Friday, October 31, 2008

It's done!!!

Well almost. I still have some finishing to do, and tassels!




It's official....

On Halloween, 2008, I became an "Iowan" :) My license was due to expire on my birthday, which is in ::cough:: 19 days, and I knew I needed to get a new one prior to my old one expiring. Barry didn't have labs or anything, this afternoon, and after a super grueling week, read anatomy test and cell biology test, he wanted a break and came home early. Once Julian laid down for his nap, I drove out to Adel, which, by the way, is the cutest town ever, and waited with the rest of Iowa, for my number to come up. Seriously there were SO many people in that tiny brick building. Anyway, an hour and a half later, I now have an Official Iowa License.

That is all.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

So Relieved and SO happy!

My MIL is coming home! Yay! And what's even better than that, she gets to bring my darling nephews with her! She can leave Utah any time after tomorrow! It's such a happy day. I'm so thankful that the custody battle is finally over, after almost 11 months! I'm so happy that they'll be home for Christmas, and can not wait to see them!!!

And in other, not related news, my friend/cousin Cheryl, opened up her yarn shop! If anybody is wondering what to get me for Christmas...uhm, anything from her site!!! Especially flurries and any worsted weight yarn!

Annie Amelia

Check it out! It's pretty much the best site EVER :)

My new project is called a hudson hat! I'm knitting it right now!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Excuse my family...

...we're sick! Yuuuuck. So yesterday I felt totally fine, and so did my boys. Apparently sometime between naptime, and bedtime, Gabriel got sick! (Ok obviously I know it was before then, but he started feeling crummy then.) SO he slept with us, poor pumpkin. This morning, I woke up, feeling like something that had been runover, and Gabriel was super grumpy and snotty. So yeah. Hopefully this is a short bug, and we'll kick it quickly.

Barry has an anatomy test tomorrow! Please pray that he does well on it!

Also in other news, we got Boo'd last night! In Clarks Creek Ward, in Washington, we didn't get boo'd so I was SUPER excited that it happened here :) The Boo-ers gave us some sugar cookie dough, and a pumpkin cookie cutter, SO cute! And we, Julian and I, made cookies this morning. I made a makeshift rolling pin, because apparently we don't have one, and the cookies have been eaten by the cookie monster, AKA Julian :) Thanks Boo-ers whoever you are! :)

We went to a friend's little boy's birthday party last night. I have pictures on my camera from that. After the party, in Ankeny, we went to a pumpkin patch out there. It was really cute, and Julian's glow in the dark, candy corn hat, actually came in handy! I have knit 3 candy corn hats now. HA! The first one I made is slightly big for Julian, it would fit me. I made another one 'for Gabe' that miraculously fits Julian PERFECTLY. And I made one for a surprise gift :) I made it the same size as Julian's so it hopefully will fit the intende wearer! (crossing my fingers)

I will blog about the birthday party and Pumpkin Patch tomorrow, when I have the energy to upload pictures. For now, the candy corn cap that was supposed to be Gabe's, but is now Julian's


Oh I just found this in my photobucket! This is from the Halloween Party that some of the girls here put on! SO MUCH FUN


Mini McDreamy
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Friday, October 24, 2008

Knitting Club/Movie Time

So I had knitting last night. I was going to finish Barry's scarf, that was for his birthday...oops only a weekish late. Well, in my knitting bag, I had my 'candy corn' yarn. I showed Sandy, my knitting teacher, and she was confident that I could finish my hat in a week. Well I finished it last night. It turned out *SO* cute, but it's a little big.
Here it is:




We also watched a really good movie. It was called Iron Jawed Angels and it was about the suffrage movement, and seriously so moving. It's not a movie topic that I would typically watch, but I was pleasantly surprised and liked it a lot. (It didn't hurt that Patrick Dempsey, my boo, was in it ;)) For those of you in West Des Moines, they're going to show it again next Thursday!

I've got to get my little monkeys ready for the Maple Grove Halloween NO TREAT Party :)

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

My disgusting son!

Happy Day

Today is my friend Heather's birthday! Happy Birthday girl, I'm so glad that N came through for your birthday!!

The reason I remember her birthday, is because it is also my wedding anniversary :) Today, Barry and I have been married for 4 years!

What has happened in those 4 years, you ask? (PS not in real chronological order)

&hearts Barry started school at the University of Washington (Well technically that was a few weeks before we got married)
&hearts I got pregnant and had Julian awwww
&hearts We got pregnant and had Gabriel
&hearts We got Napoleon (our FAT Chihuahua)
&hearts I got into 2 car accidents (Yikes)
&hearts We bought 3 new to us cars (Yikes again)
&hearts Kristy was killed
&hearts Barry interviewed and got accepted to 2 medical schools, DMU & KCUMB
&hearts We decided to move to IOWA!
&hearts We moved to Iowa
&hearts Before we moved to Iowa, Barry graduated from the University of Washington...actually like a year before we moved to Iowa!


There is going to be a whole lot more, but I just wanted to highlight some of them. I love my husband SO much, and he is such a great father, and husband. I couldn't ask for anything better, except more income ;)

He is surprising me with dinner today, but he told me the surprise since I HATE surprises. It's Mexican food! Yum! And he and Julian baked our family a birthday cake. How freaking cute is that?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Goin' Home...





...Yay! Thanks to my wonderful In-Laws and my good friend, Heather, we, the Palizzi family, are going home for Christmas! My in-laws had frequent flier miles through Alaska Airlines, and my friend Heather, gave us some of hers from American Airlines! We are so extremely excited and thrilled and so thankful for the generosity of our friends and family. Julian, Gabriel and I fly out on Dec. 13, and Barry flies out on the 20th. Wish me luck as I fly with 2 boys BY MYSELF! Also, please pray that I have kind seat neighbors :)

So it was brought to my attention that my house is not infested with kind, almost cuddly lady bugs, BUT ASIAN LADY BEETLES. They apparently pinch or bite. Fun. I am in the process of vacuuming those suckers up. I have to do it sneakily though, because Julian doesn't understand!

So I have some questions for you, in the blogging world. What the heck should I get my kid for Christmas? I want to get the boys one big present, like a train table, or a kitchen, or even a dollhouse. I just don't know!! Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I already know Julian's getting a kid tough digital camera from my parents, and I think a Tinkerbell DVD?! Who knows. He does want Sleeping Beauty.

He's got a bike, 12 inches. He's got a trike. Gabriel has a 'new to him' Music Table, and so many clothes it's ridiculous! I just don't know what to get for them!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

We've got a bug problem.....

So it seems like overnight, our house went from bug free to totally consumed with bugs! Luckily the bugs we've got are SUPER sweet and adorable.
Yes there is such a thing as adorable bugs!

Ladybugs

For some reason we have a lot of them. We are talking literally 20+ in our living room, kitchen, dining room, mostly dining room. Yesterday, Julian had one on his ceiling. If anyone has any idea why our house has so many ladybugs, I would love to know!!

Ok so maybe it wasn't just night terrors...

So last night, at about 2, Julian woke up and puked. Then he couldn't fall back to sleep. He had a fever of 100.2. He came to sleep in our bed, and we woke up at 6, and he had a fever of 102.6, and gave him some kids Motrin. It's now 10 and he's still sleeping. He kept doing the weird half awake thing, and it was freaking us out. Poor kiddo is sick.

Please pray that G doesn't get it!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Night Terrors, AKA Confusional Arrousal

Well Julian has had a few of these episodes. They are really scary for me as a parent, because there is nothing I can do to help Julian. Tonight, he was screaming and crying. I went into his room to comfort him, and he freaked out and was kicking! It's weird because he's not really awake. And he was screaming and crying for "Mommy"

So Barry googled night terrors. He stumbled upon this website and it was very interesting
Dr Greene

Basically he says that night terrors may or may not be related to 'night training' regarding the potty...hmm sound familiar? So we tried his advice and put J on the potty right after his terror and guess who peeped? Yep. I think this Dr. Greene is definitely on to something!

Where have I been?

So I was watching some episodes of The Hills, and saw Pink's new music video...and she said something about losing her husband, so I googled it?! They're divorcing? Seriously when did I turn into someone that didn't know what was going on with celebrities? Was it when Gabe was born and I became a mother of two or what?


Little known fact. When I was 16, I met Pink! I was working at the SuperMall, in Wilsons Leather. Pink had done a concert in the mall, before she was big, and came into our store to shop! We seriously had to shut down the store so she could stop because there was a huge mob of fans chasing after her. Plus she's pretty small, so she had like huge body guards! :)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Oh yeah

Julian was dry when we got to Mason City, peed and pooped in his pullup and then was dry all the way home from Mason City...Public toilets freak him out...who can blame him?

Our day in Mason City, IA

So the drive to Mason City, Iowa is 2 hours and 5 minutes. I was ALL stressed out because we left 15 minutes late. I forgot that the speed limit is 70, so realistically, it was less than 2 hours 5 minutes. Anyway, the drive is really peaceful. Julian was quiet the whole time, and Gabe slept the entire way there. I blasted some music after Julian's 'Rocket' CD was over. I was able to think a lot about Kristy, and listed to the Music and Lyrics soundtrack, which is a CD she loved a lot.

Like I said before in my earlier post, MJ and Ginger, along with a few others have really been there for me this year. Ginger had a similar experience happen to her, her friend was killed by her S/O. So she's been a huge help to me, and knows what it feels like. It was nice to finally meet the people that have been such a help to me.

On to the pictures.

These first ones are cutie cute Gabriel and his TEETH! Also he's chewing on Julian's monkey.
 

 

 

 

This is the crew! Angela is 4, Leah was born the 12th, Julian the 16th and Jack the 19th. :)
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Ok I lied! THIS is more exciting than last night

Julian stayed dry throughout the WHOLE night! He was in a pullup, because I don't want to risk any wet sheets/mattresses while he's still learning! OH MY GOSH! He's doing so well!

I'm seriously so thrilled with my little man. Today we're off to Mason City, IA to meet up with some mamas from Babyzone and have some fun. These are two ladies that have helped me through my toughest times this past year. We've 'known' each other since I was pregnant with Julian, so roughly 3 1/2 years! I'm really excited!

Pics of my kids to follow!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

The Most Exciting News EVER in the Casa dei Palizzi

Well I'm going to spare you a picture for this post, but Julian pooped in the potty, on his own! No talking, coaxing, encouragement necessary! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah we're pretty excited! Now that that success was made, I promised him McDonalds for lunch and ICE CREAM, he was more excited about the fries.

Barry's Birthday Cupcakes

 

Here they are...delicious! Julian prefers the ones that didn't get frosted.
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Potty Learning Update

Well naptime went SWELL today! I put Julian in a goodmama diaper with out the soaker, so SUPER absorbent undies...and guess who woke up DRY and ran down stairs and peed on the potty!!!! No not me, Julian!!!!! Yay!! I'm so happy I could cry, but I have too much to do still! Yeah Julian!

Potty Learning Day 2ish

Well today is my husband's birthday!


So we've been doing fun things all day. Like making surprise cards...I hope he doesn't decide to read my blog now that I've typed that. Baking cupcakes...well we had to go to Walmart to get cupcake things, the paper things, cups maybe? Anyway, I wanted to go to Walmart because I was sure they would have more of a variety than Hyvee, and I was wrong. But they did have sprinkles for cheap, so the trip wasn't in vain. We got some birthday cupcake cups, and sprinkles. I will be frosting said cupcakes once the monster that is Julian decides to take a nap. Anyway, we went in undies to Walmart. And right before we left I had J sit on the potty. Well he said he didn't have to go. As soon as we went outside and I had Gabriel in the car, this is what I hear: "Mommy I peeeeeeeped." MAN! Luckily I had a pair of clean undies and sweats in my purse so I just changed him in the car really quickly. I know I was in the driveway and could have just taken him inside but I would have had to bring Gabriel with me, trust me this was easier!

But he's been accident free since. I think he doesn't like it when his socks get wet! So hopefully he'll stop peeing his pants! He's actually doing really well! He's a funny kid.

Well tonight we're going to eat pot roast, that has been in the crock pot since 8 this morning, and James & Natalie are coming over for cupcakes and The Office.

That should be fun. I'll take pictures of my cupcakes once they are completed. But here is a picture of Julian licking the mixer. (I'm totally posting this picture for you Jen, so you'll read my blog, ha)

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Adventures in Potty Learning/Training

So in the Cloth Diapering community, it's not "training" it's "learning" which I kind of agree with. It's not like paper training a puppy, it's learning how to not pee in a diaper...right?
Anyway, we're teaching Julian to peep (as he calls it) in the toilet. Yesterday couldn't have been better. I'm talking every peep in the toilet, no accident, he even wore undies (Buzz Lightyear, because I know you wanted to know) to the LIBRARY and no accidents. The little tyke fell asleep in the car on the way home from said library, and mommy didn't put a pull up on him before his nap...(You probably know where this is going...) and he peeped in bed! He was thoroughly freaked out, and we just washed the sheets and sprayed down the bed with Nature's Miracle (Wait...I thought that we weren't teaching a puppy...)and went on our ways.

I had a SAA meeting last night, and Julian didn't do well in the child-watch, so Barry packed up his studies at the library and came and helped the child watchers. Julian wore a pull up and yeah it's a diaper...

Today we had the library, Shake Rattle & Roll, and then there was an impromptu playdate at the Jordan Creek Mall! The craziness. Let's just say that Julian's had two accidents today and is wearing pullups for his nap :)

We have to go buy new tires for my car, so I am not looking forward to it! At least we're going to Costco and they have cheap yummy food.

Tomorrow we're going to the zoo, with our friends Mandy & her boys Carter and Benton (I LOVE the name Benton!!)

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Slightly Post Happy

So my friend Jen had a link to this contest on her blog. And as most of you know, I'm a purse-a-holic! Any opportunity that I can to get a free purse, I am ALL over!
Basically, www.handbagplanet.com is launching a new site. The day they launch, October 15th, they're going to give away a handbag an hour!! You can enter at HandBagPlanet

Gabe's newest trick....

clapping!!! He started doing it yesterday and by today has mastered it! This boy....




**Notice the tall boy in a pullup also in Gabe's pack & play...anywhere Gabriel, is, Julian will be too!

Can I tell you a secret?

You can't tell ANYONE.

I LOVE Iowa. Now I know that I've been here for almost 3 months (can you believe it?) but I'm just now starting to appreciate the beauty of my surroundings, and how awesome the people are. When we got here, I was really sad. I was missing my friends and family, and was depressed about not having any friends here. Because I was depressed, I became reclusive, *thanks Barry for that descriptive word* and an insomniac. I wasn't sleeping at night AT ALL, and just wanted to stay home all day, and be boring. Because I wasn't putting myself out there to meet people, or play with the neighborhood kids, I was getting more and more depressed about not having any friends. Not the best cycle to be in.

Yesterday when I was driving to Ankeny, I realized that Iowa is beautiful. And the people are really nice. I should be happy to be here. We're healthy. I'm at home with my boys. I need to be thankful for what I have :) And so I am!

Somehow, someway, I broke out of that cycle, and am doing more with the kids. I've stopped spending so much time on the computer, just doing whatever I was doing, and putting myself out there. *PS they are both napping right now, which is why I'm on said computer* I'm feeling better not only about myself, but about living here, and being here for another almost 3 years.

Yesterday I was going to take a class at the "Y" with Natalie. I can't remember the class name, but whatever it was started at 9:20 am. SO I got the kids all ready to go, and headed there. I dropped Gabriel off in his child watch center, no problems, easy peasy. Julian on the other hand FLIPPED! I went into the class with him to drop him off, and he literally clung to my leg like a jelly fish. There was no escaping his grip. So I threw the ball a few times for him, and he started to play with the other kids...so I quickly got out of there. Since it was almost half an hour into the class, I decided to run on the treadmill for a bit. So I was on the treadmill minding my own business, and after about 9 minutes, I notice the child watch lady walking into the gym. I knew it...Julian had been crying and screaming the ENTIRE 9 minutes I was gone. So yeah. I went back into the room with him, he stopped screaming instantly and wanted me to play ball with him. So I did for a few minutes, and then we packed it in! Ugh! The ladies in Gabey's childwatch class were like, you're back already? And I said, "Yep, his big brother didn't do so well." And they wanted to know who his big brother was, and saw him, and said, "Oh yeah, he didn't do well." Poor J! Tomorrow night they have a Parent's Night Out, where you drop your kids off @ the Y and get to leave for 3 hours. I have a feeling we're not going to get our 3 hours out of it.

Today I had the best playdate EVER! One of Barry's friends at school has a wife named Mandy. They have two boys that are right around Julian and Gabriel's age. Let's just say that their oldest C and Julian get along SO WELL! I look forward to more fun playdates with them!

I have fabulous news regarding my friend Amy that did IVF a few weeks ago...TWINS!!!

And little Benjamin is having some setbacks regarding his recovery. Please pray for him.



And with that, little G is waking up. He's not the happiest when he wakes up!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

My little man

Gabriel Crawling
 
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Julian and Daddy studying
 
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Friday, October 3, 2008

I've been tagged...

So I'm supposed to post 6 quirks...yikes, only 6?

1. I LOVE Funnyons...a lot. I can't buy them or else I will eat the entire bag of salty goodness.

2. I have a 'hope chest' full of little girls' things. Seriously full.

3. I bite my nails, a lot. I had stopped for a while, and now I'm back in the horrible habit.

4. I'm addicted to cloth diapers, buying, washing, folding, talking about....and any accessory that goes with them, especially wool!

5. My BFF has been my BFF since 6th grade!

6. I watched 4 seasons of Grey's Anatomy in 7 days!

Thursday, October 2, 2008

One More Thing...

The Twilight Series...LOVE IT!

Shout out for Angela & Benjamin

Well, one of my friends has a son that is a few months younger than Gabe. I think that Benjamin is 5 months. He is about to have open heart surgery. So those of you that read my blog, please say some extra prayers for this sweet little boy :)

Also Angela posted on her blog about her favorite random things. I'm going to post a list of my favorite random things.

1. When my neck cracks REALLY loudly.

2. I love it when I am having a 'skinny' day and I look cute all around.

3. Slingback, pointy toed shoes!

4. Ugg Boots, and weather that lets me wear my Uggs.

5. David Kahn.

6. New episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Dr. McDreamy.
<&hearts


7. When my boys play well together, not Julian hogging all of his toys and being mean to Gabriel when Gabe tries to touch one of his toys.

8. Yo Gabba Gabba


9. The Ocean and the mountains, and pretty much just Washington in general.

10. Britney Spears' music. Not so much her new stuff, but I love me some old Brit.

11. Gymbucks! I love being able to get stuff for 'free'

12. Diet Mountain Dew

13. Health, not just mine, but my entire family is healthy, thank God.

14.

15. Random blogs

16. Shade shirts!

17. A new purse

18. Dancing with Julian

19. Cooking a delicious meal

20. Pregnant friends, newborn diapers (especially cloth, SO tiny!) and the newborn smell.