Disney Vacay Montage

We're back from our short Disneyland vacation to celebrate Z-Dub's third birthday. It was a fun and exhausting trip and Z-Dub had a blast. We took hundreds of photos, of course, but I thought I'd share just a few. I'm playing catch-up at work today and will be back to regular posting (and reading) tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy!!!

Ready for blast off!

Z-Dub's shirt says "Big Brother: Honor and Defend" and The Deuce's says "Little Brother: Search and Destroy."

Mom and son.

A Goofy encounter.

Excited for Autopia.

Sukita (cousin) and Z-Dub.

Still in line.

HotMomma and cousin DP.

HotMomma and her cousins from Sactown and little DP at Space Mountain.

HotMomma and me.

What's Z-Dub looking at? Perhaps the giant, talking Buzz Lightyear.

Goofing off.

The teacups at night. I couldn't catch a photo of Z-Dub riding. It was too fast for the camera at night.

The Deuce and his Auntie.

Enjoying the fireworks.

The fireworks.

Z-Dub shows off one of his Birthday presents.

Also, Z-Dub refers to Donald Duck as "Donald THE Duck." It's funny when he says it.

And, finally, we fly a lot, but the short 36-minute flight home from SNA to LAS was one of the scariest we've ever experienced on account of the wind. HotMomma was reciting Hail Mary's as I sat in my chair with   white knuckles. Luckily we all made it home in one piece.

the birthday boy!

Today our little man turns three! It's amazing how fast he's grown from a little baby into a bright and fun-loving boy. A "big boy," as he says. He's super smart, handsome and kind. We're so very proud.

Happy Birthday Z-Dub!!!

leavin' on a jet plane...

We're off to the airport this morning to catch a short flight (a hop really) to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. With the kids in tow, we're heading to nearby Anaheim for a very special Disneyland weekend. Z-Dud is excited to see his buddies Mickey, Goofy, Donald, Pluto and the rest of the Disney gang.

Fun times will be had by all and photos will be captured. I can't wait to share. Until then, "hot diggity dog" we're out of here.

tweetle dee...

Jamaipanese posted this YouTube video yesterday. It's so funny, I thought I'd share. Check it out:

 
Speaking of Twitter. You can follow me here.

wordless wednesday

broken bone(r)

I went into the bathroom to check on Z-Dub. He had been finishing up his shower and playing with his Little Einsteins figurines a couple of minutes earlier. I walked in, pulled back the curtain and found him carefully examining his errr...naughty bits. "what are you doing?" I inquired.

"My pee pee is broken," he proclaimed. "I need a new one."

With a bewildered tone I asked "Why is your pee pee broken?"

"It's not up anymore," he replied.

All I could think about was the fact that he's only two, almost three, and the "the talk" appears to be just around the corner.

pee pee and poo poo

Once again I'm writing about poop. When you have a toddler potty training it tends to be a hot topic. As many of you know, potty training Z-Dub has been a huge challenge for us.We've been trying for the past several of months with little to no success.

However, with a sticker chart hanging low on the refrigerator and the promise of toys as rewards for hitting certain milestones, we've had much success in the past couple of weeks. So much so, that yesterday, without any reminders or requests, he went into the bathroom by himself, took off his pants and diaper, sat on his potty chair and filled it up with golden goodness. He was quite proud of it and proceeded to do it two more times within the subsequent hour.

That's where the success ends, because later in the morning he crapped in his diaper three times. Each time I begged him to try the potty, but he absolutely refused. Apparently pooping is traumatic.

So, if anyone has any suggestions on how to get Z-Dub to make mud in the potty instead of his pants, lay it out there for us. Our family and our local landfill will greatly appreciate it.

just another video post

When something is new I tend to over indulge. When I get new music I listen to it until I can't stand it anymore. It's no different with my new camcorder. I'm a bit obsessed with capturing life in digital video and sharing it with the world. So, for the second day in a row, here's a video. This time it features both both Z-Dub and The Deuce. It's cute. It's funny. It's cinematic artistry. Okay, maybe not artistry. I promise, it will be the last one for a while.

i'm no spielberg

I finally purchased my Flip Mino HD camcorder. It's a small and handy little device. It's very basic, but considering the price, you get what you pay for. I made my first video with it last night. It's nothing to write home about...but I guess it's good enough to write a blog post about. It's a little shaky and isn't exactly award-winning cinematography, but I thought I'd share it anyways.

spring is in the air and wine is in the glass

It's that time of year again -- the air is warm and the sun is shining. It's spring, our favorite time of year here in the desert. It's time to enjoy outdoor eating and activities in the park.

It also means it's almost time for UNLVino. For those of you unfamiliar with this annual Las Vegas wine tasting event, it's a must attend if you're here in mid-April. Let's just say the wine is flowing and everybody lets loose and has a great time. I wrote an article about it for Uptake.com. Check it out. If you're from a land afar, you may want to book your flight and hotel reservations today and join us for a couple of days of drinkin'.

Money raised at the event supports my alma mater and they need all the money they can get these days.

R.I.P. Brian O'Neill

After a long, courageous and emotional battle with brain cancer, Brian O'Neill passed away early this morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loving wife Angie and their two beautiful boys, Gavin and Grant. We've been following Angie's blog, Keep Believing, for quite some time as she chronicled Brian and her family's heart wrenching journey. With all of the ups and downs with Brian's health and mental state, both Angie and Brian displayed remarkable fortitude.

We wish the family the best as they cope with their loss and begin a new chapter in their lives. If you have a few bucks to spare, donations are being accepted to help the family out during these undoubtedly tough times.

In the words of Angie, KEEP BELIEVING!

brotherly love

curious case of the half bald boy

Some of you may have noticed very few photos lately of The Deuce on this here site. It's not that I haven't overlooked the little fellow. He's the center of attention at our house.

The reason, I'm embarrassed to admit, is bad hair. You see, both Z-Dub and The Deuce were born with a full head of thick black hair. Unfortunately, it falls out shortly after birth, growing back later in a lighter brown hue. In Z-Dub's case, his hair fell out quickly leaving a nice, round and bald melon. For The Deuce, the hair loss has been less than kind. The hair has fallen out on the left side of his head, but the right side, most of the top and back of his head still has thick and long black hair. The remaining hair, particularly on the sides, seems to be coming off slowly.

It simply looks funny.

Want proof?

Here's Z-Dub at four months old.

Here's The Deuce this morning, just a week from four months.

It sort of resembles the hair style of Kim Jong-il. Am I right?

I have a solution...shave the kid's head with some clippers. HotMomma won't let me. What do you think, leave it be or shave it off?

Or, am I a complete ass for caring so much about it?

wordless wednesday: dressed to impress

Anchoring the news on a Saturday night in Las Vegas.

the camera loves him, and so do the girls

Much like Mr. Lady's beautiful daughter, 3of3, Z-Dub had an opportunity to model some threads for RedSparks.com, the Web site where you'll find clothing and accessories for the cool kids. Of course, the camera loving Z-Dub had a blast taking photos, and I think I had equal fun taking them. It was great, creative, father-son bonding time.

We explored gritty downtown Las Vegas on Saturday for an urban backdrop amongst the homeless, hookers and drug dealers. I know, a little too urban for kids clothing, but I thought it was a good environment. Please don't call CPS. On Sunday we went a little more wholesome with photos at the upscale District at Green Valley Ranch, a park and our neighborhood. We literally took more than 200 photos and I don't know which RedSparks.com will be using, but here are a few unedited shots for your viewing pleasure.

The urban collection:

The wholesome boy:

By the way, the shirt and pants provided to Z-Dub for the photos were really cool. He really, really liked them. In fact, on Sunday night he had a bit of a tantrum when we tried to remove them for shower time.

get tugged for a $1000

No, I'm not offering any services. It's actually an offer on a billboard off I-215 in Las Vegas. I've mentioned before in written descriptions of my blog about balancing family life in the land of sexy billboards. It seems lately that the balancing act is becoming more difficult as new and very explicit billboards have popped up all over town. One porn company in particular has several billboards along the freeway offering cash to "get tugged," "co-star," "show us your package," etc. You get the picture.

I'm so not looking forward to the day when Z-Dub and The Deuce learn to read. I can already imagine the conversations in the car...

"Daddy, that girl on the sign has her hands in that guy's pants. What does it mean to 'get tugged'?"

"Oh, I think they're going to have a tug-war-competition. That girl is just making sure the guy's pants are buttoned, so they don't fall off during the competition."

"I want to get paid $1,000 to pay tug-of-war. I'm good at that game."

"Not today son."

or

"Look daddy, they'll pay you $1,000 to show them your packages. I have a package in the back of the car. We should show them and make some money."

"I don't think think your package is big enough...yet."

Here are some of the many signs.

I'll also have to explain what a gentleman's club is.

Raising a family in Vegas is interesting.

P.S. - I didn't doctor the photos to remove the phone number, so I guess feel free to call and make arrangements to "get tugged," if that's your thing or if you need the money. These are tough times, yo.

where did my week go?

I can't frickin' believe it's Friday already. The week flew by so quickly. Probably because I was so busy, especially at work. I have so much to write about and I plan on catching up this weekend. I promise.

divine intervention?

Call it divine intervention or a random miracle, but either way we got some unexpected great news today. CK underwent a cath procedure this morning to determine the severity of his heart failure in preparation for either a mitral valve catheter balloon valvuloplasty or mitral valve replacement later this week. Amazingly, the doctors at Duke discovered that instead of the worsening mitral valve they detected last month after his open heart surgery to correct his Aorta, his condition had improved. Shock was an understatement. The doctors said they had never seen a case where the condition improved. Usually the opposite occurs. They conducted several diagnostic tests this afternoon that confirmed their findings.

I'm not a super religious person at all, but I'm confident in saying that CK was touched by the hand of God. Perhaps he heard all of your prayers and/or witnessed all of the acts of human kindness.

CK was discharged today and is heading home with my sister and the rest of the family. For now he's in great shape. Of course, this miraculous change of events doesn't mean he's out of the woods completely. He has multiple congenital heart defects that will require medical intervention in the future. He will be monitored regularly, but for now he gets to be an active, happy little boy.

Thanks again to all of you that have donated money to help my sister and her family. And, of course, thanks to all of you that offered hope, thoughts and prayers. 

mission incompletion

Z-Dub is obsessed with Little Einsteins these days. He watches it regularly and proudly yells "mission completion!" at the end of each episode. As I watched him excitedly watch his program this morning, I wondered, what if the mission isn't completed? What if they actually failed? It would teach a valuable lesson -- life doesn't always turn out perfect. Missions aren't always completed, just look at Iraq.

I can picture the episode now. Since they're so used to their perfect lives, those little characters wouldn't know how to handle the failure. Leo the conductor would probably hit the bottle to drink away his failure. His little sister Annie would probably end up knocked up after a night of seeking comfort with strangers. Little June, the dancer, would probably turn to pole dancing. Wanting more out of life, she'd end up turning tricks. Finally, Quincy would probably end up selling dope on a street corner.

Now that would make an interesting cartoon, wouldn't it?