Lily's 7th Birthday Makeover

My firstborn turned 7 last month, which is SOOO hard to believe, and one of her birthday presents was a young girl's rite of passage--getting her ears pierced!

So, let me start by saying, I LOOOOOVE my sweet Lily, but she is kind of a wimp. Ever since she was a baby, a little tumble or the smallest cut would send her screaming. At first I thought maybe it was just a kid thing, but then I witnessed other kids who take a fall and get right back up like it's no big deal (including my 3 year old), so I realized Lil is just a little more sensitive. Which is totally fine. This is something I love about her. She sensitive in a lot of ways, and tends to notice and be affected by others more too. She's quick to cry and get her feelings hurt, and I just have learned to use a more delicate touch with her. But, it can sometimes be frustrating, especially when it's physical pain that I know can't possibly hurt as bad as she's making it seem. I mean, come on. Anyhoo, the idea of her getting her ears pierced was something I figured we'd need to wait awhile for. I let her know that, yes, it hurts! She asked a few times before this, and when I told her it hurt, she said that maybe she'd wait a little while. Well, over the past 6 months or so, she's been asking and finally decided the pain was worth it. I think, also, that many of her friends have their ears pierced already. Nothing like some peer pressure.

So, I finally told her that we could get her ears pierced for her 7th birthday. Logistically, it worked out to do this after she got back from Florida, because we needed to wait until after her dance recital (no jewelry!) and I also knew the dad who refuses to cut fingernails would probably not be very good at helping her keep them clean and reminding her to turn them.

I decided it would be fun to make it a whole day of beauty for Lily--well, "day" is a stretch, but a haircut and style, too. So, let me confess that Lily has now had 3 whole haircuts in her life! She has always had the best hair. When she was a baby (at about 6-7 months) she started sprouting these adorable blonde curls, and I started styling it in piggies and ponies by her first birthday (ahem, unlike some other little girl I know). Her hair grew fast and she has always had these beautiful, thick curls. While the curls/waves often get tangled and it's a chore to wash and condition, it lays nicely and there's so much you can do with it! So, cutting it is not very high on my priority list because it doesn't really need it. But, it was getting a little out of control. Tangled and kinda stringy at the ends, which makes it super tough to brush. It was definitely time. [Side note: I actually got my FIRST haircut at age 7. But, my hair was not nearly as thick and didn't grow as fast as Lily's.]

So, here are a few photos of Lily's fun makeover day! We went to our favorite little girls salon, Sweet & Sassy. The lady was super sweet and the girls have fun getting pampered like princesses.

The before:

It literally took this lady about 7 minutes to get the braids out. haha.

Getting shampooed:

She cut off about 5 inches!

Little sis did a little "shopping" while waiting for big sis.

She neeeeeeeeeded this doll.

Unfortunately it'll be a long while before this girl gets a haircut. Hahahahah #nohairdontcare

After the cut Lily chose a braid and blow out. Nice choice!

My sassy diva!

Look at all that hair on the floor!

Soooo much healthier!

The after:

Love this girl's new look!!!

Sweet & Sassy also pierces ears, but their selection of earrings was a little lame. She really wanting purple studs, and unfortunately they didn't have any, so we left and went to Claire's to check out their earrings. Sure enough, they had some cute purple ones--exactly what she wanted. It was actually the June birthstone--too bad it wasn't July. Oh well.

She got up in the chair and held the cute stuffed animal they gave her while she waited for Mom to fill out all the forms. And by the way, ear piercing is WAY more expensive than it was when I was in 5th grade. Haha! It was almost $80!!!

She was so excited!

And a little nervous! This was after the girl drew the dots on her ears. Almost time!

I posted a video on Instagram of the actual piercing. It was pretty funny! She did cry a little bit afterwards, but realized it only hurt for a minute, and then she felt fine.

You can see the tears a little.

Attempting to smile this time.

Way to go, Lily! I'm so proud of you. This was almost two weeks ago--I'm a little late updating the blog, but I'm happy to report her ears are doing great, and she's done a good job remembering to clean and turn them. And it's amazing how much more grown up she looks. Love this sweet girl!

One other funny story. While Lily and I were focused on ear piercing, Louisa was "shopping" in Claire's. She found a backpack in the store, and started packing it FULL of all this jewelry and lip balm and "junk" from the store. When it was full, she zipped it up, put it on her back, and came over and said, "Mommy, I'm ready to go!" I laughed and called her a little clepto. The sweet lady working there told me she'd put it all back for me. I did let her buy a bracelet, though.

Overall, it was a very fun, girly day for the List girls!