Perspective

Do you know what these are? If you answer something like "raggedy old dandelions" you'd be correct, but you also couldn't be more wrong.
These are the most precious flowers a mom could receive. They are the unprompted gift brought home from a walk. Gripped tightly in a two year old fist and deposited with a flourish into her lap. "I brought you pretty flowers, mommy." he would say with a smile. She'd smell the flowers and make a fuss over them, because let's face it, they're a big deal. These are a completely unselfish gesture by a selfish little being. They are love, kindness, and generosity. They are thoughtfulness. They are maturity, and a sign that my baby isn't such a baby anymore. They are a tiny peek into the man that this little boy will become. They are happiness, and more precious to me than all the roses, dahlias, lillies, hydrangea, daffodils and peonies. They came from him, and he makes me proud to be a mommy.

THAT mom

Today, Owen picked out his own clothes. He looked....well ridiculous. Especially until the size 5 swim trunks he chose to wear for the day fell off. Then he just looked a little crazy. I let him be him. He wore his 'frog jammies' and frog boots, and the brown striped polo shirt. He sure did splash in the freezing puddle in the parking lot. He had a great time. And he was proud of himself for getting dressed my self. He's growing up, becoming independent and making choices. It's bittersweet. It's amazing to see his little personality develop. He can be the most shy child ever and then with a blink turn into the most outgoing. He loves elderly people and they love him. People always say he's going to be a heart-breaker, and I don't think so. He is a beautiful child, but he also has a kind personality. I hope and pray that he remains kind and calm.

Confessional

It's nearly one am. My post run high is coming to a rash and I have completed my nightly routine. Everyone is sleeping and there is a sweet baby girl lying next to me with her little arm outstretched and resting on mine. It's like she has to be touching me to sleep. This evening while I was making dinner I had Emilia on my back in the Beco. She kept rubbing my side with her tiny hand and the sweetness of the gesture nearly made me weep.

So my confession. I like to watch my boys sleep. And girl. I'm still working on retraining my brain to say children or kids instead of boys. After Owen has come out of his room approximately 94,562 times for various necessities, and after Julian has closed his latest book, turned off his book light and shoved them both haphazardly under his pillow, and when Gabe has perfectly arranged his assortment of puppies, had his nightly snack (string cheese) and filled his water bottle, I like to sneak into their room. I like to peer into the darkness and witness how they're sleeping. Gabe never has blankets. Never. Julian is a snuggler. He usually cons his way into Gabe's bed, Gabe into his bed, or crashes and hogs Owen's toddler bed. Owen is usually half on half off his bed. He might have blankets on him and he ALWAYS has at least 4 OBV tickety bu blankets at all times. I like to imagine what they're dreaming of. I like to push their hair back and kiss their foreheads softly, careful not to wake them.

All too soon they will be grown and gone from their bunk-beds. Serving missions if they choose, getting married, having children of their own. I want to remember the little things. I want to remember how Gabriel sleeps with his face pressed into the pillow and his mouth wide open. I want to know that Julian grinds his teeth when he is dreaming. I need to remember that Owen? He gets that drooling habit from his mama.

My confession is this. Even on my worst day, I am here. I am where I belong. This is MY family, forever. I love them. They make me crazy. I make them crazy. They make me laugh. They make me proud. They help to keep me here and now. Present. And they make me want to do better, try harder, BE better.

So tonight, Owen had one of my random vampire diaries books hidden between his mattress and the crib. Julian slept alone, snuggling his guinea pig stuffed animal, Patches. Gabe? No blanket. Duh. Asleep completely across his entire bed. Bed hog to the max.

My baby boy!

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!

Where has the time gone?

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.

Happy 4 Months Owen!

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

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

My mommy is mean

And needs a baby girl some day.

&hearts,
Owen

Whooooo is 3 months old?

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.

Eureka!!!

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

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!

2 Months, really?!

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 :)

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!

The time is flying by!

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!