Sooooo... last January we decided that it would be a good time in our lives to move, if we were ever going to move. Penelope had gotten really sick around Christmas time with a form of bronchitis and we had found out that she would likely become that sick every time she caught a cold. I was the same way growing up. This also means that she will most likely have asthma too. Her eczema also got really bad in the winter months... so we started researching, and, sure enough, Milwaukee is rated the #2 worst city for asthmatics... and asthma is linked to eczema. Not good for either of us!
Up until now, Milwaukee was neutral territory for Alan and I. A four hour drive from my family, a six hour flight form Alan's - it wasn't too close to either and it was right where we had met. We LOVE Milwaukee, they have so much to offer a young family: festivals, museums, parks and lots of cool people. But as much as we love the area, it was just becoming clear that it would definitely be nice to have family around while raising our children.
My family lives in Northern Wisconsin. Not a big town at all, which also means squat for jobs. Alan's family lives in Southern California, which means lots of jobs, but everything costs a ton. Alan's mom has been an empty nester for quite some time now, and had two bedrooms available for use and California is considered to have the best climate for those with eczema... so our choice was obvious. We're moving to CALIFORNIA!
So Wednesday, August 17th was the day. We were able to spend one last, gorgeous summer living in Wisconsin (so we were able to get our fill of good memories, at least :P ) and were able to attend all the fun family festivities that occurred.
We were fortunate to be able to have my baby sister, Mikala live with us the entire summer. She was a HUGE help, I'm so glad we were able to get in some good bonding and I was able to work on packing up our belongings, have an Estate Sale and still get in all of our usual activities without going completely crazy.
The rest of my family came down the Friday before we moved to help with loading the moving truck. We had a going away party that night with some of our Milwaukee friends and Alan's coworkers. My parents were good sports and came too :) It was nice to spend the extra time with them and they were able to come to a birthday party we had for Penelope with our Mommy and Me friends.
Monday, we picked up and packed up the moving van... which was HUGE. Alan had to work that morning, so I was so thankful to have my daddy, the trucker there to drive it home and back it up into the driveway for us! We had Penelope's Birthday Party that day and, in the evening, we loaded the heaviest furniture to the back of the van. My brother, Ryan and his family came by to visit that night and the girls had a BLAST playing around in the back of the van. We've decided that we just need to open up one of these babies the next time we all get together, they were so entertained. Penelope was FILTHY in no time.
We spent about five hours loading the truck, which I thought was pretty good! My sister, Michelle watched and played with Penelope, Mikala and I carried things from the house to the van, my dad arranged all of the boxes in the back of the truck all while my mom cleaned the house spotless. Everyone ended up leaving that day, after Alan and I thanked them by taking them out to dinner.
It was pretty sad to see them go, especially since I knew that they were pretty sad about us leaving. We're hoping to be able to visit sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas... but Alan needs to get a full-time job first, so we can afford it!
Penelope and I flew out of Milwaukee really early Wednesday Morning and Alan stayed until Friday, so that he could finish up his week at work. He left in the moving van with our dog, Sophie and made it into Santa Ana by Monday!
We're getting pretty well settled in. It's like a game of tetris, trying to find places for our things among Alan's mother's, but everything is going well. Alan has been getting some good freelance jobs that could lead to a full time job, which is his goal. So fingers crossed everything works out! Penelope and I are on the hunt for a play group. We don't know anyone out here with kids yet, so it's a priority for me to find Penny some other children to play with!
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