It’s a girl! Maya Felicity Bliven was born a healthy 8 pound, 21 inch baby human at 6:56pm on August 18th. The labor was about as quick as can be expected. Amelia called in to work and we left the house just after 6:00pm. We got to
the hospital at about 6:20pm and within the hour we met our newest family member. Amelia and Maya had to stay at the hospital for just over 24 hours for testing. Because of COVID-19 precautions, only I was able to visit them at the
hospital. Elena waited at home, bouncing off the walls, excitedly anticipating her new baby sister. Thanks to friends, family and craigslist we were well prepared for Maya’s arrival at our new house.
We moved into the new house on June 1st and it’s really cool. It already feels like home and I’m excited for our family’s future here. Even so it feels strange and somber leaving the house where we built this family and shared
some of our most formative memories together. I hope to never forget the kids’ sleepovers and games of hide and go seek, the church bells at our little neighborhood school, the kids running to the ice cream truck, the bonfires
in our wooded backyard, and all of the exceptional neighbors we had. Thanks to everyone that helped us move and made a big job on a hot day a lot easier.
Elena had to say goodbye to all of her friends and teachers through a computer screen this year, which was especially tough since next year she’ll be going to a different school. Community of Saints was different than any school
I’ve ever seen. Every teacher knows every student and the sense of community is so important to them that they put it in the school’s name. Our family felt more at home there than I could have ever imagined we would feel at a school.
When we were transitioning Elena out of home school, Community of Saints was so supportive of our family and made a tough transition so smooth for all of us. We’re sad to be leaving it, but Elena is old enough to attend our local
middle school this year, and we decided it would be better to transition her when all the other kids will also be new to the school. We’re still hoping to keep in contact with all of her old classmates and to attend the school
functions. Next time you see Elena wish her good luck because this next year is a big one for her in a lot of ways; new school, new house, new baby sister. If I hear “I’m bored” from her this year, I’ll know she’s fibbing.
Throughout a busy summer full of large life events and pandemic precautions, we still managed to enjoy a lot of little things. We got out to the cabin with my parents, went and saw some live music at a few different local
restaurants, attended my cousin Emma’s lovely wedding, went to the drive-in movies a few times, and even made it out to a baseball game. We spent a lot of the summer working on the old house to get it on the market and making
craigslist runs for baby stuff and furniture to fill the new house. My dad spent a lot of the summer building us a happy home for our four chickens. In sadder news our new trampoline was viciously attacked in an unremorseful act of
betrayal by one of our very own trees at the old house, a cruel going away present from the property we loved so much.
On top of COVID-19 the Twin Cities has had an especially tough summer after the senseless murder of George Floyd. The grieving swept the nation and the world. Seeing the outpouring of unity, love, and healing in our streets over
the past few months has been absolutely unbelievable. Our communities are coming together and rolling up their sleeves to take care of each other and to draft a future with real ways to live together in sustainable peace. Most
incredibly it isn’t only happening in Minneapolis but rippling out across the entire country. Seeing what the Twin Cities have been going through together and seeing cities all over the country and world stand up in solidarity with
us has been so moving. I know there will still be opposition and a lot of bureaucracy standing in our way but I truly believe now that our country is on board to make some big changes that should have been made before I was born. I
hardly feel like I’m living in the same country as I was in the spring and I don’t think I’ve ever felt more patriotic in my entire adult life than I have this spring and summer. It’s electric. We’ll see how I feel in November and
February.
