Hi...

Remember me?
I'm a busy girl right now. We've added to our family! I have a 4th son Monday through Friday from about 7-4. He's adorable and fits in perfectly with my rough and tumble little boys. That also means that I have less time for the extras. Which is also why I've put off planning my big boys' 4th and 6th birthday party! They're having a combo party because they both want Phineas and Ferb, and also because Julian's asked for a big ticket birthday present, so his party is smaller.

I also have to fly to Washington ON his birthday, and also Match Day, so I won't be here to celebrate with him.

I designed their invitation, and it turned out pretty cute! It's for sale in my design Etsy shop here. What? You didn't know I HAD an Etsy design shop? Well I do. And it's awesome :) Look forward to pictures of some products in the shop at J&Gs party!

Photography is going well. I've been pretty busy this last month. I offered up two free newborn sessions on my facebook wall, and filled the slots quickly and had the most amazing sessions with the most precious babies of all time! I was also commissioned for a birth announcement design from one of the moms, and it was so fun and challenging and I'm so thrilled with the final product!

My boys are big and growing and so wonderful, most of the time. Owen is so one. He's fesity and attitudey and adorable. He's starting to get his own voice, or sense of style and it cracks me up. On more than one occasion he's brought one of my flowers for my hair and tried putting it in his hair himself. He leaves it in for hours. Yes, yes he has the same curls as Gabe. He's so blond, it's strange!

Gabe is still generous and kind. He's getting more emotional and very sure of his wants. LOL! He loves Perry The Platypus, and all things Phineas and Ferb. Here he is with his Valentine's Box!

Julian, my sweet Julian is nearly 6. He's finally wearing size 6 pants, his 5Ts are short. Woohoo for a growing boy! He's reading SO well. I'm so amazed every day at how clever and smart my little man is.

Here he is with the snowman we made when it snowed earlier this month

Life is good. Busy but good. We'll have a BIG huge announcement coming up in less than a month! Match Day! Hooray! I"m so nervous and excited to find out where we'll be for residency. While part of me hopes we stay in Des Moines for ease's sake, the other part hopes we move back to Washington, Spokane to be exact. We shall see!

It's 2012!

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!

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

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

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

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!

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!