there goes my baby...

it is so hard for me as a mother to put into words the love i have for my children.  even as i sit here tonight and write...i feel overwhelmed...because i don't know that i will ever be able to fully make them understand the depths of that love.

my ava ashley, my baby, turned three years old.

when ella & maddie turned three, i had a "newbie".  i was in the thick of "babydom"...diapers, nursing, middle of the night feedings, itty bittiness...& i loved every. single. moment. of. it.

now...that newborn...my last baby...

is turning that incredible age of three.  that incredible age of three where suddenly they don't seem so little anymore.

every moment of the day she was born is seared into my mind and my heart.  i remember so many moments from ella and madeline's birth...two out of the three most special days of my entire life...but i vividly remember every detail of ava's welcome onto this earth.  maybe it's the fact that i actually got a good night's sleep before going into labor...

or maybe it's because i knew she'd be my last...and i knew i better hold on to the moments with everything that i have.

i remember the moment they told me that i was ready to start pushing...and thinking that i would be staring at my son very soon...and then this beautifully perfect, and tiny, and precious, and adorable daughter was placed against & in my heart.

another indescribable moment added to the treasure chest of my life.

i was now a mother to three amazing little girls.  my dream of being a mommy had now tripled.

i have cherished every moment of this third little daughter's life.  not every moment has been easy...most certainly many have been humbling...but all have been memorable and beautiful.

ava is the most passionate of the three...whether she is joyous or "angry"!  she is not afraid to let you know exactly how she is feeling...and there's a large part of me that admires that about her.  i hope that she will always possess the confidence to be herself...no matter what others may think.  she is loyal even at three years old...and is not at all bashful about telling you to "stop hurting her big girls".

she is often the most agreeable and obedient of the three...but also the most aggressive.  she talks unbelievably well for a "little person"...and doesn't have to work very hard for a laugh.

she has the whitest "blond" hair of any child i could have ever envisioned being birthed by me...and the bluest big eyes in the family.  she is still as "juicy" as ever (about 34 pounds)...and makes me smile so much my face hurts.

she's my buddy.  she loves to be "on the go"...and will often ask to go to hobby lobby!  she has perfected the "one finger touch" for the most part...and still likes to be armed with a holster of dumdums!

she is still the family "goat"...and will pretty much eat anything you set before her...particularly if it involves some sort of dip.  her latest thing to say whenever i tell her what we are eating is "mom, i LoVe that"!!!!!  sounds so cute coming out of her naturally hoarse, gruff voice!

she is very much into kissing me lately (which i adore)...and telling me that things are not my fault!  she got bitten by an ant the other day and when i said "oh ava...i'm so sorry"...she said "mom, it's not your fault"!!!  such a grown up :(  *sigh*

she still thinks that it should be perfectly acceptable to eat candy for breakfast...and still looks shocked and horrified when i tell her that that is not a breakfast option!

her face is scrumptiously sweet...rivaling her buns...and her mischievous smile melts my heart.  she's the only one of my girls where a call from the principal's office would not be totally inconceivable...although i'm praying about this...& i think she's getting better!!!!!  ;)  she challenges me...simply because we're wired so differently (at least as this point)...but we go together like peanut butter and jelly!!!!  she loves to tell people about when "she was a born baby and lived in my tummy"...

i love her more than life itself...

and i hope that she always knows...

that even though she may be turning three...already...she'll always be my...

"big girl" baby.  (she would want me to clarify that for sure!)

happy birthday, my little lovie.  you are the song of my heart and life would not be complete without you.  i love the fact that you tell me that you missed me while you were sleeping...and that you tell me when i need to apologize to you & you forgive.  i love that you are YOU...
i love that you still want to take a bath with me every opportunity that you get and that you ask me so many wonderful questions!!!  i love that you sleep with so many "special things" that you hardly have room for you...and that you still need ice water every night to sleep.  i love that you love my music...and tell me with your sweet smile that you "love that song".  i love that you will suck either thumb...depending on which one tastes better!  i love that you are hands down the best. car. traveler. EVER!  i love every special thing about you.  i pray that life brings you as much joy and happiness as you have brought us.  mommy loves you more than you could ever comprehend...and i will spend the rest of my life making sure that you know it.  

my heart now goes to kindergarten & 2nd grade...

it's hard to put into words what being a mother does to you.  it has been said that to have children is to have a part of your heart walking around outside of your body...that may describe just a smidge of what it feels like to me.  i watch my girls during the day...when they are just doing their normal "things"...and i simply cannot believe that God chose me to me their mommy.  

i took all three of them to the pool today so that we could send off summer together.  we had such a great time...listening to them laughing with each other was like medicine for my soul...and i am thankful every. single. day that they have each other.  and i am thankful every. single. day. that i have them.  

it seems like only moments ago that ella was getting ready to walk out the door for her first day of kindergarten...and now we are setting out her uniform for her first day of second grade.  it makes my heart skip a beat.  her snaggle tooth grin melts that skipping heart and i am so proud of who she is...she's left the "little girl" stage behind like a distant memory...and i find myself scared that i'm going to forget her "littleness"...but so excited for what's ahead.  she's a person.  i mean she's always been a person...but now she's a person that can express herself in such a mature way...and if i'm being honest - it freaks me out!!!  she is loving, loyal, determined & oh so much more.  i love her more than words.

then there's my boo...oh my precious baby boo boo.  the thought of her being at "big school" makes that already skipping heart of mine sink.  madeline is such my timid little lady...i know she's gonna do great things...i just cannot imagine her doing them without me right by her side (although i'll kinda be right. by. her. side...since i'm working at her school and all!!!!!)  she has one of the purest hearts i've ever known a child to have...and if i'm not careful...i could literally cry every time i talk about her.  ALL of my children have so many things for which i am blessed...but this little middle child of mine grabs a hold of something inside me that touches me.  she changes me.  for the better.  i love her more than words.

oh sweet ava...miss sassafrass!  she will be a "poleman puppy" two days a week and i cannot wait to hear what kind of adventures she has...and bridget!!!!!  she is fiercely independent...HIL-AIR-E-OUS...truly - if you haven't had the opportunity to have a conversation with this one...you're missing out...adorable in my eyes...and juicy (her buns make me want to giggle uncontrollably!!!)!!!!  for some reason, sending her out into the world seems right...she will do wonderfully...and she can take care of herself!  nobody is gonna get the best of this little thing...much to my dismay sometimes!  i cannot imagine my life without my little sidekick...but i know she's going to love st. paul's...and it's only for a few hours a week!!!!!  i love her more than words.

yeah...my heart is definitely "walking around outside of me"...in three different places...every second.  of every day.  it beats for them and with them.  it loves in a way i can never explain.  i look in those three little pairs of eyes...and realize my heart could never want for more.

here's to a great year, girls...filled with adventure, fun, & lots of love!  

so much life...so little time...

it seems like eVeRy day...my intention is to "get caught up" with my blog...but the problem with this is...i don't even know where to start!

life seems to be going on around me...at a break neck speed...

leaving little time for me to even collect my thoughts as to what i want to remember...let alone document!!!!

we've had field day, end of the school year festivities, "cupcake" celebrations, swim team meets, a quick trip to six flags with honey & grandpa, a trip to the beach, another sweet visit with friends in memphis, a reality show episode filmed at our house, and SO much more...

i know i will want to look back on these times...and actually be able to "relive" them in my mind...it's just finding the "quiet moments" necessary to make it happen on my BLOG!

i definitely plan to fill in the HUGE holes that have been piling up here...seeing as school starts back TOMORROW...

one detail i can recall right this minute...is that i love these three little girls more than anything...

but i don't need a blog to remember that!

my "not so baby" baby

my precious madeline...the sweetest "middle" ever

my ava...aka "THE BOSS"...oh, this girl kills me in all kinds of ways!!!!  

need i say more?!?!?!

treasures...

to last a lifetime...

a precious friend from church took our pictures.  

i. heart. her.

and

i. heart. pictures.

they are priceless memories...preserving moments in our lives that i never, ever, ever want to forget.  

ever.

in the future...they will serve as a reminder of our history...

as a family with three little ones.

my family means everything to me...

and these three little girls...

well...

they are life's greatest

treasures. 

there's a new kid in town...

 it wasn't really planned that we would be expanding our family...but after much pleading from each "parent"...jeff FOR...mere AGAINST...


the "sixth" member of our family became official!


the sunday after brooke & ben's wedding...the entire price family drove down to houston to pick up the newest member of our clan!


elijah "eli" price.  born january 28, 2012.


he was a whopping 8 weeks old when he became a price...and has at least doubled in size since he's been ours.


i wasn't sure i was ready for a "new baby"...and quickly found out that i didn't get a new baby at all...i got another 2 year old!!!!  he is into EVERYTHING!!!  since i had breastfed three of our human babies...i gladly passed the "middle of the night" torch to jeffrey!  he's been getting up with the little man and works with him in the wee hours of the morning.  he is actually very smart...the dog...i mean we all know jeffrey is crazy smart...but eli is quite the learner himself!  


unfortunately for mr. eli...momma has lots to do during the day to make sure that the humans in the household are taken care of...so the sweet boy spends lots of his daylight hours in "his yard"!  i'm hoping that once he is good and house trained (meaning no pottying, chewing, or nipping) - he can hang around inside with us some.  


he has big shoes to fill...emma lou captured our hearts and took a piece of them with her when she left...but i know that with time...he will steal mine as well!


welcome home ole' boy...cause it looks like you're here to stay!  

ella's bake shoppe...

i just have to say that ella's birthday this year was awesome!!!!  my first born has become rather fond of the food network...along with cooking and baking...so it seemed fitting that we decided to have a cake decorating party!!!!  

then we decided to invite the entire group of 1st grade girls (27 total)...plus a few sweet friends from church & life...and things got a bit tricky!!!  i had to quickly realize that my mom & i were not going to be able to make that many cakes...mainly due to the fact that we didn't have that much counter or freezer space!  thanks to alyson foreman - one of the most delicious bakers around - we were able to supply each of the girls with their own "mini cake" to decorate!  back in business!!!!

my precious birthday girl...she just makes my heart smile!

because i'm me...and am slightly obsessed fond of planning birthday parties...i asked the birthday girl's amazing daddy if he would help me create a "bake shoppe" stand!  i'm the mastermind (aka found the plan on the internet!!!!) and he's the
cre-a-tor i should say!  it turned out FAR beyond what i could have imagined!  i L.o.V.e it and i think we will get tons of use out of it this summer when we sell our lemonade!!!!!!

we had the party on a friday afternoon immediately after school and the weather could not have been better!  i was so thankful for the beautiful day!  

we lined the driveway with this cupcake wrapper garland (thank you, pinterest!!!)...and then i got the bright idea to have "my carpenter" cut out some huge wooden "spoons"!  like the flat ones that borden's used to give out with their ice cream!  i'm not sure if anyone else could recognize what they were...but i loved them!!!!  

then i had jeffrey (at midnight the night before!) outside with me "draping" the carport ceiling!  i'm sure he had some choice words for me...one being "what in the heck is draping?!?!"...but he happily thoughtfully stapled away until the job was done!!!!  

hung the aprons with care...

got the raspberry lemonade ready to roll...

set out the icing and all the other "goodies" we were going to use for their masterpieces...

and then just waited for the sweet guests to arrive!!!!  

they did an amazing job decorating their cakes...and i'm so proud of the way that each one took their time to make their "confectionary canvas" a work of art!  i've had more moms tell me that they weren't allowed to eat the cakes because the girls didn't want to mess them up!!!!!  

with the help of my mom, i made these glass cake stands that each child was able to take home!  just some donated candle sticks, glass plates from the dollar store, and e6000 glue...and voila...a surprisingly adorable cake stand!!!!  

here are the final products...on display...

even the "babiest" price had a good time decorating...although i'm fairly certain that she ate just about as much icing and as many adornments as she used!  love that girl!

 

i love that the above pictures shows her about to eat just "one more piece"...& she's seeing if she can get away with it...

looks like she did!!!!! 

we only had one mishap...that we were quickly able to "save the day" with an extra cake...thank goodness for that!  lots of tears were shed by that sweetie!

when the girls weren't decorating cakes...we had them drawing pictures for ella or making cupcake wrapper flowers!  everything ran more smoothly than i could have dreamed!!!  

we paused for a few minutes to sing to our special girl...i can vividly remember singing to her on her first birthday.  i can remember exactly where we were standing, who was there, and what we were wearing.  *sigh*  here we are...EIGHT years later...singing to that same "little baby"...and i'm holding another one with yet another close by.  my heart is SO full!

these were the cupcakes that we (mom the baker...me the decorator!) had for the girls to actually eat since their decorated cakes were going home!  

here are two of my girls...ella eating a cupcake while hula hooping (HA!) and ava eating a cupcake while in heaven (the girl luuuuuuvs some sugar!!)!!!  maddie was still decorating her masterpiece!!!

each of the girls took their picture at the "bake shoppe"!  such cute, cute little ladies!  it was a super special day with super special friends and family...celebrating an INCREDIBLY special little girl...that just happens to be our ella!  

thanks to everyone that partied with us!  we love you!

the invitation

the two ava's

one of mommy's sweet friends

precious victoria

couldn't love her more if i tried!

one of the BEST grandpa's in the entire world...he makes memories for life with these three little ones!

how can my 6 lb bundle be eight years old?!?!

don't leave me out guys?!

my three decorator's treasures...

birthday girl's

sweet maddie's

precious ava's

the party planner

a trio of love...lots and lots of love!!!!

ella in her apron...ready for the par-tay to begin!

my two bigs with their two FaVoRiTe people!!!

silly shot of the group!  love these girls...i'm so thankful that ella has special friends to celebrate with her!  thanks for making her day perfect!!!