Kudos to Cousin Thomas

If the Marin IJ blog is going to blog about my superstar-of-a-swimmer-nephew Thomas, then sure as heck MommaSooze is gonna blog and brag about him too! As of last weekend, Thomas scored himself on the Triple Winners List and on 3 of the Top 5 Swimmers League Wide Lists for Boys 8 and under. Nice work kid! We are all very proud of you.

When can you come over and teach your moves to your cousin Finn?

*Photo courtesy of his Dad's facebook page

Filoli Fotos

As a belated Mother's Day present, my sister and I took my mom to Filoli to enjoy the beautiful house and gardens. Finn was in tow, of course. It was a lovely day and Finn was in a good mood.

At the front of the house.  Hmm, what's in there?

Being silly with Muti

Hanging with Auntie Karol and her fabulous new handbag.  I think Finn bonded with his Auntie that day.  He didn't stop saying "Kawol" for days.

Best part of the day- cookie time!

Checking out his ladybug cookie.

Muti and Finn

Checking out the poppies.

San Jose Giants

Last weekend we checked out our first SJ Giants game as a family. Unfortunately, due to my bun-in-the-oven state I wasn't able to partake in the beer batter extravaganza. What's that, you say. Well you will have to go to a San Jose Giants game to experience that for yourself. But I did get to partake in the awesome BBQ. I'm still thinking about those ribs. Mmmm.

Finn was pretty amped about running around in the bleachers.  When that novelty wore off he picked up garbage and threw it away.  Very clean and tidy, that kid.  

Here are some photos from the day.  The high quality ones are courtesy of Uncle Jeff and his fancy new camera.  

Here are Finn and Jason with Gigante, the SJ Giant's mascot.  

Mr. Clean

High-fiving Gigante

Momma's Back!

Well, sort of.  I'm actually home sick today.  But if you haven't heard from me it's because I've been working my patootie off at the office.  I worked nearly an entire month straight- weekends and holidays included and I am tired.  And I'm sure that's why I'm sick.

So if you haven't heard from me, I can only say, "I'm sorry."  If I missed your birthday, your kid's birthday party, your wedding (yes, that happened), forgot to send a thank you note, didn't return your call/email/text/IM, again . . . I'm sorry.  

A few things happened while I was "out":

1) Iowa proved itself to be more progressive than California.  Who knew?  Not me, that's for sure.  And I've been to Iowa- lots of times.  Don't get me wrong, Iowa is full of very nice people, but I wouldn't use adjectives like, "liberal," "progressive" or "gay-friendly" to describe them.   Until now that is.

2) Finn grew up.  He just seems so much more like a boy and less of a baby.  His voice sounds different, he's growing out of his clothes and he is full of opinions.  Knock if off kid, I don't even let your dad have his own opinions.  I wish.

3) I gained 5 more lbs.  I blame it on all of the late night stress eating while putting in those long days and nights at work.  I feel huge but those that love me (really love me) keep telling me I look great.  Thank you very much.

4) I made this.  It was pretty good.  Next time more lemon curd.

5) Jason and I put ourselves on a budget.  Bleh.  Stupid budget.  Stupid economy.

6) And my c-section got scheduled- Monday, Sept 28th at 11:30 am.  How's that for taking all of the mystery out of child birth!  Put it on your calendar and then come late September when you ask yourself, "Gee, I wonder if Susan had that baby yet?" you can just check your date book and you will know.

Aaah, it feels good to be back.  But I know what my readers want- more pictures of Finn.  I've got some and will post them soon.

Love to all!

MommaSooze

Another thing I didn't need to know about

There are some benefits to being pregnant. Special treatment from friends and strangers alike. The pregnancy glow. Still waiting for that to kick in. And the extra 300-500 calories a day.

I weighed myself this morning and I'm up 4 lbs. That's 4 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. Not to brag (although I totally am) but that's a pretty moderate weight gain for being nearly half way through this pregnancy. So who was I to pass up delicious baked goods that suddenly appeared in the office break room this morning? I've been to Specialty's before but never for breakfast fare. They have awesome sandwiches and cookies. But I had no idea about their cinnamon rolls.

Imagine a cinnamon roll approximately 6 inches in diameter and a couple of inches high slathered with so much frosting that the cinnmon swirls are hidden well below. I only ate half of that magnificent creature. And the problem is now I know that it exists. Now I will crave it. Now I will find reasons to visit the Specialty's down the street from my office. And I won't be able to avoid the temptation. Like I said, it's another thing I didn't need to know about.

If only it were that easy . . .

How to Make a Baby



Some things just make you smile and this did that for me.

Link to the video by clicking here.

My favorite color

When people ask me what my favorite color is I generally answer "blue" or sometimes I answer "green." Just depends what mood I'm in I guess. But I never answer red or purple or pink. Never. In fact there were a couple of years during my adolescence when I absolutely hated the color pink. Now I like the color pink, a very soft pink. But again, it would never hit top billing as my favorite color.

So maybe that explains something about me. Or at least the type of babies I help create. If subtlety isn't your thing let me just spill the beans for you- we are having a boy! Yup, another boy. Don't get me wrong. I love boys. I'm looking forward to having another rambunctious male bouncing off the walls one second and hugging my leg and saying "I love you Momma" the next. And if you were one of the brave people who asked me to predict what gender child I am having, I probably said, "I don't know. As long as the baby is healthy. But I'm pretty sure I'm having another boy." Jason thinks all of the gender prediction stuff, including mother's intuition, is some sort of hocus pocus. He scoffed at my prediction. Although truth be told, my prediction was based solely on my prior experience. But I am excited about a boy. Yes, I am. I can't wait to meet this little man.

But I am a teeny, tiny bit sad. My heart desires to buy pink dresses, darling hair clips, dolls and adorable little shoes. And tea sets and doll houses. And patterned tights and little wool coats. Sigh. I have dreams of taking my daughter to tea, something I do with my mom and sister. And dreams of planning her wedding and guiding her through pregnany and motherhood. But Jason wants to stop at two. And I admitted to him somewhere around Week 9 of my gagging-nausea-barfing existence that I didn't think I could do this ever again. So I will be more than happy with my two little gentlemen savages. But somewhere I will be missing pink. Even if it's not my favorite color.

P.S. So based on some emails I've received after this post, I feel the need to make a re-statement. I am thrilled and overjoyed about having another little boy. I am looking forward to seeing Finn and his little brother playing and laughing and becoming best friends. Finn has even learned to say "baby brother." It's pretty dang cute and sounds like "baby bruddah." The only one to be bummed out is the girl clothing and accessories retail industry as they lost a potential big spender.

P.S.S. We had our ultrasound yesterday and everything looks good. It was a pretty high tech ultrasound and we were able to see the individual chambers of the heart beating, both sides of the brain, stomach, and of course, a little baby hand held up to his little baby cheek (ohhh) and a couple of cute little kicking feet.