Popping out

Here is an updated photo of me at 24 weeks (I look a little frightened or something but besides that here is my belly). I would say over the past few weeks I have definitely popped out. It's about time!! I feel great and love having a belly:) It's fun too that people can FINALLY tell! YAY!!


Franklin has gained about four ounces in the last week, which puts him at just over a pound and almost a foot long(about the length of an ear of corn). His brain is growing quickly and his taste buds are continuing to develop. Lungs are also developing more each day.

Franklin continues to move more and more. Loren has now felt him quite a few times. So fun! I went shopping yesterday for clothes and was successful at Gap. Can't beat great sales! I also bought Franklin a pair of jeans and a ridiculously cute pair of board shorts to wear next summer. Seems strange to think he will fit in them, considering he's not even here yet! Oh, Franklin it is wild how much we already love you!!!

New sounds

Well here we are at week 23. Here is what is going on in Franklin's world this week:
He is more than 11 inches long and weighs just over 1 pound. Blood vessels in his lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that Franklin's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing his for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as our dogs, Lilly and Oliver, barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze him when he hears them outside the womb. He now recognizes our voices-how incredible!

I am growing each day, which is a good thing. But it is crazy. It's like all of the sudden I have a belly. I waited and waited for it to happen and here it is. It is still so crazy to think a baby is developing inside of me. Absolutely amazing. I am already not sleeping the best and yes, I know, it will probably get worse. I am typically a stomach sleeper. Not so comfortable these days and I feel like books and things really freak you out about sleeping on your back. So the side it is, preferably the left side. Seriously? This is all a little ridiculous to me. I cannot sleep in one position all night. I wake up on my back usually. But what do you do? I'm sure Franklin is just fine at this point. Between not getting comfortable and having to go to the bathroom throughout the night, it really has become hard to get a good night's sleep. Oh well, just preparing me right?

We have started thinking of themes for Franklin's room. I make things difficult and don't want to have a room like anyone else. I like to be creative, but it can be annoying at the same time because it takes more work. I love the idea of owl's, but it is too popular right now. So, I am thinking bugs. Cute bugs, of course. I am going to sew bedding and curtains, I just need to find the right sort of fabric. It has been challenging. I have found that there are bugs out there, but not very many cute bugs. So, to my fellow sewing friends-let me know if you find cute bug fabric. Bright colors are preferred. Something like this.
I like this fabric. The only problem, it is minky. That doesn't work so well for bedding and curtains. The search is on!

Enjoy the beautiful weather this week!

Oh, BOY!!!

We are just so happy to call our sweet baby a He!! Little Franklin is getting bigger and stronger. This week he is the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs a whopping one pound! (Must be a skinny little thing:)) His initial flutters and pokes are getting stronger. I can see him from the outside and last night Loren felt him move. At first he wasn’t moving much, so I told Loren to give him a poke and he will probably kick back. Sure enough, he did! Loren was happy to feel him:)

I went back to Iowa last weekend. We had a little retirement party for my dad. Everyone knew I was coming except my dad. When I walk in my parents’ house Thursday night, he was completely shocked. It was great! Fun to celebrate my dad and all the years he worked hard to provide for us. I am so grateful for him! I had a really nice weekend spending time with my family and friends. I even bought Franklin his first outfit- I had to buy him something, considering my sisters had things for me when I was home. I also bought a few cute dresses. This belly is getting harder and harder to dress!

As for Loren, he and a friend installed a new furnace and air conditioner!! Woo hoo for AC! Especially this summer- I have a feeling I might be a little hot :) Also wakeboarding season has officially begun. For the die-hards, that is. So he is pretty excited about that. He is going to be a coach through a wakeboard shop that is close to our house this summer. He will be great and will definitely enjoy that. Plus he will get to ride on private lakes, one of the highlights. He will also ride in a handful of competitions throughout the summer or until Franklin decides to make his entrance! Loren informed me that Franklin will be wakeboarding by the time he is 3… not sure how I feel about that?

Happy Spring!

Franklin is indeed a BOY!!!!!

We could not be happier!! We were thrilled to find out we are having a boy! And apparently he is a bit on the large size. Which seems crazy to me, because I hardly look like I'm pregnant! They are thinking my due date might be wrong or I have gestational diabetes. Hoping my due date is wrong. They had me take the glucose test today. Earlier than normal but if I do have gestational diabetes they want to catch it now. The test wasn't that bad. Had to drink an orange drink...I was expecting it to taste much worse.

I might be bias, but oh my is Franklin ever cute! He wasn't moving around too much, but was moving his mouth a lot. We saw him yawn and stick his little tongue out. SOOO cute! I felt like he was looking right at us. It was truly amazing!Oh how, we love you Franklin!!
Here are a few pictures- a little creepy but adorable at the same time:)

Introducing "Franklin" Ekart


His legs (kind of hard to tell)


His little feet!


On our way to the doctor I finally had a feeling it was a boy. I told Loren if they told us it was a girl, I would be surprised. My gut was right! Interesting how I truly did not know and all of the sudden I felt like it was a boy.
3 Cheers for a baby boy!!!

Girl is winning

I have a feeling if we have a boy, there will be a lot of disappointed people!! But guess what? I don’t care! :) I’m kidding of course. I know that no one will be disappointed. I think people are voting girl because they want to buy all the cute girly stuff. I would LOVE to have a girl at some point to dress up, but not a big deal if I don’t have one this time. I will get my little girl someday! But, who knows, perhaps little Frankie is a girl! I think it would also be great to have a boy first. Everyone loves an older brother, right? I never had one, but I hear they are great! I LOVE, LOVE our boy names. It would be fun to be able to use one of them! Our girl names are cute too; I just for some reason really love our boy names.

Oh man, all of this is driving me nuts!! I need to keep myself very busy today and not think about it. But, it is so hard! Hopefully we will know what Frankie is by tomorrow morning. I am glad I have a morning appointment. It would drive me crazy to have to sit at work for part of the day before going to the doctor. Well, stay tuned…I will update tomorrow!!

Anxious.

Ahhh!! I want to know SO bad what this baby is! And the fact that I should be going to the doctor this week doesn’t help the matter. I want to call and ask if they have had a cancelation. Oh well, good for my patience. I guess I can wait 6 more days. I really hope Franklin cooperates and we can tell what he/she is. Wouldn’t that be disappointing if we couldn’t tell?! So please pray for a facing front baby:) And for him/her to be healhy! That is truly our biggest concern. I am ready to see this baby growing inside me!

Also, I have really come to the conclusion that I do not like being called preggo or preggers. I feel like it takes the cuteness out of being pregnant.

That’s all I have. Happy Wednesday!

Half way there!!!!!!!!

Franklin is half way done! He/She is currently the length of a banana and weighs 10 ½ ounces- My, how he/she has grown!

I am staring to look pregnant-FINALLY. Jeans are WAY too tight these days. I can button them- but once I sit down, it hurts. And the bella band…not sure that I think it’s the greatest invention. If your pants aren’t buttoned or zipped, they fall down. Anyone else have that problem? I’d rather just stick to my leggings and dresses-which I wear almost every day.

Little Frankie is moving more and more. I have seen him a few times from the outside of my belly. Just little pokes though, nothing too huge. A few times I have felt him/her; I have tried to show Loren. It seems like by the time Loren is looking baby is back to sleep. Darn! Someday…

Saturday night I slept a whole 4 hours without waking up! This was great! I know, sounds ridiculous right? Well, have you know, I wake up probably 5-6 times a night to go to the bathroom. Good thing Loren is a heavy sleeper! So, 4 hours of sleep was glorious. Hoping for a repeat of that again soon.

Here are a few pictures of me at 20 weeks.
Getting bigger!!


Today is Loren’s birthday! Happy Birthday to the one I could not live my life without! There is no one I would rather do life with. You are the greatest husband and I know you will be a wonderful father. I love you so much! Xoxo!

Here are a few photos from Loren's birthday celebration on Saturday-

Yes, Loren has a gross mustache...He shaved it "pencil thin" for his b-day celebration and shaved it completely off today:) FINALLY!!!