I hate to be cold

Warm and cozy is how I like it best!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi everyone! I hope all of you American puppies had a good Thanksgiving yesterday! My mom and dad took me to my human granddad's house for the day. He has a really fun house with lots of land, so I had a chance to really stretch my legs and do a little bird hunting in the trees and grass around the yard. The birdies weren't used to my superhero-smelling-and-stalking-and-running abilities, so they didn't stand a chance! I didn't catch any, but I did some great pointing. I found a bunch of birds that my mom didn't even see! She thought I was pointing at a stick! Silly mom. I also found my granddad's cats outside sunning themselves in the sun. I tried to play with them, but they weren't too friendly. So, I stalked them, too!

In the house was even better! All of the humans were so nice and wanted to pet and hug and kiss me. AND they gave me turkey! Ahh... heaven. I wasn't so sure of the little toddler Ethan at first because he wanted to chase me to give me a hug (or ride on me like a pony; we're not quite sure). But eventually I got used to him and sat next to him for a little bit. Big step for me!

I had so much fun at my human granddad's house! I hope I get to go back soon!

A toy graveyard?!?!

It took me such a long time to kill my little friends. Mom, please don't get rid of my toys! I love them.

Presents for me!

I'm sorry for not posting much lately. My mom has been monopolizing the computer working on law school stuff for the last six weeks or so.
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In October, my mom ordered me a new bed!
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I wasn't sure about it at first, but I love, love, love my NEW BED!!!!! (it's the same one that Rocket and Delilah have!)

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But . . . even better than a bed is the TREATS that my mom ordered for me from White Dog Bone!!!!

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Hmmm . . . smells good!

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Mmmmm . . . tastes good!

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Oh my gosh! I had no idea how much yummies even existed!

My mom is the B.E.S.T. mom in the whole world!!!!!!

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And having my bed, chewies, and brand new door is amazing, amazing, amazing!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Happy Birthday, "Knock-Outs":

* Laila
* Hudson
* Georgie
* Vinnie
* Rocky
* Seamus

One year old today!!!!!

True Maryland Girl

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Hmmm...
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What are these weird things on the kitchen table?
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My dad says that they are "steamed crabs" and that they are amazing, but I'm not so sure.
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My dad let me lick one of the crab shells.
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Yum. That was actually pretty good!
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My dad said that the secret to great crabs is Old Bay seasoning.
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My dad is the greatest!
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He knows everything!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

Dear Mom,
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Happy birthday!
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You can have the presents, but the cake is mine!
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Signed,
your loving daughter Laila

High-Fives All Around!

First, I give an award back to Dennis for his great work defeating the ninja hedgehogs and to help him defeat Lord Tater.

Rocket gets an award for his great adventures, his super agility skilz, and for letting his new sister Delilah live in his house with his humans.

Maggie gets an award for taking care of her human baby sister. I can help teach her how to use the Golden Paw to protect her baby sister if she needs help. Maybe we'll meet up at Quiet Waters :)

My step-mom Gabby and her sister Flirt both get an award to help them do well in their agility competitions.

Finally, Amanda deserves an award for surviving Hurricane Ike and sharing pictures and stories from Texas.

Me? A Martial Arts Master?

Thank you to my good friend Dennis the Vizsla Dog! He shared the secrets of the Golden Paw with me so that I can defend myself against people and dogs who might make fun of my little pants. Dennis used the ancient and powerful martial art form of the Golden Paw to defeat the ninja hedgehogs and save the DogHouse of Justice, so I hope I can learn the Golden Paw quickly. It may be hard for a little girl like me to do the techniques as well as Dennis, but I will do my best! Once I learn how to do the Golden Paw, I promise to teach it to my friends who need it.

Womanhood is not all its cracked up to be

Hi all,

This is Laila's mom, Renee. Laila isn't feeling very well, so she told me to write a quick post for her. Laila started her first "woman time" last night. Luckily, Jeff and I had planned for this and had toddler boy underwear and pads ready to go. I had wanted to buy something girly like floral print or Dora the Explorer, but since we needed somewhere to put Laila's tail, we had to settle for Disney Pixar underwear. Poor Laila. Do they make puppy Midol?

This is Laila modeling her Disney Pixars Cars "fancy pants" a few weeks ago.

Gardening with Dad

My dad and I have been trying to take back control over the backyard. It's hard to have a yard in the city. It's mostly concrete, which my entire family hates. We also have two odd flower beds, but we can't get many flowers to grow. So, my dad decided that we needed to clean everything up.

I grabbed a spade so that we could get started right away.
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We pulled weeds, dug out roots, cultivated the dirt, and trimmed the rose bushes.
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We worked really hard all weekend, but we finally finished . . .
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Looking good, dad!

Famous Neighbors

So apparently, my role model Michael Phelps recently purchased a home in Fells Point, Baltimore (less than 2 miles from my house).

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Jenna Bush (U.S. President George Bush's daughter) and her new husband already live three blocks away.

Pound by pound, still the prettiest girl around

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Can you believe that my doctor told my mom that I was 36.4 pounds?!?!? I told her to weigh me again because I would never be that heavy! I mean, do I look fat to you? How can a pretty girl like me be thirty-six pounds?

Daddy's Helper

When my mom and dad bought our house two years ago, they knew that it needed a lot of work. Apparently, the house was built in 1820, and the last major rehab was performed in 1910 (other than some cosmetic and plumbing updates in 1989).
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This is our house.
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Anyway, the front door has been giving us some trouble for nearly a year, and it started to fall off of the hinges about a week ago. So, my dad and I decided that it was time to do some home improvements. While my mom was sleeping, we took off the front door.

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Mom, I swear! I told dad not to do it!
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But it is a good thing we decided to replace the door; gophers were trying to get into the house by eating the wooden frame.
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My dad said that I'm the best helper ever!

My Best in Sweepstakes picture

My addiction

So, as you may remember, I love sweets--especially when I'm not allowed to have them. Some of my many conquests include: cupcakes, vanilla ice cream, Rita's water ice, and most recently, oatmeal cookies!

My mom was baking cookies for an Orientation event that she was hosting at our house last week for her Law Journal. She told me that I couldn't have any until after the event was over, but they smelled soo good. My mom is a really good baker. While she was in the other room, I snuck into the kitchen to look at the cookies. I swear on my rawhide that I was only going to look at the cookies. I swear! But, while I was there, I figured that it would probably be ok to smell them a bit. Ok, and maybe I should touch them to see if they were still hot. Ok, and I should probably lick a small one to see if it was poisonous. I mean, I don't want my mom to get sick. Ok, and maybe it might be a good idea to take a tiny-teensie-little nibble out of the small one. I mean, I already licked it. Ok, so I should probably eat the little one. I mean, no one will want to eat it if I already took a nibble. Uh, oh. I accidentally licked the one beside it. Guess I should eat that one too. And whoops, I touched another one. Better eat that one. Oh, no! Look what I did! I accidentally knocked the cooling sheet onto the floor. My mom is so busy cleaning, so I should probably help her out with my super-vacuum-tongue. I was just trying to get the last little cookie off of the counter when the timer beeped to let my mom know that the last batch of cookies in the oven were ready. I hadn't been able to put away the cooling sheet yet, so I tried to hide it by sitting on it. She came into the kitchen to get the cookies out of the oven, but when she couldn't find the cookies, she looked very disappointed. I don't know why she was sad; I had worked really hard to clean up the cookies for her!

My bed

So, my mom keeps talking about buying a new bed for me. I don't understand why she would want to get me another one. I like this bed just fine. I mean, it might be a good idea for my mom to buy a new bed for my dad since he takes up a lot of room on my bed and complains that he can't stretch out. But, she can save her money. I love my bed. It's not too big, not too small - but, just right.

Saturday Trip to Quiet Waters

I love Quiet Waters!

Laila'lympics

Every year, on the last day of the season, the local Riverside Pool opens its doors to the puppies of Federal Hill and Riverside. All of the neighborhood dogs train for weeks before this big event. I had some private training sessions in Outer Banks, so I was fully prepared for the challenge.

My competition:

. . . . . . . . . Wrigby. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Patches
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. . . . . . . . . Murray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maggie
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. . . . . . . . . Austin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dinyo
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. . . . . . . . . Jake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lexi
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The whole city came out to watch us swim.
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I put down my shoes to get ready for the big race.
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On your mark, get set . . . BLAM!
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Everyone said I had a perfect entry into the water.
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At the halfway point, I was in the lead followed closely by Lexi. Everyone wondered "Will she make it? Will Laila beat the Baltimore Record?
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And the answer is "YES! LAILA WINS!"

I've decided that my new name should be "Laila Phelps!"
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This is me right after I won the gold medal. My mom was so proud!
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I need to put this in a safe place so that it doesn't float away. Maybe I'll put it with my other gold medals from sports such as snuggling, couch jumping, digging, gymnastics floor exercises, contortion, diving, ball catching, rolling in dead birds, running, and cupcake eating. I do love cupcakes. And hey, if Michael Phelps can eat 12,000 calories a day, I don't thing a little thing like eating two dozen cupcakes is going to hurt my perfect little figure.

But before I could put it away, the paparazi wanted to snap a few pictures of my magnificent self. I indulged them, of course. Who am I to deny my fans?
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After the pictures, I took one of my old bronze medals out for a few laps around the pool. I have so many medals, that I don't mind sharing this one with a few of my friends.