Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a wonderful Mothers Day Weekend! Our Weekend was full of adventure, fun, and food. If you missed my Instagram Stories, we started off Saturday with a fun trip to the Jacksonville Zoo.

We have a yearly membership, so we spent a good two hours walking around and enjoying the sunny weather.

The Zoo is so enjoyable now that John Luke can walk around and actually understand the concept of looking at animals. He is obsessed with BIRDS… if you say bird or he sees a bird he could literally sit there all day and just watch. So funny, we even joked about dressing him up as a bird watcher for Halloween!

After John Luke had a nice afternoon nap, we went out to eat at ABBQ in Atlantic Beach! It is by far, one of our favorite spots. They have amazing food and great drinks. Our favorite thing about the location is that they have outdoor seating, with live music on a turf styled floor. This is great place to bring kids, they have space to run and play and you can actually enjoy your meal stress free!

After Dinner we went to a local park and let John Luke run out all his energy!

Mothers Day was perfect! We started the morning off by heading to St. Augustine, about 20 min drive to go to Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine. Joseph and I got married in this beautiful church two years ago, and it was a perfect way to start my day. We walked literally next door afterwards and enjoyed some great breakfast at the Kookaburra! My coffee order is the Mocha Nut Latte Iced with Chocolate and Coconut, it is truly to die for. We ordered two Rashers and Egg Aussie Pies and a Muffin.

We then took a nice stroll and headed to Target (LOL) what more could a mom want? We purchased a few things, but one of my favorite items was a little seat for John Luke to ride with me on my beach cruiser! After John Luke took a nap, we went on a 5 mile ride and played at the neighborhood park!

Lastly we cooled off in the back yard with John Luke and his Inflatable Pool and Water Table (his FAV)

I hope you all had a wonderful Mothers Day Weekend!

From getting married on February 23, 2019 to now, life has been nothing but busy!  Finally, I am sitting down to share the good news: WE ARE HAVING A BABY!  I wanted to write this blog post to share some insight and happiness on everything up to my 14 weeks (which is where I am now)!

This was a planned baby, and we are so happy to be able to have a child so quickly!  We both want a few kids; my husband Joseph wants 3 or more!  I am optimistic about having as many as God has planned for our family.

Something that was very important to both Joseph and myself is being financially ready for a child.  We purchased a home in August 2018, and got married in February 2019.  We both have finished our degrees and felt that the time was right to take on the financial responsibility of having a child. I know that not everything can be planned for perfectly, and not everyone can be “ready” for a child.  It is something that we both talked about, from diapers, toys, clothes, and doctors appointments; we wanted to be as prepared as possible for our little Gift from God.

We found out at 4 weeks that we were pregnant! I did not surprise Joseph in a cute way or anything, since we were planning to have a baby I took a test in our bathroom and we found out together! At that time I was not experiencing ANY signs, morning sickness, headaches, fatigue…. nothing. Within a week I began getting sick every morning, which is horrible for me because I am the type of person who would rather do anything in the world than get sick!  My first appointment with Ultrasound was not until 8 weeks and I did not have many options other than to toughen up with the morning sickness. If you are pregnant, there is very minimal amounts of medicines that are safe to take for headaches, nausea etc.  I prefer to take no medicine unless I can’t go about my daily life. The first trimester was pretty rough for me; my biggest challenge was how tired I was every single day.  Even with a full nights rest, I still experience being so tired halfway through the day.  I am a busy body, much more than my Instagram and Blog will show. I run the office of three different family owned construction businesses (8-5) while maintaining a blog and Instagram where I create content.  Aside from being a wife, daughter, friend and sister it is safe to say I wear MANY hats.  I would not have it any other way. One of the best lessons I have learned so far in pregnancy at the end of the day, is that you have to listen to your body, slow down, make your to do list shorter and do what you can!

Working out has turned from going to a gym regularly, to home workouts to walks.  I have been making it a goal to walk 60 minutes after I get home from work, which I do over 3 miles and change up where I walk so I don’t get bored.  I am used to changing up workouts and making them exciting and fun, but with a lack of energy and not wanting to elevate my heart rate too much walking has been my go-to. My husband works out at 4:30 in the morning and usually says “yes!” when I ask him to walk with me after work. Now that I have entered the second trimester, I am feeling more energized and will most likely start incorporating low weight/body weight workouts in my routine.

I just recently started “showing” I guess you could say. Mostly it looks like I ate a large meal, or drank a gallon of water. I did not show at all the first 3 months, and I noticed my clothing getting tighter, but I like my clothes very “fitted”. I have recently posted two outfits on my Instagram in Maternity dresses, they were gifted to me from Pink Blush Maternity!  Other than that I have not yet purchased any Maternity clothing. I can’t wait to have a belly now that I am in the ” in between” phase.  It is so incredible that our bodies can change and grow for months. I feel so blessed to experience it.

BOY or GIRL?!? We would be happy with either!  We plan on finding out the Gender between 18-20 weeks and we are just wanting a healthy baby!  Since I grew up with only one sister, I thought it would be fun to have a boy first!  I would be just as happy with a girl (mini me) but we will see what God has in store for us.  There was an option to find out earlier through a blood test, but we are both on the same page about waiting.  We also are debating having a Gender Reveal Party So stay tuned to see what we come up with. We do know we are NOT having twins! LOL

We have talked a few times about names, and what we would want them to be depending on the Gender.  Nothing set in stone, I just having a running list in my Iphone for the time being.  I want a pretty name (maybe something long?) if the baby is a girl.  My name being Kayla, is so short, I don’t really get to have a nickname other than Kay. I think it would be so cute to have a longer name, with a nick name. We have also talked about boy names, and whether or not Joseph wants to name his first son (if we have one) after him!  These are all things we are still thinking about.

The BEST part about all of this is our projected due date is our WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, so we may be spending our 1 year anniversary in the hospital, depending on when the baby is ready!  I can’t believe out of all the dates on the calendar, the exact due date is our special day.

Cravings?! Food Aversions?!  For the most part my cravings have been very healthy, oatmeal, fruits, pretzels… etc. The one thing worth noting is that I have always loved eggs and egg whites, especially on Avocado toast for breakfast.  Ever since I have been pregnant I cannot stand the smell or taste of eggs.  Eggs are recommended for pregnant women to eat, but I just cannot do it and will have to get some protein elsewhere. I do not wake up in the middle of the night hungry, or craving anything.  During my first trimester it was very hard for me to eat (morning sickness that lasted all day) and I wanted to be sure that I was staying as hydrated as possible so I kept a full stock of Pedialyte popsicles in the fridge. I eat a lot of small meals throughout the day and try to drink as much fluids as possible. I’ve never been the type of person to have a cup of coffee every day but I did cut off all caffeine when I found out I was pregnant.  In the past 3.5 months I have had one coffee, not to say I am not allowed or won’t enjoy a seasonal drink from Starbucks in the Fall.  I just want to be my best for the baby and choose to not drink caffeine if possible. I have been drinking hot chocolate, which doesn’t exactly have the same effect, but it sure is nice!

My Skin has not changed at all, in fact maybe it has gotten better? I have not had acne since I was about 13-14 years old.  I have experienced some redness on my face before, but I have clear skin being pregnant (fingers crossed it stays that way).  I would have to attribute it to my diet; your skin can say a lot about what you are putting inside yourself.  I have increased my water intake and kept a moderately healthy diet.  My skin thanks me for this!  I will keep an eye on my skin in the next couple months and update you guys with any changes.  I also never go to bed with makeup up on, always wash my face with a deep cleanser and use moisturizers.  All of that combined has led me to where I am now!

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Some more fun photos from our Announcement Photoshoot in Charleston SC! Thank you Kailee Dimeglio for capturing the most special moment.