Once again the last couple weeks have flown by without a blog post. I have been busy “nesting” and working on lots of quilt projects. My nesting has involved cleaning out closets (which doesn’t make for a very interesting blog post), taking down the Christmas decorations, and freshening up my decor with a few brighter quilts. I have also spent way too much time on the internet looking at baby nurseries (which once again, doesn’t make for a very interesting blog post).
Gypsy Girl from the book Fat Quarter Five. Fabrics from the Verna collection by Kate Spain
(click here to see the Gypsy Girl Pattern)
I started the nesting process last fall when I needed to keep myself occupied while we waited for test results. I was really craving bright light and colors at the time, so I repainted several rooms in the house, including my front entry.
Both the yellow and the red have been lightened and brightened. I ordered a new rug from Company C. I find it really hard to find rugs that are just the right colors, so I was excited to find this one. I wanted it to match the Secret Garden fabric (by Sandi Henderson) that I had been collecting, with the intention of making a new quilt for my entry. After getting sidetracked several times, I finally got the borders on the quilt and it will be the next quilt on my quilting machine.
I added a few colors to the original Secret Garden line, just to make it blend better with my rug. I added the darker red, darker blue dot, and the browns. It added the extra pop of color that I was looking for.
(BTW – the pattern is called Modern Day Diamonds and can be found in my Living Large book.)
As I am working on my quilts, I am continually taking pictures of the process – either to remember the placement of the fabrics or to audition different design elements. I find that if I don’t have a picture, I won’t remember it! Lately, all of my pictures have had a funny addition at the bottom of the shot ~
Yes, that would be the “bump”. Remember a few weeks back when I was trying to get it to show in the photo? Not a problem anymore. What a difference 4 weeks will make!
I am currently at 22 weeks and we just had another ultra sound yesterday. We are so happy to say that everything looks really good! I was shocked to find out that the baby is in the 90th percentile for weight (though of course, that can change). I guess there was a good reason that the bump has expanded so much in the last month!
We also found out what we are having – the doctor is 95% sure that it is a boy. The baby didn’t give us a” perfect” shot of the goods, but there were several shots that can really only be explained by being a boy.
So, in case you were wondering, on Joel’s side, we will have a total of 6 girls and 2 boys (counting just the grandkids. Joel has 3 sisters and no brothers, so that would skew the numbers a bit).
On my side, we have just the opposite with 2 girls and 6 boys. The slightly scary fact, is that all 6 of those boys will be 5 and under when our baby is born! Life is gonna get crazy!!!!
Either way, we are just so excited to have good news to report and didn’t care what it was. We couldn’t wait to share our news with all of you! (and start taking name submissions, if anyone has any good ideas 😉 )
Trends and Traditions 
What wonderful news! So happy for you, your husband, and son.
I’m so glad everything is going well for you and your baby! Boys are precious: I have 2 of them, and I just can’t imagine not having them. They are grown now, but they’re still my little boys. You’ll love having a boy! And I love your entry – beautiful colors!
Just So Happy For You.
I’d love to make the Quilt hanging over your couch. I like the look of the blocks floating on a background. Which of your quilt pattern books can I find it in.
Thanks for asking! That pattern is called Gypsy Girl and can be found in my Fat Quarter Five book. (
It is shown in different fabrics in the book)
Oh, love this picture! We have four grandsons and no granddaughters, so I’m rather partial to the little rascals. 🙂
Oh, I’m so glad to hear things are good. I bet you have all of your fans on the edge of their seats waiting for updates from you, I know I was! I love your bright and fresh home decor and your quilts are always an inspiration. Stay well and keep growing that baby bump!
Yay!! Brilliant to hear that things are going well for you. The names I will offer up are Issac and Orlando, a girl from my work who had a similar journey to yours just had twin boys and those are their names! Great to see the bump growing!
I love the entry – the paint, the rug and the fabulous quilt!
A little boy! How exciting is that? I love little boys. We had four of them and now have 14 grandsons. How about Oliver? That seems to be a “hot” name right now.
Your home is so inviting! Thanks for sharing that. And for sharing about the baby. A boy!! We love family names. It gives a grand connection to family. Are there a couple of nice family names you can combine to make the perfect name for your son?
I didn’t know you were pregnant. Congratulations!!!!
Also, I love your quilt and your entry. So fun and happy!
So good to hear!! Love the entryway.
My 2 grandsons are Chase & Anderson. They are both geniuses so either would be a good name 🙂
So. Excited. For. You!!!!!!!! You look great, and it sounds like baby boy is doing fine! Congrats and best wishes to you and yours! I hope the next 18 weeks treat you well and offer you time to prepare!
So happy for you! You look great! I was thinking about you and the gorgeous sweaters you will knit for your baby. Love your red entryway (my favourite colour) and the beautiful rug.
You are darling! I am so excited for you! We tried for five years before finally getting pregnant with our sweet twins using in vitro. It is a horrible, harrowing process, but so, SO worth it. Congratulations and lots of love,
April
Yah Heather, that’s wonderful baby boy is doing so well. I’m so very happy for you.
I, too, have been making baby things, I’m at wk 34! so not much longer. I just finished a front carrier. now I have to make a boppy pillow 🙂
Wow, you look terrific. I look at where you live, very similar to me, and the woods around you. Our eldest is Cedar–I love his name . We are also big time canoeists & cedar strip canoes are the quitissential old time canoe so the name really fit for us. I also liked Acer , short form Ace, as it is the genus for the Maple and being Canadian I liked that connection. My husband thought the kid would get Ass as often as Ace so we scrapped that one although I still like it. We both teach high school so we struggled with all the ‘popular’ names as we could always conjure up some jerk kid in one of our classes to spoil the name for us. :)) All the best I will be following to see how things progress
So happy for you! Our prayers will include you and your baby. Our DIL is 12 weeks with their first, after having a miscarriage and having stage 3 breast cancer several years ago. how about Blaize?
SO SO HAPPY to hear from you! Glad baby is progressing well, and that you’re okay too. You are all in my prayers. We like little boys in our family….we have 7 little boys, and the only girl was born this past November. Needless to say, she is spoiled terribly! (As are they all!) Love your entryway. A yellow and red combo is my favorite.
I LOVE YOUR BUMP!!! This is such an exciting time for you and Joel. Savor every moment. As far as names go, that is such a personal thing for me. We It needs to be what you and Joel like. That’s all that matters 😉 Oh and p.s. we really do want to hear about the nursery!
So glad all is going well for you. For both of our sons we used names from the family tree as that was important to us…and we also wanted names that the average person could spell without wondering about and also names that weren’t overly common. As an example, my son (Jon) has three Carters in his class of 20? I would look at the list of the most popular names from the last year or two (Social Security always puts out at top 10 list each year), and stay away from those names unless you absolutely love them… Best wishes!
SO happy for you!!!
Love your baby bump!! I am so happy for you!! That rug is perfect for your house and I would love to have you come decorate mine! Your color choices are always bold and perfect. Just perfect. Boy’s name…my dad’s name was Morgan Joseph. I love both of those names.
Yiiipppeeeeee! I’m so happy for you ~ that you’re doing well, that you and Joel and doing well, and that there will soon be a Baby Boy Petersen! That should up the chances of the baby having Joel’s eyelashes. Congratulations to you and Joel! And call me crazy but that picture makes one thing absolutely certain ~ you look gorgeous! Pregnancy agrees with you!
The only thing that disappoints me in all this is that I think this means you won’t be in Kansas City. But it’s all good, you have the best reason/excuse ever for missing it. 🙂
Super happy for you Heather! You look wonderful so already motherhood is agreeing with you!
I was waiting for your next post! You look wonderful! My grandsons are Hunter and Ryder, but I also love the names Caleb and Eli. Praying for you!
Love the gypsy girl quilt. And how cute is your baby bump!
We had 3 daughters and now have 3 great son-in-laws and 6 grandchildren. 2 from each family and each has a boy and a girl, couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. I like the names Hunter, Kaden and Logan!! I usually don’t ever comment, but glad to see a post from you and I agree with someone else’s comment that pregnancy does agree with you, you look like you have that special glow!!
Such wonderful news! And I love the colors for the foyer! I wish my husband would let me do colors like that! I thought men weren’t supposed to care what their wives did with the decor?! Anyway, many blessings in store for you… I pray God rains His goodness all over you! 🙂
Hmmmmm. Having a strong Swedish background myself, how about Ingvar or Alvar! Just kidding – Erik or Carl Erich (the old standard for the first son) plus a third name! I’m sure you will choose a beautiful name for your beautiful bouncing baby! Best wishes – and God Bless you All!
LOVE x 1,000!
You are looking amazing!!! Congrats on the boy news. I have 3 of my own! Their names are Caide, Bryce and Jamie and I love each of their names so much! Your home is looking amazing!! It’s my dream home 😉
Hooray for boys!! Oh, the thought of a tiny Joel running around is just too fun. Yay!
What a great post! I have been in love with your house since you first posted. I am sure you will have a darling nursery. Enjoy every moment of decorating and quilting as i am sure the little man will just take you away from it all, at least for awhile.
My grandson is Tyler, and he loves his name. He can spell it at 2 years 11 months old! If he ever had a baby brother, I would hope for him to be Wyatt, because I love that name too. And of course then they would be Ty and Wy. LOL
SO very happy for you! You look great! Can’t wait to see some nursery pics too!
I love the quilts, especially that first one, and the new colors in your entry are fantastic!
Congratulations on the news about a baby – I am partial to Elliott and Harrison myself – they were the names I wanted for our son, but my husband didn’t like either of them, so we compromised, and picked a name that we could both agree on, which subsequently went to the top of the list in terms of popularity of boys’ names. I recommend picking a name that isn’t in the “top 100” list, otherwise, your son is going to have multiple children with his name in his class 🙂
I am joyful for you. So glad that all is well.
I haven’t been a follower for very long, but I’m excited for you and the changes that are coming your way!
Two boy names that I really like right now are Colton and Reid.
Praying for a healthy final trimester and baby.
Beautiful quilts!
I was wondering about you, but figured no news was good news & in this case it is. So glad everything is going great for you both. And I just love the rug-you couldn’t have found a better one-the quilt will go with it perfectly. And pictures of the nursery would be great, when you decide what to do for sure. Take care of yourself & that baby.
So happy for you that everything is going so well! You gotta love little boys. No name suggestions, but backyard baby fabric is so darn cute!
Wow Heather, you HAVE been nesting!!! The quilts are beautiful and the brighter colors in your home…well, what can I say, it always looks beautiful to me but I also love the bright colors. The older I get, the more I find myself gravitating to brighter color choices in everything I look for, home decor, clothes, oh and of course, fabrics!
My gosh ‘Baby Bump’ (BB) is certainly a growing boy..? Did your have the 3-D ultrasound? They are so amazing. Of course, when I was having my family (2 daughters) over 40 years ago, we didn’t have all this fun stuff, so when my first was a girl, my entire 2nd pregnancy was different *except for 9 months of nausea and yurking*, so all the older ladies in my life told me I was carrying the baby so low and completely out front that it was definitely a boy. Yup, I believed them and since I didn’t quilt back then, I crocheted up a storm, afghans, sweater outfits, buntings and booties…all blue. All I can say is it was a good thing you could put baby girls in blue with a little accessorizing, So much for different sexes being carried different in the womb, LOL.
As for baby name suggestions…how about…wait for it…ROSENTHAL??? Well, that’s what my grandmother wanted me to name the baby if it wsa a boy, after all, she saddled my dad with it as a middle name. My dad told grandma that name was born with him and by cracky it was going to die with him, LOL. I think she read it in a book while she was pregnant. Always hesitate to suggest because I got so much pressure from everyone but my own parents to name the babies names that THEY loved, but we always knew if we had a boy, he would be Zachary. Ah well, now I have three grandsons and none of them are named Zachary, LOL.
You look absolutely beautiful by the way and I can’t wait to see more pictures as you get closer to the big day. Thanks so much for sharing your journey with us.
Big Hugs,
Nancy
Heather, I’m so thrilled about your good news! Happy 22 weeks! Little boys are so much fun – never a dull moment with mine – even now that they’re men!
I’m sure you will enjoy every minute!
Your entryway is jaw dropping beautiful! the colors, the light, it’s all stunning!
I have 2 boys–Callum John and Dennison Warren–we call him Denny…
I too am expecting…we don’t find out what we’re having so we always have names hanging in the rafters…I really like Fletcher–the hubby isn’t loving this one though…
He’s leaning towards Eliott but I have no idea how to spell it- must look that one up!
I’m rooting most for Declan but I don’t think it will fly as we already have a “D” name in the family 🙂
Congratulations on the baby! Maybe you could find a name in the family tree for the middle name and then choose the first name independently.
I love your house colors and the quilt you’re making to go with the entryway! They feel welcoming and cheery.
I’m glad to hear all is well. Your house looks great, nice bump too! Have you started any knitting for the baby yet?
First and foremost: congratulations on your healthy little boy growing in that bump! The quilt and rug are beautiful. What a stunning entryway and so cheerful!
Congratulations! Hope the Drs are correct..boys are wonderful. I have 2 – Nick and Mike..both are grown with their own babies now, but in my heart, they will always be my babies… I too went on a color spree when pregnant…I painted our bathroom a “Pepto-bismal Pink”. Very stylish I thought with a beautiful floral wallpaper…of all the colors i could have chosen to coordinate with the paper, I chose that pink! Funny how your world becomes so “BRIGHT” LOL.
When I was expecting (the sweet girls are now one year old!) I received this advise (from a mother of three boys): See how the name sounds when you yell it out, because you will be calling your kids in from play. And make sure the initials don’t spell anything awkward…I went with two very old fashioned names but as they remind me so much of my grammie and my auntie there was no way those girls were getting a modern name.
I really like the quilt on the couch, it’s very cheerful. And I love how you combined applique with piecing in the second quilt – I love applique that doesn’t look overwhelming to do. And your baby bump is gorgeous!! I’m so excited for you!!
We ended up waiting to meet our babies before we named them – the name we had picked out for our first one just didn’t fit after he was born. We have Justin (which I regret, because it’s SO common now) and Preston (which I LOVE, it’s easy to pronounce, masculine, and uncommon). My grandfather legally changed his middle name to Emory; unfortunately I didn’t know the story and history behind this name change until after my kids were named, otherwise I would definitely used it as a middle name for one of my kids. Look around your family for a name with history and/or meaning, or for someone you have a lot of respect and love for. And thank you so much for making us feel included in this exciting time in your life!
Little boys are so sweet! I have 4 sons & one daughter, 3 grandsons & 3 granddaughters. My boys are named Caleb, Micah, Jonas & Jacob & they all decided they really liked their names when girls would comment on how cool their names were.
I love your entry way, that rug is amazing and that new quilt will be beautiful with it! Oh and how exciting, you are having a boy! I have a one year old, Levi, and I can tell you boys are a blast! I like the names Sawyer and Hudson.
Can’t wait to see what you do with the nursery, if it is anything like the rest of your house you’ve showed us it should be amazing!
Your entry way is bee-utiful. Love the bright colors. You’re so cute and are looking well. The bump looks great on you. I can’t wait to see the nursery and the quilts you will make for the little man. I choose Irish names for my boys cause my mom was Irish. Shaun and Ryan Patrick. Pick a name for the baby before he is born because after nothing is good enough. Looking forward to your next blog.
You look beautiful! I’m so excited for you. Personally, I love family names, especially last names used as first names! Whatever you choose, he will become that name to a T. Just wait and see!
Congratulations! I love my three boys. You could go the Pinkett-Smith route and name your son Heath, then a future daughter can be Joellen 😉 I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun finding names.
You are beautiful!! I have 5 sons and can say that you are in for a very special relationship : )
Hugs to you and yours.
My darling son is Austin Cooper — we call him Coop / Cooper / Super Coop, etc. He is the most loveable sweetheart of a 2 year old. I never could have imagined that a little boy would be so tender.
Congratulations to you!
Congratulations on your baby boy. You are looking adorable.
I’m so excited for you! We have our first ultrasound tomorrow morning…at 6 weeks. I’m hoping they can hear a heartbeat (or two). We will definitely find out if one embryo attached or both.
I LOVE your quilts and your entryway. Wonderful colors!
Congrats again. I love your house and your colors. I have been looking and looking for a round rug for my entry way, and I haven’t been able to find anything I like. I love this one and am going to go search for it! Thank you!
Oh! That’s so exciting that you’re having a boy! Your updated entryway is beautiful and I love that Daisy snuck into the picture … such a cutie!
I am fairly new to your blog, and I just love it! I love your colors and patterns. In fact, I have gone crazy buying several patterns and some of your fabric and am anxious to make something. I really love the patterns for your shams. I have made several quilts and am anxious to make shams to go with them.
I wanted to say how happy I am about your expected baby. As I read back through all your old blogs, I wondered why you didn’t have children. With your career, I thought it might be by choice, but I did notice how involved you were with nieces and nephews. When I read about your long and difficult journey for a child, I was so touched and so happy for you and your husband. Now I look every day for a new blog entry! Can you tell I am a grandma wannabe?
Heather, I am so happy and excited for you! You look beautiful!
I love that Gypsy Girl quilt. I made Camille’s “Wild Thing” in that same fabric, for my little granddaughter. It is so pretty. (I think I need to make her little sister this one.)
Oh, a boy name … my son’s name is Dylan I think it’s a pretty good name.
Congratulations on the boy! You look wonderful. To pick a boy name, we printed out our genealogy and searched the list of names. Then I’d look up the name in a baby book to see if there was a meaning and if I liked it.
A boy, how exciting! My first two are boys and we gave them Irish names Kevin Joseph and Casey Patrick. When I was pregnant with my third I wanted a Nolan Ryan but I got a Kelsey Rose instead! I liked the name Matthew (which means gift from God) but my husband wasn’t keen on it. Good luck, I’ll continue to keep you all in my prayers:)
Love the update … you could update us weekly or daily on baby bumps, nursery planning, and appointments. Some of us would love to be grammies … and our kids don’t cooperate 😦 … I love the quilts, love the red doors … so cheerful, yet inviting and warm. Names … there are all the traditional ones, I like Colin, Nolan, and Caide … but have you thought about Mulder? His name could be Mulder Joel Peterson, Lil’ Muldie 🙂 Or perhaps Anka Joel Peterson … just a thought. Say the name outloud, cradle a doll and say the names you like outloud … if it doesn’t feel right or “fit” … than it’s not the right one. Keep us posted 🙂 God bless!
You’re looking just lovely with your little baby bump! So excited for you. Love your entry colors and the rug is beautiful. Your quilts are too. Have a great weekend coming up!
Can I just say how excited I am for you and your husband! And, over at our house we love boys! We have 18 grandchildren and only 3 of them are girls…Praying all goes well with your and your new addition to your family.
You look radiant :o)
You are so wrong, I find almost any real life activity interesting because it seems I always glean something from others and I can’t wait to see how you decorate the nursery.
LOVE the rug and the quilt~seriously gorgeous!
Wow, I can’t believe how your bump HAS grown this month and all those boys under 5~~~YIKES!!! That is really cool though because they will have so much fun growing up together!
I really thing you should name your angel after Joel!
Love the quilts in this post. I pray for you and that precious little bump everyday. I have all grandsons and one son. Boys love their Mama and their Grammies! I like the name Charlie.
Woohoo! Y’all are gonna be such great parents to a baby boy! Good luck with your nesting. I’m so glad to see that your creative mojo is back up and running! Your quilts, of course, are lovely!
Heather- Still not a quilter, but you tempt me with all your beautiful creations! So happy for you and Joel and Baby Boy!! Know we all pray for his safe arrival every bedtime. Much love, Lynette
Congratulations! My son’s name is Griffin. I don’t hear it too often, which is nice. He gets called Griff or Griffey sometimes, but he likes those names too. Best wishes to you and your husband. I’m looking forward to seeing pictures of your nursery and of course your new baby boy.
Until formally named, I as the proud auntie choose to call him
Willie (short for William).
Love the bump! Picking names is so HARD! For our daughter we went to the hospital with 4 names, tossed out 2 as soon as we saw her, then after several hours of her being nameless, my husband said, “say a name on the count of three…1,2,3!” Good thing we both said the same name. 🙂
I loved your entry colors and quilts, too!
Congratulations on your expecting a precious baby boy! I am so excited and happy for you. You are positively glowing and look fantastic. Enjoy this special time. Suggestions on a boy name – how about a strong biblical name? Keep us updated – love reading your blog posts.
I always love reading your blog, and love reading the good news. Baby news is the best- we’ll have to start thinking on names. I think Josh would go well well Joel & Heather, but not sure of other names in the family or family names you might want to use.
I’m crazy about your entry way and new rug. You really have a great color sense!! It always looks fresh and inviting!!
God bless you two and keep well!! L. xo
Wow, what an amazing time for you! My heartfelt congratualtions to you and yours. My daughter, Savannah Katherine, is 8 now and it seems like yeasterday that she was a baby in my arms. Enjoy and cherish these times as they go by in the blink of an eye. Personally, I love the name Galen for a boy, but agree with the other posters about family names that carry history. At the time, my son, had my daughter been a boy, would have been Daniel Stewart. Stewart was my maiden name and I wanted to carry some of that history forward.
On a side note, I had a mother ask me about my daughter “Vanna” and I nearly came unglued..LOL. I told her in no uncertain terms that I did not have a child named “Vanna” and that my daughter’s name was SAVANNAH. As parents you spend so much time trying to find the “perfect” name for a child that will be called by that name, a name that means who your child is to the world, and someone has to come up with some awful nickname…. UGH! (No offense to Vannas of the world)
What wonderful news, so happy for both you and your husband!
So happy for you and your expanding family. My all time favorite boy name is Warren. I love the way it looks and sounds, but I couldn’t convince my husband.
This is so exciting! I’m so happy for you and your husband. My baby boy turned 30 last November – he’s been the best thing that ever happened to me. Thank you for sharing photos of your home. The entry way is really lovely and the rug is perfect! That quilt will be a wonderful addition.
What a magical time for you! Enjoying your posts. You are inspiring in more ways than you will ever know! Best wishes…..
I am soooo happy for you and your family. Thanks for sharing this info with us all!
So Happy everything is going good for you. I suggest that one way to find a name would be going back over family names of loved ones we want to remember and use those names. We were lucky choosing a name for our son as both our dads were called George. Love how you display your happy quilts.
Congrat from a mother of three boys, Matthew, Zachary, and Kevin 🙂 Just wondering if you would be willing to share the name of the paint in the foyer..love the shade.
Heather, you’re looking awesome! Congratulations to you and Joel! You’re going to be so great as parents!
The pics are beautiful! Hope all is still going well. I used some of your lovely fabric for a baby quilt for a colleague- here are the pics- thank you so much for such a gorgeous range of fabrics.
Di
http://quiltitis.blogspot.com.au/2012/03/sun-charms-quilt.html
congratulations! everything looks like it is in full bloom in your rooms. the quilt over the couch is beautiful. janita
I just found this through Pinterest so I assume you’ve had your baby. 🙂 congrats!!! I was just wondering if you could tell me what the color is that you painted your entryway – I’ve been looking for something similar!
I would like to know the same thing! Just came across this on pinterest and love the yellow entryway! What color is that?
I love the entry way colors! What color brand and color is the yellow paint?
Is there any chance u could share your paint colors? The red and yellow. I love this entry way soooooo much!!! It’s so happy and beautiful!!!!!