Five Part Post: (1) Welcome to the World, Sophie Roussel; (2) Happy B-day, Steve; (3) Happy 10 Years Seth; (4) Lucy's Latest Tricks/Photos; (5) GUSTAV

Hello hello! Well I am here with a record five part post! I have a few big shout-outs and then on to pics of Lulu and news about Gustav (ugh). Here goes:

Welcome to world, Sophie Claire Roussel!
It's a GIRL for Seth's brother Marc and his wife Meagan! Lucy's first Roussel cousin, Sophie Claire Roussel, entered the world on Friday evening, just after 8pm, weighing in at 7 pounds, 6.5 ounces. Congrats to Marc and Meagan! Sophie could not be cuter--she has a TON of black hair and is completely perfect. We look forward to seeing lots more of Sophie and family very soon. Til then, I hope they all get some sleep!

Happy Birthday, Steven!
'Tis my little bro Steve's b-day today! Happy Birthday, Steve! Hope it was a great one! Random fact about Steve--he entered the world weighing a whopping 11 pounds, 5 ounces. See, Lucy was a lightweight at 9 pounds, 1 ounce. ;)

Happy Ten Years, Seth
Seth and I started dating ten YEARS ago tomorrow (Sept 1). Either we started dating when we were really young, or we're just old. Or both.... I think it's both. Now I know most people don't know their anniversary of "dating" but when you date six years before you get married, you do. So happy ten years, Seth! And hey, what better way to celebrate then buckling down for Gustav, right?! More on that in a minute. Here's a family picture from the Lincoln Memorial, as promised, which we visited in our last few days in D.C.

Lucy's Latest and Greatest Tricks, Complete with Photos
So, after a long absence, we're back with photos of the princess. Many of them were taken in New Orleans on Thursday and Friday. We were in N.O. for a nice, relaxing family vacation before Seth starts work on Tuesday, and wouldn't you know, Gustav reared his giant ugly head and chased us away. Anyway, Lucy is doing great. She can now sit up unsupported. She can also push herself up into a seated position from laying down. But neither of those are my favorite trick at the moment. What I love more than ANYTHING is that Lucy now throws her arms wide open when I approach her, as an indication that she wants me to pick her up. I think that besides smiling and laughing, it is the cutest thing she's ever done. She'll just stare at me and smile with her arms wide open, just waiting for me to reach down and pick her up. So that's a brief report on Lucy's latest. She has more personality every single day! We promise to post more pics soon. Here are a few for now. Here's a video too...


No me Gustav
Oh Gustav. How I hate thee. Go away already. Many of you non-Louisianians have asked how it's going. We're just bracing ourselves for the storm. The wind and rain from the outer bands have already arrived! Looks (and, judging by these winds, sounds) like it will be pretty bad! As I mentioned before, we were in New Orleans for a few days earlier this week to have a quick vacation. We planned to stay til Saturday, but we quickly abandoned those plans when it became clear that a mandatory evacuation order was imminent. Nevertheless, we did enjoy a wonderful two days in N.O. We met up with Jeff, Brandy and Courtney. To Jeff and Shents, I hope that you're having fun in Jackson, and Jeff, you should definitely write a book about what to pack for an evacuation. They could sell it in all the tourist shops--I bet it'd be a big hit! We also got to meet up with Tara and Alex. Poor Tara and Alex had to DRIVE back to D.C. after they were ordered to leave their hotel. I hope that you all made it home safely. We also had plenty of time to stuff our faces with some delicious food and drinks. We got beignets and cafe au lait, drinks at The Columns, etc., etc. We really hope N.O. survives Gustav because we really want to go back soon. So here we are, on Sunday night, waiting for Gustav. I'm glad to hear that all our friends in N.O. have gotten out.

It has been a busy two days preparing for Gustav. I stocked up on water and other necessary supplies during the LSU game yesterday. Oh did you know about that? Rather than just CANCEL the game, they moved it up to 10 a.m. which provided Seth with a nice (read: horrible) little sunburn. Nice. It's all about priorities, right? And why cancel the game when there's a giant category 4 hurricane lurking in the Gulf? But I must say it was a great time to get water and other necessary supplies.

Our plan is to ride out Gustav in our no-longer-bee-infested house. Nice. The previously-bee-infested part of the siding is now covered with a plastic tarp since the carpenter never made it out this week. That has me feeling safe and secure. Now there's a piece of plastic and dry wall separating my entire wardrobe from Gustav. I must go move my clothes tonight.

With the bees gone and Gustav heading our way, I have new concerns: our no-longer-bee-infested house is surrounded by numerous massive trees, so I took the opportunity to survey the trees tonight and determine what room would be the best for us to stay in tomorrow. I don't think any of the trees are long enough to fall directly on the house. Knock on wood (ha ha ha), I hope not. So I'm not sure when we'll post next, it all depends on how long our power is out. They are predicting up to a week! Luckily, both Seth's dad and brother have generators, so we can always go there for some A/C and electricity if need be. If the power is going to be out for a while, I'll head to Pensacola or Houston to stay with my mom or Seth's mom. For all of our friends and family waiting on Gustav, we hope and pray that you are all safe. Please, please, please be careful these next few days. We'll be thinking of all of you. Here's one last video as we prepare Lucy for the hurricane...

You'll Never, EVER Guess the Number of Bees in Our House

Would like to try? Drumroll, please: there were approximately 45,000 bees living in the wall of our (rented, thank GOD!) house. 45 THOUSAND. I think I am suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from witnessing the bee and hive removal, seeing the honey oozing from the wall, etc. The picture above is of the honeycomb steaks currently residing in our freezer. That lasagna pan full of honeycomb is only about ONE TENTH the size of the entire honeycomb. But let me start at the beginning, so here goes. And for everyone for checks this blog just to see pics of little Lucy, I'm sorry but I have to get this bee blog out of my system.

The bee man knocked on our door at around 1 p.m. He didn't look like what a "bee man" would look like. Or I didn't think so. This man was in his 60's or 70's and did not look super agile, as I would imagine a bee man would. So very nice bee man introduces himself and says he needs to come in because the first thing he needed to do was to listen to the bees through the wall. Sure enough, the man broke out a stethescope and put it straight up to the wall. I had to turn the A/C off because apparently running water and A/Cs sound like bees. Now, after bee man went outside, I conducted my own bee listening experiment by putting my ear against the wall and sure enough, I could HEAR BEES!!!!!! I can still hear them now....

So I ask bee man how he will get the bees out. He replies, not missing a beat, well, I will vacuum them out. Interesting. Just wait, this story gets better and better.

Bee man goes back outside and I pretend to look busy unpacking boxes in the bedroom but really just watching bee man out the window. (The bees were living in the wall outside of the master bedroom closet, the same closet in which I whacked my forehead on a shelf the other day which has resulted in particularly nasty looking head wound, I think the cloest needs an exorcism. But I digress.) I watch him suit up in the bee man hat with netting and several layers of protective clothing. After an hour or so, bee man knocks on the door. I open it even though bee man has bees ON him. And I'm thinking, what is wrong with this picture? Why am I opening the door to bee man when he has on three layers and netting covering his face, while I am standing here bare armed in a t-shirt? He proceeds to tell me to feel free to take pictures (because I told him earlier I wanted to photograph this exciting event). Just at that moment, I feel something on my arm and look down to see a bee on me. I scream hysterically and fail wildly. I was flailing away while trying NOT to flail because bee man had just told me, whatever you do, don't flail. What?! How can you NOT flail?! Bee man doesn't flail. In fact, he doesn't even flinch. He just stands there. Guess he is used to getting stung. I should mention that Lucy is taking a wonderful long nap in her crib during this exchange. Ever since this bee landing on me, I am feeling phantom bees on me. These phantom bees are causing me to twitch and thrash sporadically, which Seth finds alarming. And to be honest, I do too.

So I go outside to check out the hive. And then I see it. It was truly one of the most horrfying things I've ever seen in my entire life. Bee man had sawed off a four ft. (vertical) by two ft. area of siding, revealing a four ft. by two ft. honeycomb that is oozing honey and filled with swarming bees. Just imagine your house, if a wall were sawed off and you saw honey dripping down it like it was some kind of bee farm. Again, horrifying. And the bees were swarming everywhere. I think maybe bee man misunderstood me when I said I wanted to take pictures--I wanted pictures AFTER the bees had all been sucked up. But it didn't matter anyway because I could not FIND the stupid camera. So sadly, I have no photos to document the four ft. by two ft. hive. Or actually it was bigger--the bee man said it extended two ft. further up.

After another three or four hours, bee man knocks on the door again and says he's finished. He gives us several foot long giant hunks of hive that is oozing with honey. Oh sweet honey. It tastes very sweet. Tastes like home. Our home. Sad. Bee man says that he has gotten most of the bees and honey. Neighborhood bees are going to come and get the remaining honey during the next two days when the siding remains off. Then a carpenter will come and replace the siding and seal it REALLY WELL so that no more bees move in.

Seth and I seize the opportunity to needle bee man with a million questions. Here goes:
Seth: How many bees were in there?
Bee man: Well, there are about 15,000 per pound, and you had three pounds. You had a enough for your own colony. But there are all these ordinances for that. You have to have a fence so high, on so much land, etc.
Seth: NO WAY!!!!!!!
Me: [Numerous expletives and sheer terror on my face.] So there was only an INCH of siding separating me and my BABY from 45,000 bees?
Bee man: Well, they were actually pretty tame bees.
Me: [In my head, DOES IT MATTER!!???] How long have they been there?
Bee man: This year. They started this year. You can tell by the color of the honeycomb. It's probably been here since March.
Me: I hear that eating local raw honey helps with allergies.
Bee man: Yes, it does. It can also help with weight loss. I have been eating a teaspoon of honey every night for the last seven months and have lost 40 pounds.
Me: Well, you better believe I'll be eating that honey. [I resisted the urge to go stick my face in the giant honeycomb on the counter.]
Bee man: So before you eat that honey, you need to freeze it for 24 hours then let it thaw. Then you can drizzle it from the honeycomb or you can chew on the honeycomb.
Me: Thanks so much. [And I hope I never, ever see you again for another bee removal.]

So friends, there you have it. If you ever want a taste of our home, please feel free to come on over, and you can drizzle it in your coffee or your tea. Needless to say it has been a long day. So good night all, I wish you sweet dreams. I hope mine are bee-free...

(Late) Happy Birthday, Mom!

Late Happy Birthday, Mom! I hope it was a great one! I somehow forgot to mention this in my Saturday post--let that be a sign of just how scatterbrained I am right now! Lucy and I had planned to head over to Fairhope, AL to meet up with my mom, dad and sisters, but Fay and our numerous boxes messed up those plans.

Mom, just in time for your birthday, Lucy has learned to sit up on her own and push herself up into a seated position. She sends her birthday wishes too! Oh, and hey, I know you're interested in the bee removal, so maybe I can send you some honey for your b-day. Ha ha ha! :) I love you!

Late Happy Six Months to Lucy!

In my ramblings about Wal-Mart and the bees, I totally forgot to mention Lucy's six-month b-day! We were en route to B.R. on August 14, so she celebrated her b-day on the road. But that is actually the day we arrived in B.R., so that's kind of fun. I really can't believe how much our lives have changed in the last six months! Lucy brings so much joy to our lives that I can't believe she entered the world only six months ago. And she's changed so much, too! At six months, Lucy is almost able to sit up unsupported; she belly laughs for us; and she is able to convey surprise, anger, frustration, happiness, and so many other emotions. I compare that the day she entered the world, when she couldn't hold her head up and could barely keep her eyes open. It is truly amazing how quickly babies change! I look forward to seeing what the next six months hold for us. And we promise to get back to our crazy picture taking soon, since we just found the camera.

Now back to Wal-Mart. It seems I struck a chord. And I think Jeff's and Meagan's comments articulate even better than my own post why I hate Wal-Mart. Oh, and back to the bees, too--several very reliable sources have informed that it really DOES help allergies to eat local honey. Now my follow-up question to those persons is: how much and how often do we need to eat it? I don't know.

Well, friends, I guess I will get back to watching the Olympics. We are still sitting amongst boxes but we are slowly making progress. Good night all!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Wal-Mart (or, how can they have everything under the sun but hummus?)

Hello friends and fam! I'm happy to report that we've made some progress with the unpacking. We now have half of one room unpacked. Woo hoo! Only 5 rooms to go.

Besides dabbling in unpacking, we have been spending lots and lots of time visiting Super Wal-Mart. Arlington, VA didn't have any Wal-Marts, so with the retun to B.R., we are returning to the land of Wal-Marts. Now, I have a serious love/hate relationship with ("Super") Wal-Mart. It's great because they carry everything under the sun, but on the other hand, it's so huge it's hard to get everything you need in one trip.

Since we've been back in The Rouge, we've made like 6 trips to Wal-Mart to get various necessity items, such as beer, baby wipes, chocolate, light bulbs, etc. Somehow we never remember what we need when we're there, so we're there again the very next day. So, friends and fam, on today's trip to Wal-Mart we decided we needed to get some groceries. Now, you all know that the staples of the Roussel house include: microwave popcorn, edadmame, peanut butter, cherries, beer, yogurt, and HUMMUS. So today we actually remembered that we needed to get hummus. Yet there was NO HUMMUS to be found in the entire "Super" Wal-Mart. We thought maybe we just missed it since we don't know the layout of the store so Seth asked. The guy replied, "oh, hummus?... [blank stare] We used to carry it but not anymore." Seriously? In all 30,000 sqaure feet of store you don't have room for one single tiny little spot for hummus? Does no one eat hummus here? Surely that's not true. My friends here eat hummus. Or at least my friends in N.O. do (Jeff B., talking to you), and that's close enough. So Wal-Mart gets a big thumbs down today.

In other news, the beehive is going to disappear on Monday! Or starting on Monday. I will try to take pics of the hive! Someone told Seth that we should eat the honey from the hive because it contains pollen from all the flowers/plants in the area and that if we ate it, it would help with seasonal allergies. That sounds made up to me. I mean, really? Are we sure it wouldn't taste like vinyl siding? Seth is going to try it, but not me. I'll stick to my hummus. If I can ever find any....

We're Surrounded by Boxes and Bees

Well, friends and fam, I'm here to report on life in Baton Rouge. At the moment, we are surrounded by boxes and bees. And no, I am not being clever here, we really ARE surrounded by boxes and bees.

Boxes
We are feeling defeated before even starting the unpacking process. After Lucy went to sleep, we opened precisely two boxes before deciding to give up for the day. So rather than unpack, we are sitting between all the boxes drinking beer and watching bad reality tv.

Bees
Now about those bees. Our house is a honeycomb. A colony of bees has decided to make their home in the siding of the house. We're not sure how many bees are there (hundreds? thousands?), so let's just say that there are LOTS of bees living in the side of the house and leave it at that. Our super friendly landlord is working really hard to get the problem addressed asap. It's going to be a major operation to remove the bees. Apparently they have to lure the bees out, take off all the siding, and then remove the honeycomb. It's going to be removed later this week or early next week. My mom thinks it'll be awesome to watch the whole process, which I guess it would, but I will only watch from far, far away. And until they are removed, I will continue to have nightmares about the bees eating through the wall of the house and attacking me in my sleep. But I've already planned out my exit strategy should that happen. I leave my keys in a strategic location each night so that I can grab them quickly.

Well, that'll do it for tonight. I have to get back to sitting here, watching t.v., and staring at all the boxes we haven't unpacked. Good night, all!

So Long D.C., Hello Baton Rouge

Sorry for the extended absence! I bet you've all been on pins and needles waiting to hear about our last days in D.C., our 18-hour road trip to Baton Rouge, and our first few days in The Rouge. Well, let's start at the begining. And I'll warn you now, this post is basically a straightforward chronological overview of our busy last week. Not as many random observations or attempts at humor here, due to the sheer volume of info involved.

First, CONGRATS to Amy and Mike, proud parents of adorable baby girl Ellie!! She arrived on 8-8-08! How exciting is that?! Amy and Mike, we cannot wait to meet adorable Ellie.

8-8-08 was not NEARLY as exciting for us. The packers came and packed our ENTIRE house in five hours! Isn't that incredible? I must say I am a convert--I will always, always pay for packers and movers now. On Saturday and Sunday, we enjoyed our last weekend in D.C. Oh, and we made it to the Lincoln Memorial, as promised based on your poll. We promise to post the pics soon. We also met up with Tara & Alex, Jenny & Jeff, and Caroline for brunch. Everyone but Lucy enjoyed Bloody Marys and mimosas. Yum.... Then on Monday the movers swooped in and loaded our entire house into a giant truck. Again, I am convert and will never move myself again. That night Lucy had one last date with her boyfriend Sam while we caught up with Sam's parents, Jessica and Rob. We think that Sam and Lucy will have a long distance romance for now.

On Tuesday, August 12, 2008, we pulled out of our driveway at 3625 1st Rd. S. and hit the road for Baton Rouge. It was harder than I thought it would be to leave D.C. and our little house. I think the hardest part was knowing that I won't be seeing our wonderful friends like Jessica & Rob, Jenny & Jeff, Mollie & Javad, Crystal & Sean, Tara & Alex, Caroline & Jake, and Jenelle nearly as much. I fully expect (and hope!) that they will ALL come visit us in The Rouge. Until then, we will miss them all tremendously. We also had a hard time leaving our actual house. Maybe because it was our first house, maybe it's because it's the house that Lucy came home to, or maybe just because we really, really liked it. Who knows. But as Seth said, we know we'll love our next house just as much so no point in shedding tears. But as we were pulling away from the house, I also thought, our house, our stuff, none of that mattered because I had everything I needed with me: Lucy and Seth. Well, them AND some dental floss (I am a crazy flosser), diet Coke, some extra clothes, our wedding photos, and some Hershey's kisses. So we set out with 18 HOURS of open road ahead of us. And I am happy to report that we all survived. Seth drove his truck and I drove our car with Lucy. Lucy was a superstar and only got fussy at the 5-hour mark each day. The entire trip was thankfully very uneventful. Oh I forgot to mention we got to catch up with my sister Maryellen and her husband Joe when we made a pit stop in Birmingham on day #2 of the trip. They made us a real dinner and were such wonderful hosts that we felt like schleppy, poor college students invading a perfectly put together model home. I mean, they have NO clutter and their entire place is spotless. How can that be? It just simply isn't normal. Unless your my little sister who has it really together.

Okay, so since we arrived in The Rouge it has been a WHIRLWIND of visiting and weddings. Congrats to Seth's cousin Sarah and our friends Crystal & Sean, who all got married on Saturday. Between all the I do's and wedding cake, Lucy got some quality time with Mawmaw Patty and Pawpaw Jose, who moved to Houston today. We are sad to see them move, but we are looking forward to visiting them in H-town, where we can all eat lots of great Mexican food, go to the children's museum, hit up some giant malls, etc.! Lucy has also gotten to see lots of Pawpaw Kevin, uncle Marc & aunt Meagan, and uncle Jeff. Lucy is looking forward to seeing more of all of them. Lucy is also looking forward to finding out whether she'll be having a little boy or girl cousin when Marc and Meagan welcome their baby in September!

With the arrival of our 9,000 pounds of junk today (read: all our earthly possesions, most of which really ARE junk), we are FINALLY in our rented house. More to report on that later. I'll leave you with these first thoughts though: beehive, great yard and crazy faux wallpaper. Argh. But for now, I think little Lulu is just happy to be surrounded by her familiar things: the exersaucer, complete with the flower she hates, and her crib.

So that'll do it for now. Now that our internet is up and running again, we promise to update all the time with way more info about our lives than you ever wanted to know. Til then, good night!

A Shout Out to St. Gerard

Amy P. is getting induced tomorrow! We can't WAIT to find out if baby P. is a boy or a girl. Amy, please send pics as soon as you can!

Amy's induction calls for a shout out to St. Gerard of Magella, who, as my mom reminded me, is the patron saint of mothers. I don't know how I forgot that info since Mary Fran gave me a little St. Gerard medal and prayer card when I was pregnant. So let's all call on St. Gerard and pray that Amy has a fast, easy delivery and a healthy little boy or girl.

I'd love to write more and update you all with what's going on in the Roussel world, but things are crazy-busy with trying to sell the house, packing (the packers come on Friday!) and moving. So more later. Until then, good luck Amy, we love you!

Done with the Boards... at least for now!

Yipppppeeeeeee!!!! The test is over! Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers. The test was tough and I really don't know if I passed, but hey, it's OVER!!! O- V-E-R! The last few weeks have sucked in terms of constant studying, but hopefully everything will turn out okay. Yes, it's true, I usually always think I fail but somehow, someway I pull it out. This time I don't feel like I failed, but you never know. Maybe since I am not as freaked out means I actually did fail?! Who knows. Actually I just don't care today. The post-test margaritas this afternoon took all my worries away, at least for now. I won't find out the results until October, so no sense in obsessing about it now, right? Thank you all again who kept me in your thoughts -I appreciate it.
So, Chrissy thought it was all done, but today was just the written board exam. Even if I passed, I still have to take the oral board exam next year! Yes, the ABA ( American Board of Anesthesiology... not the American Bar Association for all you lawyer readers) requires another brutal test where you are locked in a room with 2practicing anesthesiologists, who grill you for an hour, about anything and everything. Then you go to the next room where 2 more anesthesiologists get to grill you again! Doesn't that just sound frickin awesome! I can't wait! But once that is done, you are good for 10 years - then you have to re-certify, but only with the written, not the oral exam. But, first things first... let's just pray I passed this one so I can move along. And to think, Chrissy will have to put up with me stressing out all over again!
Now it's time to focus on the move - only one week left in DC (we still have to do our family picture at the Lincoln Memorial) then it's off to the Rouge. I don't start work until September 2nd, so that gives us a little time to settle in. We're gonna miss D.C. but it will be good to be closer to our families, especially with Lucy. That's all for now - I'm off to celebrate some more! Goodnight!

Let's all pray to St. Joseph of Cupertino

Long time, no post! Things have been extremely busy in the Roussel house! But first things first. Seth's boards are TOMORROW! Let's all pray to St. Joseph of Cupertino that they ask only the questions that Seth knows the answers to. My mom knows about all the saints and regularly refers me to the appropriate saint for the task at hand. Lost your keys? "Dear St. Anthony please look around, something is lost and must be found." And as she says, "oh, St. Anthony has never failed me!" Apparently when you have a major test, you need to pray to St. Joseph of Cupertino. Now, Seth has beef with St. Josephs in general because little St. Joseph not-of-Cupertino (actually, not sure what his subtitle is--maybe just Jesus' daddy?) who is buried in the backyard has not helped us sell our house. Did you know about that? If you bury a St. Joseph not-of-Cupertino upside down in your yard you will sell your house. Well, that St. Joseph has disappointed us thus far! Mary Fran says Seth must not hold it against St. Joseph of Cupertino. Okay, enough about saints. Oh one more--feeling completely hopeless? Then pray to St. Jude, "hope of the hopeless." Mary Fran said that she sure hopes Seth does not need to invoke St. Jude....

Lucy and I have been busy. We've decided to keep our house on the market and list it with an agent, good family friend Bev Tull. So we've been whipping our little house into shape and hoping that St. Joseph not-of-Cupertino does his thing and helps us sell it. I've also been seeing Jessica and baby Sam lots since Seth has been out of the house studying so much. Yesterday we decided to walk to the ice cream shop and nearly got struck by lighting on the way home. And all I could think was, I am going to die because I decided to get a sundae instead of a cone. But we made it back to her place unharmed. Maybe because we were running as fast as we could. And people that was hard after our big brownie sundaes.

I think that's all I have to report for now. I hope you're all doing well. GOOD LUCK to Seth tomorrow! We love you!