Just call me a sucker. We went to Gecko Hardware, a new local hardware store/gift shop, on Monday to get a few things, and we left with three baby chicks. Yes, we already have 6 grown chickens in the backyard as pets, and although we've truly loved having them I felt that was more than enough. Technically, they're living with us temporarily until our new Urban Acres store is complete.

When we saw that baby chicks for sale at the hardware store, Steven looked at me longingly, and I shook my head with a solid "No." But then...but then...a fuzzy black one jumped into my hand and didn't want to leave.

The chick area in the store was surrounded by a group of friendly older ladies who told us they'd grown up on farms. They reminisced about sleeping with their chicks at night and the wonderful memories they had of raising the chickens from babies.

Aww, man.

And of course Luci Belle loved them.

And they were being so precious, faintly cheeping and hopping back and forth under the heat lamps. (Did you know they cheep with their mouths closed??)

And chickens are a lot easier to take care of than dogs, in my opinion.

So I said yes to the fuzzy black chick in my hand. But the hardware store employee insisted, "If you're going to get one, you really need to get one or two more so they can cuddle with each other."

At this point, what's two more? So we let two more chicks choose us and took them home.

The cuddling began right away...