Naomi’s First Piercings: Preparing for and Celebrating Her 3rd birthday …


Naomi poses with some of her favorite pictures as a backdrop.

This past Friday was Naomi’s birthday. She has known for a while, and been talking about, two other things that would happen when she turned three:

  • One, she would get her ears pierced,
  • and second, her pacifers would go in the trash before she got her presents.

The big day came, and we headed to Wal-mart to get her ears pierced. A couple of days before I was having second thoughts about doing it, and then on Friday while I was filling out the form I was really having second thoughts; I nearly walked out. NaNi had to use the potty and that gave me an opportunity to settle down. She, of course, was fine.

We got back and I selected the earrings. I got to leave Naomi in the carriage for better positioning and also to keep her better constrained.

They do both ears at the same time. Both ladies approached her from the side and I stood in front of her. They did it. Naomi didn’t make a sound until they stepped away, and then she cried, but a muffled cry and held me close and kept saying, “it hurt.” She cried for a few minutes and was done.

The reason I was concerned was because I didn’t want any mistakes on putting the earrings too low, and also the pain factor. They did a great job, and her earrings look beautiful.


A rather “toothy” photo, but here’s our princess!

As for the pacifers, I recall before she got her presents that she had them in her hand. She actually gave one to her Dad, but what happened to the others we didn’t know.

At bedtime, she was fussy after having a jammed-packed day—during which she was totally sweet and adorable—but by bedtime she was beyond tired, and desperately wanted the pacifer, which we found. She did throw one away, but kept claiming, “I only have one.”

Basically, Doug and I caved and let her have the one that night; on Sunday I took the pacifer and tossed it. She did so much better the second night, and has been fine without it.


Naomi with MacKenzie Miller: These princesses aren’t afraid to get dirty.

Isaac and David were only two when I took theirs away, and it wasn’t an issue with either of them. But I couldn’t do it that early with Naomi. The other difference was when the boys were three months old, I said, they would then sleep in their own bedrooms. Naomi was five months old. Guess with her being my last baby, I needed to hold on a little longer.

Going along with the theme of her party, which started at “princess” and was expanded to a more general fantasy theme to accommodate the boys who would be attending, I made her a princess and castle cake, complete with a Barbie doll with a dress made of fondant. That was a lot of fun! (Doug said he liked an earlier version of the doll better.) I made the cakes on Friday night and decorated them early Saturday morning. Naomi got out her rolling pin and I gave her some fondant and powdered sugar to play with. She had a ball. (She had sugar up to her shoulders and through her hair.) I haven’t put that much detail into a cake in years, although I did cheat and used a mix.


All the time Nichelle spends watching cooking shows is paying off …

I was also able to make her a bed-in-a-bag to match her newly painted bedroom, deep pink and purple w/ the princess decor. Naomi helped me paint, too. She did a very neat job, I was surprised. I gave her my small roller, she wore her smock and had a ball. It’s been a busy month and a half working on the kids bedrooms (David’s is next to be done) and preparing for her birthday party, but what a blessing to be able to do it all! I do praise and thank God for all that has taken place. It does seem that I’ve been well for ages, but it’s only been since July. It’s been wonderful!!


Naomi with one of the many dress-up items she received as a gift. She loves playing dress-up.

Thank you to all who helped with various tasks. Couldn’t have pulled it off without your help. Hey, Phil and Cindy, I found my balloon pump while I was searching for my crafting supplies. 🙂 We had many friends and family join us to celebrate NaNi’s third year and what a blast it was. Everything went so well and the weather was beautiful. The kids got to “slay the dragon” and that was hilarious. The dragon (Doug) stole the loot for the piñata, and the kids needed to slay the dragon in order to capture the loot. What fun they had, and the dragon, too.


Some of the many warriors who attended Naomi’s party pose before venturing off to slay the dragon.


This dragon has been slain!

It was present time and Naomi’s expression upon opening each of her presents was lovely. She beamed with each one. She was a completely gracious hostess.


NaNi opening a CD gift—the soundtrack from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, one of her absolute favorite movies. She was so thrilled with every gift, and always remembered to say, “Thank you.”

Thank you to everyone for making her day so wonderful. We have loads of pictures, ones that we’ve taken and from others, too. Those should be up in a couple of days. So please check back. You’ll love them.

More pictures as promised.

9 Replies to “Naomi’s First Piercings: Preparing for and Celebrating Her 3rd birthday …”

  1. For everyone else’s benefit, from webster.com:

    Main Entry: fon·dant
    Pronunciation: ‘fän-d&nt
    Function: noun
    Etymology: French, from present participle of fondre to melt — more at FOUND
    1 : a soft creamy preparation of sugar, water, and flavorings that is used as a basis for candies or icings
    2 : a candy consisting chiefly of fondant

    Doesn’t definition #2 break the rule of not using a word to define itself?

    Anyhow, great post! I do want to see photos though.

  2. Oh yeah, sorry we couldn’t make it 🙁

    We had a family birthday party that weekend in Vermont.

    My girls would have LOVED the princess/fantasy party.

    Juliana was our only child who wanted a knuck-knuck. The other 3 didn’t want anything to do with them. We weened her off them by only allowing them at home, and then only at naps or bed, and then only at bed. Finally, no nucks. It was a hard night, but it only took a night if I recall correctly.

    I found a blog post about it at my blog here. (But you need the secret password!) 😉

  3. It was pretty late when Doug started putting pictures up and as I’ve looked over the ones that we still have… we’ll be adding more. Check back.

  4. Nichelle,

    When you say in the title, “Naomi’s first piercings,” are you saying that there are more to follow? What’s on the docket for her fourth birthday: Eyebrow? Nose? Tongue?

    Great pictures! She’s turning into a little lady!

  5. Heh, heh. The title was my edit. Nichelle’s was more boring.

    I think we’re going to go with eyebrows next. Once people are accustomed to that, we can think about the nose or tongue.

    Nose rings, and actually relatively large ones, are Biblical—they were in vogue for women in Palestine at the time of Christ. (Thanks, Debi C., for Sketches of Jewish Social Life.)

  6. Sunday at dinner NaNi realized, “I didn’t make a wish!” before blowing out her candles.

    I told her that she could do so now, as she’d missed the opportunity, and she insisted, “It’s too late; it’s not my birthday anymore.”

  7. Quite the mini diva in her pretty dress and her newly pierced ears! Such a beautiful smile 🙂 Looks like she had a wonderful day!

  8. Mark- I can’t believe you had to look up the word “fondant”! Don’t you watch HGTV? 😉

    I have absolutely NO cake decorating skills. A friend tried to show me how to do a simple cake once, but all of my little “peaks” listed to port. I did become a whizz at creating shaped cakes cut from a sheet cake, frosted and decorated with gumdrops, coconut, etc. Remember the old Durkees cakes? That cookbook was written for Moms like me!

    Naomi looked like a true Princess! Adorable! We used to have a lot of fun with “themed” birthdays…to make up for my lack of cake decorating ability. If you have enought bling no one notices the cake. 😉

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