Round 2: Christmas Day

Christmas Day was a good day. I feel truly blessed to have the family I have. The first thing Justin asks when he wakes up is can he open his presents. This kid truly has a one tracked mind. He was ready for round 2 of opening presents and this time he was going for the KO.My Mom gives Justin his 1st gift on Christmas Day. He was so excited to see what was inside. Of course Nancy's new tradition of the bow on the head was carried through. Justin immediately tore off the wrapping in one swooping motion. I was impressed with his efficiency.Needless to say...he was happy with his new Hot Wheels Shark Park. He received some more gifts, but we'll move on.

This is my sister Susan and brother in law Albert who is about to open his present from my parents.It looks like there is a stain on the front, but it's actually a raven. This is my Mom telling Albert what she went through to get this sweater. I think this is one of those sweaters that are nice, but most likely you are only going to wear it around the people who bought it for you. Hence, my kind brother in law wore it the next day around my parents. It looked good on him though...it's not like a Christmas sweater that is really obnoxious.

Nancy and I got him a Hollister polo shirt. He seemed to like it. I really enjoy looking at my sister and Albert together. You can tell that they really love each other. I have to be honest...being the tough brother that I am...I was weary of Albert in the beginning...but now I feel so blessed to have him as my brother. He truly earned my sister's hand in marriage...literally and metaphorically. I'm truly happy to know that my sister is loved and cherished by a man of his caliber. I'm also grateful to him for being such a great son in law to my parents. It shows what great parents he had and his willingness to be a Godly man. Albert you are a Good Man. Thank you.Nancy got a salad spinner. Believe it or not but, the salad spinner was one of her top choices on her wish list. My sister and Mom both received Arbonne facial products. My Dad is opening his gift. Nancy got him a "We Love Grandpa" mug with Justin and Dylan's picture on it.Of course Justin had to give his approval of satisfaction and check himself out in the picture. For Dylan's first Christmas my parents, sister, and Albert gave him two gold rings. Dylan was going to have his 100 day birthday the next following day. It's customary to give gold rings or bracelets as gifts for this occasion.

He was looking pretty pimp flossing his 24K rings. Yoh...you better recognize. I'm not playa...I just crush a lot. I'm signing out and I'll see you peeps later.

Christmas Eve

I was fortunate enough to get Christmas weekend off...so we made the treacherous drive up to Northern California with 2 kids. We opted to leave Los Angeles around 9pm so that the kids would sleep throughout the drive. It got a little hairy at moments because of some thick fog on the Grapevine, but we made it to my parents home safely. We arrived around 2:30am and went to bed immediately. The next day we just lounged around home and waited for my younger sister and her husband to arrive for dinner. My sister and my brother-in-law Albert enjoyed the presence of their nephew Dylan.I look forward to them having their children and our kids playing together.I think Dylan feels comfortable with his Aunt.Notice his pimping white furry vest. It takes a true pimp to pull it off. Sometimes, I think Nancy dresses Dylan with outfits that she wishes she could wear. The whole day all Justin could talk about was when he could open his presents. Finally, after dinner we let Justin open one present for Christmas Eve. He opened one of his presents from my parents.Now that Justin is 3 years old he really enjoys Christmas...the only problem is he doesn't really understand the real meaning of Christmas. To him it's all about the presents. We try to teach him that it's a day that we celebrate the birth of Christ and it's a day of sharing and caring. He just thinks it's a day that he can open presents...the funny thing is he thinks all the presents are supposed to be his. So when he opens someone else's present and it isn't a toy he get disappointed.Nancy decided to start a Christmas tradition of putting the bow from a present on one's head while opening his/her present. Justin was the first person to practice this tradition.
Justin received 5 Hot Wheel cars for his first present from his Grandparents. He tried to convince us to let him open more, but I gave him the veto. I told him he had to wait till Christmas day. Needless to say I was not his favorite for the rest of the evening. He even tried to be sneaky by trying to "accidentally" tear away wrapping with his toes. I would catch him and ask him what he was doing and he would reply, "I don't know."My Dad just finds Justin to be amusing. He thinks that Justin is so clever. It's funny how my parents have become those grandparents who spoil their grandchildren. The things that Justin gets away is amazing...when I was his age and if I tried and did half the things Justin has done at my parents' home I would have gotten a can of whoop ass. Even candy...my Mom offers him so much candy. My parents regulated my candy to almost nothing, but when it comes to Justin...we might as well be in Willy Wonka's Candy Factory. I have to constantly tell my Mom to stop offering my kid so much candy.Justin liked his present, but he was more interested in opening the rest. But alas, he would have to wait till tomorrow.

Waddup G

I guess some might think we are shameless people for setting up our son for pictures like this, but you have to admit he looks cute. This is Master D in da house. Is it Master D or possibly the future member of N'Sync? Either way Dylan gotz it going on...hahaha. This is my feeble attempt to capture a personal moment of Nancy and Dylan. I still need a lot of work to get these kinds of portraits. It's times like this when I wish I had a better camera. I always took pride in taking candid pictures, but to do a good job it helps to have a quick focusing camera...especially since I am out of practice...my eyes don't anticipate shots like it used to.

Play Date

Many of you know Timmy and Nicki. Yesterday, Justin had a play date with them and had a blast. They played at the playground, then at Timmy and Nicki's house, and they even took a bath together. Timmy and Nicki love babies, notice they were taking turns holding Dylan.

Downtown View

Every place that I have lived has had it's perks. Brentwood was safe and convenient, Korea Town was great for the bachelor life...clubs, bars, and late night joints to eat all at my finger tips, La Palma was quiet and very suburbia, and Downtown is chic. There were a lot of downfalls too, but I just want to focus on the positive. One of the best things about living in a Downtown somewhat high rise building is the view. I know that perspective is everything in life. Tall people get to see the world differently than short people and they are both viewed differently as well. Likewise, waking up to a good view can start you off on a good perspective for the day. I remember in college I used to wake up to the smell and view of the ocean. My back balcony faced a 30 foot drop cliff to the ocean. I would wake up and go to sleep with complete peace and tranquility. Versus to someone having to look out their window and see a brick wall or someone else's window...that sucks...unless the person that is across the window is HOT...then it's not so bad. Anyways, waking up and looking out over the city or in a microcosm way...the world...is a refreshing feeling. You feel like you are on top of the world.Our apartment faces the north and this is a pic of the northwest side. It doesn't look that great especially with the construction going on in front, but if you look carefully we have a pretty good view of the Hollywood sign.To some of you...it's like woop dee doo...you have a view of a blip of a sign and you are looking out to a somewhat ghetto area, but for me as an actor...it's kinda cool...just kinda...but it's still somewhat cool.

This is what we face out to directly north. Now again...you might be thinking...that sucks...you have to look at traffic on the freeway...but again it's about perspective...I have my own personal traffic alert system...this view helps me make wise choices when it comes to driving.This is little bit more northeast.And finally this is full northeast. These pictures show you a 180 degree view of the view from our apartment. The left building is the Department of Water and Power...while the building on the left is the Mark Taper Forum. Now wait...the night view is better...

BAM!!! Not bad eh? Well, actually it looks a little different...I was playing around with my camera. I did a long exposure with no flash and it came out like this. Realistically, it probably looks more like this...

The sky has a nice color because the lights were reflecting off the rain clouds. Those orange lights are water fountains and you can even see a Christmas tree in the distance. Take note that all the views look even better with the bare naked eye. Our human eyes are so much better at capturing life. I guess that's why I respect those that much more who have the gift to capture it with a lens.Again...my own personal traffic watch...gotta love it...don't knock it till you try it. If you ever need personal traffic watch info give me or Nancy a call. Of course this only applies to the 110 where the 5 , 10, and 101 meet. Remember, it's all about perspective. What's yours and where should it be?

Christmas Decorations

I (Nancy) took Justin and Dylan to see Christmas decorations downstairs from where I work. Justin was so excited to see the choo choo trains going around the Christmas trees. He kept on asking me if he could ride them. This last picture is Justin explaining to Dylan about the Christmas trees and telling him how pretty they are. I think Dylan was not that interested, but Justin enjoyed being the big brother and showing his younger brother the ropes.

Not Enough Time

I apologize to our faithful readers. I have been so busy that I have not had enough time to properly post anything recently. I actually still don't have enough time right now, but I thought I should post something and upload some pictures.

Nancy always regretted how Justin hates to wear hats or beanies because she never had him accustomed to them. So with Dylan she is making the effort to get him used to wearing things on his head.

One of the best things in life is to have your child fall asleep on your chest. To hear the light peaceful breathing of your little one and to smell his innocence is a luxury that one cannot buy.

We recently took Justin and Dylan to look at the Christmas lights at Griffith Park. Here is the entrance way at the beginning of the light show.The images are blurry because we were moving and I preferred the long shutter speed versus the flash.
Here is a picture with flash...as you can tell...the image is more boring...at least to me. Justin really enjoyed the Christmas lights. He would even say, "Look at the lights, it's so beautiful."I was fooling around with the camera and took this pic of Nancy. The other pic is just me fooling around with the shutter speeds on the camera.Taking pictures is like life. What differentiate one picture from another is your perspective. Your perspective determines what you will get in the end.