Our Second White Dress

My mom bought me a white dress,
Not red or pink or blue.
She said it was a special dress
Like very other few,
There has been just one before,
A dress now put away,
That I wore some time ago
Upon my blessing day.
As a little baby clothed In my first white dress,
My dad held me in his arms,
There to name and bless.
So pure and clean was I just then,
With time to grow and learn
About the Father's plan for me.My glory I must earn.
Now I've reached the age to judge
The wrong road from the right,
And I am here to be baptized
In this dress of white.
So once again I'm free from sin.
The path is clear to me.
I'll grasp the rod and hold on tight, I vow with certainty.
Just as mud would stain my dress,
Sin would stain my soul.
The key is to repent or bleach,
For whiteness is my goal.
And if I try my very best,
Then richly blessed I'll be,
Wearing inside God's holy house
White dress number three,
So today I make this pledge:
I'll strive to choose the right,
Through this sacred baptism ordinance
In my second dress of white.

(Linda Gay Perry Nelson, 1993)

I wanted to share a special moment from when I took the girls shopping for their Baptism Dresses.  It was the last Saturday in August.  I was really insistent that I did not want their baptism pictures done in a studio, so we shopped early for dresses.   I shopped around at several stores ahead of time and decided that Dressed in White had the best selection and the lowest prices.  We planned the entire day with Grandma, a "Girls day out!" 

The excitement that morning was over the top.  There was a moment or too that I was sure I was crazy to take them all at once.  When we arrived at the store, each girl picked out 5 dresses they wanted to try on and we headed to the dressing rooms.  (5 was the limit - it didn't last long)  Each time they would try on a new dress, they would wait in the mirror room for their sisters.  They would gently critique each other after trying on every one..... 

"I love this lace!"

"That one has the prettiest bow!"

"This one has itchy sleeves!"

"This one floats when you walk!"

"This one is too heavy!"

"Does this one make me look like a princess?"

It was so funny to hear them work it out.  They entertained quite a few people that day.  At one point, the clerk said, "It looks like a Baptism blew up back here."  I think we had one of every dress in the dressing rooms by the end of our 3 hour visit.

The biggest decision to be made was SAME or DIFFERENT!  What to do?  It was a tough decision, but in the end DIFFERENT was the way to go.  Each one of them had a different criteria for choosing the perfect dress.  

Kiersten wanted to look like a princess.  She really loved the way her dress laced up on the sides, and she didn't want it to touch the ground.  She loves to see her pretty shoes and can waltz better if it's shorter.

Alexis wanted something that was beaded and had lots of decoration on it.  It was also important for her to have a dress that touched the ground.  The other thing she loved about her dress was the giant bow in the back.  Her dressed was named the "Rebecca" dress, which was her favorite part about it.  I have to admit, it was one of my favorites too!

Madilynn fell in love with her dress the first time she tried it on.  The only problem was, it was sleeveless.  I LOVED the skirt with all it's layers of tulle and so did she.  Madi's biggest criteria was that it had to flow perfectly to the ground after she did a twirl and sat down.  It was so cute to see her do this over and over again.  In the end, we bought a fourth dress that had the perfect bolero jacket to go with the dress she loved. 

After hours of shopping, dresses and coordinating hair accessories were purchased and we headed for the ice cream shop.  They giggled with excitement the entire way home and couldn't wait to show Dad and their big brothers.  The GUYS were very patient during the fashion show as each detail was explained to them as if the entire world depended on it. 

And that is how they chose, their second white dress.