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.
Kate G. says
OMG!!! Congratulations! She is precious!
JEssica says
YAYAY for you two(oops i mean four) :D Congratulations!!!!!
Katie Cortes says
Am I really the first to comment? CONGRATULATIONS! She is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
brandi says
Congratulations! She is beautiful and I’m so glad to hear that mom, dad, Burger, and baby are healthy and happy :)
Melissa says
Congratulations!!!!! She’s beautiful!!!!
Fernanda says
Congratulations!!!
May your baby have a wonderful life!!!
Best regards from Brazil,
Fernanda
Gaby says
Congratulations! Clara is beautiful, and I love that her name is in honor of so many family members. Sherry, you look fantastic in that post-C section photo, considering all that you had just been through. I hope you are all settling into your new life as a family of three. Thank you for sharing your great news with your readers (although, I must say, you’re the 3rd family to go through a scary-at-the-last-second delivery, and it’s starting to worry this 33-weeks pregnant lady! I’ll just tell my guy not to get any ideas!). All my best.
erin m. says
Congrats!!! Clara is on our list right now, too, but now that it’s been used… gosh, can a person several states away and with no connection other than reading your blog still use what is now “your” name? Hmm… I’ll have to think on this. ;) She’s beautiful- enjoy all these first days- they go so fast!
Kristina says
Awwww. Congratulations to all three of you. Welcome to the world, Clara.
tamisha says
Congratulations! She’s beautiful. Tickled to hear that everything turned out fine despite the scare!
Andrea P says
Oh my gosh! She is beautiful! I love the name too….just amazing!
Thank you so much for taking us on this journey with you!
xo!
shanna says
OMG! Congratulations! Clara is so beautiful! I am so glad all is well – what a terrifying ordeal! Oh she is so so sweet. Can’t wait to see more pix of her!
Jennifer says
CONGRATULATIONS!! I love how you came up with her middle name. She’s beautiful.
Kate G. says
Oh, and I forgot to add : I loooooove her name! It suits her perfectly. :)
CarMaj says
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! She’s absolutely beautiful – You guys are so sneaky!!! So glad to hear you are all doing well!
Rebecca says
Congratulations guys!! Welcome to parenthood. Clara is beautiful. I am so thankful to hear that she is happy and healthy.
Ashley says
Clara is adorable! And it looks like Burger is definitely taking his role as big brother seriously. Congrats :)
Steph at Steph's Life In Motion says
Congrats Sherry and John! Clara is absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to read all about your journey into parenthood. :)
Amy says
Congratulations! She is beautiful! And I see your camera is already working out nicely for you too :)
Have fun!
Jessi E says
CONGRATULATIONS!! I am so happy for you guys. She’s adorable!
erin says
No we’re heading to the hospital to be continued dot dot dot post to leave us hanging! You totally surprised us. Congrats, she’s adorable.
Heather says
Congrats and welcome to the world little one!
Amber says
That is one good looking newborn. She is beautiful!
Congratulations! Enjoy every minute!
ChristineMarie says
Congrats John & Sherry! What an adorable little girl. I love the name. Glad you are all healthy and well.
Laura says
Congrats! She is beautiful!!! Y’all will be great parents!
Katherine says
RAAAAH! I’m so excited for you guys as you start a whole ‘nother formative journey. :) Clara is precious. And how about sticking that paintbrush in her hand for her first birthday and seeing what abstract art she creates?
Jennifer H. says
That’s fabulous, FABULOUS news!! She’s absolutely gorgeous (of course!). Congratulations to both of you — hope you’re able to sneak in some rest.
Abby says
What a great surprise this morning! Congratulations to you both and thank you for sharing.. it means a lot! :)
Christa says
hoooray! crack the champagne and cigars!
kelsey says
Congrats! She is beautiful! I had a feeling you would have her early!!
nic says
Hey CONGRATS!!!!!!!
Glad to hear everyone is OK. I too had an unplanned C-section and my best advice is – take their advice and DO NOT lift more than 10 pounds for the 6 weeks….even when you feel like you can – don’t do it! And…you really do statrt to feel better after the 6 weeks. Recovery can seem slow but it will happen.
Enjoy that sweet little snugglebunny!!!!!
Beckyg says
She is beautiful! Congratulations to you both!!
I am in love with the photo of her little feet…so precious! :D
Melissa says
Congratulations, she is just precious! What a beautiful name!
Mallory says
Congratulations on your beautiful little girl!
Chelsea says
AAAAAHHHHH!!!! YAY!!! How cute :) Congrats!!
Grace says
How wonderful!!! Congratulations!!! She’s beautiful! What a beautiful name! Glad to hear mom and baby are home safe and healthy!
Marsha says
Congrats! How exciting! She is beautiful!
cara says
congratulations! great name! i’m so happy for you guys :)
Michele says
Congratulations!!! She is perfect:):):) SO happy for your family!
heather s. says
I wondered if she graced you with her presence this weekend after your FB post. :) Congratulations, she’s beautiful!
Angela says
Congratulations! Clara is gorgeous :)
Tracy says
Congratulations! I knew something was up when you only commented about the rumors and didn’t deny them….
Glad to hear everyone is doing great! Love your blog and am itching to try out some projects this summer. Looking forward to getting some baby news snuck in with the regular posts!
Sarah says
Congratulations to you both! She is beautiful. All our best for a happy and hopeful well rested first few weeks!
Ericka says
Oh my goodness!! I am so happy for your family! She is beautiful and I’m glad that everything turned out well. CONGRATULATIONS!
Katie Cortes says
Also, forgot to add, Kenley is one of my favorite names, too! My dad is named Ken and I always figured it was a great way to pay homage to him for a girl’s name.
Glad you are okay and that baby is okay!
Parvy says
OMG!!! She’s adorable!!
Congratulations, you guys!!
And I love the way you came up with her name – It’s great when names have some history associated with it…
Erin says
Amazing! I’m so glad that everyone is ok, despite the hiccup! She is beautiful, congrats!
Courtney says
Hip hip hoooooooooray! So happy for you. Serious major congrats. She is just beautiful and you two will be WONDERFUL parents.
Ashley @ The Design Thief says
OMG! She came early! Congratulations!!! She is beautiful!!
Leah says
Many many many congratulations and best wishes!!