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...)

I didn't even believe me...

Sorry about all the kid related posts lately, but nothing else has inspired me!

Berkley just turned 18 months old! I took him to his Well Baby where I was reassured how big he is. He weighed over 27 pounds (75%) and was 40 inches tall (95%). He has another round of his little mono bug, and is keeping us up every night. I feel like I am back to the cry it out phase! So, curious as I am, I wanted to compare the boys size. Everywhere we go, people comment on Berk's size, how huge his feet are, or how tall he is gonna be... And as I think back on Braden as a baby, I guess I always think of him smaller, sickly, ect. So, no one was more surprised then I was when I re read Braden's stats from his 18 month well baby...

{Berkley}27lbs 7 oz, 40 inches

{Braden} 26lbs 6 oz, 39.5 inches

Berk is really not so much bigger than his brother! I was floored. I had to recheck his stats in other albums so I could be sure! I know their body's are differently proportioned because the shoes BDen wore at this age stopped fitting Berk months ago; and Berk is already wearing 2T pants & shorts that BDen got way past his 2nd Birthday...

I wait for the day when my house is truly torn apart during the epic match of Braden"Bear Claw" and Berkley"Shaq Feet" -- because even though their sizes are similar now, I have visions of Berkley in the near future dwarfing his brother and paying him back for all the little shoves he has gotten since birth...

BTW, my sister found out what Baby #2 is gonna be today, so check her blog!

But Who's Counting???

It's soccer season again. This is the second time Braden has played. The first time, he was resistant to the idea of actually running up and down the field, and begged to be goalie at each game. This year started off with a huge surprise. Rusty came home from the parent meeting and announced he was the new Coach for the team! What? Now you may be asking, did Rusty play soccer as a kid? No. Did he play in high school? Nope. He was an 'assistant' coach of the team last year, but that's a pretty short resume. Luckily, he was super excited and up for the challenge. And I can not tell you how cute it is when they follow him up and down the field like a Mama Duck and her chicks... He's pretty much a celebrity in Braden's eyes, since all the kids want to hug coach, or give him high-5's. SO cute.

We have a huge team, of 16! They are all 4-5 years old and most of them haven't played before. Go Dolphins. We are three games into the season and the kids are actually getting a hang of it. To our surprise at the first game, Braden ran, kicked, stopped the ball like a pro. All the drills finally clicked for him! Then when he got the chance to play goalie, he blocked 5 goals! One, sneaky fast ball got through his legs, but no one else scored on him. He has even made a goal. Granted, it was in the wrong net, but who's counting? Thankfully, at this age it is actually against the rules to keep score...We are really lucky that so many of the parents help on and off the field. We have the hands-down best team Soccer Mom. She is so on top of things. I tell ya. It makes all the difference.
Our team is nearly split 50/50 boys and girls, and those girls are the best at ball control, and dribbling the ball down field. That is, when they aren't doing cart wheels (no kidding- during games!) or chatting. The boys aren't all business yet either though. Braden spend the better part of one quarter chatting across the field with some Mom of the team we were playing. (I think she was doing it on purpose!) There have been a few poor sport moments. That is the worst part about playing kid sports. But I digress...

The coaches make all the difference. Luckily, our team would rather let everyone play, equally and have fun, than score a lot. I really think I saw a future pro soccer player in the game today, that girl had skills... The funny things about this age is the ease at which they can cry. One girls got knocked to the ground and cried to come out. Then a minute later, she was crying to go back in! Braden cried for about 30 seconds after getting hit in the face (don't get me started) by another player (not our team) and was right back to the game. Some cry when they don't want to be goalie, other when they do. It is so funny.

Braden doing a corner kick!

Braden has learned to listen to all the coaches, and control his emotions when things don't go his way. He is doing corner kicks, and kicking the ball back in play after stopping a goal. I love it. He wants to try baseball, but I don't know if I can handle two sport seasons a year, we'll see...

Kicking the ball back on the field...

Way to go Dolphins. As long as at the end of the game, everyone played, kicked some dirt, kicked at the ball and got a treat, they are happy... Only a few more games till season is over, and then we will be ready for our favorite season...SWIM SEASON!

Of all the shows...

I am the first to admit I watch way too much tv. Back when I worked at the OB office, conversations about random topics would usually end in, "Caryn, how did you know that?" To which I generally replied, "I watch way too much tv." I love 'em all. Crime shows, medical shows, drama, comedy. I miss my old favorites like Friends and Gilmore Girls terribly. And as openings in my nightly viewing schedule increased, (and with the invention of DVR- and that stupid writer's strike) I found myself watching more and more cable series to fill the voids. No one is more surprised than I am, that my hands down favorite show these days is Dirty Jobs.
That Mike Rowe cracks me up. If you don't know the premise of the show, basically this guy and his crew go all over doing the grossest, yuckiest, dirtiest jobs for a day. From cleaning sewers to collecting poopy diapers, he does it all. So, if you are still looking for a good show on Mondays, the newest season just started tonight on Discovery Channel. I like this show because I can be laughing one minute and trying not to vomit in the next. I love the podcasts on i Tunes too, so funny. Thank goodness there isn't smell-a-vision, or there is NO WAY I could watch it. Check it out sometime, I know you'll laugh and you'll probably learn a things or two.

Aren't you glad you're NOT a fish???

Well, it has been 6 long months since someone had the brilliant idea to get Braden fish for his 5th birthday. You may remember that less than a week after getting them Tom had 9 babies. Tom then had another batch of babies about a month later and life in the quiet fish tank was no more. We had as many as 12 fish, all named, all loved. But, after 6 months the only one left is Larry, the original fish in the tank. A beautiful blue Beta. We have actually enjoyed going to the pet store and deciding which fish we would replace. We have had silver mollys, black mollys (like Tom), Mickey Mouse platies in red and silver. We also had Neon Tetras, and they are a schooling fish, so when one died the others quickly followed. Lame. And even a tiger platie; That last one was a doosey. She brought with her the infamous disease ICH. "Ick" is a really bad bacteria that basically makes the fish's scales fall off. Fun, right? So we are down to just Larry, a silver Molly named Maggie and one of Tom's babies, Tommy.
Well, Maggie thought I was having too good of a time flushing the 8 or so fish we have lost in the last week because of the ICH, so she felt the need to resupply the tank herself... On the same day as the wasp invasion at my house, little miss silver molly went and had herself some babies. Braden and I fished out (no pun intended) 8 babies and put them in the tiny tank so they wouldn't get eaten. Then the next morning I found 5 more. Then last night 3 more little invisible, hard as heck to catch, were discovered under the bubbler. I'll give you a second to add it up. Yep, 16. This fish just had 16 babies! Whew, I am so glad I am not a fish.

I was trying to take photos of the babies, but they are translucent and only about a half a centimeter long. At least Tom's babies were black and easy to spot. Poor Maggie, after that labor I bet she wishes the ICH had gotten her first.

My new outlook on the fish purchasing thing, is that we will not replace any fish in the big tank until after the trip this summer. And, I am assuming, of the 16 babies only 3 or 4 will last long enough to even make it back to the other tank. And no, we will not be naming them...I am really not a pet person...

No, no, no ! Not at MY house!!!

Ok, I have a new thing I hate about Spring.
This one has bumped allergies from the number one spot.

Late last night Rusty was doing the dishes and he told me to come downstairs. He said he had opened a cupboard and a wasp had flown out and then gotten into the space between the cupboards and the ceiling (FYI home builders the tool used to eliminate that problem was called a LEVEL). Moving on to this morning. I was getting ready for the day and I head buzzing, and I knew it was not a trapped fly noise. So, I tried to see where it was coming from. My medicine cabinet, not in it, luckily, but behind it. And once again, our lovely builders had left a small gap and I could see little legs trying to fit through and get free. SO I scream, grab Berk, run downstairs, find the Raid and run back up (still screaming BTW). I sprayed as I could but it was a weird angle. Anyway the buzzing stopped.

So I while later I am in the back yard with the boys filling the bird feeder and I hear buzzing. I turned around and looked up and there were a swarm of Wasps ON MY HOUSE! AGH! Basically on the part of my wall directly behind the mirror I had been doing my makeup at. Yes, I am still creeped out about that. Actually, if you listened you could hear them hitting the wall. YUCK!

So I called a Beekeeper who came right out to my house. The wasps were more or less gone in a span of 2 hours. I guess they were scouting bees that travel around looking for a new place to set up shop. They come, scent the place for the future and leave to find other places. The bee guy checked my entire yard, trees, bushes basically and everything is all clear. He left some spray behind that works as a deterrent and I see some spackling of any small hole on my house in Rusty's near future. I am still shuddering randomly. Gross.

On a funny note, Braden though today would be the best day to make a honey sandwich for lunch. At least the wasps didn't scare him! Just be on the lookout, and call a beekeeper if they come to your yard. 30,000 wasps can move into a space the size of a shoebox in under 20 minutes... think on that-eww.

Wanna Play???

Most of you know I have been playing in a Bunco group for, shoot, almost 5 years. The players are continually changing and it is so much fun. We have had the same 8 (of 12) girls playing together for over 3 years. It was a blast. But life happens, new jobs, new kids and girls had to leave. I am super sad about it. Bunco night is my out. My one night a month when I get to relax, gossip, eat good food and leave with a little fun prize. Anyway. We had two girls leave to start a family Bunco group, and we miss them a ton. And another player got a new job that requires her to rack up some major frequent flier miles.

So I am looking for 2 new players. We play on the 2nd Thursday of every month for about 2 hours (7-9) generally. Our group is scattered from Mesa to Gilbert and QC to Chandler. We are skipping the summer and playing in May and not again till August. So if you think you are interested in playing and want to know more about how we play (I know every group plays a little different) or who plays I will send you an invite to the our Bunco Blog. This is really the first time we have had to look for players. When we started no one had groups and now EVERYONE has them. Geez! And don't worry if you have not ever played, it requires no real skill, besides tossing dice, and is quick to pick up!

Honestly this is a super high energy but very laid back group. We have been known to slap hands when rolling (ok, that is just me) and throwing the 'traveler's pig' at people's drinks (oh, wait, me again) and shout out "Ding" at the head table (now that one is not just me!) . New mommies bring their babies (usually till about 6 mo old), we wear jammies some months, ect. And since we are looking for 2 girls, if you are hesitant you can make your best friend or your sister join too!!! Thanks blogging friends and I wish most of you weren't in other states/ countries so you could play with me!