Last time I told you about how we brought home a new fish and the fish had babies. That was on a Friday. We went all week long watching the number of little babies diminish, very slowly, but lower nonetheless. Then, ten days later, we came home from church and I noticed that there was something different about the fish tank. I started counting little black dots again and found a total of sixteen little black dots.... WHAT? MORE? When I left that morning, there had been only eight babies left. Now she added another eight babies? Are you kidding? I called the pet store and was told by the man from the fish department that since she's the only adult in the tank, that it was "weird" that she had actually had more babies ten days later. "Weird?" That's all he can tell me? I mean, seriously, I already knew that! I think that this fish happens to be the Virgin Mary of all fish. Weird indeed.
I also think that all that procreation did something to my other two non-Black Molly fish. Monday afternoon, one of the minority succumbed, and then on Thursday, the other one expired.
As of this morning, there were only three baby fish along with the mother. Survival of the fittest, indeed! I guess I won't have to worry about finding homes for the rest of the babies, huh?
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
And Two Became 16…
This past weekend we had a very surprising life-changing event occur at our house. After losing yet another inhabitant in our fish tank about a week ago, I finally decided to replace it. With my mother in town visiting, we went to the other town that actually has a few stores, including a pet store. So, we bought one more little tiny fish to replace the one that was lost, and then we bought a Black Molly fish so that there was at least one fish that we could see.
Once I got them home, I put their bag into our fish tank to let them acclimate themselves to their new home. I left them in there for about ten minutes, while I went to go take care of Micheal and to start getting ready for our trip to Dallas for the circus. When I walked by the tank again, I happened to glance at the bag and see something that caught my eye. It looked like a bunch of little rocks, or that the black fish had expelled some waste or something, because they were all black.
And then one moved.
So I looked a little closer, and there were eight little black dots, ALL of them moving… little tiny baby black mollies! J I called the pet store, who told me that I could make the almost hour drive back to the store to return the fish, or I could keep the mommy and the babies separate, because she would eat them. The problem was that neither of those choices was going to work for me. We only have a 1.5-gallon tank, and there isn’t room to put a separate little holder in there for the babies to grow, and I don’t just have a spare tank or air filter lying around the house. So, I just left the babies in there. Another ten minutes went by, and I wanted to count the little babies again, just so that I could keep track of them. When I counted again, I counted THIRTEEN BABIES!!! Are you kidding me? I only wanted three fish, and I ended up having sixteen fish in a 1.5-gallon tank. Not funny. I put in enough food to keep them happy for the day, and I put in one of those weekend feeders, because we were in the middle of packing the car to go to Dallas for two days for the circus. What fun timing for all of this.
We left our house with sixteen fish on Friday night, and came home to find only nine little baby fish on Sunday afternoon. As of today, I have seen eight little babies swimming around, along with the three bigger adult fish. So, our mortality rate isn’t as high as I thought it might be, and now I am wondering what might happen if all of these little babies keep living, I’m going to have to upgrade tanks, or find someone that wants a few new fish. This should be interesting.
The best part is that it has really been a neat thing for Micheal to see, because he knew that he had one black fish, and then she had babies, just like Mommy is going to have a baby in a couple months. It’s amazing the amounts of life lessons that a simple little fish tank can offer.
Once I got them home, I put their bag into our fish tank to let them acclimate themselves to their new home. I left them in there for about ten minutes, while I went to go take care of Micheal and to start getting ready for our trip to Dallas for the circus. When I walked by the tank again, I happened to glance at the bag and see something that caught my eye. It looked like a bunch of little rocks, or that the black fish had expelled some waste or something, because they were all black.
And then one moved.
So I looked a little closer, and there were eight little black dots, ALL of them moving… little tiny baby black mollies! J I called the pet store, who told me that I could make the almost hour drive back to the store to return the fish, or I could keep the mommy and the babies separate, because she would eat them. The problem was that neither of those choices was going to work for me. We only have a 1.5-gallon tank, and there isn’t room to put a separate little holder in there for the babies to grow, and I don’t just have a spare tank or air filter lying around the house. So, I just left the babies in there. Another ten minutes went by, and I wanted to count the little babies again, just so that I could keep track of them. When I counted again, I counted THIRTEEN BABIES!!! Are you kidding me? I only wanted three fish, and I ended up having sixteen fish in a 1.5-gallon tank. Not funny. I put in enough food to keep them happy for the day, and I put in one of those weekend feeders, because we were in the middle of packing the car to go to Dallas for two days for the circus. What fun timing for all of this.
We left our house with sixteen fish on Friday night, and came home to find only nine little baby fish on Sunday afternoon. As of today, I have seen eight little babies swimming around, along with the three bigger adult fish. So, our mortality rate isn’t as high as I thought it might be, and now I am wondering what might happen if all of these little babies keep living, I’m going to have to upgrade tanks, or find someone that wants a few new fish. This should be interesting.
The best part is that it has really been a neat thing for Micheal to see, because he knew that he had one black fish, and then she had babies, just like Mommy is going to have a baby in a couple months. It’s amazing the amounts of life lessons that a simple little fish tank can offer.
Saturday, August 04, 2007
Name Game
When my husband and I got pregnant the first time, we had no trouble picking out a boy name, as we had relatives that we wanted to honor. Since we didn't find out until he was born that he was indeed a boy, we also had a girl name picked out. Now that we're pregnant again, and again not finding out the sex of the baby, we needed a boy and girl name again. We decided that we still liked the girl name from the first time we got pregnant, so we decided to keep that one as an option this time. However, the boy name is proving to be a much tougher decision this time. Out of seriousness or not, I don't know, but my husband suggested using his father's name for the boy name, and I immediately rejected that idea. I just don't see myself introducing my little baby boy to the world as a Frank. So, ever since then, my husband has rejected every name I have put out there, out of spite, mainly, but now that we really are getting down to a time when we really need to decide on something, I can't remember the ones I really liked that he shot down, and he won't come up with anything that isn't stupid, like Fido. So, I am officially asking for help. I have given up the fight with him on trying to pick a name that he would like, and he doesn't feel like sitting down to think about it right now either. So, here are the restrictions:
1. It must go with the middle name Edward. (His father's middle name, my compromise)
2. I don't want it to start with an M, since two of the three of us already do start with that letter. I also don't want it to start with an A, since our last name is an A, and I don't want his initials to be AA.
3. I don't want his initials to be something that spells something stupid or vile. For example, if we named him Peter Edward, it would be P.E.A. I don't like that.
4. Lastly, I don't really want a name that can be easily shortened into a nickname. I named my firstborn Micheal, not Mike, not Mikey, and I don't want him called anything other than that. For example, Thomas is a really nice name, but I don't want anyone to call him Tommy.
Clear as mud, right? Now you know why I am having problems with choosing a name. A little help, please?
1. It must go with the middle name Edward. (His father's middle name, my compromise)
2. I don't want it to start with an M, since two of the three of us already do start with that letter. I also don't want it to start with an A, since our last name is an A, and I don't want his initials to be AA.
3. I don't want his initials to be something that spells something stupid or vile. For example, if we named him Peter Edward, it would be P.E.A. I don't like that.
4. Lastly, I don't really want a name that can be easily shortened into a nickname. I named my firstborn Micheal, not Mike, not Mikey, and I don't want him called anything other than that. For example, Thomas is a really nice name, but I don't want anyone to call him Tommy.
Clear as mud, right? Now you know why I am having problems with choosing a name. A little help, please?
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Down, but not out...
Now that I have a noticeable belly in front of me, seeing as I am six months pregnant, my balance is a little bit off. I am usually pretty good about compensating for this new difference in feeling, but yesterday it didn’t happen quite quick enough.
It was raining when Micheal and I were leaving the house yesterday, so I decided to go and put all of my things into the car before I came back to get Micheal and put him into the car. Since we don’t have a garage or covered carport, I’m used to this kind of thing, and have it down to an art. Almost. I had all of our stuff in my hands and I was trying to avoid the runoff from the roof of the house, while at the same time making sure that my feet found the treads that my husband put on the steps of the deck so that I wouldn’t slip and fall. Unfortunately, my foot didn’t find enough of the tread and I slipped off the step and landed knee down in the wet muddy grass. I also bumped my shin pretty good on the step while I was going down.
I didn’t land on my belly, and I didn’t even drop any of the things in my hand, but I did have to go back inside and change pants before I could leave again, seeing as how that pair was all wet and muddy.
Today, though, is a much worse day than yesterday. Yesterday, my leg just hurt a little bit where it hit the steps, but today, it’s forming a very large bruise, and the rest of my body is reminding me that I fell. I think it feels that since there was no one around to laugh at me when I fell, that it would make up for that and laugh at me itself. I just wonder how long it will feel the need to ridicule me. The older we get, the more it hurts to fall, I guess.
But, the best part… I told my husband about how I had fallen that morning, and the only question he asks is… “Well, did you cry?” To which I told him that I hadn’t, because I was just glad that I hadn’t fallen on my belly. Men are so considerate.
It was raining when Micheal and I were leaving the house yesterday, so I decided to go and put all of my things into the car before I came back to get Micheal and put him into the car. Since we don’t have a garage or covered carport, I’m used to this kind of thing, and have it down to an art. Almost. I had all of our stuff in my hands and I was trying to avoid the runoff from the roof of the house, while at the same time making sure that my feet found the treads that my husband put on the steps of the deck so that I wouldn’t slip and fall. Unfortunately, my foot didn’t find enough of the tread and I slipped off the step and landed knee down in the wet muddy grass. I also bumped my shin pretty good on the step while I was going down.
I didn’t land on my belly, and I didn’t even drop any of the things in my hand, but I did have to go back inside and change pants before I could leave again, seeing as how that pair was all wet and muddy.
Today, though, is a much worse day than yesterday. Yesterday, my leg just hurt a little bit where it hit the steps, but today, it’s forming a very large bruise, and the rest of my body is reminding me that I fell. I think it feels that since there was no one around to laugh at me when I fell, that it would make up for that and laugh at me itself. I just wonder how long it will feel the need to ridicule me. The older we get, the more it hurts to fall, I guess.
But, the best part… I told my husband about how I had fallen that morning, and the only question he asks is… “Well, did you cry?” To which I told him that I hadn’t, because I was just glad that I hadn’t fallen on my belly. Men are so considerate.
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