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. :( 

New Happenings!

I got the 55 gallon saltwater going.  I have a total now of 20 lbs of live rock.  The skimmer works great, and I got a pump going, and it works great.  We just got some more fish for our saltwater tank.  We got a Clownfish, a Gold Rim Tang and a Coral Banded Shrimp.  My new lights should be here Monday, and then we can host any number of coral, anemones or whatever else we choose.

Anna is 10 weeks along & doing fine.  Her 1^st exam will be on June 26^th. 

Kat is doing well & is looking forward to the arrival of “Baby Brother-Baby Sister.”  (That’s her own special name for the baby).

That’s pretty much all for now!

News!

Well, we just found out proof positive today, Anna is pregnant!  Her due date is January 8.  She looked up calculations online, she hasn’t gone to the doctor yet.  Yes, we have names picked out already. 

Boy: Kaden James

Girl: Kitana Jewel.  

Now you know!

Saltwater tank coming together!

Well, for those of you who don’t know, I have a freshwater 55 gallon tank with my Oscar, and a few other miscellaneous fish.  We decided we wanted to try to tackle a saltwater tank.  People say they are expensive, and hard to maintain.  So far we have had Dan, our blue-devil Damselfish for a month or so.  We have a 20 gallon tank set up with some live rock, and an actinic blue light to promote coralline algae growth.  We bought ANOTHER 55 gallon tank, and I am getting ready to make it a saltwater tank.  Saltwater has to have a top skimmer to filter the water, not a tube down in the water.  I up fitted my aquarium with a corner skimmer box (custom made, of course) and an overflow tube to siphon out the water. (Somewhat complicated if you haven’t seen one before, but really quite simple)  I made it all out of acrylic. I am just getting ready to silicone it to the tank, and test it out.  So far, so good.  A friend at work told me he had a few spare parts for me to use.  After going to his place he realized the kids all but destroyed it.  All the plastic had cracks in it.  He said “fix it, and it’s yours.  I did, so now I have an Amiracle wet-dry trickle filter (these are like $100+ at the LPS…local pet store).  I also fixed overflow skimmer that was broken, but I don’t need it, so I’m going to give it back to him.

Anyhow, once I get the skimmer in place, and get the pump for my trickle filter, I am going to start adding water to the tank, and getting my new 55 gallon tank a reef tank, hopefully.  I want an anemone and a clownfish.  First I need better lighting though.  That’s the NEXT big money sucker.

We had a yard sale yesterday, and made about $20.  We got Katarina’s new windows put in, so that’s done. And, Anna is sick today.

I have to finish up the garage hall, so I’ll close now!

Just when you think it's over!

I was going to work Friday morning, and just after I passed a truck, I smell antifreeze. I took it easy for a few minutes, and the smell went away a little then started to smell stale. I stopped for a stop sign, and when I started going again, I smelled fresh antifreeze again. Here I am thinking, hmm, I hope it isn’t the heater core. I got to the last turn, and when I pushed the gas, the windshield fogged up (classic heater core symptom). I borrowed a couple vice grips from work, clamped the lines off, and drove it home (after staying for almost 3 hours of re-work… OT!)

I know heater cores aren’t easy…. Heard nightmares about 6 hours of work… I can only imagine what the dealer’s cost is on THAT! Advance Auto has the core for $98.99 with a lifetime warranty… for $100 it had BETTER have a warranty!! I decided to do it.

At 2:00 Friday afternoon, I printed out the instructions from my computer, and went to the garage to try to destroy the truck. I wound up having to drop the steering column on the front seat, and completely gut the dashboard of everything. I flipped it over on the front seat, and had to get the heater box out too. For that, I had to take off the right front wheel and fenderwell, and take out two bolts under the engine, and reach my fingers 5” into a 3” square hole (physically impossible) and take out one more screw. VIOLA! I got it out. I opened it up, took out the core, and it doesn’t look bad….great! Here it is 7:30pm Friday, after 5 ½ hours of disassembly.

Now, do I reassemble it, and hope that it works? Do I spend the $100 and get a new one and still smell it? WHAT TO DO!? Well, I decided to buy it after a half hour and 4 phone calls.

I got home and started to put it back together again at 9pm. I stopped at midnight, when I got the dashboard back up in place. I went to bed, and got back up and on it again at 9am. Anna took Kat to a birthday party, and I had the dash done, and the truck running by 11:30. 5 ½ hours of re-assembly. I started it up and turned the heat on…moment of truth. No Antifreeze! Well it wasn’t all worthless after all.

Just for giggles, I called Gates and asked for a quote for a heater core change on 2002 Blazer. He came back and said, “$919, do you want me to get it scheduled?” I said, “NOPE! Just checking prices!”

NINE HUNDRED and NINETEEN bucks?? I saved myself $820. Boy, am I glad I have the book and tools here at the house! (Not to mention the patience and determination to get it done!) Thanks, everyone I talked to, for the advice and confidence to get it done. For those I didn’t talk to, DON’T CALL ME TO CHANGE YOURS!... check that, I’ll do it for $400.. less than half-price. Sorry, cash only please!

Another successful weekend project completed.

Recent Happenings

Not much going on, I just wanted to post since I haven’t in a while.

The trailer still sits in the yard.  No rush on that project.  I started the basement wall, and got plastic up, and some of the studs.  I ran out of wood, and we haven’t gotten more yet.  We started another new endeavor.  We are starting up a saltwater aquarium.  They are very specific and temperamental.  We think it will be a challenge for us. So far, so good!  It’s really nice so far.

On June 5, (Monday after Memorial Day) we are planning to go to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.  I haven’t been in a while, and it sounds like a good ‘vacation’ from work for both of us.  We’ve been selling stuff on eBay to help pay for it.

TTFN!

Things looking up

Well the trailer is mostly fixed.  I got new steel welded back on the rear. The tongue coupler came in, and I bolted that on also.  So far, I’m only out about $40, plus I have to put new plywood on.  The hitch on the truck is bent, but we don’t think it’s bad enough to change the hitch… yet.  Maybe next year we will.  I plan to go to the store to get the wood, and bring my cordless screwgun with me.  I’ll just put the wood on the trailer there, and then screw it on in the parking lot!  Hey, why not!?

Hours are starting to go up at work.  I worked 10 hours pretty much every day this week, made out with 44 for the week, and was still off at 10:30 on Friday.

The work is done on the basement walls that were cracked.  They installed 4 carbon fiber strips with epoxy, to the walls.  Now I can proceed with my stud and insulation job. 

I can’t think of anything else exciting going on, so TTFN!

Accident Today

Well, we were going to get some wood for the house. We were going up Ironwood, north of Lincolnway, and were stopped on the bridge waiting for the traffic light. Some guy in a red Toyota Supra didn't want to stop for my trailer, and rear-ended me. I got out, called 911, and he drove off saying he was going to get off the road. We never found him. SO, if you see a Red Toyota in the michiana area with the front end completely smashed in, and the hood bent in half, call the cops! He was leaking antifreeze so he didnt get TOO far.

We weren't hurt at all, the trailer got most of the force of his little matchbox car (and his front end). The trailer license plate and rear angle iron were broken off, and the trailer coupler got bent. The hitch receiver on the truck got bent too. In all, we're talking, with me fixing it all, about $250-$300 in damage.... not even enough to pay a $250 deductible to the Insurance company.. unless I find the truck frame was bent.

I have the trailer taken apart already, and just found the truck hitch was bent. The receiver is (only) about $180, and the trailer coupler is about $30. Plus, the wood on the trailer got all split, but it was old anyhow.

We never made it to get the wood, and now we can't without the trailer.

Why are people unable to stand up for what they did?

Progress!

Garage is done. All the work is inside the house now! Once we finish the
hall, we are going to finish painting the bathroom, and then the basement.
Then Anna wants window seats in the front 'porch' area! Busy me!

Garage door done!

Eric got the steps done Saturday, and Sunday he got the walls put up. All the outside walls, insulation and stuff are all up in the hall. It looks really nice. We're really happy with how it turned out. All that's left to do is finish the wall in the garage with plywood. We ran out of wood. If you want to see some pictures, email and ask!

Anna is staying busy making bathrobes and pajamas for everyone's kids (including our own).

Work should be picking up after chassis problems from Ford. We had a few short weeks, but I think the long OT weeks (56+ hours) are coming very, VERY soon. We still have 110 more Canada Post trucks we haven't even started yet. Myself (and Anna included) are much looking forward to the extra $$ on the paychecks.

Great news!

Well, Kat quit having headaches. Her cuts have all healed, and she is back to running around everywhere.
Eric has the garage door almost done. The doorway is completely opened up, and all that's left to do is make steps, and the ceiling! That's all for now..

Feeling Better

Kat tells us her headache is "better". Her cuts have all but completely healed, in less than a week! This last week seemed like a big blur to us all. Hopefully was can have a mostly normal week this week.

Eric is getting the hall done. The door is in place and mostly finished. Next is sawing out the opening to the garage. A little more insulaton to keep out drafts and I think we've got it.

That's all for now!

Latest on Katarina

Here's the latest on Katarina. The neurosurgeon said the fracture is very small, and the bleeding is an epidural hematoma. Basically, the bone bled when it was fractured. The 3 days it took us to get to do the CT Scan actually let the bleeding stop so we didn't need yet another scan to check it again. Everything will be fine, and there will be absolutely no future trouble with it later on. They will schedule one more CT Scan in a few weeks to be sure everything is healing ok, and we will be done.

Katarina Update

This is the latest news on Katarina's condition. Most of you don't know what happened, so here's a quick rundown.

On Monday, February 27th at about 5:30pm, Katarina was going down the stairs to the basement. We were getting ready to go down ourselves, and we heard a loud crash, and she started screaming. We ran down, and she had (so we figure) leaned under the railing, lost her footing, and fell from about the 3rd step straight to the ground. Her feet landed on the plastic dish strainer, broke it, and she fell over sideways and landed on the only 6 inches of bare concrete in the basement. She split her ear open, and scratched her lower right rib area with a 2 inch scratch. We took her immediately to the after-hours care center at South Bend Clinic. She didn't seem hurt other than her ear and chest.
The nurse took us right in, and did a quick check, and after seeing her condition, allowed us to wait in the room until our turn. 2 hours later we finally saw the doctor. He checked her out, and said she seemed ok, but he wanted to do some X-Rays. We got 7 x-rays of her chest, head, and pelvis. Everything seemed ok and we left 3 1/2 hours after we got there.
The next day she seemed fine, but we didnt deem her well enough to go to school, but she wanted to go to ballet with her aunt and cousin. We had given her tylenol when she got up because she said she had a headache. We sent her on her way to ballet, and everything went as planned. At ballet (about 30 minutes before her tylenol was 'due' to wear off, she started complaining of a headache, holding her head with both hands. The instructor, also a nurse at HER doctor's office, checked her over, knowing of her accident the night before. She noticed her eyes were dilated to different sizes, and after making a few quick calls, decided she should be seen by her doctor. We scheduled it, and went in that night (Tuesday). She looked at her, and said she didnt SEE anything wrong, but knowing of the nurse's observation, being a professional, decided to schedule her for a CT Scan of her head first thing Wednesday morning.
Anna took her, along with her mom for moral support, and went for the appointment. When they got there, the technician allowed Kat to move around the room and check out the machine and everything. After about 1/2 hour, someone came in that had to have a scan, so Kat got to watch that. It was then decided to give Kat the sedative that we had gotten the night before ($10) to make her sleepy. They gave us a room to wait in to try to get Kat to go to sleep for the procedure. After two hours, it was clear that the sedative was not going to work. Anna went up to the Pediatrics department (all at the South Bend Clinic) to talk to Kat's doctor (Dr. Sanders). After about 1/2 hour, they had set up an appointment at Memorial Hospital for 8:00 am for a sedated CT. Anna took Kat home to get some lunch (since she wasn't able to eat because of the oral sedative) and her mom went to work.
The next morning (Thursday) Anna's dad came to take them to Memorial for the procedure. They were in a room in Ambulatory Care for about 1 1/2 hours and then were taken up to Radiology. Anna was able to hold Katarina while they anesthetized her and then her & Joe waited outside for about 10 minutes while they did the CT. Then we went to the recovery waiting room while Kat was in recovery (just waking up from the anesthesia). Back down in the Ambulatory Care Center Anna & Joe waited while they brought Kat down. Kat was awake, but groggy, so they gave her some 7up and graham crackers and watched TV. About 1/2 hour after the arrived back in the ACC, Dr. Sanders called to tell Anna what was up.
Kat has a non-depressed skull fracture with bleeding (a subdural hematoma). She had already arranged for us to see Dr. Keurcher, a neurosurgeon at 10:15 the next morning. Wow. Dr. Sanders also said that there would probably be no surgery, but that Dr. Keurcher would examine her and probably just monitor her very closely and order another CT in a month or so. This afternoon when Eric got home and Anna updated him, he told her he could go to the appointment- they're shut down at work on Friday. It's also possible that they will be having a short week next week. When it rains... it pours. So far tonight Kat is doing fine. She's on restricted activity (no running, jumping, etc.) - for those of you that don't know 3 year olds... restricted activity is not easy to enforce. She had a bad headache when she woke up from her nap- thank goodness for Tylenol!
Please - everyone - watch over your children at ALL times- no matter how confident you are in them, no matter how well your child(ren) listen. For the first time in the 3 years we've lived in this house, we took out the gate going into the kitchen (which of course leads to the basement). Even after 2 months of careful supervision and even though Kat is a pro at stairs, look what happened. It all happened because 1) we were not watching her and 2) the stairs were open under the railing. Since then, Eric has attached a board (temporarily) under the railing and we watch Kat like hawks! Not to mention that she has to be checked every 2 hours during the night to make sure she is okay. Needless to say, things have been exhausting. Anna has only been to work 1 day this week and Eric only worked 2 days, luckily he took Tuesday as a vacation day. (His plant was shut down last Friday the 24th and Monday the 27th, Tuesday was a planned vacation day). Anyways, that is what is going on with Kat. We'll update you as soon as we can tomorrow after the consultation with the neurosurgeon.