American Girl Boutique and Bistro

Boo and I took the girls on a special date to the American Girl Boutique and Bistro today. It was so much fun. The girls loved looking at all the dolls and accessories! As we were walking in the doors a group of 20-something year old girls were just leaving.... they smiled and said, "It's even fun for big girls like us!" It was very cute. We had a great time! The girls are such good company...and it was a treat to take Granny Boo with us. Oh, and Tag went along too...he slept pretty much the whole time. Such an awesome, flexible baby. He probably wouldn't have been interested in all that "girl stuff" anyway. :)


Baby Hallie and Baby Emma went along with us...

Faith meeting "Julie"...

Beth loved all the Bitty Baby stuff...

Looks like my double jogger!

She didn't want to leave without Julie. It motivated a great talk about patience and how things are often more special when we have to wait for them. Although she wasn't so convinced while still in the store...by the time we were on the way home in the car she had gained some new wisdom. From the backseat of the burbo she announced,

"Mom, I guess I can wait for Julie because I love her SOOO much....and 1 Corinthians 13:4 says, 'Love is patient'. So I'll be patient and wait." Amazing how much they soak up! Thank you Lord.

You can even get the dolls hair done! Somebody out there was pretty smart when they created the whole scope of this thing....

Lunch at the Bistro. Faith Anna spys a "Julie" doll that she could borrow to have lunch with at our table...

Beth with Baby Emma and another "borrowed" baby that she chose to dine with us...

Granny Boo, Julie, and Faith....

Fun fun at the Bistro! As Boo and I were walking out with the girls, I was trying to explain to them what a privilege it is to get to go and have lunch and buy souveneirs at such a special place. They were skipping along ahead and totally tuning me out... but Boo caught my train of thought and reminisced with me. It has only been a little over a year now that we could even get to do something special like this. God has truly brought us on a journey over the last 12 years....from borrowing all that money to pay for post-grad education....having Logan on Medicaid and using WIC to buy his formula and our groceries...having two more babies on a meager Resident's salary while we chose for me to stay home and raise them ...to finally being at a place where we can begin to pay off loans, give to others, and enjoy some of the fruit of all those years of labor. I just never want my kids to take it for granted. And of course, I give all the glory to Jesus who has brought us on this crazy, fun, wild ride! I truly feel like I'm living the dream. And it's all the more meaningful because we started with so little. Well, so little money that is.....but so so much love, grace, joy, and forgiveness. That's where true riches are. Don't ever let me forget either, Lord.