C.J.: Fox 9 anchor Kelcey Carlson is pregnant, which means maternity leave fill-in work for Amy Hockert

Fox 9 anchor Kelcey Carlson is expecting a baby.

"The due date is the end of May-June. You could call it an oops," the mother of boys, 3 and 8, said with a laugh.

"We just arrived here a year ago [from North Carolina]. New job and everything. I'm still dealing with a bit of a shock. I'll be six months next week and I still think, 'Oh, my gosh, am I really pregnant?' I was telling my hairdresser about it. I feel like a teenager: 'Is this really happening?' " said Carlson, who has a husband. "As Mim [Fox 9 news director Marian Davey] likes to say, she gets a Gopher out of it.

"With my other two kids, I actually went to work the day I went into labor. One kid came right around the due date and the second baby came almost two weeks early, so who knows when I'll deliver. I've had a healthy pregnancy so far. I still run, jog. I was able to run with my boys until the very end of the pregnancies. I'll run as long as it feels good and if it doesn't, then I'll quit and I'll just swim or something.

"I decided today that being pregnant is like being in a mascot's outfit. You feel sort of goofy and everybody wants to touch your midsection," she said.

Carlson is waiting until the birth to find out the baby's sex. Congrats!

Amy Hockert, formerly of KARE 11, should get lots of anchor desk time when she joins Fox 9 next month because, I'm guessing, she'll fill in when main anchor Kelcey Carlson goes on maternity leave.

Fox 9 announced Tuesday that Hockert is making her return to Twin Cities television as a special projects reporter and anchor. Hockert left a weekend anchor post at KARE 11 in 2008, after a period of commuting between here and D.C. to be with her husband, who was at that time a State Department employee. She has since kept her hand in the local news game by being chief content officer at Bringmethenews.com, a Minnesota news aggregator, founded by her pal, former KARE 11 anchor Rick Kupchella.

Hiring Hockert was probably a no-brainer because she's a good anchor and has high name recognition — as proven by about 500 Fox 9 Facebook followers expressing approval in about an hour.

Jordana Green played the role of doting fiancée to Aviv 613 Vodka founder and CEO Marc Grossfield when he appeared Wednesday on Fox 9.

Off camera, Green was bouncing around like a TV floor director, while taking photos for social media and giving Grossfield instructions with hand signals instead of words.

"I was the doting fiancée who happens to have a background in TV," laughed Green, when asked her to describe what she was doing. A former anchor at this TV station, Green is now host of a show on WCCO-AM from 9-11 p.m. weeknights.

Green wasn't the only one telling Grossfield what to do. "He has a team, his PR people and his personal media people, so they all want input. So they are all texting me, 'Remember this, remember that,' " she said. "I just wanted him to make the drink, while he was talking [to Fox morning anchor Tom Halden]," she said.

Grossfield took the instruction calmly as he prepared drinks created for Super Bowl fans of the Patri-cheats and Seahawks. He said Israel-made Aviv 613 Vodka gets its sweet finish from a blend of wheat, barley, olives, figs, dates, grapes and pomegranates.

It's practically an antioxidant! Green thought that was funny. Asked if the vodka will be served at their wedding in about a year, she said, "It'd better!"

My pals at Leather Works Minnesota are excited about Jennifer Hudson's Super Bowl commercial for American Family Insurance.

Late last year American Family sent a camera crew to the St. Paul-based, family-run leather studio operated by Kent and Lee Begnaud and their son Nathan O'Malley. (The video editor had to edit out special background noises provided by their dog, Reggie, who didn't appreciate being excluded from the shoot.)

"It looks as though the Jennifer Hudson commercial for American Family, about helping others dream fearlessly, will direct viewers to dreamfearlessly.com," said Lee. The Begnauds' story is featured on the website. An American flag that hangs on the wall at Leather Works is the opening shot in the "Dreams Start Here" video at dreamfearlessly.com. American Family is currently running a series of dream-themed TV commercials featuring Seahawks QB Russell Wilson.

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Buzz."