We’re expecting our third baby this September!
I bought these hooks back when Brandon and I had decided to try for another baby, and then tucked them away for a while. I was going to do a whole little setup like in the picture above to surprise him with the news. Instead what ended up happening was that I saw that faint second line on a pregnancy test, I ran and found the ‘number 3’ hook, then thrust it at a still-sleepy Brandon. It might have been a little confusing, being woken up by your wife with a hook in her hand and a very goofy smile on her face.
We told the kids a couple of weeks ago, along with the rest of our family. August is happy, but I don’t know if he really gets it yet. Eleanor, on the other hand, is so excited. She talks about the baby all the time, and has come up with a few name suggestions: Cinderella if it’s a girl, otherwise Super-Boy. Brandon keeps joking with her it’s going to be Maudius or Claudius, and she wrinkles her nose up at the idea. Hers are just so much better, you know?
We’re all looking forward to the baby’s arrival in September, but it’s a good thing we still have six months to think of some possible names. Or maybe Eleanor’s on to something?
Comments
177 responses to “Another Baby on the Way”
Congratulations!! How exciting!!
Congrats!!!! I’m having a baby in July, and can’t believe how fast time is going by.
Congratulations!! :)
Congratulations!
LOVE! congrats xoxox
Yea!!! So exciting. Congrats – the new house is perfect for your expanding fam. :)
Oh man you guys, congratulations!!! What an adorable and creative way to photograph another one on the way ;)
xx A
Congratulations! What a lucky baby.
Such wonderful news, Nicole!
Congratulations!
I wish you guys all the best and a very healthy baby Balch!
:)
Congrats! How exciting!
Such great news! Congrats! x
Lord, you’ve done brought me out of lurk mode for this one.
Congratulations, sweet Nicole! And I love the hooks – so stinkin’ cute.
Thanks!
Congratulations!!! :D
Wonderful news! Congratulations to your adorable family.
Congratulations! And those hooks are fantastic – such a cute and clever way to announce your new babe.
Congratulations!!!! So excited for your growing family! Best of luck!
You and I are due around the same time! Happy baby!
CONGRATULATIONS!
That is blessed news! Congratulations! I love that you were so excited that you couldn’t wait for “the perfect set up”, etc.
Aaah!!! So excited for you, even if I don’t really know you! I remember sometime a few months back, I’d noticed that you’d published a blog entry that alluded to trying for more children; and that your post contained some verbiage that mentioned “your expanding waist line”. Later that same afternoon that post had been published, it was clear to me that you’d changed your mind about including that text, when I saw that you’d edited the post and removed that phrase. When I made that observation, I was like, “Hmm…I guess she doesn’t want to go there.”
As a reader, and as a friend in the world, I’m so happy to hear this surprising news! Congrats, to you and Branden.
Thank you so much. I can’t remember which post that was — but I wonder if I was just talking about a little weight gain, ha! I may have taken out the line so as to not encourage speculation. ;)
What a surprise! Congrats!
Congrats on the new addition to the Balch family!
What lovely news! Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Congratulations! Thank you for sharing such special news with all of us!
Yay! Congratulations!
Yay! Congratualtions! :)
Congrats! So happy for you and your family!
Wonderful news! Hope you’re feeling well. xo
Congratulations!! So happy for you. We have 3 kids and while it is crazy at times, it is so awesome.
I’m jealous. We decided to stop at No.2 ;)
Congratulations! xx
Congratulations!! I like your numbered hooks! I was also too excited to tell my husband we were expecting in a planned out way. I ended up blurting it out :). We’re due in late August. Hope you’re feeling well!
It’s hard to wait for that perfect setup, isn’t it? Thanks, and I hope you’re feeling well, too!
How exciting, Congratulations!!!
Congratulations! So exciting.
How lovely! Best wishes to you and your sweet family!
Congratulations! And I love the hooks!
Congratulations! That’s such exciting news. Love Eleanor’s name choices, too ;)
They are pretty fantastic.
Congrats! You grow ’em cute.
Congratulations! What wonderful news!
YAY!! What great news! So happy for you all. And we use The Adventures of as an opener to find the right name. So try using The Adventures of Eleanor, August, and – to find the right fit! :)
I love that. Although “The Adventures of Eleanor, August, and Super-Boy” sounds pretty natural, no?
Oh my goodness! Congratulations!!
Congrats! Very exciting.
What an exciting time for you and your family, congratulations! P.S. I love the hook idea, I can totally see myself doing something like that when my turn comes ;)
It’s for the best. I probably would have been too giddy to properly measure for the hooks, and they would have come out all cattywampus anyway!
Lovely! You two have so much energy! At least you have lots of room for the new one. Are you going to let Eleanor decorate the nursery? THAT would be a hoot. Best Wishes.
Everything (EVERYTHING) would be dark blue if it were up to her!
Congratulations! I’m expecting my first in September! Hoping you post a pregnancy/baby round up post with items you love – your taste is right up my alley :)
Congratulations! Such wonderful news!!
The dynamic of 3 is fantastic! What lucky children you have.
Yeah! So happy for you guys :) I also have three (8, 5 1/2, 3) and it is so great.
aaaaaaa!! so happy and excited for you! xx
Wow, wow, wow! How exciting! Congratulations and I’m so happy for your growing family!
I’m a September baby myself and think it’s a great time to have a baby. Congratulations, that’s so exciting!! Love the hooks too! :)
September’s a fantastic month for a birthday. (Mine’s on the 22nd. Maybe the baby and I will share?)
Congratulations! Such wonderful news! I always love hearing how the older siblings react and their name ideas for the new baby. Something cute to tell #3 when he or she is older :)
Sooo thrilled for you. Yay, yay, yay!
Congrats!! Good thing you have a perfect house to bring Baby home to…plenty of room for expansion :) Are you finding out the sex of the baby?
We aren’t sure yet.
That’s wonderful news! Congrats to the whole family!!!
Congratulations! I love how you told Brandon. I have done similar things in my excitement, realizing my communication skills have evaporated.
Hope the pregnancy is going well and things aren’t too rough for you (by the projects you’re working on, I will assume you’re OK). xoxo
Thanks. I’ve been queasy and lacking energy, but I’m hoping that I’ll feel better as the second trimester progresses.
Congratulations to your family! Three kids, what a wonderful delight :) I hope you have a healthy, smooth & enjoyable pregnancy!
What beautiful news! Congratulations.
YAY! YAY! Congratulations!!!!!
Yay!! Congratulations!!
Congratulations!
Oh, Nicole!! Congrats!!
Congratulations! I’m expecting my second baby in October, I’m so looking forward to your maternity/baby related posts!
Congratulations!! I am 33 weeks pregnant and counting the days to see my new baby!! I have a 15 month old boy and he doesn’t get he is going to have a baby brother soon… The only thing he cares about my belly is my belly button!!
Ha! It’s probably pretty interesting to a 15-month-old.
Congrats! Hope you’re feeling well!
I was just thinking about whether you might have another as I was taking my baby’s monthly portrait the other day (inspired by yours). :)
I’m always so happy to hear that other people do those monthly portraits too!
congratulations!
wonderful news! so happy for you and your beautiful family.
Congratulations! And another monthly photo series to look forward too. :-)
Congratulations! Our daughter is the exact same age as Eleanor (4/29/09), our son is a few months younger than August, and we are expecting #3 in July. We live in a 1905 Victorian (smaller than yours) in Minnesota. We are having the same reactions from kids: son is excited but doesn’t fully get it and our daughter is beyond thrilled! It is so fun to read the pregnancy books week to week with her and talk about how the baby is growing. Enjoy! Also, her names are Rudolph and Rainbow, ha!
Excellent names, of course.
Congratulations!
Congratulations! That’s wonderful news! ^_^
Wonderful news!! Congratulations! I hope you’re feeling well :)
Yay, congratulations! What wonderful news! :)
I rarely comment on blogs but I wanted to say congratulations. I am a mother of four, oh it is such draining and rewarding work. Mostly I just wanted to say that you are good people, raising good children, and since the world is going to continue to be populated I hope it is done by good people! Cheers!
How wonderful!!
What a happy news!! Congrats to all the Balches!!
As the middle of three girls, I can attest to the wonderfulness of three kiddos in a family. Congrats to all of you! And I hope you are feeling great.
jbhat
Congratulations to your whole family! Very happy and wonderful news!
A huge congratulations to you all! And love the hook announcement! So darling!
Congratulations!!
How exciting! Congratulations. I love your coming soon sign. XO
Congratulations Nicole! Wish you all the best with the new baby on the way!
Aw, Congratulations!
Congratulations!
Congratulations Nicole!
Congratulations!!!!
Congratulations Nicole and family! So sweet!!!
Congratulations Nicole & Brandon! Wishing you an easy next six months. xo.
Congratulations!How exciting!!!
Many congratulations on the newest addition!
Felicitations! I wish for you a healthy pregnancy and baby!
Congratulations to you and your growing family!
Congratulations. Very exciting news!
Congrats! I’ve had a feeling you would be making this announcement, sooner rather than later. So happy for you and your family.
Congratulations!
Congrats!
I have three children, and those same hooks! I have them in our mudroom, at “kid” height for their coats – love them!
Sounds cute!
Congratulations! What wonderful news!
Congratulations! I’m in week 32 of my first pregnancy, and it’s been so fun watching many of the bloggers I follow who are all pregnant at the same time. I’ve been considering doing baby photos like yours, but don’t have the perfect chair.
Oh, do it, with or without the perfect chair. You will love having those photos to look back on.
so sweet, congratulations!
oh wow, congratulations! we just welcomed our third baby last month – it’s crazy but so so fun too. my older daughter named the baby “Avocado” before he was born…that’s not the name we went with believe it or not. hope you’re feeling good! :)
But Avocado has such a nice ring to it…
Many, many congrats!!
Yippee! So exciting! We had a heck of a time picking a name for baby #2 (due any day now) I’d imagine it becomes more challenging with each addition. I hope you’re feeling well, congrats!
If we can find our old possible name lists though, it might help. If we liked it then, and we still like it now… done! (Although I guarantee it won’t actually be that easy.)
Congratulations! I hope you’re feeling well. Have fun name-picking.
Congrats, Nicole! I’m happy for you and your family. I think you may need to change your blog name to “Making It Lovely (and Lively!)” once #3 arrives. Haha. But, really, three is so much fun. Exhausting but so. much. fun!
Ha! New tagline, coming up.
Congratulations!!
Congratulations! I hope you are feeling well.
Congratulations!!
We’re expecting our third in June, & the poor girls older siblings (3 & 4), have decided to name her ” Pinky Rapunzel Goo Goo Pants. They’re quite adament about it, & if i refer to her as anthing other than that, I’m quickly corrected.
I don’t know why you would refer to her as anything else. Really.
Congratulations and best wishes to you and your family! I think Super-Boy and Cinderella are excellent names too – haha!
Charlie x
Congratulations and best wishes for a happy and healthy pregnancy!
Yay, congrats. Thats’s very exciting news, and your story about shoving a hook in Brandon’s face as the big reveal is super cute! I personally think Cinderella is the best name the table right now…
Ha! The look on his face was pretty funny. :)
Congratulations, how wonderful!
Congratulations! That is so exciting!
Congratulations!!!
Aww, yay! Congratulations!! This is the very best kind of news!
Congratulations!!
Congratulations!
Amazing, Congratulations! enjoy every second of it!
Congratulations!!! I’m with you from Hungary! ( a mother of three )
CONGRATS!!!! such exciting news!
AW yay!!!! Congratulations!!! I can’t wait to see what design concepts you come up with!
How wonderful Nicole! Nothing fills a big, old house more beautifully than lots of kids. We renovated a big 1920 Crafstman and I keep telling my husband that a third baby is just the thing to finish it off :-) I’m hoping for next year, so will live vicariously through you until then.
We’ve been watching our two tear through the house running after each other each night and thinking that it’s going to be amazing (and crazy!) when there’s a third trying to keep up!
Congratulations!!
How exciting! Congratulations!!
HOLY MOLY!
I am so happy for you! Congratulations to your lovely family and hooray for the Rainbow House getting a wweeeeeeeeeee Rainbow Baby.
Also, I vote for Super Boy. Elanor is the coolest kid, you should trust her instincts.
Wonderful news—congratulations! Our son and D-in-law have six with five sons and one daughter so we understand the difficulty sometimes of finding a name that works and that they both like. :) Enjoy your family and your career, too. I enjoy your blog so much.
Hey that’s great news, congratulations!
Congratulations! I remember you mentioning about hoping to grow your family in the new house so I have secretly been waiting for an announcement!
We were definitely hoping that there would be a number three on the way. We’re so excited!
What a fun way to make the announcement! Congratulations!
This gets me all excited for monthly baby photos again!
Me, too! I’m going to have to find a good spot.
You can now cross this off your Lovely Life list :)
Congrats Nicole!
Oh, yes! In about six months or so!
So exciting!! Congratulations to you all.
Oh what super AWESOME news!! Big hugs and congrats to you guys!
Just wonderful! And I think it’s totally appropriate that you celebrated with a hook : ) Congratulations!!
Um, it makes perfect sense, right?
Congrats to you and your family!
Congrats! 3 is fabulous! Speaking from experience of course. :)
Congratulations!
[…] thank you for all the kind words on yesterday’s announcement! It feels great to finally be able to share the news of baby number […]
Longtime reader, rare commenter. Wanted to say Hooray! We’re expecting our first in September, it’ll be awesome to get some more maternity style tips from you! Congrats to your whole crew.
Thanks, and congratulations to you, too!
aw congrats! :)
Congratulations, Balch Family! This is beautiful news! All the best to you.
Congratulations!!! I am new to your blog and have enjoyed every post….. most especially yesterdays!!!! Enjoy EVERY SINGLE MOMENT Nicole.
Congratulations on the new addition to your family, Nicole! All the best.
Congratulations. All the best.
Congrats Nicole! I still remember being so excited when E was born. Very happy for your sweet family.
Congratulations!! I’m also expecting my third, a boy.
Congratulations, Nicole! Such happy news!
Ahh, how exciting! Congratulations! I am the second child of four so I remember feeling like Eleanor did back when I was little. :)
Aw, yay! Congratulations to you both!
Yay! congrats! I am due in late August with #1!
congrats!
CONGRATS from one preggo Mama to another!!!! WWOOOOoooo!!
Congrats to you and your family, so exciting! I can not wait to ‘meet’ the new addition!