Hello Everyone.
So if you've been wondering what happened to the newsletter last week, it unexpectedly took a back seat to trying to get some sleep. Seems that we had a baby 5 days early. In the ContestHound.com household the word early is rarely ever used so you can guess just how much we were caught off guard. Not that the extra time would have left us any more prepared mind you.
So without further ado, let me introduce you to my beautiful new daughter Willa, born Friday February 13, 2004 in our dining room. Astonishingly, it took us only another 3 days to give her a first name. We are still working on a middle name, which should come as no surprise.
And for those of you wanting to see some pictures, follow the link below. There is a really great shot of my 4-year-old daughter Neva holding her new baby sister only hours after she was born.
Pictures of Willa
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Monday, February 23, 2004
Wednesday, February 11, 2004
Smooch ...
Hello Everyone.
Countdown to Baby: 7 days
We are getting down to the wire ... a week or so before the still-to-be-named baby arrives.
Sometimes we parents find ourselves stuck between thinking something is so terrible and thinking that it isn't really such a good idea. Take for instance my 20-month-old son Milo who recently began giving kisses. After finishing our lunch today, he gave everyone a round of kisses. We were at McDonalds.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Countdown to Baby: 7 days
We are getting down to the wire ... a week or so before the still-to-be-named baby arrives.
Sometimes we parents find ourselves stuck between thinking something is so terrible and thinking that it isn't really such a good idea. Take for instance my 20-month-old son Milo who recently began giving kisses. After finishing our lunch today, he gave everyone a round of kisses. We were at McDonalds.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Monday, February 09, 2004
Kudos!
Hello Everyone.
Countdown to Baby: 9 days
Panic is setting in. We have just a little over a week before the newest ContestHound.com employee arrives. Send help ...
It seems to have been one of those days. I'm feeling big and uncomfortable, very tired and very, very hormonal. After all, I am about to have another baby in a few short weeks. So when bath time rolled around, I didn't have much patience left in me. I got 20-month-old Milo bathed quickly enough but his sister Neva was a different story. Apparently 4-year-olds can become hormonal by osmosis. She was being obstinate, and protested rather loudly when I told her to get out of the tub for behaving that way. What followed I won't recount, but suffice it to say, it was loud and there were tears involved. Neva's and mine.
Enter Bob. Calm, cool and collected, my husband ran interference. He quietly took Neva in to bed, got her settled down and to sleep. Drained, I got Milo a bottle of milk and lay down on the couch with him. Milo, however, doesn't fall asleep easily when he's had a daytime nap, so as soon as the milk was done, Milo was off. I barely had the energy to get up off the couch, much less chase him around the apartment and get him to bed.
Enter Bob. But this time I bribed him. See, he was stuck on a story for tonight's issue of this very newsletter. So I promised I'd write one if he'd put Milo to bed. It's been a half-hour and he's just coming out of the bedroom now. Did he get the fuzzy end of the lollipop this time? Depends on how much this glowing review of his parenting skills means to him.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
Countdown to Baby: 9 days
Panic is setting in. We have just a little over a week before the newest ContestHound.com employee arrives. Send help ...
It seems to have been one of those days. I'm feeling big and uncomfortable, very tired and very, very hormonal. After all, I am about to have another baby in a few short weeks. So when bath time rolled around, I didn't have much patience left in me. I got 20-month-old Milo bathed quickly enough but his sister Neva was a different story. Apparently 4-year-olds can become hormonal by osmosis. She was being obstinate, and protested rather loudly when I told her to get out of the tub for behaving that way. What followed I won't recount, but suffice it to say, it was loud and there were tears involved. Neva's and mine.
Enter Bob. Calm, cool and collected, my husband ran interference. He quietly took Neva in to bed, got her settled down and to sleep. Drained, I got Milo a bottle of milk and lay down on the couch with him. Milo, however, doesn't fall asleep easily when he's had a daytime nap, so as soon as the milk was done, Milo was off. I barely had the energy to get up off the couch, much less chase him around the apartment and get him to bed.
Enter Bob. But this time I bribed him. See, he was stuck on a story for tonight's issue of this very newsletter. So I promised I'd write one if he'd put Milo to bed. It's been a half-hour and he's just coming out of the bedroom now. Did he get the fuzzy end of the lollipop this time? Depends on how much this glowing review of his parenting skills means to him.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
Friday, February 06, 2004
Comfort in Chaos ...
Hello Everyone.
Countdown to Baby: 12 days
Less than two weeks to go and we have yet to finalize a short list of names. Mind you, it wasn't until 6 days after Milo was born that we named him ...
As we get immanently closer to the arrival of our third child my fear and anxiety is growing. I suppose that's normal but that alone doesn't lessen my worries. There are the standard concerns about the baby's health even though nothing indicates there is anything wrong. And then the ever-popular one about the ability to cope with yet another mouth to feed. Contrary to popular opinion, running a couple of contest web sites is not a particularly lucrative occupation.
Generally being one step away from paranoia, I know first hand how common concerns are the foundations on which more unrealistic fears are built. My past experiences should help to alleviate those wild thoughts but that would mean I'd have to acknowledge that I am being unrealistic. I have found that when you are in the midst of an emotional crisis, reality has a way of standing on the sidelines.
Eventually I once again find myself back in the present and though the fears still exist, I know that as far as right now goes, at this very moment, the hundred or so outcomes I have imagined don't exist. And in that, I find reassurance ... comfort in chaos.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Countdown to Baby: 12 days
Less than two weeks to go and we have yet to finalize a short list of names. Mind you, it wasn't until 6 days after Milo was born that we named him ...
As we get immanently closer to the arrival of our third child my fear and anxiety is growing. I suppose that's normal but that alone doesn't lessen my worries. There are the standard concerns about the baby's health even though nothing indicates there is anything wrong. And then the ever-popular one about the ability to cope with yet another mouth to feed. Contrary to popular opinion, running a couple of contest web sites is not a particularly lucrative occupation.
Generally being one step away from paranoia, I know first hand how common concerns are the foundations on which more unrealistic fears are built. My past experiences should help to alleviate those wild thoughts but that would mean I'd have to acknowledge that I am being unrealistic. I have found that when you are in the midst of an emotional crisis, reality has a way of standing on the sidelines.
Eventually I once again find myself back in the present and though the fears still exist, I know that as far as right now goes, at this very moment, the hundred or so outcomes I have imagined don't exist. And in that, I find reassurance ... comfort in chaos.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Thursday, February 05, 2004
So They Say ...
Hello Everyone.
Countdown to Baby: 14 days
We have been receiving lots of great names and in fact have even put some of them on our "consideration" list. Please keep sending us your name suggestions for either a boy or a girl.
Is it me or is everyone in this house crazy? What follows is selected exerpts from conversations in the ContestHound.com household over a period of 30 minutes.
Neva: "Milo made me sprain my ankle!"
Kathleen: "So, why are you holding your elbow?
Kathleen to Milo:
"You can take it to the living room or put it away." He was dragging a 3-step ladder around with him.
Neva: "Momma, what's for dessert?"
Daddy: "A nap!"
Neva and Milo: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" (breath) "AHHHHHHHHHH!" (breath) "AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Mommy and Daddy: "WILL YOU GUYS QUIT SCREAMING!"
Neva:
"Mom. Milo turned the TV off."
"Mom. Milo turned the TV off."
"Mom. Milo turned the TV off."
"Milo turned the TV off again."
"Mom, Milo did it again."
Milo: "Ahh Ahhhh Ehh Ehhh Whaaaa Whaaaaaa ..."
Translation: "I don't want to be put in my high chair for repeatedly turning off the TV."
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Countdown to Baby: 14 days
We have been receiving lots of great names and in fact have even put some of them on our "consideration" list. Please keep sending us your name suggestions for either a boy or a girl.
Is it me or is everyone in this house crazy? What follows is selected exerpts from conversations in the ContestHound.com household over a period of 30 minutes.
Neva: "Milo made me sprain my ankle!"
Kathleen: "So, why are you holding your elbow?
Kathleen to Milo:
"You can take it to the living room or put it away." He was dragging a 3-step ladder around with him.
Neva: "Momma, what's for dessert?"
Daddy: "A nap!"
Neva and Milo: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" (breath) "AHHHHHHHHHH!" (breath) "AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Mommy and Daddy: "WILL YOU GUYS QUIT SCREAMING!"
Neva:
"Mom. Milo turned the TV off."
"Mom. Milo turned the TV off."
"Mom. Milo turned the TV off."
"Milo turned the TV off again."
"Mom, Milo did it again."
Milo: "Ahh Ahhhh Ehh Ehhh Whaaaa Whaaaaaa ..."
Translation: "I don't want to be put in my high chair for repeatedly turning off the TV."
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
So I Hear ...
Hello Everyone.
Countdown to Baby: 15 days
Thanks to everyone who has sent in suggestions for boy's names. Apparently, Bob seems to think we already have one for a girl. He's wrong. Please help us with some girl's names by replying to this email.
Milo had fallen asleep in the truck, so my wife Kathleen decided to stay with him while Neva and I went to the hardware store. We had parked beside the neighboring grocery store and Kathleen hopped out to grab a sales flyer to read while waiting with Milo.
Now I am a man, and I was in a big box hardware store, but I really wasn't that long. Honestly. At 4-years-old, Neva doesn't yet have the patience for a full-scale assault on a hardware store. So I was surprised to find that the truck was empty when we returned. I knew right away where Kathleen and Milo were. I wondered if she had poked Milo with the flyer to wake him so she could make a run at the grocery store.
Neva and I wandered in looking for Kathleen. We walked from one end to the other and back again, checking each aisle but Kathleen was nowhere to be found. Was I wrong? Could Kathleen have gone to the hardware store looking for us? Not a chance.
Neva started to call out: "Mommy! Mommy!" She wasn't too loud but it seemed to me that every woman in the entire store double-checked for her kids, just in case they had lost one I suppose. Even those moms who didn't bring their kids seemed concerned. Must be something genetic, I thought.
We finally made our way to the front of the store again where we found Kathleen and Milo, who had already been through the check out and were waiting for us. "I heard Neva calling," she said matter-of-factly. Imagine, in a store the size of a football field, full of kids and their parents, my wife not only heard the calls but knew that it was her own daughter.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Countdown to Baby: 15 days
Thanks to everyone who has sent in suggestions for boy's names. Apparently, Bob seems to think we already have one for a girl. He's wrong. Please help us with some girl's names by replying to this email.
Milo had fallen asleep in the truck, so my wife Kathleen decided to stay with him while Neva and I went to the hardware store. We had parked beside the neighboring grocery store and Kathleen hopped out to grab a sales flyer to read while waiting with Milo.
Now I am a man, and I was in a big box hardware store, but I really wasn't that long. Honestly. At 4-years-old, Neva doesn't yet have the patience for a full-scale assault on a hardware store. So I was surprised to find that the truck was empty when we returned. I knew right away where Kathleen and Milo were. I wondered if she had poked Milo with the flyer to wake him so she could make a run at the grocery store.
Neva and I wandered in looking for Kathleen. We walked from one end to the other and back again, checking each aisle but Kathleen was nowhere to be found. Was I wrong? Could Kathleen have gone to the hardware store looking for us? Not a chance.
Neva started to call out: "Mommy! Mommy!" She wasn't too loud but it seemed to me that every woman in the entire store double-checked for her kids, just in case they had lost one I suppose. Even those moms who didn't bring their kids seemed concerned. Must be something genetic, I thought.
We finally made our way to the front of the store again where we found Kathleen and Milo, who had already been through the check out and were waiting for us. "I heard Neva calling," she said matter-of-factly. Imagine, in a store the size of a football field, full of kids and their parents, my wife not only heard the calls but knew that it was her own daughter.
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
Monday, February 02, 2004
Peace and Quiet ...
Hello Everyone.
Countdown to Baby: 16 days
Thanks to everyone who has sent in suggestions for boy's names. Apparently, Bob seems to think we already have one for a girl. He's wrong. Please help us with some girl's names by replying to this email.
As I sit here at my computer, Neva is watching TV and Milo is sitting on the floor quietly playing with his trains, "Woo-oo!" Sharon, Lois and Bram are singing in the background.
While it might not last long, for now the Gunther household is unchaotic. And I think I'll just sit and soak it in for a bit.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
Countdown to Baby: 16 days
Thanks to everyone who has sent in suggestions for boy's names. Apparently, Bob seems to think we already have one for a girl. He's wrong. Please help us with some girl's names by replying to this email.
As I sit here at my computer, Neva is watching TV and Milo is sitting on the floor quietly playing with his trains, "Woo-oo!" Sharon, Lois and Bram are singing in the background.
While it might not last long, for now the Gunther household is unchaotic. And I think I'll just sit and soak it in for a bit.
Happy sweeping,
Kathleen Gunther
Editor, ContestHound.com
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