Dresses and Crowns

We're at a new stage in this life with girls. We have entered what I like to call the "Dresses and Crowns" stage.

When Ella was an infant, she wore dresses occasionally. However, once she began crawling, the dresses just got stuck under her little knees and impeded her crawling progress. Thus began her wearing pants nearly every day for the next 2 1/2 years. Then a couple of months ago, we made the trek to Santa Maria to go to Target. (This is very exciting stuff, you see, because we have NO big stores in our little valley. And, I just LOVE Target!) Anyway, it was right before Easter, and they had all of the pretty Easter dresses on display. Ella took one look at them and begged me, "Please Mommy, buy me a pretty dress!" Humoring her, I took a closer look at them. Since they were a decent price, I bought one for her thinking it would just be her Easter dress. We also bought some ribbon covered headbands as well. (Ella's got some crazy hair, and I thought perhaps a headband might help keep it out of her face.) A couple of the headbands matched the dress so I thought that would be a nice accessory for the dress too. So, we headed home with what I thought would merely be a special occasion outfit.

Boy, was I wrong! Ella has now become OBSESSED with dresses! First thing in the morning, she asks me if she can wear a dress. If for some reason she needs to wear pants for the day, she asks, "Well, can I put my dress on when I get home?" And, if she doesn't have one clean, she almost always throws a fit. (Yeah, we're working on that one...) Thankfully, her Auntie Jamie bought her a few other dresses that we've entered into the rotation. If not for that, I'd be in big trouble! And of course, the girl needs to accessorize her dresses too. She likes to wear her headbands nearly every day. But, she doesn't call them headbands. She calls them "crowns". A princess, indeed!