Every other winter/spring since 2001 has found our family welcoming a new addition. This year, with no human babies on the horizon, would be our first spring to break that tradition. Since old habits die hard, we decided to welcome not one, not even two, but three new babies to the family!
First to come aboard were Anne Shirley and Diana Berry. We knew already that the little grey sweetie was the more adventurous of the two, so she became Ann(e) and, naturally, got the red collar. The little tabby was sweet and mild and had "raven" stripes, so the name Diana and the pink, ladylike collar were an obvious match. Jimmy has never been a cat lover. You might even safely have considered him a cat hater. But it's a wonder what a daughter's delight and some affectionate kittens can do to even the hardest of hearts. The fact that they loved him from day one (and came at the sound of his voice as he called, "Ladies!") might have helped a little bit. In fact, it helped so much that when Jimmy awoke very early the morning after they arrived and found that it was raining, he opened the back door, scooped up two soggy little kittens, brought them inside and dried them with a towel! He put their blanket in the drier and their crate that Caroline had purchased for them in the garage and relocated them to a warmer, drier home than the back deck had been. You might say that he was smitten with the kittens.
Caroline loves her ladies and they have already become a fun part of our family. They show up in random and unexpected places, love to dart inside whenever the doors get left open (which is often), and are incredibly patient with all of the love and attention they receive.
Just over a week later, after months of hard work, money saving and Greenville Humane Society website stalking, the puppy (named "Lovey" by the volunteers) that Travis had been hoping and praying for came up for adoption. It wasn't exactly the timing I'd been hoping for (we kind of had a lot going on at that point), but it was impossible to deny the boy the puppy of his dreams after he'd been waiting for so long. Travis named her Sadie Love and she's been a dream of a puppy from day one. I know puppies aren't often described as "chill", but Sadie totally is. And Travis has assumed 100% responsibility for her care and training and has worked tirelessly to love and teach her. For the first week she would wake several times in the night needing to go outside and he got up with her each and every time. Most mornings had them starting their day together at the crack of dawn. Each day would bring a report on how many times she woke up and at what times and I could see him becoming more and more tired as the week went on. Finally, six days after we brought her home, Travis came down stairs at 7:30am with Sadie in his arms and a huge smile on his face announcing, "She slept through the night!" No one understood his joy better than I.
Two weeks later, he and Sam went to a sleepover. Travis asked if we would put Sadie's crate in our room for the night so that we would hear her if she needed to go out. He said, "Mom, she's been sleeping through the night for a week now, but if she does wake up and you have to take her out, you'll get a small taste of what I've been doing these past two weeks." I laughed and replied that I sure hoped I didn't get a taste of that... Anyway, we're pretty sure his wife will thank us one day for allowing him to suffer through those early newborn weeks with his pup.
After a few weeks of testing each other out and a few little squabbles, the triplets are friends and they love each other. We're officially convinced of the value of pets and thoroughly enjoy the fun they have brought to our family. We're looking forward to watching them grow up with our own little ones and hope that Anne and Diana can spread their remaining lives out a bit (I think Anne might be down to about 5 at this point). And I make no predictions as to what spring 2015 will bring.
First to come aboard were Anne Shirley and Diana Berry. We knew already that the little grey sweetie was the more adventurous of the two, so she became Ann(e) and, naturally, got the red collar. The little tabby was sweet and mild and had "raven" stripes, so the name Diana and the pink, ladylike collar were an obvious match. Jimmy has never been a cat lover. You might even safely have considered him a cat hater. But it's a wonder what a daughter's delight and some affectionate kittens can do to even the hardest of hearts. The fact that they loved him from day one (and came at the sound of his voice as he called, "Ladies!") might have helped a little bit. In fact, it helped so much that when Jimmy awoke very early the morning after they arrived and found that it was raining, he opened the back door, scooped up two soggy little kittens, brought them inside and dried them with a towel! He put their blanket in the drier and their crate that Caroline had purchased for them in the garage and relocated them to a warmer, drier home than the back deck had been. You might say that he was smitten with the kittens.
Caroline loves her ladies and they have already become a fun part of our family. They show up in random and unexpected places, love to dart inside whenever the doors get left open (which is often), and are incredibly patient with all of the love and attention they receive.
Just over a week later, after months of hard work, money saving and Greenville Humane Society website stalking, the puppy (named "Lovey" by the volunteers) that Travis had been hoping and praying for came up for adoption. It wasn't exactly the timing I'd been hoping for (we kind of had a lot going on at that point), but it was impossible to deny the boy the puppy of his dreams after he'd been waiting for so long. Travis named her Sadie Love and she's been a dream of a puppy from day one. I know puppies aren't often described as "chill", but Sadie totally is. And Travis has assumed 100% responsibility for her care and training and has worked tirelessly to love and teach her. For the first week she would wake several times in the night needing to go outside and he got up with her each and every time. Most mornings had them starting their day together at the crack of dawn. Each day would bring a report on how many times she woke up and at what times and I could see him becoming more and more tired as the week went on. Finally, six days after we brought her home, Travis came down stairs at 7:30am with Sadie in his arms and a huge smile on his face announcing, "She slept through the night!" No one understood his joy better than I.
Two weeks later, he and Sam went to a sleepover. Travis asked if we would put Sadie's crate in our room for the night so that we would hear her if she needed to go out. He said, "Mom, she's been sleeping through the night for a week now, but if she does wake up and you have to take her out, you'll get a small taste of what I've been doing these past two weeks." I laughed and replied that I sure hoped I didn't get a taste of that... Anyway, we're pretty sure his wife will thank us one day for allowing him to suffer through those early newborn weeks with his pup.
After a few weeks of testing each other out and a few little squabbles, the triplets are friends and they love each other. We're officially convinced of the value of pets and thoroughly enjoy the fun they have brought to our family. We're looking forward to watching them grow up with our own little ones and hope that Anne and Diana can spread their remaining lives out a bit (I think Anne might be down to about 5 at this point). And I make no predictions as to what spring 2015 will bring.