Birthday.

I turned 26 on Thanksgiving.

It was such a good day. I don't feel a day older, after all the kids keep me young. We celebrated simply-we had brunch at my mom's, opened a couple of gifts and then headed to Daniel's dads for a normal Thanksgiving meal that afternoon.

I got a new coat from my mom that I love. It happens to match my new purse...

Braden sang the Happy Birthday song more times than I can count. Oh and they looked so cute.

I asked for only one thing for my birthday; the same thing I ask for every year:

Snow.

This year, I was blessed with a few flakes and Aunt Rachel rushed Harper outside to experience her 'first snow.'

Harper has experienced so many "firsts" in the last 2 weeks. Now she is officially saying, 'mama,' 'hi,' and last night she said 'baba or bubba.' She's doing more all the time!

She is clapping. Praising the Lord. Almost crawling. Eating. Talking.

Growing.

Nora is still experiencing a bout of naughtiness. It's quite interesting to say the least. She wore her new Turkey bow for 4 days straight. Without fail.

My mom's birthday was yesterday and we were both sick. I made her a red velvet cake and she stopped by for a piece. I want to celebrate her everyday. She is a great mom and a great Nanny.

My Nanny would be incredibly proud of my mom...

...and I'm positive she would adore Miss Audrine.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Pawpy's house with our entire family. It was the first time that we were all together in the house since Pawpy remarried a couple of years ago. It was nice to be together but still hard. For everyone else, maybe it isn't quite so difficult. But I remember Nanny scootin around the kitchen and sitting in the sun room. I remember vivid moments that are incredibly special to me about Nanny in the house and that makes it hard to be there in general. I lived in that house during a very difficult time in my own life and now everything is different. I wouldn't even recognize the rooms if I didn't know it was the same house. However, I was glad that we were all together.

We are all very different individuals as adults. It's hard to understand how we have all changed so much; my cousins and I. But if I really think about it, our lives have been very separate and have been defined by extremely different things along the way.

As I turn 26, here are a few things I know for sure:

My life is defined by love. A deep love for my husband, children, faith, family & friends.

My life is defined by passion. A passion for writing, living, and laughing.

My life is defined by memories. Ones that I refuse to let go of just to move on.

My life is defined by strength. Given of God.

My life is defined by the Lord. And a relationship with Him that is not just a prayer on Thanksgiving but an everyday walk and an everyday dependence.

Everything else in my life falls into place beautifully.

26 looks pretty promising...