My name is Hitty Lotzalove Sevashteen. I have lived with Andrew since August 21, 1999. And that means today --- August 21, 2008 --- is my birthday!

If you have read the Newbery Award-winning book "Hitty, Her First Hundred Years" by Rachel Field, you already know of my journey from being a new doll with pretty paint to being a very old doll with a less than perfect complexion.

It seems I have been doomed to repeat that process; nine years of banging around the planet in a pocket have not been kind. Although I arrived in San Francisco with "distressed" paint, I hardly knew the meaning of the word!

My underling has recently unearthed the very first photographs he took of me upon my arrival, and has also photographed me as I now look (without benefit of cosmetics, so please be kind). Seeing the photos together is rather like those dreadful Before and After shots. I, for one, cannot help thinking that I was better off Before. But Andrew seems to be fond of me as I am, and that means much to a doll.

To witness firsthand the ravages of nine years spent with a difficult man, just click on the top photo at the left, then keep clicking the arrow above to advance to the next photograph (NOTE: if you use the Slideshow feature, the captions for each photo may not show).

This album was updated in 2009 to include portraits taken for my 10th birthday.