My World is Caving in!!!

Ok, not really, but I am starting to feel the pressure! I have spent hours and hours reading everything I can find online about traveling abroad with kids, cruising with kids, travel accessories... you name it I am researching it! The count down is on for our upcoming cruise this summer to the Mediterranean (see previous post) and I am feeling very un prepared! I have never cruised before, I have never been anywhere requiring a passport before and I have never tried to deal with my rambunctious kids on a 22 hour flight (twice) before..The biggest concerns I have right now are as follows...

• Do I schlep along an umbrella stroller for Berk, or not? Will I want it,or need it on the boat? Will the cobblestone roads in Europe be practical with it? Will it fit on our taxis? What would I do with it when we climb the steps at the Acropolis? And what about Braden... Have you seen these?
  
• If I don't take a stroller, (or even if I do) will I want a baby carrier of some sort? Is a sling better, a side (hip) carrier, or a small hiker style backpack? And will Berk even sit in it? Check out my options here and here.
  
• How am I going to pack for 15 days in ONE suitcase each. Dang new airline rules! The boys will be easier, and I will have built in room coming home with less diapers coming back (duh). But will that be enough? Where can I get two huge duffel bags for them?
• Do I want to bother getting a new video camera and having to learn all the settings. Or should I just take the older, kinda heavy, but compact one we have. And, my final option, just use the video camera on my digital camera and risk not having enough space on my flash card?!
• Besides Mario Cart, what other Nintendo DS games should I get for Braden, I don't know what kids his age are able to play (Ami I need your input!)
  
• Should I try to get Berk of his much adored "Baba" before we go? I know he is 19 months, but he is so dependent on it to fall asleep. Scenario 1. I take it away and have to re-deal with his sleep issues from now till we go. Scenario 2. I don't worry about his still using it, and have to pack bottles, nipples and find milk wherever we go.
• Should we get house sitter to take care of the fish (Jaymee I will decide soon I promise!), or just set the alarm and buy new fish when we get back (poor Larry...). My sweet neighbors always watch our house, but I am such a worrier with the pool, the heat-agh!
• Will I need a car seat in our taxi's? Cause I am NOT bringing one more heavy thing.
  

I know there are so many more thoughts floating around my brain, but theses are the tops of my list. I am so excited. I know it will be a trip of a lifetime and I am so grateful Rusty's parents are letting us all all go. There will be 13 of us total going. They better have one heck of a water taxi waiting for us in Venice! I still have some time, but between now and then I have another session of swim lessons, a short Lake Powell trip (can't wait), my ten yr HS reunion, Bunco, and ---Cue Hallelujah Chorus Music-- 4 more weeks of preschool! I know, I jumped up and down when his teacher said they were trying out a summer session!

So, please, PLEASE, leave my any cruise advice, travel advice, packing, cool things I should take, things I don't need to (are there hairdryers on board or do I need mine?). I don't care if I know you or if you are a blog hopper, I need advice!

1 Year, 100 Posts...

I am really glad I make the plunge into the blogging world. I can not believe it has been a year already! We have had our home page Beck News for nearly 6 years so I was hesitant to add a blog, thinking I would never update it. Instead, our poor dot com is only updated monthly! I loved having our home page because it was a way to share photos and info about Braden with family and friends who couldn't be here when we were going through all his heart stuff. And I am such a dork because I now know I can host our blog from the home page, so later this year our blog address may change...But ,I am mostly glad it was RUSTY who broke down and started the blog for us (me).

For all the bad vices the Internet brings, blogging has to be one of the best.

I {Heart} blogging because...

• It allows me to journal my family's comings and goings, even when I a slacking on our scrapbooks.
  

• I am so much closer to a huge number of my first cousins, that before, I heard or spoke to only at reunions. (You guys are my best blog commenters) We even have a family blog when birthday wishes, baby news and other achievements are posted. I love it.
  

• I have found other Mom's and gotten advice I needed to help me with sleeping problems, behavior issues and just a general support that I am doing ok as a Mom.

• Since I am not working I have 'an out' and even if I don't leave my house I can talk to another grownup!

• My videos are actually seen rather than wasting away on my PC. The rest of the world can see just how fun my kids and my life really is.
  

• I can still be in my jammies from the night before and know I am not the only person up after midnight blogging, and feel accomplished...(like right now)

• I have reconnected with some of my best high school girl friends. (I love you crazy ladies!)
  

• I have found some of my oldest friends from when I was little (I mean little, like before I moved to Az, I was 10 when we left Ut), and get to see how their lives turned out. (Kim, Kerryne- so happy to be back in touch!)

• I am able to get to know neighbors and ward members in a way that just seeing them on Sunday's and at church activities never would.

I love that I have convinced a number of very resistant people to start blogs, including family, friends and neighbors. I finally feel capable of managing my blog, which has allowed me to more efficiently use our homepage-finally! So thanks for reading, blogging, commenting-Keep it up, it makes me smile! And if you are a silent blog hopper, if you took the time to read it, I would love to hear what you thought. You don't have to have a blog in order to comment on one...

On Toros On!

Alright, I did it. I bought tickets to go to my 10 year High School reunion. I was really undecided and since we didn't go to Rusty's last year I knew I would regret not going. I was one of those people who loved school, got decent grades, did chorus and track and had amazing friends. Heck, I met my hubby in HS, so why would I not want to go? And yet I could NOT decide! So I want to know, are you going Class of '98? Or, even if you aren't a fellowToro, did you go to your own?

(End of the school year...No I wasn't really on cheer, that took actual talent and flexibility... but we did have some fun times. If you have never seen our dance video from this night, sad for you. It will always make me laugh and laugh.)

Thanks to blogs, webpages, myspace-- it is so much easier to track down classmates. But I still think it will be fun to go and see everyone and meet their spouses. I mean it will be so awkward to run into old High School crushes and boyfriends ...Ohhhhhh, that's right, I married mine. So, I guess it will only be awkward for the rest of you! Ha. Thanks to Cara or giving me the little coaxing I needed to go and to Kendee for marrying one of Rusty's classmates and buddies so he will have someone to hang out with. I look forward to seeing everyone! So in honor of this upcoming blast from the past, I thought I would humor you with some of my favorite senior year photos... Enjoy!

Grad Night- Kendee, Alison, Me, Beth, Shanon, Brooke, Amy, Steph & Jami

Seminary Graduation: The Gang of Us (above) & Me, Ami & Becky (below)Track- they best of times with Alison & Brooke

Carving pumpkins- kinda funny right now, huh Al??? If we only knew how much our prego bellies would really look like this!And the Hello Dance, and a mass of the Senior Girls...

Oh man, going through those 6 (yikes!) scrapbooks of HS brought a little smile to my face! And on another random note, looking through I found the pictures from when I flew to the SLC Airport to see Rusty leave the MTC to head to the mission in Colombia, and it was exactly ten years ago yesterday! How random! (And I don't wanna hear about how I shouldn't have been hugging him...) Considering it was like 5 am, and the day after my senior prom, I think I held it together pretty well...

The Tribe has Spoken...

I love Survivor! I have been a fan since the first season, I have my favorite players, seasons, but I have to tell you, if you have not been watching the current season "Fans vs Favorites" you are missing out. The game has had so many blindsides, twists---Oh, it's just so fun to watch. My favorite thing this year has been the behind the scenes videos on line. You get to see what the jury does once they are out of the game! And there are more clips and scenes that didn't make it on air! Whahoo! There have been so many people pulled from the game for injuries, left because they couldn't take it (I think Kathy was crazy before the game started...) and voted out in total blindsides and the cursed Immunity Idol. The season finale is Sunday and I can not wait to watch those last four ladies scratch and claw their way to the winner's seat! If you haven't watched this season, the full episodes are on CBS.com and you can get pretty caught up by watching just the last 6 or so episodes... I am rooting for Amanda, she was a favorite of mine from her last season. Now that Ozzy and James are gone, we had to root for someone, right?

The reunion after the winner is names is gonna be a bloodbath, look out Pavarti and Erik, you ticked off a ton of people!!! I can't wait...

Favorite fan player line from this season, "That's Jeff Probst, he just standing right there..."

Now I may be a big fan, but I am NOT crazy enough to ever actually tryout for that show. I would starve since I hate fish and all things water borne... Who are you rooting for to win?

Murphy's Law...

Updated! Photos at end of post...

Why will my boys smile and look right at me when I am about to shout one of their names. Or, why do they decided the best day to play in the sandbox is the very same day I clean the floors. Or, my favorite, how do they know that the only way to take away the great sense of accomplishment I have from finally finishing all the laundry in one day, is to puke/pee all over their bed so I have another load to do?!!

Sometimes I swear Murphy's Law is running my life!

It's like the day I finally cave and get the car washed, is the day Braden spills his Frosty and Berkley smashes up his fishy crackers. So, I shouldn't have been surprised that when I finally took Berkley to an actual portrait studio, he would be the complete opposite of Camera Ready. Agh, I really didn't want to do the whole 2nd child thing, and never get his pictures taken, especially since I had Braden's done professionally every 6 months, easy. So finally, at 18 months, I make the appointment, get the in a good nap, have a cute new shirt, and have the boys in good moods and we head off to Target. From the get go, Berk didn't want to stand on the backdrop. And once he spotted a prop ball, he was done. And what is with the 'photographer' not helping me at ALL??? Any ideas for trying to get him to sit, look at the camera, new poses, ect...came from ME! I pulled out the little chair, I had Braden come and show Berk what to do. Honestly, I realize it was just Target, but you still pay for the sitting! She shot and shot, at a moving Berk, and finally announced that he was done. She said, "You can always come back if you don't get a photo you like." Um, was she serious? Did she not realize how hard it is to get a toddler, clean and happy to a photo shoot?

Agh. Luckily Rusty was able to leave work early to come wrangle the kids while I waited to see the proofs. Funnily enough, the best photos of the bunch, were a test shot of me holding Berk, and some cute ones of Braden. So, we will see. I ordered a few prints, just to placate my need to document his milestone. But I think in the future, I will steal Rusty's dad's Nikon camera and take them myself...
We want to get a photo of the Beck grandkids (Braden, Berk, Jaci) next week, and if this photo is any indication, we are in for some fun...

(This was the best one I got...)