Mr. B & Pickle Bff's

Mr. B has been with us for almost 17 years, well he has been with me for almost 17 years and Joel adopted him about 8 years ago. Mr. B is the cat formerly known as Clyde. We lost his sister Bonnie and started to call him Mr. B since Clyde was no longer a fitting name.

Mr. B is a total mammas boy and always has been. His formative years he was raised by me and he has a lot of my personality traits. He is always cold and cuddles under blankets with me, he is a bit girlie and whiney and is very high maintenance.

Mr. B has always been my lap cat and likes to cuddle most of the time, however since I have found out I was pregnant Mr. B has taken this to the next level. I cannot sit without him being on my lap/belly. He will follow me around the house mewing at me until I sit down. If I bend to take clothes out of the dryer or put them in a drawer he will try to climb in my lap as I am bent down. He is in the shower with me and even joins me as I try to go to the bathroom. I try to do work at the computer and he is cuddled up in my lap and will get annoyed if I move around to much. It has been somewhat taxing having a cat on me 24/7.

So the other night I was sitting on the couch and Mr. B was in his spot his head resting on my belly when I felt a thump right underneath his head-a Pickle kick. Mr. B lifted his head looked at my belly and took his paw and thumped my belly right back. I believe Mr. B is going to keep Pickle in line. It occurred to me then that Mr. B and Pickle are BFF’s and he is protecting her. If Joel tries to rub my belly Mr. B will swat him away or give his annoyed face.. I can barely rub my belly or I get the same! Anytime I start to feel sick at all once Mr. B jumps on my lap and cuddles up Pickle settles down immediately. We are very interested to see how Mr. B will react once Pickle is born. I believe he will not be jealous like I thought originally but he will be her protector and BFF.

Neko on the other hand has been raised by the both of us – and he is a manly cat. A hefty 23 pound jealous ox. He is cute but loud and opinionated. Pickle is going to need all the help she can get from Mr. B to fend off the google monster.

It's a Girl..

IT’S A GIRL!!

We found out at our ultrasound on April 13, 2009 that Pickle is a girl! We were very excited and immediately called the grandparents and headed home to let everyone know.

Shortly after we had sent word to everyone Joel started to shake and mention boys, dating and paying for weddings – so I got him out of the house as quick as possible to keep his mind off what lies ahead..

The story of Pickle...

This is the story of how we came to call our baby pickle. I apologize in advance, I am told by my husband and my mother I tend to dramatize and drag out stories. I see it differently and find that I tend to make them more interesting. Tomato-Tomato.

The story starts in early December. Joel and I had just gotten back from Atlanta where we had a quick visit to Matt (Joel’s brother) and Lori (our sister in law). I was back at work and feeling a bit off. I decided to pick up a test on the way home just in case. There was really no reason other than a few symptoms I was having. I bought an ept -2 tests in one. Went home took the test and it said – (negative). So I threw out the box and stored the extra stick for later.

Flash ahead to early January. I was feeling really odd, had a few things going on that were not normal. So Joel and I are home during a major snowstorm on a Saturday afternoon. Joel was settled in playing a game and I was watching tv. I thought hmm I have that test, it wouldn’t hurt to take it just to see. So off I trot up the stairs – 3 minutes later I am in the bathroom baffled by this stick I have in front of me. It has 2 circles and one has a positive sign and one has a negative sign in it. Now I have thrown the box and directions away back in December when I took the first test. So now I have no idea what this means. I sneak downstairs and try googling it- but there are a million ept tests and I have no name of which one I am using. So I trot back upstairs shaking like a leaf, grab my stick and trot back downstairs and stare at Joel. He looks up- sees my face jumps up and says what?? So I say nothing but offer up my stick. So now Joel is googling and can’t make heads or tales of this stick either. So he declares – get your shoes on were headed to CVS.

Now there is about 8 inches of snow on the ground already and we are in the midst of this huge storm. So we schlep (yes schlep!) out and head to CVS. Joel goes in and comes out with about 20 tests (exaggeration) that do not have any plus or minus signs- they simply say yes or no. Teehee. So we head home with our sticks.

I trot myself back up the stairs and use the 1st stick. Wouldn’t you know the damn thing stays blank. There is not a yes or no in the circle –its just blank. Now we have to wait because I need to replenish myself with a gallon of water. So anyway, an hour later here we go again and we get a clear YES. So we stare at each other dumbfounded, how, well not how did this happen but when?? We start thinking and I say OH MY GOSH- the holidays and all the celebrating and then New Years Eve! This poor baby is going to be PICKLED! And it stuck from that moment on Joel referred to our baby as lil pickle and everyone picked up on it. So long Buckethead- one bad nickname for another. The mention of the Atlanta trip is due to the fact that my husband insists on telling his brother pickle was conceived during our trip to Atlanta – and I will leave it at that!

So that is the story of where we got the nickname pickle for our little princess.