I would like to take this time to introduce to you, the newest member of our family. I apologize for the delay, but I've been having some technical difficulties in which uploading photos on to my blog tends to make it hung-over. So for the time being, I am using Flickr. Why I didn't think of it before, I have no idea. But at least now I have a way to get my photo fix. The shakes were getting pretty bad.

So, this is Peep. He is a short haired hamster, and like every other animal in this house, I did not name him. If the amount of attention she gets is any indication, this hamster will be seriously easy going. Sugar (short for Sugar and Spice but I am too lazy to type out his full name) the guinea pig is the same way. The only difference is that Sugar is somewhat fickle. We've not quite figured it out but there are some people that he tends to bite nibble on. So basically, we have some pretty tame rodents in our house.

Peep loves to go in his ball and roam freely about the house. She's really learning to negotiate tight corners and tables with chairs. I think one of the funniest things is when she rolls down the step from our living room into the sun room. I'm thankful there is only one step.

She is really a delight to have around. It's my firm belief that this hamster is psychotic because once she is out of her cage you can almost visualize her standing on her hind legs and shouting "Ok people! Let's get the party started! Where are the alphalpha blocks?"

I should probably point out that I am grateful to Peep. I love Peep. When we went to PetSmart, presumably to get a replacement fish (we got 2), Chickie started agitating for a hamster. To be fair, she had lost Gingi (her guinea pig) a few months earlier and was only just ready to start thinking of a new pet of her own. This time, I decided to let this guy handle it. He used to always tease me that whenever the girls and I went to PetSmart he was never sure what we would come home with. I decided to let my husband handle it this time, and he was dead set against getting another pet. Oh, when I left them? They were looking at the rats. I feel the need to confess that I told my husband if he agreed on a rat he would be sleeping outside. For the rest of his life.

So off I went to look at all of the different dog treats and toys. Abandonment? Yes, clearly it was but I wanted him to have a clear picture of what I faced each and every time I walked into that wretched store with two adolescents in tow.

As you can see, he succumbed to their vast charm and puppy dog eyes because we came home with a hamster. Named Peep.