The best guest

This weekend was like a honeymoon for our family. The girls waited all morning by the front door keeping watch for Daddy's car. He was super dad and left Fallon, NV at 5 AM and got here at 11:30 AM. The girls and I ran out in the street to meet him. 

I took this picture right after he got here and we were all on cloud nine. This is the first time that he has come back and Ellie hasn't been shy- she even led the mad dash to his car! We had a very relaxed day and a half and went out to dinner, went to the park, took walks around the neighborhood, and Greg found time to complete his outrageously long honey do list. I was spoiled rotten with being able to take a nap, sleep in, go to Target and grocery shopping by myself, and have breakfast served to me. The girls were on their best behavior showing off for for Daddy and literally would wait outside the door during his bathroom breaks. They did not let him out of their sight.

Greg spent most of the afternoon being our bike shop mechanic. He was fixing everyone's bike, strollers, bike carrier's etc. The funny thing is that 2 of our bike pumps broke in the move so all we had was a small hand pump. It was quite the work out to get all those little tires full of air. 

The girls showing Daddy the neighborhood

Ava took a nasty spill on her bike and busted up her teeth (again). Thank goodness these aren't her permanent teeth yet! She was brave enough to get back on her bike again with Daddy and practice doing fast turns. 

Back on the saddle

One of the things on Greg's list that he got to late on Sunday night was to assemble the bike carrier (my Christmas present from Nanny and PopPops that I have been itching to use). He put it together in the house while we were catching up on the DVR and we realized it could not fit outside the front door. It took both of us heaving it to get it out. He tested out the bike and safety features with out crash test dummy pug. Penny Lane actually really enjoyed the ride

Taking it out on a late night test drive

It was hard to say Goodbye this morning but we just have 3 more weeks to get through. These small moments are the ones I will always cherish with our growing family. 

Gregmas Eve

We finished out our week in quarantine with the best news ever- Greg is coming home for the weekend! Hip Hip Hooray for Presidents Day! It blows my mind how so much has changed with the girls and I in the two months he has been gone. Ava has stopped sucking her thumb, talks about how many syllables are in words, and refuses to wear anything but dresses anymore without a big fight. Ellie is now potty trained, talking in more complex sentences, and is letting her opinions be known. For me, I am much slower moving, have a more robust girth, and am having a love affair with Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I am excited for him to be able to feel Teeny Grump kick now and do his nightly acrobatic routine. The only one constant is grumpy ole Pen. Greg has yet to see the inside of our house and his "honey do" list is about as long as Ellie. It feels like Christmas Eve tonight and we can barely contain our excitement to see that gray Mazda pull in the driveway tomorrow at lunch. 

Dinner picnic style. We are enjoying every minute of the average 60-65 degree weather here

Greg's girls

My little painter- so serious in her work

paints for craft time that day

This was taken when they were supposed to be napping. They told me that their Minnie Mouses (*mice sounds weird- I know my mom hates the public use of incorrect grammar!) were napping for them in their place. 

Valdez Valentine Wishes

Happy Valentine's Day from the quarantine crew! We started our day out great with Valentine's day cards and packages sent from the grandparents. A shout out to my Valentine who is spending a 12 hour day in class, studying, and flying at Top Gun. I got a nice wake up call from him and we hope to celebrate the day in a month when he is home.   One of the most frequently asked questions he gets from friends and family is, "Is it anything like the movie??".  The resounding answer to that is "NO". Sadly, no shirtless volleyball games for Bogey in cut off jean shorts. The only similarity would be that you do fly with one pilot the whole time you are in the class and Greg really enjoys the pilot he is paired up with.  They work on average 12 hour days for six days a week. The group has taken a much needed respite together at Lake Tahoe two weekends and got to enjoy San Diego another weekend together. On a whole, Greg has said that it is the most challenged he has ever been and will be relieved when he graduates in March. We are so proud of how hard he is working and miss him very much. Here are some pictures of the Valentine's projects we did over the weekend in quarantine.

The girls made homemade Valentine's for the Grandparents. The most fun crafts for them are the messy ones. I got this idea from pinterest, which is a site I've become very addicted to. Some step by step pictures are below.

Ava working very hard on Valentines. It blows my mind that she can do it all herself this year. The only thing I did was write "To my Friend" and she did the rest, including folding the boxes with candy in them. 

Lining them up because she is OCD. She was very excited with her finished product.

     

We made homemade heart stamps from Toilet Paper rolls for the girls to decorate their valentine's for the grandparents. So easy and so fun. 

Ellie decided to paint hers then do red hearts. Ava did red and pink hearts.

We love you Grandparents! Happy Valentine's Day!

Our special Valentine's lunch. Another idea I stole from pinterest.

My sweet Valentines.

Leper Ladies Weekend

Poor sick ole Ellie Bean. We noticed on Wednesday night that she had a few bumps on her legs but we chalked it up to potty training and tree climbing. Thursday, an hour after Aunt Jen and Ainsley got here we noticed that it got much worse. Staying true to our Valdez Circus reputation we went to the emergency room TWICE while Jen was here because the bumps turned into blisters that just kept getting worse. The doctors first suspected it was an allergic reaction but the second time they scared Jen and I almost into crisis mode by saying they thought it was either a Staph Infection or Chicken Pox. Both diagnosises are dangerous to be around for babies (Ainsley) and pregnant women (me).  Ainsley and Jen left early for preventive measures. Thankfully this morning the test results from the culture they did Saturday came in and she has hand, foot, and mouth virus. Luckily, since Ava and I have been exposed to it before both her and I have had immunity to this outbreak and Ainsley has been fairing well too. We are staying in quarantine probably another two days until they clear up. Crazy things seem to always happen when Greg is gone but at least I have been lucky enough each time for Jen to be there. She kept me laughing and we had a great weekend of shopping, crafting, and girl time. Jen was my 5 foot superhero by fixing our kitchen table and Keurig making our day to day life much easier.

You know Ellie is not feeling like herself if she will nap, especially in such an uncomfortable position!

I'm sparing you the worse pictures but Ellie had these blisters all over her legs, buttocks, feet, and hands. She is such a trooper though and rolled with the punches all weekend. We were thankful that she never had a fever.

Ellie Bean didn't have quite her energy level for her usual bike rides so her sweet sissy helped her walk back her scooter when she got too tired

The girls were thrilled to have Ainsley and Jen for the weekend.  Every waking moment they wanted to be around the baby

Jen having a movie night with Ainsley and Ava while Ellie and I were at our second ER trip.

The girls favorite thing was to hold "Ainsee"

Aunt Jen brought a fun Valentine's Day craft for the girls. Painting Doilies onto red adhesive fabric, then cutting them out in heart shapes, then ironing them onto a new shirt. Making a craft that is fashionable is so much fun for these girls.

I hope the girls get Aunt Jen's craftiness through exposure because they don't run in our gene pool!

How adorable are the three amigas?

Aunt Jen makes my favorite banana bread. While I am pregnant it is a necessity to have an industrial sized bag of chocolate chips on hand at all times. 

All of our cravings were satisfied for the chocolate chip banana bread...nom nom nom.

The girls get a little jealous when mommy cuddles Ainsley but we are learning to share the baby.

Best entertainment for them

On a side note- Potty training has been going great and Ellie Bean always keeps things interesting. I was trying to explain to her that when you go to the public bathrooms you don't take your panties completely off and put them on the floor. This is her solution to the panties on the floor problem. 

Ellie coaching Ainsley through her jumper work out

No day is complete without a park trip

Ainsley is one of the happiest babies I have ever met. She in turn, makes everyone around her full of joy. Her and Jen were the sunshine that we needed in our house this weekend.