We took a cruise in October 2016 with our then 13 month old. Many people have asked about our experience so I figured I should blog about it, even if I'm 7 months late in doing so! 
​I'm a planner, and when it comes to traveling with little ones you really should do your research before booking. Especially with cruising because not all ships are "Baby Friendly." From my research only 2 cruise lines offer amenities for those under 3 years old, Disney and a select few Royal Caribbean ships. While we would have LOVED to take a Disney cruise it was out of our price range (think double the cost of an RCCL cruise). We found the list of RCCL ships (RCCL website) and then narrowed down our time frame, we had 2 options. We chose Liberty of the Seas sailing from Galveston. This would be our EIGHTH cruise, second on RCCL, but FIRST as parents. While we knew this cruise would be vastly different from our previous sailings we were confident it would be a relaxing and fun adventure.

Yesterday was filled with all things lactating, and it was awesome! I'll start with how it ended and work my way backwards.

Last night I got to meet an incredible IBCLC that I've admired for years. Alyssa Schnell who wrote the book "Breastfeeding without Birthing" and co-hosts the amazing Podcast "Breastfeeding Outside of the Box" of which I've been a guest. Her book was instrumental in my inducing lactation journey and when my LLL leader told me she was going to be in Maryland for a Lactation Professional's seminar I knew I HAD to at least meet her in person finally. I emailed Alyssa asking her if I could meet her before or after the seminar, and she replied asking if I would be interested in sharing my story with the group.  I was elated! 

A new interest of mine is travel hacking which is "the art of collecting frequent flier points and miles to get free flights, hotels, tours, and more." And a major part of that is getting into the Credit Card Rewards/Point game. For many years it intimidated me.  I struggled with credit card debt in my early twenties, and before we were able to save up enough for our surrogacy journey we worked hard to pay off everything and I never wanted to get into that situation again.  Travel hacking is only recommended for those that have their credit under control and pay off balances each month. And those with excellent credit will have access to much better cards.

Eventually we did get the American Express Blue Cash Preferred card which offers 6% back at Supermarkets, 3% at gas stations and big chain stores, and 1% on all other purchases. There is a $95 annual fee, but I've found the benefits and cashback far outweigh that fee. We personally got over $700 in cash back last year.  This was the only credit card we had for many years...

I've had several different diaper bags over the past year and a half. Nothing ever seems to be *the* bag. I've have backpack, both diaper bag specific, and a general one, a messenger bag, a regular purse, etc. and I get so frustrated, there haaaaas to be an ultimate bag. So I took to facebook mom groups and google this week to find it. 

​On Sunday another Mom friend, Jenn,  and I visited the Air & Space Museum with our toddlers. I’ve been wanting to go to museums with Bram for a while now, and after seeing this blog post about Big Bird’s Planetarium show: One World, One Sky, I figured it was a good enough excuse to finally go.