Viva Valdez

Cutest Insect and Feline you will ever meet....

This weekend Grandma Lita and Pop Pops (what Ava now calls Greg's Dad) came to meet their newest granddaughter and celebrate Ava's birthday.

Grandma Lita meeting Ellie for the first time

This was the first pumpkin that we did. Ava told Pop Pops what to draw and we ended up with many faces. She also added her artwork.

It was a fun family project

Ava said, "EW" and "Daddy you need a towel"when he was cleaning out the pumpkin. She would NOT touch the inside of the pumpkin.

Hard at work

cuddling the baby pumpkin

Whenever Ellie is awake Ava wants to hold her.

As soon as we got home from "Trunk or Treating" at church Ava wanted Ellie out of her carseat ASAP (don't worry she didn't get her out!)

Our little feline was asleep the whole time at Trunk or Treat

Ava was pushing around Ellie's stroller and some of the other kids thought a ghost was pushing it because they couldn't see her.

Our little kitten

Ava kept pointing to her saying, "Meow!"

Our lady bug princess

We went trick or treating with the Heberts again this year. Julian and Ava are so precious together. Don't they look SO serious dressed up?

Ellie slept through trick or treating at home with Lita and Pop Pops

Officer Julian!

At the beginning of trick or treating she was running from the houses because she was so excited to get candy (she had her first piece that day- Reeses peanut butter cup)

by the end of the night she was EXHAUSTED. Her pail was so heavy she was dragging it on the ground. She wouldn't let us help her carry it because she didn't want her candy out of her care.

Trick or Treating

Starting to divide up the candy (he actually got more than what is shown here)

All Ava wanted all day was her cake. She discovered the glory of icecream cake.

Kid's table

They were running around the house with the shopping cart and Ava's new baby stroller. It was hilarious!

Ava's new stroller that Mommy and Daddy got her for her bday

Lita with her grandkids

Uncle Matt and Aunt Laura brought Ava fun dress up clothes and shoes. She absolutely loved it and was upset when she could not go to bed wearing the shoes.

The shoes

Lita lets her use her camera so Ava decided she was going to take "cheeses" of everyone.

Matt worked all night and then came to see us on no sleep afterwards to meet Miss Ellie.

Aunt Laura cuddle time

Making Pumpkin Pie with Grandma Lita

Hunt Club Farm

We decided to reward Ava for being such a great big sister her first week with Ellie at home and take her to Hunt Club Farm. She loved having both Greg and I's undivided attention again (Ellie stayed at home with GiGi). I took her here last year with our meetup group and it is amazing the difference this past year has made. She was fascinated with the petting zoo and was really observant during the hay ride.

Our Pumpkin Girl

This was the section with their "exotic" birds

petting the camel

She thought the tractor was a special "beep beep"

She thought the chickens were hilarious because they were running around in circles chasing each other

This is one old ragedy bunny. He was nice enough to let us pet him.

The goats were the perfect size for her

On the hay ride

Her favorite part- the baby ponies

second favorite- giant inflatable pumpkin

Squealing over the ponies

Daddy's girl

I was showing her how to do the "rooster" dance with the roosters

She thought I was nuts

Telling me that the goats are "night night"

Fantastic Day!

Completing the resume to become a soccer mom....

Every soccer mom needs to have a minivan right? Now we just have to keep brain washing Ava to play soccer and not do ballet. After searching for a few months, we finally found a van that met our needs and price range. Another advantage of having GiGi stay with us was that we were able to go van shopping several days. After looking in Northern Virginia and Newport News for weeks we finally found the van we loved in Virginia Beach. We bought a 2008 Toyota Sienna with only 30,000 miles on it. It is such a smooth ride and we really enjoy driving it. I am nervous about parking and it took me 10 minutes to park in a parking garage the other day. Ava is tickled to have her own captain's chair and be high enough to see out the window now. My favorite feature are the two automatic doors because my hands are always full with a two year old and infant.