You know you're 7 months pregnant when ...

• when your calves, ankles and feet swell to form one big "cankle"
• when your "inn-ie" becomes and "out-ie" and the secret birthmark that was hiding inside the cave of your belly button appears on the outside of your belly
• when your favorite pair of rubber slippahs become just about the only pair shoes that you can wear comfortably
• when you can no longer remember a night when you didn't have to get up to pee at least 4 times
• and finally ... when a task that requires you to alphabetize a stack of name cards nearly brings you to tears because you can no longer remember if the letter O comes before the letter P or vice versa

Rob was wrong ...

Daddy Smong surmised that it's a good thing that we are having a little boy, because if we had a girl ... he thinks that Mommy Smong would steal all of her Hello Kitty toys and lunch containers ... and the poor little baby would have nothing to use or play with.

Sigh ... I think he has underestimated me ...


I'm planning on stealing Cletus' lunch containers and toys too !!!

Check out the cool stackable snackie-lunch container that my friend Marissa gave **US** as a gift : )

I loooooove snacks !!! I am sooooo all about putting together small quantities of little things to form a meal. Tapas ROCK !!! I looove this packing system : ) I can't wait to fill it ... Mahalo Marissa !!!

P.S. The next time you are in San Diego, check out our favorite tapas bar - Cafe Sevilla

And they're off ...

The crib is here ... the rocker/glider is due to arrive any day now ... and the Smongs have FINALLY decided to put down roots and set up the nursery in their apartment here in Santa Clara. Cletus will NOT have to sleep in a cardboard box. Yippee !!!

As most of you already know the Smongs have been knee deep in negotiations to buy what would have been their first home. Long story short ... the condo was a short sale and subject to not only the seller's but the both of their lien holders' bank approval. Our real estate agent once quoted us a 4-8 week time line to close on short sale aka "soon to go into foreclosure" type properties but we frankly didn't believe him. Two months into the process ... (and 1 month past our own drop dead date for building the nursery) we realize the errors of our ways.

While everyone tells us that the home would be ours if we just waited a liiiiiittle bit longer ... the days have drawn into weeks ... the weeks have drawn into months ... and Mrs. Smong is going hormonally crazy and antsy that her baby's stuff is sitting in the corner collecting dust. Since no one, especially Uncle Rob, wants to be around a super nasty-antsy pregnant woman ... we have postponed the home buying process and submerged ourselves knee deep into Project-Build-Me-A-Friggin-Nursery-2008.

Mrs. Smong is happy ... (and a little sad that her cute little condo on Winepol Loop will need to find a new family to love him) but we know what our priorities are. Bye bye little condo. We love your Hello Kitty pink walls and attached 2 car garage but alas ... you were not meant to be. Stay tuned for nursery pictures soon !!!

Cletus at week 29

It's week 29 and Cletus' school pictures are back to giving off that alien from X-Files vibe again. This picture is a head shot of Cletus' face and in particular, the lens of his right eye. Beth, our ultrasound tech, seemed really happy that she was able to capture a shot like this so I guess I should be glad that she got it for the doctor's files, but ... part of me had to admit that I'm a little creeped out thinking that my baby looks so alien-esque. Picture #2 is better ...

In this picture you are shown a side profile of the baby's head, jaw bones and teeth. I am fairly certain that the baby won't be born with teeth that have already popped out of his gums but apparently they are there.

Here's an interesting fact that we don't have in picture form ... Cletus has hair. Beth was able to point out on her screen, the area of Cletus' head where there were little spikey things protruding out from the back of the head. I had no idea that you could see things as fine as hair, via an ultrasound picture so this was a good meeting for us. Daddy was present for this ultra sound and it was his first time hearing the baby's heart beat.

We are progressing nicely and the baby is right on target for his height/weight class. The baby is in the 46th percentile this week (it's a drop in metrics compared to where he was at during the last ultrasound but it's a still a good height/weight for a baby being born to a diabetic Mommy. The doctors don't want the baby to be too big when he's ready to pop.)

Stay tuned for more info in 3 weeks.

XOXOXO,
Cletus Your Fetus

Best Week Ever

It's week 27 and Daddy finally got to feel Cletus kick!! Baby Smong was super active this morning and his legs made really good contact with Mommy's belly. Daddy felt the baby kick 3 times ...

What a a great day!!!

Story of the day ...

I wore my backpack as Rob and I walked into Stanford today. Noting how nice it was to be hands-free, without a purse, I said to Rob ...

"I think I might want to get a second diaper bag that is in back-pack form. On days when I don't want to haul around the stroller, I can strap on the back pack and not have to worry about carrying or pushing anything."

Feeling quite proud of my ingenuity, I look over to Rob only to have him say with a smirk

"so if you don't wanna carry anything ... how is the baby gonna get around?"

yeah ... that's sooooo not my problem ...

Cletus has hit his 6 month milestone

Cletus ... aka Baby Boy Smith weighs in at 1 pound, 12 ounces and is approximately 13.5 inches long. Cletus is presently in the 62% percentile for his height/weight class which is good, as Mommy has diabetes and the doctors really don't want him to get too big before his big day arrives.

The baby's 6 month ultrasound pictures are a little grainy however, the ultrasound tech and Dr. Clawson were pleased with his growth progress and what they saw during the ultrasound session. Mommy Smong has been advised that she carries very low and that Cletus is already positioned head down. At this stage, Cletus still has a fond attachment for Mommy's bladder and likes to sit right on top of it at all times.

As the ultrasound tech was viewing Cleet in Mommy's belly, we got to see him climb the walls of Mommy's uterus, using only his feet. Mommy and Aunty Diane's sides of the family all have super human strength in their toes. I wonder if this means that Cletus will fall in our footsteps? Only time will tell ... 3 more months to go !!!!

Why I love my husband ...

Rob is a loyal fan ... tried and true.

Around 3:30am I got up to make our unborn baby-boy Cletus a midnight snack ... my belly was growling and somehow I sensed that my glucose levels were low. Suffice it to say the house was pretty cold (Californians don't turn their heaters on in the middle of May) so my footsies got super cold as I tooled around the kitchen making my snack. When I finally got back to bed my feet felt like ice and I had no choice but to use Rob's body warmth as my toe-jam heater. Knowing that Rob has a "thing" about feet ... I decided to own up to my sneak attack when he awoke this morning. Our conversation when something like this:

Chrissi (in a cheerful tone): "Oh hey honey, when you take a shower ... you might want to scrub your left leg a litttttle extra good this morning ... giggling under her breath"

Rob (questioning my logic): "Whyyyyy do I have to scrub extra hard this morning??"

Chrissi (still cheerful): "Ohhh well ... do you happen to remember me getting up to have a snack last night? Well ... it took a while for me to make the snack and my feet got super cold from the kitchen linoleum and when I got back to bed ... welllllll I kinda had to use your leg as a space heater to warm up my feet. Thanks for the help !!!!"

Rob (still groggy, some what pissy): "So you made me your ton-ton"

Chrissi: "ton-ton?? what's a ton-ton?"

Rob: "a ton-ton ... you know from the Empire Strikes Back ... its the wooly thing that Han Solo and Luke used to keep Luke warm when they got caught out in the snow drift"

Chrissi: "Ohh ok ... so a ton-ton is that big woolly mammoth-elephant like thing"

Rob: "Nooooo. A ton-ton is a cross between a camel and kangaroo. Han cut it open and shoved Luke inside to keep him warm."

Chrissi (slightly grossed out): "So they killed the ton-ton????? So Luke came out of the ton-ton all bloody???? He got shoved INSIDE to get warm (and bloody) ... while Han stayed OUTSIDE and got all cold?????"

Rob (huffy and letting out a BIG ole sigh): "Noooooo ... ghod !!! They don't show him coming out all bloody. The ton-ton was already dead. Han-Solo HAD to cut open the ton-ton open and shove Luke inside to keep him warm. He had just got done meeting the ice monster!!!

Yeah ... it was at this point, when Rob was looking at me all accusatory and carrying a tone of "god woman don't you know anything about ton-tons?" that I bust out laughing and totally lost it. Welcome to my world. (And to think ... most of you out there are of the opinion that it's Rob that has to put up with soooo much in this relationship ...)

Update from Cletus the Fetus - Week 24

BabyCenter is Mommy's favorite baby information website. The baby books that everyone recommends are helpful but Mommy likes to use this site to explain all of the crazy changes that are happening to me and her body. She has got the dark line on her belly ... her fingernails are growing crazy fast and crazy long ... her feet have started to swell ... etc. etc.

Long story short the BabyCenter site is good because it gives a weekly pictorial view of what my body size is like. When I started out I was the size of black-eyed-pea. At week 12, I was the size of a lime. At week 16, I was the size of an avocado. And now, at week 24 ... I am the size of Mommy's favorite food !!! Apparently they sell this Halloween costume at K-Marts in the midwest. Mommy tried to buy it for me online but she couldn't find it ... bummer !!!!!

I wonder if one of my wonderful grandmas will make it for me. (Looks kinda complicated but I know the both of my grams have sewing talents !!!) Maybe Aunty Carolyn will knit one for me and one for Matteo. Ohhh that would be so awesome !!

Daddy and his son ...

As Daddy Smong was talking to the baby (aka "my belly") last night, he proceeded to rattle off a few father and son activities that he would like to do with Cletus. The baby was quite active (he's awake at night and sleeps during the day -- gag) ... so Rob asked him what sports he would like to play first.

Do you want to play soccer Cletus?? -- no response from baby
What about hockey?? -- again no response
Basketball?? Baseball?? Football?? Bowling?? Cricket?? -- silence, complete lack of movement

Well. what about Darts?? -- kick thump kick !!! Instant movement as soon as the word "darts" was said.

Sigh ... something tells me this is not going to be an easy ride ...