Strollers and diaper bags.

We have started looking at our options. It is ridiculous how the options are endless. 6 months seems so far away but it will come sooner than we think I’m sure. May as well get started on decisions!

Here is a stroller we really like. It would work for boy or girl. My question is…is it worth spending more money on a stroller? If we buy a nicer one, will it hold up well or is it dumb to spend the extra money? I plan on going for lots of walks around the lake that is a few blocks from our house. So I definitely need something that will be good for 3 mile walks every day.



Next, the diaper bag… Apparently Petunia Pickle Bottom is the way to go these days. If you want a chic, super handy, practical bag that is. Here is one that I love. Cute, huh? Someone made a good point; I won’t be carrying a purse so I may as well get a really cute diaper bag. True, true!


Happy Weekend All!

A few things...

1. We had a wonderful weekend with Loren’s parents up in the mountains. Snowshoeing and enjoying God’s marvelous creation. I am so blessed to have married into the Ekart family. I enjoy them so much!

2. I drank a dark chocolate mocha this morning from Caribou (seriously the best mocha I have ever had). This is a really big step! Coffee has sounded terrible and today it sounded good. Maybe because it was soooo cold this morning? Hopefully this is the start to feeling good again!

3. I know it is early but we have started to think of names we like. We have 2 boy names we like but can’t agree on a name for a girl. Maybe we are having a boy and that is why we can’t agree on a girl name??? Who knows? I really don’t have a feeling one way or the other on if we are having a boy or girl. A lot of people are saying girl but I think they just want me to have a girl so they can buy cute girly outfits (which I won’t lie, it would be so much fun!) Only 6 weeks until we find out what the gender is-WAHOO! I am suppose to find out at 20 weeks but couldn't get into the doctor until the 21st week-darn! The name will be a secret until our sweet baby is here! We want a name that isn’t super popular but nothing weird. A nice in between. Suggestions are appreciated (especially for a girl):) I just can’t wait to find out what we are having, so we can really start planning! I am excited to decorate and do all those fun things!

4.I have also come to the conclusion that Loren is going to be the best dad. He is already a great husband and I cannot wait to see him interact with our little bundle! He also thinks it would be a good idea to grow his mustache out until the baby is born (6 months!). I think I have to veto it. His argument is that both our dads had big mustaches when we were born and he wants our kids to have the same pictures with him having an “awesome” mustache. I don’t think I agree. We will see how long the argument lasts…

5.My pants STILL button. This little orange (the size of Franklin right now) does not want to poke out quite yet. Come on baby- I am ready! I do feel larger though, but I’m sure I am the only one that notices.

6.I am also starting to wonder how our pups are going to handle this whole baby thing…They are so sweet but somewhat needy to say the least, ESPECIALLY our great dane. I guess they will be in for a surprise! I’m sure they will be just fine. Although, Oliver will probably be scared to death of the babe! He is a BIG sissy for being a 105 pound dog!

Well that is all I have for today…until next time…

I've been dreaming...

I have always heard that you seem to have strange dreams when you are pregnant. This is very true! I have had two strange dreams regarding having the baby.

First dream- A little background first. I really wanted a Snuggie and Loren surprised me and bought me a pink one. I was really excited about it. That night I had a dream that I had a baby girl. Right after I delivered the doctor immediately took her and put her on a chair across the room and wrapped her in my pink Snuggie! We didn't even get to look at her, but it didn't seem to bother us. Really?! I know I like the snuggie but I had a dream about it?? For some reason we were distracted and didn't even pay attention to the baby! Loren was more worried about me and I was only worried about the snuggie getting dirty! Random...

Second dream-this was just last night. This dream I was in labor. The doctor told me we were having twins!! I was shocked (rightfully so). I kept telling her, no that can't be, we only heard one heart beating, only saw one baby in there and we are not prepared for two! The doctor told me that they miss this detail more often than you think and just acted like it was so normal. Wouldn't that be a surprise, if that were true!

So, to our sweet baby:
I promise we will pay attention to you when you are born and I will not have my snuggie at the hospital. Since it is pink, maybe it's a sign you are a girl?! Who knows? We will love you and will not ignore you. Secondly, I am glad you will be the only one:)

Let the 2nd Trimester Begin!

Well here we are...the 1st day of my 2nd trimester. I have been waiting for this day for weeks. I am way over the being sick part of all this. I am ready to feel good again. Everyone tells me 16 weeks is the week I should turn the corner. So two more weeks- I can do this!!! It's just not fun:(

This week's big developments:
Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. He can grasp, too. Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

Oh baby lemon, how we love you! It is truly amazing at 14 weeks, all Franklin can do! I am really getting anxious about my belly popping out. It hasn't happened yet. Some days it seems to be pooched more than others. My pants still button.Oh well, it will happen soon enough right? I have also been more tired recently. If I lay on the couch anytime after 6 pm, I am out! I tend to go to bed relatively early normally, but this is getting ridiculous. Poor Loren, he has to think I am such a bag of fun right now!

My Birthday was Friday. This is the year we will have our sweet baby! Crazy to think next year on my birthday we will have a 6 month old! Loren and I went up to the mountains to Kitterege and had breakfast at our favorite place. The curvy mountain roads sure were fun when you feel nauseous. It was worth it though, once we got there. We then came home and I watched You've Got Mail, while Loren baked me a delicious carrot cake! Friday night we went to Edgewater Inn for pizza with some friends and then back to our house for cake. It was a very Happy Birthday!

Happy Valentine's Day! I will be spending it with my love. Next year we will have a new little "love" to celebrate!

A few pictures from my birthday. Somehow we didn't get a group shot...ooops!

sickness

Things that make me lose my marbles:

-dog poo (always gross but even more so)
-the bathroom at work
-onions
-coffee (I normally LOVE coffee and I cannot stand it right now!)
-brushing my teeth
-red meat (actually meat in general cooked or raw)

It is amazing how my sense of smell is so heightened. Truthfully, I hate it. I am a bad judge of what to have for dinner because nothing ever sounds good.

Things I have been eating through the first trimester:

-chicken nuggets(really random because I NEVER eat them)
-honey nut shredded wheat
-cheerios ( I eat them in the middle of the night, and we wake up to cheerios in our bed. Loren thinks I'm crazy:))
-bagels (the only thing that fills me up for 2 hours)

My appetite has definitely changed...I would like the old one back. Maybe in a few weeks??? Lets hope so!

13 weeks

We are at 13 weeks. Crazy.

Here's what is going on:
The baby is the size of a peach and is around 3 inches long (no wonder my stomach has pooched a bit:)) and weighs nearly an ounce. Fingerprints have formed on the baby's tiny fingertips, his/her veins and organs are clearly visible through his/her still-thin skin, and his/her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If we're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries.

This is the last week of my first trimester, which means this pregnancy is almost 1/3 over! I can't even believe it. It seems like I should not be this far along, but on the other hand I am so ready to feel better and start looking pregnant. Right now I feel fat. My pants still button, so I'm feeling pretty good about that, but I have a feeling it will not stay that way much longer. I need to buy a Bella Band-I hear it is a must-have these days.

I love it that we feel so clueless. We have NO idea what we are doing. I suppose everyone feels that way with their first. Loren has never changed a diaper!!! I was shocked by this! We will figured all this stuff out, I'm sure of it. Just a little nervous:) Only 7 weeks until we find out the gender-woohoo! We can't wait for that!

Well Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Cheers to spending time with good friends and eating lots of yummy, bad food! Oh and the game I guess, although I really don't go to the party for the game:)

Here are some photos of my belly right now...not too much to look at...yet!



You can see it a little , maybe???



She is next...hopefully:)

A bun is in the oven!!! HOORAY!!!

Okay...where to start?! WE'RE HAVING A BABY on August 20th!!! This has been the hardest secret we have ever kept! Of course we had to tell a few. I am 12, almost 13 weeks along. We just got home from our 12 week appointment and everything is looking and sounding great! We heard the heart beating- AMAZING! It has been a long 12 weeks of biting our tongues and lots of throwing up (on my part). But now the news is out and we are absolutely thrilled!!! Also, this will probably be the longest entry- but hello we do have 12 weeks to catch everyone up on:)

We had been discussing for the past few months how we thought we would start the journey to begin our family. Boy, did it happen fast! On December 14th, I took a pregnancy test without telling Loren. It was positive!! I immediately had every sort of feeling you could possibly imagine. I called Loren into the bathroom. He came in and I said" We are pregnant!" His face lit up and the first thing he said, " I hope it's a boy!" Haha- Loren calls the baby a he and I call it(I don't like referring to the baby as it but...)a her. The gender doesn't matter-all we want is healthy! We knew that we wanted to wait a until we went home for Christmas to tell our families-that was the longest week of my life. I was DYING to tell my mom and sisters every phone call I had with them.

A week or so later we drove home for Christmas. Needless to say, the 10 hour drive home was mostly about the babe! Loren also came up for a name for the baby until he/she is born- Franklin...:) So that is what we call him/her right now! We got there late at night so we didn't have the chance to tell the news to my parents. The next day I spent with my mom and sisters. We went to Panera for lunch and I felt horrible. This was the first day that I really felt pregnant. I somehow managed to not let the secret out. I ended up leaving them and meeting up with Loren and his mom. We ran some errands and then eventually went back to his parents house. By the time we got home Larry(Loren's dad) was there. So we thought...perfect timing. We chatted for a bit and then Loren asked his parents if they wanted their Christmas surprise early. Patrice was up for it and Larry told us, "As long as it doesn't have four legs!" We have joked about getting him a dog. Loren said no it only has two. Patrice immediately got it and let out a shriek and came running over to me. In the meantime, the only thing with two legs that Larry could think of, was a bird!! Ha! Moments later we all joined in the kitchen hugging.

Next stop, my family. Everyone was suppose to be there. Conveniently Katie was cutting Curt's hair and sliced her finger so they had to go to the emergency room. So when we got there it was just my parents. We had an extended family Christmas that we were all going to that night so we knew it was now or in a few hours once we got home. We walk into the house and Loren says to my dad, "Hey Grandpa!" My mom and dad just laughed and thought nothing of it. And I said , "No really dad. We will have a baby with us here next Christmas!" He got that oh so familiar look and gave us big hugs. My mom on the other hand still thought it was a joke! She just kept laughing. We finally got her to realize it was real and she could not stop screaming(for those of you who know my mom, I know that's a big surprise:))

My sisters were next. Katie, Curt, Bethanie, Loren and I were all sitting on the couch at our extended family Christmas. No one was really close to us at that time so I figured I'd go for it. I leaned over to Katie and told her she was going to an aunt. Her jaw dropped. I had to put my hand over her face because it was obvious I just told her something shocking. Bethanie was confused and wondering if she just heard what she thought she had heard. Of course the answer was yes!

Corey and Lexi didn't come home until the 26th. They came in from a long car ride and Loren went and whispered in Parker's (our 3 year old nephew) ear to tell everyone that I had a bun in the oven. He was too shy and did not want to do it. It came time for Parker to go to bed, so we figured we would tell them the next day. Well a few minute later Parker comes up the stairs and says, "Mom, Jenna has a bun in the oven!" And needless to say everyone was so excited.

The week of Christmas was the start of being sick. Not too much fun. But I do have to say, knowing that there is a life being created inside of me, I don't even care that I have felt terrible. I'm not going to lie though- I hope it ends REALLY soon! It has been a rough few weeks.

We went to the doctor on January 7th. I was so nervous. Even though I was feeling all the symptoms, something in me thought the doctor was going to tell me I wasn't pregnant. The crazy way your mind plays games with you. Obviously the report was good! It was amazing to see our sweet little baby's heart beating!! I somehow was able to hold back my tears. I had to go back to work after my appointment-I have to admit, that was probably the most unproductive afternoon of my life! I was dying to tell anyone and everyone.

Telling all of our friends has been so exciting. It has been so hard keeping it from them. It feels so good to have the news out in the open! We are so excited for this new chapter God has began for us! Your prayers for "Franklin" and us are so greatly appreciated. We will update periodically so check back soon!