Growing Up

This weekend was the Winter Formal at Rylee's school.

She was so excited!

She went with some friends (because as she says "boys are just weird").

True dat, sista!

They announced the date of the dance on the last day of school before break, and she wasn't at school.

She told me WEDNESDAY that the dance was FRIDAY!

So THURSDAY night we headed to the mall to try to find a dress. (I work best under pressure! ha!)

We went to every single store in the mall.

The racks were practically empty.

The dresses were too skimpy.

Rylee is 12, but is super tiny.  (65 lbs soaking wet.)  She really needs a 4T for size, but obviously they are too short. 

She wants to shop in the big girl stores like her big chested built friends.

But it just ain't happening for this chick!

Our options: 

Trying to find a dress in the juniors section, praying for a size 0 that I can take in or pin a little, that isn't strapless or barely covering her tiny hiney, that doesn't cost a fortune might be a bit tricky.

OR

We go to the little girls section, where we are more likely to find something that fits, but doesn't look like it's made for a 6 year old and comes with a matching purse, that doesn't cost a fortune.

Plus, she had a definite style in mind that she wanted.  (No added pressure, of course!)

So after about 4 hours, we found 2 dresses in 1 store.

She pretty much hated 1 of them.

The other was OK, but she wasn't loving it.

Tears were shed. 

Finally, she decided it would do.  (Although I didn't want to spend $50 on a dress she didn't love, didn't feel confident in and I knew she wouldn't wear again).  But the mall was closing in 30 minutes.

So as we were in line paying for this dress, we ran into another girl from her school (and her mom).

She said they had just found their dress at another store in the little girls section.

(We had already been to that store, and totally forgot to check the little girls!)

So we paid for the dress, went to the other store, talked to the sales lady, and she gave us a few options.

They had 4 dresses that were possibilities.

Rylee hated 2 of them.

So she tried on the other 2, absolutely fell in love with one of them.

The look on her face when she came out of the fitting room was worth all the agony of the night.

She was smiling! Beaming! Glowing!

So we got the dress (and a headband!) and it was less than the first dress, which we promplty returned.

Whew!

So after a rough night of pressured shopping, here is what we ended up with....