Long Time... no post!!

Yeah, yeah, I know, it's been a looong time!
Well, the hunt is on! We're casually house-hunting. I mean, we're 4 people in a 2 bedroom house & let's face it, we don't have a lot of room & we have a lot of stuff. Like I said though, casually looking. We have a lot to finish up on our house now before it could really be sold.
What's been going on? Well, as of about June of '07, we have been cloth diapering Cayden & since about a month ago, it's been 100% exclusively cloth. We had been doing disposable diapers at night, but... I'm a member of an excellent cloth diapering community online- DiaperTraders. I call it my cyber-family!!
We joined a church in October- South Side Baptist in South Bend. Since our first visit, the church community embraced us warmly & my Baptism will tentatively be on Sunday, January 13th. Service is at 10!! :)
Though I have helped out at work on occasion I am enjoying my life as a Stay At Home Mom. It's been tough, but Eric has been able to do side work for friends & family to help out when we need it.
Sad news- Terri has decided it is time for her & Reagann to return to Pennsylvania, so her job is going to be open officially at the end of January. The position has been offered to me & I'm considering it, though I'm not ready to take Cayden to daycare. Eric did bring home a possible proposal of him being able to take on a 3rd shift position at Utilimaster & we could work out something from there so he could be with the kids & so Kat can continue her last semester of Speech Articulation through the school system before heading off to Kindergarten next year.
Last week we celebrated Cayden's - can you believe it - FIRST BIRTHDAY!! We had a wonderful party with a Thomas the Tank Engine cake made by With A Wing and A Prayer in Mishawaka. Yum!! He received several gifts & loves them all & plays with them everyday!!
Christmas was very nice. Eric had a full 11 days off of work *!* and so we had a lot of family time. His first day back at work, Cayden woke up & was very upset that he couldn't find Daddy anywhere! He's since settled back in. Among other things, I'm getting ready to start putting Cayden in his crib at night & out of our bed. It's a tough choice for me.
Katarina is doing great! She has so far lost 5 teeth & has another loose! Wow!! She enjoys helping in the kitchen, she feeds the cats & helps with the birds. Yes, I said birds! Captain Jack Sparrow, our Parakeet, passed in November & we have since acquired 2 Cockatiels - Donald & Daisy. They're not yet old enough to breed, but they are definitely bonded & we're considering a clutch in the summer. We'll see how it goes.
The fish tank is doing well. It is settled & Eric put in a 100 gallon sump in the basement. Our automatic top-off tank received a smack & had a huge crack, so we bought a rubbermaid container that works great & holds more water. He also set up a different pump at night so it is quieter when the lights go out.
Back to Kat - she is very independent, more now than we ever thought she'd be!! She got a Webkinz for Christmas & little did we know how much work it is!! Haha! She likes to play the games online & also enjoys watching Ratatouille, which Grandma Ziegler got her for Christmas. I enjoy the movie too & it hasn't yet worn out its welcome in the DVD player...
We can hardly wait for the Drive-In theater to reopen for the summer!! There's a lot we want to see! Including Prince Caspian!! Yay!!
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Oh yeah, I am still breastfeeding Cayden, though he really is enjoying solid foods more now so we are weaning to just a few sessions per day. I'm hoping to update more often since the kiddos can entertain themselves a bit better now...

Here is a picture of Kat & Cayden in their matching Yankees outfits! Go Yankees!!

Been a while!

Well it's been a while since my last post. A lot has happened since then.
Cayden is 6 months old, and doing great. He can sit up by himself. He weighs roughly 18.4 pounds. He still won't sleep in his crib, so Anna is still sleeping on the recliner in the living room.
The fish tank is doing well also. We finally put an end (crosses fingers) to whatever it was that was killing everything. We've had a few more things die, but now nothing seems to have died for an extended period. We got a frogspawn, finger leather, and a clam.
Our neighbor was trying to get rid of some of their birds (they keep having babies), so we took one. We call him Captain Jack Sparrow...Jack for short.
We have been working a lot in the basement trying to get the room done down there. I have one side of the room done, and just got the framing up for the doorway and back wall.
We had a barbecue the day before Father's Day. We had a pretty good turnout. I cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, and some people brought some other snacks and stuff too. Overall it was a good turnout.
Work is going well. I have been running parts for everyone and it's nice to get outside. It's getting very hot though! We have been getting a little extra overtime lately...which is nice since we haven't gotten much of any lately. It helps pay the bills.
ZigCom is doing some business, but not as much as I'd like to have.
We are also trying to refinance the truck which will save us some every month too. The medical bills from Cayden's arrival are starting to build up.
I can't think of anything else right now!

We're home!

We made it home from the hospital. Here's a pic of Cayden in his car seat. We just walked in the door, and he slept the whole way home, and about an hour after we got home. The cats aren't quite sure what to think. They all sniff him, until he cries. Then the one comes over and looks to see what's wrong, one walks away, and one growls and fluffs up its tail. They'll get used to him eventually. Kat will be home at 8 from Awana. She spent all day Tuesday with us at the hospital, so she's already gotten to hang out with him a little.
Anyhow, that's the latest. Enjoy the pics!

Cayden James is here!

Well, we had a boy :-) 15:42 12/31/06 7 lbs 5 oz. 19 1/2" Anna had a C-Section, as he was breech. He's fine. She's fine. It's all good.

Changing Table

Well, we were going to buy a changing table, but Target's cheapest one was like $80 or $90. We didn't feel it was worth that much. We went to Home Depot, got a bunch of wood, and made one. We spent $47 worth of two $25 gift cards we got from MyPoints.com, so we still have $3 left! Didn't spend a dime so far! Here it is!
Anna designed it, and we both built it using the table saw Anna's dad bought from my Dad.
What do you think?! I think it turned out nice!

Update

Well, I have been told I need to update the Ziegler Family News more often… you know who you are! So here goes. The baby celebration is this Saturday. I mentioned it in the last post, but once again, if anyone has any questions, email or call me!

The fish tank is doing well. Our anemone is walking around. It likes to hide behind the rocks now. Stupid thing doesn’t know it’s in captivity and is supposed to be out where we can see it. It’s ok though, I just won’t feed it until it comes out! I dunno, maybe it’s too bright for it up there.





The fish tank is doing well. Our anemone is walking around. It likes to hide behind the rocks now. Stupid thing doesn’t know it’s in captivity and is supposed to be out where we can see it. It’s ok though, I just won’t feed it until it comes out! I dunno, maybe it’s too bright for it up there.
We got the window and door trim done in Katarina’s room. All that’s left now is her closet door. I am including a lot of pictures here. Both of her windows are the same, the one just has a “curtain” hanging to block the bright garage light. Anna is going to work on new light blocking curtains. They will be dark/light pink on Kat’s window, and dark/light blue on Cayden’s.

Been a while!

As the title says, it's been a while! A lot has happened.
Our Sebae Anemone died. We were told suvival rates were 50/50 for even the experienced aquarist. We wanted to get a new anemone but were planning a tank upgrade, so we wanted to wait. Now we have a 125 gallon tank. After it was all set up, we got a Blue Carpet Anemone. We added 24 crabs, and 12 snails to the tank to help clean up. I just got a protein skimmer the other day too, and got it plumbed 2 days ago. Things are looking better already. We now also have a Branching Hammer Coral, Green Striped Mushroom coral, and a Candy Cane coral too. My old 55 gallon setup is in the garage now, looking for a new home! If anyone knows a place it could go, let me know! We also got a Yellow Hawaian Tang.
We are still working on the basement, and want to get paneling up so that's done, too. The electrical wiring is at a stand-still until the paneling is done, so I can get the wiring in that room done.
Anna is doing well with the pregnancy. We are sure on the name now, but aren't sure yet on the spelling. Kaden means Fighter, Cayden means Spirit of Battle, Kadin is Arabic - it means friend, companion. I think I like Cayden. Then we could call him CJ for short.
The business is doing a little more. I have a friend that is sending me work at major stores in the area. I did 2 jobs at the local WalMart in South Bend, and Mishawaka. Telecommunications stuff, not computer. Hey it pays with green!
Work is going well, I am working 2 long days. Tuesday and Wednesday I have been working from 6am to 8pm. I've been getting 62-64 hour checks. It wears you out, and there isn't much family time those two days, but we have our bills paid. Next week we are working 3 9-hour production days, and then Thursday and Friday are Inventory. Won't be a "long" week, but hopefully I'll still get my 2 long days, and that should make up for some of the lost time.
We are having a baby shower on Nov 11th at Terri and Grant's house in Mishawaka. If you can/want to come, you are more than welcome, just call us or email to let us know. It's a family thing, Women can do 'baby shower things', kids can play in the basement, and guys (myself included) can play billiards in the garage. I will have my 6000+ song music collection with me! We are registered at Babies-R-Us and Target.
Well that's all I can think of for now!

Hermione

Well, when I got home today, I had my nephew Stephen with me & he noticed that Hermione (our youngest cat) was limping.  So I picked her up & looked at her right forepaw.  I noticed some swelling & then noticed that it appeared her index toe was twisted & that the claw appeared to be stuck between her middle & ring toes.  Well, rather than attempt to help her myself, I put her down & waited until Eric got home.  We couldn’t figure out exactly what was wrong with her toe still, so I called the vet.  They recommended we take Hermione to the emergency clinic or wait & make an appointment for Friday.  We decided to go to the clinic with her- she was very uncomfortable.  So we headed to the clinic & after a rather short wait, we were seen by a wonderful vet.  After a very thorough exam of her paw, the vet saw that her index toe was dislocated & twisted under her paw. But the good news is, is that there are no apparent broken bones. Basically, Hermione had attempted to declaw herself (she had accidentally gotten caught on one of our rugs).  So the vet said that she recommends we leave her alone but keep an eye on the toe.  She said if it gets twisted up again or doesn’t stay straight, she’ll either have to wear a splint or be declawed (at least on that toe).  We also have to keep her claws trimmed (which is normal for us to do).  In the end, it was a rather happy ending.  I mean, at least we didn’t have to pay for x-rays or anything.  They gave us, or rather sold us, some anti-inflammatory medication with painkiller to give Hermes every other day for 3 days.  We determined that taking her to the after hours probably actually saved us money, since I would have had to take off of work AND pay a vet bill otherwise.  Plus, knowing the regular vet, they’d want to set up an extra checkup appointment, for which there’d be a $30 office visit… yeah.  No thanks.  So, that’s all for now! 

-Anna

Baby Registry

We are planning a baby celebration on Saturday, Nov 11^th at 4:00pm at our home.  Dinner will be served.  Please RSVP if you plan to attend.  We are registered at babiesrus.com and target.com

If anyone would just like to donate to the baby fund, we will spend the money to get the supplies we will need! Anyone wishing to donate needs to just PayPal my main email address.

New Fish/Other news

We got 2 Clarkii clownfish, and 2 pyjama cardinalfish. One of the pyjamas stressed out and died the same night, but one is still alive. I also built a new canopy for the top, and got 2 150W metal halide lights. Now our anemone will have plenty of light. The tank seems to get too hot, so I am planning on setting some fans to blow down across the water to cool it. We also got a candycane coral.
We got a toy cabinet, so to speak, for Kat's room. Found it at a garage sale for $15. They asked us what we'd pay for it. We offered them 10 and they said SOLD. We put a lot of stuff (books, toys, etc.) in there. We are going to bring the crib back from Anna's parents house maybe today or tomorrow.
Have a happy Labor Day weekend!

We're Having a Boy!!

We had our ultrasound today & it is definitely a boy!

New Anemone

I just got a Sebae Anemone for the tank. I don't know if I can manage to keep it alive or not, as they need lots of light, but I guess it's worth a shot!

News

We got another new fish. It's a Blue Regal Tang, also known as a Hepatus Tang. So far she is doing well. She is still getting used to the tank, but I think she'll be ok. We got her Sunday.
Things are well elsewhere too. I have the basement east side framed in, and just need to insulate, then ready for wall covering. Then move everything to the other side and start the west side!
That's all for now!

Latest on Saltwater Tank

We have gotten past our Ich incident. We got another shrimp, this one a Peppermint Shrimp. We have 3 red mushrooms now, and a Kenya Tree Coral also. Just this last weekend we picked up a Lawnmower Blenny. I figured out how to make the toilet sound go away from the skimmer, so now it's quiet. Just after we got the Blenny, the shrimp was all over him, cleaning him. He didnt seem to mind, and we managed to get a picture of it :) This tank is a lot more rewarding than my freshwater tank. We even have little TINY shrimp in it.

Tile Done!

Well, that's it. I just finished the tile in the hallway. Posted are pics!

Tile Almost Done

Well I just got done laying the tile in the hallway. Katarina, as always, had to ... supervise me. It went down fairly well. I laid about 30 tiles. about 18 of them were cut. the last few were full tiles. All I have to do in the morning is grout, and the hallway is done.

Ultrasound Pictures

Anna had her first ultrasound today for Baby Ziegler. Here are scans of the pictures.

Boy this is a pain!

Well, our saltwater fish have Ich.  I think the Tang brought it home from the “other” store.  This morning when I got up she looked horrible.  The two clowns had spots on them too.  I stopped at Midwest Corals and got some medicine for them.  It says 5 days should treat it.  We’ll see what happens.  We got more rock for the tank.  Now we have 60 lbs.  There are lots of places to hide and I think the fish are really enjoying it. Gurgle is still hiding a lot.  Once the Ich clears, I think we are going to look into an anemone and maybe some mushrooms.  We are done buying fish, unless one dies.  I have more pictures in case anyone wants to see them.  Just email and ask me for them.

Update

Tonight, sometime after we got home from the grocery store, Nemo jumped out of the tank.  Katarina walked over by the bathroom, looked at the floor and said, “Hey look, Nemo!” He’s dead… hitched a ride on the porcelain express. :(