New Pet

Natalie went to visit Michael's parents this weekend, so we decided to go out with some friends last night. Probably the last time we'll get to do that before Laney gets here. We ate at Olive Garden and then had coffee at Barnes and Noble. It was so much fun! That is, until we got home about 11. Let me give you a little background on earlier that day before I begin our story...

We have a mini Yorkie, Chloe, who is spoiled rotten. She loves to sleep on the couch all day long (unless Nat is chasing her trying to pet her). Well, yesterday she stayed in the kitchen staring and sniffing at the same spot by our stove and fridge. She didn't move much from that spot. I thought it was weird, but didn't think too much about it at first. We've had problems with squirrels getting into our attic and another one got stuck up there. (We have checked it out several times and still haven't figured out how they're getting in. Another honey do for my sweet husband.) So, I thought maybe that's what Chloe was smelling. I got a flashlight and checked around, but I didn't see anything. Michael did the same thing when he got home for lunch. And of course, Natalie had to check it out, too. I thought maybe we had a mouse, too. So, I figured we'd set some traps sometime this weekend. Okay, now fast forward a few hours to our arrival home....

We walked in the door and Chloe was so happy to greet us. That's nothing new. I walked into the kitchen and noticed animal pellets all over the floor. Great, it came out while we were gone. Then, I noticed mail had been knocked off the countertop and the fly swatter had been knocked off the top of the fridge. That's strange. Michael starts looking through the house following a trail of pellets. He calls out, "You have to come see this and bring a flashlight." My first thought, "Great, we have a huge rat in our house." So, I go to Natalie's room and look on top of her curtains only to see an animal hunched up there!!! I was almost in tears at the thought of something in my little girl's room. We couldn't tell what it was at first. So, we turned the light on and behold a squirrel! Not, just a little one either. It was almost the size of Chloe. We are pretty sure it fell out of an open vent in the kitchen (we have to have a cover custom made for it, so it's not covered yet) and Chloe chased it through the house and "treed" it in Natalie's room! I'm sure she sat there on the floor guarding it until we got home. The squirrel didn't move for a while. Now I'm thinking, "Great, this thing is going to send me into labor and I'm not going to get the house cleaned up from the mess it's made." So, we took some pictures and video while we figured out what to do. Now, the squirrel is barking at Michael and it's pretty funny. We weren't really sure how to get it out of the house so we called our friend Johnny, whom we had gone out to eat with earlier. He brings a pellet gun and Michael shoots the squirrel in the nose. It just looks at him and barks a few more times. We decided to close all the bedroom doors and open the front and back doors in hopes that it will run outside. Luckily, they got it down and out with no problems. Yeah! I'm so thankful that Natalie wasn't home. She wouldn't have been scared, but it would have been even crazier. I can just hear her now, "Me pet the squirrel. Me hold the squirrel." She would have thought it was her new pet!

What a way to spend a Friday night-good food, great friends, and an interesting squirrel chase to top of the night. Of course, I didn't go into labor so we're still waiting on Miss Laney to come. I hope your Friday night was enjoyable as well!