FINALLY!

Two good things, both involving Tori and Dean:

They had their 3rd child, a baby girl - Hattie Margaret McDermott - yesterday (on our anniversary!) so congrats to them! I thought it was really cool that she and I were both preggo at the same time. And no, I dont know them personally..... but those of you that know me, know that I love them, their family, and their show. Which brings me to the second good thing: they released the date - season 6 of Home Sweet Hollywood premieres on November 29th! I am so stoked! I've been waiting for so long.

So even though that is good news, there is a bit of sad news: we gave away our cats today. I will miss them so much but ultimately, it is the best decision. Their behavior and habits were just not good and they havent been for a while now. I kept trying to work with them but nothing was improving. Tony wanted to do it a while ago but I convinced him to keep them until after baby girl got here to see if anything changed. But it didnt and it actually put things more into perspective for me. The cats had been peeing outside of their litter box (thus resulting in us having to re-carpet our old place when we moved, which was $2,000). Ainslee would also pee on the bath mats, which meant I had to constantly throw them in the washer or remember to close the bathroom door. And really all doors in general. At our new place, we had to close all the doors so that they didnt pee in the bathroom, run underneath our bed where they would stay for hours, or jump in Anistynn's crib or her bassinet. They would just jump in there and lay there or pee in it (not while she was in there). They never put Anistynn directly in harm's way (you know all those stories about cats suffocating babies? No, they werent doing that...) but I was concerned. They are friendly and cuddly and they would try to get right up on her when I was holding her and with their personalities, I could easily see them jumping in her bassinet and snuggling up to her. Who knows what could result from that while she's still so young and cant do anything to protect herself. And their hair... I know they cant control that but their hair was everywhere and Anistynn was sneezing a lot (possible allergy down the road? Who knows...) and I also didnt want her inhaling it. They also like to jump on the counters and on top of the cabinets, resulting in knocking off decorative items and pictures and breaking / ruining them. And finally, since the doors have to remain closed, they try to get in to the rooms so they claw the carpet up. Because of these reasons, they've been spending a lot of time in the laundry room as of late and I just didnt want them to live that life. I tried many things (even before I got pregnant, after, and even most recently since baby girl has been here) and nothing. I have tried spray bottles, spending individual time with each to let them know they are loved, by leaving them alone and letting them do what they want, to punishing them, etc. I looked up things online, listened to other people's advice, talked to my vet, and just tried to do things on a whim depending on what was going on. Nothing. They arent kittens (and they werent when we got them either) so it's harder to train them and they are fiercely independent. Overall, I just dont have the time or money to try anymore. Anistynn's health and safety is number one and as much as I loved those cats no matter how obnoxious they could be sometimes, I knew in my heart that it just wasnt going to work out. There will be lots of hard decisions to come in the years now that I have a child but that's just part of being a parent. If we ever get a pet again, it will be once we are moved into our own house and when Anistynn is older, so that we can go as a family to pick one out that meshes with all of us. Maybe we'll try that place, The Hannah Society, when and if we ever decide to get another pet. It's like eHarmony but for pets haha. I figure if eHarmony worked for Tony and I, why wouldnt The Hannah Society work to match us up with our perfect pet? But again, that wont be for quite some time. In the meantime, I will miss Ainslee and Luna Lee a lot but I know this is best for everyone, including them. But things like this are always hard. Here are two pictures to remember them by:

Ainslee

Luna Lee