Katherine Heigl has a bun in the oven!
The actress and her husband of eight years, singer-songwriter Josh Kelley, are expecting a baby boy in January 2017. The are already parents to daughters Naleigh, 7, and Adelaide, 4. "The Kelley clan is thrilled to announce that we are expecting a third addition to our family," the couple told People in a statement. "Naleigh and Adelaide could not be more excited to welcome their new sibling into the fold and Josh and I are overflowing with joy and gratitude."
The actress' pregnancy news was first reported by In Touch Wednesday, with a source telling the tabloid, "She and Josh have been putting off having a baby for career reasons for years, but they felt like the timing was finally right."
Kelley shared his excitement via Instagram Thursday, writing, "Well I guess the cats out the bag!!!! We're so excited people!!! What an awesome journey !!! Can't wait to hold this little nugget."
Hours after making the announcement, Heigl took to her blog, Those Heavenly Days, to share more details with her fans. "Sooooo….the Kelley family received some very exciting news recently and I've been dying to share it with you all. We are expecting a third addition to our tribe! It was totally unexpected but thrilling non the less. Naleigh and Adalaide are over the moon and can not wait to spoil their new sibling rotten and of course Josh and I are full of high hopes and bubbling anticipation," the former Grey's Anatomy actress wrote. "The whole pregnancy thing is new to me but the thrill of having a baby is not. We've known for awhile that we wanted to add to our family and frankly didn't really care how we chose to do that. We were considering adoption again, fostering, or pregnancy if possible. Seeing as I have never been pregnant and as my OB/GYN reminded me last year, I'm of advanced maternal age, I wasn't sure pregnancy was even in the cards for us. Turns out it was very much in the cards!"
"I can't wait to share my pregnancy experience with you here on Those Heavenly Days and hopefully get some advice from all you experienced gestaters (yes I made that word up). I've learned so much already and know there's even more to learn as this baby grows," Heigl continued. "I've found some great tricks to combat pregnancy indigestion, apps that have not only kept me informed on the development of our baby but have offered reassurance and relief when I'm feeling nervous or afraid, and great blogs, and books on healthy pregnancy nutrition."
Heigl, who shared an ultrasound photo, said it's an "amazingly blessed time" to be "waiting for the child you've been dreaming of to make their appearance. Though I've never been a particularly patient person, my experience of waiting for Naleigh taught me a lot in that department. So I will wait and eagerly anticipate, hopefully with grace, gratitude and a good attitude (ummm pregnancy hormones are real people.) Maybe this time the waiting won't be so hard because I'll have all of you to share the laughter, tears and joys of my experience with."
Naleigh was adopted from South Korea in September 2009 when she was 9 months old. Her younger sister was adopted domestically in April 2012. Heigl, who stars in CBS' new series Doubt, can't wait for her son's arrival. "This is an incredibly exciting time for us filled with hope, anticipation, and hormones. Well, only I'm filled with hormones, but everyone in the family gets to enjoy them," Heigl told People. "We couldn't be more excited to be able to finally share this news with our fans and are looking forward to continuing to share the journey with you all."
Heigl has wanted a big family for quite some time. "I definitely want more kids," she told E! News in 2012. "I think we've agreed to three but I'm pushing for four."
When she's not shooting on location, the family resides at its ranch near Park City, Utah. Living outside Hollywood was important to both Heigl and Kelley, who wanted to give their children a more traditional upbringing. "We both have families who believe in character, integrity, and morality. Not to be overindulged, to be respectful of parents," Heigl once told Scholastic's Parents & Child of their joint decision to move away from the hustle and bustle of L.A. "We feel strongly about these things, especially because of the industries we're in." Naleigh and Adelaide couldn't be happier living in the mountains. "[The girls] love to feed the chickens; they love to feed the goats and horses," she told NBC's Today during a home tour last year. "It's great because they can run around here. They can be entertained. They're not sitting in from on the TV."
(Originally published on Thursday, June 23, 2016, at 6:06 a.m. PT.)