Maybelline and Morgan

When Bailey was 4 years old, she asked me why all of her dolls were "white babies". I had never thought about it before, but they were all "white babies".

That very day, we went to Toys R Us to find an Asian baby. They didn't' have any Asian baby dolls, but they did have a little Asian "Kelly" doll. She named her "Little Bailey". The next Christmas, Santa was able to find a beautiful little Asian baby doll. She named her "Baby Bailey".

My Bailey's newest love is "Faith and Friend" dolls. My mom and dad gave her the Asian doll for Christmas, along with a complete wardrobe. It was Bailey's favorite gift. It even overshadowed her Santa gifts. She named her Maybelline and has played with her endlessly.

So, for her birthday, she asked for another "Faith and Friends" doll. She wanted Maybelline to have a friend. I took her shopping and let her pick which one she wanted. She chose a brown haired doll in a yellow dress. She wasn't the cutest of the "Faith and Friends" dolls and her clothes were a little plain, but that's the doll she wanted. She named her Morgan and has slept with her every night since her birthday.

A couple of days ago, Bailey and I were sitting in the floor of her room, having a tea party with Maybelline and Morgan. We visited about dolls, cookies, puppies and all of the things that are important in her little world. I thought this might be a good time to ask about Morgan.

"Bailey, tell me why you picked Morgan. Did you like her clothes the best? Or her shoes?"

"No. I liked her hair."

"Because it is cut kind of like yours?"

"No."

"Because it has yellow ribbons?"

"No, mommy. I like it because it's brown. I wanted a doll that looks like you."

Oh, my sweet Bailey . . . . .

Donny

I'm almost embarrassed to say that my first crush was Gilligan. Not the professor, but strange, silly Gilligan. I'm not even sure "crush" is the right word. I wasn't gooey in the knees about him, I just thought he was cute and funny. I've always loved men who could make me laugh.

My first real, gooey in the knees, butterflies in the tummy kind of crush was.... (imagine "One Bad Apple" underscoring here)..... Donny. I thought he was dreamy. My tummy would tickle every time I heard "Puppy Love" and to this day I am convinced "Go Away Little Girl" was written just for me (he was 16 years old and had already recorded 2 albums when I was born). My sister had his poster on her door and I would drool over his purple socks.

Later, as my taste matured, I fell head over heels for Bo Duke and Magnum P I, but my first love will always be (...sigh...) Donny.

So recently, after Donny won the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy, I confessed to my family that I used to stand in the hallway and kiss a tiny, little spot on the wall that I pretended was Donny.

This year, my sweet Daddy gave me the most wonderful Christmas gift ever. He went to a lot of trouble to get it and he was one of the first people in Amarillo to buy it on it's release date. It was (drum roll) the Donny Osmond Definitive Collection Cd! Can you believe it?!?!

I was so surprised! I squealed with delight and for just a moment, it was 1979 again and I was standing in the hallway staring at my sister's door and kissing the wall.

Thank you Daddy! You are the best dad EVER!