Just thought we should mention that we recently welcomed a new member of the family.
On Friday the 14th at 5:57pm, Clara Kenley Petersik was born with a paint brush in her hand weighing in at 7 lbs 10 oz and measuring 20.5 inches long. We’re insanely in love with her. And she and Burger are already best buddies. Seriously, he thinks it’s his job to stand guard next to her at all times.
Clara was named after John’s grandmother on his dad’s side. And her middle name, Kenley, is an homage to my dad (Ken) with John’s mom’s maiden name worked in there (Kelley) along with a reference to my great aunt on my mom’s side named Lee. Gotta love rooms and names that multitask.
We’re all home from the hospital and happily settling back into life here at Casa Petersik (there’s nothing like a four day hospital stint to make you miss your house like crazy). Yes, we actually had an extended stay due to a pretty terrifying scare during Clara’s birth (an unexpected placental abruption paired with an umbilical cord prolapse had a slew of wonderful doctors and nurses performing an emergency c-section in under three minutes to ensure that Clara was a-ok). But although her delivery was anything but restful, we’re both over the moon that she’s 100% healthy and 1000% adorable (not that we’re biased or anything).
And now that we’re all back home, Clara really seems to be enjoying her new surroundings. In short: we feel like two of the luckiest people in the world. And we’re so thankful to be able to share this amazing time in our lives with such wonderful readers. Thank you all for the well wishes that you’ve passed along throughout our big journey to parenthood. We can’t wait to detail all the ways that our house grows and changes to accommodate a little person and we promise to share all the organization, storage, and simple living tips that we pick up along the way (while tackling even more DIY adventures and cheap-o room makeovers of course).
But now back to our regularly scheduled blogging. We have an awesome house tour to share, so stay tuned…
Psst- We’ll also be announcing the random winner of the big baby pool (and a $100 West Elm gift card) tomorrow, so stick around.
emma d. says
Beautiful baby, beautiful family, beautiful name! Congratulations!!!
Jacquelyn says
Congratulations! She is so beautiful.
Sarah says
Congratulations!! She is so precious! Looking forward to seeing how life unfolds now that Clara is in the YHL family!
Christy says
OMG, congrats you guys!! Sherry, reading your birth story brought tears to my eyes, how terrifying!! Thanks for sharing it, I am so, so happy you both are doing well! Enjoy all those precious baby moments, Clara is a doll! I am so happy for you guys!
Robyn in Chicago says
YAY YAY YAY! Ohhh, it’s so exciting! Congratulations! And I LOVE the name Clara. So great! And Clara Kenley that has so much meaning? Forget it, it’s so cute.
I am so happy! Enjoy that new baby. She is beautiful!
Crystal says
Oh wow! I was so surprised to click on your site for my daily dose of YHL and see BABY! I can’t imagine how you guys kept up posting without a hint! =) Clara is a cute name and she is a super cute baby!
I had a super scary birth with my son too, but he’s adorable and wonderful and just started walking last week, so I know you guys will do great too!
Neddy says
Congrats!!!! She’s beautiful and her name is so lovely.
Laura @ youngDCliving says
OH MY GOODNESS!!! That was the last thing I was expecting. Congratulations! She is adorable, and I’m so glad you and the baby are healthy and back home :)
caitlyn says
Congratulations! Clara is beautiful! I’m sure you are relieved that she is 100% healthy.
Sherry, I hope you experience quick recovery!
Jane says
Congratulations! She’s beautiful!
Ginger says
Clara is absolutely perfect! I’m sorry your delivery was less than “fun” but I’m thankful that you’re precious gal is here safe and sound and of course that you all are doing well. Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful and sometimes crazy world of parenting!
Sloane C. says
I saw your post and got so excited to see that little Clara had arrived! Congrats!! She is precious!
Usha says
Awww…congratulations to you both! And many many blessings to adorable little Clara!
Aimee says
She’s so beautiful and so lucky to have you two as her parents! I love how Burger is her protector!
Barbara says
May God always bless baby Clara and your family. Congratulations!
Amy says
Congratulations! You will be wonderful parents. I love readying your blog and can’t wait to see what great tips you have as you change your house to work with kids.
Christina says
Congratulations!!! She is precious!!!
Aimee says
CONGRATULATIONS!! She is simply adorable….and I love the name. I’m glad everyone is okay and home enjoying a new life!! :)
Leah says
That’s so exciting!!!! Congratulations. She’s adorable! And so glad everyone is doing well. So sorry that you had all those complications, but so relieved for you that everything ended well. I know how hard that can be, I had an emergency c-section with my first daughter (she had the cord around her neck 5 times, tight!) and she was a planned birth center birth. A bit of a shock. In the future, if you feel like you need support, there is a great organization called ICAN that is basically a support group for recovering from a c-section, working out your feelings about it, etc etc. It’s a wonderful organization. http://www.ican-online.org/
Enjoy your new baby daughter and happy babymoon!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the link, Leah!
xo,
s
chacha says
Congratulations! I’m sorry you had a bit of a stressful delivery but it’s great that it all worked out! Looks like she’ll be taking after her dad with her height – 21″ is pretty long, right?
Susan says
Yay! Congrats to you both. Parenthood is a wonderful adventure!
heatherly says
She’s beautiful! Thanks for sharing her story and photos. As much as I love your blog for home inspiration I absolutely love to hear about new babies too. Congratulations! :)
Michelle says
congrats!!!
Beth says
What an adorable little peanut! Congrats!!!!
pam says
She’s lovely! Congrats to all!
Bridget says
Congratulations!! What a beautiful little girl! Enjoy your new addition to the family :)
Amy says
Yay! Congrats! I was surprised to hear the news that she came earlier than you expected, but excited for both of you!
Erika says
Congratulations on the new baby. She’s just beautiful!
Lori says
Gorgeous baby, gorgesous name, gorgeous Mama!!! Congratulations to all of you (Burger too!).
Enjoy!
Amy G says
Aw, she’s so adorable! Congratulations!!!! I’m glad everything turned out ok! <3
Anita says
Whoa!! Happy baby news!!! So much for being absolutely certain that you’d go late, huh?
Glad to hear everyone is healthy after your scare. She is beautiful… enjoy it!!
meghan says
my blog people have a new blog baby!
welcome to the world, sweet girl! after the drama of your entrance, i’m pretty sure you’ll be well-equipped to handle anything life brings. congratulations sherry & jon!
Izabela says
Congratulations to the four of you!!! She is gorgeous and has a beautiful ( and very creative ) name!!! Welcome Baby Clara to your huge blog family!
Katie J. says
Yay for May babies! She is gorgeous. Congrats to you both!!
Melissa says
Oh, she’s beautiful! Congratulations to all of you!!
Amy says
Congratulations!!! She’s just beautiful :)
Lisa in Seattle says
Oh geez, what a harrowing tale. I don’t blame you for taking some time to recover before sharing the big news. She is of course beautiful (so many babies look like raspberries with eyes) and is a lucky girl to have such a wonderful family (big brother and all). Congratulations!
Karen says
Congratulations!!! She’s beautiful. I’m so glad you’re all healthy, okay, and back home. Enjoy these first few precious weeks with your peanut. ;)
Chris A. says
Congratulations! Now you begin the most terrifying and wonderful journey of your lives! Love her name and the meaning behind it – how special!
Randi Cooper says
Wow, congrats guys, she’s beautiful!
Joni says
Congratulations, she’s beautiful! C-sections are hard, take it easy on yourself for a while – no painting :)
And enjoy every minute!
Amy in Lake Tahoe says
Congratulations on your beautiful baby girl!
Vicki says
Welcome, Clara! And, congratulations Mommy and Daddy Petersik! Clara is just beautiful. I hope you recover quickly from your c-section (physically and emotionally!). I too know how hard (and scary) it is when things don’t go as planned when the plan involves your most precious gift! Take care.
julia says
Yay for babies!
Ann Marie says
Congrats! She is beautiful. I hope you are being showered with lots of help and people dropping off delicious food. Get some sleep, recover and enjoy every minute of it.
You make beautiful babies.
Ashley Lovett says
OH MY GOODNESS! She is so wonderful! Congratulations John and Sherry!!
Julie says
Congratulations! What a beautiful baby! You are going to be wonderful parents!!
Alina says
Oh my gosh, Sherry! I’m so glad that you and Clara are well! I’m a nurse and that is definitely terrifying.
I had a feeling that we’d get a surprise ‘we had a baby’ post! She is beautiful! Congrats!
BTW – Burger is doing a great job as big brother! :)
Jessica Lynn says
she is adorable!!! congratulations to all four of you!! :)
Emily says
OMG, congrats on the beautiful and healthy baby girl!!!!