We added two new members to our family yesterday. Here are a couple of hints......They are small and cute. This is where they live.... 
No, it's not a hamster.........
No, it's not a rabbit..........
No, it's not a ferret...........
Introducing Sparkles (nickname Sparky)............
and Ella..........
These are our new pet guinea pigs. While I am no big fan of ugly, furry, oversized rodents small, caged critters, I will admit that these gals are very cute. Yes, they are both female. Poor Steve is surrounded by more estrogen with no relief in sight. Not even the family pets are boys (which is just fine with Jenna and Megan). We are having lots of fun making their cage cute and girly (purple cage, hot pink house, purple food dish, white and pink bedding). There will be some bling in their future for sure.
Jenna absolutely loves animals and has been wanting a pet for a long time. I, on the other hand, have no desire for one more thing to take care of. Well, we finally broke down. Hopefully we don't regret it. I can just hear my mother now...."you should get them a dog or a cat." Well, we did think about getting a small dog, however, we would have to pay a $600 deposit of which we would get $200 back. On top of that, we would pay $10/month extra for our rent AND we'd have to walk the dog outside in a non-existent yard. No, my friends, an apartment complex is not a good place for a dog and an apartment is not a good place for a litter box. So, we settled on guinea pigs.
After doing some online research, guinea pigs are just about the only small, caged animal that you can hold and cuddle with. They are also supposed to be low on the smelly scale which was another big factor in our decision. So, we've made the best of our situation and hopefully they will be a good fit for our family.
Both of the girls, even Meg who is definitely NOT an animal lover, seem so happy to have these little pets. They are young, about 3 months old, which is good because the younger they are when you get them, the more likely they are to be cuddly.
Here's one more picture. Sparkles is definitely more photogenic. Ella doesn't like to get her picture taken. Although the photo of her above doesn't really show how cute she is, that's the best I could do so far. More pictures to follow in the upcoming days.
