amidst a sea of incoherancy

I hope each and every person reading this had lovely Christmas times! Heather and I drove up to Duluth on Wednesday night, in an attempt to miss the blizzard. Unfortunately, we didn't miss the blizzard and arrived in Duluth 5 1/2 hours later. On the fortunate side....we arrived in Duluth 5 1/2 hours later

Anyway, we had a blast. All of us were snowed in for 2 straight days. On Christmas night we decided to see if the world outside still existed, so we all packed up and attempted to walk around the block. Interesting to do when the snow is up to your waist. Heather and I packed Bjorn up in this sling-type deal that keeps him under your coat and that worked pretty well. It was snowing so hard you could barely see your hand in front of your face and it was magical!

The exciting news for me was, my sister gave my brother and I Romeo e Juliette Cigars for Christmas. David and I went out to smoke and I got ready to enjoy as much of it as I could before puking. I got to the very end and did not get sick!!!! Possible Christmas miracle! I was so excited, I decided to employ the scientific method! Hypothesis stated, time to test it! David and I swam through the waist-high snow to the nearest 24 hour gas station and purchased some cigar-like items called backwoods cigars. David and I smoked two in a row and I did not get sick! Christmas miracle hypothesis confirmed!

When I got back inside, it was time to make home-made eggnog. I make mine with whisky. Bjorn was being awfully quiet at this point. Just kind of hanging out with me and not demanding any of my attention. So, I'm beating the egg yolks, etc, and I'm pretty sure I caught Bjorn chugging down the bottle of whisky when I wasn't looking. He looks all innocent, but underneath he's a whisky-fiend. Beware.

We got back on Saturday night and Heather's mom stopped by. Since it was Heather's birthday, we ended up partying and eating more. Then, yesterday we did a Christmas tailgate party at Heather's dad's. This also turned into an eat-your face off event and I think I caught Bjorn in the liquor cabinet again. I really gotta keep an eye on this kid, especially come new year's eve!

I'm ready to eat nothing for a whole week. Except...Heather's mom's side of the family postponed their Christmas celebrations until tonight. So, as Ray Charles sings... heeeeeere we gooooooo again.

Last night, at 10:35 pm, after 3 trips to Menards and a visit from my friend Phil Yasger, the Halvorsen household added a new member. We now have a second toilet!

I am very fond of our newest family member and have named him Bernard (Bernie for short). Bernard is good natured and will be a very welcome addition to our family!

If that's not enough, Bernie will have a sister soon! Vernice the sink (Vern for short)  will be joining our family in the not too distant future!

I'll put pics of Bernie and Vern up as soon as I get some

Sunday evening, 5:35 pm. I’m usually at church right now, but this time I was in a hospital. Somehow, this hospital felt more holy than the local Methodist/Presbyterian/insert denomination building. A nurse holds my son up to the light. He’s covered in blood and looks so fragile. I wonder how he survived the terrors of the birthing process being so small. He’s not crying. He’s using his lungs for the first time. Feeling air on his skin for the first time. Hearing without water in his ears for the first time. He’s looking at all of us with wide-eyed wonder and it begins to sink in. His health and well being is my responsibility.

My son had just been born and I looked at him and waited for it. I suppose the “it” I was waiting for was the amazing rush of awe, delight, and overwhelming love that I had been sure would pummel me to my knees as I held my son for the first time. Yes, I felt awe. No, I wasn’t pummeled to my knees.

I began to get this nagging sense of “what’s wrong with me?” Heather has often told me that I’m unhealthily distrustful of all things emotional. Perhaps she was right? Would I be able to love this little guy as he needs?

Sunday evening, 5:35pm. 4 weeks later. I’m at church and grabbing my guitar. I look over at my son. He’s being held by Marissa and is a little fussy. I’m not so concerned anymore. I’ve learned that I just take a little time to warm up. With every passing day I love my son more. I’m proud of him, I support him, I love him in the way that I was created to.

Go on Bjorn, grow and be beautiful.

To me, a happy home is one filled with friends. Today, we had such a home. We started the morning by going to Heather's grandma's house to introduce her newest great-grandson!

It was here that we realized who Bjorn looks like. Bjorn is on the right and both pictures on the left are of Heather at 2 weeks old. Yeah, Heather is definitely a poser. 

Then, we went to Heather's grandparents on her dad's side to do some more visiting. Man, Bjorn is one loved kid.

Then, Amy, Becca and Olivia Cradle stopped by and brought us an incredible dinner!

Later, Jamin and Jayneen came over for a wine&cheese tasting/movie watching extravaganza. 3 bottles of wine were proudly opened, two of which I purchased more than a year ago for just this occasion and the remaining had been stored by Jamin for over a year as well.

Heather pumped a bunch of baby food in advance so she could join in and it was fantastic! While we were getting started, Dan, Heidi, Anna and Evelyn stopped by to say hi. It was great to see Anna and Evelyn (Who gave me plenty of "The Evelyn." "The Evelyn" is a look I see her doing all the time. It's sort of a, "Go ahead and see if I care" kind of look and it melts my heart every time I see it.)

As all this was going down, I kept thinking, "Blessed is the home filled with happiness." We are certainly blessed. 

Bjorn was zonked out for most of the evening, but woke up every couple hours to remind us he was hungry. Then, he'd eat and zonk out again. Welcome to our home and family, son!

We started with an 0830 lactation consultation. Bjorn hasn't been interested in eating and certainly not interested in boobs, so feeding him has been a challange. In addition, Bjorn hasn't pooped since the day he was born. Anyway, the lactation lady saw how disinterested Bjorn is with boobs and heard about how he hadn't pooped in a while and kinda freaked out. She thought we needed to see a doctor immediately. We called in an appt, but on the way home from the consult, I started thinking about how we had just seen the doctor yesterday and he seemed happy about how Bjorn was doing. So, we called his office to ask them to page him for us. The nurse heard why we wanted to talk to him and freaked out also. She told us to go to the emergency room and have Bjorn admitted to the Intensive Care unit at Childrens. I was pretty POd at this point. These nurses were in near hysterics about not pooping. We told the nurse we weren't about to go to the ER and had her page the doctor for us.

Even after taking a stand on this matter, our hearts were racing about the situation. Did we make the wrong call? Luckily, the doctor called and I complained to him about hysterical nurses. He was very calm, said not to go to the ER and to come see him "just in case" at 3:45.

In the meantime, my parents flew out of the country today. My whole family came to our house to say hi/bye. I drove with my parents to the airport for a tearful goodbye. My sister, Laura took this especially hard. This is the first time she will live without them...since she's still in highschool, it's tough. It was also tough on my mom, leaving Laura and two new grandbabies. Dad, on the other hand, is just cut out for this sort of thing; on a mission and ready to get it started.

Raced back home from the airport just in time to pack Heather and Bjorn up for the 3:45 Dr. Appt. The doctor took an x-ray of Bjorn's guts and told us everything looks great. Then, he had a nurse stick a thermometer up Bjorn's butt to try to stimulate a poop. Boy did that work! It was a pooptacular. I've never seen so much poop come out of something so little in my whole life. I had two immediate reactions to this event. 1. Thank GOD! 2. I hate the hysterical nurses...why couldn't they have just told us to put a thermometer up Bjorn's butt. I'm actually still PO'd as I write this. I think it has something to do with the fact that we practice medicine only to prevent law suits these days.

Anyway, time for dinner.

This is Bjorn and his cousin Kadon. Kadon is Bonnie's third child and was born 1 day before Bjorn!

Here's my whole family before heading out to the airport (Heather is in the doorway).

And here is one of the tearfull goodbyes between my mom and Laura.

Here's another sad goodbye between my dad and Bonnie.

And, to end on a positive note, here is Bjorn dressed up like a bear on his way to poop at the doctor's office. He really does look constipated.

Getting to know my son is quite the experience. He's the most mellow kid Heather has ever delivered. Probably the most handsome and manly kid she's ever delivered also. Bjorn failed his hearing test twice within 24 hours of being born, but he took the test a third time and passed today. We're thankful that he isn't deaf. That means my dreams for him being a rock star aren't smooshed quite yet. Knowing my luck, however, he'll come out being a sports fan and even though Jamie is trying to teach me how to dig sports, I'm going to feel at a loss when that happens. 

In other news, Heather is experiencing shortness of breath. The doctor noticed a wheezing sound when listening to her lung sounds. They've extended our stay for a bit to keep an eye on Heather and are currently giving her some Albuterol. We'll see what happens.

Mom'n'Dad

Newly Nana'd, Nana Mary Kleven

Great Grandpa John Willms, Grammy Sandy Halvorsen and Grandpa John Halvorsen

Grandpa Tom Kleven

Uncle Michael and Auntie Laura Kleven

Honorary Auntie Jayneen Haddox

Sorry, Jamin, Jamie and Gretchen- Bjorn's slightly spaceheaded father forgot to get shots of you guys

Here is the newest Halvorsen! Bjorn Daniel.

This was taken right after I got to cut the umbilical cord!

His little foot that kicked and kicked inside mom for the past 5 months.

The newly expanded Halvorsen family.

This experience has really placed me in awe of my precious wife.

As the title suggests, Bjorn is not here yet. Due date was last Friday. If Heather hasn't gone into labor by this Wednesday evening, she'll be admitted and induced on Thursday morning. We're both hoping for a natural labor, but I think Heather will take whatever she can get at this point.

I wonder if Jesus was thinking about his mom, or one of his sisters, or some friend who may have been pregnant when he said, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." - Matt24:36

Anyway, that's how it feels waiting for little baby H to pop into our lives. And I suppose that's how the next 25 years or so of my life will feel...hoping, waiting, curious to see what happens, trying to stand back and let the little guy do his thing without too much interference.

Due date is Friday, but we (and by "we", I mean Heather) haven't experienced any real pre-labor or anything at this point. Maybe we've got more time than the doctor's schedule shows.

A nurse told me that walking and spicy food help speed things along. So, last night I took Heather out for some spicy pizza. (Gretchen, we went to Fat Lorenzo's for the first time. We thought it was an awesome representation of Non-Chicago, MidWest style Pizza. Can't wait to hear what you think about it....) So we sprinkled the spicy flakes on the pie (one of my most exciting acheivements was assisting Heather develop a taste for the spicy). Afterwards, we both spent time on the treadmill--me trying to slow down the pear shape effect that happens to all glutons who eat too much pizza and Heather trying to knock out the baby. Obviously, he didn't come. We'll have to try again today

Anyway, I'll be posting pics as soon as the little guy let me.