My Life With Boys

It's 2012!

2012-01-02T08:36:00.000-08:00

Do you know what that means?

No?

Ok well then, let me tell you! My amazing husband will graduate from medical school! He'll be a doctor, well a resident, but still! Dr. Barry Palizzi in May! I'm so incredibly proud of him, and the many sacrifices that he's made. Studying, balancing his very active children, super needy wife, and a psycho 6 month old chocolate lab, not to mention drill weekends, and I've gotta say, that man is my hero.

Mid-March we will find out *if* we match, and March 16, assuming we DO match, we'll find out WHERE we're going! I'm so excited for all of the amazing things that will happen to our little family in 2012. It's going to be a great year!

I just wanted to say that I'm a lucky girl, a girl who's full of hope and possibility. And I for one am so excited for the unknown. When I'm not scared right out of my pants!

Hooray for 2012

Look at me! I'm Blogging!

2011-12-08T11:25:00.000-08:00

I know. It's been a while. To say things have been hectic would be a slight understatement. So I will do my best to catch y'all up.

Owen's one. Sigh. I don't know how that happened, or where this past year's gone, but he's officially one, heck, technically he's 13 months now. He has 8 teeth, and has a double ear infection. He's on antibiotics for that last part. He's smiley and happy and funny for the most part. Today he did all of the motions for the Itsy Bitsy Spider and it was truly delightful. He's the most precious baby I've ever known. He knows just when you need a cuddle. He knows how to make you laugh, and knows exactly which buttons to push to make you mad. He's adorable and such a blessing to my family. And he's pretty cute too!
I took some family pictures, and my friend Dana took some of the whole family a few weeks ago for our Christmas Card. They turned out amazingly. Who knew you could get my three kids to cooperate for pictures!
Here's Owen's solo shot

Here's a messy faced photo of his teeth! (After breakfast, hence the messy face/shirt)

And one of him eating his homemade birthday cupcake. So yummy.

He's not walking yet. Which, honestly, is a bit surprising. I'm not complaining, just surprised. He's doing the standing thing, and not holding on to anything, so I know it's coming. But I've been saying that for months now :)

It's been a mild winter so far. We've had one day of snow. And the boys were really excited about it. It was the kind of snow I can deal with. There in the morning and melted off, mostly, by the next day.

Julian is doing so so so well in Kindergarten. His teacher, that we LOVE by the way, told us at his conference that he's reading at a C-D level, and they want them at E by the end of kindergarten. He's on track to do that in the next month! Smartypants. He loves school, loves his teacher, and loves girls. Every day, or almost, he's talking about a new girl. The one he talks about the most is a girl that rides his bus home, named Kendra. She's always giving him notes and yesterday it was a heart shaped bead. Things are getting serious. He's still a fun kid. And extremely intense and emotional boy. He keeps me on my toes that's for sure. He's a builder. He loves to build and create, with legos, crayons, markers, blocks, it really doesn't matter what, he's a creator.

He's still a picky as heck eater. But he's growing, which is what matters. He's almost out of 5T pants, but can still easily wear the shirts. Big feet still, and still really picky about clothes.

Gabriel is still so sweet and caring. Though today he was kind of a punk before nap. He's still a good sharer, and Miss Kassandra, his new teacher, told me that he was a chatterbox. Something we've known for ages, but he was always too shy to talk at preschool before. Not this year though! He's known to randomly bust out with an "I love you" Or "This makes Jesus' heart so happy" for absolutely no reason at all. His best friend is a boy named Nathan. And he love love loves Spiderman.

He loves to be big. And if I try to call him Julian's little brother he gets mighty mad. He's a big kid he tells me. He's hilarious and kind and sweet and I'm so lucky to have him.

he likes me

And that's where we're at.

Red Lipstick Trials

2011-12-08T07:22:00.000-08:00

I'm on a mission. To find the perfect shade of red lipstick. Now I know what you're thinking. Red lipstick? Is she 79? No. I'm not, 28 thank you very much. It's a glam look, and one that pulls the whole thing together. My goal, and hope, is that by finding the perfect shade of red lipstick that I'll be able to put it on my lips and instantly look like I've gotten ready.

I've had numerous people tell me about this shade. So up first we have MAC Russian Red. Last night I went to the Valley West mall with two shades in mind. Russian Red and Ruby Woo (Thanks Jennie!) After trying both on my hand (which is easily 4 shades darker than my Cullen white face) we both agreed that Russian Red was more complimentary and I did it. I took the plunge. Tried on my first shade of Red Lipstick. My other goal for this trial is to have a collection of wonderful go-to shades of red. I kind of want to display them all nicely on a spice rack like I've seen others do in Pinterest, except with something way more collectible than lipstick tubes.

So here we go. Photo proof of the Red Lipstick Trial.

My Before. (Now note there is no other makeup on my face. The whole purpose of the perfect shade of Red, for me, is to be able to do this one thing and instantly feel put together. Would it look better if I had eye make up on? Obviously. But that's not the purpose for me.)

The goods (Russian Red Matte Lipstick and Cherry Liner)

End Result.

So what do you think? Do you think Russian Red fills it's purpose in my life? I feel like it instantly improved my look, and I don't feel quite as homely. And that my friends is a very good thing.

On The Quest

2011-12-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

I have a mission. And I need your help.

The perfect {true} red lipstick.

I've heard many, many suggestions.

MAC Russian Red
NARS Red Lizard
Amway/Artistry Rouge
Amway/Artistry Stunning
Avon Poppy Love
Avon Red Karat

My goal is to find THE most amazing red lipstick to compliment my pale skin.

Do you have another favorite red lipstick that's not listed above? I am going to try these out and have you vote on which one is THE one for me!

Sketch post and run

2011-09-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

I launched my new website. I kind of love it. A lot.
www.christiapalizziphotography.com.
I'm giving away a FREE session on my blog! Check it out!
FREE SESSION INFO .

My kids are cute and funny and smart. And Julian's in kindergarten. Gabe starts preschool tomorrow, and Owen, is :sigh: 10 months old!

Barry's in Philadelphia taking boards today! It's all coming to an end. Our MedSchool journey. And I kinda can't wait for the new chapter in my life!

It's a GIRL!

2011-08-10T16:13:00.000-07:00

Meet Lucy "LuLu" Hermoine Palizzi. She was born June 25, 2011. She's a chocolate lab, and is sooo adorable! We all love her, except for those needle like puppy teeth! This is a dream come true for me! You can see here that I've been wanting a chocolate lab FOR.EV.ER. She's super sweet, and so adorable!

Thursday-July 21, 2011

2011-07-23T06:11:00.001-07:00

Also known as the best day of my boys' life.

So as you may or may not know, Barry broke his arm. It wasn't a bad break. No cast needed. (He fractured his radial head, if you're curious). Only a soft cast for a week + splint. Then splint for another week, and light duty for another 2. Those 4 weeks are long gone, but his arm just isn't back to 100%. One thing that the boys have missed terribly, desperately, their favorite game. Blanket monster. They ask to play it daily. Really? Barry just goes under the blanket and the boys jump on him and attack him. They? Love it! Thursday, Barry thought his arm was better enough to play it again.
Pure joy

Owen's wondering what the heezy is going on

So happy that my boys' favorite tradition is back! But the only ones happier than me, THE BOYS!

Reasons Why I Suck At Blogging

2011-07-19T05:58:00.001-07:00

I'll give you a hint. There are 3 of them.

Reason #1

My big boy. He's going to kindergarten in less than a month. I'm trying to soak him up. Before he goes to school. Before he's officially a kid. He's been really sweet this summer, for the most part. He's super smart and is so excited to be learning every.day.all.day. And I'm a little excited for the break. He's still obsessed with Legos. He loves to play them with Gabe. They're BFF and it's darling to watch. I'm a little nervous, to be perfectly honest, for Julian to go to school for Gabe's sake. He's super into Star Wars. The other day, he asked if he could be a boxer when he grows up. I said, yes, of course, but I have no idea where that came from. He's an amazingly bright kid. So smart and determined, and seriously has the best memory ever. Last week he had bubble camp, which was super fun for him!

Reason #2

Gabe. My sweet Gabe. He's three. And anyone that has had or has a three year old knows what I'm talking about. He's the most considerate kid ever. Such a good sharer. He loves his big brother so much. He's starting to like Owen more and more, now that Owen is doing stuff. He likes Legos, Phineaus and Ferb, and following Julian around. He's obsessed with puppies, and repeatedly asks for one, daily.

Reason #3

He's 8 months old already. And so incredibly determined. Not only is he a full fledged crawler. He's pulling up and standing on EVERY.THING. Yesterday, in fact, he even let go of the couch and me and balanced there for a second. Wait a minute. Isn't he a newborn, born just yesterday? He eats pretty much any solid that is put in front of him. The exceptions being green beans and peas. And let's face it, who could blame him. They're not the most amazing veggies ever. He loves sweet potatoes, carrots, all fruits. He's so sweet and snuggly. The other night before I put him to bed, he was crawling all over me. He crawled over to me and gave me not one, but two slobbery baby kisses. To say that he makes me swoon hardcore would be the understatement of the century.

I'm so incredibly blessed to be their mother. Somedays I wonder how I got so lucky and why they got such a shaft. I've been busy hanging with my boys. Trying to get my photography assignment done. Finishing the LOST series, which was ZOMG AMAZING. Just busy. Blogging has taken a back burner. And that's ok.

Graduate, Ford, and Dodge

2011-05-18T20:13:00.000-07:00

Ahhh! My first born son is officially a kindergartener. He graduated from preschool earlier this week. It was heartbreaking, adorable, and crazy all at the same time. It's really hard for me to believe that he's already school aged. I don't know how I'm going to do August 17, when he actually starts kindergarten1

My graduate

With his favorite teachers :)

We've had some good weather lately, so we've been definitely taking advantage of it. Playing outside, and hanging out with friends on the porch.
My boys and their BFF

Mr. Serious. This picture makes me laugh because he's SO not serious, ever. He's ALWAYS smiling. Except when I have the camera.

We said goodbye to a dear friend yesterday. After 4 1/2 years, it was time. Bye, Bye, Dora the Ford Explorer. You had a good run.

We said hello to a new friend. A friend that will be with us for years, and years to come. A 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan. I'm in love. So are the boys, including Barry. I never, ever thought I'd be a mini-van girl, but man, oh man. I totally am!

I also put up some more prints in the etsy shop. Check them out! Good stuff :)

Help Lori?

2011-05-14T06:11:00.000-07:00

I'm posting this in hopes that someone out here will read this, and be inspire to help.

Barry's cousin (so my cousin too) was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's an aggressive form, and she's already undergoing treatment for this.

She's 30 years old, and has five kids.

Here's her website. Donate if you can. Keep them in your prayers. Everything helps.
The Sorens

Innocent!!!

2011-05-12T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was our cardiologist appointment, along with a few other appointments.

First we took the boys back into the hallway, they spied dum dum lollipops, and stickers. I kid you not, Gabe said, "Oh they have treats here. It's not so bad."

We went into a room, I was so glad they didn't split them up, and first Julian got a chest x-ray, while Gabe got an EKG. Julian did SO great for the x-ray cooperated, and was really hoping to see his own bones. He was also pretty excited to see Gabe's heartbeat on the EKG machine. Gabe, however, did not like the whole EKG process. The sticky things, the leads going everywhere. He was a little freaked out. And he DID.NOT.WANT.TO.SEE.HIS.BONES. So I took him back for the x-ray, and he did such a good job!! Followed instructions and tried his best not to wiggle. He too was excited, though, to see Julian's heartbeat on the EKG machine. I think it helps that during Sacrament meeting on Sunday Barry was drawing the heartbeat picture.

After that, the boys got to pick a TREASURE out of the TREASURE CHEST. Dude. Sticky hands FOR THE WIN! We then went into the room to wait for the cardiologist. Turns out, it was the same guy that taught the pediatric cardiology for DMU! He was so nice, and so good with the boys, and listened to their heartbeats for a while before he said that Julian's murmur was totally innocent, and he is discharged! Booyah! Gabe's too is innocent, but since he's had it since such a young age, he wants him back in a year just to make sure it hasn't changed, but that he'll probably be discharged in a year! Booyah again! So relieved. So excited. Such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Prayers were answered, my boys are healthy!

Speaking of healthy. Owen had his 6 month appointment yesterday. He is weighing 20 lbs 11.5 oz and 28 inches tall! He's 93% for both. His head is measuring 99% (again, not entirely surprised, it's those Palizzi genes!) He looked really good, and is developing right on for his age. He was way madder when the doctor was trying to look in his ears, than he was when he got his shots! Such a little trooper.

Boys + Dirt

2011-05-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

We started our 'garden' this year. Probably late, but whateves. We are definitely not relying on this as our sole source of food. Last year we had a big garden, and it failed, or I failed or something. In my defense, it was hard to be weeding being in my 3rd trimester.

Anyhoots, this time we're just growing things that are relatively easy, and will be easy to visualize the growth.

Here you have it. Our garden, for now. Once they get bigger we'll obviously transfer them to our little garden plot.

Pumpkins, pumpkins, sunflowers, sunflowers, and (for me) cilantro.

I'm really not sure when he grew up. But he's certainly not a baby any more.

They weren't too excited about me taking pictures. But they're cute.

Wish us luck! I hope that we are able to grow some sunflowers this year, and get some big pumpkins for the fall! And please, oh, please, let my cilantro thrive. I'm sick of spending money on Cilantro every week!

Fine Art-What?!

2011-05-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

So I have all of these pictures on my computer. Seriously, a lot. And I had no idea what to do with them, how to share them, or if I even wanted to.

Well as it turns out, I DO want to. I want to share them with everyone. So they're for sale.

In my Etsy.

Lola Cate

If you see something in the shop, and use the coupon code BLOGGER it will get you 10% off!

My baby boy!

2011-05-06T20:53:00.000-07:00

He's 6 months old. 1/2 a year. .5 How in the world did it happen so fast?

We go next week for his 6 month appointment, on the 11th. It's going to be a super busy day full of doctors appointments and procedures for all of my boys (stay with me, I'll fill you in.)

For his 1/2 birthday, Owen got to eat sweet potatoes! And to say that he loved them would be an understatement. He chowed down! It's a good thing I bought a rather large sweet potato for him.

He's now rolling EVERYWHERE. And starting to scoot. Folks, my baby, is semi-mobile. And it's breaking my heart!

He's laughy, at Julian or Gabriel. He tolerates me, but they're definitely his favorites.

He's moved solidly, into 6-12 month clothes. I still squeeze his fatness into 3-6 month onesies once in a while, mostly because we don't have any 6-12 long sleeves, and it's pointless to buy them at this point.

Sleep has become a sore subject for me lately. He's been really super, duper snotty, and not sleeping well. I can't really blame him, I suck at sleep when I'm congested. But it's getting old having to wake up a million times, or sleep in the recliner. It's one thing when a baby is a newborn, they're expected to wake up and eat, and snuggle, and get changed. But once they consistently demonstrate the ability to sleep solidly, and then stop? Whoa man. It's like getting hit by a truck, or so I think.

Here's the ONE good shot we got from his 6 month shoot. He was not feeling a photo shoot, and was crabby and snotty, and drooly (obviously.) Still no teeth!

Now about the 11th.

First a little back story. Gabe's always had a heart murmur. We were told it was an innocent murmur, and shouldn't have any impact on his life. Julian? Never once has any one said that they've heard a murmur, except when he was first, first, first born, like within 24 hours, and by the time we left the hospital it was gone. Super common for newBs. Anyway, at the boys 3 & 5 year appointments, the doctor heard Gabe's, obviously, and also heard a faint one in Julian. Now it's probably nothing. But on the 11th, both boys are scheduled for echocardiograms. I explained to them that they were going to get an ultrasound (I actually said, "Remember how we got to see Baby Owen in mommy's tummy? They're going to use the same machine, to take pictures of your heart! How cool is that?"), and that it was going to be cool. But I'm still a little freaked. So I could really use some prayers to calm down, and that everything is going to be ok.

Thanks!

We're Back.

2011-04-28T14:28:00.000-07:00

So uhm, it's almost been a MONTH since my last blog post! OY!

WE're back, in Iowa, and adjusting well to our 'real life' :)

Owen has been starting the night in his crib, every night, and then at about 2 he gets cold or lonely and comes to bed with us. We love him. And it's so hard to believe he's almost SIX months old! He's a rolling machine, still toothless, and FULL of baby germs.

I had Julian's parent teacher conferences yesterday. He's doing really well, and totally ready for Kindergarten! Sigh, when did my first baby get SO big? He's really smart, and still loves Legos, and building. He keeps telling me he is going to be a builder like Grandpa Bob. He's a sweet boy, most of the time ;)

Gabriel is as sweet as ever. So sharing and caring, and nice. He's so abnormal that way, for a three year old. He's always giving me hugs and kisses, or running inside from the backyard (yay for sunny days) and just saying "I love you Mommy." He literally makes me swoon.

I did a total of five family photo shoots while I was in Washington. It was so much fun. I'm getting excited to expand my clientele in Iowa, and eager to finish my classes! If you're interested in a family shoot for a discounted rate (in Iowa) email me Christia.palizzi.photography@gmail.com and I'll hook you up!

I also started selling Scentsy. My little sister is a consultant, and I really love the product, so I decided to start selling it too! My website for that is Christia's Scentsy. Right now there's an "Introduction to Scentsy" party up on my site. If you purchase from that party, your name will be entered to win a warmer and bar of your choice! Awesome!

Where has the time gone?

2011-04-04T17:29:00.000-07:00

My baby turned FIVE months today. It's so hard to believe. He's such a sweet boy. On Saturday, after a week of some gooey looking eyes when he woke up, he spiked a fever. It was low-grade, 99.4 but still. After the eye goo, we weren't taking any chances. So we brought him to our old pediatrician (shout out to Evergreen Children's Clinic) at their after-hours clinic on Saturday afternoon. The sweet, smiley boy was diagnosed with a double ear infection. Honestly, after dealing with Gabriel's frequent ear infections, I was a little shocked that this was the diagnosis. Owen never stopped smiling, his fever was SO low (compared to Gabe's 103 ear infection temp), and was just totally normal, minus the gooey eye. After 2 days of antibiotics, he's 100% back to normal, and smiling even more! And laughing so much. He loves him some grandma and grandpa.

I've failed in my goal of making a shirt for every month. I just didn't have access to a sewing machine. :( I guess 11/12 months isn't soooo bad. We had a little photo shoot on the couch today. He was SO hammy.

I will eat the couch. Watch me.

Hambone!

Love his little hands & his tiny birthmark

His new skillz. He loves to blow bubbles, and make funny noises that are constantly making his big brothers laugh.

Baby's trying to eat me!

At 5 month he weighs about 18 lbs. He CAN roll, but rarely does. He is ALMOST sitting up on his own, well he technically can, but then falls over after not very long. He wears 3-6 month clothes, but they're getting small, so we're moving into the 6-9 which are still pretty big. He sleeps through the night 5 nights out of 7. I just gave him some oatmeal over this past weekend and he wasn't super convinced, so I'm going to hold off again. He just seemed so interested in our food, that I thought he was ready, but I guess not. He's still the most delightful baby I've ever had the pleasure of raising.

My New Love.

2011-04-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

So awhile back, my BFF Stacy Jacobsen posted on Facebook about a concert for a happy music artist. Those of you that know me, know that I LOVE Lisa Loeb. I've loved her since I first heard the song Stay. I also quite enjoy music that makes me happy, and bubbly, and whimsical, and just positive. Enter Mindy Gledhill.

It just so happened that we would be in town for the concert, so I wrote Stace that I wanted to go! It was to be a double date. Then Barry said he didn't REALLY want to go. Brad so graciously said that he would stay home with their kids so Stace and I could have a date. And then? Stacy got the plague. She was too sick to go. Luckily my little sister said she would go, never, ever even hearing of the singer. She actually really enjoyed the concert though! So score one for the happy music person.

We went to Mexican for dinner, and man. Iowa just doesn't do Mexican like Washington.

The BEST Chips & Salsa ever.

This picture makes me HUNGRY!

My sister-(Everyone comment on how much we look alike, she just LOVES to hear that.)

Me & the new hair the day-of

How can you not like someone that plays the keytar? I mean seriously.

I'm seriously inspired by Mindy's lyrics. One of my favorite songs is All About Your Heart. Check her out. Become a fan of hers on Facebook Here. It's super rare to go to a concert and have the singer's voice sound EXACTLY like or better than you hear on the CD! She's amazing, adorable, humble and kind.

And The Winner Is....

2011-03-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

...I've always, ALWAYS, wanted to say that. Typically in my fantasy, I'm wearing a fabulous dress, and holding an envelope. Anyway, back to reality.

On my blog I had 19 comments. On my facebook post there were 8. 19+8=27. Soooo I put that information into random.org and came up with a with a winner.

So I figured my blog comments were #1-19, so #13 is on there. And it is...

MISS PINK! AKA Jessikah!

Here's the hair I went with. It's pretty much

THIS

+

THIS

=

ME

Today is the day

2011-03-30T08:32:00.000-07:00

Today, at approximately 10 am, I'm going to get my hair did. I know. You're all dying with anticipation. But the wait is nearly over my friends.

Winner of my pick a hair style contest will be notified sometime today. However, prizes won't be mailed out until we get back to Iowa. I just don't have all of my necessary crafting tools here at my disposal.

Expect many pictures of my new 'do tomorrow.

Scentsy Party!

2011-03-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey! My little sister is a Scentsy consultant, and I am having a Scentsy party for her!

Here's her link:
https://jjuergens.scentsy.us/Home

If you click on the left (about mid-way down) it says Christia Palizzi's Party fun! If you've not tried Scentsy, you should. I love it. They have a bunch of cute new warmers, and I love that it's totally safe for my crazy boys. Even at the hottest, the wax isn't hot enough to burn my beautiful babies.

We are going to close the party on the 10th of April. The best part is that you order and it comes directly to you!

Happy Shopping!

We Are Here!

2011-03-25T08:06:00.000-07:00

In Washington, that is. The drive was...surprisingly not that bad. I mean I prefer riding in my car, with 3 kids, for 25 hours, to say a root canal. But my boys were AMAZING. Seriously. They were the reason we only stopped for one night, in Billings, MT. They were the reason that we stopped for a real lunch on the way here, and a real dinner vs. just fast food. They were sooo good. Seriously the trip down exceeded my expectations. Now I'm a smidge nervous for the drive back. We plan on buying some more new DVDs so that they're entertained. This DVD player is seriously worth its weight in gold, or something else highly expensive and worth lots of moolah! It's amazing.

Excuse Owen's crazy eyes in this one. Here's how the boys rode.

We've been able to see a handful of people since getting here late Saturday night. Sunday morning we went up to visit Grandma Ann and Al and the boys. Our boys had so much fun running around and seeing the neighbor's new chickens. Sunday night, my parents had dinner ready, Thanksgiving, yum! And we were able to see Aunt Angee and Aunt Jess and Preston. It was the first time either of them had met little Owen. Sunday night, Owen was a little fevery and a lot drooly. I'm betting he's teething hard core. So I gave him his first big boy bath. He looooved it.

Tuesday afternoon the boys and I drove out to see Carly. Owen needed to meet his little BFF.
Little Linc and Owen are just one week apart. I was so bummed and jealous when Carly went into labor at 38 weeks, and I was STILL pregnant. We were due the same day. The boys are almost the exact same size, Owen's a little bigger, I think.

The bigs, her kids are almost the same age as mine, had a picnic.

Look at this smile. Such a sweet boy.

And check out Carly's view! AMAZING!

Wednesday, the boys and I ventured up to Walmart to get some supplies, groceries, and of course, Diet Dr Pepper. Then while they napped for almost 4 hours!!!!! I went to visit with my old friend Shanda. She loved on Owen, and we were able to catch up. It was so nice.

Yesterday, the boys and I went down to my old stomping grounds, the Super Mall! Tere'sh a new bouncy place that was super fun, and Julian and Gabe went up and down the slide countless times. They played so well with Oliver and Tavin, and I was shocked to see how big little Jack is. I mean, I know. He's 1 now, but wow!

There's definitely something to be said about the Pacific Northwest. I'd almost forgotten what mountains look like until we were passing through them in South Dakota. It's SO green here. But with all of the trees and green comes allergens, which most of us are suffering with.

Barry's enjoying his rotation, though not the Washington traffic. Luckily he's going opposite the flow, and not hitting it to bad. He's been seriously spoiled by this year's rotations, I think.

Happy Birthday Julian!

2011-03-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

My first born son is now FIVE. The big oh-five. CRAZY. It seems like yesterday that I was walking around the SuperMall in hopes of walking him out. It worked, and he was born at 6:26 on his due date.

Like I said, it seems like only yesterday I was 40 weeks pregnant, and waiting, waiting, waiting. And in others, it seems like he's been a part of my family forever, always here, always laughing, always smiling.

Recently, I went back and read Julian's birth story. It was strange to remember the gamut of emotions I was feeling after he was born. And to remember how seamlessly he fit into our lives.

Julian's forever been in love with puzzles, building things, creating. If you ask him now, he says he wants to be a builder, just like Grandpa Bob. I can see that. He's an expert Lego constructor. He can follow those directions better than I can! He's a master of all things puzzles, and is so cute when he tries to help Gabe do them. J always asks us to help him do puzzles, and then he ends up helping us! Smarty pants.

We had Julian's birthday party on Saturday. We invited his whole class, but not many could come because of spring break. We leave for Washington on Friday (the 18th) so we needed to have it before! It was SO fun! It was at a place called Backyard Adventures! After having the mess and clean up from Gabe's party less than 2 weeks before, I wanted something easy, especially before our trip! This was the definition of easy!

Like I said before, Julian looooves to build. My friend Jackie showed me a Lego cake a long time ago, and I asked if she would make it. She did and it totally exceeded all of our expectations! Julian was in LOVE! And it was DELICIOUS!

Here are some pictures from the party:
The 'backyard' lunch

Chocolate cupcakes with buttercream icing and a candy lego on top! (Julian's favorite colors are red and black, which is why he picked out black candles)

The birthday boy

Swinging

Gabe about to slide!

The AWESOME Lego cake!

Singing Happy Birthday

Table full o' kids!

So much fun! Happy birthday Julian! You are very, very loved.

I need your help!

2011-03-11T18:56:00.000-08:00

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED :) HAIR APPOINTMENT TOMORROW

My hair. It's out.of.control! It's SO long. And sorta damaged at the ends. My best friend is a FABULOUS hair stylist, and I'm soooo excited. We leave for Washington in a week, and soon after we get there, I will get beautified! It's been a looooooong time coming.

Here's where you come in. I cannot, for the life of me, decide on what I want to do to my hair. I have 4 possibilities.

Here is my hair recently. This was Gabe's party, if you couldn't tell.

And here are my choices. (I totally have a thing for the Deschanel sisters.)

#1

#2

#3

#4

Those are my choices, people!

Now, what I need for you to do, please, please, please help me make my decision. Leave a comment with the # you pick, and why! We're leaving on vacation in a week, but I promise one random commenter a treat, like maybe a cupcake, or a knitted treat, something fun! It's a surprise! But random.org will pick the winner! I NEED HELP!

Happy 4 Months Owen!

2011-03-05T08:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Owen turned 4 months. Instead of 1/4 of a year old, he's now 1/3. It's going by SO fast. I'm sure having 3 boys has something to do with it. Some days though, I just want to push pause. Keep him sweet and snuggly and smiley. Stave off those torturous threes for as long as possible.

At 4 months Owen is doing most of the typical 4 month things. He can sit up for a few seconds before toppling over. He laughs, mostly at me, sometimes his brothers and daddy. He smiles.all.the.time. He sleeps well most nights not waking until 5. I personally believe that's not an acceptable wake time, but he disagrees. Let's be honest though, he's the boss. He is thisclose to rolling over. I think he realizes he doesn't WANT to be on his tummy and stops. He's still wearing 3-6 month clothes, though the pants are getting short, he's a tall boy! He's by far my skinniest baby, with the least amount of rolls, which cracks me up since he was by far the biggest at birth! He likes to talk, and tell you stories. And one of his most cherished past times is baby germing his brothers.

Owen is so drooly these days. He's been 'teething' for months now, but all you feel on his gums are mounds. No white spots, so no evidence of teeth actually sprouting through, but you can tell he's a teether. He bites EVERYTHING. He drools SO much.

Here are some pictures I took yesterday, marking his 1/3 birthday!

The 4 month shirt I made for him

Those baby germs I was telling you about.

My 'smallest' baby :)

We have his 4 month appointment on Wednesday. I'm super curious to see how big he is! He's such a delight and I am just so blessed to be his mommy.

Christia.Palizzi.Photography

2011-03-02T07:33:00.000-08:00

Yep. I'm one of those girls. I'm starting a photography business. I'm not really doing much until I finish my classes, which I've been doing for over year! I hope to finish them quickly, and jump into the business! I'm not advertising or doing anything really to get clients. The shoots I've done thus far have been friends or friends of friends. I'm so excited.

You can see some of my work here and become a "FAN" on Facebook here

Swoon

Why hello there!

2011-03-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

I'm in post birthday party coma. Gabe turned 3. I have eaten more cupcakes than should be legal, but dang. They're GOOD!

We had a little party at my house on Saturday for 10 of Gabe's closest friends. It was so fun, and not TOO crazy, just the right amount of crazy. I did get mobbed at the candy table though, it did resemble a circus!

I'm ashamed to admit I haven't had a date with my friend Mr. Treadmill in a WEEK! Too much party preparations! But I vow that I will reunite with my friend, and continue working out. I have noticed a definite difference in my energy level since stopping my workouts. So tonight, I will work out!

The party was so fun though. The decorations were perfectly circus-y. I'm so thankful to have Stacy Jacobsen as my BFF! She designed all the graphics!

{left to right-Owen & Daddy. Delicious Carrot Cake Cupcake with Cream Cheese Icing for Gabe's preschool class. Gabe's Birthday shirt. Sweet Heart Cupcakes, in circus colors. Finished Cupcakes, with toppers. Bean Bag Game with Tent graphics. (BEST GAME IDEA EVER! The kids LOVED it!) Lollipops with 3 graphic. Gabe's special cupcake. All of the cupcakes! Yum!}

{More cupcakes. Waterbottles. Waterbottles. Treatbag. My favorite of the graphics!}

Candy table!

The photo booth! SO much fun! All of the kids got into it (except for Owen, ha!)

Thank you so much to those that made this party possible! Thanks for spending my baby boy's 3rd birthday with us! It was sure fun! ;&hearts

Down with Love?

2011-02-15T05:42:00.000-08:00

I love, love. I really do. I love pink. My favorite color since birth. I like red. I love hearts, diamonds, flowers, and chocolate. I like babies in gold diaper covers with a bow and arrow. I just don't really like Valentine's Day.

I don't like crowds. I don't like 'special' menus. I don't like people telling me that Valentine's Day is the day for my husband and kids to show me how much they love me. Because, inevitably, I've built up this fantastic, romanticized idea of how Valentine's Day will go, and then am disappointed.

Honestly, I'm a really lucky girl. Barry is thoughtful, and considerate, and kind 364 days out of the year. The one day he's not? V-day.

This weekend Barry painted my family room. He did all the prep work, all the painting and all of the clean up. Happy Valentine's Day to me. It looks WONDERFUL! The family room was an awful cream sponge paint. It was Ug-to-the-ly. Now? It looks fresh, clean and modern. Not like 1990 threw up on my family room.

Before:

(Excuse the mess, this was moving days)

After:

A vast improvement, yes?

Yesterday, Julian had his Valentine's Day party at school. I didn't go. I had the other boys and well, it just didn't seem like a fun time to go to the preschool for 20 mins to wrestle Gabe, and lug Owen's heavy car seat around. I feel bad, but what are you going to do?

Instead, Gabe and I snuggled on the couch and watched his new favorite show, The Baby Show as he calls it. We call it Rugrats. Yep, Rugrats. The same show from our childhood. The same wonderful animation, the same mispronounced words from the babies. It's GREAT! Both boys, in fact, love it. Yesterday we watched an episode called Chuckie vs. the Potty. And guess what? We recreated that episode.

We'll call it Gabe vs. the Frog. His potty chair is a frog. And for MONTHS he has said he's scared of the frog. We've had maybe one, or two successes. Yesterday we took off his diaper and let him run free. He hated it. But he did pee on the frog! Yay! Here's to hoping he'll be potty-learned someday in the not too distant future.

After Barry came home, we had yummy red & white heart shaped ravioli. Thank you Costco. The boys, who for some reason despise ravioli, had heart shaped pasta from Cost Plus World Market. Julian ate 2 plates! This is remarkable because he doesn't eat. Ever.

We then went to Costco where the boys were pretty awful. And whiny. And wanted to eat the Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwiches we bought right.now.Mommy. Oy. And then on the way home, Owen was STARVING. We've never before fed that baby, or so you'd think.

Pretty much my prestigious Valentine's Day was just like any other day. Except I was disappointed. Disappointed because I built up this romance, this idealistic day. One in which Barry brought me home See's Dark Chocolate, some pretty yellow roses or lilies, and a large Diet Dr. Pepper from McDonald's (Hey it's only $1). None of that happened. Yesterday I was pretty bummed. Today, I'm less bummed, but curious.

We are supposed to be examples to our children of healthy relationships. We are supposed to be the ones that teach them how to treat others, and be a model for a married couple. Do I forsake Valentine's Day, and teach my children that? No. Because the likelihood of them (all 3 of them) meeting someone in the future that hates V-day? Not so good. Should I buy my own Valentine's so I'm not forgotten? What should I do? And really, I'm not trying to be whiny because I didn't get anything. I'm honestly and truly curious.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T09:06:00.000-08:00

&hearts The Palizzi Boys

My mommy is mean

2011-02-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

And needs a baby girl some day.

&hearts,
Owen

Photo Shoot Fails

2011-02-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

Gabriel's birthday is coming up shortly! We're having his party on the 26th, so I needed to get a photo for his invite, ASAP! Stacy designed it, and it is SO, SO, SO cute! The theme of his party is Circus, and it's going to be FUN!

So you'd think it would be easy peasy lemon squeezy to get just ONE picture of an almost 3 year old for his invitation, right? Not so much. It was an EPIC fail. Epic. The pictures are cute, most of them, but wow so not what I needed for the invite.

Then, if Gabe's pictures weren't enough, Julian tried to show him how it's done.
This

Is not how it's done.

This is how it's done.

In the end, despite mucho frustration on my part, we got a stellar picture that works perfectly for the invite! So I can't really complain. And here it is! The moment you've all been waiting for. The Invite.

If you are at all interested in a circus party pack for your very own ringmaster's party, check out Stacy's Etsy Shop. Dandy You

Whooooo is 3 months old?

2011-02-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, cheesy, I know. But he is!

Yesterday my baby hit 1/4 of a year old! So insane! He's such a sweet boy, and learning new tricks every day. Especially how to make his mama melt! He always gives me thing biggest smiles!

I've been practicing my photography on him. I love natural light photography, and these pictures are straight out of the camera.

I know I told you last month that he didn't have any leg rolls, yet. They're coming, but they're still much smaller than both of his brother's at 3 months!

I really love his eyes

And his toes

And his nose

And his fist.

He's such a sweet, sweet boy. I'm so blessed to be his mom.

Weekend Recap & Caillou

2011-02-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

My boys LOVE Netflix. The watch instantly thing?? It's seriously genius. They are able to watch shows that I've not DVR'd whenever they want! Frequently, unfortunately, they watch Caillou. Caillou is in Canada, and goes tobogganing. I don't even know how to spell toboggan, but thankfully, spell check does. We were at Hy-Vee the other day, getting groceries, and the boys laid eyes on it. A toboggan, or sled. Whatever. We bought it just in time for the snow to melt away. But have no fear, we live in Iowa. It can snow until April. It snowed yesterday and Barry was kind enough to take them outside after he got home from work, and take pictures to document this momentous occasion!

The shovel were so they could help daddy shovel the sidewalk...

I <3 this picture! They are SO happy!

They had sooo much fun, and with another 12 inches in the forecast, they'll be able to go tobogganing again soon!

This weekend we were able to celebrate with my friend Dana and her little boy's 1st birthday party! It was SO fun! There's something so special about celebrating 1st birthdays. The look they get when they realize that thing in front of them is yummy! SO sweet! I am ordering my lighting this week, and will be taking some pictures of the little fellow soon! I'm nervous and excited!

We also started planning in full force, Gabriel's third birthday party! Holy cow. How did that happen?! I have no clue. He said he wanted an M&M party, but I've convinced him to go with something else :) I promised him we would have lots of M&Ms though!

It's hard for me to believe Owen's almost 3 months old! This week even! I need to get cracking on his shirt! I want to mix it up this time, so we'll see what I come up with. Speaking of Owen, he learned a new trick at Atticus' birthday! People still say that he looks like me, and I LOVE that. Julian and Gabriel are mini-Barrys. Everyone says that. So for me to have a baby that resembles me, in the slightest? Amazing! And little known fact, I sucked my thumb. And look! So does my mini-me!

Well the snow is coming down, and I have a shirt to applique! Well, actually two! Look for them soon on my crafty blog!

Not much to report

2011-01-27T08:29:00.000-08:00

Laundry is going well.

Boys are doing well, minus the random puking incident on Monday night. I guess I'll tell you about that?! Julian came home from preschool and said his tummy felt funny. But nothing else. He asked for Mac & Cheese for lunch, and then didn't eat it. That's pretty typical of him. So when he didn't eat dinner, I wasn't all that surprised. He's kind of a feast or famine kind of kid. Either he EATS or he doesn't. Around 7 pm on Monday? He puked. Just once. And then said he felt better, and certainly acted completely normal and crazy, like he (and Gabe) always act before bed. He went to bed fine, we put a bowl on his bed, just in case.

At 3:00 Owen woke up for his nightly feed. He goes to bed at 9 or so, so 9-3 isn't bad. At 3:40, Julian woke up and ran to the bathroom, he puked. And that was the last of it. Upon waking Tuesday morning, completely, 100% normal. Strangest stomach bug, or whatever, ever. No sign of the other boys getting it, which is a definite blessing. I almost wonder if he ate something at preschool that didn't agree with him. When I asked him what he ate at school he said he didn't remember. So who knows. He's better now though, and that's great.

Tuesday we stayed in our PJs all day, but that's not really any different than a normal Tuesday. Since Monday, Wednesday, Friday, I have to go to preschool, I always get dressed. Tuesdays and Thursdays? It's optional in my book.

Since Julian was vomit free and no fever or anything else in 24 hours he went to school yesterday (Wednesday) and had a good day. Gabe is F.I.N.A.L.L.Y. talking to his teachers. I really don't get it. He is so chatty at home, but so quiet at school. But at least he's talking now.

Owen is almost three months old, already! I can hardly believe it! He's such a sweet, sweet boy. I just love the baby smiles I get all the time. I love that he loves to talk. He likes to gaze at his brothers. They're soooo entertaining.

Basically, life is good. And with these cute boys? How could it not be?

Some pictures from our Valentine's Day photo shoot.

And some fun with photoshop! My best friend designed these adorable mustache brushes! I &hearts them!

And look at my little stud! He's soooo happy!

Eureka!!!

2011-01-19T15:07:00.000-08:00

I've found it!

THIS

That? My friends, it's an EMPTY laundry sorter! Completely, 100% empty!

Now I know. Some of you are thinking, Yeah, yeah. So you did laundry. But, it's been for.ev.er. since I was completely and 100% done with laundry! I read every comment, and tried to figure out what would work the best for me, and my family.

I realized a few things:

1. I'm a lazy daisy. So laundry sorter IN the basement, where our washer and dryer live will probably = more productivity. I won't have to carry oh so heavy bags down 2 flights of stairs, one of which, I swear is trying to kill me.

2. It's much easier to put away one load of laundry than fifty. (Right, that should be pretty obvious.)

3. I wear a.lot of black.

4. Socks still are the devil. But they're not so bad if I do 3 pair/day vs. 15 pair (roughly 3 pairs of socks/person x 5 days)

5. It's nice to have variety of clothes for me and my kids to wear. Instead of wearing whatever was just washed, and is thus on the top of the clean clothes basket.

6. We have a lot of laundry baskets! Hopefully I'll be able to use them for something more fun than holding laundry.

I feel really good about my plan of action for laundry! It doesn't seem so daunting, and I think as long as I maintain approximately one load a day? I won't ever get behind! One load every day is a lot less scary and stressful than doing one day of a million loads. Plus it's so much easier to put away one load than a million, which means I may in fact, actually do it!

I promise no more laundry talk! Unless of course, I fail. If I fail? I guess I'll have to reevaluate :)

And just so you haven't read this whole blog for nothing:

The big boys are out getting a haircut right now, I'll have to post pictures of them when they get back!

Paging Dr McDreamy

2011-01-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

McDreamy needs to do something about his dirty face, but man this kid cracks me up! he always steals Barry's stethoscope, and puts it around his neck like a pro. He doesn't usually wear the white coat, but it was a special day.

Baby brother thinks his big brother's a wee bit crazy :)

Excited for a family weekend. I can't believe it's already mid January! I think 2011 is going to go by SUPER fast!

The L word...

2011-01-10T10:25:00.000-08:00

And not the good one. This time? I'm talking about LAUNDRY. Yes, I know it's dirty, bad word. But I need help. I feel like the laundry is never ending. And it's not Owen. I felt this way before we had him. It's just my least favorite chore. Folding and putting away laundry? That = torture to me. Especially my kids clothes. Perhaps they have too much? Perhaps I just hate tiny little things to put away. I don't know. But I need advice.

Here's our current laundry set up.

In our room (awful, hence the reason for this post)
Whites, lights, darks (If you don't know, I pretty much ONLY wear black ;) )

Boys hamper

Towels

So, you see my dilemma. I have too many clothes to do. Please help me!

Should I incorporate boys clothes into ours? I feel like I neglect their laundry because it's out of sight (in their closet) until they have no more long sleeves to wear! and then it's crazy!

I use to have a schedule like Monday lights, Tuesday, darks, Wednesday Julian, Thursday Gabe, Friday whites and towels. But it didn't work so well. Should I change the schedule?

Give me advice. Tell me how YOU do laundry. Please also remember I have diaper laundry 2-3 times a week. But if I could only get a handle on the clothes laundry I could easily squeeze diapers in somewhere! HELP!

Party Time

2011-01-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

So New Year's Eve, we bought those little noise blowers. But. Barry and I were in bed long before midnight, and the boys at about 8 pm. Last night seemed like the perfect night to do those noisemakers!

The boys had so much fun picking colors and making.so.much.noise!

this one makes me laugh!

Three Years

2011-01-06T06:07:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about this post for a while now. Wondering what I could say that would be worthy of this post. I still don't have a clue.

Kristy was and I'm sure is an amazing and generous person. She was truly beautiful both inside and out.

It's funny the things that remind me of her. Or the memories that pop into my mind, ALL THE TIME! Sometimes I'll be looking for a phone number in my phone, and pass by hers. It's still in my phone. And probably always will be.

When I watch Glee, I think to myself, Kristy would LOVE this show. Or Kristy would HATE this song.

When I watch Grey's Anatomy, I often wonder if Kristy would be sad about George leaving. And Izzie.

Now I know. Those are shows. They're nothing important, or life changing. But, I think those are the things I miss the most. The little things.

It's also crazy the things I remember SO clearly from that day three years ago. I remember teaching my class at church, and seeing the Bishop's face in the window of the door. His eyes looked so sad. But he knew, so I'm sure. He was sad.

I remember googling this horrific event, knowing that it had to be some cruel joke, and seeing her van on the front page of KSL.

I remember feeling SO awful that it was her birthday, and I'd totally forgotten. I need to get over that. But to this day? I still feel bad about it.

My wonderful and courageous mother-in-law has asked that today be a day of service. That's what Kristy would have wanted. That's just the kind of person she is. What are YOU going to do to serve today?

Today, I promise to be more like Kristy. Always serving. Kind. Loving. Funny. Outgoing. Giving. Obedient. Always smiling.

Not just for today though. Everyday. But especially today.

2 Months, really?!

2011-01-05T05:53:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Owen's 2 month birthday! I have trouble believing that it was already 2 months ago that I was so huge! 2 months ago my mom was here visiting! 2 months ago that I only had 2 boys to take care of. But, the calendar says it's the 5th, so it must be true.

Owen had a doctor's appointment yesterday. I brought all three with me, why I didn't schedule it for a day when the bigs had preschool? I'll never know, but it went surprisingly well! And I don't regret bringing them. We played I-Spy, read books, and had a pretty fun time until the doctor was in.

I was guesstimating Owen to weigh about 14 lbs, and I was close!

Here are his 2 month stats:

Height 25"! 99%
Weight 13 lbs 12 oz 91%
Head Circumference 16" 91%.

I can honestly say he's the first of my boys to be taller than he is wide :) He doesn't look chubby to me, aside from his cheeks. His legs aren't overly roll-y (yet) and his arms lack the sausage rings (for now).

Here are some pictures from our 2 month shoot.

Boo-boos from his shots (I kind of love how his bandaids {or boo-boos as Gabe calls them} match his shirt and diaper)

He spent much of the day sleeping, poor baby

Or looking at me suspiciously

Not a whole lot of these (until 1 in the morning, which is his preferred smiling time!)

And, quite a bit of this

All in all though, it was a pretty good day. We took down our Christmas stuff, except the cards. They're still up. What on earth do I do with old Christmas cards? It seems so wrong to just throw them away. But I don't know how to keep them, or why I would keep them. Not like I'm going to put them back up next year. What do YOU do with old Christmas cards?

We went to Target after dinner and found some stockings, that match, and they were only $2.50 each! Seriously. Can't beat that! And got some lights for the house, but I have to go exchange them. Barry didn't realize that 2 boxes said green wires, and 2 said white. We want white :) And an adorable snowman decoration for next year. $25 for all of that! Love Target clearance!

My boys were so excited to FINALLY eat the candy canes that were on the tree!

Love

The boys go back to preschool today, and I couldn't be more thrilled, but somehow I think their excitement is greater than mine.

My Baby is BLESSED :)

2011-01-03T09:49:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, Barry was able to bless our baby at church. He did such a great job. Owen was blessed with so many special things, and is apparently going to be a great example. He was awake the whole time, and didn't make a peep.

I posted on my Wanna Be Crafty Blog about the desire to MAKE his outfit. I'd bought Julian and Gabriel's at Babies R Us, so now that I have the ability to knit, and make clothes, I decided I should do it.

With the hat

SUPER cute buggy eyes!

Brotherly Love (I really &hearts this picture)

SO cute!

Woohoo it's 2011!

2011-01-02T08:10:00.000-08:00

So one of my goals/resolutions, whatever, is to blog more. Now I'm not trying to set myself up for failure and say blog EVERYDAY. I just don't have it in me. But maybe once a week isn't such a lofty goal? I want to take more pictures too! I love doing it, and man, my kids are cute!

2010 ended a little funny. Our power was out. I'd just gone into the kitchen to start browning the beef for tacos. I'd literally turned the burner on and was about to open up the beef. DARKNESS. And it's so weird when the power goes out because it's not just dark, it's DARK. After half an hour with no power, and knowing my boys would be getting hungry soon (Barry included) and not having any clue when the power would come back on, we went to Perkins. It was such a fun time. We laughed so much, the boys behaved, and actually ATE their dinners! Shocking for Julian, I know!

Julian was so excited about the power outage, he wanted to lay in his sleeping bags, by the fireplace all night. So when we got home from dinner, we watched a show, and then pulled out their sleeping bags. As we knew, they wouldn't fall asleep. So we carried them up to their beds. They still had fun pretending to sleep by the fire :)

Barry and I watched a couple episodes of season 2 of Lost. And then went to bed at 11! My first kiss of 2011 came from Baby Owen &hearts

The boys got these cool sciency food kits for Christmas, from my sister Angee. We didn't have the ingredients for the science one, but the gum kit came with everything. So yesterday, the boys made gum.

J made super sour watermelon. Gabe just regular watermelon. Here are some pictures from that messy adventure. (And Thank you Barry for taking care of this mess!)

Patting the gum

Blue!

More rolling/patting

Dirty face, waiting patiently for his gum!

Gabey patting/rolling his gum

Julian's finished gumballs!

Pat-Pat-Pat

Squish-Squish-Squish

So happy. (He's seriously like this 90% of the time!)

Show me your gum!

We decided to feed our gingerbread house to the squirrels!

One beeeeeefy squirrel

Yesterday I was also able to FINALLY see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Finallllly! Thank you Barry for watching all three boys so I could go with Laura. We had so much fun eating Cold Stone and I brought my knitting! I was really excited to get home to this little guy though!

I really enjoyed Harry Potter. It just.ended. And that's not my favorite type of endings. I know part 2 comes out soon. But gah! I can't wait! I'm so impatient.

I really hope that 2011 is as wonderful for us as 2010 was! We really had a good year!

Merry Christmas from the Palizzis

2010-12-28T16:27:00.000-08:00

The wrapping paper is finally gone, the boxes thrown away, and all toys assembled. The boys are finally coming down from there permanent sugar highs. We hope that you had an enjoyable Christmas season. We sure did. From oreo balls, to train tables, to millions and millions of legos.

On Wednesday, the boys had their holiday concert. It was ADORABLE! Seriously. Julian was such a ham, such a performer, and not shy at all! it was amazing. Gabe? Well he was his normal preschool self. He didn't do much, but he sure looked cute standing up at the front :) It's so weird that he's so bubbly, and full of personality at home, with friends, but at preschool, he doesn't ever talk. I think now it's a battle of wills. He has both my stubbornness, and Barry's, so I think he just might win. He's showing his stubbornness in his reluctance to potty learn!

Meet Buddy. He's our Elf on the Shelf. Super cute, and original name. Right? They love the movie Elf, so Buddy was the natural choice.

Gabe, before his concert. SO cute.

Julian singing the Reindeer Pokey. So cute!

Baby Owen listening to the concert by the preschool children.

And Gabe just standing there, not performing :)

Here's a video of the Reindeer Pokey <3

We took the boys to see Santa. Julian and Gabe talked big, and said they would sit on Santa's lap. In reality? Julian stood about 5 feet away, and yelled what he wanted to Santa, "Lego City Airplane" and Gabe stood closer, but whispered, "Brogan has, chugga table." His friend Brogan has a train table, and that's what Gabe wanted! Only one of my boys was brave enough to sit on Santa's lap.

We got their school pictures. Juilan's was really hard to choose from! He was cheesing in ALL of them!

Gabe's? They looked exactly the same in every picture, like 9 of them.

We got a nice little snowfall on Christmas Eve. It was so nice to have Barry home, so I could play with the boys outside!

Gabey playing in the snow!

Jules trying to catch a snowflake on his tongue!

Our mini snowman! The snow was gorgeous, but not very packable, or maybe it was just me?

We have a family tradition, each person gets jammies on Christmas Even night. I ordered the boys' way back in July, from baby Gap. They were having a great sale! And man I'm glad I did. How cute is this picture?

The LOOT!

The boys seeing the stuff that Santa brought for the first time!

My Christmas baby

Enjoying his train table!

Sorry for the picture dump! I haven't blogged in a while! But that's one of my new years resolutions. Blog More. Take more pictures. Work out. And wear makeup again. Maybe eat a little better...we'll see about this one :)

DMU Magazine

2010-12-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

WAY back during Barry's second year, we were approached by a woman at thew school. She worked for the DMU Magazine and would be writing a story on students with families and wondered if we were interested in being interviewed. We said yes, Barry gave her his email address, and went on our ways.

Fast forward to this past August. Barb emailed Barry and said they were writing the article, and wanted to set up an interview with us. We met her at Centennial Park, and she asked us tons of questions. The boys behaved and played a lot, and weren't too shy with her.

Fast Forward some more to October. Article was written, and they wanted our pictures! So we got all dressed and went down to DMU. I was miserably pregnant, 38 and some weeks. It went well, and we were excited to read it!

Yesterday, I got a disc with the family photo they'd taken!

One of my last belly p[ics!

And you can read the article at http://www.dmu.edu/magazine/

The time is flying by!

2010-12-12T12:14:00.001-08:00

If I thought time moved fast with two kids, it's moving three times as fast with three. I never shared Owen's newborn pictures with you. Or his birth announcement (which is going out in the mail this week, along with our fabulous Christmas cards). Or his 1 month pictures. That's right folks. My BABY is already past the one month mark! So I'm going to share.

Owen's Newborn Shoot. This was my second time photographing a newborn, in any sort of artistic way. With Julian, I just had my P&S camera, and was SNAP.HAPPY. Seriously. And Gabe? Well, I had Stacy. And she does amazing work. So I had no reason to take pictures of my own. I attempted pictures of my nephew Preston when he was first born, and some of them turned out OK, but nothing stellar, nothing special. Just cute baby, ya know? I'm pretty proud of the way these turned out. I'm not posting every.single.one, because there'd be probably 100. These are some of my favorites from the little session.

The announcement! Designed by my DEAR friend, Jackie! She's so amazing!

Owen's One Month!
I appliqued this onesie on the 3rd, knowing I'd need to take pictures on the 4th. My *goal* is to have a onesie or t-shirt for every month-day. We'll see how I do! He looks SO different, already! I can't believe it. Looking at his newborn pictures made me all misty, and newborn hungry! There's something just irrisistable about a squishy, snuggly, newborn! Also, early reports show that Owen, SHOCKINGLY, may look like ME!

I weighed myself the other night, and then weighed Owen, and he was 11.8 lbs! Holy Toledo! Such a big boy, but he's SO long, that he doesn't look as chubby as my babies usually do! He doesn't have an appointment until 2 months, so I won't have anything official until then! He is such a good baby, and sleeps pretty well. He usually wakes once in the night to eat, get a diaper change, and then goes back to sleep until 7ish. Mama likes!

We had a special visitor here the last week. Barry's mom, Ann, came to visit us! She's the first of the Palizzis to make the trek to Iowa! We had so much fun. She made English Toffee that was supposed to be for the ladies I visiting teach, but it accidentally got eaten. And sugar cookies! We went to WaterWorks park and saw the Christmas Lights. Got the Christmas shopping done for the boys. Let me just say, Julian and Gabe are going to be HAPPY CAMPERS come Christmas Morning! Nailed down Christmas presents for my niece and nephews! It was a really fun visit!

Julian eating a cookie!

The boys got a little sprinkle happy...

I love the Costco Gingerbread House Kits, and so do the boys!

Julian said the next morning, "Mommy, I tried to use a gumdrop as the door knob, but it didn't work. Sooooo, I ate it."

Well this post is mighty long! So I'll bid you adieu!

Ho Ho Ho!

2010-12-03T13:07:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Christmas card time. In past years, I've designed my own Christmas card, been really organized and had family pictures taken in a timely matter. This year? Not so much. Having my third baby a month ago (cry cry, time goes by SO quickly!) has kind of thrown a wrench in my typical holiday preparations.

Enter Shutterfly!

They have SO many adorable designs for Christmas cards, it was nearly impossible for me to pick JUST one. I was able to though, after much deliberation.

It seriously couldn't be easier to upload your favorite Christmas picture, or pictures, and order your card for the 2010 Holiday Season!

There are seriously SO many fabulous designs to choose from. I know that you'll have trouble deciding, just as I did! There are designs for every personality!

Here are some of my favorite ones, but I did not include the one I am going to order! There's gotta be SOME surprises in life :)

#1-Snowflake Elegnace

#2-Holiday Lights

#3-Paper Ornaments

I had so much fun taking pictures of the boys for our shoot. And the boys? Cooperated. For the most part. Owen was a typical diva, and wouldn't look at the camera :)

Here are some pictures that WON'T be seen on our family Christmas card!

Total Cheeseballs

Another awesome thing about ordering from Shutterfly? It's not JUST Christmas cards, or prints. There are SO many amazing gifts! Photo books? Yep! Calendars? You betcha! Canvas Wall Art? You know it!

I am so excited for my Christmas cards this year, and it was so much easier. I', not designing another Christmas Card! Shutterfly is the way to go!

Finally...a birth story!

2010-11-22T10:39:00.001-08:00

Sorta graphic. So if this sorta thing isn't your cup o' tea...don't read my friends! :)

Owen Barry’s Birth Story

On Wednesday, November 3rd, I called the hospital that I was supposed to be induced at, the next day. I received the news that I wasn’t on their books, but that I was likely scheduled for induction at the hospital downtown. I cried. A lot. I was told by my doctor the week prior that there were no open inductions until Thursday the 4th. Of course not, because the downtown hospital is much, much busier than the hospital in West Des Moines. We were able to get it switched, so that my induction was going to be at the hospital close to my home, and all was set for me to go in at 7:30 the following morning.

Barry and I woke up at 6:00 and got ready for the day. I showered the night before, and we got dressed, and I ate a piece of toast, since I knew I wouldn’t be eating for a while. We’d told the boys that they were to stay with grandma, and that Baby Owen was going to be born that day. Julian was so excited, and so was Gabe, I think.

We got to the hospital at 7:15, because that’s how we roll, always early. And they got me back to my room super fast, and introduced me to my nurse, and she said she’d be with me until 7, and that we’d have a baby by noon. She was an optimistic one. :) I was the only delivery that day, so it was nice. We got the IV started, and my antibiotic going, and per the doctor on call’s (Doctor P) orders, pitocin started. I was 3 cm dilated and 50-60% effaced (which is less effaced than I was at the doctor’s a week before....strange, I think.) A little while after that, the doctor that was rounding, Doctor M came in, and broke my water. The fluid was clear. I also had a random spike in my blood pressure as the nurse was explaining to Doctor M that I’d had a previous 4th degree tear (don’t google, seriously), and that the nurse had delivered my 2nd baby. So I had to get a PIH (pregnancy induced hypertension) blood draw. All was fine with the blood draw, aside from being anemic. Before they broke my water, Dr. M asked if I wanted a c-section, which is standard for people with previous 4th degree tears.

So Barry and I took to the halls, and walked. We walked that circle numerous times. And each time the contractions just wouldn’t get stronger. They kept bumping my pitocin, and nothing would happen. Turns out, my IV was sensitive, and if I had my hand a certain way? It wasn’t giving me any medicine! Once we figured out that, I was able to finally get some contractions going, but they weren’t showing up on the monitor! So I had to get an internal contraction monitor. Luckily, Owen’s heart rate was steady and strong, and we were able to get it easily each and every time. Getting the internal monitor was awful! AWFUL. Barry had gone downstairs to get something to eat, I warned him, “Don’t get something stinky.” And he didn’t. Before they put the monitor in, they noticed that Owen had pooped, there was some meconium in the fluid. They weren’t really worried, it just meant that another person would be in the room when he was born.

Once the monitor was in, (about 2 pm) contractions started getting crazy. I’d opted for no epidural. I did sign the consent form, but never needed it. So, like with Gabe, I stalled out at 4 cm for most of the day. About 5 o’clock, Doctor M called (she was working in the clinic across the street from the hospital) and Doctor P was still downtown delivering some inductions. He was to be on his way as soon as he was finished up downtown. Elkie, my nurse, was too nervous for Doctor M to run errands, so Doctor M came up to the room and hung out until Doctor P could get there. I made very little progress with Dr. M in the room.

When I was contracting, I would repeat to myself, “Everything is going to be ok. This is almost over. Only temporary pain. Everything will be ok.” It really helped to calm myself, and helped me get through the contractions. I would also picture my cute big boys smiling at me, and that also helped me to calm down and not panic with contractions.

Once Dr. P settled in with his Newsweek, I finally made some fast and furious progress. I went from 5-9 pretty quickly, and then, because of Owen’s position, was stuck at 9. I pretty much begged for some IV drugs, which were always an option, and after one dose of Sublimaze, I felt pretty good. ‘Dreamed‘ about yellow balloons, and was able to rest for about 10 minutes before Dr. P decided to see if he could push the cervix away, during a contraction, and I was finally complete! I pushed through one contraction, and Dr. P said, “Next contraction you’ll have a baby!” I totally didn’t believe him, but he was right. Next contraction and Baby Owen was born! As soon as I saw him, I totally melted, and cried. I don’t remember ever crying (happy tears of course) with the other boys. Itw as just such a different experience.

I ended up with a partial 3rd degree tear, he called it a 2 1/2. Owen’s apgar scores were 8 and 9, and the meconium ended up being a non issue. He’d pooped after the water was broken, so he’d not aspirated any into his lungs. Which was a definite blessing.

Owen was born at 6:40 pm. 8 lbs 11.9 oz, and 21 3/4” long. I’m pretty proud of myself for not having an epidural, I had one with both Julian and Gabe. It was an awesome and intense experience. Owen is seriously the sweetest baby, and it’s so amazing how he has been able to fit into a place that I never even knew was empty.

(In this one, you can see how his head is swollen from sitting funny on my cervix)

Pouty

All cleaned up!

Meeting the biggest brother!

GIANT feet!

Hanging out with mom in the hospital bed.

Squishy Face

Cute Face

Cute, but trouble.

His going home outfit! Loooooove longies on newborns!

Ready to go!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2010-11-18T17:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my *gulp* 27th birthday. It was also, Mr. Owen's 2 week birthday! We celebrated with a party at the pediatrician's office. No seriously. It was like a party. Julian, Gabe, Owen, me, the doctor and the doctor's medical student. Like I said, a party! A week ago, we went for a weight check and Owen was still weighing in at 8lbs 3 oz, which was his discharge weight. The doctor said he hoped Owen would be at his birth weight by next week, aka yesterday, and guess what? He was! He was 8 lbs 15 oz! Chunky monkey! He has also grown almost an inch, 22 1/2" already! Holy smokes. No wonder those newborn clothes haven't ever quite fit him right!

So, in honor of my many, many, many blessings, that's what this post is going to be.

27 things that I'm thankful for. One for each year I've been alive.

1. My health. Seriously I feel wonderful for being 2 weeks post-partum. Healing great, sleeping as well as can be expected. I'm just blessed to be extra healthy this time.

2. Barry. I'm not quite sure how I would survive this crazy journey without him.

(The following three are in birth order...)
3. Julian. He is such a sweet and kind kid. I'm so lucky to be his mom. While he does frustrate the bejeezus out of me sometimes, in the next second, he's warmed my heart to the max!

4. Gabriel. Seriously. He made me cry at preschool the other day. It was mommy day, and his teachers had asked him what he likes to do to help mommy. His answer? "Help with baby Owen." I cried. He is the most generous, kind, and sharing 2 year old I've ever met.

5. Owen. Nothing like snuggling a baby fresh from heaven. He is the sweetest little guy ever. I am so smitten. And I'm such a baby hog.
(2 weeks ago, while we were still at the hospital)

6. Cake. It was my birthday, so it only stands to reason I had cake last night! Yum! It was even pink.

7. My house. I know we're only renting, but I love having a feeling of permanence.

8. The Army National Guard.
(and men in uniform...)

9. My family. I've been so blessed to have such wonderful and caring parents. My mom came and stayed with me for 2 1/2 weeks. And my dad came to visit for the weekend. So wonderful to be able to spend time with them, and that they were able to meet and snuggle Owen.
(seriously, how cute is this?)

10. Knitting. It's so nice to have finally found something, some way to channel my creativity. I've tried SO many things, and failed. I'm glad there's something I'm kinda good at. I also love being able to make things for my kids. How cool is that? (Even though Julian refuses to wear anything I make him...grumble, grumble)

11. My sewing machine. Again, I can't SEW, but I can applique. It's fun. And it lets me be creative without too much risk.

12. The Internet, and my online friends. I seriously have been so blessed, online. I'm so lucky to have met such wonderful people on numerous message boards. If you're reading this, you know who you are :D

13. My camera. I'm so happy to have a way to capture life's little moments. It helps I have some cute little subjects to take pictures of.

14. Books. How else could I visit Sweden, or Hogwarts, or The Arena. Seriously. I'm thankful for books and authors, and that I can read whatever I want, whenever I want, as long as my little dictators say it's OK.

15. DMU. I'm so happy that Barry is able to follow his dream, and DMU has made it a reality.

16. Facebook. I know I already said the Internet, but because of facebook, I've been able to get back in touch with tons of friends that I've just lost touch with along the way.

17. Uggs. Best, most comfy shoes ever.

18. Hulu, Netflix Watch Instantly, and My DVR. I love being able to watch my favorite shows when I have time. Especially with a new baby, I can't always stay up late to watch them. Most days I'm ready to crash by 7.

19. My favorite shows. I don't like drama in my real life, but I sure do like it in my tv shows. And hot guys, and girls.

20. Clearance Racks. I'm a sucker for bargains. I love saving money, but don't know, or care to know how to coupon. I'm not into that. I just love clearance racks, and buying my kids cute clothes for little $$ :)

21. A garage. It's wintery. True, we haven't had snow, but I'm so thankful that I can pull my car into the garage, and that I don't have to get my kids piled into the explorer in the elemnts. (At least not while I'm at home.)

22. Cloth Diapers. I've not been so diligent in my cloth usage with Owen as I'd hoped. Partly because he was so squirmy and curly. Partly because Barry has no idea how to use prefolds, but I love not seeing our garbage full of disposable diapers. We've been using cloth exclusively for the past 3 days, and I love that my garbage isn't exploding! (OK I take that back, he did wear one disposable today, when I only left prefolds downstairs with Barry, and I went to take a nap)

23. The gospel. I love it. It fits me perfectly. I'm so thankful to know my Heavenly Father, and to know that he knows me, and loves me. Even though I'm far from perfect.

24. Music. Nothing can change or set a mood like music.

25. My Bed. We recently got a new mattress, and it's glorious. GLORIOUS. I love crawling in there, especially with the hint of winter, and just snuggling in. Love.

26. Wonderful friends. I talked about my online friends, now I'm giving a shout out to my BFFs IRL!
(Some of the besties right here!)

And last but not least...

27. My in-laws! So lucky to have married into such a wonderful family. &hearts

And just so you and I know. This, is what 27 looks like. (PS, why yes, yes I am quite tired.)

I promise my next post will be chock full of pictures of my new baby, and a birth story!

Introducing...

2010-11-14T16:34:00.001-08:00

Owen Barry

Born November 4th 2010 at 6:40 pm

He weighed in at an astonishing 8 lbs 11.9 oz (I'm gonna call it 8 lbs 12 oz, because seriously.)

And 21 and 3/4" Long

I will post my birth story, it was CRAZY intense, and some more pictures soon! My mom just left, (cry, cry, cry) and I've got to learn how to balance three crazy little boys on my own!

And I need to figure out who was the closest for the guessing!

Anxious!

2010-10-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

We're still anxiously awaiting the arrival of little Owen.

I had a doctors appointment today. While I am progressing, (I'm now 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced, and he's -2 station) I'm still pregnant :)

One of my best friends had her 3rd baby on Thursday, and she was due the same day as me! So I'm a little envious, and pretty ready to be done.

My mom flew in today, so I would realllllly like him to be born soon! She's here for two and a half weeks. The boys have been ridiculously excited for Grammy, and seriously won't leave her side.

I have an induction scheduled for Thursday, but if you can spare some prayers, I'd really like some eviction notices for little Owen!

Thanks!

Six Years!

2010-10-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today is my 6 year wedding anniversary! Six whole years! I honestly can't believe it's already been a year since my last anniversary!

Who knew that in 6 years we'd go from this

To this

To this

To this

To a family of *almost* 5!

I love you Barry Palizzi! <3

Full Term, Baby.

2010-10-19T05:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I hit a monumental time in a pregnancy, the magical 37 week mark. This means that my baby is officially 'full term' and is given the go ahead by most medical professionals to come out and meet the family.

Friday I had an ultrasound to gauge where exactly Mr. Owen's growth is. Now I use the term 'exactly' loosely, because ultrasounds can be off up to a pound +/-. On Friday they estimated his weight to be around 7 lbs. He's approximately 65% in his statistics, EXCEPT for the dreaded one. His head. His head is measuring at about 41 weeks. You do the math. It's big. My doctor assured me though, that his head, while giant, is still smaller than Julian's was. So that's a relief.

As of Friday I was 1.5 cm dilated and 70% effaced (and that was before I was 'full term').

Here's a picture of the littlest Palizzi.

Oh, and looking at this picture, his head is on the right, looking right at you. He has huge cheeks, and you can even see his lips.

So here's what I want you to do. If you read my blog. Comment, and tell me WHEN you think he's going to be born. How much he will weigh. How long he will be. And last, but definitely not least, what time you think he will be born. The winner will get something fabulous. Not sure what, yet, but I assure you. Fabulous it will be.

So comment info (on the blog, not on facebook)
When
Weight
Height/Length
Time

Obviously this contest will be over when I have the baby. Whoever is the closest will win said fabulous prize.

For the record,
Julian was born on his due date, weighed 8 lbs 2 oz, and was 20 1/4" long/tall. He was born (I think) at 6:26 pm.

Gabriel was born at 38 weeks 2 days, weighed 8 lbs 3 oz, and was 20 1/4" long/tall. He was born at (I think again) 6:38 pm.

The Most Beautiful of Weekends!

2010-10-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

So I don't know if you remember, but last year, this same weekend, in Des Moines, it SNOWED. Like snowed, snowed. And I was not at all prepared for this. If you want you can read back, here. This weekend? High 80's. Sunny, no wind. Just, perfect.

This rotation has been kind of crazy for Barry. Some days he's home by 5, others not until 7. It just varies, depending on the nursing home they are visiting, the patients, the doctors. Oh yeah, he's doing geriatrics. Friday afternoon, I got a call from him at about noon, which isn't completely unusual. He sometimes calls before he goes to the nursing home. This time? He said, "Doctor gave me some orders. I have to come home and spend time with my wifey-poo." The boys and I had a lunch date planned with the ever-wonderful Sandy, and he decided to meet up with us! It was such a nice treat not having to chase around the boys 100% by myself. Don't get me wrong, my boys aren't that wild, or out of control (most of the time) I'm just getting big. And tired.

Friday night I had my first 'official' not my kids, photo shoot. I'm still in the process of editing the images, but I think they turned out pretty well.

Saturday morning, we got dressed and drove out to Winterset for the Covered Bridge Festival. Then we saw how busy it was, and didn't have a stroller for the beasts, and I got all panicky and decided I wasn't up for the crowd at this stage of my pregnancy. It looked like a ton of fun. But we ended up going to Howell's Pumpkin Patch. It was so cute and fun, though a bit pricey, I mean $24 is a lot for kids to play in a corn pool, swing on tire horses, and slide down this weird huge slide. It was fun, but there were WAY too many people for me. I have kind of an aversion to crowds as of late.

There were chickens

Pretty Fall Leaves

A cute mini horse?

One of those funny face-things

The swings were a lot of fun!

We learned how tall the boys are

The giant slide, I referenced it earlier.

Gabe was a little freaked to go by himself, though only slightly comforted by daddy taking him down.

Gabe wasn't so good with the steering

Neither was J.

I <3 Iowa

Here's a cool self pic

And just the beautiful weather we've been having!

So lame with the blogging

2010-10-06T06:14:00.000-07:00

I wish I had some great excuse as to why I haven't been blogging. I just haven't.

So here's a little September recap.

For drill weekend, Barry's unit had a BBQ! It was really, really fun, and some of our best friends, The Hubbards were there. I actually remembered to bring my camera (shock!) and was able to get some cute pictures of the kiddos.

Now I'm just going to say. I do not love Gabe more than Julian. He is just such a poser that it's SO much easier to take photos of him!

Cheeseball

Gabe looooves watermelon! (That's my boy!)

One of those rare moments that Julian cooperated with me.

Gabe was so excited to be in the tree, like J.

Gabe and his 'cute flower'

Julian has preschool on Mondays, and Gabe and I have been enjoying our dates together. We usually do something silly like go to Target, or play at the park. But I really love spending that one on one time with him, and he really does too. This last week though, he cried because he couldn't go to preschool. I definitely take that as a good sign!

I'm 35 weeks pregnant, as of Monday! Holycow! Gabe and I went to the hospital on Monday to drop off my pre registration paperwork! Owen is considered full term in just less than 2 weeks! Freaking me out! The room is almost done, I should take pictures for it. And we ordered the swing last night. I do need to wash the car seat fabric, cover, whatever it's called, but then I think we're good to go.

I want to show you the swing. I am sooo stoked for it, and I have a few pregnant mamas that might read my blog.

It's called a MamaRoo.
http://www.4momsonline.com/mamaroo

And I can thank my super talented friend, Jackie for introducing me to it. I'm so excited. I got the silver, in case you're curious.

We also went to Jackie's little boy, Brogan's birthday party a few weekends ago. It was really fun, and Brogan was so lucky to get a train table. It was a Thomas themed party, so I got the idea to applique a shirt for the birthday boy.

I think it turned out pretty cute! Jackie also made the most spectacular cake I have ever seen.

Seriously. She made this.

And not only is it beautiful, but it was DELICIOUS. The first part was chocolate cake with peanut butter filling. Are you kidding me? And the bottom was almond cake with white chocolate ganache filling. (I didn't eat two slices of cake, I've had her almond cake and white chocolate ganache before! Delish!)

September was a busy, but good month for us! October is proving to be just as busy! Today the boys have preschool, and I'm the mom in one of the classes! The Waukee fire department is bringing by a firetruck, and I know a certain two year old who is going to be ridiculously excited!

SwagBucks

2010-10-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

So if you're my friend on facebook, you've seen the many, many posts that say, "Christia has just won 7 swagbucks by searching the web" or something to that effect. Swagbucks, is bar none, the coolest thing I have ever done on the interwebz.

I mean you search for stuff all the time anyway, right? Why not get 'paid' to do it?

So here's how it works
Click Here

That is my referral link. If you sign up, and search, I get Swagbucks. You can then turn the swagbucks in for gift cards, prizes, pretty much awesome stuff. I've been saving them up for Amazon.com gift cards! I've been doing Swagbucks for a few months now, and have received over $100 in Amazon gift cards! Pretty impressive for just searching the web.

I downloaded the Swagbucks tool bar. I use the toolbar to search for everything. Literally. Blogger, check. Gmail, check. Facebook, check. You don't get swagbucks for searching everything, they randomly reward you, but that kind of makes it more fun! Fridays are extra bonus days, you have more opportunities to win!

I know, it seems too good to be true, but I have nothing but positive things to say about Swagbucks. I think you all should sign up!

First Day of School!

2010-09-22T10:28:00.000-07:00

In my futile attempt at 'catching up' I'm going to post some pictures of my boys' first day of preschool. It happened exactly 2 weeks ago, September 8th. Gabe was not so enthused about going to preschool, despite many failed attempts at sneaking into Julian's class last year. To say that I was nervous for my baby would be an understatement.

Gabe was really excited to wear his backpack, like J.

Julian goes to class 15 whole minutes before Gabe does. So we had some time to kill. Before class started, we ran into one of Julian's best friends, Mya!

J is obviously thrilled for mamarazzi to be in full force.

I think in this picture, he was trying to tell me that his class is this way...

Julian, as expected, adores preschool. Loves his teachers and is generally excited to go. The one drawback for him? The clothing requirement. I think he'd like school much better if he were free to wear his undies.

Gabe on the other hand, he's taken some convincing. Today was the first day he didn't cry. The first day he played with his teachers, and the first day he didn't look at me like, "OH MY GOSH MOM YOU SAVED ME" when I picked him up. So we're gonna take that as a good sign.

Gabe's first day of school stamp. (I totally remember Julian LOVING the stamps in the 2 year old class! Gabe's following suit)

I just love his profile.

And Here Ma hold my backpack

Labor Day, already?

2010-09-07T06:56:00.000-07:00

Another 3 day weekend has come, and passed. I can't believe the unofficial end of summer has already graced us with its presence.

Typically, labor day is spent out in nature, or camping, or something adventurous like that. Not for the Palizzis. We prefer a different sort of adventure. The Mall of America.

Now for those of you that have never been before, let me just say it's massive. Like whoa, overwhelming, and CRAZY! Luckily we got there shortly after opening, so we were able to find a parking spot relatively easily. We got to park and enter at my favorite, favorite store, one that I miss so much. Nordstrom. I didn't get to shop much though, 2 kids, and an impatient husband will do that. But just being there, made me feel good. We also got something special outside of Nordstrom, See's Candy. Now I've heard rumblings that there is a store in Des Moines, I just haven't had the luck to find it. But after purchasing a pound of dark chocolates, we were good to go.

I have some friends, that I met online, FIVE years ago! On a parenting forum, for people due in March 2006. They live in the Mall of America's general vicinity, and I was lucky enough to meet up with them back in October of 2008! We were lucky enough to meet up with Ginger and her two girls at the Rain Forest Cafe! Which was super fun for the kids, and had delicious food! I got the nachos, which is an appetizer, but is huge! And Barry had fish tacos (No idea where that one came from, straight outta left field!) And the boys had good ol' Mac and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets. But they were good eaters, and ate quite a bit of their food.

Oh! Something I forgot to mention, Mall of America has an amusement park, INSIDE of the mall. Like a full fledged amusement park. And it's Nickelodeon themed! Which means all of the boys' favorites, Spongebob, Wonderpets, and Dora and her cousin Diego! They were stoked to see all of the decorations, and were able to ride 2 rides really quickly with absolutely no line! After lunch, it was a different story. We had 6 points (I guess it's like tickets)and waited FOREVER for the carousel. The boys were satisfied with their 3 rides, though Diego's rescue ride scared Gabe. Barry said he was shaking :( Poor baby.

They also have a LEGOS store. And I don't know what magically happened, but Legos? They're the shiz around here. The only thing Julian wants to play with, the only thing he wants to look at, when we go to Target. So a whole Legos store? Heaven for the kid. Apparently there's usually a HUGE store, with huge Lego figures and crazy things, but this store chocked full of Legos was enough to satisfy my little block head :)

Here are some pictures from our little trip-
The kids outside of Rainforest Cafe

Waiting in line for the aquarium

In the Aquarium, my little fish

At the touch tank

In Sharky's Treasure Chest

To Fringe...or Not To Fringe

2010-08-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

So I have a hair appointment tomorrow! Yay me, yay for time away from kids, and time for just me. So excited.

But I have a problem. My bangs/fringe. Do I recut it? Do I let it grow? Do I keep it somewhere in the middle?

For the record, this is what we're dealing with currently:

Me with fringe

Without-(For the record, this picture is almost 2 years old! eep!)

So vote, if you will. Yes to fringe. No to fringe. I need help.

Take a walk with me...

2010-07-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

...down memory lane.

In preparation for Owen's arrival, and in my quest to delay packing until the minute before we actually depart Iowa, for Texas, I am looking at old pictures.

Two years ago, I had a 2 year old and a baby.

2 year old

Baby

Now, almost exactly 2 years later (Can you believe we've been in Iowa for literally 2 years? We were getting ready to leave Puyallup 2 years ago this week!) I have a 4 year old and a 2 year old.

4 year old

2 year old

Best of friends

Totally trouble

Happy 11th of July!!!

2010-07-13T07:47:00.000-07:00

So I'm from Washington. Y'all already know that. But did you know that I don't remember a single 4th of July without rain? Seriously, honestly and truly. Well last year, it didn't rain here. But that really doesn't count. This year, it rained on 4th of July (here in Iowa) and apparently, they can and do cancel the 4th of July, postpone it until the weather cooperates! This all happened without my knowledge. I sure did drive around at 9 pm on the 4th of July hoping to see some fireworks. If Washington postponed the fireworks for a better day, there would never be fireworks! As it turns out, though, postponing was a fabulous idea! Yesterday the weather was amazing, after some downpour in the morning.

So the boys and I decided to pack into the car, and drive the 3 blocks to the middle school. I put them in their (matching because I'm THAT kind of mom) pajamas and we drove to the middle school. We sat on a blanket and waited 20 minutes for the fireworks to start. After the first firework, Gabe was ready to go. He was crying and shaking and his heart was beating so fast. After the 2nd boom, Julian was ready to go too. Once we got back into the car, the boys were a lot more brave and pointed out the many fireworks that were 'broke into pieces' according to Gabe. Turns out? We had a PERFECT view of the fireworks from our DRIVEWAY! Too bad the boys were still too traumatized to watch them. Nothing like an emotionally disturbing night to help you sleep well. Gabe slept in until 9 am! And Julian until 8:30. I'd be lying if I said I didn't also sleep until 8:30. Sleep, glorious sleep.

Julian waiting for the fireworks to start

Gabe, doing the same!

The crazy sky before sunset

One of those days

2010-07-12T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, and the previous few days have been on the rough side. I think the boys are acting out? And realizing that Barry's not here, and having some trouble processing that. Well Gabe especially. He's been a bit of a handful as of late, throwing things, hitting, just not being nice. I know that it's gotta be confusing to a little 2 year old, so I try to give him the benefit of the doubt. But, yesterday, after the 1 millionth time out, I'd just about lost it. So I called up my friend Jackie and we decided to go play. Best.Idea.Ever. So I have no idea where this park is. I know it's NEAR Saylorville Lake. That's pretty much all I know. If I ever want to go again, I'll have to follow Jackie, because without her, I'd still be driving around.

The first picture of the day. Ok so Julian? He's FOUR. FOUR. Not Fourteen! He already poses, dresses and acts like a broody teenager. What am I going to do when he's *actually* a brooding teenager?

Here he is again,testing me.

Gabe, not quite sure.

Jackie's oldest cutie, B!

Barry saw this picture on facebook and said, "Oh I love it when they play nicely together." If you'll notice, that's not at all what is happening. Julian is gleefully splashing the unsuspecting Gabe.

I LOVE this 2 shot series

I LOVE this boy! Jackie's son, B.

**Actually** Playing nicely

Julian's been super into building lately. Yesterday he built a house, complete with a Styrofoam chimney out of my steam cleaner's box! It was impressive.

My baby!

All in all, a super successful outing. Julian passed out in the car. Gabe stayed awake but passed out upon arriving home. That's the measure of a good play date! How long did the kids nap?

Le Slacker

2010-07-11T05:28:00.001-07:00

So Barry's been in the field. In the field means he can't check my blog. So I thought to myself, if my reason for updating the blog can't read it, then what's the point of staying up late to blog?

This past week has been a little more chill than last. On Monday we had our good friend Laura over for dinner (yay for a reason to 'cook'! It's amazing how much I don't like cooking just for me to eat. My kids are what we call, picky. Which means they don't like to eat a lot of food. Well, Julian anyway. Gabe? He's an eater.)

It was also Laura's birthday this week, so the boys and I baked cupcakes! I LOVE yellow cupcakes with chocolate fudge icing! And sprinkles are a definite!

The boys also proceeded to be crazy while she was here, but thankfully slept well. I think they were trying to impress her.

Later during the week, they put on a play for me. Did you know? Superman and Buzz Lightyear are BFF? Well it's true, and I have proof!

Check out these abs!

Crazy Posers!

Cheeseballs

Gabe just adores his big brother

Laura came over again yesterday, to watch the boys while I cleaned a little. My mom is coming on Wednesday! (HOLLLLLLLLER!) and I needed to do some deep cleaning. I'm so thankful for good friends, and for her spending one of her last nights in DSM before she goes home for the rest of summer, to play with my kids and help me out! I love you Laura!

The boys do too!

Barry's home at the hotel for a little while, on base, and then will be back out in the field all week next week. He's having fun though, I think. They saw some cactus, got to play with compasses, and guns. And they had a frequent visitor in their tent, a dirty mouse that wanted to steal snacks, and a one time visitor, who met its untimely death, a scorpion! Julian's loving hearing about daddy's adventures in Texas, and asks me daiiiiiily when we're going to Texas. I am so excited to GET to Texas, not so much for the drive there.

4th of July Weekend!

2010-07-05T06:39:00.000-07:00

Because let's be honest. This is the kind of holiday that lasts alllll weekend!

Saturday, the boys and I (along with some fun friends) ventured to the West Des Moines Parade. Julian was a little sad that there wasn't a marching band, that's totally his favorite part of a parade. He was quite enamored with the firetrucks, and police cars, and with the candy! Holy candy. We got SO MUCH CANDY!

This picture was taken (by my good friend Jamie! Thanks!!) at the END of the parade. Which is why we all look so beat down. LOL

The boys, actually sat and watched the parade. They sat with some friends of ours, and normally both are so shy, but warmed right up to them!

Gabe's favorite float of the parade

Gabe's first, second, or who knows how many candies from the parade

I'm not sure when he turned 12...

One of the many firetrucks!

Not sure how, but I've managed to get pictures of cooperating kids? I'll take it, but it's miraculous!

Last night, before we went looking for fireworks (which were apparently postponed until tonight?!) Gabe found the 4th of July candy.

Surprised Gabe

Cheeseball Gabe

Almost 'cute face' Gabe

For Barry:

We're hanging in there. Excited for tonight, when Laura comes over for dinner :) We miss you, and will miss you while you're in the field. Love you.

Day 4, new toys and a book review

2010-07-03T08:08:00.001-07:00

Day 4 was considered a success, I'd say. They napped, hallelujah. I stupidly stayed up late finish a book. I'd started it before Barry left, and it was kind of slow to get into. But then once the story started unfolding, started getting good, I couldn't and wouldn't put it down.

At first I had trouble with the Swedish references, considering I'd never been to Sweden, nor do I know anything about Sweden, but once I got past that mentally, I could really get into the story. I did like the Ikea references, ha. Anyway, suffice to say, I loved this book, and bought the sequel today. It is a little slow to get into, but once you do, oh man. Twists, turns, and super surprises! I can't wait to get started on the 2nd book, but I promise to myself and my sleep, that I will not stay up until 1:30 reading.

We went to Tiffany's house, she's my visiting teaching companion, and had dinner. It was so sweet of her to invite us over. Julian and Gabe had sooo much fun playing with her little boy Jakob. Julian's become obsessed, like won't stop talking about it. I told him maybe Santa will deliver it for Christmas, or something.

http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/control/product?PURCHASE_STATE=STANDARD&product_id=2288

The boys were a little out of control at Tiffany's house, especially when the missionaries were trying to give a lesson.

They slept well, except that I've found Julian grinds his teeth quite badly when he sleeps. It kept waking me up. He's been sneaking into my bed every night, which is fine with me, aside from the teeth grinding.

Home all Day! (3)

2010-07-02T05:25:00.000-07:00

So Wednesday night was a little rough. We'd been invited to a splash pad yesterday, but I asked J if he wanted to go, and he said no. So we stayed home. We had the boys' favorite for lunch 'roni cheese. And then, finally ventured out for dinner. Taco Bell. Healthy times.

We built forts after dumping out the pool, and playing in the sprinklers.

They made cute faces

(I'm not sure why, but they do that and say cute face? Not exactly the cutest pose I've ever seen)

This? To me much cuter!

We had some interesting sleep patterns yesterday. First. I was talking to my mom on the phone when it got REALLY quiet. I told her I had to call her back, I needed to make sure that Gabe was still alive (kind of joking, but there was a fleeting moment of panic.)

He totally passed out on the couch at 11:30! So unlike him, but makes sense with the really crap sleep job they both did on Wednesday night

Here's another rare occurrance in the Palizzi house.

Julian passed out on the couch! Under my blanket, with his hands folded. CUTE!

We have big plans for today, we will see how much we actually do. The whining monsters are in full force here. Driving me crazy in the 10 minutes we've been downstairs.

A Day (2) at the Beach

2010-06-30T19:35:00.000-07:00

You may or may not remember this beach/park. I broke/fractured my ankle there last summer. Julian's been hesitant to go back, since he remembers quite well, my fall in the huge hole. He always asks to go there, but is always scared when we actually do. When we got home, he was so excited because I didn't even hurt my ankle! ♥

We had planned to meet up with our friends, Jamie, Kaleb and Kaden! And got a bonus, some more friends, Mandy, Carter and Benton!

After lunch about to go hit the water again! (Miracle they're both looking at the camera!

Building Sand Castles

Scopin' out the water-

Intense, about something? I think he was mad I was mama-razzi

Another miracle. Playing together

Jumping

SO much fun!

(For Barry)
Day #2 wasn't so bad. We spent a lot of time outside. We were invited to the Waukee Farmer's Market, and that was fun! The boys had cotton candy ice cream, and Julian didn't even melt down when they didn't have the rainbow kind! Progress, progress! We miss you and are glad you made it down to Texas. And Julian's even happier to know that they have toilets in Texas. PS Take a picture of a cactus for him! He's dying to see one.

For Barry

2010-06-29T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm going to try to blog daily while he's away. We'll see how I do.

Here are my gorgeous boys yesterday at the zoo! <3

I printed two copies of this picture off and will hang it above the boys' beds so that they can see daddy every night.

The boys wanted Perky Bears for dinner

Cute faces-

Gabe only napped for an hour today, so at 7:11, he's ready for bed. I'm going to get them all bathed up and hopefully down for the count. Our neighbor mowed the front yard today. So sweet.

We love you and miss you, and hope that you have a fun time on your road trip to Texas!

I love free!

2010-06-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

My good friend Kira, (she's the one that gave me the slammin' coleslaw recipe) is having a giveaway to celebrate 365 posts!

http://www.oopsicraftmypants.com/2010/06/365th-post-giveaway.html#comment-form

Check it out and enter to win!

Went to the movies!

2010-06-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know about y'all, but I for one, have been waiting for Toy Story 3 for approximately 10-11 years. I loooove the Toy Story movies, Buzz, Woody, Rex, I love 'em all. Luckily, I have children now, who share my love for the characters and movies.

Since Barry took his first (scary) board exam on Monday, we celebrated by going to the movies to see it! It was Gabe's 2nd movie, his first being How To Train Your Dragon. He wasn't the best movie patron, and kept staring at the lady in front of us trying to get her attention. OY! He also rolled around on the ground (Sick!) and dropped a Reeces Pieces on the ground, picked it up, and ate it before I could stop him! (Disgusting!) But we had fun. I cried. Kind of a lot. Not like little sniffly tears, kind of big ones. It was embarrassing, especially because right as my waterworks started, Gabe was DONE. So I had to face the masses, with red crying eyes. We were able to go back in after a quick field trip to the bathroom.

It was a really cute movie, and I highly recommend it to anyone that has smallish children, anyone who's seen/loved the first two movies, and heck, just anyone! SO good! If you are remotely emo, like I am, please also steal lots of napkins from the concession stand, or bring tissues.

I also watched Remember Me last night. And I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. After seeing many of R Pattz' movies, I was disappointed. Very disappointed, and felt like I shouldn't have wasted my time watching that movie. I liked Remember Me. A lot. I cried. (Hey sense a theme?) But it was very much worth the $1 at Redbox.

Dermabond, my new BFF

2010-06-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

So what happens when you have Gabe, a crazy 2 year old, a bed, and a metal laundry sorter??

Oh yeah a trip to the ER at 9 o'clock at night.

We'd just taken the boys upstairs for our new nightly ritual of reading stories in our bed before putting them in their beds. They need about 15 minutes to chill out from their crazy antics. So we'd finished our first little story from "The Friend" and were about to start another when Gabe either jumped or fell, that part is not clear, off of our bed (Probably fell, since he ended up on his head!) into our metal laundry sorter. Barry rushed to him first, and it was a good one. Blood everywhere. Seriously. I sat there consoling Julian, who was freaking out about Gabe. He said, "Oh nooooo. Gabe has blood." So it was determined, after I cleaned the wound, how I ended up doing it and not my soon to be doctor hubby, I don't know. But I cleaned it up, and put a Dora bandaid on him, and we headed to the ER.

He cried when we had to take the bandaid off, he LOVES him some Dora. And he cried when it first happened, but he was suuuch a strong little boy. Every once in a while he would say, "Boo boo." And point to his forehead. They immediately got us into a room, and the doctor came in quickly. It was determined that they'd glue it shut.

Here's my baby playing ipod games while we waited for the doctor. Please note his furry hedgehog, Prickles. He got that from his brother. Julian picked that out when he was getting his MRI (NOT EVEN A MONTH AGO!) OY

He was upset when he saw the scissors, and they trimmed his bangs. It was right in the cut, and they just trimmed them closely to glue it shut. He was so brave and strong and I was so proud of him. With no pain meds, not even Motrin, he barely flinched or cried as they held it shut while the glue dried.

And you can see in this picture that it hasn't dampened his cute little spirit. He's totally happy, and will still occasionally point at his forehead and say boo boo, but that's to be expected. The prognosis is good, if he's lucky, he will have a scar to woo the ladies with ;)

Buuut for the record, the ER with my 2 year old, wouldn't even make the top 1,000,000 list of things to do on a Wednesday night. Not even close.

More of Baby Owen & his name!

2010-06-16T05:49:00.000-07:00

So, the Sunday before my ultrasound, May 23rd, I was on a mission to find a name for the baby. We had our girl's name, and have had it for about a year, maybe a little less. But we were solid on girl names, just like every other time, ha! But for boys we were all over the map. Barry loved Elliott, I loved Bennett, but the middle name was set, Barry.

Now, those that know me, know that I have a slight obsession with baby names. I mean I read "The Baby Name Wizard" for fun. (PS if you plan on ever having children, I highly recommend this book!) While perusing the book, and the Social Security Names Database I came across Owen. Owen is one of my BFF's son's middle names, but Owen Barry, it had a nice ring to it. So I asked Barry, his response, NO WAY. Shot down. Sad. Sunday night we were doing a 'car ride' to get our monsters to calm down, because sometimes, they just get tooooooo wild, and the only place they get calm, is the car. And Barry was telling me the names of the kids in his Nursery class. One of them was Ezra. I had suggested Ezra for Gabe, but Barry wasn't too keen on it, except now he was! So we were set. Ezra Barry!

And then in the ultrasound, the boys freaked out, so my dear friend Sandy took them out. We totally didn't invite her to be child care, dang it boys! And then I had to go to the bathroom to get the baby boy to change position. While I was in the bathroom, I got this overwhelming feeling of, this baby isn't Ezra. But sort of shrugged it off, not wanting to think too much about it right now. We brought the boys back in, and like I suspected, they were fine, Gabe especially, once they saw the baby on the screen. And the ultrasound tech said, "It's a baby brother." Julian's response was priceless. If you remember, he REALLY wanted a sister. He already has a baby brother, why on Earth would he want another? "Oh man! I really thought it was a girl." And that was that. A few minutes later he said, "Mommy it's baby Owen!" When we got outside, Barry told me that hearing Julian say baby Owen, made it real for him, and that he liked it.

Turns out the meaning is youthful, or something, which is the same meaning as Julian's name! <3

And here is a picture of the little fellow from Monday. I had a gender recheck at the elective ultrasound place. There was no mistaking it, it's a boy!

Is it weird to be hopeful that he'll have my lips? I mean Julian sort of looks like me now, but Gabe is still so much Barry. I want a kid that looks like me!

Charles Gabus Ford Rocks my Socks!

2010-06-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

Our car is fixed, and I have nothing but super positive things to say about Charles Gabus Ford in Des Moines. We've gone to the Ford dealership on the Waukee side of West Des Moines, and not been pleased. This time? We are more than satisfied. I never thought we'd find an honest mechanic at a dealership! What a nice and pleasant surprise. "Dora" our Explorer is running perfectly!

Oh so many updates

2010-06-11T06:29:00.001-07:00

First, in case you don't facebook frequently...we are having A BOY! Yeah I know, surprised surprise right?! 3 for 3!
I mean we have a pretty good track record, our boys are delightful and adorable, and sweet (well most of the time)
Here's Gabe, yesterday, he HAD to have his hat and his football. He's really particular!

And Julian, who's in that fun stage where he hates pictures.

Meet baby #3, Owen Barry
This a picture from the 3D ultrasound I got for mother's day! I'm SO incredibly glad we went there! It was THE best experience, aside from both boys freaking out until they saw 'baby' on the screen.

The only thing about the private u/s was that the baby wasn't exactly cooperative. She, the tech-who seriously was Leah Remini's twin- was able to obviously see the boy bits, I wasn't so convinced. Luckily, at my doctors appointment on Tuesday, we were able to get a very clear 'money shot'.

I think Gabe might have a career, in the future, as a frisbee player. He's so serious about it. Here he his, after his throw

Not much else has been happening here, aside from car trouble that freaked me out and had me super duper stressed. Luckily the repair is relatively inexpensive, so I don't have to rush into a new car to get out of my old one. Thank goodness!

Barry takes boards on the 21st, and then leaves the next week for Texas! I'm so nervous for that month, but excited because at the end of his training, we're going to go drive down and see him, and some of our friends that are being stationed at the SAME base Barry will be at! Coincidence? I think not! Destiny!

Gabe's MRI came back completely normal! Thank goodness! He was just blessed with a big head, which, believe you me, I knew :)

Someday, when my boys aren't fighting over 'building robots' I'll tell you the story of Owen's name. Until then, I've got to rescue them, from themselves.

Gabe had his MRI

2010-05-21T05:41:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was Gabe's MRI. I'll admit I was freaking out a fair bit. He had to be sedated. I realize the MRI itself isn't too intrusive, but the sedation, and the "what ifs" following sedation really freaked me out. Then there's the toast. So he wasn't allowed to eat after midnight last night. Great, fine, he's my fat baby that likes to eat, but I figured it wouldn't be the biggest deal. Well, Julian woke up much earlier than G yesterday. So I quickly made Julian some cinnamon/sugar toast (really not much of the sugar/cinnamon concoction, but he eats it, so we do it) and told him, "When you are DONE you need to throw it away. Gabe cannot eat breakfast today." And he didn't do it. He put it on the tv stand. So when Gabe came downstairs, he immediately grabbed the toast and may or may not have eaten any. OY! So I told the nurse this, the one taking history before the anesthesiologist came in, and she said, "Honestly. We might have to cancel this." So she went to talk to the doctor, and I start bawling. I just wanted it over. I had emotionally prepared for this, well as best as I could, I just needed it over. And she's telling me they might have to reschedule. GAH!

The anesthesiologist said that she'd just give Gabe some Zofran, if we consent, and realize that there's a greater risk of aspiration, because he may have eaten. They also postponed the procedure about an hour to give more time between the possible eating, and being sedated.

Then they put in G's IV. I left, with Julian, for this. But Barry said he did pretty well, was really mad, and kept saying, "DADDDDDDDY, DOWN!"

Here's the little fellow after the IV, and after Julian and I returned from the gift shop with a sweet new hedgehog. Julian said, "Mommy, I think we should get Gabey a gift, from the gift shop. To make him feel better." AWWW!

It was about naptime, so he was already tired, if you can't tell!

And here's the big brother! He was such a great big brother, offering to do things first, sit with Gabe on the bed, just to make Gabe more comfortable. It was incredibly sweet.

Like I said, Gabe was already tired, so it took him a bit longer to come out of his 'nap' because he was really taking his nap! So we got to visit with the nurses. They were SO great and kind! They totally put us (ALL) at ease!

We should have the MRI results in a few days. I'm not as nervous for the results, as I was for the actual sedation and MRI, I think.

Gabey's wish for his sibling.

2010-05-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

So I've been asking the boys, bugging more realistically, what they want, a "Baby brother or a baby sister."

Julian, being the angsty 4 year old he is, "Mooooom, I told you. I want a sister."

Gabe, forever my chunk, "Baby Ruth."

The Cullens...

2010-05-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

...must really like to play baseball here in Iowa. OY! Last night was a long thunder storm. Which meant first I had an anxiety ridden Chihuahua begging to snuggle. One that kept shivering every.time.the.thunder.came. And then after I put him back in his bed/crate, and finally snuggled back into my pod, GABE came in. He was easy to settle back down in his bed, but he wanted me to snuggle him. So I did. And he's not the best bed partner. Especially in a twin bed. His feet end up in the most uncomfortable places. Your rib cage, your back, I mean imagine a place a size 9 baby foot shouldn't be? And that's where it is.

Julian's finally sleeping back on his top bunk bed. He's been on a sleeping in a 'nest on the floor' stage for a while. I'm glad to have him sleeping on his bed again. Both boys slept until 7:30, and Gabe is still, at press time of 8:18 am, sleeping! AMAZING. He's not a sleeper-in. But we did put their curtain back up, and apparently it's helping them sleep longer.

Today is Julian's last day of preschool. I'm sad, he's sad. And Miss Sarah's moving to Washington (state). He had her as a 2 year old, and a 3 year old, and now I told him, "She's going to go live in Washington, by Grandma." Which isn't exactly true, but he doesn't know that Tacoma isn't the same as Puyallup!

I do want to get some sort of homeschooling, or learning books for Julian and for Gabe to do this summer. Does anyone have any recommendations? I know Julian's ahead of the curve now, and I want to keep him that way. He loves to learn/read/write/draw, so I need to capitalize on that. Gabe likes to do whatever his brother is doing. :)

I've gotta get the boys and myself presentable for last day of preschool! Maybe I'll take some pictures of our picnic in the 'Jesus Room' and post them later!

Moon Sand

2010-05-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

I think we've seen the commercial about 150 times. Julian was sold on the mermaid/underwater set. The other day, they'd found play-doh, and smashed it into the floor and just made a huge mess with it, so I was up for something new. That, and as Julian's recited, "Moon sand doesn't dry out." That's true. It doesn't. But it sure does get all over.everywhere! I still do think it's easier to clean up than play-doh, especially the way my kids play with play-doh. But it's definitely not as mess free as they advertise. Perhaps the problem lies not with the product, but my children? Either way, Saturday morning we had a H.U.G.E mess of moon sand, dinosaur fossils, and cookie cutters.

Gabe enjoying the moon sand, while a little under the weather. He loves his jamies. As soon as we get home from somewhere, he finds them ,and says, "jammies on please?"

I don't have much to say today. It's a rainy day. It looks like night, and I want to crawl back into bed, but I've got two little heathens that make that pretty much impossible! :)

Friday's Appointment & My Mother's Day

2010-05-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

Well my appointment was Friday. Any hopes of guessing the baby's gender were dashed the minute the tech pulled me into the room. "You know it's WAY too early to tell the baby's gender." I nodded, a little disappointed. However, the baby looked great, just the right size, a round little head. I'd sent a picture message to Barry, to show to Julian. This was the picture that I sent to him.

Julian looked at the picture for a little while, and said, "Aww, my baby sister." And then Barry showed him the baby's head, hand, etc. After identifying all available body parts, Julian said, "Yep, that's a girl alright." He cracks me up!

Just one more picture of the little babe.

And here's my 14 week belly shot.

We are giving talks in church this week, so I've been falling asleep thinking about what on earth I'm going to say. I think that's led to some pretty crazy dreams. Last night my mother-in-law was in my dream, and talking to me about baby names. I told her the boy names we were considering were Avery and Brett, which aren't names we've considered, ever. Brett as a possible middle name, but never as a first. Ironically the girl name was spot on.

My Mother's Day was wonderful. We'd gone to breakfast on Saturday, with intentions of going to church on Sunday. Perkins, is SO good. So Sunday morning, we woke up, and both boys had slight fevers. And Gabe has a loud cough. And I wasn't feeling too hot either. So we stayed home. Had Panera bagels for breakfast (I'm thinking that the boys and I will have to stop there before finding End Of The Year Teacher's Gifts, today!) And Barry worked on his mancave/office. He managed the boys while I took a bath, and just soaked. I got to knit a little, and figure out what I'm going to knit next. It was a good and just chill out day, which was much needed.

We also found out that our old crib, which we haven't been using since moving here, was recalled. Not the tubular recall, but some other one. The spindles can break. So I spent part of the day filling out the paperwork, taking off the hardware, and getting it ready to mail into the company. They'll then send us a voucher for Babies R Us for a new crib. I'm so thankful to my friend Jackie for telling me about this. I was just going to throw it away! So now I get partial credit for a new new crib for the baby!

Well, I should attempt to get my boys dressed. I want to figure out the end of teacher gift things quickly, and stop off for a bagel :)

It's amazing what 5 weeks can do!

2010-05-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

So I'm sure you all remember this.

The butchering of my bangs. (that picture was TWO WEEKS after the crime!)
I'm happy to report that they're now a legal length. They're finally ready for public consumption. Please disregard my lack of makeup.

Early Mother's Day!

2010-05-06T05:22:00.000-07:00

I did it. I convinced Barry of the worth of the ultrasound. And explained that Julian will be a lot more comfortable, in a non doctor's office setting. And that even if they can't tell at 16 weeks (which in reality they should be able to) I'll be able to go back for free. At that point, he'll be done with class work at school, and on his own study schedule for boards! (14 days and counting!!!) So if we have to go in a week later, not a huge deal. He just stays later at the library! So on May 26th, at 8:45 AM we will be heading to the ultrasound place, and doing it! I asked if it was OK to bring my 4 year old, and she said yeah, there's seating for 7. SO if you want to go...LOL! I do need to find a sitter though for Gabe. I know Julian will be fine, but G?! I'm not so sure. He's kind of a maniac. I'm really, really excited to know! And I'm not nervous about them telling me the wrong gender, because it's so early, because they are super trained professionals. I think, honestly, if we are having a girl, I will be in SHOCK! Seriously. A Palizzi girl!? Really? What are those ;) We are still talking names, and I asked Julian last night, which boy name he liked, and he said, "MOM, it's REALLY a sister. I've told you this a million times." (That was literally his quote.) So we'll see if he's right.

I have an appointment, with an ultrasound, tomorrow. I hope they give me a picture or something for Julian. He's really all about the baby. I posted this on facebook, but the other day, we were driving, and he said, "Mommy, we really need a rocking chair so I can rock my baby sister to sleep." How freaking sweet is that? Seriously?

Julian's almost done with preschool. He has school today, Tuesday, and then a picnic at the park on Thursday to celebrate his last day! I can't believe it! And I can't wait for school to start again. Both boys will be in school! J M/W/F and G W/F! It's going to be WEIRD! I think I'll miss my one on one time with G. We have a lot of fun when J's at preschool! But he definitely needs the socialization aspect. He's not shy, but he's definitely a mama's boy! Definitely.

I haven't been in a picture taking mood, so I don't have anything cute of them to post. I did make something pretty cute. My friend Dana was saying that she was having trouble finding something for her baby to wear to a wedding this coming weekend. She said the shade of purple she had to match was really weird. So we went to Joann's and found a striped cotton on clearance for $3/yard, and the purple matched PERFECTLY! Total cost? She already had the onesie, and fabric was a whopping $.75! It turned out pretty cute, IMO! I had to hand sketch the tie, I couldn't find my pattern I'd already made. It wouldn't have worked well anyway though, 3-6 months is MUCH smaller than 3T, in case you were wondering!

And back to babies, my childhood friend Elizabeth (Bizzie) is finding out if she's having a boy or girl today! I can't wait to know!!!

So

2010-05-05T05:10:00.000-07:00

I had a post all written, in my mind, of course. And then I watched this video.

Watch it. You won't be disappointed. By far, one of the most amazing women (and sweetest husband), EVER.

I fell in the toilet...

2010-05-03T04:59:00.000-07:00

...TWICE this weekend. I know, I know. I live in a house full of boys, it's to be expected. Except, it wasn't the fault of the males in my house. It was totally my fault. After my vomiting this weekend, I forgot to put the toilet seat down! And then went to go potty later, and FELL in! Ugh.

Today, according to my doctor's u/s, puts me at the first day of the 2nd trimester. I'm really excited. Except I barfed this morning. I'm hoping today was just a risidual from the 1st trimester, and things are only going to look up!

This pregnancy has been one for the crazy dream handbook! I remember having ridiculously vivid dreams when I was pregnant with Julian and Gabriel. I remember having a specific delivery dream with Gabe that turned out to be ridiculously close to the truth. This pregnancy, I've already dreamt of nursing the baby (my biggest wish, and something that I am hoping to be successful at. Hey 3rd time is the charm right?!), delivering the baby IN AN AMBULANCE, with Julian and Gabe sitting next to me. Last night though, last night was the best dream ever. I was at Walmart, but it was AMAZING Walmart. And everything they have online was in store. So the pink bike I have been lusting over for years, was in store. First of all, let me go back and say that I was at Amazing Walmart on Black Friday. And there were Christmas decorations everywhere. I dropped Gabe off at child-watch, THANK GOD Walmart doesn't have a real child-watch! Could you imagine!? And headed back to find my bike, and a random assortment of wooden toys. I was cruising on my bike through Walmart! CRAZY! Ok so I guess this dream isn't as crazy as my nursing dream (sparing the details) and my ambulance delivery, but I hardly ever remember my dreams.

So I was considering getting an early ultrasound at like 16 weeks (the earliest the ultrasound place said I could come in) and finding out the gender early. Barry seems to think it is silly to find out just 2-4 weeks early. I can understand that, but on the other hand, I REALLY want to know! Plus I think it would be better for Julian, who's SO sure he's having a sister (even Gabe's jumped on the 'didder' band wagon!) to have the ultrasound done in a private setting vs. the doctor's office. If we do wait until my BIG ultrasound, we're bringing J. I need someone other than me to tell him that he's having a brother, if he is. I'm afraid that if I try to tell him, or Barry, he won't believe us. So what do you think? Is it stupid to spend $90 to find out 2-4 weeks early? Be honest, be real, I just want to know if I'm being dumb!

Julian's Parent Teacher Conference

2010-04-30T06:15:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when I saw the sign up sheet at J's preschool. Then it hit me. I have a child that's at an age that has parent-teacher conferences? Really!? Well once the denial wore off, I realized that in fact I do have a 4 year old that is in preschool. And he does have teachers. So it made sense. Today was that blessed day. Barry was able to come to the conference, and it was very informative. We learned that Julian does have the ability to listen, be nice, and share. Hmmm so he can do it, he just doesn't at home. ;) We also heard some of what we already knew. He's a smarty-pants. He knew all of his letters (except Q) at the beginning of the year, and still knows them now, this time, including Q. He also knew all 10 of his numbers at the beginning of the year! He knew all of his shapes, all of his colors, and was able to follow instructions such as color this hat with the brown crayon.
Miss Sarah said that he needs to work on running, jumping, galloping, skipping. Sooo he's not so coordinated. Who does that remind you of? Yeah, that's my boy! He's good to everyone, and doesn't just have ONE friend, though, I have noticed him talking an awful lot about the Sophies. Both Sophie R and Sophie M are his favorite girls, I think.
I need to figure out what they need to know in Kindergarten. Because really, that's a year away. A YEAR. Well and a few months, but still, it's not that far out. He loves to trace things, he loves to write, color, and draw. He's a funny, delightful boy.
Miss Sarah also asked if we're having a girl. Apparently, Julian told Miss Sarah that he's having a baby sister, and we're naming her Coraline. So, if you've heard that rumor, disregard it. If we do have a girl, the baby most certainly won't be named Coraline :)
My sweet, sweet boy.

Yum, cabbage!

2010-04-29T05:50:00.000-07:00

You know when you're pregnant and certain things sound ZOMG SO GOOD? Like the time two weeks ago I drove 20 mins to KFC just for some coleslaw? For some reason, KFC Coleslaw is my favorite, favorite, favorite. My friend Kira posted a recipe on her blog for, yep, you guessed it, COLESLAW! I tried it out last night, and this recipe is definitely a keeper. That's how we rate our recipes. Will I ever make it again? HECK YES! If you get a yes, that recipe is a keeper for sure. I'm going to pass on to you, the one person that reads my blog, the delicious coleslaw recipe.

Chop up:
1 head of cabbage
2 carrots
1/4 a red onion (about 2 tbsp)
Whisk up in a bowl:
1/3 c Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
1/2 c Milk
1/2 c Mayo
1.5 tbsp Vinegar
2.5 tbsp Lemon Juice
Mix it all together, and that's it.

I will have to say, I made it a few hours before dinner, and the juices were able to soak into the cababge/carrots/onion and it was excellent. I ate copious amounts just after it was mixed together, and had a tiny serving at dinner that tasted MUCH better! So I would suggest making it a few hours before you're going to serve it. Look at that, my first recipe on my blog. LOL

Pukey Puker

2010-04-28T07:37:00.000-07:00

I know. I'm pregnant. Morning sickness, totally part of the package. Except, it never has been for me before! Ugh! I'm counting down the days until my 2nd trimester starts. (It's Monday by the way.) I realize how incredibly lucky I was in my pregnancies before, and how incredibly lucky I am this time to only have hit or miss nausea and vomiting. I'm just not a fan of puking. At all. I can barely handle my kids puking. I'm just a venty venterson today, who is tired of puking, and just tired in general. Insomnia? Not my BFF. Insomnia and Morning Sickness? Lose my address, please!

Well Child Check Ups, Vaccines, and MRI?! OH MY!

2010-04-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

So, I had this brilliant idea. Why don't I bring BOTH boys to the doctor, at the SAME time for their Well Child Check Ups. Sounds sane enough, right? OY, I was W.R.O.N.G. First of all, their appointments were at 11:00 and 11:15. Guess what time I remembered about said appointments? 11:03! OY! So being in my PJs still (hey it was laundry/catch up day!) I ran around and threw some clothes on, threw my scary short bangs back, and got dressed. Luckily Julian didn't fight me much on putting clothes on, I think he saw that crazy look in my eye, he knew. By some miracle of miracles, Gabe was already dressed, he knew where his shoes were (in the car, and they really were there, it wasn't some stall tactic!) and he brought Julian's shoes downstairs for him! We made it to the doctor by 11:15! We walked in, and I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I mean from PJs to Doctor's Office in 12 minutes, without breaking any traffic laws? Holler! Until I saw people I knew! Ugh, no make-up, crazy post braid bangs, not good.

SO the boys are doing great. Julian, who is normally shy and reserved talked to the nurse. Passed his eye test, and was nice and kind. He was 40 1/2 inches tall (which is apparently 48%) and 38 lbs 8 oz (which is 67%). The doctor came in, and we realllly love our pediatrician. If you're looking for one in the West Des Moines/Waukee area, email me. I'll give you his info! He is really good with the kids, explains things really well, and let Julian look in Gabe's ear! Which was literally the coolest thing EVER for my little science nerd, Julian!

Gabe had to get undressed to be weighed and measured. Now where Julian wants to be in his undies, Gabe is the absolute opposite. He cried and cried and cried for his pants. Seriously. "Maaaaa pants, please?!" LOL! Seriously. He was too tall to measure on the baby table. :( He's officially growing up.
He was 37 1/4" tall (94%) and 33 lbs 1 oz (91%) and his head circumference is 20 1/4" (96%). He's pretty much giant, but I think Julian was pretty close to those stats at two. Maybe a pound or two smaller? Not a huge difference.

The pediatrician noticed that his soft spot still hasn't closed up. And it's supposed to. By two. He's two. So with his 96% head, and a soft spot that hasn't closed, he's got to get an MRI. They're going to call me with the appointment time. I guess they're worried about enlarged ventrals (maybe, something like that?) and spinal fluid on his brain. I feel like he's fine, and just has a big head. Our pediatrician said, "He's always had a big head, since birth, so it's not like it just all of the sudden happened. His brother has a big head." I said, "So does his dad!" So we're not really worried, but we are. I mean baby + sedation = scary times for mommy!

So after all of that joyful information, the boys had to get a finger prick to test for lead and some blood thing, I think hematocrit. So they basically prick their finger and then squeeze it to fill this little tube. My boys thought that was the COOLEST thing ever. Gross. But they didn't cry and happily let the LPN squeeze their little fingers. Gabe was mighty proud of his bandaid he sported on his pointer finger.

Then? It was shot time. We're pro vaccines in our house. And Julian needed four. He needed four and he won't have any more vaccines until MIDDLE SCHOOL! Say what?! Middle School? Age 11? Whoa. That freaks me out. He was happy though he wouldn't have anymore for seven years. Freaky. Until the nurse came in to do them. Then he flipped out. And the doctor had to come help me hold him down. Really, the doctor could have done it all, because once he came in Julian became all respectful, and not kicky and stuff. Weird. So we did Julian first, and then Gabe. Gabe only got one. And he didn't even cry.

Julian was mighty mad about his shots. He kept asking me why he had to get shots. So I told him. I said something cool like, Shots make you big and tough and scary. They scare away all of the bad diseases. (Because ya know, he's four, and is really big on being tough, and scary.) So he said, "Mommy, so my roar will be bigger now?" Yes Julian, your roar will be bigger.

The Palizzis Go To Pella!

2010-04-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

So I have this *thing* for Pella. I love it. So much. When my parents and sister were here in August, we went to Pella. When my BFF Stacy was here in June?! we went to Pella. We went to Pella last year for Tulip time, and a million and a half times in between. There's a park in Pella, that Julian calls the Spinny Park, that has a merry-go-round, all old school. We LOVE Pella. Julian request to go to that Spinny Park ALL the time.

I had heard that the tulips were blooming early this year. We've had a warm spring! (Holler, thank you for that! After 4 months of straight snow, we deserve a warm spring!) And the tulips were definitely in bloom (2 weeks before tulip time!) when we went there Saturday! After a delicious breakfast at Perkins, we decided to drive out to Pella. I recently finished the text/lessons for Unit 2 in my photography class, and what a better place to take photos than picturesque Pella? Seriously? I'm not sure if I got the pictures for my class, but I sure got some good ones of my kids!

My cheeseball poser! (He looooooves that Spiderman jacket. Seriously, LOVES it)

There was a pretty windy storm that passed through Iowa on Friday night. Here's some evidence, and Julian's Spongebob Crocs

I swear he didn't pick the flower! We were a little scared that he would be fined for picking a tulip or something! It was one of the ones that had broken during the wind storm.

Those are some biiiig shoes!

This one makes me turn my head funny. But sometimes ya gotta stop to smell the tulips

We found some friends in Pella! The Palmer's were there! Here's Scott and Gabe. (Gabe calls him Gott.)

Julian thinks he's cool, in the tree.

This picture was taken right before Gabe, LITERALLY, almost ran into the street! I honestly don't think I've ever been so scared. EVER.

One of my favorite shots

This is unheard of. Julian. Posed.

Anddddddd the naughty look

Cookies from the bakery that saved my cell phone! I will always spend money there, everytime I go to Pella.

OH NO! Where's the A????

Cheeseballs!

Did I tell you the one...

2010-04-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

...about the girl who chopped my bangs?

So while I was in Washington, I got my hair done by my super talented BFF Carly. Seriously, if you're in Washington, she's in Sumner, and she's amazing. Anyway, I was toying with the idea of cutting my bangs again. The thing with bangs? They grow. Fast. So I decided to do it, but then we flew home, and I didn't get to see Carly again before we left. Fast forward to a week after being home. The boys in the house, Barry, Julian and Gabe needed hair cuts. There's a girl at Great Clips that does an amazing job with Julian. You might remember Julian Got A Haircut. I didn't post the gory details, but seriously he was crying/screaming/thrashing. It was an experience I never, ever want to repeat. This girl at Great Clips? She gave him a lollipop (so did we) and just had at his hair. He sat quietly, smiled when she joked, and even talked to her. It was a miracle. We brought Gabe along, because he'd never been. And he has a hard time when Barry and Julian go do fun things, like the dentist, or the doctor, or hair cuts. He sat and watched J, and then when Julian was done, stood up and said, "Mom? Hair cut?" He walked over to the lollipop basket, picked one, and walked over to the chair. When did he turn 12? He got a hair cut too. He sat perfectly, and she did a much better job than I've done in the past!

So I decided, what the hay. I'll get my bangs trimmed, only $5. So while G was getting his hair cut, I went to the other girl and had her trim my bangs. I said yeah just trim 'em up.

This is what she did.

I'm pretty sure I'll be growing out my bangs until I'm 30. Luckily, I can still pin them back.

Forks?! Forks, Washington! Really?

2010-04-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know, or at least should know, I love Twilight. I love the books, I love the cheeseball movie, I love Carlisle. I just love everything about them. And I love that they're set in WASHINGTON! You know it's gotta be good when it's set in Washington. Case in point? Grey's Anatomy, Sleepless in Seattle...I could go on, but you get the point. However, I lived in Washington for 24 years, and had never been to FORKS! Shocking right? Well not so much, when you consider (according to Wikipedia) the population is somewhere around 3120. And considering it's a logging town. With not many attractions, not many that is, until Twilight.

Now? They have a WHOLE store, called "Dazzled by Twilight". I love it. The cheesiness just sings to me! It was a pretty sweet store, with the meadow grass for carpet, and twinkle lights for stars, and anything Twilight you could ever imagine. I walked out of there with a Twilight onesie (now i just hope that the baby is a girl, because I just can't do a Twilight onesie on a boy :( ) , Carlisle chapstick, mmmm, a million postcards, some breath mints that were in a cute tin that said Mrs Cullen (That's Carlisle Cullen y'all. I told you, I have a thing for doctors!)

The best part of the 3 hour trip (yes folks, Forks/La Push is 3 hours away from my mom's house!) was my BFF Stacy. We had so much fun talking, laughing, singing. I love her so much, because we can just be stupid, and we don't care.

OK, before we get into the actual FORKS pics, here's Gabe eating a Krispy Kreme. I ate SO many freaking donuts, I blame them soley for my vacay weight gain.

Heck Yes

Forks High School-Eep I trespassed!

This made me LAUGH! Pretty sure Newton's didn't own a True Value...

This also made me LAUGH! Home Slice? Pretty much the best pizza place name EVER!

This said Forks...so I took a picture

And look at this love-muffin! He was such a good boy!

OK so that was Forks. Then we drove to La Push. La Push? Totally worth the drive. I'm in LOVE!
First Beach

Science Center Visit & Baby Bats

2010-04-17T06:04:00.000-07:00

So Thursday, before preschool, Julian somehow managed to convince me to take him to the science center, after preschool! He reallllllly wanted to see the baby bat that they have in a cave. (For the record that bat is fake. But he loves it.) The cave is dark and spooky, with bat sounds. It freaks Gabe out. Julian? The little creep loves bats. And bugs, and snakes and boy things. Gross.

We went, had fun at the science center, after a delicious lunch at Palmer's Deli with daddy. For those of you in Des Moines, or those of you that visit Des Moines sometimes (HEATHER!) you have to try it! It gets crazy busy at lunch time, but I loooove their Caesar Salad.

We took my car, a 2002 Ford Explorer, to the dealership to get the air conditioner recharged. We had to go to Target after the drop off to pick up my antibiotic, and got a trauma inducing phone call from the dealership.
Ford Guy-"Hi is this Barry Palizzi?"
Barry-"Yes, this is Barry."
FG-"HI. There's a leak in your air conditioner, it's leaking freon into (insert some car part here). It's going to be $925 to fix it."
B-Stunned silence. "Uhm, wow. Oh. Wow. Uhm, well we can't afford $925 right now."
FG-"Oh. Well, ok yeah. We'll get it put back together then."

I'd done some research. And by research asked my friends on facebook about the cost to recharge an air conditioning. You see, they all said about $200. Which we can afford, and were expecting. I'd also learned from my friend Chrissy that an air conditioning system is a closed system. Which means that if it stops working, duh, there's a leak. You see, her husband is a mechanic. And he said that they can just recharge it.

Once Barry relayed this info to me, I told him what he needed to say to the mechanic.

"I realize that an air conditioning is a closed system, and that there is a leak, or else it would still work. Please just refill the freon, and we'll take our chances with the leak."
FG-"Well we can't guarantee that it won't just leak out tomorrow."
B-"I realize that."
FG-"OK. We have to fix a recall thing, so it'll be a little while longer."

Fast forward to 10:30 pm (our kids were still awake because we had to drive to the dealership to pick up my car.)
FG-"It didn't leak out!"
B-"Good."
FG-"So it will be $117. Your car takes 33 (some form of measurement) and we only had to put in 19."

And guess what? My a/c works! This preggo can not survive 100+ weather, with a million % humidity without a/c! I told Barry he owes me $800...he didn't like that idea very much.

So we went to bed, and my kids slept all glorious night! And then we woke up to this:

Yeah. In the words of Julian, (who was sleeping while the eviction took place) "Mommy! Is that the bat from the science center? Or is it Laura's bat?" LOL! I told him it was the one from the science center. Because I knew it would make him happy. It did. And he still feels proud of the bat that came to visit. Barry and I? Not so much.

Thank GOD Barry was home to deal with this situation. I would have left the house and not come home. Seriously. Barry took a bucket and a piece of cardboard and MacGuyver'd this little guy out of our house! He is now back home in his bat cave. And this morning, you'd better believe I tip toed downstairs, I didn't want to have a repeat of yesterday!

Email from Intelligender

2010-04-17T05:41:00.000-07:00

Christia,

You have a girl result. Congratulations! You only need to look at the color of the urine and not the dark sediment. Please let us know when you confirm!

The Moms of Intelligender

Intelligender RESULTS!

2010-04-16T03:50:00.000-07:00

So this morning, my children blessed me by sleeping from 10:00 pm (loooooooooooooooooooong story as to why they were up so freaking late) until well, now. They're still sleeping. The night before last they woke up, and were up for two hours. For NO reason. Well I mean Julian had a reason, he was crying because on Tuesday, he was "teacher's helper" at preschool. And some other kid did his job? So he was super upset. At. Three. AM. Not amused. Then Gabe woke up, and then they didn't sleep. So I laid down with Gabe who then proceeded to smack me, kick me, put his curling toes on my back, until I refused. I said GOODNIGHT and went back into my bed. Where my back is toe free.

Anyway, Barry's alarm went off this morning so he could go for a run. It's an Army thing. He has to pass the PT test soon, before he can go to Texas in July. When it went off, I woke up. It was kind of amazing to wake up to an alarm clock. Something that is designed to wake you up, though I guess technically I have two of those, right? And I was so excited to realize that I'd not been woken at all during the night, that I couldn't fall back to sleep!

And then I had to pee. Intelligender requires first morning urine. So I got up. I voluntarily got up at 5:45 in the morning. Who am I?

Well the Intelligender results are ambiguous at best. I swear when you look at the "girl" side it looks orange-ish brown, if you look at the "boy" side it looks greenish-brown. So I'm going to post the pictures, you decide.

OK upon further review, it appears more brownish/orange in color than green...so should I buy some of that ballet pink paint I was looking at.

Julian Turns FOUR (AKA Washington Part Deux)

2010-04-14T05:03:00.000-07:00

As you know, (or should by now) Julian is addicted to chocolate. Seriously. Chocolate was his first word. Caco is what he used to call it. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that he wanted a CHOCOLATE birthday cake.
Thank you Safeway bakery for the deliciousness.

This? This is what four looks like. (And why I gave him a bath BEFORE cake/ice cream? I don't know.)

I'm not sure what he's more excited about at this point. Fire, and blowing out the candles or cake :)

Julian and his BFF Grandma (PS Mom, he said when you come to Iowa, you have to stay here FOREVER.)

Siiiiinging

Blowing out the candles and making a wish!

We were supposed to go to the bouncy place for Julian's birthday, with his cousins, Brandon and Carter, but my kids got this random cough/cold/allergy thing, that never really went away. Annoying! So instead, we played Little Big Planet, watched movies, probably went to the store. Oh! We went to Mexican. Where Julian and Gabe had Mac & Cheese and FRENCH FRIES. At a Mexican restaurant! Who's kids are they? I do remember Gabe dipping his chips in salsa though! (That's my boy!)

Oh Thursday, the 18th, I was able to go up to Carly's house, and get my hair did.
Kind of a crazy picture. My mom took it.

My parents had an awards event to go to on Thursday night.
Look how cute! My dad won an award for his building! He actually had two buildings nominated in the same category. Now that's a Monopoly I can live with :)

Gabe LOVES to take peekurs (pictures)

Gabe attacking my mom with stickers!

And Julian and Preston watching Tom and Jerry. (Yeah the old school cartoon! They looooove it!)

Intelligender?

2010-04-13T05:12:00.000-07:00

So. I was browsing Target the other week, again, before I found out I was pregnant. I saw this beauty.

Now what I need your help with.

Have you done it? Is it accurate? I mean it's only $30 so not a huge amount of money wasted. I don't plan on painting the room based soley on this 'tests' results. Mostly, it is just for fun.

I plan on doing this Friday morning. I'm just curious what results people have had with it!

Washington Trip Part One

2010-04-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

So I've been home from Washington for 2 weeks now. That should be enough time to catch up on laundry, finish unpacking the house, get all settled in, right? Too bad it's not. I'm procrastinating, and blogging :)

So. I found out that I was officially pregnant on Monday March 1st. I knew that we were going to Washington the following Saturday, so I made plans to announce my pregnancy to my parents. I'd found these adorable Big Brother shirts at TJ Maxx for $5 each the week before. (I'm an optimist, I knew I'd be pregnant eventually...) So I bought them, and planned on the boys wearing them on the plane.

The boys did great on the two planes. The first leg was from Des Moines to Minneapolis. A nice 45 minute flight. We got there on time. It was great. Just long enough to keep them interested, and not so long that they got bored. We got off the plane, and ran to our next gate, and that was the leg I was worried about. About 4 hours. Stuck. On a plane. With my kids. So we got some cookies and drinks from the airport gift shop (Why doesn't the airport sell pepsi products? I'm not a Coke fan, anymore. And I really wanted a diet Pepsi.) and boarded our plane. The boys, amazingly enough, fell asleep right before take off. And slept for about an hour. Then they got wiggly. But it was all ok. They must have done well because a lady two rows back looked at us shocked and said, "I had no idea kids were even up here. They're good." And this cute old man said they were well behaved.

So. We landed in Seattle. Julian swore he saw Grandma's house as we were flying over the sound. And we were as far away from baggage claim as humanely possible. We rode the train, which I think was the highlight of the experience for the boys. And met my parents at baggage claim. I had tried lugging both suitcases, the stroller and my boys, but it didn't work. So we just waited.

Gabe, who is typically very shy and reserved was SO excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. He immediately started talking, which is very unlike him, but definitely welcome. Julian ran to my mom and gave her a huge hug (Dad too!)

You can see how OK Gabe is. No tears, nothing! I was proud of him!

It took a while for my parents to get the whole "Big Brother" thing. Julian even told my mom as we were walking to the car, "I'm going to have a baby sister." (I told you, he says it's a sister. And that's it.)

As soon as we got to Grandma and Grandpas, the boys went outside and played in the sandbox with Grandpa. Julian also managed to sweet talk Grandpa into some ice cream

Looks like G got some too!

We went up to Winco, where my little sister Jessica, works. We visited her for a bit, got some essentials, fruit snacks, sour patch kids, Easter candy. The usual. And then went back down to my mom's.

Saturday afternoon, my BFF Stacy, the fabulous photographer had her third baby. Ewan Jack. I'd told her that he should wait for his auntie, and she didn't like that idea. But that's exactly what he did :)

Sunday morning, Carly (My other BFF who is a fabulous hair stylist) went up to the hospital to visit her.

It's a good thing I was already pregnant at this point, or he? He would make me want another baby.

Carly and I went to Applebees, without kids. It was amazing. We were totally on a date, and shared an appetizer, buffalo wings (which seriously the thought of now, makes me want to vomit. Crazy pregnancy), a burger, which was realllllly good, and a blondie brownie for desert. (Sooo that's where the 8 lbs I gained over vacation came from.)

Then my family came down Sunday afternoon. Insert part one of the Preston/Gabe feud. They don't love each other. Preston loves Julian. Julian tolerates Preston, until he hits/pushes/punches Gabe. Then he gets all big brother.

Jess and Gabe

Cheeseball

That's all I'm going to post for Part One. Tune in for Part Two. Maybe tomorrow? I'm still uploading pictures...it's been an hour. The boys are revolting. Gabe turned off Dora. :)

PS I put up a poll. What do you think?? Boy or Girl for Palizzi #3?

Wanna see something cute??

2010-04-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

That's our baby! Baby #3, due November 8th, 2010!

Julian insists it is a girl. We will be finding out the gender, because if it is another boy, which let's just be honest, it probably is, Julian's going to need some time to adjust. He tells me, "I already have a baby brother." Maybe he knows something I don't? I mean it could very well be a girl. They say it's a 50/50 shot. I say it's more 66/33.

If you're wondering, I've been pukey. With Julian and Gabriel, I think I puked once each pregnancy? This time, it's pretty much every day. Luckily, not all day, every day, just in the morning. So it has been *different*.

I announced my pregnancy on facebook, on April 1st. I didn't really realize that it was April Fool's Day. My bad! It's for real though, I am pregnant. :)

I lost J today...

2010-03-29T18:31:00.000-07:00

...twice.

The first time, he was wearing his PJs, which obviously he didn't sleep in. He needed PJs after he woke up because he was freezing and wanted me to warm him up. I'd gone down to the basement to throw some laundry in, (oh the joys of coming home from vacation, right?) and came up, and Julian was nowhere to be found. I ran upstairs, looked on his bed, looked in the rooms, and I could hear him saying, "Mommmmmmmy." Finally, I looked out the back window, and he was playing on the swingset. Gah!

The second time, he'd just finished watching Coraline for his 'quiet time' since apparently 4 year olds are too cool for naps? Anyway, he was in his skivvies, and again I went downstairs to do more laundry (it never ends, I tell ya!) and came up, and he was nowhere to be found. Barry came home, and said, "Where's J?" I said, "I think he's up with Poley." So we went upstairs, and looked for Julian. Not in the closet with Napoleon, not on my bed, not under my bed. Then the panic set in. We looked EVERYWHERE! Seriously. I looked on his bed, I looked in every room/closet we have. Checked the basement twice. No where. We started yelling his name, hoping he'd come out.

I said, "He's sleeping. Somewhere." And guess what. He was. On his bed. Hiding way under the covers! OY!

Big News!

2010-02-25T10:48:00.001-08:00

I drove past the house today...

So, I don't know if I posted about it, but there was this ugllllllly farm scene on the wallpaper boarder in the formal dining room, that's going to be our office/craft room. And guess what?? They took it down, and painted it white! YAY! No farm scene. I mean, I love Iowa, I love farms, I love corn. But that has no place in my dining room.

Moving

2010-02-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

Why does nobody tell you just how HORRIBLE moving is. I mean, granted this move? Nothing like the great move of '08, where we packed up our Penske truck, and headed to the great unknown. Seriously, we picked out our townhouse on the internet, sight unseen.

But I think it's almost more of a hassle to move only 10 minutes away. I mean, I'm like eh why do I have to pack my clothes into a box? I'm just going to take them out in 24 hours anyway! I think I'm gonna be a little lazy with this move. We get the keys on Friday, so I think I'm going to pack up my car with random stuff, my clothes, boys clothes, maybe some of Barry's clothes and put them away stat. Then at least we'll have something to wear when our house is covered in boxes.

My plan of action for the new house?
Priority 1. Basement/Toy room.
Why the basement you may be asking yourself. Well to me? It makes the most logical choice. If my kids have a TV, DVD player, plus their infinite number of toys, then I think they might be less likely to drive me completely insane.

Priority 1.5 Kitchen. I mean, we need to eat.

Priority 2. My computer/office area. Because duh. I'm addicted.

Priority 3. The family room. We have until Sunday to get the Family room all organized, that's when the direct TV guy comes, or is it Dish? Anyhoo, you get the idea. Sunday between 12-4. Yay! TV. I am really, really quite distraught though. I've got almost the entire season 5 of Bones DVR'd on my Mediacom box. The box that I have to give back to Mediacom on Monday. Bye, Bye Booth! And Bones doesn't even start up again until April or something.

I'm not worried so much about the boys and their room. While I'm in Washington, we're going to order them bunkbeds, and Barry's going to put them together, and make their beds! We got the CUTEST bedding. When we get home, I want to paint their room the moon color, kind of a putty/liiiiight khaki color. And get a red area rug to cover the inevitable jewel toned carpet in their room.

In Washington, I'm going to work on transitioning Gabe into sleeping in a bed. There's not a crib upstairs anyway, and he'll be two (sob, sob) so I think it's about time to transition him. Plus, he's getting less and less happy in his crib. He doesn't climb out, yet. He does, however, climb in on occasion. I'm probably crazy, but what better time than the present! :)

And before I end this post, I've been told, a blog post is worthless without pictures.

So here are my crazy boys.

This was at the bouncy house place, Friday. They look thrilled, right?

Besty's Birthday

2010-02-23T05:31:00.001-08:00

Today marks the day of my remarkable BFF Stacy's birthday!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane...will you stroll with me?

Stacy and I met in 6th grade. Luckily, for us, I don't have any pictures from 6th-8th grade.

Here we are in 9th grade.

From History Lesson

This was pretty typical behavior for us.

From History Lesson

This one is a doozie. This is the first time I sprained/injured my right ankle. I was chasing that there boy, and fell down those stairs. Stacy and Jeanette accompanied me to the ER. Fun times

From History Lesson

My baptism...

From History Lesson

Sr. Prom

From History Lesson

Fast Forward. Year after graduation, so what 2003? Stacy and Tara, 2 of my BFFs were baptized.

From History Lesson

Stacy's Wedding

From History Lesson

I just want to say how thankful I am for Stacy. She's one of the smartest and most brilliant people I know. She takes the most amazing pictures, I want to soak up just 1/5 of her talent. Stacy has been there for me during ALL of the hard times in my life, as well as the good. She was with me when I was married, came to see both of my boys in the hospital after they were born. She was the first friend/family to come visit me in Iowa. I don't know how, or why I have been so blessed to have her in my life, but I have been! And I have a feeling, we're going to be BFF until forever! 6th grade until now...gosh I'm kind of scared to do the math. But I think it's like 14 years! We've been friends longer than we haven't!

Julian wants a baby sister!

2010-02-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

And not for any real reason, aside from this

He wants a baby sister, so that he can be the doctor, with his baby brother. Ugh.