Maybe it's a boy, Maybe it's a girl, Maybe it's a dinosaur!

The Boven family is growing! Baby Boven is on the way and expected to arrive around November 21! As I look at all of our summer pictures, I'm realizing that we better officially make the blog post announcing our news. My belly is growing bigger by the hour... the little turkey-thermometer belly button thing is going on... I definitely have an outie at this point! :)

We are all VERY excited! When Molly first found out that she was going to be a big sister, one of the first things she had to say was, "Maybe it's boy, maybe it's a girl, maybe it's a dinosaur!" Various family members are voting for a T-rex or equally toothy dino. I'm hoping for a baby that's a bit more squishy, chubby, and toothless!  Molly calls the baby Maxi Waxi... we'll have to see whether the nickname sticks!

We're already at 24 weeks and all is very well. At our 20 week ultrasound, our little trickster was breech and moving in a way that it was impossible to get any of those cute full body baby shots... this kid is going to keep us on our toes. :)

In other news, we've had a fantastic, very full summer. It feels like we've squeezed in some sort of event or visit into every single possible moment. We're trying to savour these summer moments and make lots of memories. I think we're ready to put up our feet, slurp down a popsicle, watch some sunsets and relax a bit.

Here are some highlights from the last couple of weeks...

Zebra girl with her look-alike at the zoo!

We took advantage of my super zoo status from my master's classes to get into all the extra attractions... here we are checking out the butterflies with Nana!

Dolphin Show!

Grammy and her attack cat!

Kaplink Kaplank Kaplunk... blueberry picking!

Out on the research farm with Bompy.

Research, Shmearch... who cares about warning signs anyway?

A visit from the VanOpstal clan! We had a great time with Tami, Moryam, Niels, and Laeth.

Cowboy and princess on their way to the farmer's market!

We had an awesome annual visit from the Hatch family. Looking at the pictures, you'd think all we did was eat! We soaked up sweet times with these special friends and enjoyed getting to know little (but getting big!) Lucy! In this shot, we're hanging with Ms. Paczki at Pierogi-fest!

Bath time! Lucy enjoyed trying to draw on Molly's buns with the bath crayons!

Pizza at Lou Malnati's, followed by...

A Sox game! Molly's (and Lucy's) first time watching our southside team!

Learning to make Korean Kimbap...

and enjoying a posh kimbap picnic while listening to U. of C.'s carillon concert!

Old Fashioned Donuts for breakfast...

... how many have you had, Molly?

Making the foodie pilgrimage to Hot Doug's for a foie gras dog, along with a BLT dog and smoked antelope dog... spectacular!

Teaching the Hatch family how to play dress-up library, Boven style!

Chicken & Waffles... soul food for our souls.

Fighting fires at the Children's Museum!

After our friends said their goodbyes, Dave took Molly down to the good old Museum of Science and Industry so that I could finish writing a paper for class. I think the highlight was Molly's spaceship mold-a-rama experience. Daddy has a soft spot for molded plastic and for his little girl!