Oh, Boy! I was tagged by Tori! I LOVE being tagged! Guess that means I get to tag ya back one day, huh Tori? I’ll also have to find someone to tag, which I’ve never done. Hmmmm. Annika? I think you tagged me once. You’re it! And Sheryl? And maybe even Daisies?

2 things you compliment your husband on while in his presence:

1. His beautiful, strong, loving muscles.

2. His skill at making the most beautiful babies! (His reply: “Since you feel that way, let’s go make another.”) (My reply: “Let’s not. Let’s just pretend.”)

2 compliments you give about your husband to others:

1. His loving way as a father and a husband.

2. He is my very best friend, and I feel blessed to have such a special connection to him.

2 Traits you married him for:

1. His strength in character. With that I mean his kindness to all, his respect, his loyalty, his genuine love of family and life. I’ve not met many people who radiated heart and kindness like he does. He is the definition of goodness.

2. The comfort and unconditional love he gives me. I had longed for that for so, so long.

2 days you cherished most being together with your husband:

1. The days that our babies were born. They were such bonding and wonderful days. Both so different, but both ending with beautiful and wonderful new people to love.

2. Our trip to Jamaica in 2002 was so magical and bonding. We had an amazing time!

2 Material things you would give your husband if you inherited a fortune:

1. Plane tickets somewhere tropical.

2. A big spread of beautiful land and an 18-wheeler full of materials to build our dream home.

2 things you would miss most if he left for 2 weeks:

1. His playfulness and laughter.

2. The most perfect spoon every night.

2 things that crossed your mind the first time you met your future husband:

1. Wow. Look at that beautiful face! Man, the body that goes with the face is HOTT! (Dude, I was 20 years old, I didn’t have LOADS of depth yet.)

2. Hmmm, I bet he’d never look twice at me.

2 favorite dates:

1. Our week long Jamaica date, of course. Did I tell you it was AMAZING? Yep. Amazing.

2. We went to see Team America when I was about 6 months pregnant. We both laughed soooooo hard, I could hardly stand it. I was afraid I was going to put myself into labor because I couldn’t stop laughing. I laughed so hard I had tears most of the movie. It is actually sort of a rediculous movie, but it made for such great laughs that we ended up going again the next week.

2 funny, odd things you love about your husband:

1. He NEVER farts. NEVER. I don’t know what he does with air. Thank GOODNESS I’ll never find out.

2. I love the way he sleeps with his eyes partly open. I can watch his eyes rolling around. Noah does the same exact thing when he’s in his little milk coma, and I just love it.

2 places you have lived with your husband:

1. In a ratty trailer in Black Mountain, NC. Wood panelled walls, mustard colored bathrooms, nasty old carpet. Despite our rough start financially, we were always so close.

2. In our lovely home on the top of a Mesa. This home is beautiful because he made it that way with his own two hands. This is the first time we’ve owned a home, and it is a wonderful feeling to put your money into something that is yours.

2 favorite vacations:

1. Did I mention the Jamaica trip? Oh, yeah. Sorry…

2. Las Vegas, March 2004. Bella was conceived! The trip was supposed to help us heal as a couple from a miscarriage I had in February. Some of my miscarriages were harder to deal with emotionally and this was the one that BROKE our hearts. Maybe because I was so far along. Maybe because it was such a physically painful miscarriage. Anyhow, yep, I got pregnant again in March. Las Vegas has something good in the water, y’all. Besides making babies, we just had sooooo much fun! Las Vegas is a happening place!

We surely have figured out by now that I am sort of a strange bird. But I’m at peace with that. It’s lovely being different. Some examples of my strangeness? Well, I like to talk out loud to, and answer myself. Nothing wrong with being a conversationalist, right? I have important things to rant about and SOMEONE has to listen. When I pass gas, I like to blame it on the “barking spiders”. Also, I am always talking with accents. Terrible accents. I think my worst accent is Chinese, but my Irish accent is also pretty bad. 

Also? I collect blue glass. That’s not so strange. But kissing the new blue glass hen that Jeremy bought me on Friday? That’s maybe worth seeing a doctor about…

She who makes out with chickens. Delicious blue glass hens. Yumm.

I’m also kind of strange in that I don’t like company that doesn’t call first. I just don’t like surprises. I’m really tired of salesmen coming to my door to try and clean my rugs or sell me magazines. Hellloooo!? Babies nap after lunch! Doorbells wake sleeping babies. Duh.

Speaking of strange? I’m not the only weirdo in this neighborhood. Nope. My neighbor spends every evening trying to rope a bull made of straw. I’ve never been to a rodeo, never really had a thing for men in Wranglers, but I am fascinated by watching his determination. He spends hours roping a bale of hay with horns on it.

Speaking of no soliciting signs, his wife has borrowed so many eggs from me that I think I should stop kissing chickens and start breeding them. Dude. I have 5 people to feed. Ask your husband to put down the rope and go to the grocery store. Obviously the bull he’s been trying to rope isn’t going anywhere. Geesh.

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Austin actually let me take a picture of him today. Isn’t he sweet? I love this dude. Some mommas raise up hay roping cowboys, some mommas raise up basketball players. We all do it right as long as we do it with love! 

I haven’t posted much this week. Honestly I’ve just been busy playing and enjoying life, no good excuses. Noah had a yucky cough starting two days ago and I thought the cold he’s had just settled into his chest. I didn’t worry too much about it, just fed him some cough meds and he was fine. But today we went to the Doc for his 9 month check-up and she looked at me all concerned, “Has he been struggling with breathing?” I told her that I thought he had a chest cold but that I didn’t think he was wheezing too much. She put him back on the nebulizer and some steroids. I feel like a crummy, awful mommy. I know how horrible asthma is and for me not to recognize the symptoms of him struggling for breath– well, that just makes me feel like the slime on the belly of a catfish.

I gave him his fist ventolin nebulizer treatment when we got home. He was wired up for HOURS! He was in a splendid mood though. The kind of mood you might be in if you were taking your first full breaths in days!

Ugghh. The guilt.

I guess we’ll be watching Nooskers over the next few years for Asthma. Apparently it can be passed on in the gene pool. I always thought it was funny that, of all the money my father has, the only thing he passed on to me was acne, asthma, and boney knees.

Noah is still only in the 5th percentile for weight (17 pounds), 27th for height (28 inches). He eats really well though! I guess he’s going to be a lean, scrappy little fella. I love every inch of him! His cheeks are absolutely the most fluffy and delicious cheeks ever.

Get better soon, Nooskers! We loves ya!

Arrggg, Maties. I should have traded in me stilettos for sea feet. I would have made a fine Pirate indeed.

Not. You know what this picture reminds me of? Uck. It reminds me of the smell of diesel and the sickening feeling of being on a scuba diving trip with my mom. When I was a tiny thing– about 4-6 years old (yeah, this went on for about 2 years), my mom went through this crazy scuba diving craze. She was having an affair with the married scuba instructor and would spend her weekends (and thusly my weekends) on the water. Sounds good, huh? For her maybe. They would take the boat out with a group of people to the middle of no where. They would all suit up and would be gone for hours. Sometimes the waves would be really intense and I would get so horribly sick that I wouldn’t, literally, be able to move. I would sleep, throw up, sleep, and try to comfort myself with coloring books and Barbies. Not to mention I was SCARED! It was horrible. I still have dreams about it and often still get sick to my stomach when I smell diesel.

Nope. I’m no Pirate Princess. I’ll keep my toes on land, thank you very much. I love the beach, the ocean, the smell of the sea. I’d even eat anything from the ocean– I’ll suck on a starfish or chew on an octopus tentacle if you slap some butter on it. But I’d make a whiney, wimpy Pirate.

I look kind of cute with a beard though, no?