New Additions

As most of you know, we lost our old outdoor cat about a month ago. With that loss, it put us down to 3 cats. We are used to having 4-5 cats. We had been talking in the last few weeks about maybe getting another kitten. But we weren't sure if we wanted to wait until our other older 18 yr old indoor Siamese passed. Well, we decided a week ago while we were out Christmas shopping to go up to our local no-kill animal shelter, the one we adopted Dakota and Madison from. We were just going to look but if they had a kitten that we just had to have then we would adopt one. We walked in the front doors of the shelter and they had about 12 kittens right up front in the glass enclosure. Two volunteers were in there playing with them and there were 2 adorable Siamese kittens. I was pointing at one of the Siamese because I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Then one of the volunteers held up its tail. It had a white tip! I don't think I have ever seen a tail on a cat with a white tip before. So we went throughout the rest of the cat/kitten area and saw about 8 more kittens. But we were drawn back to the front kitten enclosure. We really wanted to go in and get a closer look. We asked the front desk receptionist if we could go in and she said sure. So the 2 volunteers left so my OH and I could get in there. Laying on top of a cat tree was a kitten pile of 3-4 black kittens. But one caught my eye. A girl, almost all black with white on her neck, chest and 4 white paws. For some reason I am a huge black and white cat fan. My tuxedos have the best personalities. I knew I wanted the black and white girl. A woman volunteer opened the glass door and asked how we were doing. We told her we wanted to adopt a kitten. She said "Well you know, we are having a buy one get one free sale". Crap. Really? We only wanted one. But 2 would sure be fun. It has been 17 years since we had 2 kittens at the exact same time. I looked at my OH, he looked at me and we went back and forth about what we should do. We kept looking at the little Siamese boy with the white tipped tail. I told the volunteer that we definitely wanted the black and white and then we said the heck with it. We told the volunteer "We will also take the Siamese boy". Done. 

We went and signed paperwork, I am already in the shelter's computer system so it didn't take long to get it all done. We paid our adoption fee, gave a donation to the shelter and then the volunteer got a cardboard cat carrier and loaded up our kittens. 

We already had an extra litter box and tons of cat toys so all we needed to do was buy kitten food. When we bring new kittens home we put them in a separate room for a couple weeks and slowly introduce them to the other cats. It is less stressful for the kittens. Plus they get lots of quiet time. And since I am home all the time, I could bring them out to play then put them away when needed. We had to go to a hockey game that night, so we only had about an hour to spend with them before we had to leave. We already knew what we were going to name the little Siamese boy. We have been wanting to name a boy dog or cat this for a long time. Cooper. And it fits. 

9 week old Cooper's first day home. Look at that tail!!

We had a tougher time coming up with a name for the black and white girl. We went through a ton of names and nothing was quite fitting her. I think it was on day 2 when I found the name Isabelle and it fit. She is such an Isabelle. As in princess Isabelle.

12 week old Isabelle's 1st nap with me.

I had been letting them out pretty much all day with me. Dakota just walks by and hisses at them. I could be in the kitchen and Dakota will be walking down the hall, hissing. And the kittens aren't even there. We now call Dakota... King Cobra.

Cooper and Isabelle taking their daily nap with me.

Cooper is such a busy body. He is all over the place and full of rambunctious energy. But he is oh so much fun. He has the cutest little boy face. And when he walks, he just struts his stuff. When he comes up on my lap for nap time, he squirms and squiggles all over for about half an hour before he will fall asleep. We have given him the nickname "Pooper Cooper" because he is the gassiest little kitten. Boy does he fart and it is stinky!!

Pooper Cooper.

Isabelle is older, so she is not quite as wild. Of course she runs around and plays and gets wild, but she naps more often and is the sweetest thing ever. She has a really pretty face. It is so hard to get picture's of these 2. They move way too fast. Most picture's are of them sleeping!

Princess Isabelle.

Madison hid behind the washer/dryer for 2 days. She would only come out when I had the kittens locked up in their bedroom. But she started to slowly come out when I let the kittens out.

Cooper loves my lap.

A few days ago, Madison was really showing interest in playing with them, with an occasional hiss. King Cobra Dakota still walks through the house and hisses. It took him at least 2 weeks to quit hissing at Madison when we brought her home. So it should just be a matter of time before he attempts to play with them too (and stops hissing, I really feel like there is a snake in my house!)

Isn't he adorable?

Getting 2 kittens 2 weeks before Christmas might not have been the best idea we have ever had. They don't bother the tree itself, which is a miracle, but they have an infatuation with the presents. I will go into one room and come out and the presents are spread out everywhere. Every time I put the presents back, they would get spread everywhere again.

Christmas Cooper.

They even opened one present and have attempted to open many others. I finally had to stack the presents on each side of the tree, not under it. They insist on playing under the tree and while they play, the presents get pushed out. I got the cutest video of them playing and opening a present but it is on my phone and I can't get it to my computer. So when I figure that one out I will put it here.

Maddy keeping a close eye on Cooper.

They have been learning manners..... like staying off the kitchen counter, quit trying to steal food off our dinner plates, quit knocking things over etc. I have a water bottle next to me at all times.

"Hey Coop, this looks like a good one to open!"

I caught Madison playing with Cooper the other night. And this morning she was playing with Isabelle. They were running all over. It was so cute. It is so hard to get pictures because they move so fast.

Cooper to Isabelle "If we open this present we better be sneaky. I don't wanna get in trouble."

I am having so much fun with them. I haven't gotten much else done because they keep me so busy trying to keep them out of trouble. Half my day is chasing them around and trying to prevent things from breaking. And then when they take a nap, it is usually on me so I still can't get anything done. Good thing the weather has been so crappy (wet, cold and miserable) so I can stay in and play with my new babies.

I won't be posting again until after Christmas. I have a lot going on this week to get ready for a weekend of family. My dad, sister, her ranch boy and his daughter will be spending the weekend with me. Then we go over to my OH's mom's and step dad's Christmas Eve. It's gonna be super busy and I am super excited! I love Christmas!! So I want to wish each and every one of my blogger friends a very, Merry Christmas!!!