Izzy and her mom came to Nashville a couple of weekends ago for a quick visit so of course we had to have a little photo session. We went to Cedar Hill Park where there’s lots of room to run around and play.

Of course Leela had to get in on the playtime too:

Is this not the sweetest face?!?

Izzy loves her mommy so much she wants to be as close as possible even during car rides .

Thanks for visiting!

~Stephanie

I thought I’d start out this new blog by introducing my furry family to you. The oldest member of our four-legged clan is Gabriel (a.k.a Gabe, Gabey boy, buddy boy, big boy, big’un, chunkers, fluffers, snuggles, hey-get-down-from-there) :

Doesn’t he look like such a sweet boy?? Well — looks can be deceiving. Gabriel’s other nicknames include punk, butthead, and a variety of other, more colorful names I probably shouldn’t post here. He is actually a very loving boy and is one of the most social cats you’ll ever meet. If you come to my house he WILL make you pet him. But he’s also very destructive and very vocal, and has one of the biggest personalities I’ve ever seen on a cat. Gabriel’s interests include:

• licking your skin raw with his rough tongue
• knocking EVERYTHING onto the floor
• opening cabinets (we have child locks on all our cabinet doors because of him)
• speeding down the hallway, sliding on the wood floors and slamming into the door
• announcing his presence when he enters a room
• snoring loudly

Gabriel came to us from a shelter that rescued him from what can only be described as a crazy cat lady. This woman had over 30 cats, many of them in cages, in an old run down house. This probably explains why he’s so starved for attention. Shortly after we got him, we figured he’d like to have a little buddy, so we got him Ella (a.k.a Elle Belle, Ellie Belly, little orange, little girl belly, princess) :

Ella is such a diva. She only wants your attention when she asks for it and she’s not a big fan of strangers. She does love her big brother though and can be very sweet to her mommy. Ella was rescued by a good friend of ours who found her abandoned in a creek. She was covered in fleas that were quite literally sucking the life out of her. She was only days away from death so we were very lucky our friend found her when he did. She was only 5 weeks old — look how tiny!!!

Thankfully she made a full recovery and is a very good companion for Gabriel. Ella’s interests include:

• belly rubs (but only when she’s in the mood)
• finding the highest location in a room and figuring out how to sit up there
• unrolling the toilet paper (see above)
• wrestling with her brother
• watching birds and chasing bugs
• licking plastic bags

And last but certainly not least is our pup Leela (a.k.a. Lils, Leela Belle, puppers wuppers, punkin, foxy lady, cutie pie) :

Leela is still fairly young and FULL of puppy energy! She’s an Australian cattle dog mix (or so the shelter and vet assume). She’s highly intelligent and very active so she definitely keeps us on our toes. She’s also extremely social — she’s never met a stranger in her life. Leela’s interests include:

• playing disc golf with her dad
• swimming in the creek
• meeting new dogs and having them chase her so she can show off her speed
• chasing squirrels and deer (yeah, deer — I have no clue what she’d do if she ever caught up with one)
• terrorizing her kitty brother (she’s scared of her kitty sister, and with good reason)
• completely destroying any store-bought doggie toy in record time
• giving high fives

Well that’s our family! They’re constant entertainment and bring lots of laughter to our home. There’s never a dull moment with these three. I hope you enjoyed meeting my family, and I hope to meet yours too someday soon!!

Thanks for visiting,

~Stephanie