Real Phobias...

1. Ablutophobia- Fear of washing or bathing

2. Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth. (No comment, seriously... what can you say about this one?)

3. Aulophobia- Fear of flutes.

4. Barophobia- Fear of gravity. (How does that one work??)

5. Bromidrosiphobia or Bromidrophobia- Fear of body smells. (Totally understandable)

6. Iophobia- Fear of poison. (I think I have this. Not bad, but I think I do. I am super paranoid about things that don't taste right, or if I think the seal on something doesn't pop loud enough I will throw it out.)

7. Francophobia- Fear of France or French culture. (Gallophobia, Galiophobia) (They have a phobia for any culture)

8. Geniophobia- Fear of chins. (Their own, or others chins? Or both?)

9. Mageirocophobia - Fear of cooking. (MY HUSBAND HAS THIS!!!!)

10. Venustraphobia - Fear of beautiful women. (Fear me!! Mwa-ha ha ha ha HA! Just kidding)

There are so many phobias.
I once knew a girl who was afraid of cotton balls. I used to get a bunch off the injection cart and I'd pop them in my mouth and chew on them in front of her. I'd also tape them all over her computer monitor or her phone handle. She hated that. She couldn't touch them to get them off. We were friends, though, so she never got too mad. I didn't find a name for that one, though. But I did find some talk about it here... http://www.unusualphobias.com/cotton.html and now I feel bad.

I am scared of heights, I'll cautiously look down off a cliff if there is a safe railing. Other than that... I don't go near the edge. I'm not scared of high roller coasters of anything, though.
I'm deathly afraid of bugs, snakes and spiders. I mean... there was a big spider in my bathroom once and I had to get the neighbor to come and take it outside because Alex was gone. Strange as I am... I won't let anyone kill them.

tagged by Konny : )

Four Jobs I've Had
1. Nurse at the Asian American clinic until I moved farther than I wanted to commute.
2. Nurse at an internal medicine clinic after moving.
Sad... I never had a job until I graduated nursing school.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over
1. How Stella Got Her Groove Back!
2. Gladiator
3. Spiderman
4. Black Hawk Down

Four Places I've Lived
1. Seattle (born and raised)
2. Provo, Utah (Boarding school for naughty kids)
3. Snohomish, Wa.
4. Tacoma

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch
1. Survivor
2. American Idol (and I take Miss O to the concert at the end of the season too)
3. Laguna Beach on MTV (shut up... a guilty pleasure. Embarrassed to admit.. but watch it anyway)
4. OC

Four Places I've Been on Vacation
1. Disney!! So many times.... but it never gets old.
2. Hot-lanta Georgia. I visited Alex when he was in Ranger school.
3. Mexico
4. Texas, South Padre Island.

Four Blogs You Visit Daily
1. http://inhimitrust.blogspot.com/ (Only yours, Konnie!)

Four of Your Favorite Foods
1. Chicken and sausage gumbo
2. cajun chicken fetuccini (my own)
3. creme brulee
4. Vegetarian Sushi

Four Places You'd Rather Be
1. In my husbands arms... anywhere.
2. Disneyland.
3. ANYWHERE tropical, preferrably Jamaica. Stella did that to me!
4. Greece

Four Musical Artists You Love
1. Billie Holiday
2. Dave Matthews
3. Norah Jones
4. Ella Fitzgerald

Four Vehicles I've Owned
1. Pontiac Grand prix (I have no idea what year. I never added oil.. it died.)
2. A wood paneled station wagon.
3. 02 Trailblazer
4. 05 Uplander (WITH a DVD that we use! Alot.)

Four taggees: To the first 4 people to read this.... you're it!

Carmens 2 month check up...

All is good with my fatty cakes baby! She had her shots... which I hate. But I believe that immunizations are a good thing. She was weighed and measured.
Head: 60th percentile.
Length: 22 3/4 in 50-60th percentile.
Weight: 12lbs 15 oz (1 oz shy of 13 lbs!) 90th percentile!
I knew she was a chunker! Explains why she grows out of her diapers faster than I can make them. I can't wait to tell my husband what a big baby she is. She was 8lbs 11 oz at birth. In 2 months she's gained 4lb 4oz. On mamma's milk! It feels SO incredible to be able to provide EVERYTHING my baby needs to grow. So amazing.

My newest diaper creation....

How cute is this???

Dreaming.....

Of a vacation. A real vacation. A week or more someplace tropical, with turquoise water, coral reefs, fruit smoothies brought to us with umbrellas in them. Relaxing in the sun with no responsibilities. No house cleaning, no cooking, no laundry. I am dreaming of holding my baby on the beach under a huge umbrella while Alex splashes in the warm ocean with Olivia and Sofia.
There IS such a place, and I want to be there. I want my husband home, and I want US to be there.

The Seahawks....

Are going to the Superbowl. For the first time. Ever.

Does tea go bad?

I hope not. Because this is my day.
I wake up and make myself a cup of tea. (After seeing that the dog ATE HER BED) It steeps on the counter filling the air with the aroma of which ever tea I have chosen for the day. Today it was Green tea. Sounds good, right?
I make Olivia and Sofia breakfast, get Sofia in her highchair and get Olivia off to school. I notice my tea on the counter, cold now, and I pop it in the microwave for a minute. Quickly blog about my bad dog. Carmen wakes up and is demanding to be fed. Well.... what do I do? New diaper... Then feed the baby.
Time for Sofia to get out of her highchair and into the bath. Plop milkdrunk Carmen in the swing and run a bath for Sofia. Bathe, dress and diapers for Sof. Change Carmens diaper. Uh, oh. Carmen is hungry again. Sit down at the computer and feed Carmen while one handedly typing a good morning to my Man Muffin. Check the diaper and baby pages. Change another set of diapers. Pop in a load of laundry and fold a load of towels. Read Sofia her potty book, and the bees book. Go to heat up some pasta for Sofia and notice that my tea is still sitting in the microwave. Pop it in for another minute. Get Sofia in her highchair and bounce crying Carmen in my arms while getting the pasta and chicken on a plate for Sof and placing it on her highchair. Hmmm.... is she hungry? Why, yes. Feed Carmen. When Carmen is finished and sound asleep, I remember the tea. Cold again, and pop it in the microwave again. Notice Sofia has rubbed her cheesypastachicken plate all over her freshly washed head. Also notice she is asleep in her highchair. I lay her on the couch for her nap. I take my shower, finally. Sofia wakes before I can even get dressed. I get dressed by putting my jammies back on. Run another bath and toss Sofia back in. Wash her hair quickly and hear a knock at the door. Grab her out of the tub and answer the door. A nice neighbor seeing how I'm doing. My hair is still in a towel, Sofia is running around naked, Carmen is now crying because Sofia is trying to shove a binky in her mouth. Get Sofia dressed. Change diapers.
Neighbor leaves, I feed Carmen and give Sofia some juice. Olivia comes home from school and I hop on the computer to goof off for a minute or 10.
Olivia has a small tantrum because I tell her to clean her room. She comes down with more laundry and I start a load. I wash the dishes while O plays with the girls. Notice my tea. Microwave it, yet again. I'm going to drink it right away this time. Oh, I can't. It's too hot. Realize that I need to write this day down so I can look back and laugh one day. Carmen starts fussing and wants to be fed again. Carmen is in my arms sleeping and I've typed this out one handed. Now she's pooping.
Next, (after I change diapers again) I need to go start dinner and my tea is cold again. I'm going to dump it out now because I don't even want it anymore!!
I'm sure I've missed a few things.... but it's chaotic around here. And this day still has a few hours left.

BAD dog!

Ooooooh. Sadie is SUCH a BAD DOG!!! AS I was going to sleep last night I hear her chewing. I sneak up on her and see her trying to eat one of Sofias toys. So...I put her in the laundry room so she can't damage anything else. I wake up this morning and go to let her out of the laundry room and find that she ATE HER BED!

BAD BAD BAD DOG!!!! My day is starting out SO fine.

Why????????????

I walk into the gym locker room last night and the first thing I see is a big naked ass sitting bare on the bench. I look around, and sure enough... more naked asses bare on the bench. Now, I wouldn't sit my naked privates on a public seat. If I wanted a seat, I'd use a towel. But now I don't even want to put a towel down on the bench. What... so I can dry off with the germs of all those naked asses on my towel?
I just don't think it's sanitary. Is it? I mean, am I overreacting? Is it normal? Am *I* the one who's the locker room freak?

I got all 3 together!!

Kisses from Sofia!

So, I did it...

I joined a gym. And I went. I think I can do this. I feel so good today.

I'm getting out my photo equiptment and I am going to try and get the girls (Sofia) to sit still for a picture or 10. It's so hard to get a picture of them (Sofia) looking at the camera, not crying (Sofia) or not trying to run away (Sofia).
Let's see what I can get.

National Body Challenge 2006

THE WEIGH IN....
A whopping 139 pounds. And yes, for me, 139 pounds IS whopping.
Goal: lose 20 lbs
Exercise: gym 3x/week, walk 1 hour 2x/week
Foods: More whole grains, less saturated fats, cut out junk foods (I'm a junk food fiend), cut out fast foods, cut out Sodas. Definitely more fruits and vegetables.
There is NO way I'm giving up carbs. Plus... I'm breastfeeding, so I need a fair amount of food.

Next weigh in... 1 week.
I'm already scared.

The 23rd consecutive day of rain.

And it's showing no signs of stopping. It's depressing, really. It has rained every day since Dec. 19th in Seattle. The record was set in 1953 and it was 33 days. The second runner up was in 1966 and it was 25 days. We're going to beat that one. Oh, joy.

Rain doesn't usually bother me. But when you're bumming anyway... it makes it worse. If Alex were here we could snuggle up and listen to the rain like we do. I love the rain when Alex is home. I miss that man!

She's in the shop.

For a week. my poor embroidery machine. :( But at least she'll sew properly when I get her back! I haven't sewn in a while... since Carmen was born. Funny, because now I REALLY want to!

She cried for more than an hour straight!

This is a first for me. None of my babies ever really cried. Carmen cried longer that I've ever heard a baby cry tonight. She's sleeping now in her bouncy. It's the only thing that's worked. I swear. I walked her around, held her close, held her facing me, burped her, changed her, fed her, cood at her, sang to her. I set her down in the bouncy and turned on the vibrations, bounced it and she conked out. She's not wanting to nurse either. She eats a bit, gets mad and cries. I wonder what's going on. ???
I hope this doesn't turn into an every day occurrence.

I hope that bringing her to bed doesn't start another crying gig.

I have to be fair.

And show off The Divine miss O as well. She's an amazing child.

I walked away for 1 minute.....

Do I even need to say anything??

My little fatty...

She looks so much like daddy! ·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨swoon*:·..·:*¨¨*:·..·:*¨·

I can't sleep.

What I'd give to have Alex home.

I was stuck in traffic today. And I was fuming. Until we came upon the accident and I realized that it was a bad one. A freeway closing sort of accident. A fatality accident. A flipped over, burned up truck. Nobody could have survived that. And I realized that being stuck in traffic is far better than being the cause of the traffic jam. And that I sometimes need to have more heart. Even if it were just a fender bender... I'd still rather be the one stuck in traffic and not having to deal with the problems accidents bring. So for each time I cursed under my breath when the speed limit dropped.. I'm sorry.

Gone, again.

I'm not even going to pretend that this will be easy. I dropped him off this morning for another combat deployment. I'm so sad. For the things he'll miss. For the days I'll miss.
I can see Sofia standing at the screen door shouting "Dada, DADA!" when he pulls in from work. She screams and throws herself into his arms. EVERY time. It doesn't get old for her. And I have no idea when she will notice that it will be months before she can do that again. Will it be tonight, when he doesn't come home for dinner? Will it be in a few days? Olivia understands. Carmen has no idea. But poor Sofia. She is such a daddys girl.
And I pray. I pray so hard that my husband comes home to me safely. I pray that his girls get to keep their daddy. I pray that I have the strength to do this again.

His shirt smells so good. I wonder how long the scent will linger.

Alex,

I LOVE YOU. Be careful. You're my life. My soul mate. My air. Good thing I hid your shirt. But it won't keep your scent nearly long enough.


Yours forever,
Berritt

The word "fart"

isn't in the spell check. Just a random something I learned this morning.

Sofia

I was just having one of those "Awwwwww" moments. Sofia was watching TV (I know, I'm bad) while I was checking email. I looked over at her and she's sitting about 3 inches from the screen, sort of squatting.... In a cute way. She's wearing her pink footed jammies that are too big. She reminds me of a pink bunny.
Anyway... I called over to her and she smiled a huge smile, ran over to me with her arms up and planted a sloppy kiss on my cheek when I picked her up. I LOOOOOOVE that kid! She's on my lap now, trying to break the John Coltrane CD, squirming and smelling like a fart. OK... Time to get down!