The "Kids"

My husband Shawn and I do not have any kids, nor do we have plans to have kids (much to the dismay of our mothers.) But we do have pets. Currently three to be exact. We recently had to put our pit bull Spike down, he was diagnosed with lymphoma and just got to the point where he couldn't get up and around and we couldn't watch him suffer. We now have Rocky, our pit bull puppy, Laren, our shephard mix (we refer to her breed as a "Laren"), and Crowley, our fat, bastard of a Maine Coon mix cat.

Mr. Crowley and his dirty face. I drive Shawn crazy with my squealing and use of the word "cute" with our animals.

Shawn got me Crowley for my birthday a couple of years ago. I wasn't able to bring my cat Emory when I moved in with him (Emory nows lives with my parents and their two cats and is best of friends with my dad.) and I had been wanting a cat. We had Spike and Laren at the time but I am a cat person and missed having a cat. We didn't have alot of money at the time so he just went to the local pound with the specifications of "fluffy" and "male" and Crowley was the only one that fit the bill. Crowley is quite the little bastard. He demands to be petted, likes to flick his fluffy tail in your food, drink, face, etc, and will trip me when I go near the dining room because he wants me to feed him. He will let you know if his water bowl is not clean enough and glares at the dogs when they make a mess in it. But I love him and his crazy personality.

Crowley trying to be artsy.
The husband trying to pretend I'm not taking pictures of the cat on him.

 

The many faces of Laren.

Shawn had Spike before we met and we got Laren after being together for awhile so that Spike would have a friend. A friend of ours dog had puppies and we were out at their house (a little drunk) and I saw Laren and squealed with happiness. We took her and after a rough car ride (she threw up on meseveral times) she was home with us. She's a bit on the neurotic side, but she loves Crowley and they play all the time. She has been really good with Rocky since we got him and they play as well.

 

 

 

I have already posted the above picture of Rocky, but it's so cute I couldn't resist. Rocky is our twelve week old pit bull puppy we got a couple of weeks ago. When we had to put Spike down, Shawn was pretty upset and wasn't ready to get another dog. We kind of fell into getting Rocky. A friend of a friend had pit puppies for free and Shawn went to look at him and saw this little guy and couldn't leave without him. Yes, he is named after Rocky Balboa. Rocky is everything a puppy is supposed to be, peeing, pooping, chewing, destroying. He's incredibly smart, we have him almost entirely potty trained and we're working on the dreaded "listening" and "not running from dad and mom" when we try to get him to come inside.



A very sleepy Rocky.



 Most people get mad at us when we say our animals are like our children, but they truly are. They drive us crazy, ruin our stuff, cost us money, make us smile, make us laugh, and keep our spirits up when we're feeling down. Looking around our living room, with its puppy prints on the floor and toys tossed around, it's not much different than if a child was running around. Except you can't lock your child in a big cage in the backyard when you go to work. :)