Meet Elizabeth!

Well, back at the end of May we did a thing. We got a kitten. Not "just because" but because Finley had a perfect year of kindergarten with zero strikes. That's a big deal, but an even bigger deal if you know our salty Finn. He's a tough one and we wanted to really positively reinforce that he had done a fantastic job behaving in his first year of elementary school. (His behavior was rough all summer, but that's another topic for another day. Or not. Just come spend some time with us and you will understand the complexities that are my second child.)  Finn has been begging for a pet for the longest time and we just aren't ready for another pup or something that requires a whole lot of attention. Plus, we had a mouse problem in our garage and back porch.

So, a couple days after Memorial Day Weekend, we went to a friend's house because we knew her cat had kittens. We let the kids play with them and then I picked one out and handed her to Finley. He snuggled her and loved her, but never asked could he keep her. I finally asked him if he wanted to keep her and, well, the smile says it all. Love at first sight. Meet Elizabeth (yes, Finley named her):

The early days were super sweet. Kittens are precious. And she was so loving to the kids. And let them pack her around and was so playful. She cried a lot at first and that broke my heart. So I lost a bit of sleep early on and truly regretted my decision to get an animal. But then I would look out on the back porch and see this:

Ivy also loved Elizabeth SO much! So, so, so much. But we feared for Elizabeth's safety with Ivy because their initial encounters led to fur pulling and full-on squeeeeeeeeeeze loves. So until Ivy had a little restraint (just started a few weeks ago) they had to be separated by a window. But you can see the love between the two!

Then one day, we hadn't had her very long, Elizabeth disappeared. Actually it happened while Keagan was at church camp. We freaked. We were so nervous something had happened to her because she was so tiny. We drove around our neighborhood with a squeaky toy mouse on a stick, calling her name. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were nuts. When we were out on a walk later that evening we were talking and all of a sudden Josh heard her meow. She was super far away on someone's porch and had heard us and came running to us!! It was a sweet reunion.

While Elizabeth is truly "Finley's kitty" and he does a pretty good job taking care of her food and litterbox needs (yes, this outside cat has a litterbox. Better than pooping/peeing in my garage or porch), she is well loved by Maclyn. Mac cannot get enough of her and calls her "Liz-bif" and it is precious. And despite the full-on man-handling that has taken place since we brought her home, Elizabeth comes running when she hears Maclyn's voice. It is precious!

Best Friends Forever (and Finley is ok with his sister loving his cat)

Taking Lizzy-kitty to the vet for a check-up.