Jackson's first football game

We decided to take advantage of a pre-parenthood Saturday to enjoy a UT game. I know Jackson is already a Vols fan! Here are some pictures.

More baby showers

We have been blessed with lots of loved ones offering to throw baby showers. My best friend Diana threw a beautiful shower at Gettysvue. My wonderful girl friends Ashley and Danica threw me a relaxing shower at the Barnes' lakehouse. Mimi's best friends, the "Fairy Godmothers", threw a shower at the Yeager's home. And Nana's long time friend, Pam, also threw a super fun shower. In the previous post, you can see the pictures from the Nursery Decorating shower that Lally, Beth and Erin put on. Now Jackson has all kinds of goodies waiting for him when he gets here! A great big THANKS to everyone who helped host each of these
wonderful parties. Matthew, Jackson and I are all incredibly grateful to everyone who came out to bring a gift and wish us well.

Nursery Decorating Shower and the finished product!

A few weeks ago, Jackson had his first baby shower. My friend Beth came up with the idea to throw a nursery decorating party. She, along with my friends Erin and Lally did a great job! A group of my close girlfriends came over and helped to paint Jackson's room. They brought gifts for Jackson which included paint and shelves. THANK YOU GIRLS for helping make his nursery so beautiful! Scroll through the pictures to see the finished product (well, almost finished).

The girls hard at work. Well, some of them.

Matthew touching up the chair rail that we hung.

Jackson's nursery!!!

Jackson's crib and beautiful bedding. Thanks Mimi and Nana!

Jackson's Aunt Meredith found the changing table and dresser/bookshelf at consignment. I think they look perfect! Thanks Aunt Meredith.

"thank heaven for little boys"

Maternity Pictures

Matthew and I had our pictures taken last night by the most talented photographer in the world (I'm not just saying that because she's my mom)! "Nana," aka Sabrina, made this bloated pregnant lady feel beautiful. I also have to brag on Matthew, he is such a good sport. He kept a smile through all 165 pictures! We had a good time and I can't wait till we get to take Jackson for pictures! Thank you again mom, we love the pictures. www.photographybysabrina.com.

"Babymoon"

With only a couple months left until we meet baby Jackson, Matthew and I decided we needed to take one last vacation before officially becoming parents. We booked a place to stay on Tuesday and drove to Myrtle Beach on Friday. It felt great to do something spontaneous and I'm so glad we went. We had an amazing time! It was the most relaxing vacation of my life. I'm feel so blessed to have such a wonderful marriage and enjoy each second Matthew and I spend together. By complete coincidence, Matthew's parents and the Hesleps were vacationing 30 minutes south of us in Litchfield and we were able to spend our last day at the beach with them. Thank you Uncle Tommy and Aunt Pam for giving us a place to stay! We had fun visiting with everyone. We only wish we could have stayed longer.

Jackson's Bedding

A few weeks ago my mom bought me an amazing gift; Jackson's bedding!! I absolutely love it. Since a lot of people have asked me to describe it, I thought it would be best to just post it on the blog. The colors that best accent it are baby blue and a grayish blue. The dark color in the print is a very deep blue. I'm doing white furniture with light brown walls and a white chair rail. I can't wait to decorate his nursery!

June Updates

This picture was taken on Father's Day. Exciting since it was Matthew's very first! I made him French Toast for breakfast and he opened all his cards and gifts. He worked on homework all day while I visited my Granddad and Stephen. Later and we joined my Dad for dinner at Bonefish.As of tomorrow I'll be 26 weeks. I've felt great lately. 2 weeks ago I began feeling better and everyday I seem to have more energy. Aside from the carpel tunnel I now apparently have in my wrist and the 90 degree heat we've been having, all is well. All my doctor's visits have been going smoothly so far. Normal test results and Jackson is developing perfectly. Our next ultrasound is July 17th. I can't wait to see him again! Here is what Baby Gaga has to say about Jackson's development this week.
Fetal development in pregnancy week 26:
Fetus in sixth month.
At long last, your little swimmer can see the womb! Your miracle’s little eyelids have finally separated (they were fused closed previously) and they’re probably having their first moments of sight as you read this (or maybe it already happened while you were brushing your teeth or watching Oprah or something). In addition to seeing their little studio in your belly, they’ve recently acquired the ability to say “yes” and “no” in rudimentary sign language as they can now move their head back and forth. This is also the time where your little super star’s head hair is starting to grow! A cute little cowlick or two may be springing into position right now, getting ready for years of cute-but-stubborn bed-head. Also, their toenails have grown in and you little raisin continues to slowly pile up fat beneath their still-loose skin. Most importantly, brain tissue and neurons are all developing at a rapid pace, increasing their (genius-level?) brain activity and will continue to function at accelerated levels for the first seven to eight years of childhood!

Our hardwood floors!!

As I said in an earlier post, our downstairs recently got new hardwoods! Matthew spent an entire weekend, Friday, Saturday and Sunday installing these beautiful floors. A GREAT big thanks to my dad and Tim who spent the majority of their weekends assisting my hubby. Marshall, thanks for pitching in also! I think they look FANTASTIC!!!!! If you look closely at the mantle you can see Matthew's Father's Day cards. He was so grateful that people thought of his on his very first "Daddy-to-Be" Day.

Jackson's New Bathroom

While Matt was hard at work on our floors, (they look great, I will post some pictures soon) I decided I needed a project of my own to do. I found some SUPER CUTE bathroom decor at Target. I love the bright colors and rubber ducky theme. The soap dispenser even makes cute little quacking noises when you push the button on the bottom! Thanks Mom and Stephen for my cute little Beanie Baby ducks! Thanks Diana, Tony and Ty for the Rubber Ducky baby bath.
I think Jackson is going to LOVE his bathroom. At least his mommy and daddy do!

20 week ultrasound!!!!

Matthew and I went to the doctor on Monday for our 20 week check up. The doctors told us everything is developing on track and so far we have a healthy baby and mommy! We were anxious to verify what our 16 week 3-D ultrasound had found, and make sure that we were indeed expecting a little boy. Much to our relief, it's definitely a boy!! Jackson is already so cute. We can't wait to meet him this fall!!


Here is what the Baby Gaga website says about baby's development:

Week 20: Congratulations, you now have a mini-baby!

Fetal development in pregnancy week 20:

This week you're carrying about 10.5 inches and 10.5 ounces of solid baby-miracle-goodness! Their little delicates bones continue to ossify and toughen while their itsy bitsy finger and toe pads are finishing up. Your little monkey now has teeth buds, although they’re hidden beneath the gum line. And finally! Their limbs have reached their relative proportions—no more alien baby! Their cute pink lips are more defined, and might be helping out in a bit of prenatal thumb-sucking. If you have a little boy, then their tiny testes are descending, though they have not yet passed the abdominal wall. What’s more, eyelashes and eyebrows are also visible. At this point, your little one really looks like a miniature baby—and we do mean miniature as your little swimmer currently weighs a mere eighth of their final birth weight. With half the pregnancy behind you, the most significant gains are yet to come!

Trip to the beach and lots of goodies for Jackson

The last week of April I headed down to Florida for a wedding and some relaxing time with my best friends. While in Sarasota I stayed with Diana, Tony and their 2 and a half year old son, Tyler. We had a blast playing on the beach and flying Ty's kite!
We went to Orlando for a night and visited with some O-Town friends. Thanks Rob and Becca for the cute puppy themed baby stuff! I love my little outfits, blanket and cloths.

Tyler was so generous, he wanted to share some of his clothes he didn't wear anymore with Jackson. We filled up a huge box FULL of great baby stuff! It weighed over 50 pounds! Thanks Aunt Diana and Tyler for sharing so many cute outfits! I can't wait to see the cute clothes on my little one in a few months.

After my visit in Sarasota, I met Matthew, Erin and Collin in West Palm Beach for Niki and Jimi's wedding. We had so much fun! I think Jackson likes weddings!

It's a BOY!!!

On Friday, April 17th, Matthew, Mimi (Cheryl), Gram (Sabrina) and I made a trip to Focused Within, 3D/4D Ultrasound Imaging Center to hopefully learn the sex of the little baby I've been making for the last 4 months. Although he isn't fully developed, what we saw was a little miracle!


At first he was squirming all over the place and we weren't sure we could figure out the sex. When he settled down, the umbilical cord was wrapped around his legs and we STILL couldn't tell what was down there. After much re-positioning and a little pushing on my belly, we FINALLY got him to show us "the goods"!!


The next picture is a view from the bottom, looking up. I know it's hard to tell what everything is, but trust those of us who were at the appointment, it's certainly a boy.

He started to stretch his arms and then let out a little yawn.



Satisfied with our pictures and thrilled with the news of a baby boy, we told him bye bye for now. See you May 18th at the next ultrasound!

For those of you wondering, the name we have chosen is Jackson! Mr. Jackson David Slayden.

Here is what Baby Center has to say about how Jackson is developing:

Your pregnancy: 16 weeks

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

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.

Oh, I almost forgot! I also had another regular check up with my OB on Friday. Other than the usual nausea and stomach problems that accompany most pregnancies, I seem to be doing GREAT. His heart was beating 140 BPM at 1:30 PM at the doctor's office and 142 at 5:15 PM at the ultrasound appointment. All of my blood work continues to come back normal. Keep us in your prayers that Jackson continues his healthy development.

Love,
The Slaydens
Matthew, Natalie and Jackson