sometimes it's just that kind of day...

a "lick the beater kind of day"...

a fun day...

where we let it all "hang out"....

without a care in the world...

well, except for licking!!!!

where sharing suddenly doesn't seem so hard...

and being clean isn't important...

but being adorable very much is!!!!!!

where a mommy falls deeper in love...

with two little people...

that melt my heart just about as much...as the melted chocolate in their bowl!!!!!!

"we're suckers for our girl..."

ava's 2nd birthday celebration was a sWeeT success!

since she is obsessed with suckers...it only seemed right to have a lollipop party!!! for as long as i can remember, this little one has thoroughly enjoyed partaking of yummy confections on a stick!!!!! i keep thinking that the luster will wear off, and i know our day is coming...but for now, dumdums get us through just about anything life has to offer!!!! grocery runs, road trips, or shots...she's a happy camper with a "gucker" (what she used to call them!!!) in her hand!!!!!

we could not have asked for a more beautiful day for our beautiful little's girl's birthday party! it was perfect! i was able to transform our front yard into a "candyland" just in the nick of time (thank you, mom, jeffrey, & unc...couldn't have done it without you)!!!

our guests were treated to lots of suckers...with i think both kiddos and adults alike...enjoyed!!!

there was lots of bouncing, riding, licking, running, licking, more bouncing...and more licking!!!

ava had a ball and spent most of the morning walking around with a bouquet of suckers in her hand! i joked with jeffrey that i wish we had had a bell that rang every time she opened a new sucker! she was in lollipop heaven!!!! and definitely on sugar overload!!! i wanted to replace her handful of sticky suckers with a bouquet of broccoli!!!! you only turn 2 though once i suppose!!!

after a sweet birthday serenade by some close friends and family, we sent all of our guests home with their own jars of suckers! everyone needs their own stash of sugar right?!!!?!!!?

it was such a sweet celebration...perfect in every way! i am blessed every single day...but it is in these special times, that my heart becomes so full it could overflow. i have now been a mommy for 7+ years...but each time one of my precious daughters blows out those candles on their cake...i am once again reminded of the wonderful privilege i have been given. there is no greater gift in life!!!

we love you, sweet ava! you're no doubt the cutest lollipop in the bunch!!!!

two years never seemed so short...

it seems like just moments ago...that i was hearing those all familiar words being uttered in our delivery room...for the amazing third time...

"it's a GIRL!"!

i'm actually stunned when i think about the fact that our ava, my baby, is t.W.o. years old.

wasn't she just a mere few months old being toted in her infant carrier from carpool line to carpool line? learning to crawl on our living room floor with me lying right beside her showing how it's done? flying to disney world in the tiniest matching dress we could find so she would be just like her big sisters?

and here she is now...even more "just like them"...big.

*sigh*

ava ashley price is a mess with a capital M! she has somehow, at just a little over 2 feet tall, taken over as CEO of this household...which includes telling any and all to "go away" if she is not pleased. (however, do not mistake this fact to mean that we have lost control...because i don't think we have!!!!! ha ha ha) she is sassy...and as she will tell you...she is "kind, smart, & important"...only it's SOOOOOO much cuter when she says it!!!

she will eat nearly everything you put in front of her...especially if it involves some sort of dip...and based on her scrumptiously adorable thighs...i don't think anyone would dispute this fact! she is a whopping 27 pounds...placing her at the top of the pile size wise in comparison to the other price girlies!

did i mention she's sassy? mmm hmm.

she does not meet a stranger...and is intimidated by no one. she talks c.o.n.s.t.a.n.t.l.y! it's quite amazing to hear her vocabulary...just today she told me she was "nervous that that truck is going to get us"!!!!!

our little firecracker is quite aggressive...which i suppose comes along with the territory of being the little kid on the block...but man, she gives me fits! she will push, pull, & torture playmates. it is completely unacceptable & new to us...so i have been praying often that she would play well with others...

but with this being said, she is one of the sweetest baby girls you will ever meet. in a lot of ways, she has been our easiest one. she loves with reckless abandon...and she will hug and kiss me and say "i wub you, mommy"...makes this veteran melt every. single. time. those sweet words never get old...no matter how many times you hear them.

she loves to be on the go...and will ask me when we get in the car..."mommy, hobby wobby?"! that's what i'm talking about girl...she's my running buddy and i love every second of it! i can't imagine the day (and don't like to, really) when she is not my side kick 24/7...it just feels right.

ava has brought this family countless moments of joy and we have been so incredibly blessed. even though she has taken a 180 in the "temperament department"...from laid back to "sass-ational"...we wouldn't trade a minute of her little bitty life!

i look forward to watching her grow...and helping her channel her independence!!!

ava...you are loved beyond what you could even imagine. you are no doubt the baby of the family...and you have managed to steal all of our hearts with your big puppy eyes and precious spirit! i pray daily that God would use you in wonderful ways...and that you would love Him and others with the same zest with which you live life!!!! we are so proud of you...and i am eternally grateful to once again call you by name...my beautiful baby daughter.

i love you for a million tiny reasons...mommy