It's A GIRL!

We went last week for my 20 week ultrasound and found out the sex of baby Blair! Our newest addition will be another girl! She's currently very healthy and weighs a bit over 9 oz. Matt and I have always agreed on baby names immediately, so with baby #2, we already had the boy and girl name picked out before we knew the sex. Now that we know the sex, Baby Blair will be named Ainsley Christine Blair! Christine is Matt's mom's middle name and Ainsley is a name I have always liked, which I believe is pretty popular down South, which of course I LOVE!

We are so excited to welcome Ainsley into our family this April! Caroline is so excited to have a sister! She finally can pronounce her sister's name and it is hilarious! She talks to baby Ainsley (i.e. Mommy's belly) often and I am anxious to see the two of them become great friends and sisters!

Obviously, I've been slack with the blog and probably won't update as much as I used to, but to give ya'll a bit of an update, the Blair's are doing great! Caroline will be 2 and a half this month. I love this age, but it certainly comes with it's challenges! Caroline is incredibly strong-willed and it shows daily! She, like her mama, does not like much help and likes to prove she can do everything herself. Not sure that is a great quality that I've passed on, but at least it's allowing her to illustrate her independence! Currently she is taking gymnastics with her friend Ryan. I definitely need to take some pictures of gymnastics (or ginnastics as she calls it). She LOVES it! As most of you may know, I was a gymnast growing up and loved the sport! I am so happy to introduce it to Caroline, hopefully, she will like it as much as I did!

Last week we celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and Matt surprised me (and Caroline) with a trip to Chicago for my impending 30th birthday. We met up with a friend of mine and her husband and two children. We toured the city, ate great food and took the kids to lots of great stores. My favorite was the American Girl Store, which I think was Caroline's favorite as well! She brought her Bitty Baby with her and enjoyed putting her baby in all the fun Bitty Baby accessories. She was obsessed with the Bitty Baby bouncy seat, so we secretly bought it for her and will be giving it to her for Christmas!

Here are a few pictures from the past few months.

Big News!

So, I know, it's been nearly two months since my last post, but I have to say, we've had a lot going on and blogging has continued to be postponed! That is...until today, when I finally made the decision to update our blog with our very exciting news! Not only is my walk THIS SATURDAY, but Miss Caroline is going to be a BIG SISTER! Baby Blair is due to arrive sometime during the middle of April! We're very excited!

So far, all has been going well! I have felt a little sick here and there, but nothing like when I was pregnant with Caroline. As a result, I am convinced it's a boy (and so is Caroline...she calls the baby her "baby brother" all day long)! This time around, I have actually lost almost 5 pounds...and don't think that is concerning, it was totally necessary (let's just say I didn't lose all the baby weight from Caroline) and uncontrollable.... I was ridiculously sick with the stomach bug last week and food has truly not been my friend since... Maybe I won't gain nearly 60 pounds this time, like I did with Caroline...actually, my goal is to gain no more than 30! I'm taking a more proactive role this time around and not shoving every single piece of food in my mouth!

Once the walk is over (after Saturday), I definitely plan to update the blog on a more regular basis. I do have lots of pictures that I need to share! My purpose of the blog was to keep an active journal of my life with kids...I certainly need to be a little more disciplined with it! After the walk, I promise... Until then....

Oh, So Very Busy

So, yes, let's just say I forgot about the blog for the last month! And will probably forget about it for a bit longer as well... Working full-time and then some...and being a wife and mommy is taking precident over the "Blair Life."

As most of you know I am in charge of the American Diabetes Association Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes here in Cincinnati and it will take place on October 17th at Lunken Airport. This being said, it has consumed me completely and the last thing I feel like doing when I get home from work is sitting on the computer blogging...

The sad part is, I have LOTS to blog about, just absolutely NO time! So, I will leave you with a picture of our little peanut, who has turned into a little girl. Also, if you want to sign up for our upcoming walk and raise much needed funds to fight diabetes, please go to http://main.diabetes.org/stepoutcincinnati.

I promise I will post more once I find more time...! :)

Cherished Friendships!

Last weekend we were blessed to have a night out with friends, while Caroline enjoyed a night with her Nana and Papa (my parents). Our friends, the Bolhuis', were visiting Cincinnati from Hong Kong, where they have lived for the last year for work. A group of us met at Cumin, a trendy Indian"ish" restaurant in our old stomping ground of Hyde Park. The food was fantastic and the wine was in abundance! It was a great place to catch up with our friends and perhaps consume a bit too much wine!

Here are a few pictures from our fabulous evening! To view all the pictures from the evening, click here.

I'm A Blogging Slacker!

I know, I know I have been the biggest blog slacker for awhile...perhaps more like almost a year. I can remember blogging multiple times in one week when I was staying home with Caroline for the first 14 months of her life. Blogging was a huge part of my time at home with her, but once I went back to work, well...blogging was put a bit more on the back burner... Don't get me wrong, I enjoy blogging and using this outlet as somewhat of a scrapbook of Caroline's early years, but finding the time to do it has been a bit more difficult. Not to mention, after having worked all day in the events world, which takes a bit of creativity, I feel as though I lack the creative juices necessary to make a worthwhile blog entry, thus the blog has suffered!

Perhaps I will try to make a more concerted effort to post more entries that way I will be able to look back and remember what was going on in the Blair's world. I might add, a few friends have informed me of their disappointment in my lack of blogging (sorry Sara!)!

So, I'm back...again, at least for today! Well, we are obviously in the thick of summer and the Blair's have certainly been busy. Matt's job has required him to travel on a more frequent basis. He's been gone almost every week the past 7 weeks for a least a couple of days each week. This week was the longest week...he's been gone since Monday morning and returns tomorrow night (Friday).... Long week, yes, but Caroline, Nate Dog and I survived! We make lots of plans while Matt is out of town, that way we don't get bored sitting at home! This week, we ventured out with my friends and family almost every night! And, on an even more exciting note, I got a great promotion at work this week, so that made the week even better! As mentioned, Matt returns tomorrow. Caroline is actually spending the night at my parents house tomorrow night, so we can hang out with friends. One of the couples we're friends with have been living in Hong Kong for almost a year and they're in town visiting, so all the friends are getting together to celebrate their visit! I have to say, I love Miss Caroline more than anything, but sometimes it's very nice to have a night sans the child. :)

Although Matt has been out of town a lot, we have had lots of fun together (when he's in town, of course)! Being I grew up in Finneytown, which I am certain I have mentioned a number of times before, we have ALWAYS frequented the Panegyri (NOT pronounced PAN-E(long E)-GI(long I)-REE) Festival each year, which takes place at Holy Trinity - St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Finneytown. We went to the festival this year in June and had yet another Finneytown reunion. As I've mentioned, Finneytown is very small, we all still know everything about everyone in it, even though we've all moved out of the so-called Utopia (or at least it was when we were growing up) and we are all still great friends (yes, pretty much each class is still connected)... Well, as I said, the Panegyri is a huge reunion of sorts with every class from Finneytown. Not only is it because it takes place in Finneytown, but our school district has/had a large population of "Greeks." In fact, growing up, I so desperately wanted to be Greek (and Jewish, for that matter...yep, because of all the Barmitzvah and bamitzvah's...we can chat about this at a later date) because they were all amazing dancers and were so passionate about being Greek...yes, as passionate as the cast of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (and of course, I went to a few Greek weddings...and the Greeks...well, they know how to have a party, drink Ouzo and DANCE...that's for sure)! The festival was awesome this year! So awesome, in fact, we stayed until the festival closed at 11:30pm. I certainly received the "Mother of the Year" Award that night because Caroline was with us the entire time. She didn't seem to mind staying out so late, and I can assure you we NEVER keep her up this late, but it was a must and she was a dancing machine!

If you haven't been to the Panegyri, you must go next year! It's the best festival in town. Best food. Best atmosphere. Best people watching (lots of mullets). Best wine (you walk around with a bottle). And of course it's in the best town...Finneytown (okay...that's a lie...it's not the best town)! Here are a few pictures from the festival.

Last weekend was obviously the 4th of July and we decided it would be fun to start a Blair Family tradition and have a yearly 4th of July party, which we truly hope will continue each year. We had about 35 people this year, which included our family and friends. Unfortunately, it poured down rain this year, however, it was still a blast. We asked everyone to bring a side dish or dessert and let me just say, we had more food in our kitchen than I could have ever imagined! We also resorted back to our college days and got a keg! (And I cannot confirm nor deny that keg stands were part of the festivities...I did mention we resorted back to college, right?!?!) The party was a blast and the kids had a lot of fun! Hopefully the weather will be better for next year's gathering!

Unfortunately, we only have pictures of the kiddos, but they're cute, so who cares about anyone else, right!



Well, this all pretty much concludes my update for tonight! I promise to try and post (more creatively, I hope) soon!

Until then, I will leave you with a picture of my little peanut, who I just adore! And the little crab outfit was a gift from my college friend, Sara, who lives in Atlanta and has the most amazing taste in clothes. She sends Caroline the most darling little outfits ever! We love you Aunt Sara! Thanks for always being so giving! (Can't wait to see you in a few weeks in Tybee...which will be a whole other EDITED blog post)!

Miss Caroline's Birthday Party Weekend!

This weekend was filled with many birthday festivities! Friday night we went to Matt's cousin's surprise party and enjoyed a great evening with family and friends. That was just the beginning of the crazy birthday weekend!

Caroline will turn 2 this Tuesday, therefore, we thought we would celebrate her birthday this weekend! Yesterday she was blessed to have so many of her friends and their parents over for cake and ice cream. The kids had a blast swimming in the baby pools and enjoyed painting terra cotta pots. I certainly learned one thing yesterday, as I tried to be creative and let the kids paint pots...NEVER buy the paint that is specifically for terra cotta pots...it is PERMANENT! Let's just say all the parents were watching the kids paint with a very cautious eye, so the kids didn't stain their clothes! There weren't too many issues with the paint except for one of the little ones thought it would be fun to paint his belly! Needless to say, poor little guy may have a red belly for a while... Sorry, Sharon! :)

Caroline had so much fun with her friends! Her friends and their parents were more than generous with such wonderful gifts for Caroline. She certainly has wonderful friends! Saturday night, her friend Morgan, who is five, stayed over with her mommy, Jacey, and another friend of mine, Elisha, until 10:30pm, so Caroline and Morgan certainly didn't make it to bed on time. They had a blast together. Caroline adores Morgan, or "Momo," as Caroline calls her. She loves to follow her around and tries to keep up! It's so cute to watch them interact! Momo tries to have full conversations with Caroline, but Caroline's responses are a bit difficult to understand. Caroline just smiles as Momo goes on and on... Too cute!

On Sunday (Father's Day), I had to work much of the day at the Cincinnati Reds game. We (the American Diabetes Association) recently built a partnership with the Cincinnati Reds, which has been a huge achievement for us. It has truly opened some amazing doors! Needless to say, as a result of this partnership, the Reds have really embraced the event that I am in charge of, the Step Out: Walk to Fight Diabetes. Today, I was lucky to be able to work at the ballpark and recruit participants for the walk, which will take place on Saturday, October 17, 2009 at Lunken Airport Playfield. Next year, it will be held at the Great American Ballpark (courtesy of the Reds), which is very exciting. At today's event we also provided glucose testing for many of the fans at the game, which was well received! I was also interviewed on Fox Sports Ohio, which was a bit nerve wracking, but went well and we received great promotion as a result! If you have interest in walking and raising money to support diabetes, please sign up today at www.diabetes.org/stepout!

After the game, I rushed home, so I could help Matt get everything together for Caroline's 2nd birthday party of the weekend. This time she celebrated with my family and Matt's family. She had a blast! Nothing better than eating cake two days in a row! She was again blessed to receive amazing gifts from her very loving family and got to hang out with her favorite older cousin, Soren!

Caroline's actual birthday is this Tuesday. Matt will be out of town on her birthday and for the remainder of the week. With his new role at work, he has more of a national position, which requires a lot more travel, something that we are getting used to, but is not always fun. We will miss Matt on Caroline's birthday, but she certainly celebrated enough over the weekend, so I'm sure she'll get over it! :)

Below are a few pictures from Caroline's birthday parties. Her pink dress was a beautiful gift from my friend from college, "Aunt Sara," who lives in Atlanta and has fabulous taste! She mailed it just in time (yesterday) for Caroline's birthday celebrations! I have a bit of an obsession with smocked dresses, something Sara is obviously very aware of! Aunt Sara, we thank you so much for the beautiful Southern dress and bubble. We miss you lots!

To see all the pictures from the weekend, click here.

A Glimpse Into My Old Life As A Stay-At-Home Mommy!

I was able to leave work around 1:30pm today as a result of our office getting new computers. I surprised my little princess during her nap time at school today. I felt a little bad waking her up from her deep sleep, but it's not everyday that I get to spend a few extra hours during a work day with Caroline, so it was necessary!

We ended up going home and Caroline put her bathing suit on (or I put it on for her...she's really not dressing herself yet...perhaps someday) and she got in her new little pool courtesy of her Nana and Papa. We spent at least 2 hours outside playing!

Caroline LOVES her pool and I love watching her have so much fun! It's times like today that I do miss staying home with Caroline. I was certainly blessed to stay home with her for her first 14 months! I love my job and wouldn't trade it for anything, but having more time with Caroline in addition to the weekends would be a huge blessing!

Here are a few pictures of Miss Caroline enjoying her pool!

She's Almost TWO!

I know, it's been awhile since I've posted. Life has caught the best of me and blogging has been put aside for a bit. With the move, getting settled, being a wife, mom and working (A LOT), I have been a bit busy... But, I'm Back! For today, anyway!

Matt left for yet another week long work trip, so it's just Caroline, Nate Doggy and me for the next few days! Not to worry, we have lots of things planned this week in addition to Caroline going to school and me going to work all week! It's ALMOST Caroline's SECOND birthday...June 23rd...so we have planning to do for her upcoming birthday parties next weekend!

It's amazing how quickly another year has sneaked on by... My little baby has turned into a little girl over night! She's chatting up a storm more and more each day and is getting closer and closer to using the big girl potty. She's so full of energy and excitement and takes in absolutely everything! Little Caroline is such a gift in our lives. I praise God everyday for allowing us to watch over and take care of His child. The gift of being a parent has been more rewarding than anything I could have ever imagined. I look forward to continue watching my little girl grow into the person God wants her to be! We love you Caroline Kathleen Blair!

I will leave you all with a few recent pictures of our little princess and I promise to start posting a little more often!





Caroline is wearing her very first pair of big girl undies. Too bad about 5 minutes after this picture she pee pee'd right through them and on to my carpet! :) Cute, regardless!

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself!

Today we had our annual Memorial Day Weekend neighborhood gathering at the Hopping Farm in Augusta, Kentucky. This gathering consists of a get together with all of my old neighbors from my childhood at one of our old neighbors, the Hopping's, beautiful farm.

We all grew up in View Place, a neighborhood in Finneytown (a suburb of Cincinnati). As I am sure I have mentioned in previous posts about these people, but we were/are more than neighbors, we are like family. Our parents continue to chat daily, even though most of the "adults" have all moved out of Finneytown (as have the "kids"). We get together at least twice a year for a reunion.

This year's gathering was fabulous! The Hopping's farm is beautiful. They have hundreds of acres, which consists of three ponds, a herd of cattle and a horse and a soon to be beautiful new home. The animals are not actually theirs, a local farmer actually leases some of their property for his animals. Caroline and all the other children love this place. The animals, space, fishing, ponds and view are just a few of the spectacular things this farm has to offer.

We enjoyed great company and food and can't wait to go back to the farm soon! Here are a few pictures from our gathering. For more pictures, click here.

Southern At Heart!

This past week we went to Charleston, South Carolina, my FAVORITE place in the world! We met my parents down there and stayed at their condo. Unfortunately for us, the weather was not typical Charleston weather. It was in the high 60's/low 70's most of the time, but that didn't matter too much. We actually ended up acting like tourists, which we don't typically do since we go down so much. We went to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, which is truly beautiful. We went shopping downtown and visited the Battery. Finally the weather started to cooperate, we ventured to the beach, which Caroline adored! Caroline, much like her mother, is pretty fearless. I think she would have tried to swim across the ocean if she only knew how. I look forward to when she actually knows how to swim, that way I won't have to stress everytime she sees water and wants to jump in!

Our trip, although short, was lots of fun. We also were able to spend a night out with a few of my college friends who live there. Thank God for Grandparents, as Miss Caroline spent the evening with them, so we could enjoy some adult time!

I always envisioned myself living in Charleston, but that hasn't seemed to happen just yet. Of course, we did move into a house that looks "Charlestony", which is great, but not necessarily the same... Who knows, maybe one day, we'll truly be "Southern!"

Below are a few pictures from our trip. To see more, click here. Enjoy!

I'm Back...Briefly!

I've sort of been on a blog hiatus the past few weeks. We have been doing some things around the house and seemed to have something going on almost every evening. Needless to say, the blog was put on the back burner... But...we're back...sort of! I will probably keep this blog short and to the point... The point being, I will post some pictures of little Miss Caroline from the past few weeks and give you all a link to all the rest!

We are heading to Charleston next week, so upon our return, I promise I will get back on the blogging bandwagon!

Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks! Click here to see the rest! Enjoy!