Daycare Pictures

'Tis the season for reflecting on your blessings, and we have been very blessed that Beckett is able to go to Angela's. His days are full of play, reading, art activities, learning, exploring, dress up, and interacting with the other fun kids at daycare. Beckett probably wouldn't know his ABCs or be able to count in English and Spanish were it not for Angela and Karsyn!

To make things even better Angela keeps us up-to-date on his days through pictures, and it's obvious to see how much fun he is having and how much he is loved.

Potty time with Maddy.

Apparently Karsyn thinks Beckett's hair needs a little work. Nothing like multi-tasking!

Beckett loves to dress up and I'm told this orange hat is his favorite.

But he rocks this rainbow one pretty well too.

The appeal of Ring Around the Rosey never dies!

I keep saying I'm going to get him dress up clothes....

Beckett has the same Target toy magazine at home, and we saw this scene many, many times before Christmas.

Santa brought Karsyn, Houston and Chase a new kitchen!

"Hello? Well, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."

"It's for you."

Closing Delayed

Due to the winter weather our carpet wasn't installed this weekend as planned, and turns out the bank will need additional time to get an appraisal and paperwork done. Soooo, we won't be closing on the 30th as we thought and don't have a set date yet. =( It would have been nice to be able to move while on break, but I guess we'll just appreciate our space even more when we do move! Here are a few recent pictures.

The master bath. All the plumbing, fixtures and lighting is finished.

Master bedroom - all trim is finished as well!

Main bathroom.

Dishwasher and sink installed! Molding and hardware on cabinets to be finished Monday.

Other half of the kitchen - the refridgerator comes Monday too!

Winter Wonderland

The weather changed our Christmas plans a bit this year. We managed to make it to Iowa on Thursday morning before things were too bad and were snowed in until Saturday just in time for Christmas with the Eilts family. I don't know that we would have even made it to that had it not been for a friendly neighbor with a huge tractor and plow - how easy it is to forget the fun of living in the country!

I think Beckett had a very good time playing, eating, and opening presents (January may bring a rude awakening when he doesn't have birthday and Christmas presents to open anymore!)

Mateo gets a Stars Wars helmet from Nana and Papa. Look at Beckett and Kade coveting the new present!

OK, Chad was coveting it as well.

All of the boys were interested in Kaden's Hot Wheels motorized race track.

I asked Mateo to smile for me and show the Spiderman guitar we gave him. This is as cooperative as he gets for the camera (or maybe just me).

B had a pretty good time with the guitar too.

They still make these! This one plays music. And was a very good buy with a deal from Wal-Mart and a coupon from Playskool. =)

One night of snow later....

Beckett playing outside with daddy and Kaden.

And then helping Papa scoop up all the snow.

The cousins watched Toy Story from their "tent." Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Holy Progress Batman!

The house is moving along fast and furious. We are still set to close on December 30! These pictures make the progress look even more accelerated, but they represent about a 2 week timespan starting December 6 (yes, still catching up with my posts!)

The screened in porch is finished. Take that South Dakota bugs!

Insulation complete. We used the foam on the exterior walls and I am anxious to see what kind of difference it makes in efficiency and noise reduction.

Sheet rock delivered and ready to be installed.

We have garage doors. I wish I could get a picture of the house with the sun shining on it...

Drywall installation - what a difference it makes!

Beckett and daddy checking out the kitchen and porch.

Next step was paint and prepping floors for tile. This is where I start to agonize and second-guess every interior color choice that I made. =)

Beckett's room provides storage for the doors and trim.

Oooooh, the tile! We picked the same throughout the entire house.

This past weekend I painted our master bedroom, including the ceiling. I don't know that I will be standing on a ladder breaking my back for a ceiling while pregnant ever again!

Oh Christmas Tree

Being "displaced" for awhile has not been as tough as I thought it might be - and I mean that in the best way. I was having a conversation with my in-laws the other night about a family the school is sponsoring with Habitat for Humanity. The single parent family with 9 children lived in a refugee camp for ten years before coming to the U.S. I said something to the effect that I thought it was tough to be in transition for a few months and I was hardly in a refugee camp. However I worded it didn't quite come out right, but the point is we have had a pretty good arrangement while waiting for our home to be finished.

Beckett has especially benefitted from the extra family members he gets to see and play with every day. He may have a hard time when we're back to the three of us and he doesn't have all that extra attention! Here are some pictures of recent decorating for Christmas. Grandma and Christa went out a bought a tree small enough for Beckett, along with shatterproof ornaments for him to decorate it with.

I know he wants to reach up there by himself. Mr. Independent prefers to do things "my help."

But he does let Aunt Christa give him a boost so he can get his ornament just where he wants it.

It was so cute to watch him pick out the perfect spot for each ornament.

The finished product. Ready for Christmas!

Beckett's Birthday

I can't believe I have a two-year-old already! If you ask Beckett how old he is he says "I be two." He gets very, very excited about birthday cake but as it turns out he really only cares about the frosting.

We celebrated Beckett's birthday on the day by sending his train cupcakes to daycare, and then a birthday meal of noodles, bread, and fruit (all of his favorites). His official party was the Saturday after at the Kleinhans residence. What was originally planned to be a pool party was cancelled because I refuse to pay a ridiculous amount of money for something Beckett may or may not remember!

A good birthday week was had by all.

Beckett can't wait to dig in to the frosting!

Chad and I got him a train table and I am shocked at the amount of time he has already played with it. We've already gotten our money's worth!

Obviously I will feed my son's train obsession as needed. His train table provided great accessories for the birthday party cake!

The birthday boy lounging and feasting on all of his favorite snacks. I'm not sure the adults were thrilled with Spiderman snacks, teddy grahams, fruity marshmallows and cheese but the kids thought it was a hit!

Beckett is really good about giving hugs. Here's one for Great Grandma Marilyn.

And one for Great Grandma Ardis too. He hugged everyone to say thank you for his presents.

Blowing out his two candles!

All the pictures of the kids on the top bunk are blurry - my camera is not fast enough for excited kids!

The night ended with a dance party in the basement. If you know the Kleinhans you know this is a regular occurrence in their house.

I had intentions of recapping all the milestones Beckett has had in his second year of life... and maybe I will still do that as his last blog entry... someday. But if you've been following you know that he's a bright, healthy little boy with a strong personality and lots of people who love him very much.

Happy 2nd Birthday Beckett Russell Paulson!

Reality Check

Here is your official welcome to the Paulson Family Blog if you are just joining us. Since there's another little Paulson on the way, I figured I would simplify my life and stop Beckett's Blog once he turned 2 and just do the family blog (which so far has been for documenting the progress on our house).

I honestly thought "hey, now I only have 1 blog to update, so I'll be much more faithful about regular posts." This is where Dr. Phil would tell me to GET REAL! I have lots of pictures and updates, starting with Beckett turning 2 and all the fun he had. Now I just need the time and a computer with a working Internet connection.

My blogging habits seem to mirror my personality: all or nothing - either a barrage of posts or nothing for 2 weeks. I'll do my best to be a little more regular. =) And I'm a little nervous that I can no longer use Beckett as my ghost writer, so please be forgiving. You can read entries from my friends who are much more gifted at writing than I from the links on the left!

And so, welcome to our family blog. We've got a busy, busy few months ahead of us but couldn't be happier about all the opportunities and blessings this year and next bring, and wonderful family and friends to share them with.

Siding, Plumbing and Deck

Progress on the house is continuing. A majority of the exterior work is finished and we're moving to the interior phase. Which means I can no longer just drive by and take pictures from the van and will actually have to get out of the vehicle!

Sidewalks are complete. Chad will be a busy snowblower soon!

Wooden pillars complete except for stain which will be in the spring.

Interior framing. Look at the wonderful sunlight that will fill my living room!! =)

Beckett decides the shower in the master bath is a good spot to rest.

A view of the living/dining/kitchen area.

The deck is complete!

Plumbing and heating in progress downstairs. Beckett loves the wide open area.

Checking out the back yard. We won't be putting in sod or landscaping until we've had a chance to live in the house for awhile and decide what works best for us.

The deck gets a door.

All siding and trim complete! Just waiting for garage doors next.

Another view of completed exterior.

Chad took 3 pictures of this. He is thrilled to have access to water in the garage. I'm very anxious to see what comes of Chad's productivity in the garage, as he assures me he will spend more time in there now that he has lots of room to "work."