Naptime Blog

With all the craziness going on recently and the hectic schedules my husband and I have to keep, we unfortunately had to give Zappa back. Talk about heartbreak. He was so full of energy that he had accidentally knocked Shaughn down a few time, causing him to get hurt. Kids come first and though I wanted to keep him, I knew what had to be done. I loved the protection that he contributed to the house and how protective he was over this family after a couple of short weeks. His owner was completely understanding thankfully and was supportive of our decision. Well, the upside is that my sister, who fell in love with Zappa first before I saw him, convinced my parents to keep him and they live right next door to Zappa’s original owners which I’m sure they love. I was so grateful for spending whatever time I did with the pup and it gave me ideas for what I want in the future, when Shaughn is much older to play with it. I still get visitation rights which I think he enjoys because he’s always so excited to see me. Have you had a pet that you fell for but just could not keep?

Krystle

We always wanted a family dog that would grow up with Shaughn and us and just be a great addition. We came across a 4 year old Border Collie named Zappa, who lived next door to my parents. He is fully trained, wonderful with Shaughn and loves to swim. Zappa has been everything we were looking for in a family pet and when we found out his owners were looking for a new home for him, we thought it was good timing and for us to adopt him.  My husband , I can’t tell if he really likes the idea of having a dog or not, he doesn’t say much and I’m left to try and read his mind. So far it seems to be working out well and now I start a job on top of school ,  so I personally won’t be spending as much time with the 3 of them as I would like but hopefully it can still work out. How did you go about finding the perfect family pet for your home?

-Krystle

After my divorce from her father followed by meeting and getting engaged to Paul, I knew we needed to do something special for Juliana.  So we decided to get her her own puppy.  I wanted a small to medium sized dog, one with no shedding, child friendly and playful.  Paul and I drove to a farm in Pennsylvania and brought back the most adorable black cockapoo puppy ever.  Juliana got her puppy Christmas of 2006.    She named him King, because she was very much into the Disney Princesses, and so he became her “King”.  King was a great puppy, and she loved him so.

When I got pregnant with the twins, it became more and more difficult for me to be a good dog owner.  When I was on bedrest, King would pee and poop all over the house, even after I just walked him.  He would dump the garbage and eat it, six or seven times in a row.  No matter what I did to keep trouble away from King, King found trouble.  Once the twins were born, he was back to his good old self again.

When I got pregnant with Joseph, King was back to his old tricks again.  It became evident that King was jealous of his Mama being pregnant and he was even more jealous with all these babies around.  He would growl and jump on the babies, and although he was the BEST dog to Juliana (who was now 7), he was not good with the babies.

After many months of trying, taking him for obedience lessons, working with him, working with Juliana, we had to do something.  My cousin in upstate New York had a white cockapoo, and was happy to take King to live with them.  Juliana was upset, but she knew it was best for all of us.  At the end of last summer, King went to go live with my cousin and his wife.  Juliana was planning on visiting this summer, once school ended.  That won’t happen.

I found out this morning that King was hit by a car and died.  He liked to go across the road to the farm and visit.  Well this morning, on his regular walk, he was killed by a car.  Paul and I are heartbroken.  We don not know how to break it to Juliana.

Of course I feel even more terrible that if I had only done a little bit more for King while he lived with us, he’d still be alive today.  I know we did the best we knew at the time, but now, I don’t know.  My daughter is going to be very upset.  This is not a conversation a parent wants to have with her daughter.

Jennifer Nevadomski
Paul’s Wife
Mom to: Juliana, 8 – Louis and Anthony, 22 months – Joseph, 8 months
www.nevaland.com

We have 2 cats. One cat has not once let Shaughn touch him since he’s been born and the other is constantly by his side. Milk, the antisocial cat, who was name because of his little milk mustache spotting, refuses to go near Shaughn. He doesn’t even walk near him! Stitch, Shaughn’s guardian cat, however is always around him. I mean, always. In the morning when I go into Shaughn’s room and get him, Stitch runs up the stairs and sits by his crib. Then when we come downstairs and I make Shaughn his breakfast, he lays right next to him and literally take a beating. He is so excited to see the cat, he gives him hugs, tries to crawl on top of him, pull at his ears, and Stitch just lays there purring. He’s about 61/2 years old and is just the best cat. When I was pregnant, he was always by me. When I had a big belly and Shaughn would kick, Stitch would come up and lay on my tummy and just feel it. The two days before I gave birth, Stitch would follow me EVERYWHERE. I tried to take a picture of me in the bathroom mirror to show my family and friends and Stitch jumped on the counter and was in the shot, after I brushed him off about 3 times.

The first night we brought Shaughn home, Milk sniffed around, decided he wanted no part in what was going on and that was it. Stitch would sniff around, react to the different noises Shaughn would make, but would never seem to want to leave. I never allowed the cats to be around Shaughn when he slept if we weren’t around in the same room. I have heard too many stories! If Stitch is laying down in his bed, and Shaughn starts to fuss or cry, he runs out of there and lays next to him. Is that normal for a cat? I would expect that from a dog more than I would a cat, but its so cute anyway. I have a lot of pictures of Shaughn cuddling him on the floor. Ok, its not cuddling, its more of wrestling with him, but its still cute. What are your stories with your family pets? How has their behavior changed, if any change at all, since the arrival of your little one?

-Krystle

The boys learn things everyday, but today Mommy learned some things…

1. Dogs like to eat new sippy cups full of fresh milk.
2. Dogs like to eat diapers full of not so fresh, well, you know.
3. Certain art supplies make a huge mess on children.
4. Certain art supplies make a huge mess on rugs.
5. Oxyclean is my friend. I need to buy stock in that company as much as I buy it.
6. Dogs and children have a secret pact to cry, whine, scream and bark at precisely the exact same time each day.
7. Telemarketers and door to door sales people have a special kind of ESP to detect when aforementioned dogs and children have just dozed off for a nap. That’s when they decide to call or ring the doorbell.
8. 17 month old toddlers have an uncanny ability to turn into mini-hurricanes and destroy a living room in 10 seconds flat.
9. 29 month old toddlers have the wonderful ability to erase entire blog posts that mommy has spent an hour on before she thinks to save it. They do this with one key press while simultaneously closing the laptop lid.
10. Two toddlers living under the same roof are hungry, thirsty, tired, wet and dirty at the same time. Amazing!
11. Even 30-something moms need a mom every once in awhile.
12. Even though I will need 10 bottles of #5 to clean up #1, #2 and #4 after cleaning up #8 for the tenth time today, I wouldn’t change any of it. Why? Because out of it, I got the most beautiful drawing created by my oldest son. It’s more beautiful than any Picasso. Isn’t it perfect? Anyone beg to differ with this Mama? I didn’t think so.

What have you learned today?

Shannon
Potamus Prefers
http://www.potamusprefers.com/