Presents for Griffin

We wanted to thank Griffin's Aunt Jordan for his very first gift! She was so sweet to bring it to me on Saturday, the day after we found out we are having a BOY! We cant wait until he gets here so he and your daughter Lily can be friends :)
We also wanted to thank Griffin's Mimi for getting his bedding for us! Last Saturday we went by Pottery Barn to do some registering and found out that the bedding we had picked out was going out of stock! This was not good especially since this was the ONLY one we both loved and we had already planned his room around it. A simple phone call to the Mimster and now it is all 3 of our Christmas present for this year! Hooray :)

So thankful for our baby BOY!

This Thanksgiving we have SO much to be thankful for! We are going to have a baby BOY in April and we could not be more excited! We are so thankful that he is a very healthy boy and that everything with the pregnancy has gone so well in the last 19 weeks. Being a parent is a true blessing and we know that our little boy is a gift from God. We cannot wait for him to get here, not only so we can kiss and hug on him, but show him God's love and what is means to be a follower of Him. It will be a huge responsibility and very challenging, and yet we know God will keep His promise to us in helping us along the way. We love you Griffin and cannot wait for you to be here soon! It is crazy to think that this time next year he will be 7 months old!!!

We are pleased to show off our little man! Griffin Jonah Isham :)

Here are his boy parts

and here he is sucking his sweet thumb ha!

Week 19

Baby Isham is ALL over the place now ha! I swear JR should be able to feel the movement now but every time he puts his hand down there the baby stops moving ha! I was excited to see in my update that the baby can now hear us so I am sure we will be talking up a storm to it from now on! From here on out the updates will be about he or she... so exciting! Family your time has come to know which one.. hope it was worth the wait :)

Update from the babycenter website:
(The website uses she so dont get any ideas that I messed up and told ha!)

Your baby's sensory development is exploding! Her brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that she may be able to hear your voice now, so don't be shy about reading aloud, talking to her, or singing a happy tune if the mood strikes you.

Your baby weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom — about the size of a large heirloom tomato. Her arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of her body now. Her kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on her scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on her skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

Rocky top you will always be....

HOME SWEET HOME TO ME!!! Hooray we are headed home today after work to spend the holiday with our families and we cannot wait! Not only do we miss them terribly, but we also get to share with them our exciting news about our child!!!

Here are some things about Thanksgiving at home that I cannot wait for:

1. Good ole country cookin


2. a time when our whole families get together


3. to see our sweet nephew


4. a trip or two to Cracker Barrel- its not a visit home without one


5. seeing TN friends!!!


6. shopping!!!



7. seeing cousins and family that we haven't seen since this time last year


8. my wonderful brothers and sister


9. no work for 5 days!!!


10. relaxing with my husband :)

Crib Shopping and putting up the tree

Saturday- JR, Uncle Phil and I headed off to High Point, NC to check out furniture for Baby Isham. We were excited to have the "Furniture capital of the world" only an hour and a half away from us.. but little did we know that didnt necessarily mean cribs unfortunately. We went to about 5 stores and only 1 of them had any cribs at all. We kept asking around and everyone pointed us to Babies R Us, Walmart, Target, JCPenny and Sears. Well we had already checked all of those so we headed back to Raleigh to check them out once more. We were pleasantly surprised whenever we had the suggestion of going to Burlington Coat factory too. Who would have guessed they would have TONS to choose from.. and in face a WHOLE baby section! We have now been able to narrow it down to a few so hopefully before the first of the year we can decide and BUY :)
Once we got home Saturday night we continued our tradition of putting up the tree together and then sleeping under it that night. Here are Mom, Dad and Sojo (our sock monkey that we bought baby Isham the first week we knew we were pregnant).

Meet our baby!

Today's appointment went GREAT! We spent an hour and a half looking at our precious child and are so happy to know that it is healthy as can be!!! We were able to find out the gender, but as most of you know we arent revealing just yet because we want to tell our family in person over Thanksgiving! Believe me I HATE keeping secrets so its hard.. however I think our child will thank us one day once we have captured all of its family's reactions for them!

Today is the day!!!

When this post shows up on the blog, JR and I will be at the doctor's office watching our child on the ultrasound screen. Please pray for us as obviously it gets exciting thinking about a boy or girl, however really the only important thing is that we have a healthy baby! For those who have never had a baby before, I have been told that it is at this ultrasound that everything should be developed and they will be able to tell if there are any problems or not. Every day since August 14th when I found out that this baby had started growing inside me.. I have prayed every night that God would carry out His plan for this child. For these past 18 weeks I have been tremendously blessed with a healthy pregnancy and for that I am so grateful. I cant even imagine what it will be like to see our child for the first time now that it has become so developed... I am sure we will both just be in awe. Neither one of us could sleep last night haha! It was like we were children waiting for Christmas :)

We will update everyone once we get back from the doctor that everything went well and if we were able to find out the gender or not. It has been fun these past few weeks asking everyone to take a guess as to what they think baby Isham is. So far Lexi has won the vote 53-31. Griffin honey its okay if you surprise everyone too! Mommy just wants a nice healthy baby with 10 fingers and 10 toes :)

Thanks to everyone for playing along! You will find out soon if you were right or not!!!

Girl

1. Cathy

2. Rachel

3. Granny Reba

4. Potts

5. Tyler

6. Mason

7. JD

8. Vance

9. Missy

10. Jared

11. Beth

12. Leigh

13. Seth

14. Abbey

15. Jen

16. Megan

17. Amy

18. BJ

19. Kristy

20. Tabitha

21. Trampas

22. Diana

23. Lacy

24. Jess

25. Terri

26. Wes

27. Crystal

28. Katie

29. Adrienne

30. Mandy

31. Hope

32. Lesley

33. Meg

34. Leelee

35. Robin

36. Rachel R.

37. Sarah M.

38. Rachel B.

39. Richmond

40. Elizabeth

41. Megan

42. Haley M.

43. Constance

44. Smelley’s

45. Lewis’s

46. Joey Z

47. Tiffany

48. Jen W.

49. Mariah

50. Chandlar

51. Lindsey K.

52. Eric Helton

53. Patrick

Boy

1. Sue

2. Chris

3. Mimi

4. Poppa

5. James

6. Jenny

7. Haley

8. Kat

9. Maranda

10. Liz

11. Tara

12. Brandi

13. Dana

14. Darby

15. Elise

16. Ashley

17. Holly

18. Monica

19. Aunt Stacy

20. Uncle JC

21. Aunt Leann

22. Micah

23. JLewis

24. Melissa M.

25. Wes H.

26. Micah

27. Denira

28. Melissa Buff

29. Austin

30. Shannon

31. Jessie

It Snowed!

Well just a little bit.. but STILL ha! Weather man says that we should expect a lot more of it this winter so we may just have a white Christmas after all :)

JR is getting some practice

Tuesday night my friend Jordan came over and helped me put some Christmas decor in place (no not done yet but getting closer!!). Anyways she brought sweet Lily with her and of course as soon as she walked in the door JR wanted to hold her. So we just let JR hold her while us girls got down to business. Well we realized after a little while that we didnt hear Lily anymore so we walked into the office to see what was going on. Here is how we found them... JR studying and loving that Lily was sleeping on his shoulder.

Now you tell me someone isnt ready to have a daddy's little girl :)

Just Lindsey is working hard!

week 18

I would have to say that this past week has been the best for me so far! I feel like so much has changed in just a short week, but I was warned by our update last week that the baby would double in size. So obviously if the baby is growing then so am I. I am glad to be getting the sweet "Aww you are expecting" comments and looks now, instead of "man what buffet line did you just get out of?" I am also feeling so much movement now! There is never really a time that the baby is not moving.. oh well unless JR puts his hand down there to feel it ha! Bless his heart he wants to just feel it move so bad and it never does once he starts touching my belly. I want to say that the doctor told me we should start to be able to feel it moving from the outside soon.. is that true? Well I know it will be exciting to go home this Thanksgiving and see everyone in my family and let them see baby Isham in person. Oh and of course we find out the gender too before we go.. how could I forget that? :) Speaking of I should probably mention that fact that even though we hope to find out on Friday, it will be a secret to the blogging world until probably the next Friday. JR and I have decided that since we get to go home so soon after finding out that we would rather tell our family in person! Therefore they are all finding out either Wednesday or Thursday.. hence why it has to remain a secret until then! So sorry.. I know thats mean but it is only one more week haha! Actually if you really just must know and you are really one of my friends and not just a blogging friend, then just call me... I will be glad to share :)

Yahoo.. only 2 more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and she weighs almost 7 ounces. She's busy flexing her arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. Her blood vessels are visible through her thin skin, and her ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Can someone please explain?

This weekend as I was waiting on my friend Natalie to arrive in Nashville, I just happened to notice this nice new hair that has came in recently. It honestly looks like I tried to cut myself some bangs but only did one small piece ha. I have heard that new hair growth is common for pregnant women and my sweet friend Natalie Lemarbre showed me her proof!

So my question for all of you mom's out there is this... what else do I need to know about this body of mine that is not my own anymore? Come on I want you to be real!!! :)

tagged by Nikki

So I was tagged by Nikki and now I must tag four people to do the same. This one is for fun! Go to your fourth picture folder and then go to the fourth picture in the folder. Write four things about the picture and then tag four other people. It's amazing what you'll find!!!

So weird.. I really thought it would be a more random picture but it is one of my fav's from this year!

Four things about this picture

1. This was us at my mom's birthday party over July 4th weekend.

2. We actually match in this picture with our navy but didnt mean to at all. It is strange what marriage will do to ya b/c I promise there are several times he will walk out of the closet only to find me already dressed in something that matches :)

3. It is crazy to think that just over a month later we would find out that our world would never be the same!

4. For reason #3, this will be a picture I cherish b/c it is just us... and I love it!

Now I tag...

1. Brandi Crouse

2. Missy Davis
3. Mandy Raymond

4. Jenn Looney

Tiffany and Michael's wedding

Tiffany is officially Mrs. Michael Morgan! It was a beautiful wedding with a stunning bride and I was so thankful to get to be a part of it. Tiffany is such a special friend to me and I love getting to see her so happy :)
Our friendship began our freshman year of college and God has brought us through so many things together. Pretty much anything I did in my four years of college, we did together. From Phi Mu, to Timettes, to summer in Destin for Greek Summitt and another summer at Camp Greystone as counselors.... but my favorite times with her were just normal every day living across the hall from one another. We were together for 3 years and made the funniest memories!
I love you Tiff!!!

And I loved getting to see all of my other Phi Mu ladies as well!

I also got a special surprise when I saw that my two very handsome cousins were guests at the wedding. Their mom was Tiffany's teacher in high school and part of the reason we became friends so instantly. Love these little cuties :)


I took a ton of pictures as usual so if you want to see them all or download any just go here to my picasa.

If not just enjoy the photo montage!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Names

With one week left before we can finally start calling our baby by name, I thought it would be a good time to reveal to those who dont already know the names that we have picked out. I honestly have had these two picked out since I was about 12 I think haha! And I am SO lucky that these two names were also on JR's list of likes, plus we have added in middle names that he has chosen, so it has been a great combined effort for sure! We knew we wanted some sort of meaning for our kids' names and we both loved the idea of using family names. Griffin, which is my maiden name, has always been on my radar as it was both unique and had a lot of meaning for me. Carter, which is JR's mother's side of the family's name, was also one of our favorites for the same reasons. We went back and forth as to whether to use both of those as first names, and whether they should be used for the girl or boy.. this was all before we were pregnant! Once we were about 8 weeks along we finally decided on:

Griffin Jonah Isham
Lexi Carter Isham

We decided on Jonah because it was one JR's favorite list and it eventually ended up on mine. We chose Lexi because it has always been one of my top names, and it was actually on JR's VERY small list for girls haha!

So very soon you guys will be able to join us in praying for either Griffin or Lexi :)

Wedding Weekend

Today after work I am headed out to Nashville to be a bridesmaid for my beautiful friend and bride to be, TIFFANY! I am so excited for her and am excited to be a part of her special day.

Love you soon to be Mrs. Morgan :)

Free photo book!

Just found this on a mom's freebie website and wanted to share with all my friends! You must act quick though b/c it has to be ordered by THIS Sunday!!!



New and current members can get a free 8x11 Photo Book from Snapfish thanks to Oprah. Yes, you do need to pay the shipping (you can not use coupon codes on this offer) - but this is a great offer that I think many of you will want to take advantage of. This book would normally cost you $29.99. Standard shipping is $6.99. You've got to hurry and request your coupon by Friday, November 14. You've got to redeem your coupon by Sunday, November 16. Might make a great gift for under $10? All the thanks goes to Martha for sharing this deal with me!

Read about how you can take photos of your child's artwork and turn the photos into a book to help clear the clutter in your house. It's part of Oprah's "Clean Up Your Messy Home!" segment.

week 17

Baby Isham is moving all over the place now. Pretty much any time I sit still I can feel the baby now and it is so awesome! The doctor assured me this week that what I had been feeling was in fact the baby and so my instinct was right :) Oh it just kicked as I type ha!

I am still feeling great and I really think it has a lot to do with all of the water I am drinking and that I am walking at night most every night. I have found that the walking gives me more energy and I really have had a lot of that recently. If I could ever get done with my sewing orders I think I may even want to go and clean out some closets. Ha who would have ever guessed that???

We are now at the 9 day countdown for the gender and of course are still eagerly awaiting to find out what the baby is! We hope to go shopping for a crib soon, as we already have our eye on a few. We have also picked out the bedding that we will use for either gender. I went to a class at Pottery Barn not to long ago and got some great ideas! No I don't plan to get everything from there since they are a bit out of our price range but they always have such cute ideas that I hope to find things similar to them elsewhere. The bedding for the boy is A to Z and the bedding for the girl is Penelope. I love the color schemes for both of those patterns and I cant wait to know so we can start getting some things :)

It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks we will be 1/2 there! I just cant wait to hold baby Isham in my arms!!! I love you so much already sweet child of mine!


Your baby's skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and the umbilical cord — her lifeline to the placenta — is growing stronger and thicker. Your baby weighs 5 ounces now (about as much as a turnip), and she's around 5 inches long from head to bottom. She can move her joints, and her sweat glands are starting to develop.

Collegiate Burpies

I was so excited when I got this order to do something for a fellow sports fan! Thanks Ashley for your order.. they are on their way to you!

Doctor's appointment #3

Today we had another appointment for week 17 and everything was great! Dr. Holton said I was "boringly healthy" which of course is a HUGE praise! All of my blood tests came back great and the baby's heartbeat was very strong at 162 beats per minute. Watch the video below to hear the doctor's predictions on the sex based off the heartbeat :)

And I decided to take a picture of another Isham family tradition. Every time we go to the doctor we stop by Cookout for a milkshake. It is a very nice treat for Mommy and Daddy... and I know the kids will love it when its their turn too!!!

Next appointment we will find out the gender.. HOORAY! Only 11 more days :)

Saturday with my two favorite little people

On Saturday afternoon I got to go shopping with Miss Lily Lewis and Jordan. We went to the Wakefield craft show and it was so nice. I got a lot more great ideas and now just need the time to try them out! Lily was such a trooper and got many praises about her cute little outfit... what a sweetie she is :)

Then Amy and I went and had our long awaited girl's date for her birthday present. We had both really been wanting to see the movie "Nights at Rodanthe" since before her birthday, way back on October 11th! We were excited to finally get to hang out and see it.. even though it was a bit of a tear jerker. You have always got to love Nicholas Sparks :)

Then Saturday night we had our first Thanksgiving dinner of the year at the Walker home! It was delicious and made me even more excited about getting to eat for the actual holiday :)

I will have to say that my favorite part was getting to play with my little man Jack though. He is at that age where he just smiles and coo's all the time now and I LOVE it!

Now taking wagers...

OR

Since we are on the 2 week countdown as of tomorrow to find out what little Baby Isham is.. I thought it would be fun to go ahead and see what all of you think! Of course there is a 50/50 chance with either and you really cant go off any old wives tales since I have had a pretty normal pregnancy, but I am very interested to see what each of you say!! So far from what people around here are saying to me it has mainly been all GIRL, however my Mimi and Poppa seem to think its definitely a BOY... along with baby Isham's Daddy too :)

Week 16

168 days to go and Baby Isham is a moving! What I felt last week was confirmed this week to be the little squirt moving. Every time I eat something with sugar or sit really still for awhile I can feel that baby moving around. Sadly it is nothing that is so hard that JR can feel on the outside yet, but I can feel the popcorn popping inside :) Today we are also at the 16 day count down to find out what the baby is! JR and I daily talk about that day and how excited we are... we just want to know if it is a little boy or a little girl so we can start calling it by name!!!! I have moved to not being able to fit into most all of my pants now so everyday its me and the bella band.. man what life savers! I am still feeling great and not really feeling any weird cravings as of now.. except pickles.. I could eat them with anything ha! So far I have gained 3 whole pounds :)

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

VOTE!

Everyone make sure you go and vote today! This is a very big election and everyone needs to exercise their freedom :)

Bye bye Phil

Phillip Fulmer, who a decade ago brought Tennessee its first national championship in 47 years, will not return as the Volunteers' coach next year, multiple sources told ESPN.com.

An announcement is being planned for later Monday at Neyland Stadium. The Vols (3-6, 1-5 SEC) have lost four straight games and are in danger of suffering their second losing season in the last four years. Fulmer, who has won 150 games at his alma mater and is the dean of SEC coaches, met with Tennessee officials Monday morning, and they reached a mutual agreement that it would be best for all parties if Fulmer was not back next season. The sides also agreed that Fulmer would coach the remainder of the 2008 season. There had been increasing scrutiny on Fulmer, who took over full time as head coach in 1993 and has been at his alma mater as a player, assistant coach and head coach for more than 30 years. The Vols won the national title in 1998 and were one of the top programs in all of college football in the 1990s, but the program hasn't been the same this decade. They've lost 31 games since the end of the 2001 season.

source- http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3679810

SEBTS Craft and Bake Sale

Saturday we had our Craft and Bake sale at Southeastern. It was my business debut and we had a blast! JR went with me to support too! I provided samples of what I could do and had 7 orders placed with many others saying they would email me soon.. how exciting :)

the full display

bridesmaid dress blanket was a HUGE hit!

and of course the business cards!

My friend Leah shared the table with me and brought her one month old son Baxter so JR interned for part of the day on what its like being a dad! ha

and we loved having our special visitors.. the Tood family

look how big Isaac is now!

Crazy Uncle Phil showed up too and wanted to support so he bought this football burp cloth :)

Thank you to everyone for your support! It is a bit nerve racking putting yourself out there like that but I am very thankful I did and feel blessed to have had so many compliments!