Weddings, Birthdays, Parks- a Full October!

I apologize for our absence on the blog but October is our busy month in the Valdez household.  On October 1st we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, October 3rd we had Ava's birthday party (pictures coming soon), October 7th we celebrated Greg's 26th birthday, October 10th we went to Mike and Laurie's Wedding, and October 11th our VA Beach friends had a couples shower for Baby Brute- whew! Luckily we are in the clear and are now just anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new family member Baby Brute. We have been reminiscing by watching all our old videos of Ava when she was an infant. She is excited to meet her new sister whom she still calls "Heidi".  I have an inducement date of October 26th at 8 AM if Baby Brute still has not made her appearance. I pray that she will come before then because I am down to two shirts and one pair of pants that currently fit- neither shirts are long sleeves though and it is getting quite chilly outside! We will keep everyone posted!

The girls at the VA Beach shower/ Brunch and our respective kiddies. A special thank you to the Rubados for hosting such a wonderful event for us and providing us with such delicious Southern tasty treats. From Left to Right- Liz, Patsy, Me, Amy, Arianna, Nicole. Row 2- Megan, Shannon, and Joelle. Kids- Peter, Emmy, Ava, and Michael 

The guys and the baby boys. 

Left to Right- Nate, Jon, Brad, Don, Greg, Wade, Ian. Row 2- Eric and Zach. Kids-  Baby Brenner, Baby Camden, and Michael. 

Grandpa and Grandma Lita watched Ava while we went to the Reda wedding.

Ava showing her artistic skills

Saying her prayers with Grandma Lita

Introducing the Mike and Laurie Reda! Some of our dearest friends.

Beautiful setting at an old mill in the countryside outside Richmond. 

Mike when he first sees his beautiful bride

bridesmaids

The beautiful bride

My sorority sister Bree sang for the wedding. Her singing voice gives everyone goosebumps. 

The groomsmen

Our third wedding this year- the best date! 

First Dance

Being 39 weeks pregnant didn't stop us from burning up the dance floor!

We went to our friend Emmy's 2nd birthday. Her and Ava are only 1 month apart. 

The kids had a blast

The girls were all about the bubbles! (Thank you Aunt Jen for the pretty dress by the way!)

Checking out the duck at the park with Shannon and Michael 

Taking advantage of the weather and hanging out at the park

Playing Hide and Seek 

My goodness isn't she getting big? She grew a shoe size AGAIN this month!

Are you still there feet?

Aerial shot of the belly...taking a look at my long lost Barney Rubble feet.

           Is she here yet? Is she here yet? I'm just as bad as little kids on a road trip whining "Are we there yet Mom?!" I really don't have much to complain about with this pregnancy overall. I was nauseous the first 2 months but everything cleared up after that. This last month I have started to get really uncomfortable but luckily Greg has been here to spoil me at night (after 8 PM I park it on our recliner and only move to go to bed). I mistakenly thought I was having intense contractions earlier this month but it turns out it's hard on your digestive system when you have green beans, orange juice, and half a container of cream cheese icing for dinner.  

            I am not as much in a rush to get our new little family member out because we have so much going on this month event wise and I'm trying to spend as much quality time with Ava as possible. My projects are to finish up the diva den craft table, Ava's 2 year scrapbook, and starting the Brute's scrapbook. I am also relishing in my last days of uninterrupted sleep, night time reading, and baking new types of desserts. Here is a list inspired by my fellow pregnant friend Andrea of what I will miss about the pregnancy:

 What I will miss about pregnancy:

1. My Prenatal Yoga class. We have all really bonded and it has become a special time for me and Baby Brute. 

2. Instead of saying, "The diet starts tomorrow" the diet doesn't start till next month!

3. Elastic waist bands especially during wing night at Buffalo Wild Wings

4. Ava laying on my belly talking or singing to "Heidi" (This is what she insists Baby Brute's name is)

5. People always opening the door for you, offering you a seat, or giving you the last piece of pizza or pie. 

6. Baby Brute's crazy dance recitals that always start around 8 PM that continue till about 11 PM (no intermission). 

Impromptu family Nags Head day trip

Greg was able to come home early one day from the boat because a few of the more senior guys switched with him so that he could leave on the fly off from the Truman (thank you!).  He had a random day off in the middle of the week so we decided to take advantage of our proximity to Nags Head (1 hour 10 minutes). Greg had never visited Nags Head and had only seen it while flying over it for practice bombings. We went to play at the beach, went out to dinner, and headed to a Brew Thru. It was a beautiful drive and great quality time with the family.

36 Weeks- In the home stretch!

My baby's footprints 

It looks like she wrote her name huh? I'll send this in with her Harvard Application.  

She was amazed by this sandcastle 

The 3.5 Vs

The Hunk Hubby

Ava's foot prints

She actually was very well behaved during the drive. She kept pointing out all the farm animals to us on the way. 

Ava was in hog heaven because our table at dinner had a juke box. 

Dinner Club

While the guys are away, every Sunday a group of about 10 of us meet for dinner. We rotate houses and the host makes the main course while everyone brings a side dish. Last Sunday it was my turn to host and we had BBQ Ribs. It was our first dinner party in our new house. We have all become good friends and our kids love to be wild together. The girls who could make it last Sunday (from left to right) are Joelle, Amy, me, Brooke, Liz, and Kitty.

The little rascals! They were all surprisingly well behaved last weekend. Ava loves having friends over and becomes a social butterfly. 

New Fire Chief in Town

We had a neat opportunity to go with our play group to visit Fire Station Number 3 in Chesapeake. It is the newest station in the city and the guys were anxious to show it off. We had a wonderful time and a big thanks to our brave firemen serving us!

The fireman teaching the kids how to stop, drop, and roll.

The kids were ALL about seeing the new fire truck. 

Of course of all the neat gadgets on the truck Ava was fixated with the cones. 

Here comes the fire chief!

These men were brave to host 15 two year olds

Ava was terrified of the fireman in his uniform. She is very shy with strangers especially men. 

Her favorite part of the day was getting the fire chief hat

They were showing us the spray capabilities of the fire truck. So neat!

"Wow Momma!"

Favorite picture of the day

The guys actually got a real call at the end of their presentation so the kids got to see them all get in their gear, jump in the truck, turn on the lights and sirens and go protect the neighborhood. Wonderful experience! 

Ava REFUSED to take off her hat the rest of the day. She even napped in it. 

Mall Meetup

During the nasty rainy days last week we joined some of the moms in our meetup group for a play date at the mall. They have a kids play area where they can get their wiggles out. We then took them to Barnes and Noble where they have a train play area, did some shopping at Crazy 8s while they watched Curious George, and then ended the afternoon by riding the carousel. Many of the indoor play places in the area have closed due to the slow economy so we are anxious about how to keep the little ones busy this winter. Suggestions are welcome :) 

Ava ADORES trains and cars. She calls them "Choo Choos" and "Beep Beeps".

They all actually played very nicely together and are starting to learn how to share

The kids watching Curious George while the Mommies shopped at Crazy 8 (it is like Gymboree's version of Old Navy- Great deals!)

Ava could not get enough of the carousel. She was so excited

Ava's friend Emily

She was nervous at first but started squealing as soon as we started moving. She was just as excited to get a horse stamp at the end of the ride on her hand. All day she kept showing it to me and saying, "Neyyyyy! Neeyyyyyyy!".....She is all about animal sounds.

Merrick on the choo choo 

Emily and Ava rode the rides together

They are just as happy to play in them when they don't move as when they do....let's see how long that lasts for.