Ashley turned two today!  I cannot believe how fast these two years have gone by.  It’s just crazy!  I’ve been reliving this day two years ago when our sweet baby girl was welcomed into this world at 5:14 PM.  I remember every single moment of that day.  It was a wonderful glorious day.  And now look at her – she’s two!

My ever-so-talented friend, Jan, made a beautiful wreath for Ashley’s birthday, which I hung on our front door.  It’s a tissue paper wreath and is so pretty!  You’ll see pictures of it at the bottom of this post.  Thanks Jan!

I love birthdays, so we do them big around here.  Especially for Ashley, because it’s a reminder of the little miracle that she is.  So we started the day with a “bang”!  I went upstairs to get her with camera in tow.  Nothing like waking up to a few flashes of the camera on your birthday!  haha.  I know, poor girl.  She knew something special was going on though, because I was pretty excited.  I had gotten up early to make chocolate chip pancakes before she woke up.  So when she came downstairs, breakfast was served!  She loved them!  Oh, and did I mention that Van stayed home from work today to celebrate with us?  It was great!!

After breakfast, we went to Marbles.  I thought by getting there in the morning we would beat the crowd.  But unfortunately, there were already a couple of school groups there.  So it was a little crowded.  Ashley didn’t like it in the beginning, but once we found some space upstairs by the ball pit where not many kids were, she was in heaven.  She even found a new friend while we were there!  There was a little girl (maybe 8 or 9 years old) that was also playing in the ball pit who really took to Ashley.  And Ashley seemed to like her, too.  The little girl would fill a bucket up and give it to Ashley, then count them out as Ashley threw the balls into the pit.  They did this over and over again.  It was really sweet watching them interact, and even more surprising that Ashley didn’t shy away from her.  So that was fun.  She also enjoyed an area where you can make little race cars and race them down a track.

Then we went to lunch at the Carolina Ale House.  Our waitress brought Ashley a balloon for her birthday.  Pink, no doubt

After lunch, we headed to the Cupcake Shoppe for a special treat!  On our way there, Jan and Brody sent us a video of them singing “Happy Birthday” to Ashley.  Even in Laurie Berkner fashion.  It was so so sweet!  Ashley loved watching the video!

So we get to the Cupcake Shoppe and I was like a little girl in a candy store.  It was wonderful!  The cupcakes were so pretty!  Again, Ashley got special birthday treatment.  They put a little candy thing on top of her cupcake that said “Happy Birthday” and even put a candle in it for her to blow out.  Ashley blew the candle out so quickly we had to light it several times so I could get a good picture.  It was fun and the girl working there was very nice.  We sat at a table to eat our cupcakes and Ashley enjoyed welcoming in all of the new customers with a face full of icing (we got her the Cookie Monster cupcake).  Each person that walked in waved to her and got a chuckle out of her cuteness!

We then came home for a nap and Van put together our present – a pink retro kitchen!  She loves it!  She even received a surprise birthday package from our Arizona friends today!  Not sure how they timed it so perfectly to arrive on her birthday, but they did.  Ashley loved the card so much (Disney princesses) before she even saw what else was in the box that she tore off the front cover of the card and ran away with it.  Somebody must have known how much she loves the Disney princesses!

All in all, it was a wonderful day celebrating her birthday!  For some reason, everything went as planned…which never happens!  So that was very nice.  And now I’m pooped!  Good thing I have a couple of days to rest before her big party on Saturday!

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl.  I hope you enjoyed your special day as much as we did!  We love you!