Doll Hospital Books

My girl and I have started reading the Doll Hospital series and they are so great!! The books are about two sisters that have to go to live with their grandma for a year. Their grandma runs a doll hospital in part of her house so there is always old and broken dolls coming there. Not only does their grandma fix the dolls but she can talk to them. So as she is fixing them she tells the story of the doll's life... where she came from, where she lived, how she got injured.. so its basically a story within a story. You get to read about what is happening to the sisters but you also get to hear a really cool story about a doll. The best part is getting to hear from the doll's point of view. I love hearing about the adventures that other dolls have with their girls.

Sadly, there are only six books in the series... so we have already read most of them. So far my favorite one is called Goldie's Fortune. Its about a girl that grew up during the great depression. She lived in a big house and had a lot of fancy toys, including a really nice doll named Goldie. Once the great depression happened her family had to sell most of their stuff. The only thing that the girl got to keep was Goldie. Despite the fact that Goldie was there for the girl during all the hard times, the girl eventually feels the need to sell her doll to make some extra money for her family. Both the girl and Goldie are devastated. But somehow, because Goldie and her girl have such a strong bond, Goldie's spirit is able to leave her doll body and stay with her girl. The girl's mom surprises the girl and Goldie by making a new body for Goldie out of old rags she found. Even though Goldie goes from being a fancy, expensive doll to a rag doll, her girl loves her just as much. Its such a wonderful story because it shows how strong of a love that dolls have for their girls.

Fun with Clothes

One of the fun things about living in a house full of American Girl dolls is getting to share all of their clothes!! My girl tried a bunch of different outfits on me. I have never seen so many beautiful clothes. It was so much fun! All of the other dolls were so nice to me... especially considering how much extra attention I was getting compared to everyone else. Here are some pictures that my girl took of us and our outfits:

Surprises

Surprises are so much fun!! My girl and I were surprised this afternoon with a new Our Generation salon chair and a puppy! I have never had a puppy! I named her Sandy.

My Story

Hi. My name is Jessica Anne but everyone calls me Jessa. For as long as I can remember I lived in a really big store. I stood on a shelf next to other dolls. Many of them looked just like me. People often walked by and talked about us like we couldn't hear them. Little girls would get excited to see us and occasionally one of my fellow dolls would leave with a little girl. But most people were not as nice. They would compare us to American Girl dolls and say that we were not as neat. We were called "cheap" and "knock-offs". We started to think that nobody wanted us. We started to hear rumors that the only people that wanted dolls like us were kids that were not old enough for American Girl dolls. But no matter what people said, I hoped that one day I would have a girl of my own.

I spent day after day standing on the shelf wishing that someone would buy me. I wanted a girl that would love me and appreciate me. The days past slowly. Then one day the workers at the store decided that we were not selling fast enough so they put us on sale. Eventually all of my doll friends were purchased and I was left standing all alone. I was just about to give up any hope of having a home when a nice man came walking past me. At first he didn't pay much attention to me but eventually he noticed me on the shelf all alone and he picked me up.

Riding home was a little scary. I tried to picture what my new home would be like. Would my new girl love me or would she compare me to the more expensive dolls? Would I be her first doll or would there be others? Before I could wonder too much, we were there. The man carried me into a house and handed me to a girl. She was a little older than some of the little girls that I had seen in the store. She looked surprised to see me. The man told her about how I was the last doll on the shelf.

My girl was very excited to have me. She immediately got me out of my box and didn't put me down for the rest of the day. She told me how happy she was to have me. She said I looked nothing like any of the rest of her dolls. Thats when I realized that I was not the only doll. When my girl wasn't paying attention, I looked around  to see what other kinds of dolls there was. They were everywhere! Baby dolls, rag dolls, and a huge collection of American Girl dolls! I began to panic. How would I be able to compare to those beautiful, expensive dolls? I would be an outcast doll forever! But my fears were quickly settled that night because once the day was over and it was time for bed, all of the American Girl dolls were carefully placed on a table to "keep them safe" and I was tucked into bed next to my girl. I may not always fit in with the American Girl dolls but I know now that my girl loves me just the way I am.