Well friends, blog posts have been few and far between these days and don’t even get me started on my instagram absence… but it’s been for a very good reason. The best reason actually. A few months ago Pearce and I found out we were expecting our first little Fussell. The news has completely consumed us. We’re over the moon excited to share with you that we’ll be welcoming #SweetBabyFuss to our family this June! Our baby’s (still feels surreal to type those words!) arrival falls right between our 4th wedding anniversary, the end of Pearce’s school year and my 24th birthday. God’s timing is so perfect. This child has already brought us an unmeasurable amount of joy.  I think my favorite moment of pregnancy so far was telling Pearce he was going to be a daddy and seeing his face light up in the most amazing way. He’s been an incredible support throughout the past few months which leads me to believe he’ll be the best dad in the whole entire world. We’re so thankful for the amazing blessing and can’t wait to meet our little one this summer!

now to answer a few questions we’ve been getting asked…

How have you been feeling?

In all honestly I’ve had a pretty difficult first trimester. The morning sickness (which is actually 24/7 sickness in my case) has been so challenging to deal with. In addition to the sickness I’ve had just about every first trimester symptom in the book… but my doctor says that’s a sign the baby is thriving. So that’s encouraging. Keep on thriving, baby Fuss. The Lord has definitely been with me through it all though – with a busy full time job and being in a transition (still living with Pearce’s parents while they’re finishing up our new house) I know He’s helping me get through the difficulty of this season. And there’s definitely a light at the end of the tunnel! Praying big that my second trimester really feels like the “honeymoon trimester” I’ve heard so much about! 🙂

Will y’all find out the gender?

Heck to the yes. I would have found out the gender on the pregnancy test if that was an option. I’m dying to call our little one by his/her name! We have names picked out for a boy or girl (and our next three kids if we’re blessed with them, haha!) which we’ve known for over a year now. We’ll find out right around Christmas! We’re planning to host a gender reveal party for our family and friends and then we’ll share the news with y’all right after.

Will you be sharing about the baby/pregnancy on the blog?

I will! I’ll share little “bump” updates each trimester and I have a ton of other baby/pregnancy content planned. I’m so excited to share the experience with y’all. I’ve always enjoyed hearing reading pregnancy/baby posts written by my blog friends.

What are your gender guesses?

I’m still undecided. I’ve had two dreams about the baby being a girl, but we’ve always thought we’d have a boy first. So we’ll see! Dressing a little girl sounds like a blast but baby boy’s are a sweet as can be so we’ll be thrilled either way! I’ll definitely be more surprised if it’s a girl. For the record – the Chinese gender predictor says it’ll be a girl. Haha!

Will you keep working?

Yes! After maternity leave I plan on going back to work. Thankfully Pearce will be home with me during my leave (teacher perks!) so we’ll both transition back to work around the same time after a few sweet months at home with our little one. Nearly all of our family members live in town so we’ll have plenty of help with the baby and he/she will be very well loved while we’re at work.

How will life change with a new baby?

I’m sure just about every area of our life will change once #SweetBabyFuss joins the party. That’s the beauty of it. Despite everything that will change, we’re going to be intentional about prioritizing our marriage, continuing to do the things that we love, and remaining as adventurous as we can be with an infant!

I’m so thankful the secret is officially out! Now we can share this joyful journey with y’all. And I can get back on Instagram without fear of spilling the beans! 😉 Tune in next week for a little 1st trimester bumpdate!

love y’all, mckenzie