Lia Gets Lea!

After I had decided to buy Lia her fourth and final American Girl Doll last December (when I managed to get Grace Thomas for an unbelievable $44 instead of $120), the Girl of the Year 2016 was released a few weeks later on January 1st.  And much to our surprise, this doll's name was Lea Clark. I just couldn't believe it.  What are the chances of an American Girl Doll being released during the few short years that our daughter is into these kind of dolls with the SAME name?!  Apparently 100%.  Regardless, I knew right away that we would have to buy this doll before she was retired in December of 2016; however, I wasn't thrilled about buying another doll--especially after deciding that we were done.  Then Ron came up with the brilliant idea of having Lia save up every single penny to buy this doll herself.  We proposed this idea to Lia back in January and she immediately agreed with enthusiasm.  And so for the next eleven months, Lia worked really hard to earn and save one dollar at a time from her weekly chores.  I was so impressed at how much self-control she practiced for almost an entire year.  Lia never deviated once from her end goal even though there were several toys along the way that she wanted to have.  Occasionally, Lia got a little extra help like the $33 we were able to get back from Walmart and Costco after returning some birthday gifts from friends that she didn't want or need.  She also got $5 from grandpa after cutting several inches off of her hair and grandma also paid Lia $5 for doing several chores when I was out of town and grandma watched her for two days.  Slowly, but surely, Lia's little stash of money grew and grew and she patiently waited until she had saved up a whopping $120.  I was so proud of how well she stuck to reaching this goal--especially for a girl her age.
In addition, since I am now a bit of an expert at finding and making deals with AGD products, I knew that I needed to get Lia some sort of discount on this doll to make paying for her even more of a possibility.  Luckily, a 30% off sale occurred over the Easter weekend and grandpa kindly agreed to drive up to the store in Lynnwood to buy Lea Clark and some of the other items in her collection.  As a result, I actually had the doll hidden in one of our closets for seven months before Lia earned the money to pay for her.  And thanks to the discount, Lia's $120 that she earned by Thanksgiving weekend was actually enough to pay for the doll, her pajamas, and two of her pets!  So instead of taking Lia up to the store in December like we had planned, we surprised her with a trip to the "store" in our bedroom tonight after putting both Ella and Logan to bed.  I had her come into our bedroom and cover her eyes.  I then brought out all four items that she had earned in four of the red, American Girl Doll bags with white tissue paper sticking out (exactly like the store) and put them on the floor in front of her.  When Lia opened her eyes, she was so confused and excited!  After explaining to Lia that she had earned enough money to pay for FOUR items, we had her open the gift bags.  She was so excited and a little speechless!  The pictures below show it all!

Lia opening the last of the four bags and the best one of them all!  Her new doll, Lea Clark!

Lia showing off the pretty box before opening it.

Two girls with the same name!

When Lia reached $100, I put it in her bank account to keep it safe and to make a little interest, but the remaining $20 were kept in an envelope in her bedroom.  Here are her twenty one-dollar bills all laid out neatly on the floor.

Lia immediately decided that Lea needed to be put into her pajamas before going to bed.  So, here is my expert changing her doll's clothes.

Lia showing off Lea in her darling jungle-themed pajamas with her turtle and Margay cat, stuffed animals.

Showing off the tropical animals that go with Lea's collection.

Lea and her animals.

Lia then wanted to introduce Lea to all of her other dolls (a tradition Lia now does every time she gets a new doll).  Here they are all lined up with their own pets.

Lia, her dolls, and her mega dollhouse.

What can I say?

We heart American Girl and all of the happiness and hours of imaginative play that it brings into our lives.