Where, oh where, are the hedgehogs?

Next came the task of figuring out where on earth we'd be getting one of these little guys. Apparently the ones available in America are African Pygmy Hedgehogs. 'I like Africa. I like small things. Let's make this happen!' I found myself thinking. Alright, I was totally on board, I didn't need anymore selling points. Where do I get myself one of these adorable hedgehogs?

After calling and emailing about six different breeders in the tri-state area, I finally got a response from one of them. She was a teenager who directed me to an album on Facebook of her newborn "Hedgies" and O...M...G. They looked like peanuts with noses and tiny spikes.

I eagerly looked through each photo in the album. Here's a narrative of how it went: "I want THIS one! Oh wait, it's reserved for Jonathan. Ooh, I want THIS one! No, it's reserved for Jeanine. Ok, I'll take THIS one! It's reserved for Sara. Dammit! Oh, I LOVE this one! That skank Jeanine reserved this one too?" You get the picture. When all hope was just about lost, I found a little guy that was perfect. (He was a baby and a hedgehog and was available.) 
I sent the girl a FB message saying I WANT IT!!! (I attempted to play it a little cooler than that.)

This was it. I was getting a baby hedgehog. And he was the cutest thing ever. I took screenshots of him with my iPhone, laptop, and my camera (of the phone and laptop screen). Needless to say, I was extremely excited.

 

I mean...look at him.

A pet! Which one should we get?

I decided it was time we got a pet.
We'd been married for a year, and our parents were starting to get the 'Grandkids?' look in their eyes, so we figured having something small and cute would buy us a little time. Also, I could use the practice taking care of something, because I can't even keep a plant alive for more than a week. (I need help!)
So the search began. I'm allergic to fur and feathers, which limited our choices considerably. After some thinking, I crossed fish (I already have far too many fish deaths on my conscience), turtles (had one of those in college, found out they're super smelly), hypo-allergenic dogs (did I mention fish were too complicated for me to take care of?), and kittens (I want one SO bad, but the only ones that won't send me into a sneezing fit are the hairless ones and all I can say to that is "oh hell no") off of our list.
Naturally, I turned to hedgehogs. Let me explain: Many years ago, I met a colleague's daughter who had brought her pet hedgehog to school one day. As I walked by and peeked over at it, I made a mental note that it was one of the cutest things I'd ever seen. Seriously. It looked more like a stuffed animal than a real one. And then I completely forgot about it...until now.
I grabbed my laptop and Wikipedia-ed it and who knew? They're hypoallergenic! Score! We're getting a hedgehog!