Daddy's girl

Lucy's first bath

The process itself (sponge bath on the kitchen counter) was a thrashing, screaming nightmare. Apparently we hate baths and having our diaper changed with a major passion. But... she was relaxed and sleepy afterwards. So sweet.

LUCY

We have been blessed with a beautiful new family member -- Lucille Catherine Powers! Lucy was born at 4:32 pm on Sunday, June 22, 2008 at Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge after many, many long hours of labor! She weighed 8 lbs, 4 oz and was 20.5 inches long. We've waited so very long for her to get here and it is absolutely amazing to be able to see her in person! As you can see, daddy is already completely smitten with Lucy. The miracle of life is so amazing... words cannot describe the emotion and love flowing through me for this little one. Welcome to the family baby girl!

Getting ready for baby

We have been working on Lucy's room for what seems like forever now, and it's finally starting to come together. Andrew found our changing table on craigslist.com and painted/refinished it with great results. My "handy Andy" did such a great job putting together all the nursery furniture, scraping the popcorn ceiling, installing the hardwood floors...

Lucy is already a lucky girl to have a daddy who cares about her so much!

It never rains in southern California...

I traveled to San Diego, CA last weekend to attend the National Council for the Social Studies annual conference, or as Andrew likes to call it "the giant social studies fair." The conference is always a great chance to talk with other educators to find out what's going on in the field, and the keynote speaker is always excellent. This year's speaker was the highlight of my conference experience -- none other than Sandra Day O'Connor! Not only was the first female Supreme Court justice incredibly intelligent about a vast array of diverse subjects, but she was also super funny! Wow.

Andrew came with me this year since the conference fell on my 30th birthday, and after fixing an incorrect flight itinerary we had a really great time together. It allegedly never rains in San Diego, but we got soaked on our first day there. So... we spent the day inside the Natural History Museum where we saw the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit. So amazing. Spent most of Saturday on a day bus trip to Tijuana (only 30 minutes over the border) -- pretty cheesy and not truly representative of Mexico, but fun nonetheless. We had some delicious homemade tortillas and guacamole, bought some souvenirs, and had our picture taken with a street "zonkey." Crossing back across the border was a scary and intimidating experience, especially since flashes of Babel were running through my mind, but we made it back safely. I went to the San Diego Zoo on Sunday after Andrew went home and it was truly stunning; I think it's probably ruined all future zoo excursions for me! So nice to spend a whole day outside enjoying the fresh air, beautiful scenery, and the famous pandas.

We going to the 'ship!

What a crazy year of being a college football fan! I woke up this morning to find out that LSU is ranked #2 after winning the SEC Championship game, and that means we're going to the BCS National Championship game in New Orleans! Check out the team's ecstatic reaction to the good news below. It's ghetto fabulous and I love it. GEAUX TIGERS!!!

We give thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration that seemed to go on and on and on... After some arguing over me finishing a paper for class so we could get out of town and a very long car trip due to an interstate closure, we finally arrived in the arctic north (aka Shreveport) for a weekend of food and festivities. We spent Thanksgiving Day in two places -- we started with lunch in Arcadia, LA with Andrew stepmother Linda's family at the always charming Mr. Gordy Dance's house. We were able to break bread with Andrew's stepbrother and sister and his grandfather, Pop, and enjoyed some good fried turkey, incredibly crisp and cool weather, and some amazing pecan pie. That evening, we had (more) dessert and coffee with my mother-in-law Susan and my mom and stepfather while our dogs played and decided to be friends.

Friday we headed to Tyler, TX (including a stop at the DQ since there are none in Baton Rouge) to see my grandparents and my aunt, and listened in agony to LSU's defeat on the radio during our drive back. I guess it was better that we didn't have to actually see the Tigers throwing their national championship hopes away. In Tiger Stadium. Against an unranked team. Sigh.

We celebrated a friend of Andrew's birthday that evening with good conversation and my most favorite culinary treat in the Port city, Johnny's pizza. It was a long and tiring journey, but we were able to catch up with so many beloved friends and family members, and for that I give thanks.

P.S. The picture is of three generations of incorrigible Powers men -- Andrew, his dad Charlie, and his grandfather Walter (Pop).