Man, do I feel old!!

My baby girl is 7 years old today. Can you believe that? I certainly can't, it doesn't seem like it's been that long! I swear it hasn't!! So today was Pumpkin's special day, and in this time of recession...we tried to make it as special as possible. We started out the day with apple pancakes, strawberries and whipped cream. Then we headed over to WalMart and picked out a bike. And let me tell you about Pumpkin and her bike...she has been bugging us for months about getting her a bike, I mean months!! Every time her friends are out there riding, she bugs us. So we finally take her out to get a bike, and she happily picked out a blue bike and was riding along in the store. She was happy, we were happy, and then...she passed the toy aisle...and something caught her eye. It was Tinkerbell and all her fairy friends from her newest movie. And suddenly...her bike didn't look so good. And so went almost 30 minutes of whining and begging for this tiny little toy. She was willing to give up her brand new bike, for an $8 fairy!! Sometimes, I just don't get it!! To me, it was plain as can be...but to Pumpkin, it was the hardest decision of her 7 year life!! In the end, she made the right decision (at least it was the right decision to me)...but she was not happy to leave that fairy in the store.

So anyway, we left WalMart and headed over to the stores. Now, I had asked Pumpkin for the last year and a half about piercing her ears...and she was finally ready...at least that's what she thought. So there she was sitting in the chair, all brave...the lady told her that it just felt like a hard pinch and then it would be fine. Well, apparently...she was wrong!! So here she is waiting for that pinch...and let me tell you, it hurt her

...and she tried her best to keep it together...but it was just too much.

So we tried for about 20-25 minutes to get her to pierce her other ear...but she was freaking out...there was absolutely NO way that gun was getting near her again!! So we decided to go watch our movie. And she agreed to go back and get her other ear pierced after the movie. The movie was pretty funny, we watched Madagascar 2...and the kids really enjoyed it. And after the movie we went back to the store to get her ear pierced...but I guess the memory of that pain hadn't quite faded, and the closer we got to the store, the more she started freaking out again. And so goes another 20-25 minutes...and the end result?

And yes...that's her earring...focus on the singular word, because she only ended up getting 1! She just wasn't ready to get the other one done. So, when she's ready, we'll go back. The lady said that one girl actually took 2 years to get her other ear pierced!! So here's keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't take her 2 years to go back!! So for now, she's our 1 ear pierced little girl!!

So anyway...we went to Bubba Gump's for dinner, which she always loves...and for the life of me I don't know why. Bubba Gump, from the movie Forrest Gump, is mainly a seafood restaurant. And this little girl will NOT eat seafood (we can thank The Little Mermaid for that!)...but for some reason, every time we ask her where she wants to eat...she will, the majority of the time, will answer with Bubba Gump.

And if it gets these smiles from her on her birthday...then I will keep bringing her there...even though she doesn't eat seafood.

So after that yummy meal, we headed back home to have some birthday cake that yours truly made. And I have to admit, that it turned out pretty good...much better than some store bought cake!!

And Pumpkin was pretty pleased with it...especially because it had raspberries on it!!

Did you notice the bare left earlobe?