Las Vegas Mama

Hey, remember when I used actually go places? And review them? Remember when I would totally write about fun places for moms and babies to go in this town instead of relying on my other blogger friends like De Su Mama to review places for me? Do you remember my Muppet Rating System?  If you don't remember, here it is again. I was visiting another Vegas mom blog with a name very similar to mine and she sure has it together, with a little calendar of local events and everything. I'm not going to tell you what that blog is though, because I am jealous and I think if I tell you then you will leave me for another blogger. Especially one who updates her calendar regularly. There is only room for ONE fabulous "Las Vegas Mama" in this town, thanks. So here you are, and here you will stay. You and I will be happy here...together...forever. But not in a creepy way where after you die I keep your body dressed in your wedding outfit and prop you up on the couch and pretend ...

Seeing as how I am a major slacker these days about posting, I am going to give you a special treat. A double treat. Not only do you actually get to read something on this blog, you are also going to get to meet my new Las Vegas blogger friend Vanessa from De Su Mama , who wrote this guest post.  And you get a review for somewhere new, which I have not done in forever . And that is not even hyperbole, it really has been forever. Like, literally. And if you don't beleive in forever just try and remember how it used to take for the bell to ring and let you out of your high school geometry class. Am I right? It was forever. After you read this post, head over to her blog, give her a "follow", and enjoy her amazing photography skills. And don't forget to give her some comment love!   ********** Tivoli Village For the last few years, as you drive down Fort Apache where it turns into Rampart, you would see a large stretch of land slowly being developed into what a...

Today we celebrate the day we gained independence from England by trying to blow up America. Let freedom ring, yee haw!!! Happy 4th of July! Love our tiny hats. I mean that in the imperative.

A couple of days ago I had the privilege of hanging out most of the day at a poolside cabana at Vdara . It was about 115 degrees outside, but with fans, misters and a private dipping pool for those in the cabanas, it was pretty fantastic. It's on days like this that I suddenly remember that living in Las Vegas has its perks. The day was arranged to celebrate the birthday of my good friend Naomi, but it may as well have been my birthday, because that is how much I enjoyed myself. Naomi used to be a Christina Aguilera impersonator before she had kids, but she is an incredible singer in her own right. She is one of those women who can wear a bikini top and chaps until they are 5 months pregnant. Which she actually, really, truly did while she was pregnant with her first baby and was still working as an impersonator. Shout out, Naomi! Happy birthday! I would post a pic of my chums and I on the day of, but I haven't gotten the pics from my friend Jess, who managed to get al...

Today was our Sid the Science Kid Backyard Campout. Since the friends we invited over to hang out with us all have kids that are too small to do a real overnight campout, we decided to make an afternoon of it and after they left, we would sleep outside in the tent on our own. It is now that time... the kids are in their jammies, 'Smores galore have been eaten, and we are all ready to rough it tonight. Here are the deets from our daytime campout! First we watched the new Sid episode, "Sid's Backyard Campout", and thus inspired, we all went outside to have fun. Here is Violet, ready to rough it in our paved backyard wilderness. We all made Reese's 'Smores, which means we substituted Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for the chocolate, and I have to say it was FANTASTIC. NOM NOM..... Since we do live in the desert and this is Vegas, there may or may not have also been a dead body involved. After the 'Smores, I passed out Nature Jou...

I am sure your kids have all seen Sid the Science Kid on PBS by now. If they haven't, well, I find that odd since even my kids have seen and loved it, and they don't watch TV much these days. I wanted to give you the heads up that there is going to be a new episode airing on Vegas PBS this Monday. It's called "Sid's Backyard Campout". I was invited to hold my own backyard campout and to blog about it, which sounded like so much fun I simply could not pass it up.   So this weekend I am having a backyard camp out of my own for my kids and some of their friends. I'll be posting pictures on Sunday of how it all went, and I just have one thing to say to you: 'Smores. I know, its hot. But 'Smores defy all seasons, frankly. And if you do not agree then you are probably un-American. You are probably one of "those people" who complain about too much salt in our diets. Besides, I could even skip making a fire and just roast the 'mallows...

I went to a picnic yesterday afternoon, and I unwisely brought potato chips to share. And I also unwisely brought the remains of those chips home. And I stupidly just ate the rest of the bag. And I think I might have pickled my baby. Do any of you know much salt does it take to pickle a baby in utero ? If you do, please tell me. I have been craving salt lately, but when I mentioned it to my OB last time he said I needed to be careful because Americans already have high-salt diets. But here's the thing - why are people always complaining about Americans having a high salt diet? Other people in other countries also consume a lot of salt and no one criticizes them for it. Its unfair. Americans are not the only people in the world who enjoy salt. Take Argentina, for example. According to this article , Argentines eat way too much salt. But you never hear people complaining about their salt consumption. When was the last time you heard anyone purse their lips in disapproval and ...

I went to the mall today for lunch, because my cupboards are looking rather bare and the things I do have I cannot eat due to the fact that carbs make my blood sugar spike. I could have gone to the grocery store to stock up on real food but that makes far too much sense and is too practical. I will leave it to the June Cleaver sorts to do smart things like grocery shop. So off the to mall we went, to get irresponsible food for the kids responsible food for me. FYI, I am still hungry. And now I am home again with carbs staring at me in the face. I'm not going to lie, it hurts a little. Anyway, the point in telling you all this is that I want to make a comment on all those pre-teen girls at the mall, the ones wearing mini-skirts and high heels. What is up with that??? I found myself zoning out on someone's feet, which were clad in wedge heels. Those are cute shoes , I thought to myself. Being a girl and all, and having interest in fashionable things on occasion, I decided t...

One of the things about being pregnant is that you have to go to a lot of appointments for stuff - doctors, labs, ultrasounds, etc. etc. And when you already have two other small children to wrangle and out the door, coupled with pregnancy brain, some things just go by the wayside. Let's take today for example. I fed the kids. I clothed them. I got their shoes on. I grabbed my purse, and since we were already running late, I hustled them out of the house: "Move, move move! Come on, let's go! We're late! Out the door, now !" I quickly closed the front door and turned my key to lock it. But suddenly something seemed wrong. What was I forgetting? Keys, check. Children, check. Cell phone, check. I looked down, past my watermelon belly, and stuck out one foot to get a better look. Sure enough, there was the problem. I had forgotten to put shoes on. In my defense, our shoes are right by the front door so I never put them on until we are literally walking out the d...

You cannot hear her, but she is saying "God bless America and all our courageous veterans who gave their lives so I can grow up in freedom!!!"

I realize that I have been more than a little lax in my postings lately. I still insist upon my pregnancy excuse. I also insist everyone who reads this blog be understanding and love me anyway, and still come to my blog and re-read everything I ever wrote, because I am hilarious and entertaining. And who would not want to re-read everything I write anyway? That said, I wanted to check in and let everyone know that I was not raptured at the appointed time. Granted, neither was anyone else. But since I am extra uber special, I figured I should personally let everyone know that I was, in fact, not raptured either. So, what's new with me, you ask? Other than my continually expanding belly (to the point where people look shocked when I say I am not due until October), not much is new - which explains my lack of new posts. I will, however, tell you that I'm finding out whether Number 3 is a boy or girl just one week from today. This is exciting news for many reasons, not the le...

Tomorrow from 3pm to 4pm there will be an ambassador of the San Diego Zoo in Las Vegas, along with some wild animals that will be brought along for the ride. Drop by and see a baby Cheetah, a Caracal cat, a Serval, and a Military Macaw. I cannot guarantee that you will be able to grab the large cats by the tail like I did a while back, but I am pretty sure the kids will love seeing these animals close up, and the best part is that it's free!  They will be coming to the AAA office in Henderson at 1000 N Green Valley Pkwy, Ste 620. From the press release: On Wednesday, May 11 th , you won’t have to leave the city to experience a taste of a world-class safari adventure.  The San Diego Zoo Safari Park will continue their U.S. tour in Las Vegas, offering a sneak peek of this travel destination, home to more than 2,000 animals that roam freely in the 1,800 acre park. Just 30 miles north of downtown San Diego, the Safari Park offers families an affordable alternative to a ...

I want to know what the deal is with socks. I am talking about tiny kid-sized socks, and how they seem to mysteriously migrate all over the house, usually without their mate. How do they get into those strange places? I have found socks (or should I say a sock) under beds, in toy boxes, in dress up purses, in shoe boxes, on the kitchen table, balled up in my purse, in the pots and pans, and in my bed under the covers like it had been tucked in for the night. This happens even after I confiscated all socks from the children and put them in a drawer they could not reach. And how is it that they are separated from their mate, and their mate can never, ever be found? Loads of laundry can be washed and dried, and there will be no sign of the sock's mate for months. Then one day, the missing sock will turn up somewhere - totally innocently as though it had been there all along. I am starting to see a sock conspiracy by sock-making companies to force you to buy more socks. I am sta...

"It" happens to every toddler, eventually. I guess I just didn't expect "it" from my well-behaved 4 year old. Eventually, every kid who knows how to weild a pair of scissors gets the brilliant idea that they should give themselves a haircut. Yesterday, while I was being Mother of the Year (again), i.e., napping (it was only 10 minutes, I swear!!) Ivy took the scissors and CHOP CHOP CHOP. She came running into the room, eyes gleaming with excitement. "Do you even recognize me, Mom???" "Of course I recognize you... why?" "Because, I cut my hair!" "What?!?" I rubbed my bleary eyes and noticed that she had indeed cut her bangs. "Why would you do that??" "My hair was in my eyes." "Well the why didn't you get a hair clip???" She had no answer. Actually, I wasn't mad - she did a fantastic job of it, and I think she may be a future hair dresser. When I saw the chunks of hair ...

So my dog Princess, the one that hates me , has been particularly odious to me since I have been pregnant. She smells awful to my sensitive pregnant nose, and she just generally disgusts and revolts me in a way that is quite surprising. I wanted send her to live with a friend of mine until I have the baby and I regain my emotional self-control. But then tragedy struck. Phillip accidentally stepped on her paw (because she likes to be in the way and trip people up whenever possible, and she will strategize about how to be in the most inconvenient place possible). She yelped, which she never does even when we do accidentally trip over her or step on a paw. And when he tried to check her out she positively yowled and tried to bite him (a major, unbelievable, incredible, stunning departure of character for this dog, who never EVER bites -she will barely bite her own dog food). She could not put weight on it and limped, so obviously something was very wrong. We spent 3 hours at the ani...

My belly has popped out, ALREADY. I was expecting it, of course. Even with my first baby, at my thinnest (granted, my thinnest was still like 20 pounds overweight), the very second I was pregnant, my pants fit too tightly. The second pregnancy had me popping out around the same time. This time around, it took a little longer, probably because I had a little more muscle tone or because I tried to suck in the gut more diligently or because my clothes is of stretchier fabric. But there comes a point when you just can't suck it in and your clothes hide nothing. My 3 month pregnant belly looks more like a 6 month pregnant belly. Especially right after I have eaten a meal. I am like a boa constrictor that ate a lamb. Or a small goat. By the time I get into my third trimester it will be like I swallowed a cow. Its true, you can see for yourself . But I really should not complain too much, the truth is that this pregnancy is already worlds easier than the last one. I just started m...

Energy levels are continually dipping... all energy is being consumed by baby.... I have nothing more to say.... except this: I need a nap. And a maid. I guess I am sending Violet out for groceries today. Source

The truth is out. As a dear reader guessed in the comments of my last post, the latest news is that I am indeed pregnant! This explains my patchy posts, as I have been tired out by all that making another human being and stuff. Its the excuse of the century when I neglect my household duties. If my husband complains that he has no clean socks, I fix him with "the look" and tell him, "Today I made our baby's nervous system. What did you do today?" Argument over, I win. And then I tell him I am going to go take a nap and to please watch the girls, make dinner, and throw a load of laundry in because we are all out of clean socks. Anyway, I went to the doctor yesterday and got my second ultrasound of the pregnancy. The baby is just 11 weeks along, measuring 1.5 inches, and guess what. That baby was kicking and karate chopping like you would not believe. So you are officially on notice, Chuck Norris. You will meet your match in about 6 more months. The baby also...

Wow, I have really been slacking on the blog posts. But I have a reason for that, truly I do. In fact, I even dropped a hint of it in my last post, but NO ONE noticed! I think I am going to wait a while and see if anyone can come up with a good guess. Not that I blame you for missing the hint, it was subtle. In the meantime, since the last post and now, I will update you on what else has been going on. I have actually potty trained Violet, and that went so remarkably well that I really could not say anything sarcastic about it. Which is a shame, because you know how much I enjoy my sarcasm. And how sad I get when I cannot take aim and shoot it at people or things like little stinging bullets... pew! pew! pew! So the very first day Violet was at the potty like a champ. Inside of a week she was completely potty trained. I would like to brag about how fantastic I am, and about how I am the. best. mom. ever.  But the truth is that Violet was totally ready. Case in point, I notice...

I feel accomplished. Specifically, shopping has been accomplished at the As They Grow event, going on this weekend through Sunday. Do you want to see what I found? Of course you do, don't even pretend you don't care. This is just a small sampling of all the amazing finds. Beatrix Potter dress, $10. Cuuute!!! Stride Rite shoes, $2! (Ivy already scuffed them as you can see) Moses basket, $10!!!! Adorable 40's-style drop-waist dress, $4. April Cornell night gown, $7. Gymboree smocked summer dress, $5. Cap-sleeve summer dress, $2. I also got a play oven for $3 and a Snow White, Prince Charming and woodland animal set for $3 that I am too lazy to take pictures of. I should also tell you that Sunday has a 50% markdown on many items. The things that were already dirt cheaper are now even dirt cheaper.  If you have missed the event so far, do NOT miss this last day!