May you live in interesting times

So I know this is Clara's blog, but this is a post just to update everyone about the craziness that is going on in our whole family right now. Since it affects Clara, I think it is still appropriate for her blog, and frankly I want to be able to read this later, and be like "wow, remember all of that, I'm sure glad it's all behind us." Not that any of what is going on is bad, in fact we are pleased about all of the changes, but the process of change is still exhuasting. So here's what's up.
1) Patrick has been at is new job in GA for almost 2 months. It is going well, but with any new job there is a learning curve, and he is used to being the guy who had the answers, not the one with all the questions.
2) Megan is still working night shift in Florida and commuting every other week to Georgia to be with Patrick and Clara. It is an 8 hour commute. Lots of miles, lots of gas, lots of time. She gave her notice at work and will be going down 3 more times over the next month and a half. And lets not forget about the guilt being away from Clara every other week can cause!
3) Clara and Patrick are living in a 2 bedroom apartment. It is nice and contains most of the family's worldly possessions, but it is also full... but the house is Florida is not empty. Problem? I think so.
4) Megan is pregnant. The first trimester is just about over, but the nausea has yet to completely resolve. Everyone is happy that the family is growing, but honestly the pregnancy isn't getting the attention it deserves because there is just too much else to think about before nursery plans or even naming ideas can get underway. Oh, but be sure this baby is not to be ignored - (s)he has already got Megan looking like a super Blimp. Thanks, little one!
5) Grandma Dayna and Grandpa Chris are trying to get one of there houses on the market, so any 'free' time the family has is spent trying to help finish the basement construction and empty the house out and into the new one. Nerves are getting fried and we all just hope that it is sold soon.
6) Speaking of selling houses, Patrick and Megan need to get the Florida house sold soon, too. But how do you list a home on the market when one of the owners sleeps all day. Not ideal to show the home and have a sleeping pregnant woman in one of the bedrooms. So even though that house needs to sell, it is going to have to wait until Megan is done working and the last of the junk can be unloaded.

So again this is not to be construed as a series of complaints about our current situation. We are excited to have the changes in our life, but they have kept us busy. So we are sorry if our communication have been missing or massively delayed. It's not you, its US!

Big, big mess

So moving is a messy, ugly business. As I mentioned in a previous post we moved a 26ft (the largest we could get) moving truck with MOST of our worldly possessions to Georgia a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, we couldn't fit it all, and now I'm left dealing with the odds and ends (AKA crap that I have no idea what to do with).

The only method of attack I could come up with was to pull it all out of the closets, the attic, and cabinets and put it in one place (my otherwise empty living/dining room area) for sorting and packing. This resulted in a mess A LOT larger that I had anticipated (who knew that much 'stuff' could hide in closets, cabinets and an attic?!?).

When I brought Clara home from preschool she walked into the living room, put her hands on her hips and said "Big, big mess" with more disdain that I would have thought a 2 year old could muster. I swear she made me feel ashamed for creating such chaos. But if you look at these pictures I think you will see that her assessment is dead-on.

Where in the world are the Pecunia's

Life has been a little busy for us lately. Last week we moved most of our stuff up to Macon, Georgia in anticipation of Patrick's first day at his new job this Monday, April 12. For now our stuff, Patrick and Clara are in a two bedroom (aka - small) apartment in Georgia while I stay in Florida to work and hopefully sell our house... but we don't even have it on the market yet. I miss my little girl (and yes, even my husband :) oodles, but it looks like we have several months of this split living ahead of us. Luckily the Grandmas are stepping up with the Clara-care and I have every other week off to run up and visit everyone.

The move I am sorry to say somewhat overshadowed both Easter and Clara's 2nd birthday. We still celebrated, but unfortunately my camera was lost in the moving shuffle so I have no pictures to post. Grandma Dayna has some birthday pictures on her camera that I'll try to get soon. Easter was not documented at all, but rest assured, Clara had a very nice egg hunt around her new apartment and despite the move that 'ol Easter bunny still managed to find her and deliver a nice basket of goodies.

Baby meets Brownie

Okay... this may make me a bad mother. I know about salmonella risks from raw eggs, but to this day I love brownie batter more than just about anything. And it seemed wrong to deny my daughter one of life's simple pleasures. After seeing her enjoyment, it looks like brownie batter passion is an inherited trait.

Story-time with Clara

I caught this video of Clara 'reading'. She really loves her books, and this I Spy one is a favorite. I can't understand everything she is saying, but she sure is enjoying herself.

This weekend was our January Disney trip... I know we have an addiction. And it isn't going to stop anytime soon. We renewed our annual passes and our good to go through May 2011!

I don't know why this on loaded sideways, and I can't seem to get it to rotate, but it was too cute to leave out of the lineup.

We spent Saturday at Animal Kingdom and Sunday at Epcot. Here is Clara taking a little snack break. Grapes where the food of the weekend. Clara likes to pick one favorite food and that is all she wants to eat for a day or two (or until you go to the store and stock up on it) then she changes to something completely different. But for this weekend it was grapes. Luckily Disney sells grapes (I won't tell you how much I had to pay for them, but believe me it was worth it to keep our little princess smiling).

This one is in a Zen garden in the China at Epcot. I love that the zen vibe even calmed Clara...for a while.

Somewhere around Germany Clara found this donkey. At first she was too timid to touch him. I think she thought he was real. But she warmed up to him and soon wanted to ride...

She got upset when I told her he wasn't for riding. Poor girl.

We stayed at the Pop Century Resort for the first time on this trip. We all loved it. Clara was especially into the swimming pool. But it was still pretty cold... January isn't the best swimming weather, even in Florida.

I had already been in and knew that the water was mighty cold, so I had the camera ready to snap Patrick's expression when he first waded in. Love it!

Clara loved it, and didn't seem at all bothered by the cool water. "Swim, swim" she said every time we walked within sight of the pools during our trip.

We convinced Clara to join us in the regular pool. It was quite a bit warmer than the kiddie pool.

We loved the decorations around the resort. I think this is the biggest Mickey we've ever seen. He certainly caught Clara's eye.

And right outside our room Clara found the souvenirs she wanted to take home. And don't feel sad, Dad... there is one for you, too.

Bubble Bath Beauty

Clara has really started to enjoy her evening bath. I had to grab the camera tonight because she was so spirited... splashing, giggling, and playing with the bubbles. The only trouble now is getting her out before the water gets cold or she turns into a prune.