Category Archives: pregnancy

Blog Birthday

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Last year on the 6th of January, Blairadise came alive.

My friend Graylyn over at The Rodrigues Family gave me the idea. Her beautiful blog captures all the wonderful moments of her family’s journey through life. The ups and the downs. Watching sweet James grow from afar has been such a wonderful treat and I love looking back at her posts to see where James was and where Ava is now. Not to compare, just to relate. So, I would just like to say thank you to Graylyn, for your inspiration.

In the beginning, the blog was just for fun as I only told my sister Amanda and Johan about it. Then one day in March, I got brave and posted a link to Facebook. Since then I get surprised every time someone likes a link or posts a comment. I appreciate everyone of you who are following along on our little journey. Watching me figuring out life in a different county, while learning to be a wife and mother.

Blairadise is a place where I come and share all my thoughts and our photos with friends and family all around the world. Tell a bigger story than what I can offer in weekly emails or Facebook posts.

Again, thanks for following along with us and we hope there are lots of exciting things happening in 2012… Like Ava’s first birthday!

Here is a look back at the few of the first posts of Blairadise. Most importantly, the Foreword…

Foreword

As a fore warning to anyone who will read or follow this blog, I would like to inform you that I am not a writer. Therefore, you may encounter poor grammar every now and again. With lot’s of misplaced commas and run on sentences. Although, I am not too worried about it. This is my space to share my thoughts with whomever cares enough to read them… Hence the title, Blairadise.

Over the past few months I have become absolutely obsessed with reading blogs. If I had to pin point the exact date I would say it was the 3rd of June. The day after I found out I was pregnant. Since that date I have been scouring the internet looking for pregnancy and parenting advice. Seeking out what is the best stroller, car seat, birthing method, sleep routine, etc. that is best for my new arrival. Upon doing this, I have stumbled across many mommy blogs. Mommy’s that have inspired me to start my very own blog.

So I have created this blog as a journal for my daughter to have when she gets older. It is for our family and friends around the world that may not get to experience all her 1st’s with us. Or maybe even her 2nd’s and 3rd’s. Plus, keep them up to date with all the other crazy things happening in our lives.

This blog is told looking through rose colored glasses out onto the world that is know as Blairadise.

Nommer Een

Skip and I are about to start 2011 off with a huge BANG! Like a really HUGE BANG! Any day now our first baby will take Blairadise by storm. These past 8 months have flown by so quickly, if only the last 4 weeks would hurry up and also pass by. We can’t wait to meet our Little Miss Ava.

It’s summer here in South Africa and getting hotter every day. As am I. Larger and hotter, everyday. And I am so over being pregnant. Some women bask in the glow that is pregnancy. I’ve never had that “glow”. At first my face broke out like a 15 year old boy. Oh and the things I would do for a nice cold lemonade. One that I didn’t have to squeeze the lemons myself and add sugar, water and ice to. A nice super sized Lemonade from Chic-fil-a. On the other hand I am quite glad I am not back in the US of A. At this moment there is no way I could pull up to that window and just order a large Lemonade. With that would come a #5 super sized, please. And this tiny little, excuse me, this once tiny little behind, would be 10x larger instead of the 8x larger it is right now. I am not doing fat well.

So please Miss Ava, please grace us with your presence soon. We really can’t wait to meet you.

Here is a photo of Miss Ava on Monday, 3rd Jan.
Unfortunately she was misbehaving the two times we went for her 4D photo shoot. So this will just have to do.

Yay! My first post on my blog!

-Happy Birthday Blairadise!

Blair

Scratch that off the "Mommy Fail" list

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It’s taken me five months to come to the realization that no matter how often I trim Ava’s nails or how short, she will inevitably scratch her face. And scratch it a lot. This week she has a scratch coming out of the corner of her eye. How she didn’t cause serious damage to her eye ball, I have no idea. But, I am officially taking face scratching off of the “Mommy Fail” list, as there is nothing I can do to prevent her from said bodily harm.

Yes, I said five months. Ava turns five months tomorrow! I can’t believe how fast time has flown by. Last year at this time, the notion of being pregnant was only starting to sink in. My diet had changed to 95% crackers and 5% fruit. I could not stomach the idea of any meat and yearned only for sushi. And American fast food, of course. During my pregnancy I gained a total of 23 kgs, which is 50.7 lbs. Way over the recommended limit. I cannot imagine how fat I would have been if we lived in the US during my pregnancy. I’ve got 6 more kgs, 13.22 lbs to loose before I am back to my normal weight. With only two months until bathing suit season…

Yesterday my Aunt hosted a baby shower for my brother and his girlfriend, who is due in August. Missing special moments like these really make me miss home. But if we lived in America then we would have missed Johan’s nephew’s 1st birthday party this morning. Unfortunately, we will always be in a lose, lose situation.

Sometimes I day dream that Johan is American and his family all live in Charlotte. Or that I am South African and my grandmothers are only a few hours away. But then I guess we wouldn’t be the people we are. And maybe those people wouldn’t have fallen in love like we have. Life is all about tough choices and our toughest choice is being away from the ones we love. Right now it is mine and maybe one day, it’s his.

We got Ava’s mid-term report on Friday. The additional comments read:

Ava is ‘n baie oulike dogtertjie. Sy het gou aangepas en geniet die skool. Sy is ‘n plesier in die klas.

I know enough Afrikaans to understand what it says, but for those of you who don’t, Google’s translation is:

Ava is a very cute girl. She quickly adjusted and enjoys school. She is a joy in class.

So Google’s translation isn’t so great. Here is mine:

Ava is the cutest little girl in class. She has adapted well and is a pleasure to have in class.

Keep makin’ Mommy proud little one, so I can keep my “Mommy Fail” list short!

Here are some photos from the weekend:

The Birthday Boy and his Mommy

 Sweetie Pies, some chocolate log thingys, strawberries and white chocolate! Yum.

Again, Ava drank way too much and was the first to pass out at the party…

5 Months old! Yay for Ava! She is laying on top of one of my baby blankets, almost 29 years old…

Modeling is hard work, Mom…

 My mom and sister, along with her girls are coming to visit Ava and I next weekend. The Skipper will be out of town for work, so it is perfect timing. And we will get to celebrate Amanda’s 32nd birthday!! Man we are getting old! Well, she is.

Be on the look out for more pictures of beautiful babies coming next week!

-Blair

Selfish

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I realized today, while reading a friend’s blog post about her struggle to fall pregnant, just how selfish and ungrateful I am.

My Mother’s Day was spent sulking because Johan didn’t get me flowers or a card. Because he gave me a gift two weeks early and not on the day. I had to do the dishes while he played games. I actually thought how I would love for this one day, not to be a mother and be able to do what I wanted all day long without worrying about feeding and changing diapers. Soothing cries or sterilizing bottles. Last week was a stressful week for me, emotionally and physically and I was looking forward to this one day to just relax and be spoiled. How pathetically selfish.

Last June, when Johan and I found out I was pregnant it was a huge shock. We weren’t trying, but we weren’t being overly careful either. And we definitely didn’t think it would happen so soon. We had been married for only 6 months, I had just started a new job and we had plane tickets for America. A pregnancy was not a part of those plans. 

After we heard the heart beat our life changed. I changed. There was a life growing inside me. Things that were once important, were now obsolete. Celebrity gossip blogs were replaced with parenting blogs. Daydreaming online at JCrew was replaced with Buy buy baby. I prayed to God throughout the day, opposed to just in the morning and night. I prayed for him to please watch over this tiny being growing inside me and to keep her daddy safe so that she will know and love him as I do. 
Now that Ava is here, I continue to pray throughout the day, but mainly just thanking God for everything we have. For how perfect she is. The love Johan and I share. For the love Johan has for our daughter. Our cozy home. Our safety in this hectic world. Our family’s safety and well being. For our parents and what amazing role models they are for us.

Before I fell pregnant, I don’t think I realized how many people actually struggle to conceive and how lucky I was to have fallen pregnant so easily. I know a few family members and a couple friends, but I don’t think I really understood the severity of their struggle. The pain they experienced while waiting for that double line or during a miscarriage. Now I wish I would have been more supportive and can only hope I am supportive enough to those still struggling. 

I am extremely disappointed in myself because I truly am grateful for everything God has blessed me with. Words cannot describe how I feel about Ava and about being a mother. Feeling her grow inside me and now watching her grow before my eyes is the most amazing thing I have experienced. I cry when she’s grown out of her clothes. I tear up when Johan leaves to take her to school.  I love watching her sleep, yet fight the urge to wake her up to see her smile. It is still very tough for me to spend the days apart from her. Ava has made my life complete and never again will I take her for granted. She is the best gift I could have ever asked for.

The Girl Who Cried Baby

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These days I cannot get Aesop’s fable, The Little Boy Who Cried Wolf out of my head. As a refresher, here it is:

Milo Winter

THE BOY WHO CRIED ‘WOLF’
There was a boy tending the sheep who would continually go up to the embankment and shout, ‘Help, there’s a wolf!’ The farmers would all come running only to find out that what the boy said was not true. Then one day there really was a wolf but when the boy shouted, they didn’t believe him and no one came to his aid. The whole flock was eaten by the wolf.
The story shows that this is how liars are rewarded: even if they tell the truth, no one believes them.
As translated by Laura Gibbs

As the end of this 40 week adventure steadily approaches, I am becoming more and more aware of my body. As if I couldn’t. My belly has taken over! It has hidden my lady parts and toes from me! I can barely reach my computer or the steering wheel. I can’t even sneak past people without bumping them with my bump!

With every little cramp, back pain, or abnormal bathroom rendezvous (gross, I know) I get so excited and start thinking TODAY IS THE DAY. And with my big fat mouth I cannot help but share this all with Skip. And of course, Amanda.

So my problem, and probably every pregnant woman’s problem is, when can you tell if it’s the real thing or you are just “crying baby”? I want to share all these emotions and pains with my husband so he feels as involved with the pregnancy as much as possible. And what if she is on her way and I ignore all those pains? But, I don’t want to ruin this moment by becoming annoying and “crying baby” the next 24 or so days until she arrives.