Our Fur Babies

Let me begin by saying I am ridiculously inconsistent with this blog and I know I am.  However, I do feel as though I have a few decent reasons why I have slacked off.
 
1. I have 2 babies under 2!
2. I have made a commitment to exercise for at least 45 minutes per day 6 - 7 days a week.
3. I have started writing internet content freelance.

Truth be told, I can barely find the time to shower some days. 

However, I really love writing this blog.  It is fun and kind of therapeutic to confess, gripe, brag and joke around and let the world get a little glimpse of my life. I also get feedback from others that says my posts are encouraging which is very encouraging to me. I really WANT to blog more often...It may or may not happen but I am going to try.

So, without further ado, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, a blog post about something I haven't talked about a whole lot on this blog.  I want to talk about 4 pretty special members of our family!  Our pets: Phoebe, Mieke, Cujo and Lady!  When Daniel and I had our sons we tried very hard not to let the animals take a back seat but, unfortunately, they do at times.  It's just the way it goes, I guess.  I just want to take a minute to celebrate them because they bring a lot of joy and richness to our family life and they are 4 of the greatest animals to ever live!

This is Phoebe:

First things first, there are two black cats and this one is PHOEBE. His face is rounder than Cujo's and, yes, we can tell them apart.  To clarify further, he is a BOY, yes.  Daniel named him thinking he was a girl and by the time he learned that he was a boy it was too late to change his name. Weird, yes, but that's just the way it is atound here.  Daniel often says he thinks of "Phoebe" as a boys' name now.  That's how normal it seems to us by now.

  This picture was taken at our rental house probably 5 years ago or more.  He used to love to sit in this little pink box which was the wrapping to a gift originally.  I was not around for the initial adoption of this box because he was Daniel's cat when I met him.  I just know he loved it and Daniel saved it for him and Phoebe sat in it, slept in it and enjoyed it for many years.  The box didn't make the move to our new house with us.

Phoebe may have started out as Daniel's cat but he is definitely mine now.  I love this cat so much it makes my heart hurt just to think of it.  He is sweet and loyal like a dog.  He gives kisses on the lips (you may think this is gross but I love his little sandpaper kisses), loves to cuddle and comes when he is called.  Oh my goodness, he is a sweetie pie and we would be lost without his sweet little personality in our lives.  He is a bit spoiled and can be highly over dramatic (screeches heard throughout the house if you startle him, for instance) but he is a good little dude and I, personally, would be lost without him!

 

This is Mieke:

There are far better pictures of Mieke out there because she is absolutely beautiful and majestic looking but I like this picture very much.  This is a picture of Mieke and I when I was pregnant with Liam.  Please excuse my appearance.  I just love this picture of us because it sums up her sweet, loving, personality.  She already loved Liam!  She is still the most gentle, kind, loving friend to our boys.  She looks after them and really adores them.  They both love her right back. Liam climbs all over her, "pets" her (pulls her fur) and loves to jingle her collar and tags.  Though he often seems to annoy her she never complains.  She rarely even moves as he yanks on her ears or tries to eat her foot (gross, I know.)  She and Derek will sometimes just sit and stare at one another in this loving way that is pretty adorable.

Mieke is a beautiful creature inside and out.  She loves to give love and be loved.  She was hyper and a little crazy as a puppy but now, as an older dog, she is usually very calm.  She wants to be wherever we are and sleeps with us every single night.  As a matter of fact, if Daniel is working nights she will sleep all night with me and then go to bed with him when he gets home.  This is probably about 50% laziness but the other 50 % is pure L.O.V.E.  I know this because I know her and she is as sweet, special and affectionate as any dog can be.

Daniel and Mieke have a special relationship and she loves him the most, by far, but that is OK with me because they make each other very happy.  I have picture after picture of the two of them and there probably aren't tons more than this one of she and I but that doesn't mean that I don't absolutely adore this pretty blue-eyed girl.

 

This is Cujo:

This picture makes me smile because it really illustrates Cujo to me.  He is a super laid-back cat. He is the only one the cats who lets me do things like this without any fight.  He probably wore that all evening.  He surely didn't care.  He staggers when he walks which led to Daniel and I nicknaming him "Captain Jack."   Also he "fist bumps" with his head (which I guess is actually "head bumping") which is freaking hysterical and adds to his "cool" factor.He is really a character.

To add to his odd and eccentric personality, he doesn't really "meow."  He has this raspy little whisper of a voice that he hardly ever uses unless he is highly agitated or Liam is pulling his tail.  He and Liam have a funny relationship.  Liam really likes him and Cujo tolerates Liam to the best of his ability.  Actually, Cujo seems to be tolerating everything and everyone in life.  The only exception to that rule is Daniel.  He loves Daniel very, very much.  He can take or leave me (eventhough he was MY cat first!) and he likes Phoebe pretty well (they wrestle each other playfully and gang up and beat the crap out of Lady not so playfully) but, really, he seems way too cool for most everyone else. 

 

This is Lady:





She is fat, OLD and a little cranky but Lady is a good, good girl.  She is constantly tortured by the two boys (the cats, not the humans) who team up on her and beat her mercilessly.  We find their claws in her back sometimes. Poor girl.  She is perpetually screaming at the food bowl. I don't think she is hungry but just always anxious that the food will run out. 

We have no idea how old she is because she was a friend of Daniel's and Daniel adopted her. People always ask if she is pregnant because of her big, swaying belly but she is much too old to give birth.  Just lazy and obese.

Lady is generally quietly sleeping on the couch on a green blanket which she has pretty much claimed as her own.  If she isn't there she is under the bed in our room.  She and Mieke get along pretty well and, once in a blue moon, she hops up in mine or Daniel's lap looking for affection.  Mostly, though, she is a loner.  She causes no trouble and she is very sweet.  We joke about not loving her or call her our "redheaded stepchild" but we will be horribly sad when she isn't around anymore. 

 

They have all 4 been around since before Daniel and I even got together.  Cujo was mine and the rest were Daniel's and they were our first "kids."  They have been through it all with us and have seen lots of changes in our lives but they have remained constantly loyal and loving.  They are 4 of the very best friends that we could have ever asked for and I have really enjoyed sitting here writing about them.

 

Here are some more great pictures of our 4 fur babies.