Celebrating 3 wonderful years!

Today is our 3rd anniversary! This year has been quite the year for us as we welcomed Griffin into our family and became parents!!! We were able to celebrate with dinner and a movie over the weekend. It is amazing how we can go from going to Paris one year to dinner and a movie, but to me it is not about what we do our how much money we spend but simply celebrating the marriage that God has given us. I am so thankful how much He has helped us to grow over this past year and as cliche as it sounds it just keeps getting better and better. Being a mom and dady now, creates a new dimension to our life together. It is the best thing in the world for me to sit back and watch JR and Griffin together. Every now and then I will have one of those out of body experiences where I step back from the situation and think, "Wow that is my husband and we have a son!"


This week have I reflected on how blessed I am. Its not just about celebrating another year of marriage, but instead being thankful that God has continued to keep us together. It is only by His grace that we have remained in happiness together and I never want to take that for granted in a world where divorce is all over the place. To think back on all the many years we have been together and to see how far we have come now- it can only be a God thing :)


I am the luckiest woman alive to have a husband who loves me, takes care of me, and challenges me to honor God in all that I do! I am so thankful for his constant pursuit of Christ and his devotion to our family. I love you sweetie and pray for many more years to come!

I will always cherish the day that we became husband and wife. Here are our pictures from that day.

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

How to push my little man to learn...

It seems that with motherhood you are always trying to soak in every moment that you have with your child right now but also cant help but think ahead. Oh I cant wait until he can sit up, crawl, talk, etc. (and yes I know it will all be here before I know it and when it does come I will be wishing he was not mobile and wanting some peace and quiet ha). But with all of that to say, the planner in me has already started thinking ahead to the days where I can watch Griffin learn his ABCs and 123s, colors, shapes, etc. Again, I do not plan on starting tomorrow or anything but I do want to get a jump start on the best resources to use out there, while I have some time ha!!!

My heart is that I want to start at a young age so that Griffin will ENJOY learning, build confidence and help stimulate his little brain. I have read and heard several people say that kids are like little sponges before the age of 4, as by that time 90% of their brain has already been filled. I am going to be his first teacher and maybe only teacher during that age and therefore I want to give him the very best. I am not out to make him a genius (as I know with our genes I am doubtful that would happen anyways ha), I just want him to enjoy learning and therefore I want to make it as fun as I can, as early as I can!

I know I have several readers that are moms of young children, as well as moms of older kids that have been there and done that so I am asking you to share your wisdom please :)

What books, websites, toys, etc have you found that help out the most? When did you start informally teaching? What other things should this first time mom know???

I am open to ALL suggestions, advice, and really any wisdom that I can gain from each of you. I know that the best people to learn from are those who are doing it already and have been able to see what works and what does not.

I thank you in advance for taking your time to share with me!!!!

Way to go Daddy!!!

This weekend we traveled for JR's MS Bike Ride. He had heard about the ride in New Bern from a friend and decided that he wanted to form a team for someone very special to us who has MS. The team name was "Riding for Mimi" :)

JR has really come to love the sport of biking but has never had the chance to challenge himself for a century ride (100 miles). He got support from a great friend Micah who decided to do it with him and the rest is history!

Best buds having the time of their life... well especially since they can see the finish line!! They started at 8am and finished at 3pm. I am so proud of them!!!

The century riders themselves! Tired but so glad its over :)


We came back after the ride and watched our Vols. Sad they lost of course but still wearing our orange proudly!

JR giving Griffin his first lesson on the bike.



We went with our friends the Grahams and the Edwards. Here are all the girls and their baby boys on Friday. We came early while the daddys were working so we could shop on Friday!

Griffin with his buddy Jonathan David

Sunday afternoon we had a beautiful day to explore Beaufort. It is such a quaint little town and we enjoyed sitting by the water and seeing all of the boats come in. We were lucky enough to have some friends of friends who have a boat there take us out on it! It was our first time in a fishing boat in the ocean... for ALL the Ishams :)

Our little Sailor boy ready for a boat ride!!

Mr. Adorable in his shades

family picture on the boat ride

Happy Birthday Tyler and Happy Grandparents Day!

Today is my brother's 23rd birthday and it is also my parents' first Grandparents Day!! We sent everyone a little something in the mail already and cant wait to celebrate with them all in October when we visit again :)

picture update of our little man!