730 Days

I cannot believe that my sweet little boy is two years old today. We took this picture the day we brought Marley home - I put my cell phone beside him to show people just how tiny he was. He was such a ball of fire when he was a baby. Always climbing up whatever he could get his claws into, especially our legs at dinnertime. He played so hard for short periods of time and then promptly passed out to regain his kitty-energy for the next go round. He adored his big brother Milo from the very start and even tried nursing on him for the first few weeks! He captured my heart and I have been head-over-heels for my little orange boy every single day since we brought him home.



Marley's 1st birthday was the day before we moved into our second apartment. He loved all the boxes we had everywhere and was always trying to break into the ones that were already packed. He loved our new apartment - it had 17 windows for him to choose from when he wanted to catch some rays or stalk some birdies. He was pretty skittish for the first few months there, but when he was with his Momma hewas the biggest love in the whole entire world. He loved snuggling on Saturday mornings even if it meant staying in bed until after noon. This was the year we learned that Marley hated having his claws trimmed - he has razor sharp claws that he never used in a mean way, but they were just so long that oftentimes he inadvertently scratched us. One trip to the vet and some scary kitty noises later, we decided Marley could keep his claws rather than going through the torture of having them trimmed every month.

Ignore my super-sized arm in this photo, thanks!

Marley has acquired several nicknames in the last two years: mar-mar, little man, mr. man, marley-mar, orange-boy, marzy, marzipan...the list goes on. He has grown into a whopping 14.2 lbs and loves getting treats from Daddy every night. He is definitely a lazy boy and sleeps almost all day, but he does love to play with his laser light and goes nuts chasing it around the house! There is just something about this boy that makes my heart melt. I love him to the moon and back.

Happy Birthday, my sweet boy!

spring has sprung

I finally feel like I can say Winter 2011 is OVER.

We took the babies outside on Easter because it was so beautiful out. I don't let them out of my hands, though. I'm a nervous kitty momma. Bubba didn't get to go out because he is NOT a fan of being held, unless it's by John. So he watched from the sunroom.











I am thoroughly enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures. It's exciting to see the various plants that are coming up in the yard. I especially love the tree with pink flowers, they are so pretty right now. I know next to nothing about gardening, but it seems like there are quite a few flowers that are coming up on their own so far. I have a lilac bush and a hydrangea plant in the front yard, and a dogwood tree in the back. There are lots of hosta plants coming up along the sides of the house and I know that they fill in really well. Maybe I won't have to do a ton of work to get some curb appeal!

Introducing...

Giving you guys a break from the incessant OMIGOD MY WEDDING IS NEXT MONTH posts with this lovely photo:



This is Bubba! He is a six year old tabby whose parents were being forced to move and could not take their pets with them. I got an email at work last Wednesday about the animals. (There was also an 11 year old border collie/german shephard mix that needed a home). Being the sucker that I am, I texted John and fibbed a little teensy-tiny bit that if he didn't find a home he would be euthanized and asked if we could meet him. Of course he said yes! Who can say no to an almost-dying kitty!?

Don't worry, I came clean to John that night after I'd already scheduled the meeting. (Muahahaha).

So anyway. Last Saturday around 2pm Bubba arrived at our house. He came right out of his carrier and started making himself at home. He tore into the buckets we keep the cat toys in (seriously, he hopped right in, like in the picture above, and started throwing out every toy he could find). Milo and Marley made a mad dash for the upstairs once they realized what was playing with their toys, and little Nala parked herself right under the rocking chair to keep an eye on the intruder.

We decided on the spot to take him. Not that there was any choice! How could either of us say no after meeting him? I was a little hesitant because he was not up to date on his shots and had not been to the vet in 3 years, but he was strictly an indoor kitty so the chances of him having anything were slim. And our cats are very laid back, so the chances of a cat-fight occurring were also slim.

After Bubba's parent's left, he got a little more uneasy with us. Before they left they had mentioned that they thought he was about 9 years old, which was older than we were expecting. He sure seemed it that first day - he was very cranky! He claimed the toy area as HIS spot and none of the other cats were allowed within a 2 ft radius of him. [Side Note: My next task is to actually post pictures of our new house because then you would understand what the "toy area" is. People walk into our house and are like "What is this, a cat farm?!" There are so many toys, ha]. He also hissed at our cats - which I totally expected. And our cats hissed right back. Even Milo! I have never seen Milo hiss. He is seriously the most laid back and easy going cat in the world. Anyway. Bubba did not really like me or John that day either. Which I completely understand - it's got to be awfully stressful to go on a 45 minute car ride and be dropped off in a strange house with three strange cats.

We gave Bubba his space for the next day or two. By the end of day two, the three male cats were able to walk by each other without freaking out. Nala was a different story. Maybe it was because she is the only female, or maybe because she is the youngest, or maybe just because she is SO SPOILED, I'm not sure. But she was NOT happy to have a new kitty in the house. She was seriously being a huge brat. If Bubba went somewhere that she was not happy with, she'd run right after him and pounce right in front of him, which terrified him. Nala has always been allowed on the counters in the kitchen for two reasons. 1.) I seriously can't yell at her. She's too cute. She's my baby. 2.) She doesn't listen. Mommy-fail. Milo and Marley really don't go on them much. So the counters are Nala's. When Bubba jumped up, oh man, cue the start of Kitty World War I. I am sure she felt threatened, like we were replacing her or something, so I tried to not get too mad at her. But I would say by Wednesday, she and Bubba could walk by each other with no growling, hissing, or swatting. They touched noses a couple times, and generally were getting along. They are still not BFFs, but that will come with time.

Yesterday Bubs had his first vet appointment and he did really well! The vet changed his age to 6 and said he was very healthy. He tested negative for FIV and handled his vaccinations beautifully. I cannot believe we now have four cats, or that I just wrote an entire post about my cats, but it makes me feel good to have rescued our third cat. And really, Marley was a rescue in my opinion because who wants to live in a pet store? Yes, we paid for him, but I just could not bear to leave him in that smelly, overcrowded store. And ohhhh, the cuteness! So, I tell myself I've rescued all four of them. And here are pictures of the other three, just so they don't feel left out:

Nala, Queen of the Counters:


Marley, always my little man:


And our gentle giant, Milo:

Nala

Yesterday John and I celebrated our third anniversary together. It's hard to believe that three years have gone by since we started dating. Life seemed so carefree three years ago - he had just returned from his deployment to Afghanistan and was not working, I was still working for Disney and in school, we both lived at home and had virtually no bills.

One year later he was working as an independent contractor for Fed Ex and I was just starting my new job with a construction company and we had a nice little routine of spending our weekends together. Our first year also brought us Milo who quickly stole our hearts and became our gentle giant.


Our second year started off with an engagement ring and our first apartment. I was finishing up school and John was working as hard as ever with his route. It was an adjustment to live together but it was an exciting time to be thinking about our future together and booking our wedding. This year also brought us our spunky little Marley who continues to melt our hearts everyday.


This year did not bring any major milestones. Not much has changed in our lives; we still work at the same jobs and we still have too many bills to pay each month. John likes to spend his free time with his new X Box while I like to experiment in my new (and bigger!) kitchen. We don't have a lot of extra money since we are planning our wedding that is less than ten months away (!!!) so John decided we should spend our anniversary wisely. Instead of fancy gifts and an expensive dinner, we paid a little donation to the Connecticut Humane Society and brought home this beautiful little girl:


I swear it wasn't even my idea to get another cat - John was slow at work one day and stopped into a humane society and saw how many little kitties were without homes and being the softie that he is, he came home and told me that we should get another one for our anniversary. We were both a little hesitant at first. We didn't want to disrupt Milo and Marley who got along so well - Milo was John's baby and Marley was mine. What would a third cat bring to the table? We went to one shelter and no one really stood out to us. (Of course, in a perfect world I would just love to give all of the homless kitties homes). We didn't want just anyone, we wanted someone who would complement our boys (and I secretly wanted someone who would cuddle with me). We left the first shelter convinced that getting another cat just wasn't for us. As we continued on with our day I remembered that there is another shelter near the curtain store where we were headed. We stopped in there not expecting to find anything as it is much smaller than the other shelter. We got to the last row of kitties and John spotted her. She was in a separate room because she had a cold and she was also recovering from hernia surgery. We instantly fell in love and asked one of the workers how we would go about adopting her. Less than an hour later and we were in the car heading home. Needless to say, we did not get curtains that day!

She is such a love. She sleeps in between us every night and she loves to curl up on my chest if I'm laying on the couch. She has a ferocious appetite - we think her previous owner failed to feed her enough everyday because she is VERY small. She wants her brothers to play with her but they are taking their sweet time getting used to her. I think with time they are coming around - Marley already plays with her once in a while and today I even caught him sleeping near her on our bed. Milo is his laid back self as always, observing from a distance and keeping an eye on things.

I can't think of a better anniversary gift.

home, sweet home

Nothing compares to walking up the sidewalk and onto our front porch, opening the front door, and walking into the house. It sure beats parking in a parking lot, walking into the lobby, up the stairs, into the wide, dark hallway, and opening the heavy industrial door into our old apartment. It's one of many reasons why I am so much happier here.

When you walk up the stairs, you are greeted by a fabulous whiteboard that calls to you - what silly phrase can you write today?



At the top of the stairs, you'll see our proud little shelf that displays the pride we feel for our country.



Our adorable dining room can fit more than two people like the last one, so we were able to put the leaf into the table to make it bigger. I can also fit some of my nicer things into the built in hutch that I LOVE.



Past the dining room is the kitchen, complete with it's old cabinets and porcelain sink. I love all the character that it has, even if the cabinets are so old that the doors don't always shut.





Next comes the Man Cave, decorated with all of John's Army memorabilia and awards. We bought a futon so people have a place to sleep if they stay overnight, and John covered it with a blanket that he got while he was deployed in Afghanistan.



Finally, we have the living room. The bay window is what sold me on this apartment - not to mention how spacious and bright it is compared to our last living room. Two big closets add a lot of much needed storage.



I know of a couple boys who really love the windows...




There are no pictures of the bedroom because it's so boring. I have nothing on the walls yet (there is a LOT of wall space) except for this:



I think that is going to hold very true here.

busy, busy, busy

We've been living in our new place for a little over a week now and I think it's safe to say WE LOVE IT. I haven't gotten around to taking photos of it yet but I'm going to try to do that this week. We've been really busy since the move because John's best friend is home from Afghanistan on his two week leave so of course we have been spending all of our free time entertaining him and a couple other friends. Oh, and watching Milo and Marley learn how to navigate those big, scary things called stairs.

We had a great 4th of July filled with bonfires, pool volleyball games, s'mores, jello shots, and of course, fireworks. The weather was perfect - in the 80's and sunny all weekend long. Today is another story - it's going to be 102 degrees with humidity. In Connecticut. We haven't had temps this high in four years. So of course, I am all worried about John being out working in this heat - mostly because he got SO sunburned during our volleyball game yesterday.

I have also been assigned my wedding planner - yay! I'm excited to finally start planning out some details of our day, but it will probably have to wait at least a couple weeks so we can get settled here. Oh, and we scored AWESOME prices on our flights to Florida and back - we got both of our round trip, non stop tickets for a total of $378.00! How amazing is that?! We were shocked and so excited to get that out of the way.

365 days

My little man, Marley, turns one year old today!

We actually know Marley's real birthday since we bought him from a pet store, unlike Milo who was rescued at 4 weeks old from mean people who were going to throw him out on the street - we just picked a random day during the week he was born to call his 'birthday.'

I cannot believe he is a year old already. It seems like it was yesterday that we stopped by the pet store on our way to Radioshack to buy John a new cell phone charger. It was impossible to resist his adorable face looking at us through the window. It took a little convincing to get John to let me take him into one of those cubicles to play with him - and even MORE convincing to let me take him home. (Actually, it was more like begging and pleading, but hey, whatever works!)



Here we are, ten months later, and Marley has become one of the family. He and Milo love each other to pieces - we find them snuggled up together on our bed or on the couch, and Milo loves to give his brother kisses. Marley is definitely a bit friskier than Milo was and he LOVES to scratch up anything he can get his little paws on. I cannot imagine life without him and even though I get made fun of A LOT for being a cat lady, I think he is one of the best decisions we have ever made. DEFINITELY worth the $200.00 that he cost us :-) Happy 1st Birthday my little man, your Momma loves you SO much!

changes

We are moving. In 5 days. My apartment is in a state of disaster - boxes everywhere! I went to pour a bowl of cereal today and realized I have no bowls left. Milo and Marley are loving it - boxes to climb on or climb in.

I can't wait to post pictures of our new place, it is adorable. It's the second floor of an old house built in 1889. It's got bay windows, built in bookshelves, a corner hutch in the dining room, and a giant whiteboard wall in the stairway (John is particularly excited about that).

Let me just say - I do not want to move again until we buy a house. Hopefully we won't have to...I hate the process of moving.

feel the burn!

Last night I did 30 mintues of Pilates for the first time in... oh, a year.

Tonight I went to the gym for the first time in over six months.

I have learned that it is a lot easier to do pilates when my butt is not screaming in pain. The difference my surgery has made is incredible! Even though the recovery was excruciatingly painful, I am really glad I did it. It is even easier to work out on the treadmill and elliptical now. I must admit, I am very out of shape - I guess being nearly 100% sedentary for five months will do that to you. It felt so good to get my heart rate pumping, and although my legs were screaming at my by the end of my 35 minutes, I enjoyed moving again.

It's so nice not having to pay for a gym membership. Our apartment complex has a small gym (3 treadmills, 3 ellipticals, 1 stationary bike, a couple weight machines) but it's got everything I would use at a real gym anyway. My goal is to do some cardio at the gym 3x a week, pilates 3x a week, and a long walk on the weekends. My job is so sedentary - the most activity I get is getting up from my desk and walking 10 feet to the copier and back. I really need to make time for exercise - I always feel better when I do.

Off to snuggle with my boys before bed...Marley is still getting over his scary visit to the vet to lose his manhood. He adores Milo, he follows him around everywhere and loves to snuggle up with him when they nap. My little man is growing up so fast!

 

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