Happy Birthday Potts!

I love you buddy!

Its football time in TENNESSEE!!!

The Ishams are so excited about football season!!! You gotta know a family is die hard football fans when the first outfit they get for their little one is something UT :) Thanks Cici for the outfit for Baby Isham.. next season we will be adding another fan to our family!

Introducing Baby Isham

Yesterday we had the chance to meet our baby for the first time! We went to the pregnancy support center to get our first ultrasound at 6 weeks and what a blessing it was to find out everything is nice and healthy!!! The little diamond is so very small right now and it is just amazing to think that you and I both started out as that small as well. We were able to see the flicker of the heartbeat and I just cried like a baby! We are so thankful for the services of the pregnancy support center so that we could see it this early. It is going to be amazing to watch it grow knowing that it started out so very small! We also continue to thank God for His many blessings and for His hand of protection on our child even now.

see the diamond ring shape? well the baby is the diamond part and the ring is the yolk sack which is where the baby gets its nutrients

this is the zoomed out picture.. look how VERY small :)

SEBTS Chapel

I am so blessed to work at a place where going to chapel twice a week is part of my job. Today I had the privilege of hearing my boss, Dr. Allan Moseley, speak. He shared a great message from the Book of Ruth about living a life for Christ even in the midst of suffering. I do encourage you to go and listen to this message, as well as any others throughout the year. We have some incredible speakers that come in, and they are always such an encouragement to me. To see a list of our speakers go to http://www.sebts.edu/chapel/chapelSchedule.cfm.

6 weeks

Today we are officially 6 weeks into the pregnancy! It is so crazy that we have known now for only 2 weeks that we are going to be parents, and yet it feels like forever ha! I have signed up for an update on the baby that I will now receive each week to tell me everything that is going on inside of me. I have seen many friends and family go through pregnancy, but never knew the ins and outs of it.. and wow it is incredible!!! I will continue to be amazed at how God forms this child inside my womb, it is nothing short of a miracle.

I plan to update the blog once a week... but I am sure you expect that since I am the updating queen anyways :) And if you dont really care about hearing, then plan to skip my blog on Wednesdays.. because I will be doing it no matter what ha!

This is the diagram that they gave me in my update. Wow that very tiny little speck is what is causing me to have to use the bathroom SO VERY MUCH :) Besides being extremely tired, as in crashing on the couch at 6:00pm, and somewhat moody (yes I know my poor husband), I am feeling just fine!

Here is the major update for week 6:
This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil bean.

baby Isham is the size of a lentil bean

We do get to go to the Pregnancy support center tomorrow for our very first ultrasound. Please pray for my anxiousness, as I pray every day that everything is ok. These first 13 weeks are very important, as it is when most miscarriages happen. I have heard many stories of friends who have had a miscarriage during this time and I would never be naive that this could not happen to us. Right now we are holding on to the promises of God, knowing that He gave us this gift and He knows the perfect plan for our child.

Continue to pray for us, we love you!

Thank you!

We are so overwhelmed by everyone's amazing love and support during this time! We want to thank each of you for your sweet comments and words of excitement. It means to much to have so many people celebrating with us!!! Please do continue to keep baby Isham in your prayers :)

Here are the flowers that Great Grandparents Mimi and Potts sent to us today.. thank you! Notice the balloon says "You did it!" Wow, yes that makes for an embarrassing conversation when students come into my office and ask what I did HAHA! Oh gotta love Mims :)

We are having a baby!!!

I guess you guys understand after the video, or at least I hope ha, we are going to have a baby! We found out on August 14th and here is how it happened.....

I took lunch and went to Walmart to get a prescription filled and decided to pick up a pregnancy test. I needed to call in my measurements today for Tiffany’s bridesmaid dress and therefore needed to know what size to tell them, in case I actually was pregnant. Well I went home and took the test and it came up a slow positive. I couldn’t believe it. I stared at it for a solid 5 minutes. I was not sure what to do so I just took a second one just in case. Soon after balling my eyes out, I called the dress shop to order my dress and said, “Well actually I think I am pregnant, so we might need to go up a size ha!” At that point to even say, “I think I am pregnant,” seemed totally insane to me and I could barely even get it out of my mouth. Once I got off the phone with her I decided I just HAD to tell someone b/c I was going to burst. I called my best friend Missy but she was at work so I texted her to ask her to call me back. She did about 5 minutes later, and between the time I called her and she called me back I had busted into tears. I still could NOT believe it. I cried out to God, “Thank you thank you thank you!” I knew it was His perfect timing that determined when He would bless me with a child, and I was in awe that He chose to do so now. When Missy called back I was crying and I said, “I just had to tell someone………. Long pause………… I AM PREGNANT!” Again still totally weird to hear myself say that and she just shouted for joy! She couldn’t believe it and was just thankful that I wasn’t telling her that someone was dead, because that’s what she thought when she heard me crying ha! I stayed on the phone with her long enough to calm down and decide how I was going to tell JR in only 3 short hours. I wanted to make sure I did something special to tell him but at this point I feel like I am just going to pop if I don’t tell him immediately…

So as you can tell from the video I decided to show him this baby outfit that I had picked up that said “I love my mommy”. This was not planned at all, but luckily I had picked it up as a baby shower gift a few months ago J After we got home I asked JR to come into the bathroom where I was. I showed him the outfit and asked him if he liked it. (Just as an FYI- he has this voice that he talks to me in when we are kidding around with each other and that is what you will hear.. he is not mad ha!) So he responds, “No I don’t like it!” Jokingly of course. Then I said well I guess we need to find one before April because you are going to want it. He then of course asks why and I tell him to turn around and look on our counter where I had placed the two pregnancy tests and a willow tree figurine that was a mom and dad holding a new baby. He started laughing and repeatedly asked me if I was serious. He then threw up his hands in the air and said, “ALRIGHT! PRAISE THE LORD!” We hugged and I started balling again and then we said a prayer for this precious gift that we had been given. We were both so overwhelmed by God’s blessing, and I am sure we will continue to be throughout our parenting life!!!

Reactions to the Baby News

We are so thankful that this past weekend we were able to go home and share our exciting news with our family face to face. You know me, the video queen, I caught ALL of their reactions on video so that I could share them with you and one day share them with our child. It was 8 long days from when we found out until when we got to go home.. so of course I couldnt keep the secret from all my friends that long and you will see their reactions as well :)

Thank you everyone for your excitement and the joy that you are sharing with us. We do ask that you pray for Baby Isham as he/she is 6 weeks now and obviously very early in the development. This is the main reason why we decided to go ahead and share the news as opposed to waiting until we were past the miscarriage risk stage because we knew that we wanted our friends and family to be praying for our child even now. We continue to be overwhelmed by God's goodness and know that this is not our child, but His, and we are just so grateful that He is entrusting us as the parents! Thank you in advance for your prayers :)

Also make sure to vote on your favorite reaction!!!!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Anniversary Boyce and Jessica!

Happy 2nd anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Tuten!
or should I say Uncle Boyce and Aunt Jessica :)
Love you guys!!!

The video that changed our lives forever.....

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday JD!

I love you!

Happy Birthday AND anniversary!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

And Happy 3 year anniversary to the Grahams :)

Sunday School Fellowship

On Saturday, JR and I hosted this month's Sunday School fellowship at our home! It was so fun to have everyone over and there were so many kiddos!!! We are the only couple in the group that doesnt have kids ha... and everyone else has at least 2 if not 4!!! Thats okay though b/c we were all able to play like kids on the Wii :)

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sunday Fun

After church I met up with some girlfriends for dessert so that we could all hang out with Amy one last time before Baby Jackson comes! She is due in 10 days so we cannot wait! Thanks girls for a fun afternoon :)


Then for dinner we went over to the Lewis house and got to see sweet Lily again! She is just over a week old and had grown so much since the last time that I saw her.

I love it when she cuddles with me :)

And Uncle JR did a great job getting her to sleep!

Happy Birthdays

To Brandi, Aunt Brenda and Haley!
The only picture I have ever taken is with Haley ha.. sorry Brandi and Brenda.. I still love you too :)

Church Soccer Camp

Oh what a crazy yet fun week this has been. Classes have started, both of our jobs are at peak time AND we had soccer camp at church every night this week... hence the reasons why I havent had the chance to post much :)

Soccer Camp has been a lot of fun! At Union View instead of a typical Vacation Bible School, we incorporate everything around bringing kids in to play soccer and therefore getting the chance to share Jesus with them. JR and I are both coaches (I am with the little ones and he with the big kiddos) and even though we really have no clue much about the actual sport itself, we have been able to love on plenty of kids and that has been so much fun! Enjoy this montage of the last 2 nights of camp... tonight is the final night!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Anniversary Looneys!

Celebrating one wonderful year with the Looneys!

Love you guys :)

Weekend of Welcomes and Goodbyes

Welcome to NC Phillip! On Saturday we had the joy of welcoming JR's brother Phillip as a resident of NC. He has moved here to pursue his seminary degree but has decided to put that on hold for a year so that he can work and establish NC residency. SEBTS has this awesome scholarship program called Kessee and if you are a NC resident then your school pretty much gets paid for.. sweet deal huh??
Of course the brothers had to be competitive, so here is Phil's first night on the Wii :)


On Saturday, sweet Lily Lewis was able to come home from the hospital. I went to visit her today and I cant get over how small and precious she is! Everything about her is so petite and Jordan is already such a loving and nurturing mom.
Aunt Lindsey is very proud of her new niece and plans to show her cute self off to EVERYONE :)
I mean seriously.. how can you be that cute at just 2 days old???

Today was a hard day at church, because we had to say goodbye to our preacher and his family. Pastor TJ's daughter Lindsey and I have become very close over the year and it was very sad to see her go. They are headed to Florida where they will serve in another church there; this is their home state.
Here are JR and Pastor TJ.. they are two peas in a pod! They did a mentor program every Monday morning and became very close to one another. We are sad that he is gone, however are excited for their new opportunity in Florida. We are also thankful that JR has been asked to serve as the Sunday School Leader for the middle school and high school students. We have been praying for an opportunity such as this for awhile now and look forward to seeing God change the students lives.

Happy Birthday Muddy!

We made another trip to see the minor league baseball team, Carolina Mudcats. Their mascot Muddy has been our favorite since the first game we went to.. and tonight we got to celebrate his birthday at the ball park! It was really neat everything they did for the kids to make it an exciting birthday party, from inviting Muddy's other mascot friends from the area to having a GIANT birthday cake for everyone to enjoy. It was another great night at the ball park with my sweetie :)

JR and I loving one of our favorite past times

thats one giant cake!

Muddy Junior saying hello