It tickled...

Kennedy's birthday finally came!  Ususally we let the kids pick where they want to eat, but since we didn't feel like eating mac n' cheese, we just picked for her...  Have you ever been to the Lone Star Taqueria?  It's delicious!!!  Besides the food, the atmosphere is really fun, I love the color of their green walls!



After lunch, we headed over to the nearest Build-a-Bear where Kennedy picked out her Birthday present.  She had so much fun pressing the pedal and picking a heart.  We looked online a few days earlier (mostly for me to check the prices, since the kids have never made one before...) and she fell in love with this pony!  So that's what she walked straight to when we got there.





Just a little excited, can ya tell???  p.s. can you see her poor little chipped front tooth?  She ran into the counter while being chased by Bridger...yes, it was very traumatic--for all of us!  Bridger felt so bad he hid is face in a pillow for an hour.  Kennedy ended up swallowing the little piece that chipped off and was horrified at the blood coming from her lip.  I was a little worried too--hoping her tooth wasn't loose!  It all worked out in the end though...





Bridger loved giving this pony a bath!  It was a little hard for him since it was Kennedy's day---he would have been fine if they didn't have a darth vader bear outfit for sale....that just broke his little heart!

She ended up picking out the frog princess dress and naming her Princess Tiana.  She almost went with The Little Mermaid, but we all decided that a horse looked really funny with a mermaid fin and seashell top....





This build-a-baby was not for sale.



Heaven!  Yes, she talked her dad into getting the pink stroller too--I think he has a hard time saying no to her.  She felt like such a "mommy" pushing Princess Tiana through the mall.  I was just nervous she was going to run someone over since she kept walking serpentine!



Okay, onto the "tickle part"...she wanted her ears pierced.  She got the idea over Christmas and I told her maybe for her birthday.  That's just what I say sometimes to avoid argument, figuring that they'd forget all about it by then.  Well, it didn't work this time. She has asked me every other day for  7 months.  This girl really wanted her ears pierced!  I told her it would feel like a shot (I wasn't trying to scare her--I just always try to be honest when it comes to stuff like that!) but it would only hurt for a second.  She said she still wanted to do it.  So, we sat her in "The Chair".



Bridger was so nervous for her!  As soon as the lady started wiping down the counters, the blood left his face entirely.  He was white, purple bags under his eyes.  A look of shock on his face--it was like the scene of a bad accident, he just couldn't turn his eyes away.  All the while holding onto that pink stroller for dear life.  By the time the counters were wiped off, Jeremy wisely took Bridger to admire all of the glittery things in the store--trying to take his mind off the imminent torture that Kennedy was about to endure!  He just hates shots--in all shapes and forms.  Thankfully, he hasn't had a shot in over a year.  However, that has left plenty of time for his big imagination to run wild with crazy ideas.  When someone else is getting a shot, his normal routine is to go under a chair--eyes closed, ears plugged and if available, something over his head (like a jacket).  It's his worst nightmare!  The whole walk over to the earring store, he tried to talk Kennedy out of it.  He was desperate--pleading!  It didn't work.  She wanted them too bad.



So, while he was being distracted by Jeremy, Kennedy got her first ear pierced.  Yes, what you see in the picture is exactly what happened.  She blinked.  No noises, no jumping or protesting.  Just blinking.  She takes strength from her brother's weakness.



On to ear number 2.  Another blink.  And I am so sorry for an armpit shot of the earring official---yikes!



Oh, doesn't she look so sad! 



But now she has the cutest little pink flowers in her ears!  And she loves to show them off to people.  If you find her staring at you with her hair tucked behind her ears, you can assume that she is waiting for a compliment.  Sometimes people catch on to this, but if they don't, I get a broken hearted little girl when they leave ("Mom, they didn't say that they thought I was beautiful...")



Well, in conclusion, Bridger came back--amazed that it was finished, because he was in the store the whole time and didn't hear any screaming!  He should know by now that Kennedy is a brave little girl--she has never cried when she gets shots.  She takes it like a woman.

But, they both got a sucker for being so good and the color slowly returned to Bridger's face.  He is so impressed with Kennedy that he now goes up to random strangers to tell them that she got her ears pierced and didn't even cry.  Kennedy lets him talk and stands there beaming all the while.

It was a successful birthday--my mom even got to participate, since it was her last day in from Florida.  We love you little Kennedy!  She's 3 going on 16 and she is such a doll :)