My Mom and Her New Cause

My mother continually amazes me. She is old as they come (just kidding Mom...you are not old!!) but never ceases to amaze me. She has more energy than a teenager on speed! She has always been able to run circles around me and even as she grows older she continues to out run us all! She is now going to do the White Rock half marathon at 67 years old. I cannot tell you how proud I am of her...her will to not let life get her down and to keep on keeping on. This woman truly inspires me. She never gives up and she always comes out on top. She has hooked up with the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. So, she will be fundraising towards this charity in memory of my Aunt Frannie. She was a long time survivor of Hodgkin lymphoma, but the treatment for the cancer ended up taking her life this past month.

If you would like to donate towards Mom's endeavor go to the link below.

http://pages.teamintraining.org/ntx/Whiterck08/elangston

"Run, Ellie, Run!" Markus and I are cheering you on!

Fat Fingers

Something happened this week that made me laugh and burst out into tears. I spent the better half of my life wondering if I would ever be able to look down and see a wedding ring on my left hand. I had given up on the possibility....until I met Markus. August 19th of last year that mystery was solved and I finally had what most women crave for...an engagement ring!! Then a few months later I got the man of my dreams AND a wedding band to symbolize our union. I would stare at my hand in disbelief and I told myself it was NEVER coming off. I couldn't imagine why I would need to take it off?...unless it broke or something. Well, a few months after we got married I had to take it in to the jewelers because one of my little diamonds fell out of my wedding band. So, there went my vow. So after that happened, I said to myself again, "OK. That was it. I'm not taking it off again". Then I thought...well, unless I break my finger and it swells and they have to cut it off in the emergency room or my finger will go dead (this has happened to me before when I broke a finger. They literally had to cut my ring off.). So I thought...the odds of that happening twice in a lifetime is next to none. So I was relieved. Until this last week. Pregnancy has really been a wonderful experience, but being 7 months pregnant in this Texas heat has it's moments. So needless to say, I have swollen up like a big fat balloon. My poor feet and hands. I noticed the swelling in my hands, but it didn't hit me that my ring might cause a problem (once again, I was determined not to take the thing off!!). I am also having major arthritis in my hands due to the swelling and so my hands and arms are in a permanent state of numbness. This past week i woke up in the middle of the night with my usual pain and numbness, but my left ring finger felt dead...i looked down and it was starting to turn different colors than the rest of my hand. Uh oh! So, with much regret I had to go to the jewelers again and they had to CUT my WEDDING RING OFF!! So, I was laughing and crying. Laughing bc it was dad gum funny and crying bc well, seeing that beautiful ring be cut like that was just a sad moment. I hadn't even had it a year! But there is good news. I just assumed I would bring it in after the baby and have it fixed...but they are going to resize it up so I can wear it now and then I'll have to go in after I get my normal body back and size it back down. So at least I will be able to wear it and not look like an unwed mom-to-be!!!

Most Wanted List!

ok. So back to the name thing. We had no idea it would be this hard. Of course this is the first thing that anyone asks..."What's his name?" I mean who knew? I think I need to hold him...but then my fear is that we will leave the hospital with his name being Baby Boy Jabek and a month down the road he still won't have a name...haha! Well, hopefully that won't happen. Anyway, so due to the inability to make a decision or agree with Markus on a name we bought the book. 60,000 names. Are you kidding me? Way too overwhelming. But what we did do is go through the front of the book and they have these lists like 'World Leaders', 'Most likely to be a Movie Star', etc. etc. One list in particular caught our eye because my name (Mary Kay) made a list....but check out which one it made. Future Notorious Criminals none the less! Could not have laughed harder. I guess I am a bad girl after all!

Mary Frances "Frannie" Jimenez - You will be missed!

I just got back from California where I attended my precious Aunt Frannie's funeral. For those of you who know, she had been battling a long illness for the last 10 years or so. She had cancer around 30 years ago, but the radiation that was done on her basically is what eventually caused her death. It did keep her alive another 32 years, but what it did do is damage her heart. So for the last 10 years she has been struggling to stay alive...living on oxygen and confined to a wheel chair and her bed. Her fight is finally over, but her spirit is still strong and she will never be forgotten.

My Aunt Frannie was like my sister. I lived with her and my uncle and cousin when I lived in California and we became so very close. She has always been one of my biggest fans and cheerleaders (second to mom) and would have done anything for me. She wasn't able to come to my wedding and she never was able to meet Markus. The saddest thing for me is that she will not get to meet my son. I wanted her to be able to see me as a mother bc that is one thing that she did with all of her heart...she loved her son (my cousin Spencer) and I just hope that I can make her proud and love mine half as much as she loved him. Uhh, I'm gonna miss her. I hear her talking in my head all of the time. I wish she was still here but like I said at her funeral, she finally can walk and dance again.

I love you Aunt Frannie. Dance, Dance, Dance!

Mary Frances "Frannie" Jimenez
June 4, 1951 - July 8, 2008



Me and Aunt Frannie with her granddaughter Adriana



With my cousins (Spencer and Bob) at the funeral

30 weeks

We had our last sono (hopefully!) last week. He is getting HUGE!!! He's now 3lbs and 11oz. According to the average growth patterns...they are saying he's gonna be an 8.5 - 9lb baby! All I have to say is ... OUCH!! I have said all along that I am a few weeks further along than they think, so hopefully I am right and will go the beginning of Sept instead of the middle of Sept. But the great news is he is healthy and everything looks just perfect.

I am feeling huge at the moment. I am sooo swollen and this Texas heat ain't helping at all! I am starting to finally be really uncomfortable and kind of ready to get this show on the road. I want to be able to bend down and move around and not shake the walls when I walk!! haha! Some women (mainly tall ones) just look beautiful and sexy pregnant. I don't think us short women get that luxury to be honest. I look like the pillsbury dough boy...hahah! I am so short waisted that it just looks like this belly has completely taken over. oh well! It is sooooo worth it!

He is really an active little guy. I mean he's just all over the place. I think this has got to be the most amazing thing of pregnancy is feeling him inside...and knowing that he's where he needs to be for the time being. I love feeling him kick and roll around. It just gives me such a smile to know that he's growing and doing well. It's so hard to imagine or digest that in a few months he will be rolling around in my arms instead of my belly. I just can't wait!

Euro Cup 2008

Futbol, Futbol, Futbol (Soccer for those of you who don't know)....that is what is at our house for the entire month of June. Since the Euro Cup was in Austria this year, we were glued to the TV to hopefully get a glimpse of Markus's home. It was exciting and a turnout that we did not expect. I was betting on Portugal and me and baby boy wore my jersey proud. Austria didn't do too bad, but in the end neither of our teams advanced to the finals. Oh Well, we will wait 4 more years.