas (unless I can learn to make them myself) or crawl through a fire-ant bed during dollar night at the local ballpark (true story!) 

But he is coming into a world with two parents who love living life to the fullest and love each other more than anything in this world.

So yeah, it has hit me. But we're gonna be okay. We're gonna be great actually!

20 Weeks

(the questions from this post, and any others that use this format, were borrowed with a few tweeks from the blog Healthy & Homemade)

We had our full anatomy scan this week. Somehow I thought it would be a much bigger deal than it actually was. The whole thing took about 15 minutes. He was being coy and hiding behind my hip bone so the pictures that we got of his face are a little blurry. We got some cute little feet pictures though. My placenta is fully out of the way now and I am no longer considered previa! My midwife told me that it is now located on the anterior (front facing) wall of my uterus so I might not feel him move as much. That certainly does not seem to be the case though!

How many weeks: 20 (halfway!!!)

What size is baby: banana, 6.5 inches and 10.6 oz.

Movement: He has really started moving A LOT now! The gentle pokes are starting to turn into full blown kicks that can startle me sometimes. I’m also noticing a pattern to when he moves. It seems like early afternoon and into the evening is when he is most active. But I have also noticed more movement when I eat something different than usual (like chocolate cake! Yummy!) or drink something super cold (like a smoothie.)

New symptoms: My back and my bum ache, especially at the end of the day. The heating pad has become my BFF.

Cravings: Carbs (especially breakfast scones, cake, and waffles), salty things (like popcorn and these yummy pickled asparagus that my Opa gave us for Christmas)

Sleep: Oh sleep! My whole life sleep has always been a battle. It's an unfair irony that I need so much of it yet it is such a struggle! Every night for the past few months I wake up between 1AM - 3AM and then usually again around 5AM. And when I do sleep I’m very restless. A solid 8 hours of sleep is a thing of the past for me I think.

Stretch marks: I have some from when I was heavier but those are mostly faded. No new ones yet!

Rings on/off: on

Best memory of the week: Arthur felt him kick for the first time! I think it made him pretty excited!

Looking forward to: him getting bigger and stronger and healthier. I find myself sometimes getting impatient for him to be here already and then I remind myself that this time that I have him with me and growing is so short and so special. 

FAQ About Norway

Since going public with the news that we will be moving to Norway AND having a baby we've both answered a flood of questions from concerned and curious friends, family, and co-workers. I really can't blame anyone so I've listed some of the most common questions we've heard below...

So when are you moving?
Arthur's first day of work will be April 1st. We haven't bought our one-way tickets yet  (eeek!) but our last days in Texas will probably be sometime around March 25th.

Where will you live?
Stavanger, Norway. We are lucky to have traveled there last summer so we have *a little* bit of an idea of what we're getting ourselves into.

Will you sell your house?
Yes...we will be selling our sweet little home that I really thought we would have our first child in. This house has been a place of much love, growth, and happiness for us. Bittersweet...

Will your baby have dual-citizenship (American/Norwegian)?
The short answer - NO. The reason why is a bit more complicated. Unlike the US, Norway does not automatically grant "birthright citizenship". 

Have you thought about applying to International House Hunters (the show on HGTV)?
This is probably the #1 question I get from coworkers, friends, and random people (including my dental tech and dog groomer!) when they hear we are moving abroad. I actually submitted and application on January 1st while we were watching the 2014 Rose Bowl Parade. No, I have no heard from them. 

Is it expensive to live in Norway?
The short answer - YES. But again, the answer is more complicated. I can say, from personal experience, it was shocking to spend at least $40 US for a small glass of wine. A nice dinner out ran us at least $200 - $300 USD. However, economics is NOT my favorite topic of conversation so check out this post (at MyLittleNorway.com...by far the BEST expat blog I've found yet!) for more detail than my little mathematically-challenged brain is capable of understanding!

How long will you be there?
His work contract is for 3 years.

What is the weather like there?
The winters are cool and dark (due to the short days and rain.) I have heard from people currently living in Stavanger that it doesn't snow "that much". However, I think that's relative because I've seen snow on the forecast almost weekly since the beginning of December. When you tell a Texan it doesn't snow "that much" I'm thinking less than once a year. I think it's more that that.

The summers range from cool to almost warm (at least when we were there.) There is less rain and the sun shines for up to 18 hours!

I can't speak to the Fall or Spring but I've been telling people that the weather seems to closely resemble Seattle. Due to it's location on the coast, Stavanger has a maritime climate that stays fairly constant year-round. It's not frigid, and snow-packed like many people think of when they first imagine Norway.

What do your families think about the move?
We're blessed to both have families that unconditionally support us and our crazy dreams. We've received nothing but encouragement and well wishes from our families. However, I know that they are very sad about us being so far away. Although our plan has never been to live away from our families, God's plan has been different. That part hurts sometimes but it makes the time we spend together that much more precious!

Next Stop...Norway!

(This is Arthur)

Last year we began to feel the desire for some significant changes in our lives.  We became ready to try to have kids and we were excited about some possible opportunities for me to take an expat position with my job. We were unsure what the future would bring and we prayed for change in our lives unsure of what that change would be. Our prayers were answered later that year when we discovered we would be blessed with a child and we prepared for the changes ahead. The chances for an expat position faded and became a long shot at best, but we had that big change we desired on the way in the form of a baby.

Then just before Christmas I was asked if I still had interest in an expat position in Europe. Hilary and I both immediately answered...Absolutely! We spent the Christmas holidays and most of January discussing the possibilities of moving abroad and having a baby. Would we deliver before we moved or would we have a baby in Europe? How would we deal with the changes if it worked out? How would we see family? Were we crazy to try to move on the other side of the world while we were expecting a baby?

The uncertainty was difficult and we felt that we were living in limbo awaiting to find out where we would be living, where we would have our child, and if we had to uproot and move abroad.

The week after our anniversary celebration we finally got the answer to our questions. I received my contract and we would be moving to Norway for the next 3 years. We will be living in the town of Stavanger, Norway (See the red arrow) starting in April.

This is going to be exciting!!! This is also going to be the craziest 3 months!!!