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.

Ready and waiting....

So the nursesry is DONE!!! Here is another look, though not much different than the last ones other than that we added my grandparents rocking chair. It matches our furniture nearly perfectly.

As we mentioned, Aaron and I spent an entire afternoon registering at Babies'R'Us a couple of weeks ago. It was very overwhelming, yet still so much fun.

Today, I went to see Dr. Suba for a check-up. I also had to drink the disgusting glucose drink to then have my blood drawn and checked for gestational diabetes. No matter what anyone tells you, that red drink is NOT anything like any "fruit punch" I've ever tasted! UGH!!! However, Jackson and I are both doing great, according to Dr. Suba. Jackson's heartbeat was in the 150's, which is just right for a baby boy.

It is hard to believe that we will now start seeing the doctor every 2 weeks! I've been growing and growing, so much so that my belly button has finally flattened out. Here is my "belly picture" from week 28. As you can see, Jackson is sitting VERY high, usually in my ribs (or at least it feels like it), but I'm not complaining, I absolutley LOVE feeling and watching him move!

Jackson is also going to start is "formal" education next week as I start back to school. With budget cuts in progress across the district looks like Jackson and I will be meeting about 170 new friends on Tuesday! Hopefully, Jackson will sleep and I'll be able to stay awake!

More Nursery

Tonight we hung letters spelling out Jackson's name above his crib. We also hung the boat pictures that match the boats from the bedding. Here is what it looks like all together.

Nursery

This weekend has been a lot of fun for us. Aaron finished all the touch-up painting in the nursery and we went and picked up our furniture. Once we got all the furniture together and in the room, we put the new bedding in the crib. We think that Jackson will love it. I have attached pictures of the room with furniture and some close ups of the bedding.

As this is my last "free" week before school starts, we are going to register at Babies R'Us and Target on Wednesday. So look for us on the registries after that.

So much fun stuff is going on and we can't believe that we are only about 3 months from meeting our little man! The count down is on....

Fresh Paint

This week we (when I say we, I mean Aaron) have been painting Jackson's room. The room went from 4 white walls to 2 kaki and 2 red walls in just a week. Thank you to Behr Paint and Primer (we highly reccommend)!

Here are the before pictures from the room.

Now for the after photos, we still have some touch-ups to do this week. Then we are planning to go get the furniture this weekend.

As far as Jackson goes, he has been really moving and grooving the past couple of weeks. We watched him move across my belly for the first time which was fun. He really moves when I lay still, yet has been moving more and more. I went to see the doctor last Thursday, everything was perfect. I will do a glucose test next time to check for gestational diabetes, then I will start going to see the doctor every 2 weeks, time is going by so fast and we are ready to meet our little boy.

More picture of the room to come after the weekend.

NKOTB with Jackson and Jaxon

Last Friday, a group of girls and I braved the heat to go see our favorite childhood boy band New Kids on the Block. The group of girls included our friend Candice that is also pregnant and expecting a boy, Jaxon. Here's a photo of the pregnant girls with Jackson and Jaxon in the bellies, of course we're sitting while everyone else stood most of the time, I think that we still had a great time.

We have still been planning for our Jackson and getting the nursery ready. I will go to the doctor again next Thursday just for my regular check-up, then it will be off to Possum Kingdom for an end of summer getaway.

Movement and Preparation

This week has been full of excitement. First of all, I have been feeling Jackson squirm and move all over the place, but the most exciting part is that for the first time Aaron has been able to put his hand on my belly and feel Jackson too.

We have also spent the past couple of weeks making the rounds at the baby stores and trying to figure out about furniture, bedding, and everything else that we will need to get for Jackson. We picked out the bedding that we liked and are trying to pick out paint colors so that Aaron can start on painting the nursery. The bedding is a dark red, kaki, and lite moss green quilt pattern with little boats spread over the quilt. While it's not your basic navy, baby blue, and white, we think that it is more us. If you're interested you can look at it online at Babys R'US, search "Nautica Quinten crib bedding".

The other adventure we had this week was going to Build-a-Bear Workshop for the first time. At our last doctor's appointment, we recorded Jackson's heartbeat, then we took it and made a little stuffed dog for Jackson. Since Aaron and I had never been to Build-a-Bear we didn't what a production it was just to make a stuffed animal, but now we know why kids love it so much!

For those of you that don't get to see us that ofter here is a picture of what I'm looking like during week 23. We have been taking a weekly "belly" picture for a book that I'm putting together called "The Belly Book", it has been fun to watch how I have been growing over the weeks and I'm sure it will be fun to look back after November.

Jackson Patrick Samuels

We found out on Thursday, March 5, 2009 that we were pregnant. Shortly after we shared our good news with family and friends. Now a few months later we have found out that we are having a boy, Jackson Patrick Samuels. Jackson is scheduled to arrive (around) November 13, 2009.

We decided to start this blog so that our family and friends could keep up with us and now our new addition. As we move closer to the due date we will keep you updated with everything that is happening with us and our family. Even before Jackson arrives we will have more exciting adventures, Jackson will have a cousin that will be about 7 weeks older, so we will include all our good news here.

The day we found out Jackson was a boy, was Thursday, July 2. He weighed approximately 15 ounces and was the length of a carrot. We was being a wiggle-worm at first and didn't want to let us get a good heartbeat, but the sonogram tech was persistent and she got a great sounding heartbeat at 158 beats per minute. We also got to see every part of Jackson, from head to toes. It was great to see how he is growing and developing. Then the big question, boy or girl. I was a little nervous that he wouldn't cooperate, but as you can tell from the picture, we may have an exhibitionist on our hands. The best part of the sonogram, was to know that he is healthy and growing.

I am starting to feel Jackson move around, especially in the mornings as we're waking up. He also apparently liked the music in the In Search (contemporary) worship service this morning at church. Maybe its in the genes, because Jackson's cousin Hunter always danced in her mommy's belly during church.