The flower girl that froze

 Our good friends from Prescott, Kyle and Tiffany, got married at the beginning of September.  Deke was one of Kyle's groomsmen and Tiffany had asked Emma to be her flower girl.  They had asked her a couple of months ago and Emma was so excited.  She talked about being a flower girl, we read the Pinkalicious book about being a flower girl, watched videos online of flower girls walking down the aisle and practiced with an easter basket filled with pieces of cut up paper.  Tiffany bought her a sweet little necklace with a rose on it which Em loved since it is her middle name.  Her and Ave and I went shopping and found an adorable dress for her to wear.  She was ready.  I was worried.  I know my Emma and she is our most shy child by far.  Once she warms up she is fine.  She is silly and talks a mile a minute and gets goofy like her older siblings, however she hates being in front of large groups.  She never wants all the attention on her and gets embarrassed.  She is often unsure about new people and gets totally quiet.  The night before the wedding they did a dress rehearsal and with the promise of a package of Starburst she walked down the aisle and threw the petals.  I was relieved and she was proud of herself.  After they got home though she started complaining that her legs itched and as I got her into her pj's I noticed she had some mosquito bites.  I started counting and the poor girl had 34 bites!!!! Thank goodness her dress was long to cover her little legs.  The next day we got there early and went into the brides room to get ready with Tiffany and the bridesmaids.

 Emma loved getting to get ready with all of the "big girls."  She actually was loving them doting on her and constantly saying how cute she was and talking to her.  She mentioned being hungry and they brought in some fruit and a roll for her.  She was loving every second of it.  She looked sooooo sweet.  After getting to be in with the girls and getting all ready we headed outside to get her lined up with the rest of the wedding party.  She sat out there and talked excitedly with Jaden, the little ring bearer....

 Soon it was time to go and I quickly reminded her what to do. She would walk in front of Deke in case she got nervous just like they had practiced. As they started to walk I saw a slight shift of concern in her eyes. The wedding planner held her back and Deke headed around the corner.  "She will go right before the bride" she said and then told Emma to get ready because it was time to go.  I reassured her as she hesitated to move forward.  "Okay mommy will walk with you until right before we get to the aisle to drop the flowers okay?"  She looked relieved and we headed on our way.  "Oh no" I thought to myself "You can't change the plan on her in the last instant" this child is not good at improvising.  As we reached the aisle I went to let go of her hand and gracefully take my seat to the side when she death gripped my hand.  I looked over and she was standing completely still, deer in the headlights look, panicked.  I leaned down and whispered a quick word of encouragement. She stood there.  Keenly aware of the bride getting ready to come up behind us I tossed my purse and camera into the grass to the side of me and started practically pulling my slightly catatonic three year old down the aisle.  Okay great, now what.  What was the "practiced plan" for this scenario.  So I didn't think so much as just started walking.  Walking in heels that make me as tall as Deke, wobbling as I bent down and picked out handfuls of petals and tossed them, trying to motivate her.  Nothing.  It was making it worse.  "Stop throwing the petals, you look ridiculous and just get her down the aisle" I thought to myself as the photographer took pictures and I thought about how I never wanted to ever see these pictures.  The small aisle seemed to lengthen by five feet with every step we took and finally we reached the stairs and I nudged her to walk up the three steps to stand by Deke.  Nothing.  Nope she was still totally frozen.  Awesome.  Okay pick her up and lift her over the three stairs and finally her eyes connected with Deke and she walked over to him on her own.  I walked off to the side trying to smile and act natural about the most awkward mother/daughter team flower girl moment in history.  Okay Deke...I stared him down.  Thank you for not insisting and making sure she walked with you, that was just great.  Then the ceremony started and of course she smiled adorably and at one point looked at me and waved.  You little stinker.

 The wedding was beautiful and even though it was really hot and sort of muggy out the location was beautiful and they had done a great job of decorating.

 They had dinner and a candy bar, a program and dancing.  It was a great night.  We were so happy to get to share in their day, congrats Tiffany and Kyle!!!!!