My babies

This year was tough on us and our animals. We lost our dog of 16 years. Then a couple months later lost our hampster. The hampster, Jose, was actually Joshuas, but we all loved him. I think the trama of losing the dog was just too much for me. When I found Jose in his cage after he had passed I just lost it. I tried so hard to be all calm and cool when I told Joshua, but I ended up sobbing like a baby and could barely get the words out. He, on the other hand, took the news like a champ. I knew he was upset but he looked at me and said "it was just a hampser, mom."

Shortly after that the kids started asking for another hampster. (They really want another dog, but that's not going to happen for a number of reasons). I was all for it but just never got around to it.

This past weekend I had an epic fail as a mom and missed a Girl Scout outing that Autumn was supposed to attend. We were on the other side of town and there was no way we could get there in time. She, of course, was devastated. And I felt like the worst mom in the world.

So...we hit the pet store. Today was the day we were going to get a hampster. I had already purchased bedding and food. We already had the cage and all the accessories. All we needed was the animal itself.

For some reason when we got there I thought it would be a good idea to get 2 so they would have company for each other. Not sure WHY I thought that was a good idea, but the kids didn't argue with me.

Jose was a Robo Dwarf Hampster. He just a little guy and oh so cute. We couldn't decide if we should get another one (or two) like that or try a different kind this time. I steared them towards a different kind. There was just no replacing Jose, so why even try?

We decided on Russian Dwarf Hampsters. They're little also, but bigger than he was. There were 2 in the cage so it was an easy choice as to which two we would get. And we decided the black one was a boy and the tan one was a girl. (We don't know this for a fact, and heaven help me if we end up with 100 hampster babies. But it sounded like a good plan).

On the way home Zachary named the boy George and Autumn named the girl Bubbles. (Joshua was hunting so I told him he could name the next animal, which will NOT be a dog).

Bubbles

George

I never had hampsters or any animal like that growing up. And I hesitated when Joshua asked for one. But I have to admit, they really are cute and a lot of fun. Jose was my little buddy and we had our bonding moment every morning when he tried to bite me and I fed him part of my breakfast. I missed that little guy when he was gone.

So now I have 2 new babies. It's driving the kids crazy that I'm calling them babies. But I'm the mom and can call them whatever I want. Right?