Birthday Girl

Last Sunday was Kaylen's 8th birthday.

I'll wait a minute while that sinks in.

Eight.

Seriously????? Wow.

Since she was with Dakota on her actual birthday, I planned a Mom and Kaylen day for today to spend some time together so I could celebrate this amazing little person I created. We decided to go shopping (of course - the mall is just so "totally cool") and then go to Picture People to have her photo taken... alone.....without her brother...for the first time in years.

Our first stop was Justice, which I promise you is the tweeny-bopper form of crack. It is THE place to shop. And it is THE place that is incredibly expensive. I actually had given her a home made gift certificate to go to Kohl's to buy a spring/summer outfit but Justice sent a flyer that this weekend they were having a 60% off sale so we traded in the Kohl's trip for a trip to Justice.   I figured, in the end, the over all cost would be a wash.  Of course, that is when I was thinking pants and a shirt or shorts and a shirt.  If you know anything about my little fashion dive, you may commence laughing at me.

The girl was in heaven!! We walked in and her eyes grew HUGE as she looked around. We picked a few outfits and headed to the changing rooms. She. Loved. Everything. Even with 60% off, mommy was shaking in her Danskos. We ended up walking out with a shirt, a pair of cropped stretch pants, a dress, a shrug and a couple pairs of socks for *gulp* $76.00. And yes, that was 60% regular retail price.

The next stop we made was the food court to grab a little pasta and lemonade for the girl and honey chicken and sweet tea for me. Then, since we had a bit of time to kill before our photo appointment, we headed to Penney's.

Kaylen was happily looking around her size department and we compared the price of things she liked there to the regular prices of Justice clothes and she seemed to really understand why Justice is a special occasion, only if they are having a killer sale, store. Score one for Mommy!

Then we walked by the girls shoes and decided to take a look. There were a super cute pair of sandals that she fell in love with. And honestly, they are totally her and would go perfectly with the outfit she just bought so I let her get them. You should have seen her face! She was beside herself because she wasn't expecting to really be able to get them.

With purchases in hand, we walked (though I'm pretty sure Kaylen floated) back down to Picture People and signed in. After cutting off all the tags, she changed into her first outfit and the photo shoot began. Then she did a quick outfit change and we got some more shots. She was in heaven and the star of the show!

I had a coupon (of course) and my club membership card so for $28, she and I walked out of there with a big photo packet of one pose, two 5x7's of another and a 10x16 of another. Oh yeah - Mommy knows how to rock the Picture People deals to come out a winner with photos. It's a skill I have honed since having kids and I have to say, I am amazing at getting lots of photos for very little money which accounts for my enormous photo collection of each child from the day they were born.

Kaylen was allowed to pick which pose she wanted for the package and for the 5x7. I got my pick for the 10x13. Luckily, we were in sync with which pictures we really liked so it was very easy. While we waited for our pictures, we went next door to See's candy and she got to pick her traditional "after pictures" piece of candy and then we picked up out photos and headed out into the rainstorm to come home.

We had a fantastic day together and I can't wait until our next Mommy-Daughter date. 


This is one we got in the 5x7 size.  She wanted one for her room and one for the living room.  :)  (this is her favorite outfit and she can wear it well.  Check out the sandals!)

This is the pose we got for the package so we have lots of pictures in lots of sizes.  The white background is really cool but it sure doesn't look like it here.  :)  The photo is off center a bit and is cute, cute, cute!  I love the shirt she picked.  :) 

This is the 10x13 I choose.  I LOVE this picture.  The detail of her hair is perfect and she just looks so sweet.  I cannot believe how big she is getting.  There is no denying, she is turning into a young lady very quickly!

Aren't they great? 

Happy Birthday, my darling girl.  It is such an honor to be your mom.