It's A Boy!

let's be honest.  we have a house full of girls.  we're not counting the fish.  mama is a girl.  our girls are girls.  the cat is a girl.  the dog is a girl.  we've always had girl pets.

with the exception of our first dog. which may have ruined us from ever wanting another dog.  or boy.  we blamed his misbehavior on his male-ism.  crazy boy.

was that fair?  maybe not.

then there's hubs.  my manly man.  poor guy.  or lucky.  depending on your perception.  or time of the month.  *ehem* 

okay then.  you may have heard... mama wanted a new cat.  don't ask why.  let's just go with the insanity.  mkay? 

after searching petfinder.com {how we found our jasmine} for several heartbreaking hours, we finally decided to go to our local petco for their saturday adoptions, facilitated by a rescue organization that we noticed on petfinder.  their animals come from local shelters.

it's really hard to beat a rescue organization's prices, too.  the animals are fully vetted and 'fixed' before adoption.  i cringe to think what the final vet bill would be when all is said and done.  we only paid $95 for our little bundle of fur.

the volunteers were very knowledgeable about which personality would match our family.  i totally went in with the mentality of getting a unique-colored-young-but-not-a-kitten-female-named-sophia. 

four hours later, we left with this...


he looks like a cross between a baby panther and toothless {from how to train your dragon}.

i give you... our little 4-month-old-green-eyed-black-velvety-softest-fur-you've-ever-pet-ball-of-a-boy.  brace yourself for the cuteness.

 

we already have a cat named 'bella', meaning beautiful.

 

so it only seemed natural that we name this lil' boy 'beau', meaning handsome.

he has the sweetest lil' personality.  he only bites when playful. bella should take notes from him.  he only sharpens his nails on his scratching pads. bella is nail-less {how she came to us}, but tries to sharpen hers, too. de-clawing is so controversial. and seemingly barbaric when you research what they actually do.  poor kitties.  so far, beau is being a good boy with his nails.


he plays himself to exhaustion. cat toys are a must.  i'd forgotten what fun a kitty was.  his meow is more like a squeak. he is quite entertaining.  curious about e.ver.y.thing.  no, we don't go in the dishwasher, sweet boy.


he has the loudest purr.  and often purrs, while 'kneading' the floor when he eats.  he loves to snuggle, perched on the top of the sofa, behind our heads.  my favorite is when i get to hold him like a little baby... and he falls asleep.  oh my heart. 

hubs had to sit on the idea of a new pet for a while.  he didn't get why we neeeded another pet.  like i said.  just go with the insanity.  he said, "watch, this will be the one pet that really likes me."

our other pets like him, too.

beau's first night to roam freely in the house, he chose to sleep with us.  favoring hub's pillow, he then groomed his hair in the morning.  shower.  check. ;)  hubs has been welcomed into the animal kingdom.


did i mention he exhausts himself?
and if to extreme, he drools?  must be a boy-thing? ;)
gross. 
when we first noticed him at petco, he was sleeping on his back.  mouth open.

good thing he's so cute.  we think he likes that we homeschool, too.  more time for lovin's.

after a full week, being careful with introductions, we can happily say that bella is now accepting of this new family member.  much quicker than i anticipated.  jazzy is cool with him, too.

hahhh... mama's quiver is full. 

no, i'm sorry, gracie.  you will not be getting a puppy on your birthday.

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life in general, i've always been a cheerleader for the underdog. pets are no exception.  if you've ever considered adopting a pet, i highly recommend petfinder.com.  because many of them are being fostered until their adoptions, you can often learn about their personalities and temperaments beforehand. 

did you know that black cats {just like dogs} are the highest rated animals to be put down?  so sad.  the volunteers were quite happy we were taking this little guy.  we only hope his identical brother will be just as lucky. 

oh... aaaand boy cats are sometimes cuddlier than girls??  sharing their affection among all family members.  and actually not more likely to have litter-box issues, as i once believed.  i didn't know that until the nice volunteer lady gave me the 411.

even though everyone wants to, i don't recommend going to petco for 4 hours after picking up 2 tired girls from a slumber party... having eaten 3 donuts each for breakfast. ugh.

and that, my friends, is your daily zoo update.