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Baby Petersik is a….

… HE!

Its A Boy

We haven’t done one of these posts since 2010, so it feels kind of strange and exciting to be sharing this kind of news with you guys again. We found out on Wednesday, and then scurried to tell our families over the last 48 hours. Of course, the most important person to tell first was Clara. We didn’t want her to learn the news from an ultrasound technician, so we scheduled a playdate for her with my dad during this particular appointment. Then when we were back together, we surprised her with a baby boy doll (which are surprisingly hard to find, we learned). It was a cute little “OK, look in the bag to see if there’s a little boy or a little girl in mommy’s belly!” moment.

Clara Bag Peeking2

And if there’s one thing she enjoys more than tearing through some tissue paper, it’s baby dolls. It was love at first sight and, more importantly, she completely connected the dots that this meant she was getting a little brother. She pretty much immediately started giving him his bottle and changing his diapers and even bragged that she knew it was a boy the whole time. When we asked her what she wanted to name the baby doll, without hesitation she shouted: “Barnacles!” After Sherry and I completely failed at stifling our laughter, Clara explained that its full name was actually Captain Barnacles (a character in one of her new favorite shows, Octonauts). So yeah, she won’t be naming her real brother… but we have called the bun “the barnacle” a few times since then.

Clara Baby Boy

She (okay, well all of us) originally guessed we were having a girl. But our instincts started to shift to boy when Sherry’s morning sickness wouldn’t let up (this pregnancy is pretty different than the last). Which is good because Clara started asking for a brother, probably because a few of her best friends have baby brothers. Regardless of the reason, she couldn’t have been more thrilled at the news. And so are we.

All Three

After about the sixteenth Captain Barnacle diaper change, Clara called up Nonna to tell her via FaceTime. She was really excited to deliver the news – and Nonna was just as excited to hear it!

Telling Nonna

For telling my family here in town, we decided to make a little game out of the announcement. We managed to get my parents, my sister, and her family to meet us out to dinner last night (at Panera, since we’re super fancy and all). We came armed with a bunch of blue and pink envelopes, so each person could make a final guess by picking a pink envelope if they thought it was a girl and a blue one if they thought boy.

Envelopes

Then we had them all tear into them at the same time to see if their baby-dar was on point or not. All of the blue ones said some iteration of “yup!” or “bingo!” or “you betcha!” and all the pink ones said “nope!” “try again!” or “wrong-o!” We had about a 50/50 split in guesses, so even though half of ’em were off-base, everyone was thrilled. It was really fun to watch their faces as they all figured it out at pretty much exactly the same moment.

Envelopes Open

Then we got to make a whole bunch of other family & friend calls to spread the news (Clara was awesome about boasting “I’m getting a baby brother!” about 100 times to various friends and relatives on the horn). And that, as they say, is history.

Sherry and I are both really excited. We’re mostly just thankful to hear there’s a healthy bun barnacle growing in there, no matter its sex. But being able to picture this child – this boy! – a bit more clearly makes the excitement that much more real. As much as two little girls would’ve been fun, we’re really looking forward to the experience of raising a son along with this great daughter of ours. Not to mention that Sherry’s already going crazy looking at nurseries on Pinterest.

It’s fun to think about the possibilities for that room now that we know better who will be occupying it. Not that we’ll fill it with “man things” or make it all blue and green (actually, come to think of it, Clara’s original nursery was blue and green) but it’s just fun to talk about potential projects and colors and art now. The funny thing is that the nursery is the only room in this entire house that had pink trim when we bought it.

Nursery Before

Good thing it’s already painted white! Bad that the room is currently housing a bunch of random junk. Guess it’s getting time to start working on that…

Nursery Now

We’d love to hear your stories about finding out the sex of your baby (whether halfway through with an ultrasound, one of those early blood tests, or right there in the delivery room). And feel free to share how you told your family and friends. Was it a photo on Facebook? One of those blue/pink cakes? A box full of balloons? Or did you just call or visit people and blurt out the news? Any way you play it, it’s a pretty exciting moment.

Comments

  3. Sara says

    Yay! Congratulations! We find out the sex of our 2nd next Saturday! Cannot wait! We’re doing a fun gender reveal party with SILLY STRING announcing pink or blue!

    Reply

  4. Carol says

    Yay! Congrats! We didn’t know the sex ahead of time for either of our girls. A med student was observing my second delivery (by that time, I didn’t care who watched as long as that baby came out :)) He knew we had a girl, and within a few minutes of Erin’s arrival, he asked if we were going to try again for a boy. INTHE DELIVERY he was asking me about getting pregnant again. My doctor said, “you’re not married, are you?”

    Reply

  5. LaineyR says

    Wonderful news – such an exciting time for you guys and I’m thrilled for you. Thank you for continuing to share your lovely lives with us all – your blog is a ray of sunshine every day.

    Reply

  6. Kristen B, says

    Congrats!

    When we found out we were having a little boy, we created a picture to show friends and family. My husband is a career firefighter so we bought a kids fireman costume and then he took it to work and hung his coat on the fire truck and the kid’s coat on the fire truck next to it. We gave it to friends and family with a note that said “in training.”

    Reply

  7. Jen @ The Decor Scene says

    That is awesome!!! Congratulations!!! We have a 4 month old girl {our first} and it was obvious when we went for that ultra sound that it was a girl. The tech didn’t even need to tell me, but she did say “it’s a girl”. I think I was too excited about the whole thing to think of a way to tell everyone, so I just blurted it out to everyone that would listen. Though when I told all 6 of my nieces what we were having their reaction was “Girls Rule”!!! It was really cute how excited they were to have yet another girl in the family. Glad the bun, excuse me, Captain Barnacles, is healthy…most important part. HUGS!!! :)

    Reply

  8. Krista says

    Just delivered a boy three weeks ago. When we found out the sex, we let our 5 year old daughter pick out the “tummy name” then told her that mommy & daddy would pick his name when he came out of the tummy. She liked being involved like that. She chose the name Geometry….which quickly became Baby Geo for short. Everyone called the baby that for the rest of the pregnancy. It was too cute and our daughter was so proud. Now that he is here his name is Lincoln, but we all slip up and call him Geo. :)

    Reply

    • Amy E. says

      that is the cutest idea ever! i love how it gets the older sibling so involved but doesn’t stick the kid with a name like “pinkie pie” or “rainbow dash” (which is probably what our daughter would choose right now if we were pregnant!) i’m going to file this away for future reference!

  9. Katelyn A. says

    Congratulations Petersiks!

    And I’m loving Clara’s haircut these days- she’s an absolutely adorable big sister!

    Reply

  10. Aurelie says

    So thrilled for you guys! We have a 2.5 yr old boy and a 3 month old girl – it’s great to have both :-) Perhaps a sea themed nursery for your little barnacle? Can’t wait to read all about the nursery and this new big adventure for you guys.

    Reply

  11. Katie says

    Congrats! I have one of each myself. The best of both worlds. Although I was told for my second pregnancy that it was 100% a girl. Everything was pink. When I delivered to everyones surprise it was a BOY!! Complete shock but I was ecstatic. I cried only b/c everything I had was for a girl!

    Reply

  12. rachael says

    Congratulations! Where we live in Canada, you do not get to find out the sex of the baby at the ultrasound. The report gets sent to the doctor and then you have to go in at your next appointment and they will tell you then. Our first was a surprise in the delivery room, and for our second I went to the doctor about a week before my ultrasound and she had a little handheld ultrasound machine she had just bought and wanted to try it out. I happily offered to be the guinea pig. lol. And he was very cooperative in showing off his parts!

    Reply

  13. Kirsten says

    Yay!! Congratulations!!! My daughter (5) likes to look at your blog (she’s especially fond of Clara’s room, of course) and she is super excited you guys will have a “big girl and baby boy” just like us. She says to let Clara know being a big sister to a baby brother is the best, but he will try to eat your crayons!!

    Reply

  14. Leana says

    Yay congratulations! I was hoping for a boy to see what wonderful things you can do with a boys nursery. What great news, a perfect pigeon pair. xx

    Reply

  15. Sandy says

    Yay!!!Congratulatins Petersik Family!!! a Bunacle will just balance the equation!!!…You’re my lunch time read…I look so forward to…it’s inspiring how you take everything in stride and the detail into how you live life…your inspiring.

    Reply

  16. Hayley says

    We have the same order of things here! Girl, then boy. And sister bosses her little brother around and he’s so sweet to just do whatever she wants (most of the time). They are 22 months apart and the best of friends. I love it!

    Sherry, get ready – there’s something different about mama’s and their baby boys. Don’t know what it is or how to explain it, but it’s awesome!

    Reply

  17. Tirsa says

    Congratulations! Boys are awesome. (Said the mother of a boy. Ha, ha!) I’m so happy for you. God bless you in this new leg of the journey. Here’s hoping that your MS will end soon. As in this weekend at the very least. :-)

    Reply

  19. Pipa T says

    I’m also pregnant for the second time and I’m also having a baby boY. And I also already have a daughter, just like you guys.
    I hope you finish your nursery soon so that I can get some inspiration. For now I don’t have a clue about what I will do. I just know I like the color grey.

    Reply

  21. Stephanie says

    Congrats! I’m due with our first, also a boy, on Valentine’s Day. I’m just getting around to actually doing something with the nursery even though I’ve known for years what I’d do (vintage car theme).

    Anyway, my husband and I had a gender reveal party with our friends, family, and neighbors. It was so much fun to see what people thought we were having (we asked people to wear their guess by dressing in traditional colors) and to share the actual gender (with a pinata!).

    http://mcmania-ourlifeasweknowit.blogspot.com/2013/10/gender-reveal-its-a.html

    Reply

  22. Shay says

    Yay a boy! I was also guessing boy since poor Sherry was so sick (As was I with my son). I hope you’re finally feeling better.

    We opted not to find out what we were having. Which resulted in us finalizing our favorite names in between contractions when the little one decided to come six weeks early!

    The funniest part of not finding out what we were having was revealed during a conversation after he was born; we had some extra ultrasounds due to complications and on two separate occasions the technicians said “boy” in passing. It turns out we each caught it (but not the same time) and just didn’t want to spoil it for the other so we wrote it off as not really meaning anything.

    Reply

  23. Julianne says

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! So excited for you guys!!!!!!!!! :OD Congratulations! The perfect, million dollar family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :OD

    Reply

  26. Katie says

    Congrats!! What a fun and sweet way to let everyone know. Almost makes me wish we HAD found out. Almost! I didn’t realize how rare it was to “not peek” at all. Three kids and no peeking! We ended up with B, G, G.

    Reply

  27. Nikki says

    Congrats to you both! I have a boy that will be 2 on Christmas morning that I miss terribly! I am currently deployed but will be home right before his birthday, I cant wait to see the look on his face when he realizes mommy is home! I found out the sex while my husband was deployed, so he wasnt there to see it.. but I facetimed him right away to show him the little beans ultrasound picture, he was thrilled! He made it home 3 days before he was born :)

    Reply

  28. Meagan says

    We are having our first in April. The big ultrasound was this week, and the baby very reluctantly showed the tech the goods, but we have decided not to find out until our gender reveal party next weekend. We’ll have a ton of friends and family at our house, so we think it’s going to be a pretty cool moment to share with them. It was torture sitting on that sealed envelope waiting to be taken to the bakery!!

    My husband is absolutely convinced its a boy, but I have no intuition whatsoever!

    Reply

  29. Kim says

    congratulations Petersik family! as someone who has been following your blog since 2007, i am SO excited for you all! i have an 8-month-old boy and he is oodles of fun! much love to you all!! <3

    Reply

  31. Krista says

    Congratulations! So happy for you guys!

    We have one of each, and both times we waited to find out the sex in the delivery room. Probably my two most precious memories are the moments when my husband made the big announcements. :)

    And yes, I’m totally biased, but I think big sisters and baby brothers are the absolute best. There are 5 years between mine, and even when they make each other crazy, they absolutely adore each other.

    Enjoy shopping! :)

    Reply

  32. Kelli Fox says

    I came from a family of all girls, so when I delivered my first child (and my dad’s first grandchild) my husband came out to the waiting room and said “we have 9 pounds, 9 ounces of Amanda” – well my poor dad thought he said “of a man” and started fist pumping, all excited!!! My sister had to say, “uh, no Dad, he said, Amanda – it’s a girl.” He was a teeny embarrassed and quickly said “Oh well that’s great too!” HAHA we still laugh about that today – and Amanda is 29 and expecting her first baby in about two weeks! It’s a boy too :) Congrats you three! Boys are so much fun!! I had two after her ;)

    Reply

  33. Sara Adams says

    Congrats!! My husband and I are due with our first child next month, and we opted not to find out the gender ahead of time. My mom will be in the delivery room with us, but when it’s time to start pushing she’s going to step out so that the first time we meet our little bundle (and find out the gender) it’ll just be our little family. I think after that we’re going to send out old fashioned paper birth announcements :)

    For the record, we totally think it’s a boy, but that is based on no science whatsoever.

    Congrats again to you!!

    Reply

  34. Lizzy says

    Congratulations, you four! We have a girl, boy, girl thing happening here. It’s fun to discover how different each kid can be. Our first girl was talking in sentences at one. So. Many. things to say. Our son didn’t say a word forever because his sister spoke for him. He’s still quiet!

    So happy for you all.
    xo

    Reply

  36. Brittany says

    Woooo HOOOO!!!!!! John will no longer be outnumbered human wise! 2 girls, 2 boys, what an awesome family – Congratulations!!!!

    Reply

  37. natalie says

    So fun! We are also expecting our second in early April as well! We found out a week before Thanksgiving and decided to wait and find out with the family after Thanksgiving dinner by doing a cupcake reveal- and letting our 2.5yr old be the first to eat a cupcake! He too is getting a little bro! :)

    Reply

  39. Shelley @ Green Eggs and Hamlet says

    Yay, congratulations! You guys are the sweetest! So fun to have a girl and a boy.

    I don’t have children yet but Vaptain Barnacles reminded me that when my mom was pregnant with me, my older brother wanted to name me Cockleshell (from the”Mary, Mary, quite contrary” poem). I ended up as Shelley so maybe my parents were inspired?

    Reply

  40. Larissa says

    How fun!!! I have a 2 year old boy and a 1 year old girl. Found out both at 16 weeks. I was really hoping for another boy the 2nd time because I was terrified about all the things that go along with girls. I cried for about 5 seconds when we found out she was a girl and then I embraced it. Now I have a sweet, adorable mama’s girl and I can’t imagine the world without her. She slept though meeting you guys at your Dallas book signing. I’ll send the pic someday if I ever find it.
    I love having one of each. Someone earlier commented it’s the best of both worlds and I think that’s a wonderful way to put it. You guys are such fantastic parents and Clara is going to be an amazing big sister. Congrats!

    Reply

  42. cappy says

    A John Jr. in the making! Congratulations-it is so special! Clara already looks like a natural and will be your best “mommy’s helper”. Wait a minute….no baby boy squeaky for Burger? When we found out about our daughter, they were not completely sure. It was December and when we walked out of the ultrasound room there was a huge Christmas Tree decorated head to toe in pink (I think for Breast Cancer Awareness)…I looked at my husband and said-Yup we are totally having a girl! With our boy, we were thinking we would wait then during the exam “he” flashed his goods. At that exact moment the ultrasound tech said “would you like to find…” and I said “I think we just did!” It was pretty funny.

    Reply

  43. Brooke says

    yayayayayyy!!! i had a feeling Clara needed a brother! so excited for y’all. sending up prayers for continued good health and a safe delivery!

    Reply

  45. Carrie Lea says

    I was totally on team boy! But I think mostly because I want the Bowers to get their little girl and then both of the buns can get married and Will and Clara can get married and you’ll be double in laws! :)

    Reply

  46. Divya says

    Congrats!!!! I was hoping you’d have a boy!! We’re expecting a boy in February and have used many of your past posts on clara (cloth diapers, rash creams, cribs etc) and it has made our decision making 100 times easier!!! You guys are awesome and I wish you the healthiest pregnancy and delivery!!!! xo

    Reply

  47. Veronica says

    Yay!!! A baby boy for my favorite bloggers! I love how excited Clara is, much love to you guys and best wishes for a safe and (relatively) easy pregnancy :)

    Reply

  48. Cathy Schiele says

    Not only did I find out the sex of my baby on the delivery table, I found out that it was not one, but two babies. Yes, twins, a boy and a girl. This was in the days before ultrasound. After pushing as hard as I could, a baby girl emerged, followed by the doctor saying, “I think there is another baby” The other baby was a boy and I Ioved having twins,although the first year was a blur. They are 40 now and we celebrated their birthday in Las Vegas.

    Reply

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