Election Day

I wanted to come back to Illinois just for a break. It just so happened that we had had a rough few weeks with everyone in our little family of four having had bad colds. We had just gotten better and I was maxed out. I didn't feel well but as any mom of two babies knows, it doesn't matter how I feel. I have to continue to do my best for these two babes. I welcomed to planned break in Illinois...the timing couldn't have been any better. 

We got the idea for us to fly back bc my Aunt Diane was running in the election as the circuit clerk for Greene County. They had done quite a bit of campaigning and everyone in the family was extremely involved. That is how our family rolls. When one of us does something, we all do it. It's amazing and one of the things I miss most about being so far away. Everyone had gotten to help with the campaigning except for me. So, mom and I decided it would be awesome if we could surprise Aunt Diane and the rest of the family  by coming back for the election.

Only a few people knew we were coming. Mom, Mary, the kids and I loaded up on Tuesday morning and headed to Carrollton to see the fam. We ran a few errands on our way out of town. Charlotte was in meltdown mode so her and I were not meshing. But she ended up going to sleep so it was alright. 

We first stopped by Aunt Diane's work on our way through town. I had called her about 20 minutes before pretending to be in Georgia. I told her I was thinking of her and I would call throughout the evening to see how it was going. We showed up at her work. She saw us walk in and started crying. Both kids were wearing onesies that I had written "Vote For Didi" on. She was so happy :) As were we. She had NO IDEA we were coming!

We then headed out to Grandma Ann's house. When we walked in, she was so surprised. Her second surprise was that Charlotte went RIGHT TO HER. She got to hold her for awhile.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE. Charlotte just hanging out and hugging on Grandma.

She loves her Grandma Ann.

Everyone came out to Grandmas for an election party. We had food, family, friends, fun... the 4 basic "F's" (Alex was so sad and so jealous that he couldn't be there with us.)

Charlotte had no problem falling asleep in an awkward position. When you are tired, you are tired.

Dad had been in St. Louis so he ventured up after his meetings were over. He was so excited to see these crazy kids. It had been 2 months since he had seen them!

The lady of the hour finally showed up at the party!!

Charlotte talks about "Didi" all of the time. She loves her.

Aunt Bev and Uncle T came over to see us and hang out. Sawyer loved his snuggle and feeding time with Great Aunt Bess.

Blonde beauties.

Sawyer getting his Grizzle love on.

So, Charlotte is pretty allergic to peanut butter. It started when I gave her some cereal with peanut butter in it back in May and she threw it up within 5 minutes. I haven't given it to her since. Well, she was given a TINY piece of a peanut butter bar. Within 5 minutes, she was throwing up violently. When she was all done, I gave her some benadryl and she was out until about 11:30 pm. That happened at about 6:30 pm. I know she isn't supposed to have Benadryl yet but I didn't want to risk her having an anaphylactic reaction. I also got my epi pen out and put it in my pocket. She was fine though.

The final election results were in at about 10 pm and Didi ended up losing by about 400 votes. She lives in a Republican county (small town middle America) so for her to end up with almost half of the votes was completely impressive. I told her that in that area most people were voting to get our current President out of office so they weren't willing to vote for any democrats...family/friend or not.

Didi, Mary, Jake, and I drove around town and picked up all of the signs and threw them in her truck. She put up a good fight. She worked so hard for it and deserved to get it. Turns out it was probably a blessing in disguise. Regardless, we are so proud of you Didi. So glad I could be there with everyone.

When we got back to Grandma's house we sat around and talked and drank with Caleb and Melia. Melia, Caleb and Kyla were going to spend the night but Kyla had a MELTDOWN when they went to go to bed so they ended up having to leave and drive home. Melia said she fell asleep as soon as they got in the car. They weren't even out of Grandma's lane.