Yes, I've started a countdown. There are officially 66 days left until baby-O is due to arrive. You can follow it on the left side of the blog under the title... it'll probably be a pretty good glimpse into how we're feeling that day.
Kim and I can't wait! She's feeling pretty good, although, she's only feeling more and more cramped as the days pass. There's a limited amount of room for all those organs.
The little baby is SO great and moving around a ton! Oh, and it's been having the hiccups like crazy. My mom told us that Kari had them all the time, too.
Enjoy the countdown!
~Kurt
6.28.2007
6.26.2007
Sometimes you just HAVE TO laugh...
So, all pride aside, I signed up for unemployment benefits as I'm still in search of a job. To do so, I went through 8 pages and 50+ questions. The State was very prompt; it was only a few days after I completed the online application that I heard back from them.
I received the call yesterday around noon. Kim just happend to be home during lunch, otherwise I don't think she would have believed me. The claims agent said there was a "Red Flag" in my application that kept my claims from going through.
"Did you work as a professional athlete during the last 18 months?" he asked.
"What? No." My response was of a little confusion.
"Ok, that's what I thought," he continued. "You'd apparently checked this question as 'Yes' when filling out your application."
HA!! I laughed so hard when I got off the phone. I said I was a professional athlete! In what? Bacci Ball? Cribbage? Darts? What a riot!
I even went back to the application and looked for my mistake. Sure enough, I marked down a bold 'Yes'. It was in that section that has all the questions you're supposed to answer 'No' to. Questions like:
Thanks for the continued prayer.
~Kurt
I received the call yesterday around noon. Kim just happend to be home during lunch, otherwise I don't think she would have believed me. The claims agent said there was a "Red Flag" in my application that kept my claims from going through.
"Did you work as a professional athlete during the last 18 months?" he asked.
"What? No." My response was of a little confusion.
"Ok, that's what I thought," he continued. "You'd apparently checked this question as 'Yes' when filling out your application."
HA!! I laughed so hard when I got off the phone. I said I was a professional athlete! In what? Bacci Ball? Cribbage? Darts? What a riot!
I even went back to the application and looked for my mistake. Sure enough, I marked down a bold 'Yes'. It was in that section that has all the questions you're supposed to answer 'No' to. Questions like:
- Have you earned at least half your income from working in a fruit orchard?
- Are you currently employed? (yeah, on an unemployment application)
- In the last 18 months, have you traveled out of the country and had contact monkeys? (maybe this one's for giving blood... but you get the idea)
Thanks for the continued prayer.
~Kurt
6.21.2007
CHECK YOUR GRAPES!!!
Yes, CAREFULLY check all your grapes!!
So Kim's hosting dinner for her book club and the recipe she's using requires grapes. Not a problem. All is well and good, right? Sure... until she opened the bag and found a spider. It went a little something like this (sorry for writing in the 3rd person - I think it adds a little something):
(Not actual spider.
As we are rookie bloggers, I didn't get a photo
to verify this story.)
Cheers!
~Kurt
So Kim's hosting dinner for her book club and the recipe she's using requires grapes. Not a problem. All is well and good, right? Sure... until she opened the bag and found a spider. It went a little something like this (sorry for writing in the 3rd person - I think it adds a little something):
Kurt
[washing dishes]
Kim
[while preparing the food, she opens the bag of grapes]
"Look at this."
Kurt
[pauses his dishwashing]
"Oh, is it a bug?"
Kim
"Yeah, a HUGE spider."
Kurt
[to himself] ...sigh...
"Ok, I'll take care of it."
* * *
After looking at the rather large, shiny, black spider, Kurt begins to dump them into a large bowl. He is not unarmed, however. He's strategically laid out 3 dinner napkins and was holding 2 bamboo kabob skewers (it made perfect sense at the time).
This dumping motion has actually inverted the spider's position offering a valuable piece of information: a small red hourglass on the underside of its belly.
* * *
Kurt
[feeling bad for cheapening Kim's fear of spiders in his mind]
"What?!?! It's a black widow! Look at this!"
Well, that's kinda the bulk of the story and now that the punch is gone, I might as well just give you the rest of the info quickly. As it turns out, this is NOT uncommon. If you search the web for "black widow grapes" you'll find multiple stories across the US.
Given the gain in popularity of not using pesticides, the black widows are making the big trek north. They're usually, much like our experience, chilled from being refridgerated so they move very slow, if at all. However, who knows what could happen if you get your fingers too close.
Kim and I just thank God for her not sticking her hand in there. It could have been unthinkably terrible for baby.
[washing dishes]
Kim
[while preparing the food, she opens the bag of grapes]
"Look at this."
Kurt
[pauses his dishwashing]
"Oh, is it a bug?"
Kim
"Yeah, a HUGE spider."
Kurt
[to himself] ...sigh...
"Ok, I'll take care of it."
* * *
After looking at the rather large, shiny, black spider, Kurt begins to dump them into a large bowl. He is not unarmed, however. He's strategically laid out 3 dinner napkins and was holding 2 bamboo kabob skewers (it made perfect sense at the time).
This dumping motion has actually inverted the spider's position offering a valuable piece of information: a small red hourglass on the underside of its belly.
* * *
Kurt
[feeling bad for cheapening Kim's fear of spiders in his mind]
"What?!?! It's a black widow! Look at this!"
Well, that's kinda the bulk of the story and now that the punch is gone, I might as well just give you the rest of the info quickly. As it turns out, this is NOT uncommon. If you search the web for "black widow grapes" you'll find multiple stories across the US.
Given the gain in popularity of not using pesticides, the black widows are making the big trek north. They're usually, much like our experience, chilled from being refridgerated so they move very slow, if at all. However, who knows what could happen if you get your fingers too close.
Kim and I just thank God for her not sticking her hand in there. It could have been unthinkably terrible for baby.
CAREFULLY CHECK YOUR GRAPES!!!
(Not actual spider.As we are rookie bloggers, I didn't get a photo
to verify this story.)
Cheers!
~Kurt
6.14.2007
Kim speaks...
Ah, my inaugural blog. Those of you who know me know that this "committing to contributing to anything having to do with a computer" thing is a big deal for me. But alas, if I'm being honest, I'm kind of excited about it. I have all kinds of opinions, after all, and can't wait to espouse them to all of you. Ok, not really. Mostly I'm just super excited to meet my kid (in two and a half months!) and I know I'll want to share all of the joy and excitement (and exhaustion and exasperation) with all of you. This way, however, your participation can be on your terms. We won't be sending any mass emails with endless anecdotes and photos (as we would've undoubtedly been tempted to do). We'll just post everything on this blog and you all can check it as frequently or infrequently as you'd like...we won't even know.
It's late and time for baby to go to bed. Oh, who am I kidding... time for mommy to go to bed and time for baby to commence kicking and rolling for minimum of one hour :)
It's late and time for baby to go to bed. Oh, who am I kidding... time for mommy to go to bed and time for baby to commence kicking and rolling for minimum of one hour :)
Wah waaahhh (theme from Debbie Downer)
Some censored, brief backstory for those of you who may not be aware of what was going on, this company was not a good fit for me. I was stifled and held back from progressing. Beyond that, it wouldn't be good to put online.
Even with all that said, I'm thankful for God's diligence in answering prayers. He is SO good and I know He'll provide for Kim and I. We've also felt the support of our friends and family and are extremely appreciative.
Other good news: I get to bring my logo back. It's on everything - my cover letter, resume, reference sheet, thank you cards, email signature, etc. I love this thing... simple, yet memorable.
Off to find a job!
6.09.2007
Baby's room getting finished...
So, for those of you who haven't seen it yet, the painting of the baby's room can finally be checked off the list! It's still a work-in-progress until we get the furniture and other things to warm it up, but below are some pictures of what we did.
First, since we aren't finding out the sex of the baby, we had to go with gender neutral colors. This had to run true with the bedding and curtains as well (for the most part). Kim's mom, Jan, is making these items with the fabric swatches below.
One of the things Jan is making for the baby is its first quilt -- I can't wait to see it! We tried to pull some of the main colors from these swatches to use as accent colors in the baby's room.
The stripes are 12" stripes of clear coat on the matte base coat. The camera's flash actually made the effect look more pronounced than it truly is in person.
The stripes are only on 2 walls: the main feature and the wall directly across from it.
The dots are painted on one wall, with exception of a few that made it around the room for fun.
This is 'BOB', the baby's stroller; he's a part of the family. The brand name stands for 'Beast Of Burden'... no joke.
Well, we're pretty sure the baby will love its new digs... not to mention its new ride (BOB rules). I'm just hoping s/he will have no problem falling asleep in its fun, bright room.
Cheers!
~Kurt
First, since we aren't finding out the sex of the baby, we had to go with gender neutral colors. This had to run true with the bedding and curtains as well (for the most part). Kim's mom, Jan, is making these items with the fabric swatches below.
One of the things Jan is making for the baby is its first quilt -- I can't wait to see it! We tried to pull some of the main colors from these swatches to use as accent colors in the baby's room.
The stripes are 12" stripes of clear coat on the matte base coat. The camera's flash actually made the effect look more pronounced than it truly is in person.
The stripes are only on 2 walls: the main feature and the wall directly across from it.
The dots are painted on one wall, with exception of a few that made it around the room for fun.
This is 'BOB', the baby's stroller; he's a part of the family. The brand name stands for 'Beast Of Burden'... no joke.Cheers!
~Kurt
6.08.2007
Explaination... Many More Posts to Come
Ok all~
So, before you get upset and think that I'm not excited about the new addition to Kim's and my family, let me explain the title.
I figured this will mostly be a method of getting baby info out to friends and family in the future. However, I'm guessing that some - maybe most - of you will think that I'm a bit wiggy for taking so many pictures of:
- baby Olmsted eating
- baby Olmsted sleeping
- baby Olmsted smiling
- baby Olmsted crying
- baby Olmsted eating again
- baby Olmsted sleeping again
- etc, you get the idea.
What I'm hoping is that you'll feel free to visit the blog to find out more about us than just 200 pictures of the baby laying there (however cute s/he may be). We're excited to meet our new baby and stoked to share the joy s/he brings to our life. September 2nd couldn't get here fast enough!
Right now we're in Columbus, OH visiting dear friends, one of which is becoming a doctor: Dr. Nicholas "DarkBeer" Dekker. We also got to visit some of Kim's college friends in Grand Rapids, MI (thanks again Lynne and Brett!). It was great to see them all and Kim's been an absolute trooper with the occasional humidity.
Well, I think that's just about long enough for the inaugural post. I hope you'll tune in later for more.
Cheers!
~Kurt
So, before you get upset and think that I'm not excited about the new addition to Kim's and my family, let me explain the title.
I figured this will mostly be a method of getting baby info out to friends and family in the future. However, I'm guessing that some - maybe most - of you will think that I'm a bit wiggy for taking so many pictures of:
- baby Olmsted eating
- baby Olmsted sleeping
- baby Olmsted smiling
- baby Olmsted crying
- baby Olmsted eating again
- baby Olmsted sleeping again
- etc, you get the idea.
What I'm hoping is that you'll feel free to visit the blog to find out more about us than just 200 pictures of the baby laying there (however cute s/he may be). We're excited to meet our new baby and stoked to share the joy s/he brings to our life. September 2nd couldn't get here fast enough!
Right now we're in Columbus, OH visiting dear friends, one of which is becoming a doctor: Dr. Nicholas "DarkBeer" Dekker. We also got to visit some of Kim's college friends in Grand Rapids, MI (thanks again Lynne and Brett!). It was great to see them all and Kim's been an absolute trooper with the occasional humidity.
Well, I think that's just about long enough for the inaugural post. I hope you'll tune in later for more.
Cheers!
~Kurt
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