Updates

So here's our tank now that there are a few fish in it. I was really frustrated because for whatever reason the cycle we had going seemed to have stalled. I can get the nitrites to break down and disappear, but the ammonia never goes away. I couldn't find any info about this happening and no one seemed to know how to help me, so screw it, I got some fish. I got 4 Mickey Mouse Platy. They really don't look very exciting at the store and they're not the most interesting, but they're really hardy and pretty forgiving fish, so I decided on them. Now that they're here in our tank, I absolutely LOVE them. They have great personalities- swim all over and are really playful. They come in lots of different varieties and colors- I think in about a month if everything is ok, I'll get 4 red ones with black tails to go with (red wagtail platy). Yesterday none of them ate which I assume was just due to acclimation. I've decided just to change about 5 gallons of their water each morning and keep treating it and hopefully they'll be ok. Today they ate like they were STARVING which is a great sign!

Last night I was watching them and saw some tiny thing dart across the black background. B and I both saw a tiny little baby! Platies eat their young, although we have that yellow/orange plant in the back that totally camouflages them. I still assume they'll all die since I have no way to make sure the food gets all the way down to them and if I take them out of the tank (which they'd be impossible to catch), I have nowhere safe to put them. Perhaps one will live, but I'm not holding my breath. This morning- one of the females is either still birthing, or another has started- she's hiding in the corner and it's pretty obvious why.

My anxiety over them is starting to get better, although I'll be REALLY sad if I loose any of them.....hopefully the tank will stabilize soon and it won't be so much work

So today we are on lock down pretty much for some ridiculous winter storm that's coming. I decided to get the kids up and out early- we made a trip to Target so I could get some laundry detergent and they could spend their Christmas gift cards from Grandma Betty. They each picked out a toy to play with. Mira got a remote control Strawberry Shortcake car with DVD.
Griff picked out Lightning and The King Semis to carry around his cars. He's having a great time with them!
G in his "church shirt."

Bought this rug for baby boy's room. I love the navy, orange, and green together. I had originally bought a slightly different one but found a big snag in it. When I took it back, the other one also had a big snag- perhaps not the best made and I assume it would fall apart when washed, so we're going with this one. I think we'll paint the room the light brown and then do colorful stripes on the bottom and put up a chair rail.