We are still Alive!

We are still Alive......

I have been completely wiped out and nauseous these few weeks with Greg gone so I have not been able to post pictures. Not to worry, I have been taking lots of pictures of the very busy adventuresome Ava.  I will post them this weekend when I will finally have a little down time. We are almost finished unpacking, have painted, bought a bedroom set, and added curtains mostly due to the help we received from the Browns visiting us for a week. Ava's face is almost completely healed from her bad fall two weeks ago. She now just has a pink nose which is quite adorable. Now she really looks like a doll baby! Pictures are on the way so no more threats :)

MOVING Weekend

The Move in Reverse order:

(Still haven't figured out how to order them with a Mac!)

Ava cuddling with Grandpa and Grandma Lita.  Ava took a hard fall on the pavement this weekend and banged up her nose and forehead. Poor Goob. We called her Rudolph the rest of the weekend. She was such a trooper and only cried for about 1 minute. 

The grandparents hanging out on our new couch! (Don't even want to talk about how heavy it was to move- Thanks Justin and Greg!)

Ava had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's Hotel since we didn't have heat yet.

Pint Size of Attitude! 

Poor Rudolph...

Grandma Lita cleaning her up real nice

Goob inspecting the boxes

The King Size mattress got Stuck on the stairs! We somehow got it up there with 4 people pushing.

Finishing up the truck with the Mattresses 

Aunt Jess tending to her God Daughter

Dad V putting together our beds 

This was HYSTERICAL. Greg had to be held by Justin to hook up the washer and dryers because there wasn't enough room behind them for him to crouch down. Justin is wet because the washer still had water in it and ended up spraying him. What an awesome brother

Aunt Jess taking Ava for a walk at the apartment 

The guys literally drove the couches to the furniture donation area like this (only about 300 feet but that included speed bumps).

The Hardcore Valdez Men 

A GIANT Thank you to Mom V, Dad V, Justin, and Jess for sacrificing their weekend to come and help us move. They came Friday night to help us finish packing up the apartment. Saturday they loaded all our furniture onto the truck and then unpacked it all that evening. Sunday they helped us run errands, unpack, assemble different things in the house, and surprised us with house warming gifts. Giving time and doing hard labor is the ultimate display of love and we are so thankful for such a wonderful family. 

I SWEAR it was snowing

Baby Eskimo with No Snow....

So Last week it started to snow off and on through out the day. I quickly dressed Ava in her adorable snow suit as soon as I saw the first speck of it. People freak out when they hear there is going to be snow in VA Beach. Earlier during the week the schools were actually cancelled because they predicted snow for the following day but not a flake came down in the sky. So in these pictures it IS actually snowing but the flakes were so small they don't show up in pictures. It also does not stick to the ground here. Isn't our little Ava Bean just precious though? 

"Mom where is this snow you promised?"

Then she started to notice the snow and got very excited. 

Eeeek so precious

Looking at the snow (I swear it is there!)

Where's Dada?

Ava Looking for her Dada.

Pen's Partner in Crime

It was a gorgeous day today (in the 60s)! Ava and I went to the park and then played on the porch outside for awhile.  Ava  soaked up the sun with her buddy Penny Lane for the afternoon

Current favorite picture

Decided she had enough with the glasses.

Irritated she is not tall enough to see on the other side of the wall 

Hoops Star!

This is when she decided to give Pen a kiss.

It looks like Pen and her are coming to an agreement.

She just wanted to hug her

Buddies

relaxing in the sun

Superbowl party at the Heberts! Unfortunately her and Julian were hardly awake at the same time. 

Ava sure did love his rocking horse

She is fearless with heights 

Ride em cowgirl!

Thank Goodness for Meetups

Dada Withdraws 

Ava has noticed that her Dada has not been here to play with her every evening and having special weekend time with. She is very agitated by this fact and has been roaming around the apartment looking for him and calling out "Dada?! Dada?!".  Luckily I have kept her busy by going to the play group meetups, her "book club" on Thursdays,  and visiting the Heberts.  I have been trying to not say "No" very often because this is the age when they start to repeat that word constantly. So instead I tell her to be "gentle" or however I want her to act and apparently I have been shaking my head while doing it. Well now instead of saying "NO" she shakes her head side to side in the "NO" fashion whenever I try to get her to stop doing something. You just can't win! She definitely has some sass and I'm trying to catch that on the video camera.  

Always has to test to see if things are edible. 

Playing at Shelly's House

Ava trying to keep up with the boys

playing at the kids center in McArthur Mall

One of the few times she allowed me to keep a headband in her hair. Usually she pulls clips or bows right out!