Another Reason to Love Tim McGraw

McGraw was singing "Indian Outlaw" in Auburn, Wash., when he noticed a large man causing a ruckus in the front row, allegedly striking a woman. McGraw said, "Get rid of this guy! Security!" and then stooped down and dragged the man onstage, where security guards took him away.

At one point, the man and McGraw seemed ready to get into a full-fledged fracas, with McGraw cocking his fist back as if to throw a punch. "While Tim was performing at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, Washington, last night, he watched a man rush to the front of the stage," McGraw's rep told PEOPLE. "This overly aggressive fan attacked a female fan and Tim witnessed this incident.

Tim called for security, but when they could not respond quick enough, Tim and several crew members removed the fan from the audience where he was then turned over to the local authorities."

When Life Gives You Lemons...

... you are 14 weeks into your pregnancy!

I am officially out of the first trimester, but I have to say that I am still sleepy and am often nauseous at night. So, my symptoms, although mild compared to most, didn't leave me like I had hoped they would.

I don't see the doctor again until late next week, so no new developments on the medical front. I still have not gained any weight, but do enjoy eating. I still mainly crave fresh fruit and salads. I sent my new maternity pants to the alteration store to be hemmed, so I'll be wearing them very soon. I wore an old dress today and three people complimented me on my "maternity" dress, a sign that I must look pregnant. I'll take that over looking fat anyday!

I have gotten a lot of questions on gender and names. We will find out as soon as we can which is likely in mid-August when we return from Colorado. I have every intention of spending the day buying pink or blue things and registering! Our boy name is set- William Noble Jenkins. We would call him Noble, it is Marcus' Mom's maiden name. Now, don't go calling our creditors to try and hack into our finances! Girls names are all over the place- let me rephrase, I have lots of girl names running around and Marcus is still pretty set on Amelia "Millie" Grace. We'll see!

from Baby Center: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

You Can Count on the USPS

Look at this burnt piece of mail my office received today!








Inside the clear plastic bag is a note that the vehicle with our mail in it was in an accident and it caught on fire! They still took the time to get our mail out of the vehicle and delivered it to us. Wow!

Party Central

While Marcus played golf on Saturday, I spent the day party hopping! I did 2 baby showers (sorry, I forgot to pull out my camera) and then was off to Cohen's 3 1/2 year old party. Since he is a Christmas baby, we are now celebrating his 1/2 birthday with parties!

Here he is giving me a big cheese before I left. I'd like to know how a little guy can be so tan this early in summer!






While Cohen bounced around with his friends, Kyleigh and her cousin Addy enjoyed the slip and slide. They had fun getting super wet and then hugging the dry adults. BTW, the slip and slide has really improved since the days of the yellow single lane with a water hose. It had a pool like ending, cushioned bumpers and water squirted via small holes along the entire route of the 3 lane slide. Fancy!


Sunday night, we celebrated the 4th party of our weekend with Kay's belated birthday. We had the gang over for dinner last night and enjoyed catching up.

A good walked spoiled...

Saturday I had the opportunity to play at one of the best courses in Austin (and one of the most exclusive!!)..the UT golf club.

Our friend David invited Mo and Mitch to play, and thank heavens they needed a fourth! I got to tag along and drag my clubs with me.

I am by NO means a good golfer...but I do think I am good enough to play some...but this course was HARD. They are ramping up for being a course for the NCAA 2009 regionals...so they are doing everything to make the course hard enough for them....and try to keep it easy enough for the members!

Aside from an hour delay for rain (which did NOT affect the lawns of Leander) the day was well spent. But my ego could only take so much abuse by a little white ball, and green grass!

Lots of fun, and I'm so glad to get to do it!

Marcus

Another Reason to Love the Chick

I love Chick-fil-a! Who doesn't? They have the best sweet tea, awesome lemonade, healthy options and they are closed on Sundays to respect family and church time.

When the fruit cup came out, I loved them even more. Then, they added those sweet melt-in-your-mouth mints to their condiments. Until then, I only ate those mints at baby showers.

Today at lunch, I was given another reason to love them- their side salad. Being pregnant, I crave salads. I think it is part mental- I know I need to eat more vegetables and part heat related. The thought of warm french fries when it is 100 degrees outside makes me sick. I normally eat the chick with a fruit cup instead of fries, but since I already had fresh cantaloupe ready to go, I opted for the side salad. I have had a salad many places in the last 3 months and am always disappointed that the picture on the menu doesn't match the salad. Who gets the green lettuce at Wendy's? No matter what I order, I get the white part!

My salad today (for just 55 cents more than fries) was a perfect match to the picture! It had iceberg and Romaine lettuce, purple cabbage, broccoli, shredded carrots, cheese and tomatoes. Plus, it came with a little packet of croutons and sunflower kernels. For 55 cents more!

I highly recommend you go for the side salad next time the cows convince you to eat more chicken! Yummy!

Little Miss Syerra

Last night Marcus and I went to Chuck E. Cheese with some friends from church including Marcus' little buddy Syerra. This little girl has more personality in her pinky toe than most kids her age and has taken a liking to Mr. Marcus (also sometimes called Big James, although we don't know why!).

As you can imagine, my dear sweet husband just adores this child. He sits with her at lunches, juggles for her, carries her around on his back, upside down or even helps her fly!

Syerra may be moving soon, so we had a fun night out with her and the giant rat- Mr. Cheese. Another child was celebrating their birthday and Syerra took the opportunity (not shy at all) to go up on stage with the children celebrating their birthday and dance and sing along with Chuck. She held his hand the whole time.

It was a fun fun night with a super little girl!

aloha!

Today was the start of the 2008 Vacation Bible School for the kiddos...and my third appearance as Mr. Marcus the Juggler to welcome everyone as they showed up in the mornings. I'll be juggling for them every morning this week!

Starts your day in a different light when you have a bunch of lil kids run to you all excited to see you..

Three years....haven't hit a kid yet ! (knocks on wood)

Marcus

Update on Baby Will

When I saw my Goddess Girl Billye a few weeks ago I asked about our superstar Will, who was born with hand and feet differences and inspired our GG marathon race in December.

She put me back in touch with his family and they sent me access to his blog. I wanted to share a recent photo with him as I know many of you were touched by his story and sent prayers up on his behalf.

He is now 9 months old and is already accomplishing great things physically. The many photos Katie posts shows that he is a fun baby- he smiles, laughs, and is well loved. He has had some surgeries and attends physical and occupational therapy to give him the tools to do everyday things differently. They seem to all be doing their job. What an inspriation to us all!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father Day Dad! I love you and am proud to be your daughter. You have taught me so much and always supported me, well except when I changed my name from Deanna to Anna.






For the first time this year, I also get to honor Marcus for the father he will be.... a pretty cool one!

Bad, Good and Really Bad

Wow, Saturday was a long day with twists and turns....


We left the house early to grab breakfast tacos and then drive to Centerpoint, Texas, for my family reunion. When we pulled out of the breakfast stop, we heard the most awful sound coming from my car and noticed the people near us walking our way. What in the world?


What we found was that my car had been too low for the curb that we had rested upon when parking. When we backed out, my BUMPER CAME OFF! Are you kidding me? Each side of my bumper is held by a plastic screw! The bumper didn't back up when we did and the plastic ripped! Nice.

So, we turned around, went home, unpacked and repacked the truck and left 45 minutes late. I'm sure we'll arrive in time for lunch, right? Our luck, we'll walk in the front door during the lunch blessing. Yep, we sure did!


This where the day gets good. My family reunion is an annual staple. It is my father's mother's siblings and all of their children that attend. There was well over 100 people there. My grandmother alone had 8 children.

We bar-b-que, hold an auction (read garage sale), visit, play games, reminisce, etc. In many ways, it is like something out of a Jeff Foxworthy comedy skit. Good hard-working people, good food, and lots of trucks!





My step-mom's mother, Midge, joined us this year and found the food to be spoon lickin' good!

You always get a helping of the pasta salad, jello salad, potato salad and then the desserts! Oh, the desserts! Midge learned about Mary's Seminary Pudding. It is always gone first! She was able to get the serving spoon portion before the dishes were washed!






After lunch, my cousin Kristi, Susan and I jumped in Kristi's car to go to Camp Verde General Store. It was the neatest little oasis in the middle of ranch land. I found a new favorite and cheap place to buy crosses!




They also had a big candy room. Look at all of the classics! I bought Marcus Pop Rocks and me some Chiclets.







Some of my family that I had not seen in 14 years came in from Louisiana. They had all rented a house in Bandera, so once the reunion was over, we went out to their house. And, like true rednecks, a front yard washer tournament ensued!







My step-mom Jacque and I were declared champions early and were defeated on our 3rd round. I had no idea washers could be so fun!

This is where the day gets really bad! First off, we lost track of time and forgot to call our friends Bill and Kay and let them know we could not make her birthday party. It wasn't until they called us with a group waiting to check if we were close. We are so sorry and hope to see you soon for dinner. Please forgive us!

After visiting for much longer than intended, we headed out. I had a migraine coming on, we were both sunburned and tired. It was after 9:00 and we had a 2 1/2 hour drive ahead of us. We drove into Bandera and grabbed Sonic. I wanted a cold sweet tea and needed to eat- it had been way too long. We left Sonic and went to a gas station for Tylenol for my head. They had none, so off to Super S Foods we went. Once I got the Tylenol, I discovered Sonic had given me cold sweet tea from DAYS AGO. It tasted awful. We went back to Sonic and I exchanged it for another drink. Okay, off we go.

I took my 2 Tylenol and obviously hadn't eaten enough because I felt ill very quickly. Luckily my Sonic bag with my chicken was nearby because I threw up in it 3 times! Poor Marcus pulled over and wiped my face for me. I felt pitiful. I have a migraine, I am sunburned, tired and now I am throwing up. Please God, let this get better.

I sipped water and we proceeded on. I felt sick again and grabbed the Sonic bag which had now begun to leak on my pants.... notice my pants from the day, yep, they were white! We made the decision to stop and San Antonio and get a hotel room. This was never part of the plan, so we had no clothes, toiletries, nothing. Yes, I have thrown up and have no toothbrush! I was dying. I wanted to not be in a moving car, to take off my pants with puke stains and to sleep off my headache. I also wanted a toilet nearby in case this got worse.

We pulled into San Antonio and the first two hotels were sold out. Really, Comfort Inn is a big hit on 1604? Our third option, Residence Inn, had a clean room for us. Marcus got me a bottled water and some PB & crackers and I was able to keep them down before dozing off to sleep.

I have thrown up 4 times in my life (Marcus has cared for me on 3 of those occasions) and am so grateful that my pregnancy has not been filled with that kind of morning sickness. It is the most helpless feeling in the world. I am happy we are home now, my white pants and in the washing machines and my husband is the dear sweet man he is.

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Friday night was a great night to enjoy a baseball game!

We celebrated Daniel's 30th birthday with his wife Brandi and numerous of their friends. The burgers, cold lemonade and sunflower seeds were a great complement to the night!




Daniel is a St. Louis Cardinals fan, so we were in the minority cheering for their minor league team, the Redbirds. The Redbrids ending up taking the game, 9-7. It was nice to watch a game with some scoring. The 1-0 final score games just aren't as exciting!

Happy Birthday Daniel!

Favorite New Blogs

I should be working on budgets, but oh how catching up on blogs entices me! I have two new favorite blogs to read and I wanted to share it with everyone- check out Blue Yonder and Bring the Rain.

I found Blue Yonder from my cousin Kristi. We are VERY alike in our tastes so I read about her bloggy friend and love her! She is by far the most creative mother I have ever come across. For example, she home schools her children and to make letters interesting instead of writing them on paper, they finger trace them in vanilla coffee creamer. How smart is she! She also gives great pictures of pies and does a wonderful job of story telling and taking interesting photos of her children. Check out her chicken, uh I mean rooster, problems!

I discovered Bring the Rain through a random celebrity page. It is written by Angie Smith who is the wife of Selah band member Todd Smith. She recently lost a child and writes about the experience and her faith with such honesty and emotion. Just reading her blog makes me a better Christian. Warning, you may laugh and cry at the same time when you read her blog, but it is all worth it. She recently challenged her daughters to donate some toys to charity and they challenged her to give her favorite Coach purse (named Coco) to charity. A funny story ensued!

I hope you all find these blogs as interesting as I. Now, on to budgets!

I like big hair, but...

this is ridiculous!

All of friends and my lovely hairdresser Alex know that I like big hair. My grilfriend Alison can back comb like nobody else and Erica can give her daughters the best big hair around, but seriously, Amy Winehouse takes big hair to a whole new level. Her hair might be taller than she is wide!

Speaking of hair, I have not colored my hair in months! I am happy to say that streak ends today! I have a 4:00 appointment for my blond stripes to come back! My doctor said it was perfectly fine and I could not be more excited. I need a little spunk!

We have a full weekend planned with a birthday baseball game tonight, a family reunion tomorrow and another party tomorrow night! Lots of pics of my new fabulous hair all over town to follow!

New Picture of the Baby

Today we saw the US technician to have genetic testing done. Everything in the pictures looked normal, we are awaiting blood work for confirmation. They were testing for chromosomal disorders, like Downs Syndrome.

In this picture, the baby's head is on the left and he/she is looking up. Click on the picture and you can go left to right and go across the nose, lips, chin, neck and then body. The heart beat was still high at 155.

The baby was waving, kicking and flipping inside me and I couldn't feel a thing. It was almost surreal to see it, know it and not feel it. It is kind of like God's presence in our lives. We know He is there, we can feel His love, but we can not see Him.

This picture was so sweet. While doing a flip, she captured just their little feet. Knowing our little buddy Will who we ran the marathon for last year, this picture means the world to me!

Week 12: Our Tangy Little Lime

I am so excited that we are at Week 12 and have a healthy little lime in our family. This week is considered a major mile marker for most people and while I know too many people who have lost their child after Week 12, I am excited to be past this marker.

Tomorrow we do our first set of genetic screening tests including Down's Syndrome and Cystic Fibrosis. I pray for positive results for all tests and the wisdom of the physicians to give us accurate results.

Enjoy a Cherry Limeade in honor of our little one this week!

from Baby Center:
The most dramatic development this week: Reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over two inches long and weighs half an ounce.

May I take your order?

Ahh...the Steak and Shake. Their motto says, "may I take your order?" and we decided to go see our only S&S that is in the Austin area.

What an experience......WHAT an experience. We went there with our friends Mo and Jess, and it was like watching a car wreck.....we couldnt turn away.

Rather than give a chronology of what went wrong...I would like to just sum up with some recommendations to fix what was wrong.

* Clean tables.....its a minor thing, but after a while....it really adds up.

* Seat customers. The entrance to your little resturant is very small. After the first 20 people, we are really stacked up in the doorway.

* MOVE. standing around instead of taking, orders, deliverying food, etc. Doesn't make them go away. IT MAKES THEM ANGRY (at least the people, not the food. Food gets cold.)

* Get some one competent at the register. Not the manager.

*Get a new manager.

*Clean tables. Need to point that one out again.

*encourage employees to iron their shirts.

The wait staff looked like something out of the movie "Waiting". So I didn't want to tick the staff off for fear of the spit content of my food.

Anyway....I think it will be a while before we return. As Anna pointed out, the manager was previously at Einstein bros. After successfully driving that place to the ground, he has expanded his expertise to the one and only S&S in Austin.

The food was really good...but if you go, bring a book and a snack to wait.

Marcus

Nana's Birthday

Today would have been my Nana's 100th birthday. She passed away a few years ago, but I couldn't help but honor her today.

To celebrate her 100th brithday, I'm quite certain she would have awoken early and had her Bible time before sunrise. Her well rounded breakfast would have included fresh cantaloupe from the tupperware dish that always housed fresh cantaloupe.

She then would have gotten ready for church. This undoubtedly would have involved a bright dress, knee highs and conservative pumps. Then, the jewelry. Nana would have worn earrings, necklaces, and always a brooch for the house of the Lord. Splash on a little Avon Skin So Soft and then await her ride to take her to church.

I'm quite certain her afternoon would have involved a healthy lunch, a craft project and a nap. Dinnertime might have included a TV evangelist on video or a visit from one of her many children, grand children or fully grown great grand children.

She was a Godly women who raised 8 children, many years without a husband due to an early death. I have no doubts she would be proud of the Christian I have become as I am proud to be from her.

Happy 100th Birthday Nana!

Summer Vacation Booked

Marcus and I decided we needed to take one more adult only vacation before the baby arrives. I am going to Denver in August for 10 days so we added a couple of days onto the trip to celebrate our 9th Anniversary in Colorado Springs.

I went there as a child and look forward to going back. We are thinking the Garden of the Gods, Air Force Academy, a nearby casino and one night in Denver to eat at a yummy Mexican food restaurant my KW friend Dawn and I enjoyed. I wonder if that street vendor will still have the orange "Prada" purse I let get away!

It should be nice to enjoy the cooler weather and escape the Texas heat for 2 weeks in August. If anyone has been to Colorado Springs recently, please send me suggestions. I like to eat well and shop much on vacation!

Salmonella in Texas

So it is all over the news that tomatoes here in Central Texas could have salmonella poisoning and stores like HEB have removed them from the shelves.

Imagine my shock when at Taco Bueno the other night, my Nacho Salad came with fresh little chopped tomatoes on the top. Imagine my double shock when I forgot about all I had read until AFTER I ate the whole batch. Both Marcus and I ate our meal and then I recalled tomatoes are bad.

We discreetly used Marcus' handy picture phone to snap a photo of us at Taco Bueno with the little bit left of my tomato salad on the table. If I get salmonella poisoning, I'll be talking to the ol' Bueno!

Carpal Tunnel

With all of the pregnant women around me, I was pretty sure I had heard it all. So, you can imagine my shock when at my appointment yesterday Dr. Neyman told me that my hands were falling asleep while I slept because of carpal tunnel syndrome which is common among pregant women. I had no idea!

Let me tell you, I now sport two super sexy wrist braces at night when I sleep! Apparently, the nerve that causes CTS is more likely to be affected during pregnancy because of it's relationship with other nerves, water retention and increased blood flow. It is so common that her office sells braces.

Let's hope I keep the braces on at night only and don't need them during the day time. Yikes!

Everything else with my appointment was natural and normal. The baby's heartbeat was super strong (160-170 on the dopplar), my lack of weight gain is good, and my iron count was high. Since iron in my PNV makes me sick I want to avoid anemia at all costs.

I go to the doctor again next week for a sonogram and blood work to test the baby for a multitude of genetic disorders and to see how Twin B is dissolving. I can't wait to see the baby's growth and to make sure Twin B is progressing as expected.

Someone finally listened!!!

You know, for many months, to anyone that would listen, I have complained about the Starbucks lids. I have gone so far as to stop going there once I got the new truck (coffee spills on my new leather.....no!!)

But I have seen in the parmer and 1431 Starbucks....they now make plastic stoppers that fit in the lil drink hole.

Which, by its existance....verifies there was a problem!!!

And as I research the issue on line...i find FORUMS against he Starbucks lids.

http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/NussbaumOnDesign/archives/2008/04/starbucks_gets.html
Now see, if I stopped listening to the naysayers that said I was crazy about hating the Starbucks lids, I could have INVENTED this.....

mmm kay.....yeah. I can now consider this issue closed. thank you lil stopper stick.


Marcus

HUGE Chicken Pot Pie

I should have placed my hand in this picture so you can see how large my chicken pot pie was at lunch on Monday.

I was in Houston visiting a hotel for the day and ordered the single serving Chicken Pot Pie at the Daily Grille in the Galleria Mall. It came out the size of a normal plate. Look at the spoon size for comparison. Iate about 1/2 of it and it was yummy!

Goddess Girl Weekend

This weekend was Goddess Girl weekend when my 5 college girlfriends and I get together for time to catch up, shop, and eat! We all graduated from Angelo State University and started getting together post-graduation in 1998. As tradition would have it, the pregnant Goddess gets to host. We started this when Billye was pregnant and we came to Midland to decorate her house for Christmas. It also works well when travel is limited.

Pictured left to right back to front is: Chandra, Billye, Alison, me, Danni and Katy. We spent most of Saturday at the RR outlet mall looking for the latest (okay, cheapest) fashion trends.

Chandra lives in Dripping Springs and we have been friends since elementary school. She is a wonderful teacher, supportive coach's wife, wise advice-giver and mother to 2 little girls.

Billye lives in Midland and was one of my roommates in college. She is an elementary school principal and mother to 2 little girls. I spent a weekend with her many years ago and attended church with her. Her SS class was so caring and loving with each other that I came home and told Marcus we had to find a church like that. I am grateful to Billye for encouraging me to find Great Hills.

Alison lives in San Antonio and looks fabulous for having 3 children under the age of 5! Her newest daughter is just 4 months old. Alison is super supportive of my new role as a pregnant woman and always always speaks of her role as a mother was a positive take. She inspires me to be the best Mom I can be!

Danni is our fun single Goddess who will go from basketball coach to counselor this year. We learn about the single life through her experiences. She is the "Samantha" of our group with a little more restraint! I love hearing about her life!

Finally, Katy, also a former roomie, is the main reason we get together. She is our glue and makes sure we all keep up with each other and don't let too much time pass between visits. She is a top saleswoman in her industry and a Mom to a little boy filled with personality!

Saturday night we sat at Cinemark and awaited the Sex and the City movie to begin. It was a fun weekend and a great movie!

These girls and I have been friends for 14 years. We have experienced marriages, babies, deaths and careers together. I am so proud to be a part of this group- we are strong educated women, loving spouses and mothers, caring members of our communities and churches and loyal to each other. We travel great distances and give up time with others to keep our friendship a priority in our life.

I look forward to the next weekend together!