… HE!
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
Sammy says
Congratulations!!! And I can’t wait to see what you guys do to that nursery!!
Evan Beck says
Yay!!! How exciting!
Barbara says
Congratulations on receiving one of each! I think Captain Barnacles Petersik actually has a nice ring to it!
Kirsten Oliphant says
So happy for you! We started out with two boys and now have a little girl. Both are so fun! But because of two things in your post (namely Captain Barnacle and your stifling laughter) I’m sharing one of the funniest things ever you may now experience that you’re having a boy.
The other night our 3 year old, Lincoln, was in the bath. He had a bunch of mixed playmobil stuff and he randomly stuck a captain’s hat on his penis. As I was about to tell him that was a bad idea, he started to salute it while shouting, AYE AYE CAPTAIN PENIS!
I had to run out into the hallway because I was dying with laughter but didn’t want to encourage him, but of course, BOTH boys heard it and there were five long minutes of “aye aye captain penis” before I could pull it together enough to have a talk about talking to your penis and putting small objects on it. I’m still dying.
So, may you have as many hilarious moments with your new boy AND with Clara. Give captain barnacle my best.
YoungHouseLove says
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAH! I just read that out loud to John while snort laughing. Can’t. Breathe.
xo
s
Jenny A. says
That is hilarious!!! It reminds me of when my kids were little and I had put them in the tub. They started talking about bowing to the “Great Seahorse of the Deep”. They sounded like something out of “Rosemary’s Baby” and to this day I have no idea where that came from, ha ha!
YoungHouseLove says
SO FUNNY!
xo
s
Stephanie says
Congratulations!!! I’m a mom to three boys and love it!! Nothing sweeter than the bond between a momma and her boy!! Congratulations again!!
Rebecca says
Congratulations! Having a boy is so much fun!
Theresa says
Congratulations! My sister just had a baby boy 8 months ago and he is so fun! Clara will be a great big sister! And about the boy doll, so funny, my sister had one when we were younger. So funny, we were the only ones with an anatomically correct boy baby doll! ha
Cathy says
Congratulations! That’s so exciting, and Clara’s reaction is heartwarming.
Kelly says
Yayyyyy!!!!!!! Congrats all of you! We announced today that our bun is another GIRL! Nothing fancy.. We told our parents a few days ago, our three kids yesterday and FB today :D I cannot wait to see your nursery!!
Jess says
Congratulations! That’s such exciting news!! Looking forward to seeing the nursery once you’ve completed the room :)
Kelly says
Wonderful news!
After several years of trying and a few rounds of IVF I finally fell pregnant and hubby and I both agreed that we wanted to wait to find out the sex. I spent 10 hours labouring, 2 hours pushing and ended up having an emergency c-section. It wasn’t planned but when the OB finally pulled the baby out she said to my husband “what is it Greg?”. I think he was so amazed at seeing his child emerge it took him a moment to work it out but he could tell me it was a boy (geez I’m getting teary just reliving it!). I love that he was the one who announce it and that little miracle is turning 1 in a week!
Kate says
Congrats!! That is so exciting for Clara. We just gave our daughter a little brother this past summer and she is in love with him so I highly recommend your particular combo!
For my daughter, we waited for the suprise and when she was born the doctor covered her up, put her on my belly and said “Call it Mom” and my husband leaned over as I peeked to find out. It was like getting to unwrap my own present.
Jenny A. says
Your kids will be spaced/gendered exactly like mine, only younger. My daughter was almost four when my son was born and it has worked out beautifully. My daughter has been very protective of her brother and still regularly calls him “honey” while bossing him around, ha ha (they’re 15 and 11 3/4). It’s been a while since we did a reveal but I’m pretty sure we just ended-up blurting it out on the phone. Congratulations to your whole family!!
Diana says
1) Congratulations! Boy or girl would have been exciting but, having a 8month son I’m partial to baby boys right now. =)
2) I love Clara’s black & white dress. Can I get an adult version?
3) Our nursery is blue & green but that’s not because we have a son. We didn’t know what he was until 8 days before we brought him home (adopted) but blue & green are our favorite colors so we used those!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet! Blue + green = awesome for boys & gals alike!
xo
s
Heather says
So happy for you guys. A boy will be a great addition to your family!
Jill says
Congratulations!! My husband and I found out yesterday that we will also be having a boy in April. I love your decorating style and can’t wait to see pictures of your nursery for ideas!
Keli says
Congratulations to my favorite bloggers! We have an older daughter/younger son and the bond between them is amazing to watch. It’s particularly useful during the not-so-great moments :-)
Seren says
Congratulations ! Felicitations !
I am so so happy for this healthy baby boy !
You ask for our story, well, here’s our
We never wanted to know the gender until the birth.
For my first one, my now 14 years old daughter, it is the first thing I looked at when I took her out of me.
For my two sons, I just totally forget to look and even ask (true!) I just cried and gazed at them just thankful for those two amazing healthy babies (we had lost one before them) and it took us at least two minutes each time (and two minutes are really long when you just had a baby!) to realize we couldn’t name the baby since we did not know the gender ! It made us laugh then and still does !
Anyway, again, I am SO SO happy for you !
Love from far away
Elizabeth T says
Congrats Petersiks! My oldest is a boy but we waited to find out. We had tons of family in the waiting room anxious to know the gender. After he was born, we only told the family that the baby was there safely. We didn’t reveal the gender yet. Once everyone could come into the recovery room, we passed him around and allowed everyone to look at him. While they were holding him, we asked them boy or girl?? Once everyone had their final guesses, we revealed that he was a he! It was so funny hearing people holding him and still guessing incorrectly!
Israa says
Congratulations john, sherry, Clara and burger! I’m so happy for your family and the happiness and love that the ‘barnacle’ will bring in to your lives!
God bless you all!
P.s. As soon as I finished reading your post… I went around my house announcing it to my whole family! (We’re huge fans of you guys!)
Stacie says
Thanks so much for sharing your great news with us! I loved seeing your reveal to Clara. That’s the best part, telling family, I think.
With our first, we found out at the 20 week sonogram. My husband had to convince me to do it. I wanted to wait. His argument was that we would get two surprises…gender reveal day and birth day. We had a beautiful boy.
With our second, I was determined to wait until the very end and get that surprise. Luckily, the hubz was out of town for the 20 week sonogram, so there was no peeking or bribing the tech. I was convinced that I was having another boy. Even though our son kept saying girl, girl, girl. I just knew it was a boy. So, when I delivered the baby and my husband was speechless, I looked down to see the most beautiful baby girl I had ever seen. It truly still shocks me that I have a daughter (2 years later!).
My mom was driving and missed the birth (bummer), so when she got there and we brought my son in, we had the nurse take her bow off her hat and wrap her up. My mom and my son got to “unwrap” her to find out the surprise. That is still one of my most favorite memories.
Congrats to the 3 of you!
MelissaM says
Yay, congrats on baby boy! When I was pregnant, I decided I didn’t want to know the sex and convinced my husband to wait with me, as painful as it was for him. The moment our baby came into the world and we found out we had a boy was one of the best surprises ever. Then the grandmas made the announcement for us on FaceBook to tell the rest of the family and our friends. I still remember my mom telling it “you have a baby boy!”
Carol Rodriguez says
My first 2 are boys and we waited 10 years to get pregnant again and I was convinced we would be having another boy! When we had our sono the tech asked what we wanted and I said that I really didn’t care, and if we had another boy I’d still be the princess in my house. That when she said, “better be ready to give up that crown!” it took me a minute but when I realized we’d be having a girl I cried because I really wanted a girl so bad! :)
Congrats to your family! You guys are Awesome! :)
Stephanie M. says
First of all, CONGRATS! How exciting!
It’s been a crazy, hectic day at work today and it just hit me all of a sudden that y’all were announcing the sex today, so of course I jumped over here as fast as I could. I may or may not have even held my breath while your site was loading.
With our one and only, we found out the sex at my 21 week scan. The exact words we heard were, “It’s pretty obvious, there’s the (insert male body part here).” We also had a 3D ultrasound around 30 weeks where the baby wasn’t particularly cooperative. Anyway, long story short, we now have an almost 3 year old little GIRL. That was an interesting/crazy/awesome day. But we’re still scratching our heads on that one…
Linda says
So happy for your whole family – and you’ll be in my thoughts for a safe delivery and a healthy mom and baby boy!
Shelley says
Ohhh Congratulations guys!! We decided to not find out the sex of our baby until the night of a planned gender reveal party with friends and family. We slipped a closed envelope from the ultrasound tech to a florist who filled balloons with coordinating colored confetti. We popped the balloons at the party along with our parents! It was the most amazing thing ever…well, that is until our baby girl was born! :)
S says
Yay! Congratulations!
We wanted to find out the sex of our second child, but she wouldn’t cooperate. This was before people made a big deal about revealing the sex, by the way…. I instructed my midwife not to tell me in the delivery room, I wanted to look and find out myself! But after she was born, I forgot to look, and my husband looked and said, “it’s a girl!” It was the best moment of my life.
Kathy says
We didn’t find out until delivery. The baby got stuck by the shoulders and we had to have help come in and lift my epidural legs so I could push more. Doctor says…you have a football player..no, it’s a cheerleader!!! Awesome!!!!
Congratulations!!!
Mandi says
Congrats! Boys are a blast. We opted to find out the sex on both ours. However our second child after two ultrasounds and both said girl I told my husband that I thought they are wrong. He laughed and told me I was crazy! Well needless to say his jaw dropped when they held up a boy… Oops. The dr said well that’s the funniest little girl I’ve ever seen. That was just 6 yrs ago so I guess mistakes can still happen!
Addie says
Huzzah! I was hoping boy :) I have a little guy myself and think they’re pretty darn amazing. Good luck to all!
Emily says
This was our gender reveal. The event itself wasn’t too exciting, but finding out we were having a girl after having 2 boys was pretty special.
http://talesoffruitandcake.wordpress.com/2011/12/02/you-know-that-envelope-with-the-sex-of-the-baby-in-it/
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!
xo
s
Timothy says
CONGRATS!!!!!!!!! Clara is going to be the best big sister..i can tell.;) my favorite boy names have always been odd ones like Scott is my favorite and also Toby and Brett and Richard (nickname=Rick) and Anthony and I really like my name, Timothy or Tim. so congradulations!!
Isabel says
Congrats!! So excited for you guys :) I guessed randomly it would be a girl but am glad that girl or not, it’s a healthy baby. Since the male to female ratio will once again shift in favor of Y chromosome maybe Burger could get a girlfriend ;-) I don’t have any kids so I haven’t had the pleasure of revealing this news but my oldest sister was pretty “fancy” about telling us when she learned she was pregnant with her second (she didn’t learn the sex until delivery). We were done with Thanksgiving dinner, the family was scattered all over the house, my sister was in the kitchen doing dishes when my brother in law says: “oh, by the way, Maria is pregnant.” Everybody just stopped talking for a second and then madness ensued.
Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs says
So exciting! Congrats on your Barnacle! :)
Tammy says
Congratulations!!! So happy for you!! Little boys are sooooo sweet! (I have 1). Prayers for a easy and quick delivery!!! Can’t wait!!!!
amy says
Thrilled for you all! We have 2 little boys in our house and we bought THE SAME doll for our older son when we knew we were expecting a boy. He was very sweet with it. Congrats and enjoy this special time…
Kerry says
Congratulations on (as another commenter put it) your “bunacle”!!
Christina BK says
Congratulations to all 4 of you!
The girls are currently out numbered in your home…but I’m jumping for joy! I cannot wait to see what you all come up with for his nursery. I cannot remember, do we get to find out the name before he shows up are we going to refer to him as Bun/Barnacle? WOOT WOOT!
YoungHouseLove says
We liked to meet Clara first to be sure she was a Clara, so I don’t think we’ll decide on anything beforehand, and we might even go into the hospital with a few names and just see what this little man looks like to us!
xo
s
Meredith Jones says
SO EXCITING! Congratulations! Now it’s really official, we’re also having a boy in April, lemme just tell you how pumped I am to get a whole bunch of baby boy nursery inspiration from you guys! I’m a little stumped since I was 98% positive I was carrying a girl hahaha…! What wonderful news for you guys, isn’t it fun to find out right around Christmas? :D
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! It feels really similar to our experience with Clara (she was due just a month later) – such a festive family-filled time. Lots to be grateful for. And congrats on your April boy!
xo
s
Emily Fridenmaker says
Congratulations!! I am the oldest girl and have 2 little brothers, and I loved it!
I have friends whose 3 year old daughter named their new, unborn daughter Rainbow Mudpie. We all (including them) now refer to her (still unborn) as Mudpie. Hopefully her new name will stick even better!
Emily says
Aw, congrats! So exciting!
We were dead set on keeping our baby’s sex a surprise, but then we found out at our 21-week ultrasound that we were having two babies! By the next sonogram we decided we had had enough surprises for one pregnancy so we found out we were having two girls. It’s been an amazing adventure and I can’t imagine things being any other way. :)
YoungHouseLove says
So funny!
xo
s
Vivian Foster says
As the mom of two boys, I say “YAHOO”! There is something magical in the relationship between Mom and son. You will be the one to show the example of how to treat a woman, just like John will be the example to Clara of how she should be treated by a man. It’s going to be so awesome!
Marie says
so, so many congratulations to your wonderful family!
Aly says
Guess with all that blue trim it was bound to happen! Congrats!
Carley says
Congratulations! Enjoy every moment! I love having one of each!
bhh says
Congratulations, Petersiks! Your post certainly brought back memories. We only found out the gender of our third born. When we told our older sons that I was pregnant, the 7 year old said, “how did that happen?” and the 4 year old said, “I’m happy as long as it’s a boy.” So rather immediately we were in sex ed mode and we decided to not tell them the gender (in fact a boy), hoping to use the experience to talk about how wonderful both boys and girls are and that a healthy baby is most important of all. Happy memories!
Tiffany says
Whew, I am so emotional. I am the mom to 3 baby girls. Our middle one (born Christmas Eve 2010, actually you all congratulated us on your blog!) was a total surprise. The ultrasound didn’t show, and we were all thinking boy.
Right after she was born, my husband said…”It’s a girl!” and i leaned up to see because I didn’t believe him hahaha.
I have a 4yr. old, a soon to be 3 yr old and an 18 mo. old. Honestly, there is so much love in my house. They share a room together by choice and you think your heart is melting now, wait until they start to kiss and hug each other and say “wuv you”.
They are the very best thing about me, and I am so happy for you Sherry. (ps we all met you at the ATL signing…I had the 3 girls from Knoxville)
YoungHouseLove says
I totally remember you and your girls Tiffany! Thanks so much for coming out to see us! And I love the surprise of three girls!
xo
s
angie l says
such awesome-sauceyness! so excited for your sweet little boy to make his appearance! He is already loved! it is going to be so much fun to follow your journey down the little boy road…can hardly wait to see what you have brewing in those minds!
Rachael says
Congratulations! As the proud owner of 3 of them, I can tell you boys are awesome!!
As for telling others, we just blabbed it out, except for Baby #4, where we decided to keep it just between us and the kids. Big mistake! The kids were, unbeknown to us, blabbing it left, right and centre!!
Cherie says
Yay! Congratulations! Boys are a special brand of dirty, noisy fun!