The Bunch Celebrate MiMi's First Birthday And Thanksgiving

Ok, T had to make the cake for his Home EC class so it wasn't technically for MiMi's birthday, but it worked!😂

Yes, A wanted to celebrate her baby's first birthday. Yes, she bought a party kit complete with decorations, balloons, hats, and birthday bandana. Yes, I was totally on board with the celebration! It's something A was really excited about so we wanted to share that with her, plus MiMi is pretty cute and we all love her. I can't believe she is FINALLY a year old! It feels like we have had her forever, which I guess we have. She was literally a newborn when we got her and for the longest 6 weeks we rotated taking turns taking her potty (you have to stimulate urination and defecation in newborn kittens and puppies for the first few weeks. Mommy usually does this by licking them) and feeding her a bottle every TWO hours day and night. It was exhausting. Now, she is a year old and mostly an adult cat that likes to sleep and play with her sisters and new brother.

Everyone participated in the party!

MiMi starting her high!😂

We blew up about a dozen balloons which the high one played with and subsequently popped so then we had to take them all away.

Noelle had her party bow on.

Noelle was less obviously high on catnip.

Maisy being crazy!

T's new dog has moved flawlessly into our lives. He is the most chill dog ever, which is great since Maisy is the most uptight freak ever! He doesn't chase ANY of the animals, even the deck bunnies are safe, which is good since they are so tame they come out with him around and think nothing of it. He walks around with Murdoch, the roo, and sleeps next to him on the deck. Gwenie, our adorable sweet tempered donkey, HATES him though. He will walk out with me to feed the horses and Gwen will put her head down, snort, and ram the fence at him. The horse could care less. Since Iris has become an old lady horse, she is extremely calm and laid back. I couldn't tell you the last time she threw one of her notorious tantrums. It has been at least two years. She just plods a long living life. The worst thing she ever does is try to shake us off her leg when we clean her feet and even that is rare. For MiMi's birthday we got the cats catnip squeeze up treats. This also happened to be the day we introduced them to T's dog, Axl. MiMi kept trying to play with his tail and smell his nose, which A was a little worried about since we don't really know this dog and that's her baby. We finally put two and two together and realized the cats were crazy high on catnip and that's why they were being so weird with the new dog. 😂 They were more apprehensive the next day, but they are still fine. Maisy, not surprisingly, is NOT adjusting well. It really helps that Axl is so chill and just gives her side eye at her crazy meltdowns. We got her some anxiety meds to help, but I think one whole tablet is too much! I thought I might have killed her! Tomorrow we'll try half a tablet. I want her awake to interact and not just pass out!

Pills are good. I don't think she'll remember this tomorrow.

We had our normal low key Thanksgiving. A was super excited that I made pretty much everything up the day before so I could watch the parade with her without having to go do stuff. We watched it live at 7:30 am. We both got up extra early so we could feed the animals and get stuff done before it started and then sat down for the whole 3 hours and watched the parade. It's been a family tradition for forever and A is huge on traditions. Afterwards, we watched the dog show, but I did have to do some stuff during that. We also made our gingerbread houses, which of course wouldn't stay up. Next year, we're just making T's gingerbread cookies! He gave up 3 years ago on having his walls stand up! It was a quiet day since D had to work per the usual, but the kids and I enjoyed it. We're decorating for Christmas this weekend and are getting into the holiday spirit, which is easier now that it isn't in the 80's!

T is exhausted from getting Axl use to sleeping in his room. He is surprisingly a great indoor dog. Actually, he is just a great dog period. I can't believe a stray is so well behaved! He could show Maisy a few things.