Week 24

Today is week 24 for us and I will have to say that it has really hit me this week that we are having a baby join us soon! I know that is crazy since I have been pregnant for awhile now but honestly it was all just very surreal. From my body changing to feeling him kick inside me, it has all been wonderful, but still just not seeming very real to me.. almost as if I am just dreaming. However this week after coming home from TN for the holidays it hit me in a whole new way. Monday I started unpacking all of the gifts Griffin had received over Christmas and putting them in place in his room and then I did 4 loads of his laundry! We have totally been blessed already with clothes and such and I am loving my hand me downs from our nephew Tristan. Thanks Leann :) Anyways as I was folding his first load of laundry I all of a sudden looked up at my sister Rachel and said, "Wow I am doing my son's laundry!" Crazy the things that hit you but that was one of the biggest "holy cow I am going to be a mom" moments I have had so far ha!!!

I am still feeling great and Griffin is still kicking up a storm. We will go back to the doctor for another checkup and next week we start the 3rd trimester!!!

His first load of laundry... such tiny clothes!

and some clothes already hanging in his closet too!

How your baby's growing: Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts him at just over a pound. Since he's almost a foot long (picture an ear of corn), he cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but his body is filling out proportionally and he'll soon start to plump up. His brain is also growing quickly now, and his taste buds are continuing to develop. His lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help his air sacs inflate once he hits the outside world. His skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

Family Photos

With everyone in town for the holidays Deedee wanted to take advantage and get some family shots. Tyler we missed you!

Aunt Linly, Camille, Robert and Uncle Brant

pretty good shot of us Griffins/Ishams huh? I think its a keeper Susu!

Visiting with friends

I love getting to see old friends when we go back to TN. This visit we got to see Shawn Angel (above), Jamie and Britney Riddle, The Looney and Wade gang (Jenn how did we forget to take a picture???), AND....
There was a RHS class of 2001 reunion at Cancuns! There were 11 (Casey Peddicord and Elena Jolly missed the group picture) of us plus 2 significant others and we had a blast! It was so great to catch up with everyone and I cant wait to do it again soon :)

Lawson and his fiance Kassi

Dan the man and I

Missy, Amanda and JDJ

my 3 bestest friends! love it when we are all back together again :)

Char-B and I

Christmas with the Ishams

Because of work schedules we were not able to do Christmas with the Ishams until Friday night, however it was WELL worth the wait! We all had so much fun watching Tristan have his first Christmas and it was definitely ALL about him... just as it should be :) I loved seeing his face as he unwrapped a new gift and how quickly he forgot about it and was onto the next thing ha! As you will see in some of the videos I took, he is now walking with help and also making the cutest snickering face. Griffin got spoiled too and we LOVE the new UT booties and hat that he will now get to wear come April.. thanks Robin!

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Celebrating on Christmas Day

Christmas morning started off with some wonderful presents we had for the brothers. JR had for a long time wanted some footed pajamas and I was so excited when I found some at Target! Well once he saw them and loved them (as a joke of course), he wanted us to get some for all of our siblings as well so we could match on Christmas morning. Oh you can tell Tyler and Mason just loved them so much cant you? :)

VDiddy and Susu spoiled us all SO much!

this was one of JR's favorite all time gifts. Last summer on our family vacation we had a putt putt tournament and he won. Well of course this is a big deal, not only b/c we are all so competitive, but simply b/c the Griffin men are so into golfing and there is NO way JR should have beat them ha! I smell some family competition for a LONG time now :)

My funniest gift of the year were these pickles in a pouch. Sue had been asking me what I was craving to eat and all I told her was pickles. So now I have a full supply and can even take them on the go!

After breakfast we went to Mom and James' house to have our Christmas there! Of course Rachel got matching PJ's too! As soon as we looked under the tree, we knew that Cici and Pipper had also decided to SPOIL Griffin ROTEN! We are so thankful for all of our wonderful presents!!

We always get together with mom's friends and their children who we have grown up with. This year we missed you Zach and Leann!

You thought I was kidding when I said they spoiled him didnt you? Notice the GIANT bear, rocking horse and ALL that glorious stuff in orange :)

Our tradition for Christmas night is for all the kids to take Mimi to a movie. JR, myself, Phillip, Mimi, Rachel and her boyfriend all piled into the honda and off we went! Well this year we had no idea how popular this tradition had become and sadly all the movies were sold out! We have learned our lesson though and from now on will always Fandago our tickets! Since everything else was closed and we didnt want to drive to Knoxville for nothing... we all stopped by Sonic instead!

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3 years ago today...

JR asked me to be his WIFE! I have blogged about this before here so please go and read the story if you have not before! JR did REALLY good to say the least. The highlight of it all was the song that he wrote just for me and you can hear that on the Engagement Video . There are also many more pictures in our Engagement Picture Album.

I love you so much sweetie! Thank you for another wonderful milestone in our life that I will never forget :)

Week 23

Week 23 has been very special for all 3 of us. It seems as though now we are more than ever before realizing that we are going to be adding a precious child to our family. It makes us so excited to see and hear all of our family getting ready as well! Griffin remains very active, kicking away all the time. Cici, Aunt Rachel, Susu, Mimi, Uncle Mason and even cousin Maddie Pazich have all been able to feel him kick. It is great to know that now other people can feel that awesome feeling that I have now felt for 8 weeks :)

As we all celebrate Christmas tomorrow, I hope that in the midst of all the presents and family times we all can remember the greatest gift any of us could have ever received in Jesus Christ. I love Christmas in that it is a time when Christ's love is shown to all of the world in the birth of Jesus. We will never be able to repay Him for that gift, however now as Christians it is our responsibility to share Christ's love to everyone.

Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a joyous celebration of the birth of Jesus!

Something new from Susu and VDiddy! Thank you we love the new addition of Griffin's stocking!!

and thank you Aunt Leann and Uncle JC for this precious new ornament! We will always remember Christmas 2008 as being the Christmas we were expecting our first baby boy!

Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With his sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that he's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see him squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing him for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb.

Enjoying family time

I love nothing more about Christmas break than a lazy Sunday relaxing with the family. Today we went to church, had breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then took some family pictures since we were all dressed up. The rest of the day I hope will consist of nothing but lounging around and playing games, enjoying each other's company!

Christmas at Mimi and Potts house!

Potts and Mimi's favorite thing about Christmas.. the group grandkid shot :)

We had another great family Christmas down at Mimi and Potts' house today. It was very clear that I am expecting a baby as Griffin already has gotten lots of gifts! Thanks Mimi and Potts for everything and as always we love spending time with the whole family :)

Great little onesie from my Uncle Scott and Aunt Patty



The whole family!




Scotts family extended


Mom's family and extended

Family you can check out all the pictures and download them if you wish at http://picasaweb.google.com/lindseygisham/Christmas2008#

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