Willie

Tim and I have 4 pets: two dogs (Willie and Dora) and two cats (Peaches and Lucy).  Tim has had Dora for over 4 years (since before I knew him).  She is an 80lb lab/pit mix and she is a wonderful, loving companion.  She is a nurturer and is always checking on us. When she does something wrong, she bows her head in shame until we forgive her and tell her it's ok.  It's like she really cares how we feel.  I love our big, patient, cuddle bug.

Dora Eleanor

I love cats (Tim calls me a crazy cat lady).  Right after we bought our house, we adopted two 9 month old sisters.  They aren't very social (our vet told us that socializing needs to happen by 6 months) and they generally hide if there are strangers at our house or if we are making noise, but I love my crazy cats.

Peaches and Lucy

I love all of our animals very, very much.  While I wouldn't say that I love Willie more than Dora, Peaches, or Lucy, he does have an extra special place in my heart.  Tim and I had thought about getting a friend for Dora before, since she spends her days in our yard alone while we are at work, but we kept coming to the conclusion that we didn't need the extra work a puppy brings.  While we were going through fertility treatments, I went through periods or stress, anxiousness, and depression.  I wanted a baby so badly.  I was ready for one but the drugs just weren't working and that was hard and upsetting.  Tim and I started talking about puppies again, and I became puppy crazy.  Tim likes big dogs and thought he'd like a Samoyed, but since we already had a big dog, I was hoping for something a little smaller, something that wasn't stronger than me.  We came across American Eskimo dogs, which look like miniature Samoyeds!  I started looking for breeders and found one that had a litter of puppies, and when I saw Willie's little baby face, I instantly fell in love.

Baby Willie.

Obviously I had to have him.

We got Willie from the breeder a few weeks later, when he was old enough to leave his mom. I held him and snuggled him the whole way home, about a 3 hour drive.  He liked to be carried around (like a baby, of course) and whined when he was alone.  Dora took to him right away, and Willie warmed up to her as soon as he figured out she wasn't going to eat him.  He was my little, fluffy, 6lb baby, and although I never stopped thinking about our struggles and hoping for a (human) baby, Willie definitely helped me get through those times.

Snuggling with Daddy

Me and the Will

 

Nap time

 

Willie is full grown now at 10 months old and 15lbs.  He's still my snuggle bug and still likes to be held like a baby.  He has quite the personality.  He thinks he is bigger than Dora and tries to boss her around.  He loves to play and sleep.  Don't try to move him while he is sleeping, though, even if he is on your lap.  He doesn't like that.  Although you can tell he loves us by the way he follows us around and snuggles, it is clear that he isn't as concerned about pleasing us the way Dora is.  He's more of a pet me, feed me, play with me now kind of guy.

He LOVES popcorn and ice.  And his food, Dora's food, and the cats' food.  Really any type of food or anything he perceives to be edible.  He once broke into a new bag of Dora's food and ate, well, about 5lbs worth.  We didn't realize what he'd done, but he wasn't sleeping well that night and his belly was huge and hard.  When we picked him up, he would cry.  We weighed him and he was almost 20lbs.  Tim and I were really worried about him.  We each took a turn during the work day to go home and check on him.  After a couple ginormous poops and throwing up on the carpet, he started to perk up a bit.  Then we saw the hole in the bag of food.  It didn't take us long to put 2 and 2 together. 

Whatever Willie sees that he thinks might be edible, he eats.  He's a bit of a trouble maker, but I love him.  I still loved him after he got car sick in my Jeep (between the seat and the center console - worst place ever), after he ate an entire cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper (and threw it up), after he chewed up one of his brand new toys and ate it (and threw it up) and each night when he wakes us up (we are counting on Olivia to annoy the crap out of him while he is trying to sleep - revenge).  I guess you could say Willie is teaching us patience and unconditional love before we have a child to clean up after, watch constantly to make sure they don't hurt themselves, and teach right from wrong.  Willie will always be my baby and I am so appreciative of his companionship.

Big Willie!

Still loves nap time

 

 And he will forever and ever be my baby

~Kaylee

p.s. A big thank you to Tim for taking care of Big Will.  I know the deal was that I was going to wake up at night to take him outside half the time, but I appreciate you putting this mama's rest ahead of your own to do it every night.  You're my hero <3