… 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.
Kelly says
YAY congrats!! Im so happy that you have a healthy baby but I was kinda hoping you would have a boy! So excited to see your take on a boy nursey and cant wait to watch this little guy grow up!
Christina says
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! What a blessing that Baby P is healthy & that you’re going to have a sweet boy! Y’all will love having a boy & a girl!
We have four kids–a boy & three girls! We didn’t find out the gender of the first three babies, but we did on our youngest, and I have to say that I hated knowing what we were having! The surprise on delivery day was sooooo much fun & so worth it!
The most memorable telling of the gender was our first, our whole family & lots of friends were camped out in the waiting room all night & when he was born my husband burst in with a huge smile and yelled “It’s a boy!!!!” Which was met with a huge cheer, hugs, kisses, & tears!!!!!
Amanda says
We found out the gender of our second child a few days before Easter, so shile we were decorating Easter eggs, I slyly wrote the gender on an egg in white crayon and dipped it in a dye cup and had my mum lift it out. It was in blue dy but stated “it’s a girl!” It was a spur of the moment decision to make that the gender reveal but it was still so fun! Xoxo
Kate says
Congrats! I can’t wait to see what you guys do with the nursery now that you know the sex of the baby and to see pics of the little guy. I’m sure Clara is going to be a great big sister. =)
Elaine - visual meringue says
Amazing! I’m so pleased you will get to have ‘one of each’ – what fun! I have a 4-year-old boy. Boys are awesome! We found out in the delivery room, although my ‘mommy instinct’ new the whole time I was going to have a son. Congrats again – and to Clara ‘big sister’ too! :)
Dawn says
So exciting. Congrats. We recently had our second child in June, a little girl. My son was 2.5 when we found out that we would be having another kiddo. From day one he said he was having a sister and her name would be Tinker Bell. We took him to the ultrasound with us and the tech told him he was absolutely correct and Tinker Bell was in Mommies belly. He was so thrilled. As for telling everyone we already had plans to meet for dinner afterwards with our families, so we let everyone pick out Sweeten Low (pink) or Equal (blue) from the sugar holder. Then allowed my son to pick the right color (which, thankfully he did)!
Dawn says
Oh… and he still calls her Tinker Bell.
YoungHouseLove says
CUTE!!
xo
s
Alejandra Suárez says
OMG! I can imagine the excitement of discovering the sex of the baby. When I was two months pregnant, me and my hubby went to our appointment with the gynecologist to check if everything was perfect with the baby, Oh surprise surprise! we discovered it was not one but two babies. First we were scared but after 5 minutes we were very excited. At 14 weeks of pregnanyc we were told that they were both male and I took a picture of my belly holding a frame with two mustaches inside, everyone understood immediately. My babies are almost 3 month old and we couldn’t be happier. Congratulations!. Hugs and kisses from Yucatan.
Katherine says
Congratulations Petersik family!! We also have a girl and boy and they’re just under 4 years apart. Regardless of boy/girl, I thought it would be so tough getting acclimated to a baby again after being with one, very independent child for so long. Luckily, it’s just as “they” say – it all comes flooding back to you and you feel like there was never a gap at all! We waited until both kids were born to find out what the sex was and after having a girl I really thought I wanted another daughter. But as soon as my husband said It’s a boy! I knew I was always meant to have a son! Congratulations again and I hope you have as much fun as we’re having :)
Reenie says
Oh how cute… the way you told Clara. Adorable photo of her, Captain B & Burger under the tree.
Congrats!!
Morgan says
Congratulations!! A healthy baby boy!! I was so excited for this post.
(And this is so not helping my baby fever right now, haha). Even though we aren’t pregnant yet (or even trying), my husband and I both agree that we want the gender to be a surprise until birth. I’ve been dreaming of that moment when I can hear my husband say, “It’s a ___!” Can’t wait!
Tashia D says
Congratulations Petersik family!!! Having a boy and a girl is awesome! Clara will make a great big sister!
Brandi from Bloomington says
Congrats. I have two boys and they’re awesome.
I really like grey and yellow for baby boys’ rooms. My uterus is closed for business but I love seeing my friends’ nursery Pinterest boards. Too bad they all had girls.
Vanessa W says
Yayyyy for Baby Boy Petersik!!! What a cute way to reveal to all the family! I remember when my mom told me I was going to have a baby sister & the immense pride and excitement I felt. Clara is going to have a blast with this experience!
Xo
P.S. it wasn’t a gender reveal but my mom said she was worried my brother and I would feel jealous of our baby sis so she lit one big candle to represent the mommy and three little unlit candles represented me, my brother and the unborn baby sis. She used the “mommy” candle to light the baby candles to show that no matter how many babies she had, there was plenty of light and love for all of us.
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so sweet! I love that idea!
xo
s
Kim says
YAY!!!! I’m so excited for you guys!!! When we found out what we were having last year (a boy, which is kinda what we were leaning towards), I totally reached over and gave my husband a high five. Felt like a dork, but it was so exciting! We actually had a gender reveal party with friends and family that weekend (we had to keep it to ourselves for 4 days!! SO HARD!!). I made cupcakes that were dyed blue in the middle so nobody knew until they bit into it.
So glad everyone is healthy and doing well! Can’t wait to see how you decorate his nursery!!!
Crystal says
Congrats! What an adventure for you guys! And it really is great that Clara is so happy! What a cute way to share the news with her and your family!
My nephew is almost 2 and he ignores us when we try to tell him about the little brother or cousin on the way. We’ve tried to make it fun for him but he is not interested!
We are expecting our first, a baby girl, NEXT WEEK! Counting down the days! After the ultrasound we couldn’t contain our excitement and sent a mass text from the parking lot. We at least tried to make our text funny… We are not people that can keep a secret. I even tell complete strangers her name all the time!
Chelsey Nevarez says
Yay, thanks for the news and congratulations, boys are so much fun! I was checking your blog last night making sure I didn’t miss the announcement and voila it was on Facebook this morning.I love the way you did the gender reveal with the envelopes, because then everyone is hands on. I’m flying to California where my family is to visit next week and I’m going to find out what I’m having then. I think I’m going to take your envelope idea and tell them that way (thanks for the idea). Will best wishes, and looking forward to seeing the nursery transformation :-)
Laura@JourneyChic says
Oh, how exciting! I have one of each as well, and it’s a lot of fun. I told my son when I picked him up at daycare after we had the ultrasound. He was playing with his friends and I said, “Guess what? The baby in my tummy is a GIRL!” and he ran right up to me and hugged my belly. And honestly, he’s the best big brother – as good as any 3yo could be. They’ve loved each other since day one. She’s 14mo and almost walking now, and loves to load up her big brother’s dump trucks with trains and screwdrivers and push them around the house. After a quick hug, she always drops her dollies in favor of her brother’s things. :)
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!
Lydia says
We found out what we were having the day before the 4th of july, so we immediately went on the search for a PINK firework. The next day we lit it up to tell the whole family! :)
Katie says
Congratulations! I’m so excited for you guys! I have a daughter and son and love having one of each.
Elyse Crawford says
Congratulations! Very excited for you guys. They say it’s the ‘Rich Man’s Family’ when you have a boy and a girl…and you guys are very ‘rich’ with blessings!
Jenny says
Yay!! So exciting guys! For both our babes I brought a pretty card and had the ultrasound tech write it down–without telling me–with a printout inside and my hubs and I opened it together. The first time was out if necessity: I was commuting from Philly to NYC and most of my prenatal appojntments were in the latter and he couldn’t make it. The second time around was because we loved opening it up together out at dinner the first time, and it gave us a great addition to our scrapbook. But with our second, we had just closed on our new house, so the three of us went there to open it to have our first memory there together. I’ll never forget standing in our empty home, in the kitchen, and the three of us crouched with our son and literally falling on the floor with joy we were having a baby girl! xox
Ammie says
Congrats Petersik family!
My first pregnancy was full of surprises from the beginning. We went in for our first checkup, doc saw the baby on the screen and I asked if my mom and MIL could pop in the room really quick to see the screen (first grandbaby on both sides, they were excited!). While my mom and MIL were in the room, doc was trying to give them a better view and discovered baby #2! That was such a wonderful surprise! At 20 weeks we found out they were both boys (with both grandmas in attendance) and shared the news via phone calls after that. I’m due in March with our 3rd baby and we went to a 3D/4D sonogram place that has a room for 20 people and they project the sonogram onto a long screen on a huge wall and everyone was there when we heard “It’s a BOY!”. Of course, we still had our regular anatomy scan with the doc at 20 weeks for confirmation, but the view the 3D/4D place got left little room for doubt, he’s definitely a boy! We’re so excited for the littlest brother and having everyone with us to find out the gender was a family memory i’ll cherish forever!
Jordan says
Currently 12 weeks pregnant with #3 so we don’t know what we are having yet but my three year old said we should either name it Jesus or Snowflake, depending on whether it’s a boy or girl. I don’t think we will be using either. :-) I was sick for 4 – 6 months with my boys but my MS is actually starting to let up – maybe I will get my girl! Congratulations on your boy! Boys are such fun bundles of energy!
Elle says
Congratulations! I assume Burger is just as excited about hearing it’s a boy as he has been about the whole pregnancy. ;-)
That picture of Clara telling Nana on facetime is just adorable.
YoungHouseLove says
I think Burger has no idea what’s happening this spring, but he’ll be excited about the extra crumbs and sticky fingers! He was BFFs with Clara pretty soon after he realized she was a “snack goldmine.”
xo
s
Alisa says
I’m glad Clara is happy it’s a baby boy! My daughter was seven when I showed up to pick her up from school with a “it’s a boy!” balloon. She immediately started to cry and insisted for the rest of my pregnancy that “the boy” had to live in the basement :)
Lauren White says
My husband actually surprised me with the news!! He called the office before our appointment and told the ultrasound tech to pretend she couldn’t determine the sex. We want to our appt. and much to my disappointment she determind the umbilical cord was in between the legs and couldn’t determine boy or girl. Of course I was disappointed, but later that night we went out to dinner and much to my surprise all of or family and friends were there! My husband pulled out an envelope (he didn’t look either- so it was a surprise for him too) and we shared the news with everyone at the same time!! It was so special and the best surprise ever!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s such an awesome story!!!
xo
s
Lauren White says
Congrats by the way!!! We now have a little boy named Calvin! Little boys are so sweet and fun! :-)
Rebecca C. says
Congratulations! I am so excited for you guys!
Amy says
Congrats! I have 2 boys and they are great! So active, you’ll never need to hit the gym again!!! Love for you and your family!
JO says
We made this little, very short video to tell our family (who live all over the place). We waited till I was like 20+ weeks. We were married nearly 8 years before we decided to have kids so needless to say our family was pretty shocked. Yay for babies!
heres the little video
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!
xo
s
ErinEvelyn says
At 20 weeks, the ultra sound technician spoke: “It looks like you’ve a little boy in there……. and, he’s got a little brother.” (I learned later that my husband thought he’d seen two spines on the ultrasound and silently whispered an expletive before freezing in disbelief.) My pregnancy was fertility-assisted, so I was VERY aware of the increased risk of multiples. But since that first at-home positive pregnancy test, every early test indicated ONE baby. ONE heartbeat. For 20 weeks. ONE baby, not 2. I actually only ever wanted a single child. I got home and spent the next 12 hours sobbing in absolute despair, mourning the loss of the life I THOUGHT I was going to have. (Yep, control-freak here.) For a fleeting moment even, the thought of just GIVING away an extra baby seems like a rational solution. (I knew 2 couples who were waiting to adopt.) Insane, right?. I called my mom in tears and before I knew it, my folks and my grandmother were at my door. (They were all quietly thrilled.) They sat me down and we made a family pact: we’re all in this together; “divide and conquer” would be our strategy; we were ALL going to be new parents to these babies. It took me a few days to recover from my freak-out, but when I finally processed my twins, I got to work ordering an extra crib, and shifted my focus to doubling the size of my family in one swoop. That was 8.5 years ago, and it whatdyaknow, the fates knew what was best for me. I am SO thankful for my twin boys, and can’t imagine it any other way. (Although, I’m lucky to have kept my sanity through the infancy stage. It really DID take a village.) Congrats on Baby Boy P, guys!
Karen says
OMG congratulations guys!!! Is it weird I kinda teared up a little?? *sniff*
Also love your tree skirt – is that an Ikea sheepskin throw? Sorry if I missed it an earlier tree related post :) I love it!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Karen! It’s just a few of those faux ikea sheepskins tossed under there. One of our favorite tree skirt since we can use them year round in other spots and just borrow them for the tree.
xo
s
Sandy says
Hooooray, congratulations!! So excited for your little Captain Barnacle! :) Can’t wait to see all of your baby boy planning!
FRECKLES CHICK says
Yay for Baby Barnacles!! Congrats you guys, that’s wonderful news! Especially happy that he’s nice & healthy.
When the tech told us Quinn was a girl, R went really pale & made the tech check like 3 more times. He said his mind kept fearfully flashing forward to her teenage dating years.
xoxo
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! John says Clara is all mine when she’s a teen. He’s like “yeah, I don’t know what I’m going to do about that so… you get to have those birds and bees chats and make sure she never dates until she’s 30.”
xo
s
Jeanette says
Hubby doesnt understands why I’m jogging around the livingroom chanting “its a boy, a baby Barnacle, cant wait!”. Will explain it when i’ve catched my breath! Gosh o’ gosh! Or should I say boy o’ boy..?
Congratulations Petersiks!
And I love how you presented it to Clara :D
Lots of love all the way from Norway!
P.S Praying for both the pregnantcy and delivery to go well! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha! Thanks so much for all the sweet well wishes guys! You’re the best, and we couldn’t be more excited to share our news with you guys!
xo
s
Kristin F says
How awesome for you guys! We too had girl first, then boy about three years later. Completely, COMPLETELY, different personalities but big sis was great to her little bro’. And 13 yrs later is most of the time still. So much fun. His nursery was blue and green (but so was hers as a baby) but my husband did paintings of a frog, a dragonfly, and a turtle that we hung in the room. I can’t remember how we told everyone about it, how sad is that?
BTW: Barnacles may not work, but I have a friend whose brother is Barnaby…possible substitution?
Kelley says
High Fives all around!
Congrats!
Kim says
Clara, is getting so big and her features are so pronounced now! She is super cute and I’ve enjoyed seeing her grow up over the years. Thanks for not being a Kanye and sharing your family with us. :-)
PJ says
Congratulations! What great news! When I was pregnant with my first child, now 6, I was convinced it was a boy. My husband is one of two boys and his father is one of three boys, so I figured the Y chromosomes were strong with his people. At 20 years, the ultrasound technician said, “It’s a girl!” and I burst into tears–sobbing uncontrollably. She thought I was unhappy and a total freak, I’m sure, but I was overjoyed that the baby was healthy and surprised that my Momdar was so off. Now I have two sweet little girls, 6 and 3. Best of luck! Clara will love having a little brother!
Susan says
Congrats to team blue!
I have twins…one of each. Our big “reveal” was learning that there were TWO babies at about ten weeks-and that ultrasound happened to be on my birthday. I was shocked.
No one knew what we were having until they were born-and then the hospital was a crazy place once we announced what was what. Withing minutes they all left us to go shopping!
(It was also Christmas, and all the babies in the nursery were in giant stocking receiving blankets)
Will you share names beforehand? I think you SHOULD let Clara name him, LOL. He would certainly have a unique name, right?
YoungHouseLove says
I think like with Clara we’ll go with a family name that has a lot of meaning if we can, although Clara can certainly chime in with her sweet suggestions. We liked to meet Clara first to be sure she was a Clara anyway, 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
Amber @ Wills Casa says
Congratulations! We just had a boy. Our 4 year old daughter adores him. I was super worried about the age difference, but it’s been so great. She is such a helper. Clara is going to love having a brother!
http://www.willscasa.com/2013/11/becketts-newborn-photos/
Calli says
Congrats! So exciting! I have a 5 month old daughter who is pretty much the cutest thing ever. Here’s how we told our friends and family the news:
http://www.calliscrossing.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/its-a.html?m=1
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!
xo
s
Tania says
Hooray!! Congrats!
Jan says
Congrats! One of each is perfect! When I found out I was having a boy (via amnio because of my “advanced maternal age,” I left blue booties out with the day’s mail for my husband, who was at work when I had the amnio. He was happy because he had a favorite boy’s name and I had a favorite girl’s name, so he won, lol. Little bundle of joy is 18 now and applying to colleges :-/ Damn, it goes too fast!
Nicole says
I’m actually due with baby #2 at about the same time (21 weeks down!). We had our ultrasound last week and had the tech seal it in an envelope that we’re going to open on Christmas morning!
Tracie W says
So exciting!! I seriously teared up,reading this! Congratulations!
Amber says
I am dying over Barnacles! Too funny and oh so cute! This is random, but my husband and I told my family we were having a boy while we were at a Panera for dinner. :)
Jody says
I cannot tell you both how excited I am for you! Congrats to you and the whole family!
I am expecting as well (due with our second in June) and am loving being able to go on this journey with you – to see all the new and exciting ideas you come up with – and thinking of ways to incorporate your creativity into our nursery.
Congrats again!!
Hemma says
Congrats!! Either way. Still, how special to have a boy this time. Not bragging but I sooooo knew it was a boy : ). Not that I wasn’t checking as soon as I could, though. Ooooh that pic of Clara and the Burgerdude at the Christmas tree: priceless. Ready to frame. I really do wish for you to have a wonderful continued pregnancy and a joyful birth experience.
Amy E. says
YAY! So excited that you got the good news! Best wishes for continued health and happiness!
and Clara is the queen of awesome! i don’t know why you’re so against Captain Barnacle. that’s an awesome name! (also, Octonauts is seriously a great show; she has good taste!)
we opted to wait until the delivery room for our first kiddo. next time i want to find out as soon as possible; i feel like i lost bonding time without knowing. then again, we’re still REALLY well bonded with our little girl. hoping to join you in double parenthood soon!
Congrats again!
Jess says
Congrats! And now you can call him “Barney” until you pick out his long-term name, fun!