I got your back

When my brother and I were little, I mostly remember being annoyed with him.  He was my little brother who antagonized me.  I would wrestle him out of my room, kick him, scream at him, and he would chase me around the house trying to give me a "dead leg" which ultimately ended in my broken toe.

Even with all the bruises, there wasn't a dance performance that he missed, and there wasn't a game that I didn't cheer him on at.  We had each other's backs and that's what mattered.

I see glimpses of this with the twins.  They will hit/bite/push each other if the other has Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Finny will run at full speed towards Audrey and land right on top of her resulting in her high pitched squeal.  Audrey will "shush" Finny if he is being whiny, and then proceeds to tell him off yelling "brudah, shush." Yes, she's quite bossy.

They also giggle a lot.  When they should be napping I hear giggles and bed jumping.  As soon as I walk in, they fall to the mattress and "sleep."
They like to put soapy bubbles on the other's back and face while in the tub.
They love to run around in their diapers after bath time and crawl over the couch; burying themselves in the cushions and laughing when the other pops out.
They usually follow each other's lead.  If Audrey starts spinning around, Finny will too.  That goes for bad behavior too. .  if Finny climbs up on the table, Audrey will too.  If Audrey starts screaming at the top of her lungs in the car, Finny will join her in a wondrous symphony of high pitched screams. Truly double-trouble.

They both really hate it when they have a hang nail.  Like, life can't go on if their is one tiny piece of fingernail sticking out.  Recently I've seen Audrey go up to Finny and show him her one little finger with a jagged nail, and Finny will tug at it until he rips it off.  Then, they explode with laughter and run in opposite directions.
They totally have each other's backs, or at least each other's hang nails.

side-eyeing that goat

not impressed by the goats

They were pretending to sleep on the stairs

Helping me bake

At the aquarium

Finny new do!

PS Shout out to the hubs who spoiled me rotten for mother's day.  I'm talking, flowers, homemade crepes in bed, chocolate, and gift cards.  The heat is on to top it for Father's day.

Springtime

I think Spring is my favorite.

I love all the fruit that is in season.  Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, okay all berries.  I love all things that involve these fruits.  Making smoothies, berry pies, shortcake, and jam.

I love being outside.  Not that we couldn't be outside in any season being here in California, it's  just different in Spring.

I love running around outside with the sprinkler on.

I love Easter and all things chocolate and pastel.

I love planting our garden and seeing which veggies sprout.  Of course they'd sprout a lot better if I didn't find Kona digging around in there daily.  Sigh.  Last year we had zuccini the size of my arm and corn that grew taller than our fence.

I love shopping in spring.  All the bright colors, shorts, swim suits, and flip flops.

I love that it's hot during the day, and cold at night.

I love the flowers that pop open around my backyard, and I love my babies running up, squishing their noses in them and sniffing.

I love that our turtle has come out and that the kids run up to him, say "turtle," and try to hug him.

I love that Wes gets home and it's still light out.

Spring you're pretty awesome, but I love you most because it means summer is around the corner.

Baller!

Photos are courtesy of my dad and his sweet camera.

It's the little things

** I don't know why my blog has been spontaneously posting things, so sorry about the random posts.  Dang you technology **

Anywho, back to the blog.

Sometimes it's the tiniest of things that make the day that much sweeter.

It's the big guy (meaning twice my height, and four times my weight) that I see every morning on my run.  He is a big dude, but he is out there every morning. It started with a friendly smile, and it now a quick "how you doing?" With a complete stranger.

It's the look on the kids' faces when I first get them out of bed in the morning.  That sleepy-eyed smile beneath the binkie warms my heart.

It's the little things Wes does.  Most mornings I leave the house before Wes and when I get home later that afternoon he's made the bed, cleaned and put away the dishes, and picked up all the toys.  Makes me so happy.

It's when we head to my mom's for the day and we show up to freshly made pancakes waiting for us.

It's when the kids talk and laugh with each other while playing in the curtains.  Makes me stop running around the house and is a guaranteed smile maker.

It's when they kids try to console each other when the other is upset. They hug, and kiss each other and I die.

 It's in the afternoon when I've finished working and we head to the backyard to run around in the sun and eat oranges off our tree. Sticky orange fingers mixed with dirt and grass equals perfection.

It's when my dad comes home from work and says, "where's my babies?" then proceeds to have conversations with them in gibberish.

It's when complete strangers tell me how well-behaved my kids are being in the shopping cart at the grocery store.

It's when Wes sends his out of the blue "Love you" text.

It's when I catch one of the kids with something they shouldn't have, usually a pen (which I was too late for one day and found Audrey drawing on our couch cushions) or my phone, and they look up with big eyes and hand it to me saying "dis"


It's when Finny chases the dogs around squealing in excitement, trying to open mouth kiss them.  Always ending with a mouth full of hair that he runs over to me for.

It's when Audrey climbs on my lap and points at every freckle on my chest with her tiny finger saying "what's dat?"

It's when Wes comes home from work and the kids go running. "Dada!!"

It's after bath time when we snuggle and read books together.  Stopping only to watch an episode of Jeopardy and have a dance off to the Jeopardy theme song, which Audrey loves.  She wiggles her booty, and Finny bobs his head.

It's after the kids go to bed and Wes and I catch up on the day.  Usually watching videos of the kids on my phone.

He climbed in this bag I swear.

Full blown toddler mode.

Things have been crazy around here.

The kids are 16 months and running around all day.  In opposite directions.
Getting into everything room by room.
They'll eat just about anything, but they really love spaghetti.  Probably because they love smearing the sauce all over their bodies, the walls, and the dogs.


Audrey is a chatter box.  Talks non-stop.  In a language only Finny knows.  She does say "mama" "dada" "hi" "amen " "No!" and "Peppa" (the tv show we watch to wind down before bed) She will grab the remote and say "Peppa" I die.  She loves reading books, pretending to be asleep while making a sleep noise, and making big fake belly laughs.  She knows when things are hot and says, "hot" and tries to blow it off.


Finny is a Tasmanian  Devil, and gets into everything.  He likes to pull out every piece of Tupperware and throw it around.  I've found Tupperware in every room of the house, including the shower.  He loves reading books, playing with cars and saying "vroom," the dogs, and pushing a broom.  He likes to stop playing, come over to me and give me a sloppy kiss, and then continue playing.  I die again.  He loves to go to the park, climb the playground toys, and slide down the slide backwards on his tummy.  All by himself!

They babble to each other in their own language, give each other kisses in the tub, like to sing songs, and can point to the parts of the body.  When they aren't stealing the other's toy, or pushing the other down, they do like to make each other laugh.  Yesterday, Finny fell and bumped his head and Audrey came over to us and peeked her head around and said "hi" with a little cheesy grin.  It made Finn stop crying and start laughing.  I love them.

It's crazy how different they are.  Finny loves the trash truck, Audrey cries and runs to me when she sees it.  Audrey hates being cold after bath time, while Finny runs around nakey while laughing.  Audrey likes to sit on the counter top while I bake/cook, while Finny likes to get into ALL the cupboards.  Finny needs a blanket, or rather a tag, to hold while he falls asleep, while Audrey puts her arms behind her head.

My favorite part of the day is right before bedtime when they kids are clean, in their jammies, and Wes is home.  We lay on the floor, read books, and giggle as the kids use us like a jungle gym.  The kids are super snugly and life is perfect.

eating dirt.

baby yoga.

I'm doing the best that I can.

My mom told me that when I was little I used to rock my Cabbage Patch doll named "Nicholas" (because my mom had a baby named, "Nicholas" I too must have one).  I would rock him, as she did, burp him, as she did, and say, "I'm doing the best that I can," as she did.  I now feel my mom's pain.  I too feel like some days "I'm doing the best that I can." And just as she must have said those words on repeat, I have my own set of phrases that I say.  All day.  Every day.  Forever.

Most of these phrases happen when I'm cooking, or working.  Which is most of my day.

Finny don't touch
Kona stop barking
Why are you crying?
Did you poop?
Hi baby.
No hitting.
No stairs.
Patty cake, patty cake, baker man. .
Stop barking.
Lets read a book.
Are you hungry?
Kona, no barking!
I'm gonna get you.  Tickle!
Finny don't put that cord around your neck. (I'm serious.  All.  day.  long)
Who pooped?
Itzy bitzy spider. .
No, Audrey you can't have my phone.
Kona, I will murder you.  Stop barking!
Are you hungry?
Want some bunnies?
Why are you crying?
Are you serious?  Poop again?
No hitting!
Finny, no cords!
That's it Kona you are dead.


Sums up my life.  Saving my kids from danger, poop, and killing the dog.


What my kids say all day:
giggle
cry
mama
giggle
cry

Not thrilled about sharing.

Sometimes when I'm feeling "Smoother than a fresh jar of skippy" 

I'll listen to this song and dance like a crazy person smile

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