Growing Up

We've been super busy around here lately. The boys have been reaching some new milestones that I thought I would share with everyone.

Justin just finished his 3rd week of kindergarten, and by now he's a pro. Actually, he loved it from day one. It was me that had to get used to it. It was hard to leave him there those first couple of days. But he loves it, and is learning so much. He seems so grown up to me when he walks into school every morning with his Thomas backpack on!

Dawson has decided he is way too cool to wear diapers anymore. This has been an argument between him and me for several months now, but we have finally reached a compromise. He doesn't have to wear a diaper as long as we're at home, (and awake), but he wears one when we go out. Now I'm guessing that some of you are thinking that I'm crazy trying to keep him in diapers longer, but I'm just not ready to deal with potty training right now. For those first few months they have to use the restroom literally every 5 minutes, and it gets so crazy trying to herd 3 boys into a public restroom 4 times during one trip to the store. So for now, he's doing great at home, and maybe he can convince me that he's ready for the next step soon!

As for Chase, he's probably grown the most since I last blogged about him. He just had his 6 month checkup (at 7.5 months!) and he was one ounce shy of 20 pounds. According to his doctor, that puts him in the 50th percentile, but I'm really not buying that because it does not seem possible that 50% of babies can be bigger than Chase. Have you seen his thighs?!? He is still as cute as ever, but I'm sad to say that he is mobile now. He started rolling, scooting, and sliding around weeks ago, but as of 2 days ago, he is officially crawling. Watching him master his new skills makes me so proud, but still sad, and a little apprehensive. I know that it's almost guaranteed that babies will learn to crawl, but when my own baby does it, it seem so amazing to me! As silly as it is, I secretly think that Chase is a genius for figuring out this skill! It does make me sad though that he is growing up so fast, and that soon he won't be a baby anymore. The apprehension comes from the thought of him walking in a few months. I'm terrified for that milestone because then I will really know what it is to have 3 kids. Up until now, Chase has just been along for the ride, but very soon, he will be up and running, and I will have 3 very busy boys to keep track of.

Well those are the headlines for now. I have a million things I could blog about, but my days have been so amazingly crazy, that I'm lucky to just get these basics written down!

My first tag

After a couple of years of blogging, this is the first tag that I've ever done! I was tagged by Cheryl who is one of the most amazing women I know, so I just couldn't let her down!

The tag is to simply mention 6 things about yourself so here goes.

1. I HATE feet. I always have. I can't stand anyone touching me with their feet. Even with socks on. I'm just completely grossed out by the thought of something that is always on dirty floors or in stinky shoes touching me. Just ask Nazar. I can be dead asleep, and he'll accidentally brush me with his foot, and I will karate chop him until he moves it. The weird thing is that I make an exception for baby feet. I love Chases's little chubby feet, and will kiss them all over, even Dawson's feet are okay to touch me (I've stopped kissing them a while ago) but Justin's feet are already gross to me. I don't know when it happens, but apparently I have an age limit on feet that are allowed to touch me!

2. I was such a girly girl growing up. I was a cheerleader, I was a competitive gymnast (until I grew 6" in one summer) I was on the dance team in high school. I loved all things pink and sparkly. I grew up with 3 sisters (I have a brother also, but he's the oldest and was practically out of the house by the time I can remember) You can imagine how I feel a bit lost as to what to do with all these boys. I constantly worry that I am going to raise a bunch of wussy boys because I don't know how to teach them manly things!

3. As a small child I was painfully sensitive. I would cry at the drop of a hat. In preschool and kindergarten I would cry if my mom was not the very first mom to be there for pick ups. I would cry if a teacher told me I made a letter backwards. I would cry if a worker in a grocery store told me to stop touching something. I was even held back a year in school because I wasn't emotionally ready for it. Even after an extra year in preschool, I used to get unsatisfactory marks on my report cards for self control. Luckily in 3rd grade my mom homeschooled me, and apparently the isolation of being homeschooled drove me out of my shell and toughened me up because when she put me back in school the next year she would hear from my teachers how I was a good student, but I would never stop talking!

4. I love to sew. I took sewing in high school, but didn't really pick it back up again until after I had Justin. I love mixing and matching fabric and turning it into something cute and fun. For me it is my creative release. It's just for me, I have a whole room of my house just for this purpose, and the boys are strictly forbidden from entering.

5. I am a terrible housekeeper. With my kids around, it is virtually impossible to clean the house during their waking hours, and when they're asleep, it seems like such a waste to use my precious free time to do something so mundane. So for the most part I just don't clean. I try to keep the house reasonably picked up (sometimes I fail miserably even at that) but as for actualy cleaning, it rarely happens around here!

6. Fountains and shallow pools of water creep me out. I hesitated even writing this, because I know it makes me sound crazy, but they really do. I don't know what it is about them, but fountains, especially larger ones make me uncomfortable. Now I'm not so afraid of them that I won't go near them, but I just have an unsettled feeling when I'm around them. For example I'm not too crazy about the reflection pool in front of the LA temple, or for anyone from La Mirada, those creepy pools and waterfalls in front of the library are the worst. Now I have no problem with swimming pools, or even lakes, but for some reason fountains set me on edge. Weird. I know.

So that's me. Now I will tag 6 people. Marcy, Jaime, Cheryl Gardner, Christie, Amanda, and Callie I want to find out some fun and weird things about you guys!

Here are the rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6. Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Geez Mom!

You know you need a sister when your mom forces your into these leg warmers and claims that they're not girly because they're blue and grey! Mom, just because something has blue on it doesn't mean it's for boys. Geez, I really hope you have a girl before I go to high school, or this could get really embarassing.
Your little BOY,
Chase

Unique

I found this on my aunt's blog and thought it was fun

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I am the only DeAnne Kalayji in the U.S.! However, there are 5 Deanne Blair's. Good thing I got married! How about everyone else. How many people share your name?

Uninspired

I've lost my will to blog! It's the same for me with keeping a journal. Sometimes I do really well at keeping it updated, then I'll go for months (sometimes longer) with no entries. So lately I have no desire to blog. I'm not sure what has gotten into me, but I am at a loss for creative things to write. I know that we've been super busy so I'm sure there are many updates that I could be giving, but I can't think of what they are right now. I'll think about it and get back to you all in a timely matter (hopefully). In the meantime, we're all doing fine!

How to lower your property taxes

I normally would not use our family blog to do this, but I get asked all the time how people can lower their property taxes. If you own a home and feel that your home has decreased in value more than you purchased it for, then please go to:

http://riverside.asrclkrec.com/acr/forms/755P-AS3RS0%20Owners%20Request%20for%20Review.pdf

Print the form out and fill it out. If you need comps to support the decline in value, please e-mail me @ nazar@homesbynazar.com your: Name and address.

I will try my best to get the comps to you asap.

Thanks!

Mother's Day

I had a wonderful Mother's Day this year. Nazar got up with the kids in the morning, so I think I might have had 8 hours of continuous sleep. (a miracle in my life!) Then Nazar and the boys made me breakfast in bed! I had french toast, my favorite!! Justin gave me this precious gift that he had made



I love that this sweet gift captures him, so that I can always remember what he looks like this mother's day.

Nazar brought this home for me


I love this! I think this is an ingenious idea. Instead of flowers, which are beautiful, they have fruit flower arrangements which are both beautiful and delicious! Plus it has chocolate covered stawberries, and that makes it perfect! Nazar got major brownie points for this one!

After church, we had my family over for dinner so that we could celebrate with my mom. Nazar cooked and it was awesome. After all that, he cleaned up, and put the kids to bed. More brownie points!! All in all it was a perfect day. I felt so appreciated by Nazar and my boys and grateful to spend time with my mom. Every year I realize that more and more I am becoming like her in so many ways. I'm thankful that she has always been such an amazing role model for me.