Welcome to our blog! This is my first post so I thought I would begin with something easy. As many of you know, our family will be increasing soon. We are due to have our first baby on September 1st. I thought I would take a second and introduce you to the current members that make up our crazy bunch.
Adam and I married on December 23, 2006. Our family had a few members at that time that are no longer with us, our Basset Hound-Sam and our precious kitty-Cyrano. The loss of a pet is never easy, but it is nice to have a full household to keep you busy.
Before we got married we had three other little ones. We had our little Beagle-Gus who thinks he runs things around here. We sometimes call him "Napoleon" because the name fits his personality. He was a birthday present for my husband (then boyfriend). He had always wanted a Beagle since he was a little boy.
Another member was our kitty Beau. Many of you know that my younger sisters and I have found a hobby is raising baby kittens who are found without mothers. We have successfully raised 3 litters (9 kitties) and are currently working on our 4th. Mr. Beau is the only one of my kitties who was not hand raised. I acquired him through the Arizona Humane Society. He was a playmate for my other kitty Cyrano. He was quite a valuable find, for he has a wonderful personality and always loves to be cuddled.
In June of 2005, I acquired our first batch of kittens that needed mothering. There were six kitten total, and they were only 3 days old. I don't think my sisters and I had any clue how hard it would be to be the mothers of 6 needy kittens. All survived and three of them became permanent members of our family. Because there were 6, we decided to name them after the 6 characters on the television show "Friends". The one we kept was originally named Rachel. As she grew older, we changed her name to Sadie...who eventually became known as "Mr. Kitty" because Adam wanted to see if the name would stick...and it did. She has gone through a number of name changes, but has always been my special little "runt" kitty who has a bad hip. (Her hip was dislocated at birth. )
After we got married, we knew that Gus needed a playmate. We had a friend from work who mentioned to us that she had a neighbor who had just had Chocolate Lab Puppies. The funny thing was that one of the puppies wasn't chocolate at all, but golden. The second we met her, we fell in love with her. We knew Chimi was going to be a hyper puppy. Little did we know...she is still a hyper puppy two years later! She has taken it upon herself to rid us of numerous shoes, redecorate the couch taking off the lower section of fabric, as well as eating countless other things we never knew were edible. She absolutely adores the water, whether it be Adam's mother's swimming pool or in the river up at our family property in Blue, AZ. She also has become a mother figure to all the little kittens we bring into our home, cleaning them and taking care of them. Sometimes it reminds me of that famous classic children's book "Are you my Mother?". Adam and I have a feeling that once our little ones appear, she will take that same protective role. She is going to make a great family dog!
Our next member came into our lives by chance. A single kitten was brought to us to raise in April of 07. Originally the plan was to find a home for it when it was big enough. Due to the fact that baby kittens need constant feedings, we took our little orange kitty to work with us. The kitten stayed in Adam's office and then I came in on my breaks and helped with its feeding. Adam would let the kitten wander the office where he soon learned to lay on Adam's shoulders and watch him work. When the time came to look for a home, Adam insisted on him becoming a member of our family...and so, Mr. Bingley was added to our household. My sister also had an orange tabby that was named Mr. Darcy from the story Pride and Prejudice. Mr. Darcy's best friend, Mr. Bingley, turned out to suit the kitten perfectly. Bingley sometimes thinks he is part dog. He has figured out how to use our doggie door and enjoys laying outside in the grass.
The last two are not official members. These little ones were kittens found motherless in a trailer park when they were a week old just last October. When we got them home, they were covered in fleas and very sickly. As they have grown, Job and Tobias have turned into such affectionate kitties. They purr the second there is human contact, and are very loving to the other members of the household. We are looking for homes for them right now, since our household has such a high number of inhabitants right now. We are praying that they will find a good home where they are loved as much as they are loved here. 
So there you have it, our little family. Adam and I have always been animal lovers, and will continue to be as long as there are animals that need our help. We hope that our love and dedication will be witnessed and learned by our children, as we learned from our parents and grandparents. I wonder what God has in-store for our family???
