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.
Jane says
What a little dolly! Congratulations!
Tara says
Congratulations! She is a doll baby! I’m so happy for you guys! My grandma was Clara also. I find out in 2 days what I’m having and can’t wait!
Kelly | Glamour This says
Congratz!!! She is beautiful and I love how you combined names :)
Bromeliad says
Congratulations. She’s beautiful.
Heather says
Congratulations! Clara is as beautiful as her name. Blessings galore from the Sasse’ family.
Lindsey says
BIG CONGRATS!!! She is beautiful and I love the name Clara.
So happy for you guys!!!
melinda says
congratulations! she is gorgeous! you are a precious family in the sweetest house…
stephanie says
Congrats! So excited for you all. I know it’s been mentioned in a few posts already, but definitely take the proper time to heal from the c-section! It may seem like a long time, but will mean a world of difference on the actual healing!
Enjoy the new addition!
Jill says
Warmest congratulations to you all, from New Zealand. Clara is just beautiful! Well done!
Katie G says
CONGRATULATIONS!!! I’m so happy for you all! She is soooo beautiful and I love her name! It is one of our top contenders for this little bun in the oven if it is a girl. Congrats again!!
Nancy says
Congratulations! What a beautiful baby girl and a precious name!
HollowSquirrel says
OH OH OH!!! Yay! Congratulations! She’s beautiful and YAY on being healthy!
Jen says
Sherry and John – Would you consider lending your expert advice in designing a toddler girl’s bedroom? My daughter is 2 1/2 (the youngest of three kids and the only girl!) and I’m starting to think about converting her “nursery” into a big girl room. I would just LOVE for you two to do a mood board for my daughter and wondered if you would consider taking on the design project? I saw where starting Monday, you will be opening two design spots, but I didn’t want to purchase before I knew if you would take on a toddler’s room. Sorry I’m posting here, but I didn’t see another place to ask the question!
Congrats again on your gorgeous baby girl!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jen,
Oh yeah, we love design dilemmas of all kinds! We’ve done everything from a law office and a classroom to a nursery and even an exercise room- so a toddler’s room sounds like a lot of fun. We’re in!
xo,
s
Jen says
Congrats, what a beautiful baby & beautiful family. So glad you’re both well after what sounds like some scary moments in the delivery room. Enjoy your precious baby girl!
Alyssa says
Congrats on your beautiful baby girl! Love the thought you put into her name!
laurie eller says
you now have your hearts walking outside your body. what a wonderful thing that is to experience. :) congrats to you all!
Donita says
She is absolutely beautiful! Perfect! I love the picture of Daddy holding her in the hospital. The expression on her face is priceless. *get me out of here lol*.
You are both going to be the best parents. Thank you for sharing your home, your life, your baby with all of us. You are the best!!!!
Enjoy every second of Clara *BTW LOVE.HER.NAME.* the time goes by so quickly. It seems yesterday I had my son, he is now 33 1/2 and has two girls 8 and 9. WOW time flew by. :-)
Sarah W. says
She’s precious! And as a NICU nurse, I see my fair share of babies, so trust me when I tell you that you have a cutie pie. I knew you’d go before your due date, just sorry that it was with so much drama. I guessed May 18th, which was your blog announcement date…do I get partial credit for that guess?? Hah!
Anyhoo, congrats. And thanks for the stockpile of posts to keep us happy while you assimilate into your new parental roles. Cheers, Clara!
claire says
Congrats on baby Clara! She is so pretty!!!What a wonderful little family you have now!!! Enjoy!
Danielle says
Congratulations, Petersiks!!! She’s beautiful!
Maria T says
What a Doll!!! Congratulations!! All the best to the three of you (I mean, 4 including Burger)
may she have health and happiness always!
kate says
oh, so sweet! congratulations on the beautiful new addition. i’m so looking forward to tips on having a beautiful home that is also baby-friendly!
Corien Oranje says
*waking up in Jakarta*
Wow, you guys had me read the house crashing first (still nothing going on there, I thought) and THEN the news about your daughter!? Congratulations!! I am so happy for you. She is beautiful.
harmony fm says
Oh my goodness, congratulations!!! I’m so thrilled for you guys! Can’t wait to see how handy she is with a paint brush :-)
Emily says
Congratulations, John and Sherry!!! Clara is beautiful! Can’t wait to see more updates! Good luck these first few weeks with her!!
Natalia says
Congratulations!!! She looks beautiful and its great that mom and baby are doing well. Can’t wait to see how parenthood affects design decisions, I’m always looking for more tips on how to keep things organized!
Chelsea says
Congratulations!! Having a baby is such a blessing and it only gets better! I too had to have an emergency C-section (after 28 1/2 hours of labor) but I recovered VERY quickly (two weeks and I was back to normal!). I hope the same to you
martha says
she’s such a cutie !! welcome to the wolrd clara ! congrats !
Anna says
Congratulations! Clara is adorable!
Angela says
Congrats!! She is gorgeous :)
Heather says
congratulations – you’ve made my day!! so happy for you all. best wishes and welcome to the wonderful world little clara all the way from Australia!
Saz says
Best scroll down ever!! Hey, there’s a baby! ;D
Congratulations, you guys!! She’s lovely.
Leslie says
She is absolutely lovely!! Congratulations!
Kristina says
Congrats!
an abruption and a prolapse. whoa.
good to hear everyone is healthy.
can’t wait to see pics of her first HomeGoods trip. :)
Mira N says
Congratulations ! She is gorgeous :)
Ann says
Congratulations!! What an awesome story about Burger and the hat and blanket and the toys. I just love dogs, don’t you? Already the big brother. You have such a beautiful baby and her first name is so traditional, I love it!
Kristen says
Congratulations on the new arrival! We are expecting a little girl in August and currently have a chihuahua son as well. I’m glad to see that Burger adjusted so quickly! Gave us hope for Remington!
Ivana says
She’s soooooo beautiful!! Congratulations!
Best wish from Brazil!
Allison Leedie says
I literally just teared up while reading your post (and watching the NBA playoffs no-less). She is amazing! Congratulations!!
Jenny says
Congratulations! She’s beautiful. And I’m glad to hear that Burger is being a great big brother.
Lindsey says
Welcome to the world Clara Kenley! I love her name and how you incorporated family names to come up with something cool and unique. We did that with our daughter’s middle name too: Maryelle (great grandmothers: Mary, Marion and Eleanor (goes by Ellie) all in one name!
Enjoy these early days/weeks. Keep taking great pictures. They really go by so quickly!!
jessie t. says
So beautiful! What a perfect addition!
Victoria C says
Congrats to you all, she is gorgeous!
Andela says
Best wishes to your beautiful family!!
Tahra says
Congrats you guys!!!
There’s nothing like the feeling you get when you hear your baby crying for the first time, what a moment :)
Enjoy the new adventures of parenthood!!
Lisa says
Lovely name for a lovely baby welcomed to a lovely family. Partial to the name as it was my grandmother’s, too. Claras are sweet–that’s all there is to it! Congratulations to all four of you!
michelle krommer says
Congrats!!! So exciting!!! She’s perfect, So happy for you!
Kate says
Honored to be the 1300th person to wish you well!!!!!! Welcome baby Clara! Your parents were so obviously excited about your arrival!!! They have thousands of fans that are too!!! :)
Jessica Pieri says
Congratulations you two! She is beautiful!
Jan says
Congratulations, she is gorgeous!