Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 1,368 Comments

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

  1. Michelle (aka mybelle101) says

    I just told my boys “Yay! Clara’s getting a baby brother!” (and because they playing Wii, they said “What?”) After I repeated myself, they said “Awwwww!” and “Hooray!”…they love hearing/reading about Clara and Burger, and consider her one of their friends, even though obviously we’ve never met ;)

    So excited for you all! Boys are super fun :)

    Reply

  2. Kristin says

    Congratulations! We found out that our daughter was a girl in the delivery room. During my ultrasound w/ #2, I was distracted by the 1.5 year old running around the room, so only my husband & the tech knew that #2 was a boy. My husband said that he knew what it was, but I didn’t want to know until he was born, so I kind of tuned him out, even though I was pretty sure that the only way he could know for sure was if it was a boy. Then when A was born, I had to ask, “Uh, what is it?” I guess they figured I already knew, so they didn’t bother announcing it.

    Reply

  5. AnnieM says

    Very excited for all the Petersik family!! I had a girl first, then a boy when my first was 3 1/2, and it was wonderful! My daughter was very motherly to her little brother, and he adored her.
    They were very close growing up–then I had a third baby, another girl, and it was awesome having the one boy in the middle. Now my oldest daughter is having her first baby in January!! A boy!! Woo hoo!
    You are going to have SO MUCH FUN.
    Congrats!! I am so happy for you.

    Reply

  6. Jen says

    Congratulations!!! So excited for you. Hubby & I decided not to find out the sex of either if our kids…both boys! We are in the minority with that decision but it was perfect for us .

    Reply

  9. Heidi P. says

    Eeeeeek!!!! Congratulations!!! I always laugh a little maniacally when someone finds out they’re having a boy – goooood luuuuck!! ;) And welcome to my world. It’s a crazy ride with little boys!! :) But really, I’m excited for you :). Congratulations :D.

    Reply

  10. Tara says

    YAY!!!! Congrats Petersiks!! Hoping your pregnancy goes well with a healthy baby and delivery!! I’m so excited to see what you guys do with baby’s room!!

    Reply

  11. Erica says

    Congratulations on having a little boy! I am so excited for you, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with for the nursery!

    I also LOVE Clara’s cute little dress in these pictures. She is just adorable. I know baby #2 will be just as cute!

    Erica

    Reply

  12. Jordan says

    Hooray for a healthy boy! So excited for you guys! Boys are fun. :)

    When I found out I was pregnant, I was instantly sure that I was carrying a baby girl. We had hoped for a boy, and I wasn’t the least bit disappointed, just had this strong intuition that I had a little female sea monkey growing in there. I was so wrong! We found out at our 20 week scan that I was, indeed, carrying a little boy. We didn’t have any special party or way of sharing the news. We called family and let them know, then I shared with friends and everyone else via FB. He is 16 months old today and such a joy!

    Reply

  13. Amanda says

    Congrats! Wow, now you have one of each. I have all nephews so when my sister was pregnant this year I kept telling her it was a girl because, hey it was time for a girl in this family, and sure enough it was. Now Miss Emily is five months old and so darling her brother doesn’t really know what to do with her but he is only two. Have fun children are just the greatest.

    Reply

  14. Emily says

    Hey guys,

    I haven’t read all the comments so I don’t know if this has already been brought up (and in no way do I want to take any joy away from you today) but “Baby P” was a pseudonym given to a baby in a prominent child abuse case here in the UK. It was a case that still upsets many people and it feels a little insensitive to use it. You don’t need to publish this comment if you don’t want to. I just wanted to let you know.

    Emily.

    Reply

    • Kathryn says

      When I saw the post title change, I searched for a comment like this, just knowing it must be the reason. I think of that child most days, Emily. The case will stay with me forever. But I take heart that not only will Baby Petersik feel the love that every child deserves, they are paying it forward in their work at the hospital.

  15. Kaesey says

    Congratulations! Boys are such fun!

    We found out that our first was a boy during the 18-week ultrasound. I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at AT ALL, which seems funny now. But the technician and my husband were totally sure.

    With my daughter, it was reversed. I knew a few minutes into the ultrasound, and the tech was saying “well, maybe…” and hubby said “huh?” But was sure, and I was right! =)

    I can’t remember exactly how we told people – by phone, I guess!

    Reply

  16. Alex says

    Congratulations! Couldn’t be more excited for you guys. You’re a lovely family and so deserving of this joy!

    On another note – I have to share a funny story with you: The other day, my future mother-in-law was talking about stripping her house full of wallpaper. Out of my mouth came “Oh, my friends tried a bunch of different methods! I can get that information for you if you want.” Then, I had to explain that by “my friends” I meant the couple that writes a blog that I read every day… Then I felt a little creepy. But, we got a good laugh out of it.

    Reply

  19. Tara says

    Yah! That is one of the days that bring utter joy. Isn’t it wonderful? With my second child we had an early ultrasound and they predicted the baby to be a boy. They were right when predicting our first child so we never doubted it. Well the halfway ultrasound revealed..nope, it’s a girl. I cried on the exam table and was confused and overjoyed all at the same time.

    Reply

  20. Casey says

    Congrats! We just had a baby boy in August. We told my family by filling up a bunch of blue balloons and letting them fly out of a box. Nathan is the first grand-baby in both of our families so everyone was really excited, especially my side of the family since there are 5 girls and no boys! You can tell my mom is super excited by her scream in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbWWxCHABfM (skip to about 1:40 to avoid my family’s craziness)

    Reply

  21. Mary Kaye says

    I thought I was having a boy the second time around because I was so sick and the pregnancy was so different from the first time around with my daughter but nope, she fooled us and we ended up having two girls! Their personalities are completely opposite but they are the best of friends! :)

    Congrats to you both and Clara! Prayers for continued success with this pregnancy!

    Reply

  22. Keena says

    Congratulations!

    I am the older sister (now 28) of a brother who is almost exactly 4 years younger than me, and we have such a great relationship even with a slightly bigger gap in age. According to my parents, I pretty much considered my brother my kid/baby doll when he was a baby, and I loved showing him to everyone and telling the world I had a baby brother! Clara will love the experience of being a slightly older “big sister” and I’m sure they will have an awesome relationship as adults!

    much love!

    Reply

  23. Nina says

    Soooo excited for y’all! Once again, my hubby thought I was nuts when I yelped out loud at your blog post and he asked what it was and I’m all “John and Sherry (my total BFF’s, right?) are having a boy!” Seriously we laugh a lot when he comes home from work and asks about my day and somewhere in there I work in “J & S are having a baby…” or something like that and he just rolls his eyes at me. He is excited for y’all too though!

    Boys are so much fun and Clara is going to be such a great big sis! Can’t wait to see your family grow.

    We found out my son’s gender at an early ultrasound and invited my whole family and 2 friends to come with us (yes, there were 8 adults crammed into the tiny room with the ultrasound tech). It was really special because it was 3 months before my dad, Scott, passed away unexpectedly and I loved that he was there for the announcement of the gender of his first grandson and namesake, Arthur Scott Holland.

    Reply

  25. Nichole says

    YAY! How exciting!! I guessed right :-)

    Same thing happened to us! We have one girl (almost 3) and we’re expecting our second, due in April. I totally thought it was a girl but found out we’re having a little boy! I balled my eyes out! LOL Everyone else seemed to know all along because of the same thing: I had horrible vomiting and was way sicker this time around.

    We were originally planning on telling everyone on Thanksgiving (we found out the week before) but couldn’t hold it in! My daughter also LOVED telling everyone, even the grocery store clerk, that she was going to have a little brother! We had wanted to do some kind of big reveal but in the end my daughter blurting it out was just what we needed :-)

    Reply

  27. Jennifer T. says

    I have one of each (boy and a girl) and I love it! I thought for sure I was having a boy again and I even told the x ray technicican that. And she said “well you better start buying some girl stuff”. I will admit I was really excited to start looking for pink stuff. Went straight to the store and bought little things to give to the parents and in-laws to open. Now my babies are 13 and 15 and the time has flown by. I miss the days of new babies in the home. I love how you have incorporated Clara. Letting her feel important and special is what makes you good parents. Congrats!!

    Reply

  28. Joy says

    Congratulations!!!

    Clara is going to make the best big sister ever!

    I don’t have any children of my own, but my sister has three kids and she waited through all three pregnancies to find out the sex during delivery. It certainly made for a great surprise!

    Reply

  29. Lesley says

    I was right – or at least my stalkery dream from early August was. I didn’t catch a name in the dream though, sorry.

    We adopted both of our kids (siblings who were 3 & 5 at the time), after calling our parents and referring to them as Grandma and Grandpa until they clued in, and my sister who figured it out as soon as I said “Hi, Aunt Jodi.” we sent an e-mail out to the rest of the family and friends (in stages so people found out in the ‘right order’) titled ‘Introducing the birth of…’ and inside the note ‘…a family’ including a picture of the kids.

    Each time we pressed Send the e-mail chimes and phone started ringing!

    Reply

    • Lizzie says

      Love your story, Leslie! “The birth of a family” is a wonderful message. My husband and I plan to adopt too, and it’s fun to think about how we’ll announce our expanding family when the time comes. No baby booties probably (since we want older kids), but creativity makes it more fun!

  30. Amy says

    Congrats!! I’m having a baby boy in…a month or so?? I’m just about 9 months pregnant. We found out at our 20 week ultrasound and the techs were 99.9% sure it was a boy. We called our family and told them over the phone, and got to tell a few friends in person. Right after the ultrasound we went to target, where we picked up an 18-Mon size “Superman In Training” shirt. When we were ready to share on facebook, we put up that picture to let everybody know it was a body. Since then we’ve gotten SO excited about our Little Man!! This was all back in August, I can’t believe he’s going to be here this month or next.

    Reply

  33. Vonda says

    I’m thrilled! Can’t wait to see what your boy nursery will look like.
    We’re starting on our nursery this weekend – though the painting was done earlier this year and we’re ‘working around’ the fact this it’s blue, but we’re having a girl. But blue and pink will be fun together. And we’re too ‘cheap’ to paint over a fairly new paint job with more paint!!

    Reply

  35. Patti says

    Congratulations! Our daughter had 2 darling girls (which we didn’t know ahead of time ) and then with #3 they decided to find out and had a “reveal ” party where the girls opened a present of blue balloons!! Our little grandson was born in late January, can’t believe he’s almost a year old already! His oldest sister when she heard mommy had another baby in her belly immediately named it “sprinkle “!! Hehe, they are all previous and we couldn’t love them more!

    Reply

  36. Audra says

    Congrats! How exciting! Clara will be an awesome big sis! Cute way to tell her.
    My baby is nearly 1 now, but my daughter was 12 when we found out I was pregnant…big surprise cause we didn’t think we could have more. Still in shock, we told her while eating vanilla bean ice cream. We played hangman (kind of morbid in hindsight) that read “I’m going to be a big sister!” Crazy happy day…she called baby “vanilla bean” until we all crowded into ultrasound and found out together. My parents came as well…my dad nearly cried. Westley is the first boy born in my family in 67 years.

    Reply

  37. Elisabeth says

    Congratulations!

    My husband and I just found out yesterday we are having a boy as well! We have nicknamed him Thor for the time being. ;) As my friend says, Thor “sounds mighty and dreamy”.

    Reply

  38. Jaime says

    Congrats! How exciting!! I was one of the earlier patients that had the MaterniT21 blood test done, infact it was so new that no babies had been born yet whose mothers had taken the test. (the test was on the market less than 9 months at this point) They also had not previously used it to determine sex, only the trisomies, so we were shocked, as was my doctor when a sex result came back. I was THE FIRST patient in my doc’s office to get a sex result…and it was WRONG!!! We had the ultrasound tell us it was a girl before the blood test came back to say boy. After ANOTHER ultrasound with a tech who specializes in high risk/abnormal fetal development pregnancies told us with 100% confidence that our baby had perfectly normal female genitalia we had the worry of whether she was a genetic female or not or some variation. What a nerve wracking last 4 months that was! Don’t get me wrong, we were thankful she was healthy in every other way, and that there are plenty of worse problems that we could have been facing, but having conflicting results as to what sex your child might be was hard. Not because we cared whether it was a boy or girl, but the possibility of having to face all the issues that having a sex chromosome abnormality will bring. After she was born, the doctor ordered a genetic test to see if we were an XX or XY girl or some variation. Thankfully everything came back normal and we have a healthy, happy baby girl who is the light of our lives! I don’t mean this story to be a downer or speaking out against the early blood tests, (I actually think they are wonderful) I just like to remind people that tests can be wrong so maybe wait until you have visual confirmation of the sex (and that a blood test and ultrasound agree if you’ve had both) before telling the world, haha. ;)

    Reply

  39. Arielle says

    Congrats!!!!!! Hooray! I told all my co-workers and they were like John and Sherry who?? haha yay. I’m so happy for you guys and Clara! and Burger! and the family!

    Reply

  40. Tracy says

    So thrilled for your family! Like you said, more importantly you have that piece of mind that you have a healthy baby brewing in the Octopod :)

    Cheers!

    Reply

  41. Becca says

    Congratulations!! It’s so have to have one of each (or one of one and two of the other… we’re having our second girl any day now, lol)! I love that Clara wanted a baby boy. My toddlers have always been sure of the gender, and they’ve always been right! Maybe they’re still connected enough to heaven that they remember? I don’t know. But it’s very cool. So, so happy for you guys. Enjoy the nursery decorating; it’s among the top perks of pregnancy!

    Reply

  42. Patty says

    Congratulations! We had a daughter followed by a son and it’s so fun seeing how different they are from each other. We didn’t find out the sex of our daughter until she was delivered, but we did find out the second time (my husband wanted to know). When we announced our sirst pregnancy, we did it on Mother’s day and we gave our moms frames with a an IOU for a pic of Baby S to come on the due date. For the second baby, we put our daughter in a onsie (they are VERY close together in age) that announced that she had been chosen to be a big sister and then visited all of our parents in 1 day. Both ways were a big hit!

    Reply

  43. M says

    First! Congratulations to all three of you! I can’t wait to see how you tackle life with two kids, one being a boy! (Mostly because if we have a second, and its a boy, you will be a great inspiration, and we seem to be on the same age spacing trajectory….so thank you! ;).

    Second! Not sure if anyone has posted this yet but Manhattan Toy Co. makes an adorable baby boy doll, in case you are still looking. http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Toy-Baby-Stella-Boy/dp/B0036AWTDM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1386348880&sr=8-7&keywords=manhattan+toy+stella

    Congratulations again! This is the first thing I wanted to read this morning and it has made my day!!

    Reply

  45. Lynn @ Our Useful Hands says

    I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Hahahahaaaa! It was all the puking that gave it away. ;o) Now the family name lives on. And one day you will have so much muscle to help paint those ceilings you won’t know what to do with yourself. :o) I am so superbly happy for you guys…boys are fun. Crazy wild most of the time, but fun. My husband wanted our daughter first and I always wanted a boy first. At the ultrasound he stopped himself midsentence when they said boy. “Awwwman….I mean yay a boy!!!” -_- lol. The other day my daughter said “Daddy did you always want a boy first?” I had to kick him under the table because dude started his sentence like “Actually Sofie…” and then he just smirked and said “Suuuure I did.” lol

    My best, Lynn
    * off to text him you’re having a little man!

    Reply

  46. Ros says

    Congratulations! That’s so great!

    Regarding telling people – we had an ultrasound 2 weeks ago (for our first!), and the best reaction I got was from my 18-year-old brother: “She’s gonna be my princess! She’s gonna be a SUPERHERO princess!”

    … the batman onesie has been ordered. Don’t ask.

    Reply

  47. Ryan says

    Congratulations!

    I have a 3 month old boy that I ABSOLUTELY thought was a girl until the moment we found out. We called a florist in advance to send either blue or pink flowers to the grandparents to let them know, so all we had to do was call and say “Blue!”. One of the florists forgot to fill in the card though, so it just said “It’s a…” And my mom had to call us all excited and confused like “Does this mean it’s a boy?! These are blue flowers right? That means it’s a boy!?”. So it was a sweet mistake :)

    I am so very happy for you both!!

    Reply

  48. Linda says

    We chose to not find out!! Which I think is more difficult during ultrasounds than you may think. It is one of life’s greatest mysteries and we loved finding out when our daughter was born. Except she came out, they put her on my belly, everyone was cheering while I kept asking “what is it!!!??” And when I finally was able to move the umbilical cord myself (it was hiding things) they all realized I didn’t know, and yelled “it’s a girl!” (We also called her baby bean before she was born).

    Reply

  49. Karyn says

    So many congrats to you Petersiks!! And an adorable way to reveal the sex to Clara – I may just have to steal that idea when it comes to revealing the sex of our newest family member to our daughter when we find out in late February (due in mid-July).

    Last time around we just called our families to reveal that we were having a girl since they all live in a different city, but we will be announcing that we’re expecting via some gifts at Christmas.

    Reply

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *