Happy Gotcha Days to Fili, Kili, and Haleth!

It's hard to believe that I'm celebrating 2 years with Fili and Kili!  I got these munchkins on March 24, 2020.  I brought them home from the Fort Wayne Animal Care and Control right before the pandemic really hit our area and the first stay at home orders started.  They were the perfect buddies for me during what turned into a much longer time at home than what was anticipated.  A year later, on March 17, 2021, I brought home Haleth also from the ACC.  I really appreciate that there are plenty of good options near me for adopting hamsters such as the ACC here in Fort Wayne, the Pipsqueakery in Bloomington, or even getting connected to people who've had accidental litters so I can have hamsters without going to pet stores which supports hamster mills with horrible living conditions.  That said, I do think it would be awesome if eventually I could buy a hamster from a reputable breeder such as Strongbrew Hamstery who focuses on hamster genetics and breeding better, healthier lines.

Fili doesn't really show any signs of aging, which is quite impressive since he is likely over 25 months old.  He gets really excited when he sees me because he wants treats.  However he always seems so grumpy if I reach in and give him pets instead of food.  Hahaha!

Part of the reason I am posting these a week early is because Kili probably doesn't have much longer left.  I'm spoiling him with so many yummy treats to encourage him to eat.  He still gets around and is my most active ham during the day, but he has been sleeping more and more, so I know the end is near.  I don't intend to get him out for any more photo shoots, but I'll keep you posted on him.  💓

Haleth has always been the most timid hamster I've ever owned, which is a shame because she is such a cute model!  Anyways, I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but at some point I discovered that Haleth is not at all afraid of our cats.  😒  There have been so many times when I've heard banging coming from the office and I'll go in and see the cats sitting in front of Haleth's bin watching her loudly rearranging her home as one does.  But as soon as Haleth becomes aware that I'm there watching too, she darts for cover.  I've even caught them all sniffing noses through the mesh.  😂  Anyways, I am glad that Haleth is happy and healthy even if she likes that cats more than me, and I certainly hope I have her for at least another year.  It would be so fun to celebrate a second "Gotcha Day" with her.

It was at this point that I realized that Haleth was putting SO much food in her cheeks that the hat would be hard to get off, so we took a break so I could take it off and then let her continue stuffing her face.  😂

Haleth wanted to check out Mr. Owl as he was the only guest invited to her party.  

Wooden Box

I'm once again waiting on Frontier, but this time I'm sure it won't be Bill coming to my house because this time we are getting our speed upgraded.  I gotta say, I'm looking forward to 1 GB upload/download more than I thought I would.  While I wait, I'm enjoying the sunshine and my plants and thinking about all the pictures I need to edit.  

Fili sure does love his treats, and yet out of the hams, he's often the hardest to photograph because he just does not sit still.  I did get this picture of him enjoying a yogurt treat.  😊

Kili nibbled at his yogurt treat, but then he was more interested in sniffing the plant.  

Haleth was only interested in the plant.  This is a peperomia frost.  I typically don't like peperomias, but this one caught my eye, and I think it is so stunning the way it shimmers in the sunlight!  Haleth really wanted to taste it, but I only let her look.  😁

New Blanket

 This little taste of warm weather is getting me excited for spring!  I know we aren't done with the cold yet, but we are getting close.  I also have to say that today's date is pretty cool, especially because it falls on a Tuesday.  Fun dates like today kinda make me miss being in elementary school because we celebrated just about everything.  Haha!  Anyways, I hope y'all are having a great Twosday!  😊

Speaking of twos, Fili and Kili are likely already 2 years old since I have had them for almost two years now.  I realized I should start planning a little party for them to make sure their "gotcha day" is extra special.  Fili will be especially happy for some of his favorite treats.

I was surprised that Kili didn't want to eat this carrot.  I think he was just too distracted because he wanted to explore.  I made sure he got the carrot to enjoy when he was back in his bin though.  😊

Haleth is so cute with everything she does.  I love the way she holds the treat in her tiny paws and how she looks to be enjoying it so much!  She's so precious!

New Pillow

It's been a long week.  One of those weeks where you can't remember what day it is.  Despite the sadness of my Uncle Jack's funeral yesterday, it was SO wonderful to see my family!  I am grateful though that today I can have a quiet day to recover from the bustle and busyness of life right now.  Well, except for Bill from Frontier who is coming any minute to replace our ONT.  We've been having issues with it for at least a couple years which we made sure to let Frontier know about.  They didn't think the ONT was the problem though.  That is until yesterday when they discovered that an issue that was affecting 40 families around us could be traced back to our ONT.  I'm glad for everyone's sake that we can finally get this taken care of.

These pictures are probably already a month old.  I haven't been good about doing this regularly, but I want to try to get back to it.  We'll see how that goes.  At least for today, you can enjoy Fili being naughty and chewing on my new pillow.  He eventually ate the cucumber I gave him.

Kili looks to be such an old little guy now, but he still gets around to do all his hamster things just fine.  😊

I love how colorful Haleth's fluffy coat is.  She's such a pretty girl and so sweet.  She poses so well for the camera.  💓

Yummy Treats

One thing that I know is very true about myself is that I do best when following a schedule.  However, as I continue to learn more about myself and attempt to grow as a person, I realize that sometimes I need to allow myself to break the rules I've enforced on myself.  So I'm writing this blog now, on a Thursday and going to publish it now instead of waiting until Tuesday when I normally write and publish posts on this blog.  I do hope that I can get back to following my normal schedule as I actually thrive best with routines.

Fili is a little firecracker, but I love that he often spends a lot of time awake in the mornings while I'm working on the computer.  I like hearing him putter around his bin getting a drink, eating some snacks, and maybe going for a short run on his wheel before he heads back to bed.

Kili is definitely showing his age more obviously than Fili is.  I've honestly lost track of how old these pictures are, but Kili definitely doesn't look that plump anymore.  I'm glad to finally be posting them though because they are just too cute!

Haleth is basically a super model, and I wish I was better about getting her in front of a camera because she really knows how to work it!  😁  I mean just look at those tiny feet and cute pink nose!  😍 I wish she didn't sleep during the day because I always want to take pictures of her and give her kisses.  Hahaha!

New Flooring

I definitely struggled to get pictures of the hamsters on the new flooring we have in our kitchen and dining room.  I knew they would all need a very enticing treat so they wouldn't just run off while I was stuck laying on the floor to get the pictures.  So the boys got walnut which is their favorite, and Haleth got a pecan which is her favorite.  Anyways, back to the flooring.  I was nervous about the designs for this remodeling project because everything we picked out was so much darker than what we had.  However, the granite is quite shiny, and the black flooring we picked reflects way more light than the carpet could which is definitely not something I had considered so that was a nice surprise.  In general, everything actually looks brighter and more open!  We really love it so much!

In case I haven't said it yet, I think I am finally accepting that Fili has turned into a grumpy old ham.  I don't mind too much, but I think that's mostly because Kili is still a little darling and they look identical.  😂

For the record, I remember their names by saying "Kili is kind".  I never bothered to come up with something for Fili, but at this stage of his life, I think it would be "Fili is fury".  😅  I do love them both and love that they are unique even though I can't tell them apart in pictures.  I totally made a system of always photographing Kili first which is really only because his bin sits on the shelf above Fili and I start at the top and work my way down.  I also use watermark placement to keep the pictures straight.  I gotta say, this will probably be the last time I get identical hams at the same time.  😂

I'm quite obsessed with Haleth.  She such a gorgeous girl and even though she's more timid than any other ham I've had, she is still so sweet and fun to watch, especially when she eats.  😍

Granite Countertops

I have been terrible at blogging recently!  I definitely got out of the habit of taking pictures of the pets regularly which meant I didn't have anything to blog which meant I forgot about blogging, so even when I did get pictures, I didn't post them.  That said, these pictures are fairly old now.  😅  Back in July I talked about our kitchen being remodeled.  That project has been done for a while now, and we love it so much!  I didn't really have very good lighting when I took these, but you can kinda see our awesome granite countertops.  I recently looked at the pictures of our house from when it was listed before we bought it, and I was shocked at how different it is now.  It didn't feel like we did much because the work was spread out over the last 5 years.  Our next project has to be our deck because it's falling off of the house, so that's fun.  One thing I have learned about home ownership is that there never seems to be a shortage of projects to work on.  There will always be something to keep me busy, but I'm not complaining because I love our house and our neighbors so moving seems out of the question.  😊

Fili is fairly difficult to photograph.  He has become more and more of a recluse and doesn't like me touching him that much.  When he is out, he can be a bit wild.  Hahaha!

Kili is still a sweetheart that can be won over with treats.  He actually isn't quite as round anymore, but still just as kissable.  My boys are about a year and 9 months old now so I expect they will start showing their age soon.

Haleth is such a little angel.  I wish I had had the time to carry on the tradition of making Halloween costumes for her to wear.  I think she would have done well with them.  If she is still around next Halloween, I'll definitely make her something nice to wear.  💓