Birthday "Month"

Who says you can only celebrate your birthday on the actual day?? I learned from my Mama a long time ago that it is a birthday MONTH, and should be celebrated accordingly. So it should come as no surprise that we celebrated our Brenna Grace on multiple occasions.
Since Josh had to work on her actual birthday, he called her in the night before to give her a special gift...just from him.

This picture just absolutely melts me. I hope she's never too "big" to sit in her Daddy's lap.
Josh wrote her a special letter for her 10th birthday, which made me cry my eyes out. He is seriously the best daddy. He reminds me so much of my own Daddy in that he can be all "business".. But he also goes out of his way to make our girls feel special and do things for them. He decided that since it was her 10th birthday that he would go and get her a special gift. I had no part of it. He went and got her diamond earrings and a necklace. She was over the moon excited. Did I mention that I cried...?
And on January 24 2017, in the blink of an eye- we woke up with a 10 year old in our house. Double digits. I still don't know how this happened. But it did. And she was so excited about it!
 As is our tradition, she had a powdered donut cake for breakfast with a candle in the middle.

Oh how I love this sweet girl. She tests my patience, makes me question my parenting skills, and melts my heart all in the same breath. In so many ways she is just exactly like me (which will explain the previous sentence). And in many ways she is just like her Daddy. She is a perfect combination. She has the biggest heart and is wise beyond her years. She is a deep thinker and loves to read. I couldn't love her more if someone told me I had to.
That evening, we came into town, grabbed Nina and (per tradition) picked up Tia to go and eat at Chili's!

These three.... the three amigos. Friends since....forever. No matter how long they have been separated, they always pick up just where they left off.

This right here is the reason she always requests to go to Chili's. Chocolate Molten Lava Cake. And these three DEVOURED it. Nina and I only got like one bite each! That poor cake never stood a chance.

That weekend, we went over to Graddy and Mrs. Kathy's to get yet another gift!

 Yep- Graddy gave her a GUN!

I'm not sure who was more proud- him or her! This gun was the last gun that MeMawMom gave to Graddy, and he had been planning on passing it to Brenna for a while. And since turning 10 is a big deal, he commemorated the occasion with a gun...because Texas, people. No worries, it doesn't reside in her bedroom or anything... it still resides at Graddy's house. But it is officially HER gun, and she was thrilled about it!

Happy Birthday our sweet Brenna Grace. Thank you for blessing us and making us a Mommy and Daddy. You make us more proud than you will ever know and bring so much joy to those all around you. You are strong willed and you know what you want... which causes many headaches at our house. However, those two characteristics will take you far in life. You are fun to be around and a great friend. You are so loving, and I pray daily that you never get too big to want to cuddle with me and watch tv. It's my favorite time of day with you. You are a great big sister. Yes- you fight and pester her...but as I have been told- that is part of the experience. You are quick to check it out if you hear her crying or upset. And I feel sorry for the first person to ever mess with her...the wrath of her big sister isn't going to be pretty. I can't wait to watch yall's relationship grow. And I can't wait to watch YOU grow! Even though I get sad from time to time that the squishy cheek baby stage is over, I find new joy each and every day in watching you become the young lady God has destined you to be. Great things are in store for you baby girl, and we are blessed to get to be along for the ride.