You’re A Curious Bunch!
First of all, thanks so much to everyone for sharing in our baby-bomb excitement and wishing us well on our little “project.” You guys are the best! This new-ish development (actually it began in August, which feels like eons ago) certainly means that we’ll be working away harder than ever on our house and we promise to share every dirty home improvement detail with you. And speaking of details, we’re interrupting our regularly scheduled programming to field a bunch of the questions you guys asked on Wednesday in this as-promised Petersik Baby Q&A.
Q: How far along are you? When are you due? Baby Petersik (or “the bean” as he or she is affectionately known around here) is almost 15 weeks old (second trimester- wahooo!- now if only my morning sickness would recognize that fact…) so I’m embarking on my fourth month of being “with child.” Our little one is officially due on May 19th (but we just know he or she will be late- it’s a family thing).
Q: When did you find out? I took a test in early September at which point I was already five weeks along (dizziness and nausea had me pretty certain, and that double line popped up before I could even say “how do you read this thing?”). Ironically, the afternoon that we shot this blogiversary Q&A video was actually the day that we found out, so when we answer the “When will you have kids for crying out loud?” question (skip to 3:48 in the video below) you can see us squirm and search for ambiguous statements that weren’t outright lies. Forgive us, but we weren’t quite down to announcing it to the universe just hours after finding out ourselves.
It’s so funny to watch this again knowing it was filmed on such a big day. And when we hinted about expanding our family for year three of blogging in this blogiversary post I was actually already pregnant- so that’s why we seemed fairly confident that it might be in the cards for us this coming year (since the cards has already been dealt so to speak).
Q: How did you tell John? It was 5am on a Saturday when I got my positive result so I giddily snuck into the kitchen and made a card for John from Burger (homemade cards from Burger are kind of our thing, they’re always misspelled and we exchange them for big events like Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, b-days and anniversaries). The front of the card said: Harfy Fafers Day (translation: Happy Father’s Day)…
… and the inside said “I wanted to get you bons but mommy has something else…” (Burger can never spell bones correctly).
Armed with my little DIY card and positive test I padded back to bed and attempted to let John sleep for a few more hours. About ten seconds later I realized this was an impossibility so I intentionally woke Burger up so he would rouse John. His happy little wiggling and tail-wagging did the trick, so I quickly shoved the card in Burger’s collar (that’s how he delivers them) and John groggily read the front and then flipped to the inside as I pulled out my positive test and beamed. “Seriously?!” was his response and we were pretty much saying non-words and hugging and squealing or a while after that. The funniest thing is that about two minutes later John was jumping to his feet and hurriedly getting dressed saying we had to go to the farmer’s market to get lots of organic fruits and veggies so he could cook healthy things for me and the baby. Yeah, I pretty much melted. He’s destined to be the world’s best dad.
Q: How long did you keep the secret from your family? It was grueling but we waited until I was over 3 months along (14 weeks) to tell our parents and the rest of the family. One because it was fun to have “our little secret” and two because we wanted to tell all of our parents in person (and we weren’t due for a trip to NY to see my mom and dad until last weekend).
Q: And how did you tell them? Sunday was John’s birthday so all of our parents were going to be in NY at my mom’s house to “surprise” him with a b-day breakfast. He wasn’t supposed to know that his mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and baby nephew were going to show up (but he had a vague idea since I had to convince him that it would be the perfect morning for the reveal). That morning they all showed up as planned along with my brother, Almost-Dr-Dan, and his fiance (a surprise to even me). John acted mock-shocked, we ate a big Italian breakfast (including chocolate birthday cake) and then turned to opening presents. The last gift was one from me that we had both planted in the bunch. When he got to it he looked around the room chock full of unsuspecting family members and said: “It was so great for you guys to surprise me… but Sherry and I actually have a little surprise for you in return” and pulled out a little onesie labeled “freshly baked”:
And there it was. Immediate recognition. Screaming. Disbelief. Jumping. Clapping. Belly rubbing (once I removed the giant jacket I had been wearing to hide my obvious baby bump). After months of waiting (and dressing like a blob to hide my “secret”) it was finally out. Euphoric doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Q: We know Katie Bower told you she was expecting before she even told her husband, so how and when did you tell her? Were you pregnant in Nashville together? Nope, I had yet to be prego-fied when we giddily met up in Nashville but it was so exciting to hang out with Katie when she was so early on. I called her and spilled the beans a few days after telling John which was really nice because keeping the secret from our friends and family for an entire trimester was hard work (so it was awesome to have a confidante)! And yes, Katie squealed just as loudly for my big reveal as I did for hers. Love that girl.
Q: Will you find out the sex (and tell us)? Are you longing for a boy or a girl in particular? We’ve decided after much consideration that we’re just too excited not to find out, but we’ll probably have the doctor write it down for us and go on a little dinner date and ceremoniously open the envelope then. And of course we’ll share the news on the blog pretty quickly thereafter. As for a boy/girl preference, we’re just hoping for a healthy little guy or gal (although we have said that it would be funny of it turned out to be a chihuahua).
Q: Did finding out make you cry? Did John? Ooh that’s a good one. We both got misty-eyed a few times (when I told John, sharing the news with our parents, etc) but the only time tears actually left our eyeballs and dribbled down our cheeks was at the first ultrasound. As soon as we saw our little bean and heard the heartbeat we were both in awe. And furiously swatting at our cheeks. Big moment. So much to be thankful for.
Q: Will you poll blog readers when it comes to name ideas? How do you feel about names in general- unconventional? conventional? We tend to like names with personal meaning – whether they honor a family member or reference something special to us. So sorry folks, but our bean’s moniker won’t be up for public debate here. In fact, while we plan to have some top picks by May, we’d like to meet the little lad or lady before making a final choice just to be sure we pick a name that “fits.” Of course, we’ll obviously share our wee one’s full name after we bring him or her into the world (along with the obligatory Burger-sniffs-baby photo).
Q: Are you showing? Will you show us baby bump photos and ultrasounds? I actually “popped” about two weeks ago so I’m showing like you wouldn’t believe (yes strangers congratulate me at the grocery store- and I eat it up!). It’s early, I know, but I’ve always been a small girl (5′2″ around 115lbs) so it’s pretty hard for me to hide a grapefruit sized uterus- and my 4′11″ mom said it runs in the family since she showed pretty much immediately too (she also had a two hour labor with me and a one hour labor with my brother so I’m hoping that runs in the family too). And my early bump onset might explain the avoidance of full body photos for the last few weeks (belly-obscuring shots like this one became the norm for a while there):
And while I’m sure my belly-full-of-baby will make it into some video tutorials and home-related posts along the way, we’re going to spare you from any gratuitous shots of my midsection. We’re bound to have so many projects going on around here in the coming months that we’re happy to keep the focus where its always been: decorating and home improvement. Plus we gotta keep a few things off the internet, right? Why not start with images of my uterus?
Q: Does this mean you guys will be moving? If not, which room will be the nursery? Definitely not moving. We’ve love our house too much to give up on it now. And since we’re certain there’s only one on the way, the third bedroom will definitely become the nursery. In fact, we already have no-VOC paint swatches up on the walls and have begun brainstorming ideas for the big makeover (but we still have to finish the basement and a full bathroom reno… yeah, we’re gonna be busy!).
Oh and for the extremely observant folks who noticed that we moved the white table that used to be our stationery and gift wrapping table from the third bedroom…
… down to the basement, now you know why! Since we knew we wouldn’t have room for it in the soon-to-be nursery we wanted to work it into our in-progress basement makeover. Gotta work with what ya have!
Q: What will you do about childcare? Hire a nanny? Will John be a stay at home dad? We still have six months to iron things out but John plans to take a generous paternity leave when our newborn arrives. We’re also extremely lucky to have friends & family already offering a hand (and more than a few casseroles). Oh and we plan to write a ton of posts beforehand, so we’ll have stockpiled content at the ready, which should buy us a bit of adjustment time without robbing you guys of the frequent projects and eye-candy that you’re used to. It’ll take a village but we’ll figure it out. After all, we like to think that we have a good sense of humor and we love to learn as we go (who needs sleep anyway?)…
Q: But seriously, when you’re a new parent, projects that used to take an hour take a week. We know it’ll be a challenge. We do. We’ve welcomed three newborns into the family already this year. We’ve snuck away for week-long vacations while no reader is the wiser thanks to stockpiling posts and approving comments on the go, but we know that bringing home a baby will be a whole new ballgame. Let’s just say we’re cautiously optimistic, not to mention pros at working round the clock, squeezing things in and getting ‘er done.
In short: we’ll work as a team and switch off with each other (I’ll nurse while John hammers, he’ll read bedtime stories while I frame something) and of course we’ll make sure there’s plenty of family time in there too. And we’ll rely heavily on friends, relatives, passion, caffeine, each other and anything else that keeps us going. Plus it helps to see other full time bloggers with babies who make it work (like Heather at Dooce and Abby at Style Me Pretty). And the amazing undertakings of this mom of four (!) inspire me to no end. We’ve put two years, countless hours, weekends, and vacations into raising this blog baby of ours, so we’re dedicated to nurturing right along with baby P.
Q: Is Burger excited to be a big brother? He is! He even blogged about it this morning. The prospect of jam-covered fingers and extra crumbs on the floor has his little tail wagging. We think he’ll be a great little helper (as long as he doesn’t try to give his little brother or sister a tongue bath) since he loves all of his pint sized nieces and nephews.
Q: Where did you get that cute shirt for Burger? We snagged it from the T-Shirt Deli. It’s just about the coolest concept ever. You can personalize and pick the font, color, and style of tee and then it arrives wrapped up in paper like a sub sandwich with “made fresh” stickers on it and a real bag of potato chips in the box. And we think it hugs Burger in all the right places.
Q: Sherry, do you have any weird cravings? Baked potatoes. All the time. It’s crazy but I guess my body needs vitamin C or B6 or potassium. Or I just like the taste of warm melty carbs. At least it’s nothing too weird. Yet…
Q: How have you been feeling? Did your first trimester have you down for the count? Other than morning sickness that only lasts from 8-10am I’ve felt like a million bucks! I was waiting for extra tiredness or splitting headaches to kick in, but I’m into my second trimester so it seems I’ve dodged those bullets. At least for now. And that’s a good thing because we’ve been crazy busy with the basement project (don’t worry John did all the Dryloking and floor painting so I didn’t have to get near those gross fumes- and even he wore his mask). As for the whole morning sickness thing, after 90 days or so of tossing my cookies each AM and going on to have a completely normal day afterwards, it’s almost become a hobby of mine. I affectionately call it being lovesick instead of morning sick since it reminds me that my little bean is doing his or her thing in there which always makes me smile- even over the bowl. And the good news is that my doctor thinks it’ll end any day now (something about week 16 being magical?). Nice.
Q: Will you green your baby and use cloth diapers? We’re definitely going to do the eco thing where we can (use no-VOC paints, organic materials, and repurposed items, etc). We also do plan to use cloth diapers since they’ve come a long way from big squares of fabric with safety pins in the corners. We’ve heard a lot of great things about BumGenius (they even have removable inserts to simplify things) so our fingers are crossed that we can hack it. We’ve seen firsthand from family members how quickly disposable diapers can pile up (while emptying wallets) and we actually read somewhere that people save an average of $3000 by choosing reusable diapers- which means more money for home improvements and nursery upgrades!
Q: Is this blog going to turn into baby central with symptom rundowns and constant baby chatter? Nope. Decorating and home improvement have always been our passion, and although there’s a bun in the oven that doesn’t change our insatiable hunger for amazing before and afters, steals and deals, cheap DIY projects, step by step tutorials and all the other things we’ve happily whipped up for the past 2+ years. Heck you can even call them a craving. Our house and our lives are inherently changed by this little “development,” but although there will be some posts devoted to a nursery makeover and other house-related changes (like restructuring a closet to make room for new items, babyproofing Casa Petersik, and cutting down on clutter) the focus will still be on decorating, DIYing up a storm, and making spaces work hard on the cheap. We actually like to think that we’ll learn more home-related tips and tricks as our family expands, since we’ll encounter different design challenges and need to sort and store even more in our tiny house.
Q: I hope this means you’ll be putting up all of those white ceramic animals of yours! Ok, so that’s not technically a question, but it’s a good reminder that our house definitely isn’t babyproofed yet. We know there’s definitely going to be a learning curve when it comes to making our house safe for little hands (ceramic animals on a high shelf, perhaps? or in a non-kid room like the guest bedroom?) but we’re eager to take on the challenge of maintaining a stylish yet kid-friendly home… while blogging about it along the way of course.
Q: Besides the nursery, what other home improvement projects are you rushing to complete by May? Good question. We still have a slew of basement projects to take on (obscuring the windows, building a screen, hanging art, etc) and then we have a full bathroom gut job on the agenda that we plan to start in a few short weeks. Yikes! It’s gonna get a little crazy around here, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted every step of the way. Oh and did we mention that we already found some amazing mocha colored marble tile for the bathroom floor on clearance for $2.50 a square foot? Stay tuned for more details…
So there you have it. Consider yourself up-to-speed on the Petersik pregnancy. And if you are eager for little updates and periodic baby news, be sure to follow us on Twitter or fan us on Facebook. We’re known to veer off into the random and personal tidbits much more over there. And one more BIG THANK YOU for all the well wishes and encouragement. Feels so good to have you sharing in our excitement.
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Comments
I cried reading this, isn’t that silly? Just totally happy for you guys. You are going to be fantastic parents. I haven’t been keeping up with blogs as much lately so I am really glad I saw this :) It made my day.
Good news to everyone who doesn’t like BumGenius because of the velcro… they now make them with snaps! And we’ve heard so many great things about those versions (not the velcro ones) which is why they’re currently our top choice. They’ve even won a few awards for their ease of use and new design. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
i am so happy for you both. i just remember the other month i was asking you about painting with a toddler and now you’re going to be getting a room ready for your little bundle. i can’t wait to read all about what you do with the baby room. congrats again!!
Congrats on the baby news! I’m expecting too and due April 4th so I’ll definitely be interested to see any baby-related projects. It’s an exciting time!
YAY for Bum Genius diapers. It’s all we’ve used with our little guy (he’s almost 10 months), so I’m sure you’ll love them, too! We have 24 of them, and it’s just the right amount for us. Congrats again!
Congratulations! I am so excited for you two!! Love the blog, and please post pics of Sherry with more of that bump (home-improvement related pics, of course!). Baby bumps are the cutest, especially on cute gals like Sherry!
Oh, and if you guys feel like starting a baby blog, I will be grateful for when my (new) hubby and I have kids! Baby’s House, maybe?
Thanks for sharing all of this with your readers! You guys are so sweet and so obviously happy. You’re going to make great parents! Congratulations again!!
OMG you guys!!! Just read the fantastic news!!! Congratulations! I hope everything goes swimmingly and look forward to reading about Burger’s little Bro or Sis!!!
Blessings!
:-)
There is a sale over at http://www.cottonbabies.com for your BumGenius diapers. They are NEVER on sale for this low. I bought all my diapers from them (they are actually the inventors of the BumGenius line) and when the washing tabs shrunk slightly, they replaced all of them for FREE. I highly recommend this brand and store :O)
Congrats! I seriously wanted to cry when I read about the big reveal to the family. Haha. But maybe that’s because I’m 11 weeks along and want to cry at anything cute.
Good luck! I hope you do some more baby nursery blogs because I’ll be looking for good ideas. We haven’t started thinking about transforming our 3rd bedroom aka junk/library/guest room yet and it will be a BIG job.
You might enjoy this site:
http://www.whatalovelyname.com/
I came across on this site:
http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2009/03/online-name-picker.html
Congratulations! I’m 2 weeks from having our 2nd boy and definitely in baby-land in every way. It just gets better and better!!
I have to throw in a plug for gDiapers with all this diaper talk (www.gdiapers.com) A perfect hybrid of cloth and disposable (compostable! flushable!) that worked beautifully for us with first boy. And you can use cloth inserts, too. A great product from a great company (from Tasmania!) that I highly recommend. But I’ve never used BumGenius so maybe I”m missing out on something… :)
Thanks for your blog! I’m a daily reader.
Guys!! This is wonderful news. Congratulations!! After years of reading your website I feel like you are the rad couple next door, and I am so psyched for your new addition! I wish you the best of luck and I know you will be fantastic parents. What a lucky kid!!! <3
BABYPROOFING YOUR HOME!!! This may help you…..I started babysitting a little girl, not yet one, *hadn’t had babies in our home for awhile*, did not want to put up all my things. We started from day one, gently, saying thats not a toy….taking her by the hand leading her to the toys. We would tell her those are toys, then remind her of what she HAD been touching, saying again, thats not a toy, this is your toy. HONESTLY, it worked, she did great. We did not want to be the house she came to, where she heard NO NO all day long, yet did not want to put our things away either. She started saying “thats not a toy, while looking at me and shaking her head….SO CUTE”. We have done this with other children that come to our home too, and IT WORKS. Just a helpful hint. :-)
Congratulations! I look forward to the baby-related blog entries, but also applaud you for your commitment to staying on track as a decorating/design blog. I have followed other decorating and home blogs, and when a baby arrives, quite often the house issues are replaced with baby babble. As a mom myself, I know what the real joy and excitement of a baby brings. But it is so nice to see that you will keep doing what you do so well…exceptional decorating/project/home advice! Best wishes!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness John and Sherry–I’m SO HAPPY FOR YOU!! My own pregnancy hormones may have come into play here, but this post had me tearing up. What wonderful news–congratulations!!
-Dusty
Congratulations on your fantastic news!
I left you a message a year or so back – my husband and I are another 07/07 couple! We got together on 07/07/03, engaged on 07/07/05 and married on 07/07/06. And we’re expecting our first child, a little girl, just three months before your baby is due (20th Feb 2010)!
I’ve popped on your website every so often, but now I’m almost on maternity leave (and we moved into a new, and hopefully long-term place over the summer) I’m looking forward to spending more time on it, looking for ideas on making our place as gorgeous as it can be.
Hope you’re having fun designing baby’s room. We certainly are!
Sarah xx
So good to hear from you Sarah! It’s so funny that your baby girl is due almost exactly three months before our little one since we’ve been on such similar timelines with the 7/7 thing. Good luck with your baby on the way and your new place!
xo,
s
Hi! I just started reading your blog and love it! We just bought our first house and my head is full of ideas for decorating, remodeling, etc!
One quick question, what software/service do you guys use to make your videos? I love the intro’s and captioning. I’m sure it’s fairly simple – but I’m looking for the best tool, in your opinion, as I’m finally taking some videos of our adventures. Thanks and keep the great tips coming!
-Michelle
Hey Michelle,
We use our Mac’s iMovie ‘09 for all of our video editing. It’s free and does the job (not necessarily in the fastest fashion, but it works for us). Of course we had to learn how to use it a bit before anything looked any good, but it’s not too hard once you get the hang of it. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Congratulations!! I love your blog and figured you two were nearing parenthood! I’m due May 17th with our number two! (I just love finding other people that are due the same month as me)! I’m going to check out BumGenius – I always felt so guilty with all the disposables I used for my first.
Many blessings,
Jen
Congratulations! I follow and love, love, love your blog. I am also expecting in May, so I can’t wait to see everything you do with the nursery and steal some creative ideas from you!
Congrats and your blog is a blast to read!! Love it!!
We cloth diaper too and have never regretted it. We used pocket diapers on our first baby and had major leak issues. This time around we’re using a new system called Grobaby and we’re now in month 7. WE LOVE THEM! I’ve now converted half my playgroup to use Grobaby.
Laughing at your baked potato craving. I swear I lived on potatoes for my first pregnancy…any way I could get them :-)
I LOVE your blog!! I had a question (hope its not to personal) but I was wondering what your professions are?
Hey Allison,
Good question! As of last year I’ve been doing the whole blog thing full time (I used to be an advertising copywriter). John works downtown at an ad agency (and puts in some pretty serious hours on the blog in the evenings and weekends when he’s not at work). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Congrats though I know it’s quite late now! As a designer turned work-at-home mom I LOVE your blog and your style, and just wanted to tell you I LOVE the BumGenius diapers too! All the moms I know use them too, and their customer service is truly amazing. I saw someone mentioned GDiapers which I think are great as an addition to BumGenius. I use them for overnight trips when I just don’t want to deal with rinsing poopy dipes without my precious diaper sprayer. (Please note: this is a MUST-HAVE!) Best of luck!
So good to know! The sprayer is definitely on our list and we were just talking about what diaper method we’ll use when we take quick weekend trips with baby P. Thanks for the tips!
xo,
s
Just stumbled across your blog. Great info, can’t wait to see what you come up with for a nursery! We cloth diaper and love bum genius. We use the organics with snaps and also the Flip by Bum Genius. The organics are an all-in-one, no stuffing or anything, just take it off, rinse, throw in the laundry. The flip is a reusable outer cover with inserts. The cover can be wiped down if it gets a bit dirty. This works great when traveling or out on the town, just need to take inserts with. A lot smaller to pack and carry around. They also make disposable inserts that we sometimes use if we are gone for a longer vacation. I recommend using Charlie’s soap for laundering.
I’m sure you’ve moved forward with your research re cloth diapers, but check out diaperswappers.com. I’ve purchased some on there. My babe is due late March and we’re going all cloth. I’ve stopped by your blog bc we’re going to be renovating our ranch March/April. At least you got a head start! Best of luck!
Thanks so much for the diapering and laundering advice Mary and Edie! We’re really looking forward to “learning on the job” once the little one is here!
xo,
s
Congratulations! I have a 4.5 month old girl whom we have been cloth diapering. It’s really easy and fun, too. We bought all of our products at Abby’s Lane (abbyslane.com). They are a VA-based store. We use prefolds and covers during the day and a pocket diaper at night for extra absorbency. Regular old Tide works great for the laundry. I’m sure you’ve gotten lots of comments, but if you ever have questions, please don’t hesitate. I’ve gotten enough inspiration from your blog that I should give something back!
Amanda
i’m super late on asking this question, so i apologize!
in the words of katie bower, when did you “pull the goalie”? sorry if that was graphic, couldn’t think of a better way to ask!
congrats! seems like everyone is in the baby groove, even my favorite bloggers. exciting! =)
seeing how green you are with other things, i was definitely anticipating you to say you’re planning on using cloth diapers. i know that around us, diaper services are actually more economical than going it alone–the economy of scale they achieve on washing and detergent just can’t be matched at home. if you have anything similar nearby, you should check it out (if you haven’t already). bonus: magical, self-cleaning diapers. =)
I know I am super late on this post, but I am a new mommy! My little girl was born 12/9. We decided to use cloth diapers as well and bumgenius were on the top of my list. I happened to find a company called bumjoy on etsy that make diapers and they are less expensive than bumgenius. I LOVE them! Going strong with no leaks so far and I feel great supporting at work from home mom.
Oh, so many congratulations to you two! I’ve long followed your blog, and I’m so excited that you’ve embarked on the project to end all projects. Your life will change, yes, but you will still be you, and there’s no reason at all to give up a single thing that you love.
For the record, we still call our soon-to-be-three-year-old “bean.” It’s a wonderful term of endearment.
All the best!
Nicole