happy new year!

The year 2008 was definitely good, bad, ugly and even uglier than years past. This year we saw our nation's status in the global economy shatter as people rich and poor struggle during tough times. At the same time we prepare to usher in an era of change that for many brings hope for a brighter future. There's no denying that 2008 was tumultuous, but it was also marked with tremendous milestones that will be written and spoken about for generations to come.

While we too have been affected, though only mildly, by the turmoil that has become a new reality in America and much of the world, our family comes out of 2008 with an attitude of gratitude. This past year we moved into our beautiful new house, saw our son transform from a toddler into a bright little boy, made many great friends and welcomed Deuce into our growing family. While we've had our ups and downs, overall it was a good year for us. We hope your year was equally rewarding.

As 2008 comes to a close, we'd like to send our best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy 2009. May the new year bring prosperity to all.

pissin' all over the place

After pissing on the floor six times this morning, Z-Dub finally peed in the toilet for the first time at home. This accomplishment was greeted with loud, roaring cheers, high-fives and a reward of a sticker and an M&M candy. There were promises of more such gifts if this feat is accomplished again. Shortly afterwards he proceeded to pee on the floor again and laugh about it. I think he was just f%#king with us earlier when he actually peed where he was supposed to pee.

Oh well. It was worth a try.

As for Z-Jay, he's six weeks old today and has reached a new level of infant development. He now wants to be held ALL THE TIME. He's not happy in the swing or the bouncy chair. He's only happy in Mommy or Daddy's arms or in the baby carrier. It's hard to do anything when you have an infant attached to you at all times, so we're not going to crack. It doesn't hurt him to cry a little. It's good for lung development. Perhaps he'll foster a great singing voice or something.

And finally, the Z-Dub and Z-Jay thing is a little confusing for me, so I think it's safe to assume it is for our readers as well. Therefore, for the third time, Z-Jay's blog name is hereby changed. From this point forward he will be referred to as Deuce. This is defined as "the second" of our children and not "shit" as the word is commonly used in slang.

Now I know I've been absent from reading the other great blogs in my reader for the past week or so, but we've been busy with the holidays. So I plan to catch up real soon.

christmas recap

Christmas came and went with all of the festivities befitting such a holiday. There was enormous amounts of food, gifts, kids at play, gingerbread decorating, family conflicts, rounds of Uno Attack, off-key competitions of American Idol Encore 2 on the Wii, coughs and sniffles and togetherness. Who can ask for anything more? Except for better weather, of course. It rained off and on. We spent the day pretty much inside, which is unusual for us. Normally we'll head out to the Bellagio Conservatory to see the sights or go ice skating at Lake Las Vegas. Those will have to wait a couple of days.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebration.

Z-Dub and his cousins open their one Christmas Eve gift.

Santa pays Z-Dub and Z-Jay a visit.

Z-Jay just slept during the gift opening extravaganza.

Off to Grandma and Grandpa's house to see the family and open more gifts.

Christmas is over, but I'm sure next year will be here before we know it.

merry christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all. We're off doing holiday stuff today. See you soon.

wordless wednesday: bathtime

tagged

It's Monday morning and we didn't wake up until 10 a.m. This was after a rough night with Z-Jay. He was gassy again. He's gassy a lot. It sucks. 

Anyways, I woke up this morning to a tag from James over at Luke, I am Your Father . The rules of this tag are quite simple. 

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2) DON'T change your clothes, DON'T fix your hair (no problem here)... Just take a picture.
3) Post that picture with NO editing.
4) Post these instruction with your picture.
5) Tag 10 people to do this.

Okay, so here's my pic, taken with the trusty Webcam. It's not the best shot, but I followed directions so it is what it is.

Now, as for tagging people, this is where I break from the rules. I have to run, so I don't have time. So I'll just say, if you're interested in showing yourself, go for it.

pee, poo, milk, web traffic and snow

We're still struggling with potty training Z-Dub. He's two years and nine months old and he has absolutely no interest in using the porcelain thrown. He made that clear the other night as I was getting him ready for his shower.

Me: "Z-Dub, do you want to try and go pee pee or poo poo on the potty before your shower?"

Z-Dub: "No Daddy. I too little."

Me: "What do you mean you're too little? You're a big brother now."

Z-Dub: "No. Mommy go on the potty. Daddy go on the potty. [Z-Dub] too little."

I guess we'll have to wait until he's "bigger" before he finally decides to answer nature's call in a toilet.

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We have a mini refrigerator in our master bedroom. This is because it's incredibly dry here in the desert and we're thirsty a lot. It's a pain in the butt to go down stairs to get water in the middle of the night, so the refrigerator provides easy access to bottled water. We also keep a sippy cup of milk in there at night, just in case Z-Dub wakes up thirsty. Last night he did just that, except he decided that rather than waking us up he'd quietly wander out of his room and into ours, open the refrigerator, grab his milk, close the refrigerator door and head off back to bed. That was such a "big boy" thing to do.

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Finally, thanks to my snowy Las Vegas pictures this blog broke a traffic record yesterday. I got more hits on this blog by noon yesterday than I get for an entire week. This was all because of Google searches for "Vegas snow pictures." I checked and we were listed first in search results. Cool!

And speaking of snow, although much of it has melted in the Valley, our neighborhood in the foothills above Vegas is still covered in a thick white blanket of snow. I guess it's going to stick around for a few days for us.

a surreal morning

vegas snow pics

Snowfall is so extremely rare here in Las Vegas, so when it started accumulating it was a total surprise. They shut down my work at 3 p.m. and I arrived home at 4 p.m. By that time more than four inches of white powder blanketed our neighborhood. It's a remarkable site. The National Weather Service has issued a snow advisory for Las Vegas until 4 a.m. They expect up to eight inches overnight. With no snow plows or salt or whatever they do to clear the roads, I don't think I'll rush to work in the morning.

Anyways, here's the incredible pictures of our front yard and home.

Our neighborhood as the snow began to fall. Z-Dub sees snow for the very first time in his life.

Z-Dub and his friends play in the snow.

At around 2 p.m. a lot of snow began to accumulate.

Here's our home and neighborhood at just around 4 p.m.

HotMomma and VegasDad in the snow.

Our patio. The giant bush in the back is actually a tree that fell due to the weight of the snow.

As the sun begin to set.

I'm going to venture out and get some more snowy pictures with Christmas lights later.

This is so cool. Like I mentioned earlier, this is the first time in our lives that we've experienced snowfall. It's fun, but no fun to drive in.

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7 p.m. Update - Nighttime descends and the snow continues. Of course, it was time to venture out and see the lights.

snow!

It is snowing. Not just flurries, it's actually snowing here in Vegas. This marks the first time in my life that I've actually seen snow fall from the sky. I know, it's weird. I'm from the California coast and it doesn't snow there.

HotMomma and Z-Dub are at home having some fun in the snow as we speak. It's Z-Dub's first time ever  seeing snow, so he's having a blast. They're taking plenty of pictures and I can't wait to share them later.

fashionable or practical?

I know I'm going to sound like an old man right now, but this is bugging me. We were at Las Vegas Town Square the other night to visit H&M and it was cold. Actually, it was really cold because the wind was blowing too. Needless to say, HotMomma, the kids and I were all bundled up to keep warm.

Walking through the outdoor mall I noticed quite a few teenagers walking around wearing just a t-shirt with a scarf around their neck. The first thought that came to mind was "WTF?" I soon realized that they were making some kind of fashion statement, because there is no way in hell anyone would be stupid enough to think just a scarf will provide relief from the cold wind. And, actually, I thought it looked a bit silly.

Is it just me? Have I finally reached an age where I'm officially out of touch with the youth of America?

BTW...in doing a little research I found this gem.

not in our 'hood

Yesterday was stormy here in Las Vegas. We got a winter blast, courtesy of Alaska, that brought rain and snow to the area. On the west side of Las Vegas residents were treated to several inches of white powder that actually stuck. On our side (extreme southeast) we weren't as fortunate. And that is despite our high elevation. I was hoping Z-Dub would have a chance to play in the snow.

Regardless, we did wake up to a spectacular view this morning. A ring of white encircles the entire valley. I, unfortunately, did not have an opportunity to capture a picture of it as I rushed off to work. Luckily Gini from the Tao of Gini did. She lives in our area of town. Check out her picture of the west side with the Red Rock Canyon and the Spring Mountains in the background. Incredible!!!

get out of my head!!!

Thanks to Z-Dub's cartoon obsession, I can't get this damned theme song out of my freakin' head.



I don't know why he likes them. They're such pretentious nerds.

chronicles of regression and a milestone

We knew it would happen. You know what we're talking about. The inevitable regression of a two-year-old when his world is suddenly turned upside down by the arrival of a new sibling. In Z-Dub's case, the regressive behavior was a little slow to emerge. But it's here now and it's annoying as hell.

The most notable is the bedtime battle we've experienced over the past few nights. It's rather frustrating because he's been great at going to bed in his own bed, in his own room and on his own for the past few months. Now all of a sudden it's a long, drawn out process filled with defiance and, eventually, tears. He's tried everything to get out of going to bed, from hurting body parts to being scared of monsters. These were never issues before. Last night he was tucked in at 9 p.m. and was out of bed pleading, whining and crying more times than I can count. He didn't actually fall asleep until about 11 p.m. And he was so tired the entire time.

After witnessing Z-Jay's feedings, Z-Dub is now insistent that we hold his sippy cup in his mouth while he drinks so as to copy his little brothers feeding style. We're steadfast in our refusal to play along with this game. We're not even going to go there.

During the day, Z-Dub is disobedient, whiny, clingy and the master of "back talk." It's all expected and we're trying to work through these behaviors by giving him as much attention as humanly possible. We're also giving him an active role in helping take care of his brother, which we think is helping. Now if he'd quit trying to pick up and carry his little bro or head butt him that would ease some of our stress.

Now, all of this, along with HotMomma's mastitis , is the reason I haven't been able to update everyday like I normally do. It's also why I've neglected my feed reader once again. I promise to catch up soon. I also really, really need to write another article for UpTake . Where will I find the time? As I write this, Z-Dub is trying to climb up on my lap. He's always pushing buttons. He put our computer into hibernate twice earlier when we were on Skype with my parents in North Carolina.

But it's hard to get angry at a beautiful kid like this:

And, providing equal opportunity for "show off," here's Z-Jay today:

Also, yesterday I gave Z-Dub our camera and let him have some fun. It sure kept him busy for quite a while. Here's some of the pics he took. Let's just say he needs to master his craft a little bit more before declaring his professional status as a photographer.

Z-Dub's cars and a sock.

Z-Dub's foot.

Bathroom cabinets.

Chi-Lo hiding from him under the bed.

The upstairs television.

Daddy.

On a final note, six years ago today HotMomma and I walked down the aisle in holy matrimony. While we can't celebrate this milestone at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Las Vegas this year as we have the past two years, a day with our growing family is rewarding enough.

Happy Anniversary to my beautiful and caring wife. I can't imagine life without you!!!!

sick day

Poor HotMomma was literally hit with a severe case of Mastitis in the early morning hours. Those you that are familiar with the ailment know how painful it is. I had to call in sick to work today and I'm caring for the kids while she recovers. She's taking a heavy dose of antibiotics, so hopefully she'll be over it soon. I feel sorry for her.

So here I am, getting ready to feed Z-Jay while Z-Dub watches Wall-E on the television. Not that exciting, but it's all I can muster up at this point. I'm tired.

superman!!!

HotMomma visited her parents with the kids yesterday and this was the highlight.

Z-Dub, while holding up his fist in the air: "I'm Superman!!!!"

HotMomma: "Wow, you're Superman. What's your brother?"

Z-Dub: "SuperZ-Jay!!!"

HotMomma: "And what about Sukita (cousin)? Is she Supergirl?"

Z-Dub: "No. She a princess."

HotMomma: "Oh. What about Grandma? Is she Supergrandma?"

Z-Dub: "No. She a witch."

Grandma: "Aye. I'm not a witch!!!"

Just remember Grandma - he said it, not us.