Extending our Family

Karl and I have been talking for some time now about the prospect of expanding our family. Although it’s a big step, and the current financial climate doesn’t make for perfect circumstances, I think we could spend forever waiting for “the right moment” only to realise it’s been and gone, and it’s too late. We’ve discussed the whole thing in great detail, weighing up the pros and cons, and think we’ve come to the right decision.

Yes, we decided to get two guinea pigs :)

They’ve not yet been named, although I’ve taken to calling them Afro Pig and Ginger Pig in the mean time (I’m sure you can guess which one is which). They’re both about 7 weeks old, both male. Hopefully it won’t be long before I can get some better pictures, but for now they’re hiding so we have to make do. :)

Feel free to suggest names!

51 comments so far

  1. Katy said:
    On 30 Aug at 5:35 pm

    hehe, I suggest “Toffee” and “Declan “. or Dec for short…..

  2. Vasili said:
    On 30 Aug at 5:39 pm

    ^ I like the name Toffee. :)

  3. Clem said:
    On 30 Aug at 6:03 pm

    I love guinea pigs! You’re making me jealous. :( I also like the name Toffee.

  4. Tanya said:
    On 30 Aug at 6:47 pm

    Very cute! I hope the cats don’t take too much of a liking to them though!

  5. Shannon said:
    On 30 Aug at 6:50 pm

    What. They look like my late guinea pigs. Cute, though.

  6. Rachael said:
    On 30 Aug at 7:02 pm

    CHUCK AND PIERRE!

  7. Scott said:
    On 30 Aug at 7:28 pm

    Piglet for the ginger one and Matt for the other one. His hair lookes matted so it’s a perfect name :P

  8. Scott said:
    On 30 Aug at 7:28 pm

    Looks*

  9. Mumblies said:
    On 30 Aug at 7:56 pm

    How about Giggles and Fluff? Probably really naff names, but what do I know?
    Whatever you decide to call them, they are cute :)

  10. Arwen said:
    On 30 Aug at 8:18 pm

    Haha, at first I thought you guys were planning to have kids. Then I clicked on the “read more…” and my assumptions were quickly corrected. Cute!!

  11. Stephanie said:
    On 30 Aug at 8:29 pm

    So you finally convinced Karl, eh?

  12. Nicole said:
    On 30 Aug at 8:47 pm

    Curly and Moe! Or maybe just stick with Afry and Gingy. Cute!

  13. Amelie said:
    On 30 Aug at 8:55 pm

    Jem and Karl Jr.

  14. Brenda said:
    On 30 Aug at 9:23 pm

    Toffee and Blackforest! :D

    I actually thought of ‘Chocolate Fudge Brownie’ for the darker one but I guess Fudge will get confused! :P

    Speaking of which, how’s Fudge doing?

  15. Janet said:
    On 30 Aug at 9:23 pm

    Eek! Guinea pigs! We used to have like 50 of them. They’re awesome. I wish I could help you with a name, but I would probably come up with something that would mean something to me, but not to you. You could give them coding terms as names?

  16. Amanda said:
    On 30 Aug at 9:24 pm

    Mr. T and Ron Weasley. (Oh come on, it’s perfect!)

  17. Vanesa said:
    On 30 Aug at 9:42 pm

    Ooh! What Rachael said!

  18. Rose said:
    On 30 Aug at 9:51 pm

    Vince and Eddie!
    or Babe and Wilbur? (from the two famous pig stories I know of :-D )

  19. Aisling said:
    On 30 Aug at 10:11 pm

    Um… Jim and Jabella. :P

  20. Hev said:
    On 30 Aug at 10:18 pm

    They are adorable, Jem. Just do your best to make sure they don’t get out. Or Hex & Fudge will think you are giving them a new kind of food. Sorry but no matter how tame a cat is they always retain their hunter instinct. They will probably love watching them though.

    What about Coffee & Boo?

  21. Julie said:
    On 30 Aug at 10:34 pm

    I read the whole first part wondering “Mmm, what pet is she talking about?”:P

    I used to have two rats called Harold and Maude. They were both female.

  22. Noellium said:
    On 30 Aug at 11:14 pm

    Ooh, guinea pigs. :D

    Cappucino and Espresso.

    Or if you’re feeling rather geeky, [programming language] and [another programming language] (extending a bit on what Janet said). ^_^

  23. Rhiannon said:
    On 30 Aug at 11:20 pm

    You can’t fool me, Jem – I knew it’d be another pet :P

    I used to have two guinea pigs – Ruby and Pearl, when I was eight. I had hardly had them for a year when they both passed away. My mum said it was due to ‘natural causes’, however I’m more inclined to believe it was something to do with my cat, whose most popular hangout spot was on top of their cage O_o

    How about Toffee and Creamy? Or, if you’d like to pay homeage to Piczo users, which you don’t, Toffeeee && Creamii. Maybe I should go now…

  24. Vickie said:
    On 30 Aug at 11:29 pm

    My friend had a hamster and a cat at the same time once. And like Rhiannon’s, the cat’s favourite hangout spot was on top of the cage as well…

  25. Noellium said:
    On 30 Aug at 11:39 pm

    @Tanya: If Hex and Fudge are anything like our cats, they’ll probably just ignore the guinea pigs once they get bigger. I let Muffin or Peach come up and sniff Mocha (my guinea pig), but they really don’t know what to do after that (my mom thinks its because guinea pigs are usually too large for cats to do anything with).

    I don’t know what to say if the GPs are babies though.

  26. Stephanie said:
    On 31 Aug at 12:15 am

    Adorable. Maybe you should name them after some Terry Pratchett characters :P

  27. Aaron said:
    On 31 Aug at 2:21 am

    See, now this is the kind of family extension I could live with. Children suck; yay for cats and guinea pigs! Very cute, by the way.

  28. Stephanie said:
    On 31 Aug at 2:37 am

    Jem would never have kids, unless she was in a pinch for money.

    Then she’d be selling her spawn on eBay.

  29. Carmen said:
    On 31 Aug at 2:54 am

    Salt and Pepper! I really like Toffee too :) They’re cute, I rather wish I was allowed pets.

  30. Aaron said:
    On 31 Aug at 3:38 am

    I was just going to leave mine out on the street, but eBay might work better in this day of web 2.0…

  31. Baohan said:
    On 31 Aug at 5:35 am

    eBay and Google. :D

  32. Melissa said:
    On 31 Aug at 5:38 am

    Ditto Rhiannon on the inability to fool, bwaha!

    How about Cookie and Milk? XD

  33. MOin said:
    On 31 Aug at 7:31 am

    oh wow they look cute my grand mother had some rabbits a little while ago they were also very cute =)

  34. Nan said:
    On 31 Aug at 9:14 am

    Morgenstern and Fandango!

  35. Jabed said:
    On 31 Aug at 9:19 am

    When I read the first part of this bog Ithought you were planning on having kids, not guinnea pig

  36. Jabed said:
    On 31 Aug at 9:22 am

    *blog I thought…

  37. Jabed said:
    On 31 Aug at 9:23 am

    okay I spotted another mistake.
    *guinea pigs

  38. Carly said:
    On 31 Aug at 9:33 am

    I love the names they already have… Ginger pig and Afro pig!! lol

  39. Sarah said:
    On 31 Aug at 12:35 pm

    SQUEEEEAK squeak squeak squeaksqueaksqueak!

    I had like eight guinea pigs at one time when I was a kid because my first pair had babies. I loved having them, especially a girl named Elsie whose fur was the same color as my hair (she was my first piggy). I hope you have fun with yours. :)

  40. Matt said:
    On 31 Aug at 2:53 pm

    Man, I totally thought you were trying for a baby.

  41. Chans said:
    On 31 Aug at 3:01 pm

    Ah nice, guinea pigs! I’m really bad at thinking of names but I’m sure it will come to you soon enough. It will just ‘hit’ you and it will stick :)

  42. Annie said:
    On 31 Aug at 3:03 pm

    I liked Aisling’s suggestion of Jim and Jabella :P

  43. Chien Yee said:
    On 31 Aug at 3:18 pm

    *agrees with Annie*

    :D

  44. chanel said:
    On 31 Aug at 4:04 pm

    lol I was hoping it was an animal and not adoption.

  45. Cory said:
    On 31 Aug at 4:05 pm

    *Agrees with Baohan!

    Google & eBay!

  46. Vera said:
    On 31 Aug at 7:16 pm

    WOW! Where do you find the time to care for them? And do other stuff as well!
    In any case: have fun with the new family members :-)

  47. Alyssa said:
    On 01 Sep at 4:10 pm

    Anything coffee/caffeine-related would fit them both. :)

    I freaking love guinea pigs! <33333333333

    :’D

  48. Mumblies said:
    On 02 Sep at 5:01 pm

    What about Jubbly and Bubbly?

  49. echo said:
    On 03 Sep at 3:46 pm

    Yay! GPs!!! WHOOP WHOOP WHOOP! If you haven’t named them yet, I’m sure it will come to either of you. Just observe them and you might find their names will just pop into your head. Well, that’s how it always happens with me, anyway ;)

    They are lovely — ain’t being a GP slave grand?

  50. Brigitte said:
    On 10 Sep at 5:21 pm

    lol, I was like, “She’s GOT to mean a cat or something!”

  51. ZOMG! Piggies! — jemjabella.co.uk said:
    On 10 Nov at 10:54 pm

    […] little piggies are not so small any more, so I thought I’d update you guys with a few pictures. These were taken […]