The Littles

So,  we did it.

We adopted two precious lil' four-pawed brudders.

I found them on Craigs List.  Just typing that sort of weirds me out because CL can be a bit skeevy but I thought, "What the hey."  I had experienced a very bad exchange with an adopter in NY.  A gorgeous lil' coon boy will not get a furever home because of those nutbags but it is okay. 

Because we found these guys.  (These first round of pictures were taken by the first mommas.)

Finnegan and Jasper

They were very well loved and cared for and fit right into our home like they belonged here.  Being so well adjusted and also very tightly bonded, I didn't worry too much about keeping them in their bathroom apartment for a few days.  It was a relief.  Initially, as you would suspect, Baxter and Cricket were having none of them.  But within a week Baxter and Jasper were fast friends.  Finnegan is a bit more reticent to approach the cats but he loves the dogs and has no fear around them.

Jasper has latched on to Matt and Finnegan prefers me.  They are both still a bit fearful of Toby but who could blame them :)  His exuberant shouts and chasing of them just to give them a hug are a bit intimidating.

We had them neutered on Wednesday and Jasper woke up like nothing had happened.  Finn had a much rougher time of it but they are both right as rain now. 

Here are some updated pictures of them.  I'm so very happy and blessed to have them come into our lives.  It has been a welcome joy.

Jasper Leopardis Pardalis - 6 months

Finnegan begging for Baxter Rufus to play!

Finnegan Felis Catus - 6 months

Little Finn - although he is now within half a pound of Jasper - he was a whole pound plus lighter when we adopted them.

Jasper King of Cuddles

One of their favorite sleeping spots - out of Toby's reach.

Totally stressed out.

The "Littles" who are fast becoming not so little.  Welcome to the Jeans Clan!

All of the words . . .

. . . . and no pictures.

So.  I have fallen into this habit of taking pictures with my iPhone, falling into the pit fall that millions of other busy moms do . . . and one of the things I swore I would never do.  This is partially because I cant' find the charger for the battery that goes to my awesome camera.  And partially because Toby is insanely fast and nimble now and the time for taking pictures at my leisure is just over.

So the things that have been going on that I've taken pictures of and not uploaded yet are . . .

-  Toby's haircut (yes, yes, I know.  You WILL get pictures.)
-  Railroad Show!
-  Copious play dates (not sure how many pictures will come from this . . .

Winter is loosening its hold and poor March is ugly indeed.  Although it DID snow last night, I'm still thinking spring is on the way.  Living in the northeast long enough to see snow on Memorial Day I'm not phased by winters last spurts of dominance.  The roads are getting squishy, all the roadside snow is crackly and black and there is a lot of slushy puddles.

The kids are amazing.  Toby is at an age where everything he does makes me laugh or cry . . .or both.  I've passively started potty training, knowing full well he will probably be 3 before it is all said and done.  But I can dream. 

I've actually dressed up like a real live woman and gone out sans kids like FOUR TIMES in the past few months which is four times more than last year.  Oh wait . . . three times more.  I bought shoes, dresses and work attire for when I hopefully (oh goodness PLEASE) get a job.

I'm missing my family more than ever . . . the absence of their loving chaos over Christmas is very keen right now.  And Matt and I agreed to pursue adopting a cat since I've been weepy and out of balance since the loss of the Mighty Roo.  I know many folks will think we are insane to take on more, and that is fine for them to have opinions.  But I know in my heart that I will feel more at ease with three felines and how awesome will it be for the kids?  Well, since I'm the one who will shoulder the care I certainly don't mind.  Then again, I'm truly a crazy cat lady at heart.

I've fallen in love with my Filofax and have been using it daily.  I'm still very behind on things like meal planning but I'm limping along.  I'm chipping away at projects, slowly but surely.  Always catching up on laundry and yet I've been able to keep the kitchen relatively clean lately (a complete victory!)  Chore charts are great things.

Toby is crazy vocal, quite the mimic and very strong and agile.  He has such a unique personality, it is amazing to watch him plow through the day, sometimes being soft, but mostly being quite bold.  Ethan is amazing.  He loves school and is such a sponge.  His love of animals and dinosaurs is amazing to me (although I admit to being the foundation for most of it - as is Matt.)  I'm sure if Matt loved cars then Ethan would be all about the cars.  Toby never stood a chance and loves dinosaurs as much if not more than Ethan. 

This year will be very different than last year just by virtue of the kids ages.  I'm starting to plan Toby's 2nd birthday party and that is completely messing with my mind.  Two . . . 2 . . . TWO.  Ugh.  My lil' guy. 

Oh, Ethan got his 4 year vaccines and barely missed a step.  I was shocked, frankly, as I'd heard they were tough on kids.  Despite some redness at the injection site, he never once complained.  That's my boy!  They've both been to the dentist now and Ethan was AMAZING  . . . did I already write this?  X-rays and cleaning all by himself while I wrangled the lil' rascal.

Anyway, that is enough rambling.  Life is always chaotic in some manner.  I'm focusing on being honest with myself, honest with others and surrounding myself with positive energy.  We've had enough negativity and convoluted falsely based gossip to last us eons after this past year.  Pictures to come . . . when I get them one by one off my phone!!