The Ison Family

2009-10-13T18:43:00.001-07:00

Grayden's newborn checkup 04/28/09

2009-05-01T13:43:00.000-07:00

Baby Pictures: Niki, Grayden, and Kris

Grayden's newborn checkup went well. Dr. Brassart said our baby boy is looking great! He weighed in at 8lbs 8oz and is 23 in. long. That is great news since Grayden had lost a full pound when we had left the hospital due to the fact that my milk had not yet come in. At that time we had to supplement him with formula, and now we no longer have to! Grayden has another check up in 4 weeks.

Kris and I are adjusting to life with baby. Thankfully Grayden is sleeping well at night, usually about 5 hours if he is in his swing, which allows mommy to get some rest too. Kris had to go back to work, which was sad for all of us, we really enjoyed spending time together as a family of three. I am trying to savor every moment with Grayden as I can, since I have to go back to work at the beginning of June. It already breaks my heart to think about having to leave my little guy!

That is about it for now. Will keep you updated on our little one and our adventures in parenthood.

Niki

Our Easter Present

2009-04-23T15:16:00.001-07:00

Our baby boy is finally here! Grayden James Ison was born April 12, 2009 at 4:42pm. 8lbs 7oz, 21in. long.

Counting down the days

2009-04-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent phots that we have taken. Kris lovin the belly (he says he isn't ready for the pregnancy to be over. The other pictures were taken when we went for a little hike (an attempt at putting myself into labor) at Monte Sano State Park yesterday (4/4/2009).

April 15th (AKA D-Day) is right around the corner.....Are your taxes done? For those of you planning on coming to Bama to visit our little bundle of joy, you better get on it! :)

We had our last check up on April the 2nd. Unfortunately at that time, I had not progressed. My last visit wasn't with my regular OB (there are several doctors in the practice where I go and they have you see each doctor in case someone else is on call when labor begins and your primary OB can't deliver), when I told him that I was told a few weeks prior that I was 1cm he said that they were being generous. I was hoping for other news, but not expecting it.

I have been walking, eating spicy foods, and trying anything possible to get this show on the road. Apparently Grayden has other plans and wants to make sure that I know that he is the one in charge! I do know one thing, he is teaching his mommy a valuable lesson in patience. Looks like we will be waiting a little longer for his debut. We will keep you all posted!

Next OB appointment is April 8th. Pray for progress!!!!!

36 week update

2009-03-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

("Happy 36 weeks" roses that Kris sent to me at work)

I had my 36 week check up last week on Wed. At that time, I was 1 cm dilated but the doctor said the my cervix was still pretty thick. (1 cm isn't much, but hey I will take what I can get!) They also said that Grayden weighed about 6lbs. We go back each week from now on until Grayden decides to make his appearance. My next visit will be Wed. March 18th. Hopefully I will have progressed a little more!

It took us so long to get pregnant, I can't believe that it is all almost over. Other than the all day sickness in the beginning of my pregnancy and the occasion bouts of sickness now, the sleepless nights (which shall continue from what I hear), and as of late the swollen hands and feet I really can't complain about my pregnancy. Kris has played a major role in how well my pregnancy has gone, as he has treated me like a queen the entire time. He pretty much catered to my every want and need and never complained. I couldn't ask for a better husband and father!

The feeling of a baby growing inside of me has been unreal and is something I will never forget. I would endure it all (and more) over again in a heartbeat! Though I am ready to see little Grayden, I have to admit I will miss being pregnant.

We are finally finished with Grayden's room. Now, all we need is the little man himself. Here are some pictures of the room.

Baby Shower #3

2009-03-08T16:20:00.001-07:00

Feb. 28, 2009

Kim hosted shower #3, for our friends in Alabama.

Complete Dental Crew

Renee and Amy, Friends and Kris's co-workers from Maximum Technology Corp.

My Physicians Mutual Friends

We had a great time. With lots of yummy food, games, and of course presents for little Grayden.

Thank you to everyone for three awesome showers! You all helped to make the showers and our pregnancy a special one. All your love and support means more than you know. We are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family to help us celebrate the birth of our baby boy.

Lots of love,
Kris and Niki

Baby Shower #2

2009-03-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Jan. 17, 2009

My Step-mom, Kathy, and sister-in-law, Tammy, hosted baby shower #2. We had our family and my long time friends, CJ and Kristin, to celebrate with us.

My cousin Patricia and Aunt Susan did a fantastic job of coordinating games.

The diaper game. Each diaper had a different kind of candy bar melted in it. The object of the game was to guess which kind it was.

We drank out of baby bottles, trying to see who could finish theirs first.

And, we measured my belly. My little sister, Becca won this one. As shown, in the picture above, her guess was right on!

Once again, we were so lucky to get so many gifts to help us prepare for Grayden's arrival! Grandpa and Grandma Lindsey got Grayden his pack'n play. They also went in with Uncle Chris and Aunt Tammy (and kids) to get Grayden's bassinet. We also got our diaper champ, baby bather, lots of clothes, toys, and lotion etc.

Keep reading on, Baby shower # 3 is next.....

Baby Shower #1

2009-03-04T07:41:00.000-08:00

Jan. 17, 2009

Thanks to my wonderful mother in law, Darlene, and Sister in law, Wendy (and a little help from my cousin Kim and oldest and dearest friend, Rita) our baby shower couldn't have turned out any better! We had a spectacular cake, yummy food, and several fun games. I was reminded how blessed I am with the people in my life. I had lots of family and many friends (from childhood to my college days) to help celebrate baby Grayden.

Everyone was so generous with their gifts that they brought! Grandma and Grandpa Ison bought Grayden his Crib. Uncle Mike and Aunt Wendy (and kids) bought him his dresser. Grandma Ison also made the cutest diaper cake with toys and clothes mixed in. It broke my heart to take it apart! Everyone else helped to stock Grayden's closet and drawers with the most adorable clothes. He is all set in the toy department too. Not to mention all the towels, washcloths, baby lotion, shampoo etc....

Keep Reading....Baby Shower #2 is next

Good Bye 2008 Hello 2009!

2009-01-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

Well, Christmas has come and gone in a flash. Our trip to Indiana for the holidays went well. I don't think we stayed in one house two nights in a row, but we got to spend some quality time with our families which made all the traveling well worth it!

Every where we went someone was sick. Unfortunately, Kris and I weren't lucky enough to come back to Alabama healthy. We were both sick for New Years Eve and didn't get feeling better for several days after. So, we got celebrate New Years Eve with a warm bowl of soup and grilled cheese. We both fell asleep on the couch, but managed to wake up just in time to see midnight and welcome 2009 with a glass of sparkling grape juice. Yes, we are quite the party animals! 2008 was a good year for our little family. Obviously our most exciting event of 2008 was that we finally got pregnant. It was a long and bumpy road, but well worth the wait and we are looking forward to welcoming our baby boy in 2009.

For those of you who do not know, we have decided on a name. Grayden James Ison. These pictures were taken at our last OB appointment in December. We had a 4D ultrasound and were able to get these amazing pictures and we also got a DVD. He is quite an active little guy! The ultrasound tech had a hard time getting the pictures because he was moving so much. I should have warned her because he moves around like that all the time, especially at 4am when I am trying to sleep! The jury is out, who does he look like? Kris said right away that he looks exactly like him. Call me prejudice, but I think he is just perfect and is going to be the cutest baby ever!

Up and coming events:

Jan. 14th-OB Appt.

Jan. 15th-The Ison's are heading back to Indy for our Baby showers (to be held Jan.17). This will be our last trip before Grayden is born.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Kim (Jan. 14th), Becca-my baby sister (Jan. 18th), ME (Jan. 19th), Amanda (Jan. 20th), and Chris (my big brother)

Happy New Year!

Kris, Niki, and Lexie

Traveling, Traveling, and more Traveling...

2008-12-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Hello all! Just wanted to give you a few updates on the happenings with the Ison family. I have finally started feeling the baby move! Last week I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep, our little one decided that would be a good time to start doing gymnastics. Naturally I woke Kris up to see if he could feel the baby moving. He told me he could but I think he was just telling me what I wanted to hear so that he could go back to sleep. :) I am feeling great and am so thankful not to be getting sick every five minutes!

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and it was a good one! We really enjoyed vising with our families and eating lots of great food. The only thing we didn't enjoy, the 8 hour trip from Indiana back to Alabama (which should only take 6 hours). I will admit that having to stop for bathroom breaks every five minutes didn't help, but the traffic was mostly to blame! We got home safe and sound and that is what really matters.

We will be heading to Indiana for Christmas Dec. 23rd. Our first stop will be with Grandpa and Grandma Smith on Christmas Eve. Then onto visit Grandpa and Grandma Lindsey on Christmas Day, the day after Christmas Kris and I will be splitting up to visit various family members in Indiana and Ohio, Saturday the 27th will be our Christmas with Grandpa and Grandma Ison in Brookville. Sunday we will heading back to "Sweet Home Alabama".

January 16, 17, and 18th will be our last trip North to Indiana until after baby boy Ison is born. This is the weekend that our families have decided to throw our baby showers, as I can't travel after January (Per our OB). So, mark your calendar's now for a visit to the good ole south to visit!

Updates:
*We are now registered at Babies R Us.

*Our next OB appointment will be Wed. Dec. 17th.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!
Kris, Niki, and baby Ison

Hey, I am joining this thing...

2008-11-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

Hello All! Just thought I would add a little something since this is supposed to be a family thing. Well, I have to admit that it is my fault because I haven't gotten off my you know what to add anything. I have to start by thanking my hubby for getting our family blog up and running, he did a fine job, didn't he? Thank the good Lord that he knows what he is doing on the computer! Something that would have taken Kris 5 minutes to do, has taken me 2 hours (such as...adding the belly pic slideshow and updating the layout). The Ison Family blog is ready to go and I am so very happy about that! Lets get to the good stuff.

We started our registry this weekend at Babies R Us. Don't get all excited because it is a work in progress as we only have two items listed. We finally decided on a travel system (car seat and stroller) and so I went on-line and got us registered. We are planning on going into the store to register for everything else in the next few weeks. I am sure we will also register at Target too. For those of you who would like to know...we will update you when we are finished with the registration.

The picture shown above is of our inspiration for the Baby Ison's room. Well, the Play and Laugh signs anyway. The giraffe was just too cute for me to pass up! At this point, the baby's room is going to be an array of colors: red, blue, white, yellow and orange. I should say, the items in the room are going to be an array of colors as Kris is afraid of paint. :) Decorating is not really my thing, but I hope to throw something pretty darn cute together for my baby boy!

We will be heading North in a few days for Thanksgiving. To all of those who we won't get to see for our whirlwind tour...Happy Turkey Day!

Momma Ison

20 Weeks and all is Well

2008-11-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

It's a Boy!

Niki and I found out yesterday that we are going to have a little boy. At first I was strongly hoping for a boy, but as it got closer to the time when we would be finding out the sex, all I started caring about was the health of the baby. That said I was on cloud nine when we found out that it was indeed a boy. Niki was also very excited.

All of the baby's vitals were exactly where they should be. They looked at the baby's major organs and appendages as well as checking length and weight. The baby weighed in at about 12oz. and was about 5in. in length. The highlight of that process was watching his little four-chambered heart beat away at 159 bpm in incredible detail.

Niki was in perfect health as well and the doctor said he was very pleased with everything. After the appointment Niki spent the rest of her day with a phone attached to her ear. She told all of her family, some of her friends, and probably any strangers that she met along the way. She only stopped because she ran out of time. She also immediately went to all of the stores in the immediate vicinity and started picking out nursey items and color schemes. Now begins the fun process of picking out names, hospitals, pediatricians, colors, bedding, furniture, strollers, car seats, high chairs, toys, etc, etc, etc. My head hurts already.

Kris

Hiking Trip

2008-10-31T10:56:00.001-07:00

Some friends and I took our yearly trip to Great Smoky Mountain National Park for a 3-day backpacking trip. We covered about 18 miles in 3 days which was considerably easier than our 3-day 30 miles trip last year. The hike this year was in the Southwest corner of the park and consisted of some tall trees, steep climbs, ridge hiking, and mountain streams. Tent camping was certainly more fun than staying in the shelters along the Appalacian Trail. The second night's campsite was especially nice because the river ran right next to us.

Still no bear sightings but I am hopeful for next year.

Kris

We're Pregnant!!!

2008-09-29T10:55:00.000-07:00

We are proud to announce the impending arrival of a new member to the Ison family. Niki is 12 weeks pregnant and the baby is due in early April. Aside from the occasional bout of nausea Niki is doing very well and everything about the pregnancy is perfect.

Kris

Elk River Canoe Trip

2008-09-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

I went on a 3-day/2-night canoe trip this past weekend on the Elk River in Tennessee. Some friends and I started at Tim's Ford Dam and ended 44 miles later in Fayetteville. This was my first overnight canoe trip as well as my first time trout fishing. I definitely intend to do both again.

Kris