Uno

So it's been 2 months since the kids turned 1
Don't judge, it's been busy over here.

The party went off without a hitch.  Aside from the fact that it was an outdoor party and Oct 4 was one of the hottest days of the year here in California.  We huddled under the shade, and at one point all 50 people squished in our living room, which was packed with presents, because of the AC.

We ate tacos, opened the insane amount of gifts, and stuffed our faces with cake.  These kids really liked their cake that my mom made.  They each had their own, and they each ate almost all of it.  Most kids just play with it, squish it in their chubby fingers, but not my kids.  Nope.  Fist fulls of cake in their mouth.  (insert Wes joke here about how they get it from their mama)

Their uno fiesta was perfect!
I've vowed to never throw a big party again.  Well until next year that is. .

Cupcakes courtesy of my mom.  She's for hire people/

It's also been Halloween.
The kids dressed as a shark and an octopus, while I was a lifeguard and Wes was a surfer.  It was a Bedford beachy Halloween.
We walked around the neighborhood admiring all the other costumes.  The "big kids" even got to be creeped out by a haunted house.  It was legit and creepy.

We are all great over here.  Finny is walking and Audrey is close.  Let the madness continue.

Southeast Asia

It's been a few weeks since we've been back, but Wes and I were able to escape to Southeast Asia for a week!

My parent's watched the kids, I cried as I boarded the plane(s), and off we were on an Asian adventure.
Wes was working in Cambodia for a week and I met him there.
I flew about 24 hours all the way to Penom Penh, Cambodia.  I was the only American on the flight, and they double/triple checked my boarding pass to make sure I was on the right flight.

First stop, Cambodia.
Wes had been staying at a very nice hotel that week that DEA set him up in.  So nice that a Thai pop star, and the Prime Minister of Cambodia were staying there as well.  We were spoiled with our super nice pool, steam room and sauna, and not to mention the extravagant breakfast every morning.
There wasn't too much to do there.  We went to a market where the shopping was cheap.  We got lots of shady/cheap massages.  We visited the Killing Fields.  That about sums it up.  It was hot and dirty, and the food was blah.

At our luxury hotel

We were provided these lovely masks due to the dirtiness of the city.

A temple

Our main mode of transportation.  A tuk tuk

 From there we flew to Bankok, Thailand for the night, and the next morning we caught a morning flight to Chaing Rai (northern) Thailand.

Chaing Rai, Thailand.
It was beautiful there.  It was green and full of lush jungle.  Wes' co-worker that he went to Cambodia with has in-laws that live in Chaing Rai.  His wife is Thai and grew up there.  Her family was nice enough to allow us to stay in their home, and her cousin is a tour guide and took us around in his van.  Needless to say, we got a very authentic view of Thailand.  Their house was a traditional Thai home in that the kitchen was separate from the house.  They eat chicken and rice for every meal, had 9 Husky dogs on the property that eat just as well as they do, and have no AC in the house.  They were very kind to us, even though we weren't able to communicate with them.

We went to the Golden Triangle which is where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.  It is separated by the MeKong River and was one of the drug capitals of the world.  Oddly enough, DEA donated benches a while back.  Thanks for providing seating for us DEA. We took a speed boat tour of the MeKong, stopped in Laos for a bit, and then made our way to Myanmar.  We walked across the boarder and headed in for some major shopping.  Myanmar is the Tijuana of Southeast Asia.  It is dirty, filled with poor people who like to bargain, and knock-off central.

The rest of our time in Chaing Rai was spent visiting temples, eating amazing food, getting real Thai massages (which is painful yet enjoyable at the same time) and walking around the night bazaar.  Oh and did I mention we rode elephants?  Our elephant was 50 years old!  It is not a comfortable ride as you sway from side to side, but it was a beautiful ride through the jungle. After our visit with the elephants, we stopped to see a waterfall.  Our tour guide said it wasn't that long of a hike, so we made our way.  He was wrong.   It was far, tough, and hot.   My limbs were constantly moving and swatting at the mosquitoes.  The Thai native woman we were with turned around because she was afraid of getting Malaria.  Malaria people!  We kept going until a giant snake came full speed toward us down the mountain.  I, leading the pack and being closest to the snake, noticed it first and screamed like a little little girl.  The big strong men behind me jumped, yelled, and cursed.  We turned around after that never seeing the waterfall, but not before I slipped and landed in the stream.  I've never run during a hike, but I could not get out of that Malaria and snake infested jungle fast enough.

Buddha watching over Golden Triangle

At the Golden Triangle

Boat ride on the MeKong River

In Laos

In Myanmar (Burma)

Give me food yo!

Our final stop was Bangkok.  We visited the Grand Palace, which contains a giant reclining Buddha.  We took our pictures next to monks, and Buddhas, visited MBK mall which is a giant mall filled with anything you'd ever need in life, rode the Skytrain like a Thai, and visited a night bazaar that happened to be in a more risque part of town.  We were ready to head back home.

At the Grand Palace w/ some monks

ready to go home.

We shopped til we dropped.
Ate the best Thai food imaginable.
Risked getting Malaria.
Missed our babies like crazy.
Crossed 4 countries off our list.

It was a great trip.  Til we meet again Adventure. . .

Shout out to my parents for watching our little crazies, and to the McQuiston's for staying at our house and watching our mutts. <3

This time last year.

This time last year I was a beast.

I had 2 weeks to go before these babies ran out of room and my skin stretched so much I swear you could poke a hole through it.

My belly itched constantly.  I had to buy special soap they only sell at Whole Foods that smells like bonfire.  It worked wonders, but I smelt smokey, which Wes is allergic to.

I had to hold my belly as I walked.  No joke.

The pool was my saving grace.  I felt light as a feather in there, and then stomped around like an elephant as soon as I got out.

People's mouths dropped, and they pointed at me as I waddled by. This literally happened everywhere I went.

I wanted lemonade all day, every day. It was my only craving and I couldn't get enough.

I had to sleep on my left side with pillows propped up all around me.  Don't even think about flipping to the other side. It took all night to get comfortable.

I had about 4 dr. appointments a week.  Two for fetal hear-monitoring at the hospital, one ultrasound with my dr. and one ultrasound with the "high-risk" dr. They all checked for the same things.

I was tired, and hot, and laid on the couch and slept after work.  Yes, I was still working.

I couldn't walk up the stairs anymore, and would get winded just walking from the couch to the bathroom.

The nursery was done.  I had been baby showered twice.  Everything was ready.  My nerves were calm, and my weight was high.

My and all my giant-ness

Would I do it all again for these sweet faces?   In a heartbeat.


Stay tuned for my next post when I completely lose it because my babies are turning one.
Entitled: Blubbering sob-fest.

Hey remember when we were supposed to go to Kentucky?

We packed our bags.
Woke up early.
Fumbled through security.
Pushed a baby and pulled a suitcase strapped with a car seat to the gate.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Flight was delayed, and delayed, and delayed.
Babies crawled around, snacked, took a nap, ate lunch and was just about ready for another nap when. .
our flight was so delayed we wouldn't make our connecting flight.
So we went home.
We spent a lovely day looking at airplanes, cheesing it up with upset passengers, and chasing the lady who empties the trash.
A perfect 6 hours spent at the airport. Not.

We went home and played in the curtains instead.

What's up Bedfords?

Here's what the Bedfords have been up to lately:

- We HATE diaper changes.  Everyone involved hates them.  They arch their backs, twist and contort their bodies, all with their legs held in the air.  You'd think we were physically harming them the way they scream and try to get away.  Once one is done, the other is booking it out the door and down the hall.  It is constant.

-Wes is training for a marathon.  His goal is to run 7 marathons on 7 continents.  Yes, that means he will have to run a marathon on Antarctica.  I, on the other hand, am only training for a measly half marathon.

-We've ditched all baby food.  Yup, my little babes are eating full fledged meals.  Well meals that are soft because they still have no teeth.  Okay, they have 1 little nubbin of a tooth each.

- Our kitchen is getting redone!  So starting today we will be kitchen-less for 2 weeks. But it will be so worth it. #bestlandlordsever

- Speaking of awesome landlords, my dad got us two portable AC units!  This sweltering hot house has been a cool 72 lately.  Goodbye sweaty/stickiness, hello cool breeze.  #seriouslybestlandlordsever

-Finny got a haircut.  It was long overdue.  His little shag was turning into a mop covering his ears and creating a rat-tail.  He now looks like a little boy. . no more baby.  wahhhh

-On a serious note, the babes and I (along with my parents) are heading to Kentucky for the weekend to attend a funeral.  Our close family friend for over 20 years lost his battle with cancer last week.  So with heavy hearts and misty eyes, we will hop on 4 planes, jump 3 hours ahead to pay our respects to a wonderful man.  Here's to hoping all runs smoothly.

Date night

at the fair!

Gettin hair did.

Chopped Ninja Warrior

Wes and I are really into cooking competition shows.  Chopped is our favorite.

That being said, I oftentimes feel like I'm in my own version of a cooking competition when it comes to making dinner.  Except I'm not given certain wacky ingredients that I need to use in my cooking, but rather certain obstacles.  So imagine Chopped mixed with American Ninja Warrior.  Yup.  Sums it up.

I am the competitor. My overall goal is to make an edible meal.  Nothing fancy, just edible.

It starts out easy enough.  Two babies paying with measuring cups on the floor, two defrosted chicken breasts.  I turn on the oven, which instantly heats the kitchen to 100 degrees.

I then chop the onion which instantly makes me tear up. . and the dogs come running.  I now have two giant dogs sniffing and wagging and all up in my space.  Following me from stove top to refrigerator, to stove top, to refrigerator.  Chop chop chop.  The dog's noses are inches from my cutting board.  One dog, the fat fluffy one, goes and lays down next to the hot oven.  This then draws Finny attention. He squeals and laughs as he army crawls his way over to the dog.  Midas is not fond of Finny and the tuft of hair he pulls out, so he moves, and moves, and moves, creating a fun little game for Finn.

Next obstacle, Audrey.  She decides she'd really like to stand up now. On me.  She crawls over, grabs my leg, and pulls herself up on my legs. I'm stuck. If I move, she will fall.  I try to do as much as I can without moving my legs.

I now have one dog following my every move, just in case I drop something, one baby chasing around the other dog all around the kitchen, and the other baby holding on to my legs.

Beep.  Beep. Beep.  My chicken is done baking, but there is a wobbly baby on my leg, a dog blocking the oven, another baby crying because said dog keeps running from him, and another dog I'm convinced will jump on this counter and eat anything she finds.

I am sweating profusely.
I will NOT cook dinner tomorrow.
I'm convinced you have to be a Ninja Warrior to make dinner.
The end.




Then they ate dinner. . . Man vs. Food

Recipe for a headache

First you have one 9 month old baby.

Then give that baby a fever.

Sprinkle a rash all over that baby's tiny body

Add a few blisters to that baby's hands, feet, and mouth

Then, add more blisters to the inside of baby's mouth and down their throat

Final touch. . add a second baby, who is naturally more needy, and can now pull herself up on anything.  The table, the couch, the dog. You name it, she's determined to conquer it.

the rash in all its glory.

the conqueror in all her glory. 

What's that you say?  You still don't have a headache?  

Try feeding said babies lunch.  Be sure to not use the same spoon/bowl otherwise second baby will contract this lovely virus.  The feverish baby won't eat, pushes the food away, and makes a grim-us.  His poor little throat hurts, so he cries.  Hard.  Meanwhile second baby has successfully pulled the entire banana out of your hand and has attempted to eat the peel.  Oh and did I mention there are two famished dogs who haven't eaten since breakfast, and whose noses are centimeters away from the trays.  Welp, one dog has successfully eaten a dropped banana peel whole. 

Now you have two crying babies.  You feel a headache coming on yet?  Still no?

Try putting these crazies  babies down for a nap.
You put the second baby in her crib.  She cries, then immediately flips over and pulls herself up in her crib.
Now, try putting feverish baby in his crib.  He cries.
Try putting a binkie in his mouth.  He cries because his mouth hurts.
Try holding him, and rocking him.  He cries, arches his back and tries to climb out of your arms.
Try giving him some Tylenol.  He cries, spits it out, and cries even harder.
Try nursing him.  Nope.
Try laying with him in your bed.  He cries.
All the while the other baby is crying in her crib because she can't get down from standing.
Finally, since all else has failed, lay both babies in their cribs, and let them cry themselves to sleep.

Headache accomplished.  Along with sweat and tears.

I don't know how Finny got hand, foot, and mouth, but it might be the saddest thing I've  he's ever experienced. 
I also don't know how Audrey hasn't gotten it yet.  Stay tuned for my next post about how to deal with two babies that have this lovely virus because it is only a matter of time.

Throwback to the Fourth when everyone was happy and virus-free.