Meet our American Girls

 I would like to introduce you to our American Girl family and share a little history on how each one came to be a part of our family.  

The first American Girls in our family were Samantha and Molly.

Samantha & Molly

Their previous owner, who was a college student, had listed them on Craigslist.  She'd had them since she was a little girl, and they are both Pleasant Company dolls.  These girls have been with us for a few years now.

Our next addition was Nellie.

Nellie

Nellie was also a Craigslist find.  She was listed by a mom who's daughters had outgrown their dolls.  She was selling each item separately, so I didn't get everything she had, just Nellie and some AG clothes.  Nellie is also a Pleasant Company doll.  Unfortunately, her previous owner must not have liked Nellie's bangs and cut them completely off.  Poor Nellie! The rest of her hair was uncut though, and you can't really tell that she ever had bangs.  I could rewig her, but she still looks pretty cute as she is.  Here's how she looks without her bangs.

Here is Nellie at home now with her best friend Samantha.

Our next additions to our American Girl family were Kit and Ruthie.

Ruthie & Kit

Kit and Ruthie were purchased new from American Girl a couple years ago as Christmas gifts.  Our middle daughter got Kit and our youngest got Ruthie. These are the only 2 dolls in our collection that we purchased brand new so far, and that are not the older Pleasant Company dolls. 

More recently, we had another new addition to our American Girl family.  I'm always on the lookout for American Girls at flea markets, garage sales, and Craigslist, but those bargains just don't happen everyday.  You never know when one will turn up though, so you have to constantly keep looking.  Just a few weeks ago, I saw an ad on Craigslist for several American Girl dolls.  The ad listed the price at $400, and I almost didn't call because that is out of my price range.  Since one of the dolls listed was Josefina, I decided to call anyway and ask about buying just her.  I talked to a dad who was helping his teenage daughter to sell the dolls.  He said the price was negotiable and pretty much agreed over the phone to sell Josefina for $50.  When I got to their house, there was Josefina, Samantha, a boy and girl Bitty Twins, and an American Girl Hopscotch Hill Logan doll. He could tell that I was interested in more than just Josefina when I saw them.  They even still had the original boxes for all the dolls.  He offered to sell me all 5 dolls plus the extra accessories they had for $120.  That was quite a drop from $400.  I went there intending to buy just Josefina for $50 though, so I quickly checked to see how much cash I had.  I only had $109, but he agreed to sell everything for that amount.  So here they are...

Josefina, Bitty Twins, Samantha & Logan

I'll do a more in depth review with pictures of each one later.  These are all older Pleasant Company dolls.  All the dolls were completely dressed except for Samantha, who had a purple coat but no clothes.  I wasn't planning to get Samantha since I already have her, but since he was offering such a great deal for the whole lot... now I have two Samantha's. Currently one is in the American Girl dollhouse in my girl's room, and the other is in my room.  I may rename mine, but I haven't come up with a name yet.  

The Snow White outfit she is wearing was actually another Craigslist find.  Someone listed the dress on Craigslist for $7, so I met the seller in the Wal-Mart parking lot and bought it.  Doesn't Samantha look like a princess in it?

Here is a side by side comparison shot of our two Samantha dolls.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our American Girl family and how they came to live with us.  

More adventures to come...