In the early days of 2019, Deena Nicole Cortese welcomed her very first child, adorable little Christopher John “C.J.” Buckner.
This week, only 11 months after that glorious, life-changing event, she's giving fans a not-so-subtle glimpse ... at a sonogram.
Is Deena already expecting baby #2?
The pint-sized Jersey Shore star opted to get an early jump on holiday decorating, and she wanted her fans to know it.
She has a Christmas tree up and thoroughly decorated. Even the stockings are affixed and ready to be filled with treats.
Decorating the new house with 11-month-old CJ's "help," Deena also took videos of cuddling with her adorable baby.
But as you can see in the image above, Deena is holding up an image that looks suspiciously like a sonogram photo.
That's what we noticed, and that was likely the point. So what's the deal, D? Is there another meatball on the way?!
"These hugs are the best …" Deena captioned her post.
She affirmed that she will always "love my boys."
It's unclear if she's only talking about CJ and Christopher ... or if she's including another beloved boy in the mix.
Does the image at the top of this post show Deena telling CJ, not even a year old, about his little brother-to-be?
Well, don't get your hopes up, folks.
Deena saw just how much fan interest this generated and made sure they understood the context of the photo.
"(I’M NOT PREGNANT)," she clarified in all caps, and within parentheses, to make sure everyone got the hint.
She then explained the sonogram photo:
"This is an ornament of CJ last year."
Well that is very precious, even if it's not the news that fans wanted to hear, and certainly explains a few things.
"Deena, you can’t tease us like this …" protested a fan in the comments.
The follower lamented: "I thought we were getting another meatball."
"Not yet !! LOL," Deena replied.
Note that she's not necessarily saying that she's trying for Baby #2 already ... or that she's not. Who knows!
"Deener are you telling us something here!?! Is there another babe on the way???" asked another fan.
The Insta-comment continued: "Looks like a baby stocking is on top of yours and an ultrasound…"
Yeah. Don't get your hopes up on that note, either.
"No that’s Cali’s stocking! LOL," Deena explained.
We're glad that she has a stocking for her dog. People who don't include their dogs in holidays are just weird.
Just our opinion, but come on. They are family!
Deena is probably - some might even say definitely - making the right call by holding off on Baby #2 for the time being.
In general (and by in general we mean this writer's opinion), you want to put at least two years between siblings.
That way they're close enough in age to spend most of their childhoods as peers, even if they reach milestones at different times.
But two years also gives siblings enough space that they can both receive a wealth of the rights kinds of attention at different ages.
Looking at these adorable photos of CJ, however, we can understand why Deena's fans and followers are eager for a sequel.
She makes cute ones, that's for sure.
He's cute and he seems a little more expressive than some celebrity babies (not being judgmental, but an expressive baby is going to win people over).
We're sure that when Deena and Christopher are good and ready, they'll get to work on making CJ into a big brother.
For now, let's let them enjoy the holidays with the baby that they already have ... while holding out hope for #2.
Sorry, we can't help ourselves.