The death of a fish & The adoption of a child

Fred & George have died.
Those are 2 of our goldfish. They were bullied in the tank, and we removed them. They died 2 days later. Very sad, since we had them the longest, but Amberleigh is ok though. We went yesterday to the pet store and picked out a couple more. We now have another orange goldfish (Daisy) and a calico (Coco) goldfish, plus a spotted pleco (Flash2). He is a very ugly thing, but super neat and very fast at the same time. He stays on the bottom most of the time, hiding. Then, when he comes out, he goes all around the outside of the tank, with his huge mouth (on his underside) stuck to the glass. They all agree with each other great so far.

Amberleigh Woods vs. Amberleigh Kirkpatrick
Amberleigh's biological father hasn't seen her in 2 and a half years. Before that, he has gone months and years without seeing her. We were looking at her birth certificate a few days ago, and she saw his name as the 'Father'. She understands way more than any 7 year old should, and Jacob has been the only dad she has every known. He stepped into that role when she was 2. Now, she knows that ---- is her real father but that her last name was never the same as his, and she understands that I was not married to him and that I had her in high school. She also understands that when someone chooses not to see her, they don't care about her. It's not like this is a new development. Even when she was smaller, she would call him and he wouldn't answer so she would leave him messages that he never returned. The last time he saw her, we had invited his daughter (Amberleigh's half sister) and his step-daughter to her birthday party. They only came because he agreed to bring them. I'm pretty sure he didn't say 2 words to her the entire time he was there. He didn't want to be there and we all knew it. Since then, he has decided that he doesn't want anything to do with her and that he just wants Jacob to adopt her. But to just put a cherry on top, he doesn't want to pay child support. He is court ordered to pay $92.31 every 2 weeks. Not even a huge amount (less than $200 a month), but I haven't even gotten that in 6 months. I don't need it, but it is more to the point of wanting him to take SOME responsibility. He's not going to, though, because he's never been made to take responsibility for things. It's a shame because he's missed out on the absolute greatest kid I know. But back to what I was saying: birth certificate. She looked at me and asked me why his name was on there because he wasn't her dad anymore. She handed me a pen, told me to mark out his name. She told me that he was NOT her father and that she didn't even care about him. Kudos to my smart child. Now, we are looking into the process of adoption. She wants to "be a Kirkpatrick" like the rest of us. Hoping to be able to update on that soon!

Asher's day
He ate pizza. Not just tasting pizza sauce. It took him an hour, but he ate an entire piece of pizza crust. Bad parenting? I don't think so. But who am I to say anything. I give him chocolate & peanut butter & drinks of coca-cola & all those bad things you aren't supposed to give a baby. He sleeps on his tummy & absolutely can NOT sleep on his back without waking up. We also hold him while he naps. When he hits his weight limit, he's changing to a forward facing carseat, regardless of his age. AND we leave him alone with his sister in the house if we have to go outside to do things. Bad parenting? Rant: over. (: