Merry Christmas!!

Typety type type type. A girls work is never done. Blogging is such a strain on my time. I barely had time to decorate for Christmas.



After putting the sticky clingy things on the window mom and I spent some time decorating the tree. Look it doesn't take up the whole living room.



I also spent some time with Mema and Poppop when they came to visit. We had all kinds of fun, we went to see Santa, went shopping at the mall, and we went to the Zoo to see the Zoo lights. We rode around on a cool train and I got to see the Elephants, which are still not pink... so strange.



Have you all met Clara? She's super cute and fun to hang out with. She's been sleeping in my room the last few nights, we stay up chatting ALL NIGHT LONG!!!!

Santa Clause is coming to town

I've seen this guy Santa around town and at the mall and mommy tells me I have to be good so that he brings me lots of goodies. Now that all the leaves are gone, I've had to find other ways to be helpful around the house. I decided to try my hand at cooking. Dad and I made Pumpkin milkshakes on Thanksgiving.

Some of you may know that I have a new baby sister. She is way better than my baby dolls she makes all kinds of cool sounds. I try to help mom and dad with her. I get her a changing pad, and her blanket and her hat. Here I'm helping shake her bottle so she can eat. That girl eats a LOT! even more than me.

I have 22 more days to be good. I know this because I have a new job everyday to put an animal or shepherd or angel on the cool nativity advent calendar Grandma made us. All the animals are so soft.
Today mommy and I took Stout on a long walk. It was COLD out. I had my mittens, hat, coat and extra sweatpants on, but I was still cold. So I decided to get out and help mom by pushing the stroller too.

Today I helped daddy clean the floors. He wanted to pull out the vacuum for the carpet, but I told him "Daddy, I got this."

With all these jobs I have around the house, feeding the animals, putting things in the trash and recycling, getting things for Clara, etc. I've still made a little time for play. Here's my slide that mommy and daddy put in the basement, who says you can't have any fun during a Portland winter?

Oh and here is Clara if you're interested, she isn't much help around the house though...

Baby sister Clara

Mom and Dad had been gone for the past couple of days so I've been spending time with Grandma. Which is really cool! We played blocks and worked on big sister duties. Grandpa even stopped by to say hi. Everyone has been talking about this baby Clara, I'm not sure I know who that is, but she sounds fun.

Mom and dad got all of my old baby stuff out of the basement. The found my old car seat, and bouncy seat, and some old clothes. I hope they realize that they don't fit me anymore. I think I could use them for my baby dolls.
This morning, Mom and dad left one more time and they told me they were bringing baby Clara home. I'm thinking, NEAT, new toy!! Grandma and I spent the morning practicing big sister type things with the baby doll and the cat. The cat was less than happy. But then at about 11 o'clock, we ran towards the door and there was Mom, Dad and MY CAR SEAT!!!
You'll never guess what was in my car seat... IT WAS A BABY!!!! Can you guess her name? It's baby Clara!!! Mom and dad told me this was my new baby sister. I think she's pretty cool. I decided dad needed some help with the buckles. So we got the baby out and boy was she squirmy.

So now, I'm a big sister!! Now that's pretty cool. I mean Clara is cute and all, but I'm still WAY cuter, still I think I'll share some of my blog space with her. At least until mom and dad take her back to the hospital...

Fall is Fun

Daddy and I started going to soccer practice on Sunday mornings. It's pretty cool I get to carry a ball around and try to lick it like an ice cream cone. Here is dad trying to grab my leg, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to use that for with the ball sitting right there looking so tasty.

Mom and dad left me with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend and they went off to see some friends in Leavenworth, WA. I'm not entirely sure what all they did up there, they said they wouldn't tell. They did meet this cute baby though. Her name is Lily.

Next we had to get ready for Sausagefest at the Kunzl's. I got my hat ready, I bet it's going to be cold...

As it turned out, it wasn't that cold, but this little girl Lanie let me borrow her baby stroller. I spent most of the night pushing the baby around the entire house. It was so much fun.

Last weekend we spent some quality time at the farm. Check out my ride.

MOM!!!! THAT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN!!!! IT'S OVER THERE!!!!!

I got him I got him!!
Chasing pumpkins around is extremely tiring work. They have these weedy fingers that like to reach up and grab your feet.
Grandma came up on Saturday too, and she took me for a horsey ride.
This last pictures is to show off my cool slippers, and my awesome flexibility. I'm thinking I've got the perfect yoga outfit on, This is called downward facing dog.

Final days of summer

A couple of weeks ago we took a short drive (5hrs, each way) to Wieser, ID to visit Uncle Mike, Aunt Suzanna, Mikayla, and Brenden. I had a great time, we played all kinds of games and we got to go peach picking at a farm nearby. Here is Dad teaching me all about peaches. He claims to know something about that because he grew up on a farm. I asked him, "how come the grass in the yard is so brown then?"
Next we went into town to and checked out some local shops. I'll let you guess which one was my favorite...
Here is a parting shot of the whole crew. I'm the one in the cute zebra dress.
And while we're on the subject of just how cute I am, here is my game face!! AAAARRRRRR!!!!
Last weekend was our neighbor's 2nd birthday party. Do you see all of those balloons? Come on Dad hurry up, I bet they have CAKE!!
The party was fun, but I spotted something even more exciting, so off I went. I came prepared this time. Checkout my cool aquasocks....
FOUNTAIN TIME!!!! Who knew? I mean I knew the park had swings, and now fountains!! It's pretty cool that it's 90 degrees in Portland now that it's September! I sure hope it stays like this the rest of the year.

One final note! Normally, when I'm running around the house banging drawers, hitting the cat, grabbing the dog's tail, etc. Mom and Dad are always yelling "Ellie NO!!" Well at the party, not only was I allowed to hit something, They gave me a bat to do it with! And when one of the big kids hit it.... all kinds of toys and goodies came out!!! What an AWESOME PARTY!!!

Finally Summer in Portland.... Sort of

Today was the summer picnic for Journeys, the adoption agency that Mommy and Daddy worked with to bring my beautiful smiling face into their lives. They are soooo lucky... Anywho, they had the picnic not just at a park, but at a WATER PARK!!! The swings and slide were cool and all, but once I saw the water fountain, it was all over. I practically dove in with my clothes on. I got dad pretty wet doing that.

After I got changed into my bathing suit I had a blast with the other kids and this lady standing in the middle with the camera. She was a more adventuresome parent then mom or dad were. They said something about it being too wet. Isn't that the point!!!
Last weekend we went down to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Grandma's birthday. It was so cool, Grace got to go for a ride in Scoots (Grandpa's plane) I'm too small, but Grandpa let me sit in it. How do you like my headphones?
Amber, Mommy's roommate from college came down with us too. She is a really cool gal. She and I played a lot last weekend. Here we are working on our circus act. This is a much easier way for me to show everyone my belly.
And for all of you saying I have a big belly, look at how lose dad's pants are on me. I can barely hold them on...

Philly!

We had a big Hodge family reunion in Philly last weekend. I got to go on the airplane again, it was really cool, this time I had my own seat and it was a window seat. I spent a lot of time with my cousins Kylie and Shaye. It was so much fun to see them. The reunion was at Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma's house on the river in Mom'sland (Maryland). They had a great big bath tub too, but that water was much warmer so Dad, Mom and I went for a swim. Great-Grandpa had a cool slide on one of the floating docks. I must have told Dad to put me back on that think at least 100 times. It was so much fun. Be warned Dad is a pasty white Portlander and the following photo may shock some readers.
Mema and I had a great time entertaining the group. I was playing the shuffle the rocks game and banging them on the table. I pretty sure I could have gotten a pretty good conga line going with my groovy beats.
Mom and I sat on the swing seat for a while. HIGHER MOM!! FASTER!!!
On Sunday Mom and Dad headed off to the Phillies game, so I got to spend more time with Kylie and Shaye at their Grammy and Papa's pool. They had an awesome tube that I could sit in and swim all over the pool. Mema was trying to hold me back, but I wanted to get out and work on my dog paddle.
All and all, it was a great trip. We saw lots of the family and a bunch of Mom and Dad's friends too. I can't wait to go back in November and maybe introduce my new brother or sister....

Happy 4th!!!

Mom, Dad, Stout and I headed for the coast this holiday weekend. Dad found a camp site at Mt. Humbug state park. Yup, that's the name of the mountain. The park was all the way down by Gold Beach which is way down the coast, so we drove and drove and drove on Friday, but finally got there in time to check out the beach.

At first the sand was pretty icky, and then the waves from the big bath tub came up and it was COOOLLLLLDDDD!!!!!

But Mom saved me and we chased the waves back into the bathtub. Of course some times the waves chased us. We went climbing to the top of Mt. Humbug on Saturday. Mom, Dad and Stout were pretty tired when we got to the top, but I took a little nap on the way so I was all set to go. Shhh, Mom don't tell dad that I'm back here, I'm going sneak up and scare him.... HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Stout had to take a little snooze at the top of the mountain. Mom was all smiles though.

On our way home we stopped to see a few lighthouses on the coast. Here is the view from Umpqua River lighthouse. Stout couldn't be bothered to turn around for the photo. I think he wanted a bite of Dad's apple. Oh! I almost forgot. This here was our sweet ride. Grandpa hooked us up with his truck and camper. It worked out great. I got to sleep in my pack n play on the kitchen table/ bench, Mom and Dad where in the bed, and Stout slept on the floor. It was perfect!

Well it's time to rest up now because we're off to Philadelphia on Thursday for the big Hodge reunion. I can't wait to see everyone, it's going to be AWESOME!!!