HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

I am so grateful to have all of you in my lives on this Thanksgiving Day

May your hearts and homes be full of wonderful blessings

Here's wishing you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving

All our love, 

Josh, Ashley, Kujeaux, & Baby Banks

SO EXCITED!

So my cell phone I have right now is a MAJOR PIECE OF SH*T. I now have 3 broken keys, and it's the second one. The first one was exchanged through the warranty. Well come to find out, no one I know has been satisfied with the phone, so I'm not the only one.

Well, tonight after many, many text messages to my Beautiful friend Kassie who works for AT&T, Josh & I ordered new cell phones!!!! We went with the Samsung Blackjack II.

I got the wine red one and he got black. Figured it was just easier to get 2 different colors so that we didn't grab the other's phone on the way out. Trust me, I don't want to deal with some of the calls he has to for his job... and he probably doesn't want to have to answer the phone when one of my girlfriends calls to talk about babies!!! We chose to have them overnighted, and they said they would be here on Friday. But then when we got the email confirmation, it said our order will ship in 2 to 5 days... that kinda defeats the whole purpose of overnighting something, but oh well. I'm just thankful to be rid of my crappy phone... before it breaks on me!!!

And, one more big... HUGE

to Kassie... YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!

Too Cute!

My friend Erica gave me this sticker on MySpace,

and it was just too cute not to share!

Apology & Baby Names

I haven't written in a while, and for this I apologize. I got a little scare last Thursday - some spotting and cramps, but they said it was normal and to just take it easy for a bit and I'd be fine. But of course I was still freaked out. Stayed home from work on Friday, and since Josh went hunting, I went on to Baton Rouge to stay with my parents. It was a great relaxing weekend. Laid around the house Friday & watched movies with Dad Friday night. Saturday me & Mom watched the LSU game (tear) and that night me, Mom, and LP watched movies. Sunday we went shopping and I got some cute maternity shirts (THANKS MOM & LP!) and we went and looked at baby furniture too. Found a really comfy glider to rock Baby to sleep in, and I think I found Baby's room furniture too!!!

Now on to the fun stuff... BABY NAMES!!!!

GIRL: Addison Kelci Banks

BOY: ______ David Banks

HELP!!!! We need a first name for our baby boy :-) Josh just says that we will figure it out when we find out if it's a girl or a boy, but I like to have one now! So any suggestions, comments, ideas, etc are greatly appreciated!!!

Birthday Night...

Can I just start off by saying I LOVE MY HUBBY!!!!

Yesterday I had dreams of going to eat at this Fabulous Italian Restaurant for my Bday dinner. Well, then I got home from work and laid down on the couch... it was all over after that. No part of me wanted to move off of the couch much less go out in public...

Josh got home and surprised me with the BEST birthday present... 

A Prenatal Massage from

I plan on holding on to this till I'm too big to reach my toes... then I will love it even more!

Then I told him what my original plans were for dinner... and that I just didn't feel that was happening tonight. ( I will be SO happy when my first trimester is OVER) So he told me we could do whatever I wanted since it was my birthday... told you I was spoiled :-) So my decision for the best, most relaxing birthday dinner ever...

AND

I feel Spoiled!

Today was AWESOME! My momma came over to Covington and surprised me to take me out for a Birthday lunch. With her she brought a beautiful plant for my office and some YUMMY goodies... Snickerdoodle Cookies, Oatmeal Cookies, and Pralines!!! My mom is the BEST cook in the world, and she knows just how to make my pregnant belly smile! Then we went out to Acme Oyster House for some lunch... 

THANK YOU MOMMY!!!!

Oh, and I had to share this pic too... 

Kujeaux was trying so hard to get into my bag of cookies!

Then this afternoon at work I was surprised with cupcakes and song :-) 

And also a gift certificate to

I can't wait to go shopping!!!!!

Mystery Solved!!!

Ok so some of you may have already known this... but when I saw the article below on Yahoo! I was just thrilled... it's the little things that make me smile :-)

Why Does Everything Taste Bad 

After You Brush Your Teeth? 

If you have no idea why we’re pondering that question today, go brush your teeth real quick and grab a drink (orange juice, iced tea, coke—anything except water). Awful, isn’t it?

You can thank sodium laureth sulfate, also known as sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), or sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) for ruining your drink, depending on which toothpaste you use. Both of these chemicals are surfactants – wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid – that are added to toothpastes to create foam and make the paste easier to spread around your mouth (they’re also important ingredients in detergents, fabric softeners, paints, laxatives, surfboard waxes and insecticides).

While surfactants make brushing our teeth a lot easier, they do more than make foam. Both SLES and SLS mess with our taste buds in two ways. One, they suppress the receptors on our taste buds that perceive sweetness, inhibiting our ability to pick up the sweet notes of food and drink. And, as if that wasn’t enough, they break up the phospholipids on our tongue. These fatty molecules inhibit our receptors for bitterness and keep bitter tastes from overwhelming us, but when they’re broken down by the surfactants in toothpaste, bitter tastes get enhanced.

So, anything you eat or drink after you brush is going to have less sweetness and more bitterness than it normally would. Is there any end to this torture? Yes. You don’t need foam for good toothpaste, and there are plenty out there that are SLES/SLS-free. You won’t get that rabid dog look that makes oral hygiene so much fun, but your breakfast won’t be ruined.

Welcome Baby!!!

Congratulations Blaine, Ashley, and Cameron Melancon... and a BIG welcome to 

Kailey Nicole Melancon

Born: November 16, 2008 @ 1:58am

Weight: 6lb 7oz

Length: 18 inches

All About my Hubby!

This is a quiz about your hubby! Let's see how much you know, and then pass it on to learn more about your friend's Hubbys!!!!

Here we go...

1. He's sitting in front of the TV; what is on the screen? CSI MIAMI... LAW & ORDER... THE UNIT... ETC

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?  RANCH

3. What's one food he doesn't like? CHICKEN

4. You go to a bar. What does he order? BUD SELECT

5. Where did he go to high school? OUACHITA HIGH SCHOOL

6. What size shoe does he wear? UMMM.... 12?

7. If he was to collect anything what would it be?  SHOT GUNS

8. What is his favorite kind of sandwich? BOLOGNA & CHEESE

9. What would this person eat every day if he could? HAMBURGERS

10. What is his favorite cereal? CAPTAIN CRUNCH

11. What would he never wear? A PINK SHIRT

12. What is his favorite sports team? HUMMM.... LSU TIGERS

13. Who is his best friend?  JOSH... MATT... JEFF... NOT SURE HE HAS JUST ONE

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? WORRY SO MUCH

15. How many states has he lived in? ONE (STAYED IN MANY OTHERS FOR SHORT AMOUNTS OF TIME WITH THE ARMY)

16. What is his heritage? HE'S A MUTT... BUT ENGLISH AND INDIAN FROM WHAT I GATHER

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? BROWNIES, NOT A CAKE PERSON

18. Did he play sports in high school? HHAAAA HAAAA... OH I HAVE TO ANSWER.... RODEO BABY!

19. What could he spend hours doing? HUNTING

20. What's his worst habit? HE DIPS.... YUCK!

Now it's your turn... I'm only gonna tag a few people... so here it goes!

Tracie @ Coffee with the Crains

Brandy @ Not Quite the Brady Bunch

Melissa @ New Girl on Post

An Amazing Article

This is one ESPN reporter's review of last Saturday's LSU game vs. Alabama... It's beautiful. He writes so descriptively... I'll post a small part, but if you want to check it out for your self, CLICK HERE!

The Tiger Bait Walk
Hundreds of fans line barricades, waiting on the Alabama busses. Immediately visible are five state troopers, eight sheriff's deputies and a crowd of prison guards. Two more cops are undercover, dressed as LSU fans. There are about 40 nine-millimeters around gate 12. One marshal has an earpiece, and he gets the word: Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide have left the hotel, with two Alabama troopers and three Louisiana troopers leading them in, lights shining and sirens blaring. A police helicopter circles above. Last night, LSU fans burned Saban in effigy at a pep rally. Nobody with a badge is taking any chances.

Finally, the busses pull up and cops rush Saban into the bowels of Tiger Stadium. LSU fans yell, "Tiger Bait." Alabama fans yell, "Roll Tide."

I'm not sure what it was like to walk into the Coliseum, but I bet it was something like this.

"The sun has found its home in the western sky, and it is now Saturday night in Death Valley."

SO BeAuTiFuL!!!

Driving home tonight I saw the following sign and like to drove OFF OF THE ROAD!

I honestly never thought I would see gas under $2/gallon ever again... I filled up at lunch today and it was $1.95 - then on my way home it had gone down again... WOW-WOW-WOW!!!

In other events of tonight... I've done about 3 loads of laundry, dishes, and showered as soon as I got home so I'd be all ready in time to watch the CMA Awards! Love them :-) I always wanted to be a country music singer... some of my friends even love me enough to tell me that they think I can sing... personally I just think that they're tone deaf and can't tell that I'm really not that great. But it's still fun to belt it out like I think I'm Kellie Pickler or something!!!

Oh, and not that this is interesting, but I think that I got my first attempted "sickness" tonight. Guess I can't call it morning sickness cause it was at like 7:00 at night. I was eating supper, got about 4 bites into it, and realized that it just wasn't happening tonight. I didn't get sick, just REALLY felt like I would if I didn't stop eating... which sucked because it was my FAVORITE - Mom's Potato Soup - but no fear, I have some left that I can attempt again tomorrow night. Wierd cause I've eaten it since I've been prego and this didn't happen... maybe it's just a bad night!

Well, the commercial is over, so I'm off to finish watching the CMA's! Hope y'all have a GREAT NIGHT!!!

Tonight

So this is what I did tongiht...

And this is what Kujeaux did tonight...

I know, I know... it's only November 11th. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas, and if I wait till the day after Thanksgiving to decorate like usual, then I would only get to have the decorations up for about a month. So I decided to start early!!! Unfortunately the tree is as far as I got. Everything else is up in the attic, and our builder doesn't install staircases where the attic openings are... don't ask. Josh is out of town, and being prego and all I didn't figure it was the brightest idea to back my Jeep up to the attic & climb on top. Knowing my coordinated self, I'd fall off. So my friend and awesome neighbor Dionne is coming over to help me get everything out of the attic Friday - with a ladder!

Yummy Cake!!!

My wonderful mommy got me this cake... and it's my FAVORITE kind too... Red Velvet with Cream Cheese icing... YUMMMM! 

THANK YOU MOMMY! I can only hope I do half as good of a job as you did with me :-)

Happy Veterans Day!!!

For the first time ever...

... I agree with Obama! It's nothing detrimental, like about taxes, policies, etc. Oh no, it's about college football. And his comment goes like this...

“I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football,” Obama said Monday on ESPN. “I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams – the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.”

Amen!!! Wonder if he can make that change being president??? Can he MAKE the BCS do this?? Hey, I know it's not an important issue, but you have to start somewhere when it comes to liking someone, right!

News!!! News!!! News!!!

Guess what we'll look like in 9 months....

Due date is July 17th!!!! Yes, I know... I'm only 2 weeks along. Lots of people have different theories about when you should tell everyone and stuff... Hell, I don't care... I'm freakin ecstatic!!!!

All I have to say is...

I'm a DoRk!

As many times in my life that I have cooked (or watched my mom cook in the old days) Drunk Chicken... For some reason when I get to this point, it just makes me chuckle!!!

It just looks so silly - like it should start fussing at me for cooking it or something!

Just thought we could all use a laugh during all this seriousness tonight... so I decided to share!

I'm voting for...

I'm tired of all the waiting... I just wish it was 8:00 so we could get some kind of reslults... UGH!

VOTE!!!

GO ROCK THE VOTE TODAY!!!

Here's some random interesting facts for you about voting...

• In Minnesota, people can register to vote on election day. This greatly increases turnout and was widely credited with Gov. Jesse Ventura's 1998 electoral victory.
• In Oregon, all voting is conducted by mail. In many other states, absentee voters must sign a statement that they were unable to get to the polls on election day. Removing restrictions against absentee and mail-in voting are coming in several states.
  
• Several communities with high immigrant populations allow Green Card holders (non-citizens) to vote in municipal elections. Municipal immigrant voting increases civic participation at a level that matters to residents, whether citizens or not.
  
• In Cambridge, Massachusetts, the voters approved immigrant voting rights, but the State Legislature declined to enact the approved bill.