Hello, Molly!

~Peter here~

For those of you that have been following this blog, you know that we've been hanging out with our neighbor's cat a lot lately. For even longer, we've been contemplating one of our own.

...Well, after much careful consideration, and a more than careful consideration of the free kittens on kslclassifieds.com, we've officially welcomed Molly into our home. We first found her online about 3 weeks ago. I forwarded the listing to April while I was in Oregon. She called the girl and talked to her about Molly (who was then un-named) and her 2 siblings (who are not with us). We arranged to visit the kittens the weekend I was coming back into town.

That weekend we stopped by the house in Provo where Molly was born and saw the 3 kittens. I liked Molly the best. She has a brother with very similar markings (think he had an "M") but with white paws, and a sister that is mostly black. One of the things I liked best about her was the cool "M" on her forehead. I liked her personality the best too. The night we visited was still a little early for her to be separated from her mom (she was 7 weeks old at the time) so we told the owners that we'd think about it and let them know what we decided. We called back the next day and discussed pick-up around Halloween. That next week I made a trip to PetSmart and spent $100 (a lot for a "free" kitten) on supplies. Halloween came and we were unable to get her since everyone (us and the owners) were out for the evening, so we arranged to get her the next day, Saturday the 1st of November (Molly was then 8 weeks old and ready to be on her own).

The owners were kind enough to drive down from Provo to Spanish Fork to meet us and make the swap. As we were pulling into the parking lot of Arctic Circle, April said, "They're driving a silver 4-door Kia. Wait! That's them right in front of us!" The kitten was standing up in the back window of the car. :-)

We pulled into the parking lot and made a quick switch and after some last minute instructions, the owners took off. April and the boys went in for a quick bite to eat at Arctic Circle and the kitten stayed with Autumn and I in the car. I let the cat wander around my lap a bit, but was wary to let her explore the car too much. I didn't want her getting stuck under the seat or something... Anyway, after a few minutes and lots of petting from Autumn, she curled up and fell asleep on my lap where she remained, asleep, until we pulled into the driveway.

After April and the boys had been in the restaurant for several minutes, I casually asked Autumn what she thought we should name the kitty. "Gog," was her reply. This is the name she has made up and applied to stuffed animals, dolls, and anything else she can think of naming. We have no idea where she got it. I replied, "How 'bout Molly?" since I figured with a big "M" on her forehead, she ought to have a name that starts with that letter.

Apparently, Brandon and Ethan had been working with April on names while they ate. They boys wanted a funny/crazy name, but towards the end of the conversation, April asked the boys, "What about Molly for a name?". After they got in the car and we were heading home, we started talking about names and figured out that I had asked Autumn and April had asked the boys about the name Molly within a couple minutes of each other, completely independently. Neither of us had discussed it before. We all like the name though, so that's what we've stuck with.

The kids love playing with her, she's been very nice to all of us so far, has only had one potty accident (in the first 24 hours at our house) but we think that was because she wasn't sure yet where the litter box was, and likes to curl up and sleep in your lap.

Here are some pictures:

This was the first night we brought her home. Notice the "M".
When we first brought her home her eye was sorta goopy,
but it's cleared right up. That's why she looks like she's winking.

Sleeping on the ottoman that goes with the IKEA chair.

In the IKEA chair. (I think this is her favorite place.)

If the IKEA chair isn't her favorite place, then it's this one (especially since this last week has been SO cold: on the shelf, on a blanket, in the end table next to our couch.