It's a BOY! No, I'm not pregnant....

Do you think I'd announce to my own mother that I was having a boy over the internet on my blog? Haha.  Nope.  Not pregnant.  Not even close....

But, here goes:  Our girl cat is actually a boy cat.  Yes.  It's true.  And awful.  Next time you find yourself in a situation where you have to get your cat fixed but can't afford it, save up instead and DON'T take them to a near-free clinic for "low income families" where you're put on a wait-list for a month. Let me tell you how horrible this is.

Ok so first off all, this happened to me in 7th grade too, with Baxter the boy/girl.  Why is it always ME??

This is Lux....MAD about the whole situation.

Second of all, here's the story:  We got Lux from a less-than stellar home environment.  I saved her him from a place that was so gross I was gagging as I walked in.  I should have known right then and there not to trust the people who told me she he was a girl.  But I didn't really think about it.  I just thought- "this little girl kitty is adorable and we are naming her Lux."  She he was so tiny that they probably did think she he was truly a girl.

So we totally got used to saying "she" and "her" and all that.  We gave him a girly name.  She/he was a GIRL to us.  A few weeks after we brought him/her home, she/he was sprawled on his/her back (this he/she thing is getting confusing....) and I noticed that she/he had something in his/her "nether regions" that looked suspicious.  I called Shawn over and made him inspect and he said "it's probably just the way cats look down there.  She's a girl, Britt."  Never again did I check.  Fast forward 6 weeks when she/he was ready to be fixed, and we get a phone call from the vet saying "Um, Lux is a boy."  We were shocked.  We were like, no way.  That cant be true.

But sure enough, we looked "down there" when he/she got home and it was very clear that HE was not a SHE.  In our defense, he is still very small because he's still a baby!

But here's the sad part.  The part that makes me so mad I wish I could sue them for hurting my cat:

They didn't realize that Lux was a boy until they sliced him open in the stomach and couldn't find a uterus!  THEY DIDN'T CHECK FIRST.  Shawn brought him home and he was sleeping in his crate, so Shawn didn't even check before he left the clinic.  When Lux got home and we took him out of his crate, I wondered why his whole belly was shaved and he had a 4 inch incision in his stomach.  When neutering a male, they simply take out their testicles... they don't cut their stomach open.  SO, I called the vet fuming "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY CAT??"  And very non-nonchalantly they told me "this stuff happens.  we prep them for surgery and once they're under the knife, we notice we can't perform the correct procedure.  Don't worry- we stitched him back up and then we neutered him."  So my poor Luxy was cut open in 2 places that day.  Does anyone else think this qualifies as malpractice???  The horrible thing is, they didn't even say sorry.  Even after I spoke my mind, they didn't care.  They were mad at ME for telling them he was a girl!  Don't you think before you do a surgery on an animal you should check for obvious male/female parts????????  I still get SO mad when I think about it. I mean, I know that Lux is OK now, but instead of one painful body part sliced open, he had 2.  A double whammy.  How could they be SO STUPID?  I know we are partly to blame for not knowing, but we aren't doctors or vets.  How could we know?  We didn't go to school for that.

Let me tell you, I have since looked it up and found out how to tell the gender of a kitten before the "parts" have fully developed, but at the time, I wasn't aware.

Now, we can't change his name because he knows his name is Lux and the girls know him as Lux.  And how do you explain to a 2 year old that you're changing her cat's name?  Nope.  We will now be calling him Mr. Lux.  We love him just as much, but it is still hard for me to say "him" instead of "her."  It was a mind-battle to completely change my way of thinking about my cat.  Shawn laughs and says we had a transgender cat.  Men!  But no, in all seriousness, Shawn was super excited to have a little buddy.  He loved Lux as a girl, but now that he has a boy in his corner, he's ecstatic!

So Luxy Lady is no more.  It's Mr. Lux from here on out.  And luckily he's too young to remember his days as a "girl."  Hehehe!

Anyway, we had a couple of events last week.  One, we took Piper to the dentist for the first time and she did great.  She was a little hesitant, but opened for the Dr. to count her teeth and deem them healthy:)  She has a Frenum that she needs snipped, but we have no idea when that will happen.  Other than that, both girls have clean teeth :)  Lucy loved the dentist this time!  That is the first time she hasn't screamed bloody murder and tried to kick the doctor away.  She usually HATES the dentist.  I think it's 'cause this time she understood what a dentist was and we went to a pediatric dentist, so it made a world of a difference.  Phew!



And last but not least, I turned 27.  It was a nice day.  I was royally spoiled with kindness from all my friends and family.  Phone calls, texts, Facebook messages, cards, gifts, etc.  What a perfect birthday I had.  Not to mention the sun was out and it was a beautiful Spring day.  And for the first time in way too many years I was able to spend my special day at Nana Smidt's house again where I had my favorite meal:  Rolled Tacos (with Chocolate Bundt Cake for dessert).  YUM.  I had a perfect birthday. (With steamed crab legs the night before....as tradition goes. Thanks Shawn!)
Thank you to everyone who made me feel like a million bucks!

Had to snap a couple pics of me driving around in the SUNSHINE with my babies!

 Noelle Ball had a track meet and I was so happy to get to watch her run! Goooo Nolls!

At lunch one day, I found Lucy had wedged her Barbie in between the wall and table to feed her some Lucky Charms. I love kids.

Shawn is so sweet.  I walked outside the other day and saw this carving in our fence (don't worry, it's a super old, beat up fence so no one will notice when we leave....and if they do, it's nothing a little sand paper wont fix;-) ).  It's all of our initials, plus Lux.  Sometimes he does the sweetest things.

 Piper's first Pony Tail!  She's 15 months old and I can finally pull it all back. I LOVE IT!

 The view going down Potlatch Hill never gets old.  Coeur d'Alene is absolutely beautiful.

 I love my Nana Dear.  She gives everything she has to everyone she loves.  What an angel she is.

This is definitely one of my all-time favorite pictures.  Not only is this a picture of 2 of my absolute favorite people in the world, but both of their shirts are from Colorado, and this baby girl is from Colorado too :)

 Happy Spring everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Until Next Time!