But in a twist that may not be all that uncommon these days, Archer and Thill switched roles after moving to Baxter. Thill had been a stay-at-home mom for the first year of their eldest daughter Elizabeth's life. She accepted a position as marketing coordinator at Widseth Smith Nolting, an engineering and design firm in Baxter, and Archer decided to become the stay-at-home dad.

The situation works well for the growing family. Archer spends his days caring for their two young daughters, Elizabeth, 3, and Catherine, 17 months. They are expecting their third child in September.

It hasn't been a smooth transition from the corporate culture he experienced as a mail manager in a Twin Cities architecture firm to staying home with his daughters. Archer said he probably had changed only about a half dozen of Elizabeth's diapers before he became a full-time homemaker. He had grown accustomed to working long days, navigating the Twin Cities rush hour traffic and spending his free time playing on fantasy football and bowling leagues with coworkers.

He rarely saw Elizabeth on weekdays because he arrived home around 6:30 p.m. and the baby went to bed by 7:30 p.m.

Becoming Mr. Mom was a huge lifestyle change for him. While he feels blessed to be able to see his children learn and grow each day, it can be an isolating experience as a stay-at-home dad. He doesn't know any other stay-at-home dads in the community.

"Sometimes I miss talking to guys," said Archer. "You need to talk to adults and I don't know anybody here."

He said there are times when he'll keep a telemarketer on the phone, just to be able to talk to another adult.

"Sometimes I miss talking to guys. You need to talk to adults and I don't know anybody here." Bruce Archer A stay-at-home dad

At first, being Mr. Mom wasn't that difficult since he only had Elizabeth to care for at the time. Thill was pregnant with Catherine when they moved to Baxter. The little girl was born about two months later.

Archer said he often took Elizabeth, who was about 1 1/2 years old, on short outings. They practically visited Mills Fleet Farm on a daily basis, he said.

But after Catherine was born, he discovered the challenging task of caring for two young children. They were stuck at home because it was hard to run errands with a newborn and toddler. Within the first hour of Thill returning to work after her maternity leave, Catherine woke up in her crib screaming. Archer said while he was changing her diaper and she continued to wail, Elizabeth began stripping off all her clothes, including her diaper, and running around the house yelling, "Naked! Naked!"

"It lasted maybe 10 minutes, but it seemed like a quarter of my lifetime," said Archer with a laugh. "I thought at the time that it was just a rude awakening, but now I realize it's a common thing. You get used to it."

Archer is practically a professional diaper changer. He had kept a daily journal as a stay-at-home dad and recalls the day when Catherine had seven messy diapers that required four complete wardrobe changes.

"It was horrible," he said.

Archer gets up most days around 5:30 a.m. to spend quiet time alone. He enjoys writing and plays acoustic guitar. For more than 10 years he played in bands in Iowa and the Twin Cities area. Thill said her husband plays and sings for the girls, everything from "Old MacDonald" to Neil Young and a few of his originals, too.

By 7:30 a.m., Archer has prepared breakfast for the girls while his wife gets ready for work. He turns on "Sesame Street" so he can wash dishes and clean up the kitchen while the girls are preoccupied.

"Catherine is trying to use her spoon," he said. "But she thinks it's so funny to wear her oatmeal bowl on her head."

Archer said Mr. Rogers is a genius. One day on his long-running PBS show the late Rogers demonstrated how he brushes his teeth, a skill Elizabeth had refused to learn despite her parents' attempts at teaching her. That night, Elizabeth brushed her teeth because she had watched Mr. Rogers do it on television.

Later in the morning, Catherine takes a nap while Elizabeth gets one-on-one time with her dad. Many times they play with Archer's Marvel and D.C. Comic action figures he's collected, toys Catherine still is too young for. When he picks an action hero, Elizabeth knows not only the name of the action figure -- like Superman -- she also knows the evil villain that would fight him. She knows what their super powers are, too.

Since Thill works only eight minutes from home, she comes home for lunch.

A "nap" is considered fighting words for the girls so Archer and Thill call it "quiet time." When both girls are having their quiet time in their beds, Archer tries to take a short 15- to 30-minute nap, too. He often takes the girls on walks, pushing them in their wagon. He is the only stay-at-home dad in their Baxter cul-de-sac.

Archer and Thill got married in 1993. Archer grew up in the small central Iowa town of Eagle Grove while Thill grew up near Sioux Falls, S.D., in the small city of Valley Springs, S.D. When Elizabeth was born in 2000, the couple realized they weren't sure how to raise their children in a large metro area. They both grew up in small towns and wanted to raise their children in a smaller community.

While Thill said she sometimes wishes she was the stay-at-home parent, she doesn't feel guilty about going to work each day. She knows her husband is doing a good job at home.

Archer said he's learned a lot by being home with his daughters. He found he enjoys cooking. Thill's personal favorites are her husband's oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. He also has come to the conclusion that people who write books on raising children probably never have had children. He's developed a newfound appreciation for his mother, who was a homemaker. He sometimes calls his mom for parenting advice.

Archer knows his life will change dramatically once again with the birth of their third child. But he said he learned a lot after Catherine was born.

For Father's Day on Sunday, the family planned to have a picnic with other families who attend the traditional Latin Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Flensburg.

Now that he's a stay-at-home dad, Archer said he doesn't have a lot of time for fishing, bowling or his other hobbies.

"My big night out is when I go to the grocery store," he said with a smile.

So for Father's Day, Thill planned to get her husband a fishing license and a few area lake maps to get him out fishing again.

"So his 'Night Out' won't be limited to the fish in the Super One refrigerated cases," said Thill.

JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.