While most dads get socks and underwear on Father’s Day, Alice Pearson had a very unique gift lined up for her hubby Caleb. Bursting with joy to discover she was pregnant only four days before the special day, the Block NZ alum hoped to surprise her partner with the happy news.
“I had the best intentions to keep the secret under wraps,” says Alice, 28. “I thought, ‘What a cool day to find out you’re going to be a daddy again.’ The first test came back negative, but I still wasn’t feeling too good and thought maybe I’d done the test too early. So I did a second one, which came back positive, and a third just to make sure! Then came the agonising four-day wait before I could tell Caleb, but I was just so excited, I caved and told him less than four hours later.”
A sister for Alek
It may have come early, but it’s certainly the gift that keeps on giving for Caleb, who is run ragged chasing their adorable son Alek, 19 months, around the backyard at our exclusive shoot. “I’m absolutely stoked – it’s awesome,” beams the 29-year-old property consultant. “We’d always talked about having another baby and loved the idea of having two kids close in age so Alek could have a little buddy.”
While their only son has grown used to having his parents’ undivided attention, the married couple of six years have no qualms that Alek will have any trouble sharing with his new baby sister, who’s due in April. “It’s pink – a baby girl!” says Alice, with just the smallest ounce of trepidation. “Before we had Alek, all I ever wanted was a little girl, but once I got to grips with having a boy, the thought of a daughter seemed so foreign. Girls are just so precious – it feels a little like having our first baby all over again.”
All was revealed on Christmas Day, when the nervous parents opened a beautifully wrapped box with the sex of their little bub – and a gender-appropriate newborn outfit – waiting inside. “Before we left for our summer holiday, we had our scan and asked the doctor to write the gender of the baby on a piece of paper and put it in an envelope so we couldn’t see,” says Alice. “We went straight to the shops and picked out a boy’s and a girl’s item of clothing, and then we asked the shop assistant to open the envelope and wrap the right outfit up.
“It was a bit of a shock at first,” she adds. “I feel a bit more pressure because I’ve got to teach my daughter all the girly things – dance classes, how to dress, going out to get your nails done …that’s all on me now. But it is so exciting to have one of each and to know that I don’t have to anxiously wait to get my girl at some point. I’ve got the best of both worlds. And Alek’s obsessed with little girls, always giving them kisses and hugs, so we know he’ll be the most besotted big brother.”
Unlike her pregnancy with Alek, which Alice described as “the great wait”, carrying baby number two is flying by for the youth pastor. A jam-packed summer break holidaying north of Gisborne and doting on their energetic tot has been a great distraction, but it’s the couple’s house renovation that is keeping them on their toes.
No strangers to a speedy do-up, the Block NZ champions of 2013 achieved the unthinkable last year – a house renovation and move in less than four weeks! While it started out as a challenge for the duo, to be documented on their DIY projects and renovation blog, Pearson and Projects, the job soon became a labour of love.
Reno race
“We hadn’t intended to move in, but as we were working on the property, we fell in love with it and knew it would be perfect for our growing family,” explains a proud Caleb. “We even used some of our old tradies from The Block. Everyone kept saying it felt like The Block 2.0 because we gave ourselves about half the time we were given on the show.
It was a scarily similar set-up because we had to do heaps of late nights. When I’d come home from work, Alice and I would work in shifts – one of us would hang out with Alek while the other would go to the house and work into the night.”
With a brand-new kitchen, floors and a fresh paint job, the property is structurally complete. Now the race is on to make their house feel like a home, tells Alice, who’s going to loosen up on her classic design style and create an ultra-feminine sanctuary for her little girl. “While I’m not a girly girl in terms of my interior design, I’m keen to push myself and do something more extreme for the nursery. I’ve bought a piece of art as my inspiration – it’s of a blue swan in a ballet costume, with a pink background.” Smiling, she concludes, “It’s such an exciting time. I love what Alek has brought to our lives and knowing we’ll get more of that feeling with our little girl is just incredible!”