Hurricane Irene

Dear Friends and Family,

What a crazy weekend we had here on the East Coast. I'm sure you are all aware that Hurricane Irene hit the East Coast this past Saturday and Sunday. Connecticut was hit especially hard. There are huge power outages and massive flooding along the rivers and coast. Joey and I knew the storm was coming and made a last minute decision on Friday night to get out of town. According to the predictions Wallingford was right in the path of the hurricane and we didn't feel our apartment was a safe place to be with high winds and falling trees and power lines.

We decided to head to Binghamton, NY because it was not in the predicted path of the storm and was only a four hour drive from Wallingford. We had a full car with Clara's things, our suitcase, my violin, and a dog and cat. We spent Friday night in a hotel in downtown Binghamton. Unfortunately the hotel was not great and we didn't feel it was a particularly safe area so the next night we moved to another hotel outside downtown Binghamton. We thought there might be some fun things to do in the area, but were disappointed with what the city had to offer. For example, we thought of going to the zoo, but after reading reviews online stating that the zoo had lost its accreditation due to the mistreatment of animals, we decided not to go. But we were happy to be out of harms way and tried to have fun watching tv and playing with Clara in the hotel room. It was Clara's first time in a hotel and she had a blast. She was a total party girl and didn't want to go to bed.

Today we headed home. As it turns out, the city of Wallingford is the only city in Connecticut that didn't lose power. I guess it's because Wallingford has it's own electric company. Anyway, we are lucky to have power in our apartment tonight. Our house in Stonington does not have power, however. It was not damaged thank goodness, but we really can't move in until the power is back on. We were planning to move tomorrow but that may not happen. Joey's parents were supposed to fly out to see us today but they changed their trip to Wednesday to avoid the storm. So we are just waiting to hear about the power. We are so ready to move and the thought of spending more time in Wallingford is a bit depressing. However, after seeing all of the flooding and damaged homes as a result of Irene on the news, we really can't complain. So many people have it really bad right now and some even lost their lives.

I guess when you live by the ocean you have to expect hurricanes and tropical storms to occur. We may not have needed to leave town, but why take risks when you can go somewhere safe? I'd much rather be on the safe side, especially with a baby.

Hopefully there won't be anymore storms on the way for a while. We sure never had to worry about hurricanes in Minnesota! Check out some photos below from our "fun" weekend getaway.

Baby Gym

Pajama Party!

Practicing tummy time!

Hotel beds are so much fun!

Playing with daddy

Watching Irene on TV in the hotel room

Happy 4 months Clara!

Dear Family and Friends,

Our little Clara will be 4 months old on Saturday August 20th. She is getting stronger and stronger everyday. Check out some photos of her lifting her head. She loves being on her tummy. Happy 4 month Birthday Clara. We love you so much!!!

New and Improved Blog

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks to a friend of mine (Julie Russell) explaining some things to me about blogging, I have managed to revamp my blog a bit. (Thanks Julie!) If you are not following the blog through facebook, be sure and add your e-mail address under the "follow our blog by e-mail" link. That way you will be notified when I add a new post. We are not "a family by the sea" yet, but we will be in two weeks! I will be sure and do a post after we have moved.

Enjoy the rest of August!

Erin, Joey and Clara

New Beginnings

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy August! I hope those of you living outside Connecticut have not been experiencing the terrible heat and humidity that we have. Yesterday the humidity finally died down a bit and it actually got pretty cool overnight, but it's not fall yet, and I wouldn't be surprised if we have another round of heat and humidity.

Things have been busy around here. Joey played his first Sunday service at Calvary Church on August 7th. I was asked to provide "special music" for the offertory and communion, so I played "Vocalise" by Rachmaninov and two movements of Handel's Sonata in E Major with Joey on the organ. It was great to get to play and we were surprised how many people were in the congregation considering the time of year. People were eager to meet Joey and welcome us to Calvary. During the service the rector brought us up front and introduced us to the congregation and said a blessing and prayer for us. It was a special day and we felt very at home. This past Tuesday the church held a wine and cheese party for people to come meet and welcome us to the church. The reception lasted for an hour and then we all met in the church sanctuary where Joey and I gave a 30 minute recital. Joey and I spoke a little about ourselves and about the music before we played and then answered questions from the audience at the end of the performance. It was a lot of fun and everyone was so supportive and welcoming. It was a great first week in Stonington.

The only down side to Joey's job right now is the long commute from Wallingford. We keep reminding ourselves, however, that it is temporary and that in a little over two weeks we can walk 5 minutes to church. Actually, I'm starting to enjoy the drive. It's a relatively scenic drive up the coast and Joey and I find that it provides a nice time for conversation (something that you don't always get when you are at home taking care of a baby!), and when Clara decides to nap in the car we enjoy listening to beautiful music. (Lately it's been the Brahms Trio in B Major, one of my favorites!) Anyway, we are making the best of the long drives.

Clara is doing really well. Her newest development is "talking". She has started making different talking sounds and enjoys talking back and forth with us. (We don't have a clue what she's talking about but we just go with it!) She is also turning out to be quite the social baby. Several times we have taken her to restaurants and she has quickly become the center of attention due to her happy squeals and "talking". (We realize this could potentially annoy people but so far she's had a pretty positive response) Anyway, she is a lot of fun. She sleeps pretty consistently from 9pm to 5am every night. Sometime she wakes once in the night to eat, but many times she sleeps straight through. She is not a great napper. She likes to take 30mn cat naps. However, she is in good spirits and doesn't seem overly fussy so I'm not too concerned at this point.

Well, I better get to bed. We have to get up early tomorrow because Joey is playing a funeral service in Stonington. We hope you enjoy these last few weeks of summer! Best wishes! Joey, Erin and Clara