D.C. and New Home

We had a wonderful time in Washington, D.C. recently. We were able to spend a bunch of time with Margaret's sister, Rosanna, and her husband Ryan. It was the first time they had met Everett, so it fun watching them interact with him, and we liked taking in the National Mall with them!


We also were able to spend some time with Angela Strom, Margaret's college roommate, and her fiance, Troy. They were amazingly gracious hosts, and I had a blast going to a Capitals hockey game with Angela.


We also have been moving forward with the shift up north for Margaret and Everett. About a month ago we made an offer on a house and it was accepted. The home is in Wabasha, MN, and we are really excited about it. The town is great- being small and touristy it has all the benefits of small town living with a more cosmopolitan atmosphere (nice restaurants, the National Eagle Center, etc.). In addition, there's a small downhill ski resort in town, and it's a killer fishing community!

The semester is near end at UW-Stout, so I'm looking forward to getting back down to Margaret and Everett soon (and moving us up at the end of June). Reflecting back, we are humbled by the assistance we've received from so many people this year. Thanks so much to everyone for all your help in making this transition year manageable!

Updates

We haven't been blogging in a while, but thought I'd get anyone interested up to speed...


I had a really enjoyable time during my winter break down in AZ playing stay-at-home-dad. Everett and I bonded really well. The best part was finishing off my winter break with a week long ski trip up in Winter Park, CO. It was really great. We stayed in a condo with our friends Cori and August (and their son, Anders) and my parents took care of Everett and Anders during the day while we skiied! The weather was nice, and we all had a wonderful time.


But I did have to head back up to Wisconsin, where I have been for the last month. Margaret and Everett came up a couple of weeks ago, however, for Margaret to do a job interview in Rochester. We looked at some houses in Wabasha, MN, where we will probably have to live so neither of our commutes are too crazy. Looks like a really cool town!


This past week I presented at the International Studies Association conference in New Orleans. I had never been there before, and I really enjoyed it. I arrived the day after Fat Tuesday, so the whole town had calmed down considerably from the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, which made it nice for getting around and enjoying the French Quarter.

Margaret has been adapting to single mom status pretty well, though it has not been easy. She has had some tremendous help from friends of ours down in Phoenix; we are so appreciative for having such great friends!


I will see Margaret and Everett again this coming Friday. I have had to completely compartmentalize my life to keep from missing them so much! It's hard, but only a few months of this left. :)


Hope all is well with you all!

Maternity Leave is Over

Six weeks flew by after Everett was born and before I knew it, it was back to Arizona and back to work. It was hard to leave Nels and our Wisconsin home, but it was reassuring to me that the next 10 days I would be hanging out with my mom and sister until Nels returned to Phoenix. Mom took a flight from Fargo through Minneapolis and met us at security. It was her first time meeting Everett! After a quick lunch with Nels, mom, Everett, Bristol and I made our way to the gate. My good friend, Melissa, kindly picked us up in Phoenix. We had the next day to get settled and then I hit the ground running. Going back to work was difficult for me. I really wanted to be back at home hanging out with Everett. It made me feel a lot better to know that my mom was taking care of Everett, though. He was good for mom and I think they both enjoyed the Grandma time!

Lenor also came to help out with the baby. She flew in the night before mom's birthday as a surprise. It was so much fun to have both mom and Lenor staying with us and helping out. I was exhausted both working and getting up at night to take care of Everett but they made things much easier with all the help they gave me!

We managed to take in some fun events during their visit. We all went to the Desert Botanical Gardens on 12.10 for mom's birthday. It featured an exibit by Allan Houser, an Apache Indian sculptor. Mom and I also went to Candlelight Capers, a big black tie fundraiser for the hospital (this year supporting the Breast Cancer Center.) Lenor and mom took Everett to the Heard Museum as well for some culture.

It was so sad for me to see them go. They enjoyed snuggling Everett and I know he loved being with Auntie Nor and Grandma Janice! Thank you, mom and Lenor for coming!!!

Everett's First Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was extra special this year. A brand new baby has blessed our lives, Nels has a great job that he is enjoying, Margaret passed her boards and we are all healthy. We have so much to be thankful for! We spent the holiday weekend at Nels's parents. Everett was excited to meet his Great-Grandma Dorothy, his cousins Mikkel, Abby, Annie and Ella and Uncle Doug, Aunt Cindy, Uncle Peter and Aunt Kristi and also Great-Great Uncle Marvin. Of course he enjoyed hanging out with Grandma Patti and Grandpa Craig. We enjoyed a little break as everyone was really excited to change Everett's diapers, hold him and rock him to sleep. It was nice to have the help! The day after Thanksgiving, we opted out of the Black Friday shopping crowds for a family portrait. It was amazing to see the four generations all together. We were also lucky enough to have a quick visit with the Johnson's - Scott, Holly, Mackenzie and Riley. All in all, it was a lovely Thanksgiving holiday and we are definitely excited about the next get together.

Surprise Baby Shower + Katie's Bachelorette Party!!

Two weeks ago, Karri Huber, Emily Rankin and Katie Cowles came to Menomonie for what I thought was to be a surprise bachelorette party for Katie, who is getting married in Sri Lanka on December 4th. Little did I know, the surprise was also for me! Karri was pretty sneaky and organized the two way surprise! Emily and Karri brought food, drink, presents and even decorated the kitchen. After some tasty treats, gift opening and a few baby shower games, we proceeded to have the surprise bachelorette party for Katie. She was surprised as she thought we were all getting together to surprise me! We dressed Katie up as a little red devil, played a few games and then went out on the town. Even though Menomonie is a one-horse-town, it proved to be quite the venue for a bachelorette party! Nels was even in on the action and created a pub crawl for us. And when Everett got hungry, Nels brought him to me to feed him so that I wouldn't have to trek all the way back home. Thanks, Babe! We had an outrageously good time meeting the "townies," crossing things off of Katie's to-do list, dancing and just hanging out and catching up. What a lovely surprise it turned out to be! It was awesome getting together with my Cobber gals to celebrate Everett's birth and Katie's upcoming wedding! Thanks for a great weekend!

Everett - Weeks 1 and 2

Wow! I am a mom now! It has been a whirlwind of adventure since Everett came into this world. Giving birth to him was hands down the most intense experience of my life. Yes, the hours and hours of labor were not always fun, but the moment he was born and I heard him cry, I fell in love. I can't be more excited about my new title, "Mom," and all the joys and responsibilities it entails.

After a few days in Phoenix, the Paulson clan hopped on a plane bound for Minneapolis to make our way to our Wisconsin home for the month of November. Everett was a champ and Bristol was just excited to go along for the ride. Being only 4 days old, Nels and I were shielding Everett from the masses of snotty-nosed travelers. Craig and Patti greeted us at the gate, a treat we hadn't had since before 9-11. We were soon off to Menomonie so that Everett could get acquainted with his Grandma Patti and Grandpa Craig.

The following day after Craig and Patti left, I suddenly came down with H1N1 symptoms. I couldn't believe I had swine flu!! But, luckily I know a few good doctors and Adrienne Kurland called in Tamiflu for me. I had my first dose within 90 minutes of my fever. I love you, Adrienne! I felt a lot better by the next day but wore a mask for the next three days so that I wouldn't get Everett or Nels sick. I was so sad that I couldn't kiss my brand new baby!

The drama continues. A few days later, poor Bristol got sick. We thought his autoimmune hemolytic anemia was back because his gums were all white, but after a trip to the emergency vet in St Paul, it turned out to only be an allergic reaction of some sort. Thank goodness! This was my breaking point. In the past seven days, I had given birth after a not-so-simple labor, traveled across the country, picked up swine flu and then my dog got sick!!! Really? When Bristol got sick, I just sat on the floor with him and cried. It felt good to cry.

Luckily, this would all turn around. Everyone has stayed healthy. Everett's bilirubin came down, Bristol perked up after a shot of steroids and some benadryl, I recovered quickly and Nels managed to get some sleep and start functioning a little better. I have really enjoyed all of the little moments with my family the past few weeks. It has been those little moments that have filled me with delight and seem to give purpose to my life. Dinner with Nels, giving Everett a bath, walking Bristol, and at the end of the day, all four of us snuggling in bed together. It is good being a mom!

Meet Everett Craig Paulson!

Where to start? I guess, I am a father. Yeah, I know. Scary. I am so impressed with Margaret though; it seems like she's been doing this her whole life. Thank God.


Everett is a really cool customer. Pretty low stress kid, actually, though he did not start out that way! We thought he'd come along a couple of weeks ago, to be honest (I blocked off two weeks from teaching with pre-recorded lectures for my classes to make a little window of time down in AZ though, luckily). When he did finally start making his way out he offered Margaret a 28 hour labor and repeated threats of a crash c-section (at one point the docs even had her arms pinned down on the operating table).

But here he is! 7 pounds, 8 ounces, 19.25 inches, looking kind of like his mother. So far he loves his hands, eating until he can't eat anymore (and then eating some more), and unpredictable sleep patterns (though he does go down pretty good when napping with his dad). He's been a huge hit with everyone (people like babies- imagine that, right?), including his Grandma and Grandpa Paulson (his namesake). He did have a bout with Bili Rubin. Not to be confused with Billy Martin. The doc this morning said he's in much, much better shape now (no lamps needed).

We are currently up in Wisconsin. (Everett was a champ on the trip up here.) I had to go back to work today. I was exhausted. People were not kidding about the sleep thing and kids. I don't know why I thought they were. It is nice having Margaret, Everett, and Bristol up here though! Life is quite a bit different now.

BTW- thanks a lot Arizona for your lack of H1N1 vaccines! We tried to get Margaret (a really high risk individual) vaccinated before coming up to WI, to no avail. So of course she came down with Mr. Swine Flu yesterday! She got medicated and masked up immediately upon recognizing symptoms, so it has not been too bad. We're getting shot up with the vaccine next Monday, because Wisconsin is on top of things. Good on ya, cheeseheads.

OK- we'll keep you all up to date, but in general I just wanted to let you all know that God blessed me to be a dad against His/Her better judgement (luckily I have Margaret in my corner I suppose), and we thank Him/Her and all of you for your prayers and thoughts. I feel very, very fortunate.

Much love,

Nels, Margaret, Everett, and Bristol