This moment has been longed for...

Ok all, I'm sorry to add another post about home items, but this one we are WAY too excited about to not post it. We've just added a dishwasher to our kitchen!! Woo hoooo!!! Okay... remain calm.

So you can see it here:
Isn't it pretty? We've already named it... surprise, surprise. We're calling it "Dishwasher". Yeah, we figured we should stop naming everything we come across. It's got really great features including this fancy, eighties-style nob that turns it on, some shiny nameplate that doesn't really do much of anything, and it even washes dishes! The latter is, of course, the most important. This will be great with the baby coming. No hand washing a ton of bottles and dishes. Thank you, Lord!!

Oh, and there's a new faucet with a pushbutton switch for the garbage disposal. Is it wrong that I'm this excited about kitchen items?

Cheers!

~Kurt

I swear I wasn't drinking...

There are only 4 or 5 other people who know about this, so I'm outing myself to the rest of the world on this. Tonight, a very strange and stupid thing happened to me. What am I saying? Am I honestly trying to play the victim here?

Ok, so the story goes like this:

Kim and I are getting ready to have some friends over for dinner and we realize that we're out of butter. After stopping at the close-by Plaid Pantry in hopes of a cheap, healthy spread, I left for New Seasons knowing full well I would find a healthier choice for much less than $4.89.

With 12 minutes until our guests were due to arrive, I parked the car, grabbed my phone, locked the door and slammed it shut ready to fulfill my errand. The thing is, something sounded different... somewhat familiar actually. "Well, it sounds as though I've left the car running!" I thought to myself but verbalized in a fairly loud, 4-letter word.

I had done the unthinkable: locked my keys in the car with it still running. WHAT?!?! Who does that? Honestly!

So, after a quick, losing my head phone call to Kim, she calmed me down and I stood there next to my locked, still running car waiting for a hope. After a bit, I went and bought my butter; sure enough, it only took 2 minutes and there I was again, standing next to my locked, still running car.

Thanks to an amazing neighbor 2 doors down (thanks so much - you rock, Eden!), I got a spare key and was on my way. What must she have thought? "Those neighbors down there getting tipsy and heading to New Seasons for a snack."

All I have to say is, if Kim isn't going to use her pregnancy brain, I'm going to use mine. Oh, and I hope that never happens to me again... seriously.

Hope you enjoy the laugh. Cheers!

~Kurt

#48 - Jim and B.O.B.

Ok all, the answer to #48 in the countdown. I, know doubt, have kept you waiting long enough. The suspense is palpable, I'm sure. Everyone has been asking me, "Who's Jim?"

For most of you who've kept up with the blog or gone back to read the previous posts, you have been introduced to B.O.B. He was "adopted" a few months ago and is the kickin' new stroller seen in the picture to the right.

To recap, B.O.B. is fit for running, the beach, a 200lb. person (true and tested), etc. His name stands for "Beast Of Burden" (no joke) and he's been anxiously awaiting the arrival of baby-O.

Now, the newcomer is to the left. His name is Jim. He's a sweet Dyson vacuum affectionately named after his creator: James Dyson. Yeah, it's cheesy, but that's totally us, right?

Anyway, Jim and B.O.B. have quickly become fast friends. There was no animosity felt from B.O.B.; he didn't pull the whole, "Hey, I've been here 2months longer than you. I own you!" In fact, Kim and I have even come home to find them cuddling as seen in the above picture. It's really sweet. I would have to say it was the proudest moment of my vacuum/stroller owning life to see how well they get along.

Kim and I aren't spoiling them though. They have to abide by strict rules: no running in the house and they have to pick up after themselves... Jim is definitely going to be Kim's favorite, I can already tell.

Let us know if you want to meet either of them. They've been socialized well. Although Jim sucks, B.O.B. is really cool.

NOTE:

All corny jokes and puns have been placed here
for the primary purpose of amusing Grandpa Olmsted
(yeah you, dad... you're a Grandpa!)

Oh, and... I'm a dork.

~Kurt

Window Anticipation

Exciting evening at the Olmsted household...we are preparing for the installation of our new windows tomorrow. To most of you, this might not sound particularly fun, and I suppose it's never really "fun" preparing for home projects. But this one will radically change the comfort level in our little home, so all preparation and post-project clean-up is well worth it. We bought our 1941 house with the original windows in it. Charming, yes, but only about 1/3 of them are functional and there are no screens on any of them which means that we roast in our house every night with various bugs circling our heads and crawling on our walls. Our new windows will not only be able to be opened (gasp!) but will have screens, will deflect UV rays, will have the same visual aesthetic as the originals, and will give birth to our baby in September. Ok, so that last one might be wishful thinking, but a mom-to-be can hope, right? Anyway, that's what's going on with us. You are each welcome to come visit us after tomorrow and enjoy the lusciously cool and breezy splendor that will be our home...

Kim

Furniture is here...

Well, we finally have a place for our little one to sleep. Thanks to major contributions from both of our parents, we now have a crib and a dresser in our baby's room. You'll find pictures below of the installation process...my particular favorite is the one of Kurt and his dad trying to look manly in their matching white Fonzie t's. I think they might have been successful had it not been for the polka dots on the wall behind them :)

Things are really starting to feel like they're coming together. Paint is on the walls, furniture is up, Grandma B. is making bedding...very exciting. IKEA is coming to Portland in about two weeks, so we'll do some last minute accessories shopping there when the inevitable grand opening madness dies down. We are loving our little nursery more each day, and we're confidant that we're creating such a warm, inviting room that our baby will immediately want to sleep 9-10 hours uninterrupted each night. Ok, ok...stop laughing...I can hear you all the way over here!

As I'm writing, baby is performing his/her nightly tumbling routine in my belly. Watching this performance never ceases to amaze and greatly amuse both Kurt and me. We see heads and bums and limbs and hands and feet all over the place. You'd think there were at least two or three tumblers in there but we've asked repeatedly and our doctor assures us there is only one. Our baby also gets the hiccups at least once per day, often two or three times. Supposedly this does not hurt or annoy the baby and it's a sign that there's plenty of fluid in the womb. I just think it's too funny, and I can't wait to see if the trend continues post-birth (my guess is that it will).

Enjoy the photos. There will be many more to come :)

Kim

A nod to my wife...

Yeah, I love my wife; she's pretty amazing. She has such passion and much of it is directed at her work. As many of you know, she's in child welfare working with foster and adoptive families on a daily basis. It's an emotionally draining job that she handles with ease. Maybe I should have put an '!' at the end of the first sentence.

So there's a new John Cusack movie coming out in October: Martian Child. It looks pretty good and Kim's very excited for it. Definitely check out the trailer and website if you get a chance.

www.martianchild.com

Cheers!

~Kurt

Oh to dance around the world...

Ok, well, this post is different but I really want to share it.

A friend showed me this video of a 30yr. old guy currently living in Seattle, WA. On a trip in Vietnam, Matt started doing a jig that he'd done since childhood. He then took video of himself in other places around the world, put music to it, and posted it to the internet. After the video gained popularity and millions (yes, #,000,000's) of viewers, he was sponsored by a Stride Gum to travel the world for 6months, dancing in 39 different countries, spread over 7 continents.

Although I'm a bit envious of all his travel, I think the video is a perfect illustration of what traveling can make people feel:

• free - too many countries don't allow their citizens to leave (or they can't afford to travel)
• giddy - seeing beautiful places and new people provides a fresh perspective on life
  
• thankful - we are so blessed in to have such amazing places at our fingertips (or really long, outstretched arms)
  
• hopeful - even facing poverty, starvation and AIDS, children in Rwanda are able to laugh and dance with the strange looking man
• childlike - seeing things you've never heard of before or only read in books can be invigorating
  

The last is my favorite. Do you remember seeing a plane for the first time and being in awe, fascinated and curious as to what it was? Maybe it was a lion or monkey at the zoo? I can't wait to see life through my child's eyes.

Enjoy!

Cheers~

Kurt