"Eli's comin, hide your heart girls!"

Since we don't celebrate Halloween, we took the girls to see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua". As we were sitting down and the movie was getting ready to start, my mom called and informed us that they were taking Samantha in for an emergency c-section, about 4 1/2 weeks early! So I now have this precious, new little monkey nephew.....

All 4 lb 9 oz, 17 inches of him!! How precious is he?! Noah at first wasn't thrilled with the fact that he was going to have to share his parents....

But then his daddy comforted him a little and showed him his brother....

and then took him for a fun ride....

Even Mae-Mae was excited to see her new cousin...

More to come tomorrow!

My new hobby.......

So my wonderful hubby bought me this ridiculously awesome camera for my b-day this past year. I had been complaining that I had "nothing" as in, no hobby, nothing I enjoyed doing, I just felt like I was a mom and a wife and had all the "trivial stuff" that came along with that. Basically, I was feeling sorry for myself and was being a baby:) Knowing that I enjoyed photography, my wonderfully assertive husband presented me with this awesome gift (a Nikon D60) and said "There...now you have something.....go make money with it". My grandfather, whom I met literally 2 or 3 times before he died, was a photographer, and apparently my dad thinks I have his "eye". A bunch of my friends have been gracious enough to allow me to take some pics of their kids, and this past week, my mom told me of this program I can use for editing, so I have been glued to my computer "fixing" all my pics......

For your viewing pleasure:)

The lovely "Sweet Girls"

The "Handsome Holt's"


"Kurious Keira"


...and honestly....what kind of mom would I be if I didn't show off my own monkeys....

And my favorite......

...which my grandma hates becuase she says she "can't see their faces". I don't think my grandma has "the eye" :)

More politics.....

I found this in an email.....don't freak out that it is from Howard Stern...it really isn't bad. I am astounded at how uneducated people are on this candidate. We are not suppose to make it about race...and truly....we shouldn't. I don't care if the man is purple with red polka-dots, but this little clip does not support their cause let me tell you.

EDUCATE YOURSELVES PEOPLE!! Russ heard a guy call into Rush's show and told how he went to eat at his favorite restaurant and his waiter was wearing a tie that had Obama's name all over it. So the guy paid for his meal and then went and found the waiter and informed him that he would be giving his tip to the homeless guy sitting outside. The waiter was quite angry with him, and they guy pointed out that if he didn't like such a small, minuscule part of his income being given to someone "less fortunate" than him...perhaps he should educate himself on who he was voting for.

Let me set the record straight....I've done my research....I am not voting for John McCain simply because he is a Republican. I'm not voting for him because I love his tax plans, or love his health care plans, or even his foreign policy. I appreciate that he now claims to be pro life, and the fact that he has Sarah Palin on his ticket definitely has helped my decision. The #1 reason that I AM voting for John McCain is this.......He is NOT Barack Obama. Do your research people.....I think you will find it scares you......

Jon's Baby Mama

Saturday, my cousin (and her incredibely cute baby right? :o)

threw a shower for my sister-in-law (yep, she is 9 months pregnant, make you sick huh? ;o)who is having my second nephew in a few short weeks. The girls had a blast simply becuase it was a dessert shower, and what girl doesn't like dessert right?

Politics Schmolitics

So, I had this great post all typed up and ready to post. I saved it, thought about it, then chickened out. Mainly because after reading it, it just sounded angry and rambling. I am angry about this whole crazy election and the incredibly unfair, biased, and one-sided coverage of it, but I want to sound clear and intelligent and not like some crazy person. You know...for the literally tens of people that actually read this blog:)

Big shocker, anyone who knows us, knows who we are going to be voting for. I think we would consider us conservatives first, then I guess we would fall into the category of Republican simply because that is how we have voted in past elections. I decided that instead of one big rambling post on all the things I'm mad about, I would just do one every couple of days until the election. If your not interested in my opinion...please...feel free to skip to pics of cute kids or some other silly post. There will still be plenty of those.

So today, I'm gonna vent about the fact that all I've been hearing on the mainstream media is all this crap about how the RNC spent $150,000 dollars on Governor Palin's wardrobe. Not that Joe Biden leaked national security secrets about how Obama will be tested or anything of actual importance, but that they had the nerve to spend that much money on clothes. Now, $150,000 is a lot of money to 90% of America....but to be quite honest, I think people like Paris Hilton have dropped that much money on clothes for her dog or some other stupid thing in one hour. So for an entire wardrobe for a woman who is running to be second in command of our country and who will be at countless rallies and such, to me anyway, that doesn't sound like that much. And the last time I checked, whenever you donate to a cause, I'm pretty sure you can't put on the envelope stipulations of exactly what you want that money used for or don't want that money used for. But the funniest thing of all it is not even her supporters that are mad at her for spending that money....IT'S HER CRITICS! The liberal media is the one that is making all this into some big deal. I want a breakdown of what Barack Obama's wardrobe cost. I'm pretty sure he is not buying his suits from Sears people. Same with Joe Biden...better yet...I want to know what it cost for him to get Botox injections in his forehead (have you SEEN his forehead and eyebrows? CREEPY) and that freaky tooth-whitening job. Where's the rundown sheet on that? How much do you think they spent on the lovely Michelle's clothes. Just because she wore a $150 dress (which to me is still a lot of money on 1 dress......I wouldn't spend that on 5 dresses, but I'm a cheapskate) on "The View" doesn't mean she is sporting discount clothing in her every day wear.

I don't understand why the media insists on singling Governor Palin out on such stupid things. Maybe it's because they are scared of her, maybe they are jealous, or maybe they have just run out of things to pick on her for. I swear...if I have to hear about her shooting a wolf from a helicopter one more time, I think I will slit my wrists....ok, that's drastic, but I will definitely scream. I don't really care what they say about her, and their stupid polls mean nothing to me (just ask John Kerry what they meant to him). All I know is women like her because she is a confidant, strong woman who has had to stand behind her principles and her views and has had to "walk the talk" (wink wink, stole that from you RK:o)in the most difficult situations. Men like her because, well, lets face it.....what guy doesn't like an athletic, hot chick who knows how to use a gun. That's pretty awesome.

These boots are made for walkin....

I have this really scathing political post all typed up, but somehow I thought a picture of a cute baby in some cute boots made more sense to put up today.

Who knows....maybe I'll post it tomorrow.

Fall, Autumn, Harvest...Love 'Em All!

I love fall. It is my very favorite time of year. I love all the leaves, I love decorating my house, I love the smells, the snuggly clothes and switching the wardrobes over, I love everything about this season! Except the allergies....I don't like that. Even our furniture matches all the warm colors of fall:

But I am pretty sure that October is the absolute peak of this fine season. I took a few pics of my house, which in my opinion looks best in this season.

And as many people know or don't know, October is Down Syndrome awareness month. Check out this link to see some ultra cuties who were honored in this month's issue of Parenting.com here. My friend Randa-Kay over at Just RK's little cutie Braska is featured in gallery 3. You can also check her out on her very own blog BraskaBear. Both blogs can be linked to from mine, so check them out! They are also both responsible for getting me addicted to blogging, so thanks a lot guys!

Bats? Really?

So I have this really fluffy post on fall and how much I love this season. It is accompanied by pictures of my house and all that jazz, but it will have to wait until later because I just heard something quite disturbing.

I was standing at my washing machine ( I know, right! I was actually doing laundry, folding it no less!) and the first news piece of the day was about some bat infestation in Shelbyville. The thing that really caught my attention was when the reporter said something like they don't know what to do with all the bats because they are a "federally protected species" and it is illegal to exterminate them. Really? Bats? They are a federally protected species? And unborn babies are somehow in a category less important than bats, according to our federal government. I have nothing against bats personally, but I don't think I could hold them in higher standing than I would human life. I mean....they have rabies and stuff.

Farming with Papa

Russ has been helping his dad in the field (he's a farmer) for the past few weeks. The girls LOVE to go out and visit them while they are working. Usually we spend Columbus day doing that, but this year, Russ ran in the Chicago Marathon (Yay honey!), so he was understandably sore that next Monday. So we decided to go yesterday instead. We were seriously crowded in that little cab of the combine, and I think Maebree's face says it all!

Faith and Emmy did have a lot of fun, even though Faith was a little crowded on the floor.

And obviously, Em drove........

When all was said and done, I think Maebree ended up having a good time too....

And my favorite pic of the day.........

Seriously, could that be any sweeter?

So here it is................

So, blogging is all the rage these days. I think pretty much everyone we know has a blog of some sort or follows a blog. I decided that since I am so horrible at documenting, then I would start a blog for our family. Even if know one decides to read it, I can show it to my kids someday and it will be our own little scrapbook of memories. And lets face it, the amount of time I spend in front of a computer daily should be used for some sort of good!



So I am not promising greatness......I'm not even promising goodness, but I am promising that it will be real and will be about us. We will be incredibly biased of our views, so all who are easily offended need not enter!