oh, hello blog

Wow, it's been two weeks since I've posted. Time sure does fly. My hectic work schedule is my excuse, of course. It's true too. The work load has been insane. Meanwhile, it seems that life just keeps zooming by at the speed of light. I can't frickin' believe it's September already. Christmas is just around the corner. Even more surprising is that The Deuce turns one in November and it'll be here in a flash. I wish things would just slow down a bit. Perhaps a relaxing, slow-paced vacation is in order. But enough about that.

So what's going on in the iVegasFamily house? Well, Z-Dub is in school and is seems to be doing well. He fights me every morning when I drop him off, but embraces the whole thing once I leave. He's learning a lot, like the calendar, how to write, Spanish, etc. We bought him a dry-erase activity book that he works on at home as well. Our goal in the coming weeks is to get him writing his name without assistance. He's well on his way, although he still says his name is spelled "Eueeuue." I don't know where his obsession with "e" and "u" originated. It's a little peculiar.

As for The Deuce, he's now pointing and trying to talk and walk. He's a rambunctious little dude with a hot temper as well. I have a feeling he's going to be a handful when he becomes mobile. He and Z-Dub have been playing well together though. It's amazing to watch their interactions.

As for HotMomma, well tomorrow's her birthday. She's turning 29. We'll be celebrating this weekend. It should be a lot of fun.

That's a quick and dirty update. I'll leave you with a video of Z-Dub playing Wii Bowling for the very first time. He actually did very well for a newbie. He bowled a 74.

i'm back

Wow, it's been a long time since I updated the blog. The past few weeks have been a bit of a blur. Not only had I a lot to do at work, followed by a two week vacation, but I was also having some health issues checked out. Luckily, all is okay with me and it's time to get back into the swing of things. I've neglected my blog so much that I probably don't have any loyal readers anymore. I hope to redeem myself in the coming weeks with new posts and a renewed effort to read everyone else's great posts.

Of course, it's very late...actually, now that I just looked at the clock, it's very early. So instead of a full blown post, I'll leave you with this video of our vacation earlier this week. As you'll see, the family had a great time. We stayed at the Catamaran Beach Resort and Spa on Mission Bay. It was nice to escape the heat of Las Vegas.

To all of our American readers, Happy 4th of July. To our Brit friends, no hard feelings, of course.

school, vacation and buffness

It's an exciting day today. In about 20 minutes Z-Dub is returning to school after 6 months at home. I think we're more excited than he is, but at least there's excitement. I know what you're wondering, "why is he starting school in the summer!?!" Actually, it's a summer academy in preparation for preschool in the fall. He's going to have a lot of fun as each week is themed, such as art, music, travel, culture, etc. I'm sure he'll learn a lot. And he's going to have an instant classmate as his cousin is enrolled as well.

HotMomma is looking forward to having a break. Z-Dub has been a handful lately. He needs an outlet for his energy and imagination. School is the perfect place. Besides, when it finally get's Vegas hot (it's been unseasonably cool this June), it's difficult to find things for him to do because outdoors isn't an option during the daylight hours. A lot of the time it's even too hot for swimming in the pool. He can only watch so much Wonder Pets!

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You may remember my rant about our elusive vacation. Well, with health issues resolved and two weeks off from work beginning this weekend, I took the plunge and booked us a trip. We're not going to go too far from home, but it's a vacation none-the-less. Z-Dub is going to have a blast here. I'm looking forward to chillaxing on the beach.

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Finally, with my renewed workout regimen in full swing with noticeable results, I'll have no issues with being topless on the beach. Queue the paparazzi. By the way, what are your thoughts on manscaping?

a post of randomness

Oh dear blog, how I've neglected you. It's been five days since my last post. And, frankly, my last post was nothing more than an embedded You Tube video. Not much to it really. 

Life has been kind of crazy lately. We've been reinforcing the potty training with Z-Dub. He's starting his third week diaper free. He's had a few accidents, but that's expected. He gets distracted by "fun" and forgets that he's not wearing a diaper. He also tends to "hold it" too long before telling us he has to go. As a result, some of his accidents have been while his pants were coming off to use the toilet. 

Speaking of Z-Dub, he's turned into a raging three-year-old lately. He's literally a back-talking, hitting, stubborn brat of a boy. We're working hard to get him under control, but let's face it, he's three and it's how kids his age act. We're trying to find a healthy balance of discipline and positive reinforcement when he's being good. So far, the most effective punishment is withholding toys. And threatening kidnap by pirates seems to be working as well. He scoffs at time out. 

Meanwhile, little The Deuce just keeps eating, pooping and growing. He's been teething lately, so he's a little on the grumpy side. Not too bad though. With the warm weather, he's been enjoying time at the pool. In celebration of a friend's birthday, we had a private cabana and pool at Green Valley Ranch Resort yesterday. The weather was beautiful and The Deuce and Z-Dub and their cousins had a blast splashing in the pool. They also like the endless parade of delicious food. I enjoyed one too many mojitos. It was a great day. 

Want proof, here's some pics.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that we got Z-Dub one of these over the weekend:

It's a Disney's Cars television set. It was an award for all of his peeing and pooping in the toilet. It'll also be great to "take away" as punishment for bad behavior. Just thinking ahead.

the weird dream

Ever have a really weird, vivid dream; the kind of dream that you remember every little detail of? I had such a dream last night and I'm still trying to analyze it.

HotMomma, Z-Dub, The Deuce and I were being chased by mobsters and the police simultaneously. We were in a strange city, which, based on the signs, turned out to be Jacksonville, Florida, even though it looked nothing like Jacksonville. There were big hills in the city, like in San Francisco.

At different points in the dream were at the beach, hiding among the throngs of sunbathers. Later we were hiding in a mall and a used car dealership lot. It was there that HotMomma surprised me with her car theft skills as she hot wired a beat up, old, orange VW Bus. Later we were involved in a high speed chase with the police and it did very well around the curves considering the kind of vehicle it was. Later we were on a cruise ship as it was exiting a bay. With the police on board, we jumped off into the water and magically ended up on jet skis. From there we were being chased by mobsters in speed boats. Throughout the dream, innocent folks were falling victim, but somehow we always eluded capture. It was very Jason Bourne.

The dream ended with a real yelp from The Deuce, indicating that he was awake and ready to eat. Just before that happened, in the dream we sought sanctuary in the home of a very nice and helpful lesbian woman who was in the middle of shampooing her carpet. Not that carpet, you perv!

a special birthday video

Obviously our friend Drew has mad skillz. He put together this video of Z-Dub's birthday party last weekend at Bounce U. It's amazing. It makes me smile.



Thanks Drew. You're the man!!!

can he be anymore excited?

I finally found time to download videos off the camcorder. Here's one of Z-Dub and his cousin Sukita as we were on the bus heading to the main gate of Disneyland.

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.

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.

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.

Horton Who?

The phone rings.

“Ahhh, Jay. What’s that bideo you want for Janoe?” (That’s what she calls Z-Dub)

“He wants Horton Hears a Who,” I reply.

Confused, she asks “What? Horton Hears What?”

“A who!”

“Who?”

“Horton Hears a Who!”

“Horton who?”

“It’s the name of the movie. Horton Hears a Who,” I say clearly and concisely.

“Hears who?”

“No Mom, it’s the name of the movie. It’s Dr. Suess.”

“Who?”

“You know Dr. Suess. He wrote Green Eggs and Ham.”

“What’s that? How do you spell that doctor?”

“S-U-E-S-S.”

“Okay, S-U…what’s the rest?”

“Actually, that’s not important. The DVD box is orange and has an elephant on it. It’s called Horton Hears a Who?”

“Who?”

What you’ve just read is a conversation that was played out several times over the course of a month with my Filipina mother-in-law as she attempted to purchase a DVD for her grandson. She cracks us up.

This guy understands the humor…

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.