Brianna is Ten Years Old!

Parenthood often feels to me like an endless stream of milestones that simultaneously bring my heart happiness and achiness. Brianna's birthday this year was one of those milestones . . . we now have a child in double digits! When a child is born, ten years seems so far away, but it goes by in a flash. Truly.

Brianna has not had school on her birthday since she was in Kindergarten! The weekend around her birthday is typically a four day weekend on the school calendar, making it really nice for us to plan a good little celebration. This year, however, her birthday was on a Tuesday, and she did have school!

The birthday girl before school!

She looks so big 😭.

We gave her the choice between opening her gifts before school or waiting until after, and she chose to wait. Just another sign that she's growing up!

Chris took the day off work so we could all go surprise Bri for lunch. We brought Subway (her favorite!), and she was certainly surprised! Since the little girls get out of school at 10:30am, they got to join us for lunch, too.

Momma, Brooke, and Brianna

Brecklyn, Brianna, Brooke, and Daddy

Brenson has guitar lessons on Tuesdays after school, and I had scheduled chiropractic adjustments for all the kiddos after guitar lessons. This meant that we picked the big kids up from school and didn't get home until just after 5:00pm. As soon as we got back home, Brianna was ready to open her presents :-).

She's always been a very expressive child, and it makes me happy that she hasn't outgrown that yet!

Love <3

My first baby . . . love this lady more than she knows!

After opening gifts, Grampy and G-Jo arrived for dinner. Brianna asked for ham, mashed potatoes, pasta salad, and cake for her special dinner. G-Jo made the ham, and I took care of everything else.

Bri specifically asked for a cake with red roses on it, so that's what she got! Also, one of her birthday gifts this year was blue-light blocking glasses. Of course, she had to wear them all during dinner and dessert :-).

So many candles . . . eeeeep!

My crew is growing up!

If you've been a long-time reader, you may remember that we used to do big birthday parties each year for the kids. Several years ago, we decided to quit the big parties in lieu of smaller celebrations and a special trip or activity. I think I've said this before, but we have no regrets about giving up big birthday parties! We still host gatherings, and we all enjoy trips or special outings more anyway! We've had a full schedule lately, so we haven't planned a special activity or outing yet . . . hopefully it's coming soon! 

Happy 10th birthday to our sweet and spunky firstborn 💜!