Look closely...

You might see a bit of extra sparkle on this little girl. (Click on the picture if you need a closer look.) See it? Sweet Caroline just got her ears pierced! She is on cloud nine, and checks out the sparkle in her reflection quite a few times a day now. ;)

She made a deal with her daddy that if she was responsible enough to keep her room clean for a week straight, he would let her get her ears pierced. She definitely held up her end of the bargain, even making her own chart complete with a picture of a girl with sparkly ears. She had the numbers one through seven at the bottom of the chart, and each day that her room passed inspection, she would cross off one number.

Well, yesterday she finally crossed off the number "7". She could hardly wait until after school for the big moment. When we were driving over, she was talking non-stop, obviously excited, but also full of nervous energy. She was reassured that I was going to get my ears pierced too, and kept going back and forth about who should go first. (My ears were pierced, but I haven't worn earrings for years, ever since we've had children. The holes were no longer there!)

We walked into the store, and her eyes grew wide in wonder, taking in the many, many earrings they had there. I wasn't surprised when she asked if I would go first. She helped me pick out my earrings, and held my hand, and VOILA, my ears were pierced. Then it was her turn...She was a little girl conflicted. She really, REALLY wanted the end result, but was very anxious about the part of the process that hurts. She finally made up her mind to do it, but only if she could sit on my lap.

She was very brave, and soon it was over. They showed Caroline her reflection in the mirror, and her sweet little smile showed how pleased she was. There it was. Another moment I'll always remember.

Unfortunately, a moment later she was a little woozy. Thankfully, with the aid of a cherry lollipop, she quickly recovered and was ready to show off her new ear look to everyone, including her family, her friends, her friends' moms, neighbors, grocery store clerks...the list goes on and on and on. ;)