bcweb

I was having the same exact issue and found this simple solution:

add this above your conditional statement in your footer:

‘<?php wp_reset_query(); ?>’

Solution found here:
http://weblogtoolscollection.com/archives/2010/01/16/fix-for-is_home-is_archive-not-working/

You can absolutely acheive this with WordPress, and I’d add that WordPress is specifically designed for these exact needs (posts, archives, excerpts, etc.).

Using the default functionality, you can easily choose how many posts to display on the home page (or main posts page). You can also use the “more” feature to define post cut-off points where the “read-more” link will go. etc.

Of course, you can customize it further by tweaking your theme or using a pre-made theme. The codex is also very helpful.

This works great.

Thanks!