Lazy Sunday in Atlanta

We spent the weekend in Atlanta, with family.

And finally found the sun. On Sunday. In the park.

It was the most wonderful day of the year so far.

It felt like this:

Regular Monday programming will return next week.

Aslan's New Best Friend

For all my blog readers who don't like cats...I'm not going to apologize for this post, but I won't be offended if you choose to leave and come back another day. Or, on second thought, scroll all the way down to the post right below this one to see the cutest puppy of the year. You might see something along the way that changes your mind about my favorite furry animals because this post is filled to the brim with too much baby kitten cuteness ;0).

Ben and I have been talking about getting another cat for over a year...maybe more than two years. But it was always one of those things that we had to put off until after a wedding or a vacation or until our life settled down - and that my friends, I can assure you is a joke because our lives DO NOT EVER SLOW DOWN, but that's the way we like it. If we use that excuse for having real human children, we will be dead before we get around to it. Once we got back from our honeymoon, we decided if we were going to do it this was the time - to get a cat, not have a baby, sheesh, we just had that discussion. We contacted the rescue organization that gave us our first furry baby, Lucky Cat Rescue, about some older cats that were on their website, and went to meet a few to see if they would be a good match for Aslan. My mom adopted an older cat after I went off to college, and, after falling in love with him, it seemed like a great idea for us because we wouldn't have to try to conquer a kitten again (Aslan was such a terror - he would bite our heads in the middle of the night while we slept and even burrowing beneath the covers did not deter him from his mission to destroy us while we were unaware and unsuspecting of his master plan to rule the world), and because older cats tend to stay in rescues and shelters longer because so many families want kittens. Even though there were some very sweet cats that were so deserving of a family and a home, in the end we were won over by a kitten who turned out to be the perfect blend of saucy and snuggly that we were hoping for.

As circumspect decision makers (it ultimately took us three weeks to choose the cat that would be ours, which could be the effect of having to make too many major life choices this year and is a topic for another day soon), we still hadn't decided on a name by the end of the first week of the new kitten coming to our home. He was known as Little Kitty for several days while we debated names like Lego, Kodak, Kazoo, and Feeny. After five days of trying to decide who he would be, I threatened to name him Bieber if a consensus couldn't be reached by the end of the weekend. That thankfully spurred Ben to action and we finally landed on Link (aka Linksy) and hopefully it will stick. I guess we kind of screwed ourselves over by picking the best name ever for our first cat...how were we ever supposed to compete with Aslan??

It took a few days, but Aslan finally seems happy to have a playmate...and even if he is still a little stuck up about sharing his home kingdom, the pictures tell a different story.

The tail game is a current fav.

For a tiny kitten, he is very talkative and LOUD. It's no wonder so much noise comes out of this big mouth. We might have a tiger in the making, and then we really will be the proud owners of our very own savannah.

Link is supposedly the runt of his litter...you can really see how small he is when you see him next to a person (in this case, Ben - even though I hate to shave at this time of the year, there's no way my legs would be that hairy).

Because he'll aways be my favorite, I had to toss in a few of Aslan too...he's so handsome I didn't think anyone would mind.

In the spirit of the holidays, a Santa hat made it's way home with Link, and we couldn't resist traumatizing him just a little for a gratuitous holiday photo op!

He returned the favor by helping us decorate the Christmas tree...and rolling in all of the paper cushioning that came out of storage with the ornaments.

If you or someone you know is thinking about adopting a cat or kitten for the holidays, please check out Lucky Cat (and see some of my photographs on their website! - had to make those kitties look extra cute so that they can find their forever homes!). New cats and kittens are added several times a week and they would love to meet you and woo you to take them back to your house for a life of love and happiness.

More of Aslan and Link and life to come...

A new puppy for Kathryn and Jeff!

They say getting a puppy is a test for having a baby...which let me tell you...once you get married, EVERYONE and their grandmother wants to know when that will happen - the baby that is, not the puppy. I've spent years trying to convince my family that our cat is our child, of course to no avail, because the instant we stepped foot in the house for Thanksgiving, someone (definitely an aunt) wanted to know when the baby would be on the way. Sigh.

Our good friends Kathryn and Jeff have been waiting to get their sweet Alaskan Malamute, Dude, for almost as long as it takes to have a baby. And for now, he is certainly the new love of their lives. We got to do a fun holiday-inspired portrait session at the Kinder Farm Park with this bundle of cuteness the day after he came home. At only 8 weeks, Dude was super fluffy and soft and sweet. And a little tired from all of his new adventures, which made him extra photogenic!

For new parents, I've heard it's love at first sight...which I think comes even easier when your first child is a puppy. How can you not love that cotton ball fur, those sweet eyes and lickable kisses?!

Get ready to be bowled over by all of this cuteness...

Hooray puppies!

The Furry Children of San Diego

I took a lot of pictures on our recent trip to San Diego...and most of them were of animals.

I wish I were kidding.

Apparently, Aslan has some competition. He could smell it on us when we got home. He knew immediately that his hoomins had cheated on him.

Even though it made Aslan jealous, I just couldn't resist all this cuteness. It's like happiness covered in fur.

Please welcome Julien (up top), Zoie (below) and Kessa (the other one). They all have wonderful owners who love them very much, so they are lucky ducks puppies. If you would like one of your own, you might try here.

By the way, Zoie has the puppy dog eyes perfected. If you need to learn how, your guide is below.

Kessa is the wise one of the bunch. Such a sweetie.

Julien is a ham. He is also affectionately known as Puppy McPuppy Pants.

I have never seen such a connection between a man and his dog as the one that my dad and his buddy share. They are two peas in a pod.

Zoie is definitely a furry child.

Family Portrait! You might recognize these two...

And I'll end with this one. Doin' the happy dance...

...cause it's almost the end of the week! Hooray!