Meet our new live-in named MICKEY

update: I came home today & the mouse had already died...maybe it was the glass shards from the fall, or a broken rib----or a broken heart! Just kidding, but now at least I don't have to look at it and wonder what in the world we're going to do with the baby rodent!

It's no secret that with the beauty and comfort of So. Cal. also comes residents of the rodent variety aka mice. They've lived here even long before we moved in and apparently find it quite nice. We have set out traps (yes, the inhumane kind) and recently we put out bait. The whole idea is that they're supposed to nibble at the poison food and then go off to die. So the trick is finding dead mice in nooks and crannies they call home and I call MY STUFF!

Right before Vivie came home we pulled her cradle, stroller and bouncy chair out of the garage only to find that a mouse had eaten through each of these items, leaving months worth of poop along the way--embedded in my fabric. We found the culprit crushed at the bottom of the cradle. GROSS! I had to ditch these baby items and scrounge to get replacements.

Through the summer the battle of the mice not only cost me those baby items, it cost me a handbag (it was left in the garage with diapers, etc. to grab & go.) And I'm sure we've yet to find other goods the mice have adopted as their own.

This morning Curt walked outside and found a mouse scurrying about the kids toys strewn on the garage floor and chucked it into the trash just in time for the garbage truck to take him to his new home at the dump. Apparently the more humane poison doesn't work fast enough because the boogers are multiplying like rabbits and then leaving their babies to fend for themselves.

I must be a very compassionate person. This afternoon as I walked outside to take Lexie to preschool, I was stunned to see a baby mouse huddled on the driveway slowly turning in circles, but still brand new (I'm certain it was a preemie like Vivie!!!) enough that it could not open his eyes or move much. I grabbed my camera, and as I slouched to shoot the pic little Mickey cried! I do not have the heart to send this baby away to the dump so I grabbed a mason jar and he has found a new home. The only problem is Izzie & Lexie are INTENT on petting this creature.

UPS came with a huge delivery so I had them deposit the goods in the garage. The brown-uniformed guy accidentally knocked my baby mouse jar and it went splattering to the ground! I'm sure they thought I'm just a little weird housing a critter like that in a jar. I'm just sure the poor thing now has a broken rib or something--I feel SO bad! As I scooped him back off the ground, he let out more cries--I couldn't bear it! It's now in a new jar-home with little slivers of glass on its furry back and a few cheerios to nibble at.

Curt thinks I'm demented because no matter how much destruction those dumb little mice have caused, I can't bring myself to hurt this one anymore and chuck it. You'll see...when Curt gets home and sees this refugee he will take pity on it too. I know the other kids will love to see it to. And I guess I already know what mice eat---pretty much anything in my garage!

I don't know what's worse--watching the baby mouse die while trying to save it or letting it die at my own hands by leaving it in the trash can!!! Can't do it! Maybe the green poison food will find its way into the jar this afternoon---at least then it will die with a full tummy!