Mattie Jackson, the daughter of country music icon Alan Jackson, has welcomed her first child with husband Connor Smith
On June 20th, Mattie Jackson and Connor Smith welcomed a beautiful baby boy named Wesley Alan Smith. The sweet baby boy gets his name from some important men in his life – Wesley, Connor’s grandfather, and Alan, Mattie’s father and country music legend.
Mattie welcomed the new addition one day after her own birthday and called him the “absolute best birthday gift I could have ever imagined.” She adds:
“There is no greater honor in life than being chosen by God to be your mom. And no sweeter joy than watching your daddy adore you and protect you already.”
See the sweet photos of the newborn below!
Mattie prepared for her son’s arrival with a baby shower in May
Last month, Mattie shared photos from the adorable nautical-themed baby shower hosted by some of her “most favorite women in the world.” She wrote:
“Even as we get clothes and car seats and everything we can ready for little man, it still feels surreal sometimes. So many years of dreams and tears and prayers finally becoming a reality – I’m honestly blown away by it all the time.”
Mattie Jackson finds joy after grief
Mattie Jackson’s first husband, Ben Selecman, died in 2018, just three weeks before their first wedding anniversary. After finding herself a young widow, Mattie shared how her faith helped her process her grief.
Three years later, she found the opportunity to love again when she met her now-husband, Connor. They married in May 2023 and announced the exciting news that they were expecting less than a year later.
Shortly after making the announcement, Mattie shared her reflections on the delicate balance of joy and grief. She wrote:
“To be honest, there’s part of me that’s always hesitant to share good news here, to post about these miraculous things in my life that are literal answers to years of tearful prayers. Because I know many of you are just there – in the tearful, waiting, wondering prayer place.”
She touches on the difficulty of waiting for prayers to be answered and says:
“I hate waiting. I’m so sorry if you’re waiting and anxiously wondering right now. All I know to tell you is that God doesn’t waste our waiting. In fact, it’s in the waiting that he teaches us the kind the surrender, the deep trust in his way and his will and his timing, that sets us free. And I promise you, that freedom is worth waiting for.”
Finally, she reminds us that hope is a verb, something we must actively choose to do.
“When we do it regularly, acting in hope of future joy and redemption and life, we start to live with a little more confidence that those things can happen. I learned from him that ‘faith is believing God can do something; hope is believing he can do it for me.’ Fight in hope, my friends. It, too, is a much freer and fuller way to live.”
Congratulations to Mattie, Connor, and the Jackson/Smith family!