Three cats and a baby

We have three cats (Rooney, Peyton and Gabby). Before having Olivia, my cats were my babies. I was obsessed. Despite my allergies and feeling like death the first few weeks we got them, I still loved them. After having Olivia, my feelings have definitely changed. I still like the cats (sometimes) but they are more of an annoyance than anything. After having kids, pets are just so much harder to take care of. I can't speak about dogs because I don't have any but I assume they would be much harder since I specifically wanted cats so I didn't have to walk them or play with them 24/7. Also, I would have felt bad leaving a dog home alone for eight hours a day, cats don't seem to mind (I think they actually prefer it). Ever since I've been a stay at home mom, the cats stare at me like they are plotting my murder. I know this is going to sound mean but, finding a new home for the cats wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. However, my husband is dead set against that which I understand. Since he is against that, he takes all responsibility for them (feeding them, cleaning up after them and buying them litter and food). Unfortunately being home all day, the burden still falls on me more than I would like. The most annoying and disgusting thing is hairballs. If you have never seen a hairball, please Google the image, now go wash your eyes out with soap (and trust that it's much worse in person). Only one of our cats vomits hairballs up on a weekly basis but it is the most disgusting thing you will ever see. I rather clean up Olivia's diarrhea on a daily basis than clean up Rooney's hairballs once a week. Not only are they gross but they appear at the worst times! Always when I am trying to rush out the door because I'm late to Olivia's doctor appointment or play date. I'm thinking "yay! we are going to make it with one minute to spare!" and then I turn the corner into the kitchen and bam! A massive disgusting black hairball. Sometimes I debate just leaving it there (ugh too gross) but I can't. I have to clean it up while gagging the whole time. Here's a horror story for you.. one time one of the cats (not sure which one) threw up some undigested dry cat food. Before I realized it was there, I saw Olivia grab something and put it in her mouth. NOOOOOO. Yup. My child ate cat vomit. I quickly moved her and cleaned it up but it was too late. I kept giving her cookies and goldfish (crackers not real goldfish) to eat to get rid of the taste but she didn't even seem bothered by the taste. I can't help but cringe every time I think of it but she was completely unaffected. We keep the litter box in the basement (which is finished) but every time I go down there it smells terrible. I just hate the smell of cat litter, even mixed with air freshener it's just gross. Rooney and Peyton beat the crap out of each other a few times a day and it causes fur to fly everywhere, they usually do this in the carpeted areas of the house (thanks guys!) So I'll admit that I rarely vacuum, I hate vacuuming so Paul does it. Although I find it quite pointless because fifteen minutes later, cat fur is everywhere again. It amazes me how much Rooney sheds. We can make another five cats out of the fur he leaves around the house during the week. Another pain in the... is when they get in my way, I am constantly tripping over a cat. I swear they do it on purpose. They are always making me spill something. Olivia absolutely loves the cats, so much that I started calling her Elmira (the little girl from Tiny Toons who takes her affection for animals a little too far). She loves them so much she wants to squeeze them to death (literally). Her favorite word ever is "cat". Unfortunately her love is not reciprocated. In fact I'm pretty sure that the cats hate Olivia with a fiery passion. She likes to pull and bite their tails, attempt to rip out their fur and smack them on the head. This has led to a few scratches to the face. I try my best to teach her "nice" or keep them separated but it doesn't work all the time. They drive me insane (Jackson Galaxy, please come to our house!) Playing referee is getting old and cleaning up baby puke and poop is enough for me, I don't want to deal with an animals mess along with it. Here's a quick run down on how our cats have changed after Olivia was born.

Rooney in Olivia's high chair (eye roll) and making a creepy face on my lap.

Rooney before Olivia - The fur ball who loves to vomit. Our craziest cat. He used to be a wild, rough, active cat who was not much into cuddling. He was a bit of a bully to the other cats even though he is the smallest.

Rooney after Olivia - He is now an overly needy little mama's boy. The second (and that's not an exaggeration) I sit down on the couch, Rooney is on my lap. It's sweet sometimes but mostly very annoying because I don't want a cat on top of me 24/7. He also cries outside the door whenever we are in the bedroom. Super annoying. He is okay with Olivia and will usually just run away from her instead of trying to attack, I appreciate that. Sometimes when she is bugging him, he shoots me a look like "get this kid away from me or I'm drawing blood" So at least I can tell when he's thinking about it. So far no documented Rooney attacks, they have luckily all been avoided.

 Peyton trying to fit his fat butt into a box and jumping on the counter to avoid Liv.

Peyton before Olivia - My Favorite! 90% of the time you will find Peyton sleeping on the couch (the cushion is permanently saggy because of him). He really only gets up for food so the other 10% of his time is spent eating. He's our sweetest cat, he's so big (about 20lbs) but wouldn't hurt a fly. We always call him our gentle giant. He was in my lap a lot and loved affection from me but was always pretty lazy.

Peyton after Olivia - Still super lazy but a lot less affectionate and a little more mean. I thought he would do the best with Olivia but I was wrong. He's been the worst. He is the one who has given her a few scratches to the face. Although warranted because she bit his tail, he's still a jerk. However, he loves her when she's feeding him baby food off her fingers. We like to call Peyton "Lennie" now (Of Mice and Men) because we don't think he really means to hurt her, he's just a big dummy and doesn't know his own strength.

 Gabby laying in the living room (rare occasion) and staring out the window.

Gabby before Olivia - "Who?!" Yeah we have a girl cat but she hides in the basement for at least twenty two hours a day. She was a stray and taken away from her mother too early so she never learned social skills. She is so darn adorable but only lets me pet her every once in a while. She steers clear of Paul and Olivia at all costs.

Gabby after Olivia - Exactly the same except she comes upstairs even less than before (unless Paul and Liv are sleeping). At least she runs away from Olivia instead of attacking her but I'm pretty sure she's Liv's favorite cat. Probably because Liv barely sees her, she gets super excited every time she does but she ends up yelling in excitement and Gabby runs back downstairs within seconds.