Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Baseball, Haircut, and a Baby

If I had to rank the people and things in my life that I love it might go something like this:

1. Family (Baby, Husband, etc..)
2. Baseball

That's right. I love baseball. More specifically, I love the C.ubs, but any baseball will do. Although I grew up in Texas my childhood was greatly influenced by my Iowan father's Midwestern sensibility and love for baseball. My memories of visiting Iowa as a child have a soundtrack of Harry Caray's voice and a television that was always playing a baseball game. Usually, it was a Cubs game. So, I suppose it is my sentimental side that is drawn to baseball, but it is a game that I love in its own right. There is just something about it.

The last three weeks before Luke was born I was on bed rest. I tried to be nonchalant about it all, but it was a little scary: low amniotic fluid, high blood pressure, weekly non-stress tests, a night in the hospital. I didn't really know what was going to happen and so my practical Midwestern side started thinking of things I needed to tell my husband, just in case. We spoke, of course, about the "what ifs" and for a moment I wondered if I should require that the baby become a Cubs fan. I settled for instructions that he become a baseball fan because I knew what his response would be if I brought up the C.ubs:

Why should I set him up for a lifetime of disappointment?

We haven't decided how we will raise him, in the baseball sense, but I hope he will follow me. There has been a lot of pain, I'll admit, but there is something to be said about the eternal optimism that goes along with it. On Sunday we headed to M.inute M.aid Park to see the A.stros (Lastros) take on the C.ubs. We did not take Luke, but his first game will be in September when the C.ubs come back to Houston.


It was a wonderful game (C.ubs 9-0) and, to make things better, we sat in club level seats with an excellent view of my favorite TV announcers, WGN's Bob and Len! Years of the C.ubs suckitude have made them both very good color commentators. I always enjoy hearing them call a game, no matter what the score is:

A few of you asked to see the new haircut. I asked my husband to take a quick picture, which turned into a little more of a photo shoot than I intended, so it's not a very candid shot. In weight loss news, I have lost 9 lbs so far and am very happy with WW. It seems to be working very well!

I am going to leave you with a picture that M took this weekend after Luke had his first swim. My dad was drying him off with a towel when he gave us one of his great smiles.




31 comments:

seussgirl said...

Ooh, I love the haircut!
And the baby smile. :)

AwkwardMoments said...

Look at you pretty girl!

Love baby smiles

Arian said...

He is such a cutie! Your hair cut looks great too!

My family has always been big on baseball too. I love Sunday afternoons with the game going in the background as we all sit around and chit chat. Good times are always had with a baseball game on!

Anonymous said...

i am an obsessed red sox fan.. any children we are blessed with will hopefully fall to my brainwashing. hehe.. i'm sure the cubs will have their year soon.. it's gotta happen!

ICLW :)

Echloe said...

Nice hair cut. I hope your baby follows in your footsteps. It is always great to cheer for the same team as your family. We are a red sox family and my little niece was calling the yankies the stankies when she was 2 or 3. We all loved it.

ICLW

Anonymous said...

You look great! And congrats on the 9#! I've been on WW for about 5 months and have hovering right around the 9-12# range. Here from ICLW!

Carrie27 said...

Not a Cubs fan. I say make him a Sox fan. LOL! Our house is divided here. My husband is a die hard Cubs fan and I'm a White Sox fan. LOL!

Kim said...

Luke is a cuite! My hubby is a football fan - NY Giants and we live in Eagles Territory but anyway, my two oldest boys love all that their Dad loves! They worship the Giants even when their friends and Philly fans! I think it is normal for kids to take on what their parents like - well when they are young anyway. Hubby hopes there are enough years of brain washing that they will still be fans as they get older! ICLW

Erin said...

Oh - he is so cute!!! I see no problem with mandating that he is a fan of your team. I love that it crossed your mind!

I'm a huge baseball fan, too and can't wait for the time when the babies actually care about the games. For now we'll just cute them up and hope we get on tv. Have fun at his first game!

love the haircut.

edie & ella said...

Hi -- found you on ICLW......
Luke is adorable and close to the same age as my twin girls. Don't you love the Bumbo seats? They are a life saver for me with 2 to handle. And the shots..... I could throw up just thinking about them. Dreadful.

edie & ella said...

oh yeah == forgot to mention that I too have been doing WW and love it. I have to go to the meetings though because I have always cheated before when I did it online with no official weigh in.... I have lost 11 pounds so far. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Love the baby pic (and the haircut pic is pretty good too!).

The Broken Man

http://theblogofabrokenman.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I guess we are going to be rivals now! LOL! I LOVE the Cardinals and whenever I am home all my family does is complain about the Cubs, that is too ironic that you like them!

I root for the Cardinals and Tom roots for the Astros so I don't know which team are child will root for when she is old enough but I did go out and buy her a Cardinals onesie so I am trying to sway her to the good side! Ha!

The haircut is SUPER cute!

Anonymous said...

Oh and we live in Phillies land so I don't know why my husband picked Astros, very random.

Just Me. said...

Awwww.....what a cute baby!

And the haircut's awesome!

Here from ICLW.

bb said...

I love your haircut!!!

(Visiting for ICLW0

Andi said...

Wow...Luke is adorable. I wonder what he will look like with more hair.

JW Moxie said...

I love your haircut! The bob definitely fits your face!

Your son is such a cutie!

Unknown said...

Thanks for stopping by! I'm looking forward to reading more of your stuff even though you're a Cubs fan! ;)

Your little guy is a cutie and I don't know what your hair looked like before but I like your haircut!

Congrats on the weight loss...keep up the GREAT work!

SassyCupcakes said...

Love the hair cut! And that last photo is just precious.

momofonefornow said...

Hi from ICLW,

Your little guy has an adorable smile!

Katie said...

Just returning your comment. Your new hair cut looks fabulous. I think your attitude to which baseball team to support is similar to deciding wether to bring a child up here supporting England cricket team! A lifetime of disappointment beckons!

Kate said...

You look lovely. And your sweet little pea--also lovely, so happy to hang out with Grandpa. Go Cubs!

Anonymous said...

OmG, I LOVE the Cubs, I was raised on them and even though I now live in Yankee's country, I will not give up my allegiance! ICLW

Anonymous said...

I have been living with a Cubs fan for a year. His brainwashing is really ramping up this year, as he's taking me to Milwaukee next week, Cincinnati, and St. Louis in the coming months.

I'm sure our children will be raised Cub fans as well.

tripmom827 said...

Thanks for visiting my blog. I love your haircut...it is so cute, as is your baby. Just wait until Luke plays baseball! I went from semi-fan to fanatic lunatic :)

Anonymous said...

Baseball is just one of those things that once it is in you, it stays. For me, it never got "in" me (like most of the boys I dated - poor saps) so I can't say I share or understand your love for baseball or the C.ubs. But, I can totally get that you want Luke to follow in your footsteps. But, he might just decide he wants to get under his Mommy's skin and root for the Yankees! LOL. Your haircut is adorable. And the baby's smile is even more adorable!

(ICLW visitor)

LBluca77 said...

WW is amazing, good luck.

And P.S. I heart the Red Sox!

Unknown said...

Hi there! I'm just popping in from Matt's blog to say hi; I'm a HUGE Cubbie fan; and I love your haircut. :-)

Piccinigirl said...

love the pics, the haircut is so pretty and Luke's smile...wow!!!

(too bad he's not a Mets fan!!)

Sean Dahl said...

Forgive my intrusion into your blog comments, but I stumbled across your blog from another Kate (The Siegel Files), and I just wanted to report that I am a big proponent of the "a-cut" hairstyle. And yours rocks!