Reading with Papa.... a movie

Reading with Papa

I was cleaning up last night right before Miriam was heading off to bed and stopped to look and see this:

I just had to stop and get my camera because I love watching Miriam spend time with her Papa. I don't take enough pictures of moments like that, and I don't want to forget these times when Miriam is older. I've been reminded lately to treasure the simple times... and that was one of those times.

We Couldn't Help Ourselves...

...and got another cat. We actually got him last week, but I haven't had a chance to get pictures up until now. Our new kitty is Finley and we are greatly enjoying having two additional members of our family now! Bailey and Finley were actually in the same cage at Petsmart, so we saw them both when we picked up Bailey. A few days later, we thought it would be good for Bailey to have a playmate, so we decided to get our Finley. They were born six days apart, even though we originally thought they were from the same litter. Either way, they play together all the time and we often find them sleeping next to each other. I think Bailey enjoys her new playmate... and we think it will be good for them to have each other's company when we are gone for a weekend.

People have wondered where we came up with the names of our kitties... I guess I came across both of them one way or another in the last week. I didn't want Bailey to have a "feminine" name because she is orange and just didn't look like a "Lucy" or "Nellie"... some of our other picks. So, I came across "Bailey" in a Baby Name book and it stuck. The next day, I saw somewhere on the internet the name "Finley." I guess it's becoming a popular name for baby girls in America, even though it is traditionally an Irish male's name (I believe). So, when we were going to pick up Bailey, I asked Matt if we could consider Finley. He was pretty set on Bailey at that point, so we left it. Then, we decided to adopt another cat... who happened to be a male... we thought we'd use "Finley" after all. So, there you have it: the story of how our kitties came to be Bailey and Finley.

Here are some of the pictures we've gotten in the last few days...

A Four-Legged Addition to Our Family...

We have been talking for a few months now about possibly getting a cat. Miriam has always loved cats... she has spent a lot of time with my parents' cats along with others in our family. Plus, Matt and I also had pets growing up and thought it would be fun to get one of our own. Well, we really hadn't done too much about getting the process going in finding a cat... until last Friday. A new Petsmart opened up in Eau Claire, and Matt and I thought we'd check it out while we had a few minutes to spare before going to a concert. So, we stepped in and headed right to the cat section. We didn't realize they had pet adoptions there from the humane society (the place we had been planning on getting a cat from). We looked at a few... and then one melted our hearts. It was an orange tabby kitty who was very tiny and looked awfully lovable. We decided that if she was still around after the weekend, we'd get her. Sure enough, she was! After running some errands and picking up some kitty essentials yesterday, we were able to adopt our little Bailey:

She spent the first evening in our house searching everything and becoming acquainted with us. She the spent the first night crying because she wanted to sleep with us... I've decided to veto that one. She is very cute, however, and we're enjoying our new littlest member of the family.