Finally an update...

WOW! I can NOT believe that Jackson will be 8 weeks old on Monday. The past 8 weeks have been life-changing, for not only Aaron and I, but Tex and Rebel too.Jackson is growing, growing and doing something new everyday. He has just found his hands this week, we're trying hard to not let him put his thumb in his mouth. He also started smiling last week...so fun. If you hadn't heard, Jackson also already his first cold, it was not fun for any of us, but we're over it, thank goodness.

We had a great Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. We are looking forward to 2010 and all the new adventures in our life. I will return to school on Monday, January 11 and though I LOVE teaching, I am going to miss the time that I get to spend with Jackson, but knowing he will be in good hands will make it a little easier. We are so grateful that my mom (Nana) and Aaron's mom (G-Mom) will be taking care of Jackson when I go back to work. Thankfully, Aaron and I only work about 5 minutes from the house, so we can get quickly home to see Jackson after long days at work.

Here are some new pictures of our family from Christmas. Jackson will have his 2 month check-up on Monday, January, 18th, we are so excited to see how much he has grown and we will share with you as soon as we have a moment (ha, ha, ha!).

Introducing Jackson Patrick Samuels

Jackson Patrick Samuels was born at 11:33 pm on November 16. He wieghed in at 9lbs 40z and is 22 1/2in long. It ended up being a longer process than we had anticipated, but he is here nevertheless. He and mom are both doing great and we should be going home from the hospital tomorrow morning.

Here are a few pictures of our new baby boy!

Due Date

Well, tomorrow is our due date! I can't believe that we've actually made it. However, it does not look like we will be having a baby until Sunday or Monday. As of this past Tuesday I was only dilated to a 1 and Jackson had not dropped. So we will head to the hospital on Sunday evening to start Cervadil, and then Pitosin on Monday at 5 AM. We are very excited, just trying to finish up loose ends at work and make sure that we're as ready as we can be for this life changing event.
Aaron will be texting out messages throughout our stay at the hosptial and we will try to keep everyone updated as much as possible. Please feel free to call or text Aaron if you need an update.
Hopefully the next time I post it will be pictures of Jackson.

Chubby Cheeks

Today was an amazing day! We are 38 weeks and 1 day, we went in for what we assumed would be a "run of the mill" sonogram and not expecting to see much as he is getting crowded and big. However, we had the regular sonogram and to our surprise the sonographer turned on the 4D sonogram machine and we got an amazing shot of our little boy's chubby cheeks and face. Of course we're biased but we're pretty sure that he's super cute already.

Just so everyone's up-to-date, the measurements that the sonographer took said that Jackson was weighing in at 7 pounds 9 ounces TODAY. His head is measuring 40 weeks and the rest of him is right on track. I am dilated 1 centimeter and 50 % effaced. If things continue to progress at our next appointment (next Thursday) we will most likely set an induction date. Our choice now is the 12th of November. Of course as we all know babies have minds of their own so we'll see what Jackson wants to do! No matter what we are most likely right at 2 weeks away from this new chapter in our lives beginning. We THINK that we're as ready as we're going to be.

Here is the the best picture from today,

The picture to the right is looking straight on at his face (forehead, eyes, nose, mouth) and then his arm is coming across the bottom of his chin.

We will keep you posted on our possible delivery date as we get closer and have more information to share.

Hiccups and nesting...

The past couple of weeks have been very busy, as we have spent time trying to find a place for all the wonderful things that we recieved for Jackson from our shower in Cleburne. I have also been working to get all my plans for my susbtitute ready to go, so that whenever it is "time" we're prepared.

We had another shower this weekend, hosted by our friends from church. It was SO nice and we got SOOOO many nice things. We think that we may be as ready as we're going to be. Aaron has spent the last couple of days putting together strollers, bouncers, pack'n'plays, and playing with the baby monitors. Here are a few pictures from our "Fort Worth" shower.

The past couple of weeks has also brought something new from the belly...the hiccups. Everyone had been asking me if I had felt Jackson hiccup, which I hadn't until about 2 weeks ago. Now it seems that every time I eat or drink anything he is hiccuping like crazy. It's very fun to watch my belly bounce up and down. Jackson also seems to be running out of room. I have been able to grab a knee or foot, not sure which, in my rib cage for about the past week. I saw Dr. Suba today and everything is perfectly normal and we're right on track. We will start seeing the doctor once a week from now on. We will have another sonogram on October 30, to check where Jackson is and make sure that everything is good with him before the birth.

We also attended a shower this weekend for my cousin and his wife Jennifer, who is due one week after Jackson on November 20. We did a Hannah to Jackson shot and I thought everyone would love to see it. We areexcited for Hannah and Jackson to meet, if you're a Miley Cyrus fan you will know that Hannah Montana's brother's name is Jackson, which has made this whole pregnancy thing even more confusing for our niece Hunter.

In other baby news, our friend Candace had her Jaxon a couple of weeks ago. After a couple of bumps and a few extra days in the hospital they are at home. We are also excited for Jackson and Jaxon to meet.

Until next time, here's hoping I begin to get a little sleep....

Exciting Times....

It's been awhile since our last post, but not much has been happening. We've been having two week check-ups with Dr. Suba and everything has been great. Being back in school has been more tiring than I ever imagined, of course as many of you have heard the AC has not exactly been working in my room and with 29 students and me in a classroom with no air, things have not been pretty some days. Hopefully with the weather beginning to cool off, it will get better.

We had our first baby shower a couple of weeks ago and it was wonderful. We got so many great things and are looking forward to Jackson's arrival in just 7 short weeks so that we can start using all of them. Here are a couple of pictures from the shower.

This week at school was Homecoming. Our football boys are allowed to give their jersey's to a teacher to wear on game day. Here is a picture of me with one of my students from last year, Kendray. He is one of my favorites and look at that smile!

We also had more exciting news this week in our family, Jackson's cousin Luke Wesley was born on Monday, September 21 at 3:10. He is absolutely beautiful with lots of blonde hair! We can't wait for Luke and Jackson to meet. Of course, as soon as Luke was in my arms Jackson decided he was going to start kicking, I apologized to Luke!

So things are moving along and time it passing very quickly. We are getting very excited to meet this little person that's keeping me awake all night!

Week 30

So we're finally less than 10 weeks away from the arrival of our baby boy. I have now gone back to school and though it's exhausting, it is nice and is making the time fly by even faster. I saw Dr. Suba last Thursday and he thought Jackson was between 2 1/2 and 3 pounds, although as we all know this is a guess. Everything is good, we're both happy and healthy.
This coming Sunday, September 13th will be our first baby shower. It will be in Cleburne with lots of friends and family. We're excited to get to see everyone and visit about all that has been happening with us.
Guess that's pretty much it, nothing new to report. We will be seeing Dr. Suba every 2 weeks for the next 6 and then once a week.