A Bunny for Jenna

I took the kiddos to Build-A-Bear today. I have been thinking for awhile that it would be a good prep for them to build a bear to give to their new sister. I initially thought this was something they could do while we were in China. HOWEVER, the kids' schedules are completely different now compared to what they were a year ago and I just don't think it will be possible for the good ol' grandparents to take on this task along with all the other things they will have to do! Jacob starts school next Monday and Julia starts preschool the week after so this was my last CALM opportunity to take them. Once school starts the entire schedule changes and things will be hectic. Man...a very hectic school year this year!

ANYWAY...we went to Build-A-Bear with our COUPON and grand ideas on what kind of bear to build! The kids were SUPER excited about going there. Okay, so we get there and of course they are completely overloaded with choices of bears and are running wild saying, "Hey, I like this one! Look at this one! Mom, this one is SOFT!" Fortunately the store was empty so I could laugh a little at their hyperactivity instead of stressing out that they were going to knock someone over, knock a display over, or get lost! Since I explained to them that they had to agree on the same bear, this decision making took awhile. Julia wanted the pretty purple hippo, Jacob wanted the soft plush bunny, and mom wanted a soft velvety bear (I mean it is build-a-BEAR!). We eventually picked the bunny...Julia gave in quite easily actually...I was surprised. Jacob didn't give in at all...I wasn't surprised. On to the next station...

Sound. The kids wanted to put a sound in the bunny and RAN to the sound station and then pushed every sound button on the kiosk. I think the sound was turned as loud as it would go too...my ear drums felt like bursting! Ouch! THEN the Build-A-Bear employee came up and loudly asked, "Which sound are we putting in your bear?" My son quickly corrected her and said, "It's a bunny not a bear." (If you know my son, you know that this is typical for him. He's a perfectionist and we are working on "being polite".) This was my opportunity to say "NO" to sound...."Let's go work as a team and stuff the bunny! Won't that be fun?!?!" Off to the next station....

Stuffing. Okay, now the kids clam up, after all a STRANGER is talking to them! They are asked who is getting this bunny, who is Jenna, and what is the bunny's name....they answer like typical shy kids...look at mom and smile. I'm expected to answer...so I encourage them to say something, anything to the nice lady. 2 mins later we begin to stuff the bear...as a team...both kids have their feet on the pedal and press! Yay, no arguing! Then the heart has to be put in. They RUN 1 foot to the "heart box" and pick out 3 hearts each...enter mom, "kids get one heart each please." 4 hearts fall back into the box. Then they have to "go through the motions" to get the heart to love, beat, and be smart (?). They touch their noses, touch their heads, touch their hearts, touch their knees, do the hokey pokey and turn themselves about, and THEN the hearts get put in the bunny. (The ones they picked by the way both said "I love you" on them! Love my kids!) Now the bunny gets stitched up and is ready for her bath. On to the next station...

Bathing the Bunny. The teamwork is over by this point. They both have a brush and Jacob is in charge of the air pump that "fluffs" the bunny. The poor bunny is brushed and fluffed to death amidst mild bickering about HOW to brush, WHERE to brush, and WHEN to fluff...normal kid stuff here. I put a quick end to the bath by saying, "Okay, let's pick an outfit!" On to the next station....

Dressing the Bunny. Okay, here's where it gets a bit wild again. The kids RUN to the clothing area. Julia looks at all the pretty outfits...the pretty expensive outfits, and Jacob looks at accessories, not clothes, accessories. (What is it about boys and their "toys"? It starts young people!) And here I was thinking a cute little $5 t-shirt would do the trick....I was wrong. After about 10 minutes of "ideas" from the kids we finally pick a cute little t-shirt and skirt with matching hair bows...have to get the hair bows (they are free)...and we have to negotiate about colors...Julia wants red and green and Jacob wants red and black...this time it's an easy compromise...we match the red bows and everyone is happy! By the time we actually dress the bunny, Jacob has an army hat for his bear at home and Julia has a sparklely purse for her bear at home...I try to tear them away from something of their own but can't... and at this point, I don't really want to "debate" anymore so I give in (Sorry dear!). They are happy. On to the next station...

Birth Certificates. This, in my mind, is the most useless part of this build a bear thing...the kids don't really understand the entire BC thing and the paper winds up torn and crumpled on the floor completely neglected at home. BUT it's part of the "experience" and it's "free" so we forge ahead. Now we sit at the computer and fill in all the blanks with the kiddos taking turns pushing the colored buttons when cued and we eventually name the bunny "Hoppy." Then we stand in line behind 2 other people and wait for an employee to notice that there is a line at the register. :) Fortunately it doesn't take a year and we purchase the bear. Yay!

All in all it was fun, the bickering was minimal, and the bunny turned out cute. The challenge now will be to keep the kids away from the bunny and save it for Jenna. They had a great time building a bear for "baby Jenna" and I'm glad. The kids are really excited about seeing her and are asking constantly why it's taking so long, where is she now, when are you going to China. Hopefully, the bunny will help them feel like they are part of the process. Oma and Opa, you can thank me later for not "letting" you bring them to Build-A-Bear! :)

Now, introducing "Hoppy", Jacob and Julia's gift to Jenna...