Have YOU seen this "bunny"?

No luck ... I'm at a loss. I can't seem to locate a replica of Elizabeth's "bunny" anywhere on the internet. I'm at the point of sending out a mass letter to all of the generous people who bought gifts when the babies were born and asking who it was that sent these little stuffed animals to us in the first place. I feel bad that I can't remember where "bunny" came from, exactly ... but I know he was a gift, from someplace on the east coast. If the person who bought him can remember - maybe they can go back to the store and see if there are any more left. Do I sound desperate? I am. I've never considered the possibility "there is no more bunny". Yep, we've got the back-up lamb and bear ... but like I said, there's nothing just like "bunny". Good Heavens. If something were to ever happen to this stuffed animal ... I shudder just thinking of it.




I'm attaching a series of photos illustrating our beloved "bunny" and I'm sending out a plea for help. If anyone has seen a bunny that looks like this "bunny" (made by Baby Boyds) please let me know where I can find it. I will be forever grateful.

Here's "bunny" laying around with some jelly on his ear. He needs to be washed, big time. The reason he hasn't been washed can be found in my "other news" section, below.

"Bunny" from the back ... he's got a white tail. Cute little guy, huh?

IN OTHER NEWS ... our 17-month old washing machine broke down on us today. Actually, it was Sunday. As I was heading out the door for our morning walk ... my eye caught the reflection of a pool of water on the laundry room floor. Water that is on the floor of your house that you didn't put there and/or have no knowledge of where that water originated from ... that's never a good thing. Especially when that pool of water is emanating from beneath your most VALUED appliance. A brief inspection by Charlie revealed that there are a bunch of electronic parts underneath the washer, and when he tipped it on end ... buckets of water gushed out. It's busted for sure.

This washer, which we purchased just before the babies came home from the hospital, has been the most well used and loved appliance in our home ... for the past year and a half. We show this washer just how much we love it ... by loading it with clothes, bibs, pajamas and towels, on average - 2 times a day. Over the course of a week, that's 14 loads of laundry. Over the course of 17-months that's almost 1,000 loads. Surely the "life" of a washer is better than 1,000 loads of laundry. Right?

Charlie was on the phone with a customer service representative last night ... and again this morning. This proved to be a very difficult task to accomplish right after breakfast with three energy charged babies chasing each other around the house. Every time the automated system would prompt "What do you need service for?" one of the babies would inevitably squeal - which would result in the automated system responding "I'm sorry, I did not understand your response." After the fifth or so time of this happening, I could see that Charlie was getting frustrated. And rightly so ... I absolutely abhor those automated systems. Why you can't just press "0" and talk to someone live ... oh, I won't go in to that. (I could though, believe me.)

I started to run interference with the kids so that Charlie could make his phone call from our back room, undisturbed. At one point he came out and rolled his eyes and questioned aloud the title "customer service" because the people on the phone were completely unsympathetic when he had to repeat again and again "No, we didn't get the extended warranty" (I'll take the blame 100% for that. I always think those extended warranties are a rip off. The times that we've bought them ... we NEVER needed them). After seeing his aggravated face ... I asked him if he'd played the "Triplet Card". Of course not!

See, Charlie had insisted that he make this phone call to the "customer service center" because he suspected that if I got on the phone ... I'd get heated in a matter of seconds that our 17-month old washing machine had completely crapped out on us when we needed it most (translation - every day we need that thing). That was the old me. The new me, doesn't get heated anymore. Rather, I pull the "Triplet Card" out right away. Here's how my conversation undoubtedly would have gone ...

"Hi, I'm calling about my Whirlpool washing machine. We purchased this appliance in November of 2004, at the same time our newborn TRIPLETS (pause, wait for gasp of "TRIPLETS?!?!") were coming home from the hospital. We really depend on the durability of this product because with three brand new babies ... gosh, we knew we'd be doing a lot of laundry. (Laughter and small banter ensues ... usually there are a flurry of questions ... "how old are they now, how much did they weigh, all girls - all boys or a mix, do you have any help, what are their names???" ). This appliance has been a wonderful addition to our family ... but as I was washing the BABIES clothes, I noticed that it sprung a leak."

Usually by this point, the customer service reprentative is ready to come out to our house and fix the appliance themself. It doesn't matter if they are in Oklahoma and I'm in California. They'll be on the next plane. And look out if it's a grandmother ... MY broken appliance is now THEIR broken appliance and they will make it their own personal mission to get that thing fixed before the day is done.

Charlie didn't pull the "Triplet Card" out until the conversation was wrapping up. Unfortunately, it was a bit late in the game, since all the information had been entered and a service request submitted. The good news is - we have a repairman coming out to the house first thing tomorrow. With any luck, they'll be able to fix the washer and we can do the 8+ loads of laundry (and one jelly-covered bunny) that has piled up. If that doesn't happen ... I'll have to decide which is the lesser of evils: putting our kids to bed in dirty pajamas, or ... taking them all shopping? After briefly (less than 2 seconds) considering washing the clothes in the bathtub, I've decided that's not an option.