Ava's 2nd Birthday Party

We had Ava's 2nd birthday party at Chesapeake Fun Forest and we were lucky enough to have the weather cooperate! We were so busy that weekend that we weren't able to take any pictures at the party but luckily our family did. I will post more pictures as people send them to me. 

Ava with Grandma Lita

Ava with Gigi

Ava was SO excited for Cake. She was a bit shy when everyone was singing to her and couldn't believe that the entire cake was for her. All we heard all day was- "CAKE MOMMA CAKE!"

She was all about the Funfetti frosting

Christine and Julian ready to dig into the cupcakes. I made pumpkin cupcakes, chocolate and peanut butter cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes, and old fashioned cupcakes.

Emmy and Daddy Suede

9 month old Michael Allen had his first cupcake that day and devoured it! One of the highlights of the party 

Uncle Justin and Aunt Candace made the drive from NOVA and Blacksburg to be at the party

Ava with Aunt Laura and I. 

Eating with Great Grandma Bath

GrandBob and Gigi would never miss a party!

Ava with her Great Grandparents- Bdad and Great Grandma Bath

She definitely loves opening presents now. 

Such a girly girl getting excited about clothes at such a young age!

Opening the stuffed brain cell from cousin Brian. Definitely the most creative gift given!

Chatting with her great grandparents 

Ava was as excited for balloons as she was presents

Birthday Girl! (Thanks for the cute jammies Aunt Jen!)

What a ham

Waving bye bye to the family. The front porch is Ava's favorite place to hang out. Thank you to everyone who came out to help celebrate our special girl's birthday!

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.