Misc. November Pictures

Ellie's Godmama Jehn gave her an adorable French maid costume.

Surprisingly, Ellie didn't seem to mind wearing it.

She was looking a little straggley, but was still cute :)

Wearing my new red coat - ready for winter to arrive.

Rosa posing in her beautiful new outfit.

Halloween

This year for Halloween Ellie was a pumpkin.

We had a couple of friends over and decorated cookies.

Kristin loved decorating the cookies.

Happy Halloween from Ellie! :)

Ellie - Week 8

Ellie is huge. Okay, not huge, but she has definitely grown over the past 8 weeks! I can't believe we've already had her for 2 months. She is sometimes a joy and sometimes very, very, very annoying. She has begun to show her territorial side. If we are on the couch together she wants to be in the middle. If we are petting the cats, she wants to be pet. If we are on the bed with the cats she has to be on the bed. Just today I was laying down with all three cats. Kristin put her on the bed and within 2 minutes she had, one by one, chased them all away so she could have us to herself. What a brat.

She is house trained, for the most part. When she has to go she'll whine by the back door. She does occasionally go to the bathroom inside, but not because she couldn't hold it to get outside. She has decided that when she doesn't get her way she'll repay us by pooping or peeing on the floor. I'm not exactly sure how to break of her of this habit, so if anyone has any ideas, let us know.

The picture below was just taken today after she had made a mess of a Kleenex she found and then gone outside and played in the rain. Crazy puppy.

For all of the craziness, she is still adorable and smart. She likes to cuddle (once she's had a nice long walk) and makes us laugh which are both very good things. We love her to pieces and wouldn't trade her for the world...

Ellie - Week 4

I can't believe Ellie has been part of our family for almost a month! Time flies! She is as cute as ever, but she has grown quite a bit...especially her legs. She was house trained for the most part until we messed up her schedule a couple of days last week. Hopefully we're getting back on track, though.

The cats aren't especially thrilled with her yet, but I think they're finally figuring out that she is here to stay. They all pretty much tolerate her until she tries to play with them...then they show her who's boss.

On the gross side, Ellie has had the runs for the past couple of days. We're not sure if she's sick or if it's her food or if it's just normal puppy stuff...but the vet says as long as she's eating and drinking she's fine, so I guess she's fine...but it has made for short nights since she has to go out ever 2 hours or so. She's good at letting us know when she has to go, though, and there haven't been any gross pooping accidents while we've been home (there was one that poor Jehn cleaned up while we were at Lisa and Beth's wedding...poor Ellie and poor Jehn!).

All in all things are going well and she's seems happy. This picture is of her and her "monkey" in the cat bed. She tends to fall asleep in it and then slowly pours out of it and inches across the floor in her sleep. Super cute. :)

Congrats Lisa and Beth!

This weekend we had the honor of attending Lisa and Beth's wedding!

It was wonderful to see friends we hadn't seen in awhile,

and to share in the celebration (unfortunately both of us

were fighting off the stomach flu,

so we couldn't stay long :( ).

Kristin was a chuppah holder.

Kelly, Amy, and Jason

Carolyn

Us :)

Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,

While I have always been an avid supporter and am happy you are working on improving the state of the economy and am even okay with you handing out billions of dollars all over the place, I must say: could you please contact MnDOT and ask them to quit working on the roads or at the very least work on them faster? No matter where I turn or what road I use I run into construction. While it is said that in Minnesota there are only two seasons (winter and road construction) this year seems out of control – mostly due to projects you funded with the stimulus package. I appreciate the funds, as I’m sure other Minnesotans do, but the execution of using those funds is driving me nuts.

Sincerely,

Me.

Ellie Videos

A couple of videos for your viewing pleasure :)

Ellie - Day 10

It's been a busy week since I updated last! Ellie had a bout of diarrhea, but she seems to have gotten over that. She also has found her inner puppy and has started chewing on everything in sight and eating every plant, twig, or bug she can find outside. She also has quite the mind of her own. Can we say puppy training? :)

This week she came to my company picnic, went to her first bon fire, met some new dog friends, and was able to actually make it clear around the block on a couple of occasions (that's about her limit for now, though - as soon as she sees the house she races for the door, plants her butt, and refuses to move until we open the door to let her in :)). I can't wait until she's able to make it clear around a lake (and my ankle heals enough for me to be able to make it clear around a lake with her!).

Today Ellie got her very first bath. You can see in the first picture she was a little leery of the whole situation. We have a great sink in our basement that worked perfectly for her bath!

About mid-way through the bath she was positive she had had enough, but she was a good sport, and she eventually just sat there. Once the bath was over Kristin dried her off, and she was thrilled! I think in the end she actually loved the bath! Yay to Kristin for giving the bath and yay to Ellie for tolerating it (and us!).

Ellie and the cats are tolerating each other. If Ellie is tired she will just lay there while the cats sniff her face, butt, and everything in between. If she isn't tired? Watch out. A chase ensues which usually ends with the cats under the bed....although occasionally they'll stand their ground, and Ellie is the one who turns and walks away. But so far there hasn't been any blood, so I consider that a success! :)

Even with her inner puppy coming out, she is still pretty mellow and loves to be held, to play with other dogs, and with kids. She loves her sock monkey and will carry it around with her and has taken over one of the cat beds. I don't think she realizes it has pictures of cats all over it yet ;). It's pretty cute. As is she. Oh, and we pretty much love her to pieces.

Ellie - Day 3

Ellie had lots of time to get settled into her new home today! The day started with me taking her out to do her business after breakfast. She refused. I tried walking her. I tried ignoring her. I tried begging her. Nothing worked. After each failed attempt we would come back inside, she would play around for a bit, and then she would start sniffing around (which we have discovered means she needs to go).

We would go back outside and she would just sit there and stare at me. After doing this about ten times I was super frustrated (did I mention this whole thing started at 6:30 on my day off?!?). I knew if I put her back in her crate she would poop all over in it, so we kept trying. At one point she went running into the spare room and squatted on the rug. Seriously? We had been outside a million times and she chooses to wait and do it on the rug? ARGH. I was determined that she would not poop on the floor, and eventually she did go outside. I've never been so happy to see a pile of poop before. She continues to do well with accidents in the house. The one act of defiance this morning when she peed on the rug was the only "accident" outside of the crate today, so yay Ellie!

She is definitely finding her independence. She is taking an interest in the cats and finally seems to notice when we praise her (which will go a long way to helping with the house training!). We have noticed that she doesn't really know how to play and doesn't really get what humans are all about, so we're working on that. She had a second play date with Kat, Jehn's dog, and while they weren't sure about each other (14-year-old Kat wasn't sure what to do with a 3-month-old puppy and Ellie wasn't sure what to do with such a distinguished old lady like Kat) they didn't kill each other, so it was all good.

We got her a new collar and tag yesterday. She has learned to wear a collar quickly and is learning how to walk on a leash as well. She also learned what "sit" is today and we're working on "shake." She is a super smart dog. I'm so proud. :)

Ellie - Day 2

According to my sister, the world needs daily updates on Ellie for a week or two...so I am going to try to deliver. If you don't want "gag me, she's talking about the dog...AGAIN" thoughts, steer clear of my blog for the next couple of weeks :)

Today Ellie was very busy! She hung out with Kristin this morning and then came to visit me at work. The construction guys outside the building actually stopped working to check out the hottest new chick on the block (Ellie, not Kristin).

She got a tour of the office and met lots of new people. Later, she went to the vet and was given a clean bill of health. After a short nap she went to her very first play date at Sarah and Michelle's!

She came home and had another short nap before going outside to play with the neighborhood kids (she loves kids and other dogs)! Ellie did a great job with house training today and only had one accident when her mommies weren't very smart and left her in her crate right after she ate (they were at PetSmart getting more puppy supplies!).

Hopefully with such a busy second day under her belt she will take to the crate a little better tonight (because it was complete torture listening to her cry last night!). As for Ellie? She is looking forward to another exciting day tomorrow (and having both of her mommies home with her!).