Photo blog

Well, sorry we have been missing in action again. Since NYE we have been busy and out of our short-lived baby routine, so we have been REALLY tired! Grammy (Jonathan's mother) left NYE morning after many a wonderful meal, some excellent sweeping, and help at night with Jackson. Here is a picture of her the morning she left: Aunt Na Na and Rachel came by to see Jackson. They are here from Texas for the Hobart family Christmas. Rachel was so great with Jackson. She stayed with us while her mom and Mamaw went shopping. She is a natural!Conveniently, the big NYE part was in our neighborhood literally across the street and 2 doors down! Of course, Yetti eagerly volunteered to watch Jackson while we made an appearance. The whole family (Yetti, Papa, Uncle Heath, and Courtney) spent the night. All but Yetti went to the party. It was nice to get out for some social interaction, but we only stayed long enough to ring in the new year and head back to be with our baby boy!Jackson made his first outing to his great-grands house for New Year's day and the Hobart family Christmas. Of course, we had to dress him for the occasion...in Mississippi State gear! His Papaw Hobart loved it!

Happy ONE WHOLE WEEK birthday!

Today at 1132AM, Jackson turned one week old. I can't believe he has blessed our lives for one whole week. We are getting more and more into a routine and loving our little man more and more everyday (if that is possible?!). Jonathan went back to work for 4 hours today. He handled it better than I thought probably since it was so busy (a Monday and after a major holiday). We also ventured out without Jackson to get my beautiful ring sized. Jonathan gave me 2 diamond bands with a sapphire and diamond band to go in between them. They will be ready tomorrow...will have to take a photo. We had a visitor today. My good friend from high school, Preston Lee, came by to see us. His sis has 3 little ones, so he held him like a pro as you can see. Jackson is also opening his eyes more and making hilarious faces as you can see in the photo with his Yetti (my mom). Lastly, is my absolute favorite photo yet. This is Jonathan just minutes after Jackson was born. This picture moves me so much. Again, can't write about it too much. I am crying again thinking about Jonathan with Jackson. SORRY :(

I'm BAAACK!

Sorry the new mommy has been M.I.A. I have been a little busy! Luckily, the wonderful daddy has stepped in to update the blog on top of all his other duties/wonderful things he has been doing. Life is so great with our new addition. It is truly amazing how much love is filling this house. I can't get too sentimental because I am still hormonal and can cry unbelievably easy when talking about Jonathan, Jackson, or the amazing feeling of parenthood. Sam is also adjusting to Jackson. He has been very distant; he gets a very a concerned look on his face when Jackson cries. He is REALLY tired, since we aren't going to bed like normal and he won't go to bed without us. He is getting warmed up to the idea of being a big brother everyday. I have got to get him in his Xmas present that Aunt Terry (Jonathan's dad's sister) gave him. Maybe that can be a picture for tomorrow. It is SO VERY APPROPRIATE! Anyway, we are taking photos daily (ok, almost hourly to be honest). Jonathan has been uploading them to Facebook. PLEASE DON'T FRET!! You DON'T have to join Facebook to view our links. We ARE NOT quitting the blog and WILL continue blogging, but it is very difficult and time consuming to upload every photo to this blog. Here are some photos from today! Mom's three men all snuggled up!
The closet Sam has gotten to Jackson besides the occasional sniffing.

Jackson's first TUMMY TIME! Can't have him missing his milestones!

5 Day Update...

Ghost writer part deux!

Not too much going, on here. Well, I guess there is alot of love and attention. Jackson has probably been held by about 20 people by now! We have had alot of family over for meals in the last few days (not cooked by us, of course), and it has been nice. I don't want this to turn into a brag-blog (I think I just coined a new term), but he is the best, most-beautiful baby ever! He is really content and only cries when he is hungry, or when we change his diaper. It has been an amazing experience, thus far, and it will only get better.

He is starting to open his eyes more and more and I really enjoy that time, just me looking at him, and him looking at me! I had the best time doing that with him last night. Heather had laid down for a nap, and he started fussing a bit. So I walked him around the house (all the while his eyes just staring at me), and we just bonded. Then I laid him on the carpet in the nursery and just listened to a great lullaby CD (Rockabye Baby! Bob Marley) as I sang softly to him. It was my favorite/closest moment with him to date. I can't wait for more of those.

Well, I have uploaded alot of photos to Facebook, and I thought for all those non-facebookers out there I could post the links to all the photos that we have taken thus far, plus some from Heather's mom.


Jackson Dane Harden - taken on our camera and Heather's mom
Phone photos - just my phone photos

Alot has happened since the last post (HE'S HERE)!!!

Words cannot describe how amazing the feeling of actual parenthood is! This is a special ghost-writer edition of the Harden blog. Dear old dad, here. Anyhow, Jackson Dane was born on Monday, December 22nd at 11:32 am, by C-section. He was 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 20.5 inches long!!

A little bit of details of our experience...We got to the hospital, and although Heather was having contractions every 3-5 minutes, she was not dilated at all. We decided that we would have a C-section that morning. Everyone was amazing at UMC, we really have been so amazed and pleased with the care we received. Everything went well, but Heather did have some blood pressure issues after her spinal was done. She also had a rough first day, with alot of nausea and vomitting due to the morphine and Dilaudid she received initially. After that, and a few other hiccups here and there, everything was much better. We actually got to come home a day early, and got home last night around 5:00pm. We were very thankful to be home, and to have "our little man" home for Christmas.

Our first night at home was typical: sleep for about 1.5-2.5 hours, wake up and Heather feed Jackson, repeat for the entire night. Luckily, we also had Heather's mom (Sheree) here to help with all the responsibilities. She has been a great help. Also, my mom will be staying for around a week starting today, so we are very lucky and blessed!

I bet some of you reading out there are saying, "Enough writing/reading, more pictures!" so without further ado, more of the star of the show (and our lives), Jackson Dane Harden:

The last photo is Jackson with his "elf on the shelf"

Still Waiting.........

Today was doctor visit day. No dilation, so we are still just waiting. Everything else was good. He is still head down (YEAH!). We go back next Tuesday. Hopefully, I will have progressed some by then.

38 Weeks and Waiting

Today marks 38 weeks. We are just waiting for our little man to decide to come and join us. Just wanted to keep everyone updated. Go tomorrow for our weekly visit. Will continue to keep you all updated!