Our Furry Bundle of Joy

Ladies and Gents, I am please to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Layla.

Standing at a mere 7 inches tall and weighting in under a pound, her hobbies include purring, sleeping, scoping out the internet with her daddy JEGs and sipping drinks with her momma Lizzie.

momma's little wino. so proud

So this is the sitch- I has a couple hours to kill before work so I decided to scope out a yard sale my cousin was having. She's got some killer purses, and I was hoping to snatch up something cute for the fall.

When I pulled up, I saw a crate of three kittens and a sign that said "Free to a good home."

Well, I've got a good home, and I like free things. Fate? I think so.

JEGs and I have been talking about getting a pet for a while now. Ever since we had Murphy put down last September, we've both been jonsing for that extra companionship. After a couple questions I found out the were a friend of my cousins' 12-week old kittens that they just wanted to get rid of. When I approached the crate, I figured holding one of them wouldn't hurt, right?

Wrong. I fell in love.

I called JEGs and asked if we could give this kitten a good home. He said if they were willing to hold her overnight, we would go back the next morning (a Saturday) and pick her up. When the owner said it was ok, I was elated!

The next morning on our way to pick up our new pet, we tossed around some names. It wasn't until the ride home that JEGs said "We should name her Layla" that the name clicked.

The entire weekend was spent playing with our new little baby, and we are so excited to have her in our life. Just a warning for the future, there are probably going to be a lot of "ZOMG, Layla did the CUTEST thing the other day" posts. Just sayin'.

Always & Forever,

ME

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Update:

I originally wrote this post on Monday August 16th, with the intent on posting it later in the week. That afternoon I took Layla to the vet to be checked out. After finding out she was only 4 or 5 weeks old, severely malnourished and had worms, JEGs and I felt as though we had saved her from a dire situation. In our minds, we were heroes.

When I arrived home from work on Tuesday August 17th, I found Layla laying on her bed, not moving and barely breathing. I rushed her to the vet where they began working on her quickly. After stabalizing her the best he could, the doctor informed me he believed she had panleukopenia- a viral infection known to attack the gastrointestinal system. He said the best thing we could do was take her to a vet hospital for around the clock care. This would have cost us thousands of dollars, and because of her young age and weight, there was a 90% chance she wouldn't make it.

JEGs left work early and joined me at the vet's office. After much thought (and many tears), we made the painful decision to have Layla euthanized.

Our hearts are truly broken. Even thought we only had Layla for three short days, we had fallen head over heels for her. Even with her small stature, she was able to fill the hole in my heart caused by Murphy's passing.

My intent was to delete this post and not to speak of her at all, but that was not what this blog is about. I started this blog as a way to document my life lessons and personal growth. Although this lesson has been particularly tough, I feel as though it was an important one.

From this experience I have learned that JEGs and I have so much more love to give- whether it be cat, dog, or *gasp* eventual baby. However, just because we have the love to give, it doesn't mean it is the right time.

We will eventually get another pet, but not for a while. Right now we are going to keep on loving each other and building our future.