How much is that Doggy in the window? ruff ruff

With all the extra curricular activities we got going on and especially the traveling we do with Hudson's comp baseball team we are always looking for someone to watch Noel. I've decided that it is too much and we have to sell her. We are so sad but we are just not a pet family I guess. When Tierra turned 4, I bought her a Conure for her birthday. We had just gone to Disneyland and there was a Tiki room with talking parrots so we named him Tiki.
When I bought Tiki, he bit my finger at the store and it bled pretty bad so I was a little concerned about Tierra handling him. But this is holding him the day after we got him. He was such a good bird. He had personality. We taught him to say "hello" and we'd set him on the outside of his cage and say "potty Tiki" and he'd go, then we could hold him without worrying he'd poop on us. He loved showers. I took him in the shower with me and Tierra would wrap him in a towel and he'd just lay there. She pushed him around in her doll stroller too.
This is Tierra's 1st day of her 3rd year in preschool (since she has a Sept. birthday) and she wanted to pose with her pet bird and her pet dog Scooby Doo. After I got married and we moved into our house Tiki was irritable, he picked all his feathers out on his chest and squawked a lot. After I had Hudson, I was irritable! I was so tired and needed my sleep and Tiki would squawk for attention and wake Hudson up and I just couldn't take it anymore. I was also the one cleaning his ginormous cage. As a family we took him to a pet store when Hudson was about 10 months old. I regret it now. Looking back I don't think he was that bad, but I realize at the time it was too much for me to handle. We miss him.
In 2003 Santa brought Tierra a puppy. She named her Noel and we have had her for 5 years. Tierra has always had a soft spot for animals, so I thought Noel would be Tierra's best friend, someone she could cuddle with in bed and talk to and keep her company. She was for a couple of years but then as she became a teenager, she didn't have time for Noel anymore. I am the one picking up poop in the backyard so my boys can go out and play without any "incidents". Sometimes even the boys would scoop poop for 5 cents a dropping. But I'm the one taking her for walks, I'm the one feeding her, I'm the one cleaning up her accidents in the house. And telling T to give her a bath or feed her is like pulling teeth. grumble, mumble.
Tierra still loves Noel and the boys certainly don't want to give her away but we need to face the facts. My mom can't tend Noel because she's not suppose to have pets where she lives, I don't want to nor do we have the money for her to stay at the kennel. My brother has 2 dogs of his own and their boy Yorkie drives Noel insane, sniffing and jumping all over her constantly! With Baseball tournaments coming up in March, I don't see that we really have a choice. We are gone for days at a time staying in hotels. When we aren't playing in tournaments we are gone to double headers every Saturday, being gone for at least 6 hours or more at a time.
Tierra made calendars for her friends one year for Christmas. Noel just lays there and lets her do whatever. Tierra would kill me if she knew I put this picture on with her eyes closed. But I took, no kidding, 8 pictures in a row. She can't keep her eyes open with the flash on my camera. I turned it off but then the picture was orange.

Oh and don't forget last fall when Noel had puppies. They were so much fun!
Logan was only 2 but he was so gentle and loved those puppies. He is always giving Noel attention and trying to hold her and cuddle her. She doesn't mind, but she prefers older people to little people.
So I have her listed on KSL and a lady called an hour later and came and gave me half the money until I could go get Noel's Rabie shots which are overdue. I was so excited because this lady was retired and had a dog for Noel to play with and it seemed perfect. But she called back a day later and said her husband wasn't ready for another dog. What a let down. All the kids had told her goodbye and we were all ready for the transition. Oh well, hopefully we will find the perfect home for her.

So I don't think we'll be getting any more pets for a long time. I kind of want a hamster. Larry says no way. We don't like fish. Larry (and Tierra) want a Boxer. Are you kidding me? Then we'd have huge poops to be picking up. And where will the Boxer go while we're gone? They just don't get it!