Meet Rosabelle :)

About a month ago, Nora and Ella had dental appointments. I had promised Ella that if she was "good," she could have her prize of choice. She had an absolute meltdown during her prior dental visit, so I thought a little bribery wouldn't hurt.....but I was thinking more along the lines of a nice Barbie doll or make-up or something. Turns out, Ella was an ANGEL. Dr. Deas (our AWESOME dentist) went on and on about how proud he was of Ella, and she kept looking at me out of the corner of her eye with a little sly smile on her face.

As SOON as we got into the van, Ella says, "Mommy, I want my prize to be a gerbil. A real gerbil." I tried....with all my might....to persuade her to go to Toys-R-Us instead. But she reminded me that I had promised her that she could have ANYTHING she wanted. So, we are now the owners of a friggin' gerbil!!

Meet "Rosabelle"

Rosabelle was the ONLY red-eyed rodent in the entire pet store, and Ella fell in love with her when she saw her. She said, "Oh, she's beautiful!" That wasn't my initial thought.....I actually thought she looked pretty dang evil, but turns out, she's a sweet little rat....

The girls like to wear gloves when the play with her, 'cause frankly, she poops a lot...

When they rub her with their gloves on, Rosabelle will actually go to sleep in their hands. :)

Josh and I don't worry about gloves.....I guess we are used to little things that poop a lot. :)

 Even Clairy digs the rodent....

So, there you have it. Our new family member. Nora and Ella are begging for a dog next (Lord help me). But Ella says that it HAS to be a "boy-dog" to be fair to Daddy. I'm sure that a "boy-dog" won't even out all the estrogen in this household!! :)

LESSON LEARNED: Next time I state, "You can have whatever prize you want," I will add to that....

....."that doesn't have a long, nasty tail, red eyes, fur, or doesn't eat, crap, breathe, or LIVE in any way, shape, or form." 

Cheers to rodents. :)