BELLE

She lifted the front of her dress slightly and adjusted the sides and the back so the ruffles fell around her. She slid her fingers into the gloves and pulled them up to her elbows before clasping her hands in front of her. She lifted her head and smiled and we smiled back as we watched our daughter transform into Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

We’ve always been into Halloween, but the older she gets the more we seem to enjoy it. She remembers every costume she’s ever worn… the duck and the white tiger from 2011 and 2012, the monarch butterfly from 2013, and Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz last year. Not a week goes by where she doesn’t throw out an idea for next Halloween. At this point, she’s planned them all until she’s ten years old.

This year, however, she sat under a tree with her yellow gown surrounding her entertaining pretend conversation with a teacup and a teapot and a stack of books. She sat between a candlestick and a clock while the wind blew through her curls. Our self-proclaimed princess in her very own scene while her mother and I took a step back to soak it all in… parenting… and all the beauty that comes with it.

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For Madison’s costume, we reached out to Becky (via her Etsy shop, Tony Bud’s Sewing) to create the iconic gown Belle is known for from the movie; she immediately knew what we wanted and managed to bring the animated dress to life flawlessly. If you’re in the market for something custom made or even if you want to browse her other creations, swing by her shop… be our guest, tell her we sent you! ;)