Almost Three...Look at Me!

I'm almost 3! Just a few months until my birthday but I can already do so many things! Mommy and Daddy are most impressed with my vocabulary (newest words used are impressed, observation, sly and passenger). I LOVE LOVE LOVE to talk, especially when I am recalling rules and warnings my mommy has told me before. I am also VERY good at making up my own stories. All my stories start with "Once upon a time..." and most of them have a witch, a monster, a "sweet and pretty girl named Ellie" (who knows where she came up with that one), and sometimes a fox. I like when someone gets "gobbled up." I also have a responsibility chart and I am very responsible! I feed the dog, make my bed, brush my teeth, go potty, wash my hands, and clean my play room ALL BY MYSELF! I can even get dressed by myself...well, most of the time! I get a dime for every smiley face I earn and then that money goes in my piggy bank (or I buy something I really want, like a new princess umbrella). But I am still little because I like to sneak into Mommy and Daddy's bed at night and I still like to be carried at times. I have become a MUCH better snuggler and give the best hugs and kisses now. I tell Mommy and Daddy (when they least expect it, which is the best) "I love you SOOOOO much." I am growing so quickly these days. Mommy thinks I am in a growth spurt because she says I look taller every day. Still, I am the most "petite" of most of my friends so I guess I am still little. :) Lately, I have been playing with a lot of older kids (my cousins and neighbors) and they have taught me all kinds of things. I am getting so much better at riding my bike, climbing toys (and furniture! YIKES!) and even playing sports. Mommy calls me "monkey" because I am always hanging upside down or swinging on something. Here are some pictures of me doing the things that I love to do best:

Watch this flip!

I just made a "basket" with the ball! Way to go!

I can really hit the ball! It's so much fun but I have to be careful of the walls and lamp!

As you can see, I really like to play actively these days. When I am not playing sports and games, I like to play pretend. This is my FAVORITE way to play. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to play library, store, house, and restaurant (although library is my favorite). Mommy says she and Sissy used to play the same things and liked to stamp the books just like me! I am so imaginative. You should see what I come up with! Yesterday I took Hi-O-Jina to the zoo (the pretend one) and we took pictures of all the animals and then had a picnic. It was great but Hi-O-Jina was so tired that she had to go right to bed. And I definitely have to dress up for everything! Mommy gets irritated because I change my clothes multiple times throughout the day. I try to explain that I need different clothes for biking, going to the store, playing with friends, playing library, going to pretend dance lessons, and of course going to the pretend ballet. She just shakes her head and makes an "UGH!" sound. My most recent dress up fun was when I went to my friend Ava's 3rd birthday party this weekend. It was "Beauty and the Beast" and I dressed up as Belle. Look how cute I looked:

This is my friend Liam. He is a handsome beast! :)

Mmmm...ice cream cake!

Guess which one is me?

Well, I guess that is all for now. I hope you enjoyed my pictures today. I will keep doing fun things and check back in on my birthday! I can't wait to be 3! Love, Ellie Marie

Ellie Fix

Auntie Tara said she needed an "Ellie Fix" so...

Today's pictures at Woodland Park Zoo

(Ellie loves to collect cool rocks. This is a picture of her first seeing her new pink and purple rocks from Nana. Thank you Nana! Ellie LOVED LOVED LOVED them!)

And Back Home Again

This weekend we traveled to Spokane to pick up some furniture from my mom and dad's house. Ellie was sick all weekend with tummy issues and a cold but despite that, we actually had a very fun and yet relaxing visit. On our way, we stopped in Vantage. Ellie had a blast throwing rocks into the water. Of course once we got to Spokane, all Ellie wanted was her Mema. Seriously, it is a bit ridiculous. She is excited to see everyone but is honest to goodness OBSESSED with her Mema. She wants her the minute she wakes up (in a whisper): "Mama! Can I go get my Mema now?" She wants her the minute she is hurt or needs comfort (crying): "I waaant my Meeeeeemmmaaaaa!" And when I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was she said, "Snuggling with Mema in the big chair." So funny. The rest of us are pretty much chopped liver. :) Here is a picture of the two of them doing the "tree" pose from yoga. While we were at Mema and Papa's house, Ellie discovered one of my old dresses. I wore this dress when I was three. I hoped to include a picture of me in the dress but we haven't found one yet. In any case, here is Ellie wearing her mommy's dress from 26 years ago. P.S. these pics were taken within 30 seconds of each other. Amazing how quickly a toddler changes her disposition! After a great weekend, we finally made it back home again. It's great to come home but overwhelming too. Ellie is sick and Dan and I have a million things to do and not enough time to do them (he works two overtime shifts today alone!). Still, we love our house and love coming home and thinking, "We are SO blessed." And finally there is Jaxie. That darn dog WILL NOT walk normal on a leash, runs away every chance she gets, chases bikes and squirrels recklessly, and scratches at the door. But...there are just some things Jaxie does that makes up for everything else. "Night night time Jaxie." That is all we say and this is where she goes until Ellie wakes in the morning. I love that dog. :) And Happy Father's Day to Dan and all the rest of the dads! Dan is out cleaning his father's day gift now (the truck). He is in 7th Heaven! :) Love to All, Ang

New Neighbors

I think Dan and I must be the luckiest people in the world when it comes to neighbors! We were so fortunate in Milton and now we have met new neighbors across the street here in Buckley and they are great. They (Tyler and Tabitha) share our same values on pretty much everything, especially faith and family. Their two kids Ivy (6) and Owen (4) are ridiculously adorable and well-mannered and Ellie is completely enamored with them. Every day we leave the house she says, "Mama, I love Ivy and Owen." The three of them play so well together and have so much fun. As soon as our garage door is open, the kids are requesting Ellie to come play. We spent the evening at their house Friday night and felt like we were visiting old friends. Anyway, they are already a big part of our new life chapter here in Milton and I thought I would share a picture with you.

Here are Owen, Ellie and Ivy playing in Ellie's room:

The kids also rode their bikes down to the goat/cow/donkey down the road and fed them carrots and leaves. Here is a pic of Ellie clearly enjoying herself. She kept calling, "Heeeerrree Cowy Cowy Cowy! Heeeeerrrrreee Goaty Goaty Goaty!" Too funny.

What a Day!

Some new happenings around the McDonald house:

Ellie got her first bike helmet and learned to pedal on her tricycle all by herself Ang got a STEAL of a deal on Ellie's flower girl dress for Auntie Tara's wedding Ellie fell and got her first "band-aid worthy" scrape (thanks for the special Monkey band-aids Sandy! That was the only thing that made her feel better!) Dan got a brand new truck (Happy Father's Day Dan!) (The coloring is weird on this next picture of the truck; I had to adjust it since I took it at night. The first picture shows the true color better: it's graphite/charcoal) We FINALLY have a permanent refrigerator Ellie learned to play hopscotch Sorry, I don't have a picture of this one but maybe tomorrow. She is REALLY pretty good at it for a two year old! She can even do the double squares and understands the concept of skipping the square with the rock on it. We played for almost a half hour today! Anyway, it has been a long day and I have to work tomorrow so I am off to bed. Hope your homes are cozy and safe tonight! Goodnight!

Coming Along

Settling in to our new house has been so exhausting! Wonderfully exciting and rewarding but EXHAUSTING! I have been so tired from going to bed after midnight and waking up with Ellie in the early morning that I haven't had a moment to write, call, email, or visit family and friends! So I thought I would catch you all up here. :) Currently, our yard is dirt. :) Dan and some neighbors cut/ripped up all the grass/sod today and hauled it away. We are adding drainage, sprinklers, dog area, and fence and leveling out the slope. Clearly this is a HUGE and overwhelming task that I basically have decided not to think about. For my sanity's sake, I have left the details up to Dan and figure he can worry about it! Meanwhile, my job is to keep the beer cold, the dog and kid inside, and the sandwiches ready. Oh my gosh, that sounded so 1950's. We still have a few boxes to be unpacked. We are waiting for the estimate for built-ins in the family room and then once that task is completed, I can unpack the boxes. I have successfully chosen/purchased kitchen table and chairs, kitchen window coverings, and rugs. I have not had the same success with the fridge. Here's what happened: So as soon as our offer was accepted on this house, I ordered a fridge. In the meantime, we used a cooler on the back patio to keep milk, beer, butter and diet coke cold. But as anyone who has ever used a cooler knows, the lid made an OBNOXIOUS "crreeeeeekkk" sound every time we opened it. The neighbors loved it I'm sure. :) After about the 8th trip for ice (the HOT weather was not helping our cooler situation), our generous neighbor offered his beer fridge as a temporary fix. That's right. A neon glowing, automated, can-sorting beer fridge. The thing lights up like the Griswolds' Christmas. So you can imagine my excitement when the LOWE'S truck arrived today with our new fridge. Problem is, it is NOT stainless steel look. It is gray. Matte gray. Which is REALLY different than stainless steel. Oops. So I called LOWE'S and asked (ever so sweetly) if they would switch the gray fridge for a black one. To my surprise, the answer was, "Not a problem!" Only now I have to wait ANOTHER two weeks for the black fridge to arrive. Welcome back to the beer fridge. On a happier note, Ellie and I had our first real movie night tonight. She picked "The Tale of Despereux" off the On Demand menu and I thought, "Perfect! A story about a cute little mouse!" Um, not exactly. The storyline is a bit convoluted for a two and a half year old and I had to fast forward through all the death/violence/scary cat and rats parts. Oh well. Ellie didn't seem to mind. She got to eat M & M's and white cheddar popcorn (don't worry Mom, it dissolves better than the regular choke-worthy kind) to her heart's content. Some days end up so upside down and messy. Oh well, tomorrow is a new day and I have SO much to be thankful for! Every day we spend in this house I feel more at home. I know we made the right decision to move here and I have such great people (and dog) to share it with. Hope you all come visit us soon! And here are a few more pictures of the "moving in" crew (THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED!!!!!!!) and of Ellie in her new P I N K room and play loft. There is still a lot to do (my poor kid has mattresses on the floor!) but it is coming along sure enough. Love to all.

Keeping it Simple

Once Ellie and Dan and Jaxie wake up, the day gets too loud, too busy, too demanding for any time/space to just think, breathe, and have perspective. So, I went for a run this morning before they woke up. In that space and time, I tried to remind myself that all the busyness that awaited me was really just not that important. I took time to pray and be thankful for neighbors (new and old), friends (new and old), family, and God. And I really appreciated Buckley. :) Honestly, it was so quiet. I didn't hear cars, freeway echo, etc. I heard birds, sprinklers, the breeze, and my own steps. It was so awesome. Speaking of Buckley, here are a few things I have noticed about my new home town: Neighbors bring you cold beer while you move in as a sign of friendship. People wave from their cars when they turn in front of you (even if it's their right-of-way). People LOVE to lend tools, resources, and man power whenever they have the chance. The post office is very small (you have to ring a bell for service and the lady doesn't use a computer...she asks your name and address (if she doesn't know you) and then goes in the back and gets your mail) but extremely efficient and they do not lose mail. Clerks, tellers, etc are actually cordial, look you in the eye, and even smile! AMAZING! We are perfectly sandwiched between Lake Tapps and Mt. Rainer. There is such thing as a beige cow. :) That is all for now. Goodnight from Buckley!