Merry Christmas To Me!

Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginnings End

As I was driving today I heard this phrase in a song playing on the radio, “Every New Beginning Comes From Some Other Beginnings End,” and that could not sum up 2010 for our family any better. This year has been nothing short of many challenging, faith driven, risky, pray filled hopes for these new and uncertain beginnings, and in the end has left us wonderfully blessed with some awesome outcomes.

In March, God blessed us with a handsome baby boy, who has been our sweetest and most adored blessing of 2010 but really the best blessing of our lives. He is so sweet, happy, loving, funny, spoiled, smart, crazy and I could just go on and on but I won’t because this blog would them become very long! He turned 9 months in December and is crawling everywhere, getting into everything, clapping, pulling up, resisting table food (which is crazy because I thought that would be such an easy switch), inquisitive, loves to play with any type of interactive toy, loves to try to get a hold of my laptop and I phone, laughs, plays hide and seek, points, pulls hair, shakes his head no, pushes things away that he doesn’t want, throws his food on the floor so he can watch Banquet eat it, loves to pet and pull on Banquet, loves to play patty cake, loves to push and ride his mobile toys and so much more! I can’t believe I am going to be planning his first birthday party in a few short months, time has flown by so fast! We would be so lost without our sweet Canman and praise God everyday for this wonderful blessing that has made our lives so much more exciting and worthwhile!

Christmas pretty much came and went in record speed this year in the Chandler home. I usually go all out the Christmas décor of the house and bake like crazy, this year however I put up limited décor and only baked a few loafs of bread and cookies. I definitely was a Christmas slacker this year without question but all of that didn’t matter I was just happy to celebrate our very first Christmas with our new little edition! My family came down and we had a wonderful time – eating, playing games, watching movies, opening presents, cookie decorating contest, practical jokes, played with Cannon and his new toys, played with our new toys, laughed, chatted……that was pretty much our Christmas holiday in a nutshell and it was awesome! As long as we have our family and God in anything that we do, that is ALL we ever need in our lives!

Christmas Afternoon Headed To Yaya and Poppas House!

TTU Bike That Yaya and Poppa Got Me

Feeling Pretty Miserable.....

Cannon’s first Christmas wasn’t exactly the picture perfect moment I had envisioned in my mind, on Christmas Eve he started running 102.2 degree fever and was sick for the rest of the weekend. He felt so miserable and just wanted to rest, he had his moments of excitement but they were short lived due to the limited amount of energy he had! Although he was really sick, I am pretty sure he loved every bit of being held and never put down all weekend. We made frosted sugar cookies for Jesus, we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus, left the cookies and milk for Santa to enjoy, and we listened to the voice recorded book of The Christmas Story that his Yaya and Poppa recorded for him before he went to bed. The morning of Christmas, Santa made a big appearance in the Chandler household, he left Cannon toys and clothes; ate his cookies and sipped his milk; and left Cannon a letter. Cannon was definitely overwhelmed with so many new things to figure out, he played until he started feeling bad again and ate his Christmas oatmeal and then it was back to everyday life for him – eat, play, sleep, poop and repeat – LOL! He definitely made out like a bandit this year with an overwhelming amount of toys and clothes, which we enjoyed watching him have fun playing with but concerned us a little, as we didn’t want to start his first Christmas off with crazy amounts of materialistic STUFF but I guess you can’t really control what crazy, obsessed and in love - great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles are going to do!

Christmas Oatmeal

2010 was a great year for our family and reflecting back to the beginning of it……….We found the perfect school for Cannon, that we all love and are so thankful for; we’ve made new friends that we cherish dearly; we’ve grown closer to God; we’ve fallen more in love with our church and church family; we’ve learned hard lessons in different areas of our lives but have found ways to move on and learn from them; we’ve experienced the love for our own child, which is unlike anything else; we are in the process of selling our house (please pass prayers along our way that everything goes as it should and we close on January 17th); God has opened doors and closed them; we’ve prioritized the things in our lives that we feel are important for ourselves and our family, which has come with some difficult, process of elimination decisions but in the end has created some new and abundant blessing through new friendships, our spiritual walks, financial peace, our family/friend relationships, parenting, our careers, new personal/family goals……….I know every day I receive a new blessing that I fail to see and my hope is that for the new year, I will learn to look beyond the major blessings and disappointments that happen to me or our family throughout the year and make a DAILY acknowledgement of the blessings that God gives me every second of every day! I hope to find a way to use all of the physical and spiritual gifts that God has blessed me with on a DAILY basis, rather than when it is convenient for me or on a special occasion.

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." - Erma Bombeck.............that's my hope for myself not just in the new year but throughout my life!

I can't believe this is my last post in 2010! May God Bless You All In 2011 – Happy New Year - We Love You All!!!

Words are worth a 1,000 pictures.......

Unfortunately this blog is not going to contain very many pictures (actually none) for several reasons: my cheapo digital camera finally decided to “quit me”; my Iphone camera works, however a few weeks ago I left it on the hood of my car, drove off, it was ran over and the screen shattered BUT the phone/apps/internet still work; and finally there always is the option of buying a disposable camera but let’s be honest if I haven’t had time to buy a better camera or get my Iphone screen fixed how in the world will I find the time to get film developed! So in this blog I will have to be as descriptive as possible and hopefully by the next one I will have some means to a camera….maybe if I wouldn’t have been so careless with my expensive camera in Vegas this whole picture thing wouldn’t be such an issue…..LOL


To update you on our little family and what’s been going on in our little world, I’d like to say “not much” but it seems like we’ve been busier than ever, if it hasn’t been one thing it’s been another! Our little sprout is growing like a weed and developing several new skills along the way. He has started eating a little bit of table food and he likes it but he is still a little unsure of the new texture, in a few weeks he will go completely to table food (9 months, can’t believe it) so I hope by then he has started to enjoy it more. I am honestly dreading the whole table food thing, just because I am scared to death of him choking! His two little teeth do not seem sufficient to handle actual food yet but apparently I am not the expert and if Dr. Watts feels he’s ready I guess I better get ready! This past month he has started waving “Hi/Bye”; he is clapping and saying “Yay” as he is doing it; he is crawling; he is pulling up; he pats me on the back; he is giving open mouth kisses; he says “Dada” a lot more than any other word but I am convinced it’s just the easiest word for him to say right now; he is playing with cords, trying to play with electrical sockets; changing his diaper has become a nightmare – he flips; turns; throws himself; throws a fit; he is very interactive and playful with all of his classmates, he loves his school, teachers, and friends; he’s playing hide and seek; he’s flirting with every girl/woman in sight; he’s dropping things on purpose; has started biting things and shoulders (not on purpose but he is still teething and I think he thinks the resistance against his teeth feels cool) and other than that just growing like a weed and continues to be a bottomless pit when it comes to food!

Last weekend we were in Littlefield for Thanksgiving and we had a great and relaxing time with our family! I am so blessed to get to be a part of such a wonderful second family, some may think it would be a little intimidating to marry someone who has - three older sisters; is the baby and only boy of the family; and has a mom that is a wonderful mom, wife, cook BUT I have never felt so lucky in my life to have such wonderful in laws! I love them all so much and always look forward to spending time with them every chance we get!

We are truly blessed beyond measure – if I were to begin to make a list of all that I am thankful for I am not sure where I would stop because it is beyond endless. God is so good, in so many ways and has blessed me with more that what I deserve, I am thankful every day for the blessing in my life and always try not to forget that it’s not because of me but because of Him.

I am really looking forward to Christmas this year and have found myself thinking of new traditions to start now that we have Cannon – traditions that will teach him the true meaning of Christmas and not the commercialized version of Christmas. I can’t wait to spend time with all of our family and celebrate the reason for the season. Christmas is always a busy season in our home – decorating, shopping, wrapping up year end business stuff, baking, attending Christmas parties, hot chocolate and Christmas light sightseeing, ICE @ the Gaylord, volunteering to a cause for those in need, celebrating Jesus birthday with family and friends, experiencing all of Cannon’s Christmas firsts with him and all of our firsts as a family…….I am so excited for it all! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.




Colossians 2:6,7

There's Freedom In Letting Go........

While doing my quite time last week I ran across the statement, "there's freedom in letting go." When I first read this statement it didn't really mean much more to me than my intial interpretation of it. But as I started thinking about it more and more, this little statement transformed into a whole new meaning to me over the weekend.

This Friday my sweet baby boy turned 8 months old! As I've reflected over the weekend on the past eight months of my life, I can recall so many feelings and emotions. Happiness, Despair, Joy, Uncertainty, Love, Failure, Protective, Scared, Adoration, Fear, Hope, Nervous, Faith, Respect, Amazed, Exhaustion, Stress, Reliance, Assurance, Discouragement, Care, Encouragement, Endurance, Hopeless, Comfort......to name a few. I remember bringing him and thinking "I am not equipped to handle a baby but I guess if God thinks so I better figure it out!", exhausted I laid my head down and prayed for guidance to raise this child in His way, regardless of others and the worlds suggestions and  ways. I remember when Cannon was two weeks old and having a mini break down while showering and thinking there is no way I can do this - I am running on zero sleep, breast feeding is too hard and painful, I am a terrible mom b/c he's losing weight since I can't give him what he needs from me, I have a college education and I am completely stumped on how to use all of these baby gadgets; making formula; bathing him; using the Moby wrap, etc., will I ever be able to go shopping again or even be able to get my hair done, how is possible to really go grocery shopping when all of his stuff takes up the inside of the cart, will is always take us 4 hours to get ready to go anywhere, will I ever lose this baby weight, why won't he take a pacifier, when will he get to eat baby food, when will I recover physically from all of  this, when will he ever sleep through the night, and about a thousand other thoughts as I sat there sobbing.

Looking back on all of these things tonight, I can honestly say that each of these things has been answered or no longer exists and that is definitely not to my credit - from conception to everyday we wake up it was, has and always will be because of God. There have been alot of changes over the last 8 months but one thing that has remained consistent for me is that same prayer every night which now upon reflection seems be answered everyday in one or another. Of course the changes and challenges never end, once he grows out of one thing, then something new has started - making us feel once again like unfit parents. I can't remember what life was really like with out him, he is constantly on my mind when we are together or apart and I can't fathom life without him. I feel so blessed to have a little 8 month old who is healthily, developing daily - in one month he'll be eating table food, crawling (backwards), flirting (but sorry ladies he already has a girl that he is quite taken by), throwing fits, cuddling/kissing/hugging, he'll pat you on the back, pull hair when he's angry, loves playing with his friends at school, recognizing familiar voices over the phone, trying to pull up, loves playing with Banquet, is figuring out when he does and doesn't want to be dependent, loves all the educational/learning toys and lots of other fun things.

As much as I tell myself I need to let go and let God. I now realize that I also need to let go of Cannon in the way that God lets go of us. He doesn't baby us through everything, make our daily decisions, keep us in a bubble so we are always protected from harm, intervene when good/bad influences make an appearance in our path- we know ultimately that we have to take care of those things for ourselves, however we also know that he is always there for us - for guidance, love, hope, protection, encouragement, forgiveness......sometimes I find myself wanting to hold on to Cannon so tightly and not let go because I don't want him to get hurt, fail, get discouraged, etc. We all at some point in our lives had to give up whatever training aid was holding us back from plunging into that risky adventure whether it was - floaties to learn to swim; training wheels to learn how to ride a bike; I know right now I am Cannon's training wheels and in order for him to flourish through out his life I am going to have to let go more and more of him so he can reach his full potential someday........it's definitely a hard concept for this protective momma to grasp but I know that no matter how much I have to let go of him, a part of him will hopefully always hang on to me for those moments when he needs guidance, love, support, a shoulder to cry on.......no matter how big he gets!

I love you my sweet, little 8 month old baby boy!

Blast From The Past!

This weekend we went to Las Cruces for my best friend, Ashley's, it was so fun and beautiful. We've been friends since we were in elementary school and I was so very honored to be her matron of honor. Since we were little we've always talked about our future weddings, so it's been cool to see our dreams come to realities and that we both found our prince charmings in the end. I was also able to catch up with some girlfriends at the wedding that I hadn't seen in 15+ years and it was like we all never missed a beat and were able to pick right back up where we all left off. It was awesome to sit around and catch up on the last 15 years of our lifes - changes, struggles, jobs, babies, family, husbands, friends and so on........Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Rogers - you guys and your wedding was beautiful and we love you both - may God bless your marriage for the rest of your lives together : ) I truly have the best hubby ever, he missed opening weekend of deer season to help me in Las Cruces this weekend - if any of your hubby's hunt you know what a big deal that is, I honestly hated that he missed out but was so grateful for his help! I guess since he had to miss this weekend, I will be a single mom for the next 7 weekends (jk) I doubt he'll go to the deer lease every remaining weekend but probably most which I am totally ok with b/c that means lots of retail therapy for me : )

Cannon has become quite the little traveler lately - he flew for the first time and he did great! The biggest hassle of it all was getting through airport security with all of his baby gear - ugh what a pain! We definately realized how much we need to alter our luggage packing skills in the future or should I say "I" realized - less is definately the best! As I realized how hard of time we had doing it together, it made me realize how thankful I am to have such a supportive partner to do all these things with vs. having to do it alone. As much fun as we had this weekend I am so glad it is over and that we are done traveling for awhile, well until Thanksgiving!

My First Plane Flight at 7 months and 3 weeks

I can't believe my little man will be 8 months in 4 days and I'll be 28 tomorrow, double ugh! It seems like the older you get the faster time flies bye, I now find myself thinking.....when should we try for another baby, we're running out of time?!? BUT then I take a deep breath and remember that when God puts it on my heart that it's time again, I will know, God's plan is never rushed - it may not always seem like it's the perfect timing, his plan always turns out to be perfect, regardless of any factor.

My Little Swee' Pea!

I hope everyone had a great Halloween! We had alot of fun dressing up for Cannon's 1st Halloween, eventhough he really didn't understand or care about Halloween this year, I am so glad we made a special memory for him to look back on and reflect on our efforts of trying to make his childhood as happy as possible.....even if it means we have to dress up like dorks to accomplish that goal, LOL!

We also managed to a get a little mommy and daddy adult fun in with our friends. We threw a small Halloween party and had so much fun! I am glad everyone was good sports about dressing up, you guys all looked fantastic!!!

The Great Outdoors

Loves Playing Outside!!!

Loves Banquet but NOT Banquet Baths!

Insert Object Into Mouth and Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

Everyday when we get home and if the weather is nice which it has been for the last month or so Cannon and I sit outside for about 30 minutes and have some mommy and me time. He LOVES being outside and he LOVES Banquet, he can be in the worst mood and the second he's outside his mood changes immediately, it's the most inexpensive and fast working tool we have right now for a moody or fit throwing baby! I managed to take a few snap shots of him playing today, he is getting so big - it makes me sad sometimes how fast time goes by! His big blue eyes and sweet, innocent smile melt my heart daily : ) I am so in love with him!!!

I must admit, it was worth it in the end!!!

Well I have to admit after months of complaining on how expensive and over-rated the tickets were for the Vikings/Packers game were, it was worth every penny! It turned this "less than thrilled about football" girl into a life long "Packers" girl/fan!

Day 1 - at this point we've both only had 2 hours of sleep! That's what I get for planning a Bunco Night the night before a trip - NEVER AGAIN will I do this to myself!!!

We had an awesome anniversary trip in Wisconsin!!! On Friday we fly into Milwaukee and went to eat at a local brewery - the atmosphere was great it sat in the heart of downtown right on the the Milwaukee River - their beer and food was wonderful! After lunch we drove into Cedarburg and checked into a fabulous B&B and walked around town for awhile. Cedarburg is the cutest little town I've ever seen, the quaint little shops are all one of a kind - coffee shops, bakeries, candy shops, restaurants, wineries, clothing stores, bike shops, jewelry shops, B&B's - are some of the different shops you will run across while shopping down the main street of Cedarburg. The scenery is breath-taking - river that runs through the town, huge trees, colorful leafs falling from the sky, bridges, trails, benches, perfect weather - we found ourselves enjoying the beauty of the town and nature more than we did shopping, which is quite unusual for the both of us. Everything except restuarants pretty much close at 5 and there is really not a night life - which forced us to retire early on Friday night, we order dinner in, went to bed at 8:30 and woke up at 9:00, it was just the kind of night we needed.

Day 2

Night 3

The next day we headed to Appleton, we had the opportunity to drive through the country for awhile before we hit the interstate and it was just as you would imagine - trees w/ fall folage; farms; hills; old, red barns; silos; old, quaint farm house - country scenery at it's finest! When we made it into Appleton we checked into our B&B, went to dinner at a local steak house called Georges and then went to a local brewery that had the most amazing pumpkin spice ale I've ever had and the dessert wasn't bad either : ) When we got back to the hotel one of the other guests was downstairs hanging out and we struck up a conversation with him and ended up staying up for hours drinking wine and getting to know each other and turned out he was there for the Packers game too.

Day 3

On Sunday we woke up earlier and headed out with our new friend to the Packers game - we went to some stores to get plenty of Packer gear; tail gated and got to our seats early to watch the teams warm up. I felt miserable on Sunday due to a cold that kicked in on Saturday night but I sucked it up and manage to have an awesome time considering how bad I felt! It would be completely underexplainable for me to describe to you - the love the state of Wisconsin and the town of Greenbay have for the Packers; the love the fans have for the Packers; the setting of the stadium, mixed with the small town atmosphere - I could just do go on and on! All I can say is it was the most amazing sports event I've ever attended in my life for so many reasons beyond the game itself. I am so thankful my hubby introduced me to a little piece of him that I've never really understood but now after experiencing it for myself I feel the same way and it's really cool to get experience that together!

We loved getting away but we missed our little man like crazy - after this trip we have decided to make this trip annual and go to at least one Packers game a year and hopefully next year Cannon will be old enough to go with us! We are excited to make this a family football tradition : ) Maybe after going yearly, I'll be able to convince my hubby that we need a vacation house in Cedarburg, doubtful but it's always worth a try b/c I love that little town!!!

This weekend we are throwing a Halloween bash at our house and I am so excited, it's going to be a blast!!! We also plan to take Canman to the Trunk or Treat at our church. Can't wait to post pics of our family costumes, I am so excited to see Canman in his outfit!!! Hope everyone else has a wonderful and safe
Halloween weekend!!!

XOXO - Kristen

Well Hello Stranger......

"He did it with all his heart. So he prospered" - 2 Chronicles 31:21

This verse helps me get through the long, hard days of life. Days when I feel like I just don't have enough energy to do it all - wife, mommy, business woman, maid, cook, chauffer, laundry attendant, vet, nurse, friend, neighbor, family roles, and on-on-on......I know that everyone juggles all these roles on a daily basis but somedays are a little more trying than others but why does it always seem like on the extra trying days everything seems to go up in flames! On those days, I recite this verse to myself - over and over and over again - I end up thanking God for testing my faith and reminding me that as long as everything I do is with all my heart, God will show me many different forms of prosperity in my life- maybe not right away, but eventually...so even on the hard days, knowing that makes me keep on keeping on : )

I've been on an blog vacation for the last month or so due to lack of time, energy and effort. Every time I thought about blogging it always seemed like something else got in the way - hungry baby, tired momma, needy dogs, family/friend obligations, etc. This month has been a complete whirlwind and I can't believe my sweet baby boy is 7 months old, wow how time flies by without a moments notice and it doesn't even ask your permission if it's ok to go by so fast, how rude : )

I love work days with Mommy

Precious Cargo

Gooooo Pirates and Uncle Cage

Not A Fan Of Being Told Uh-Oh (Thank You Love and Logic)

Well not a whole lot has changed with Cannon since I last blogged: he is still eating veggies; fruits and started meats this month (which he isn't supper crazy about) and started eating the Gerber puffs (which he's still forming an opinion on); he's very curious with his hands wanting to touch and feel everything; he is teething like crazy and his first two teeth have sprouted (middle, bottom); he's high fiving; he's waving; he's jabbering up a storm (mama; dada; baba); he's sitting in the grocery basket seat; he's sitting in restaurant booster chairs; he is starting to interact more and more with other babies; he is reaching out discriminately; he's giving kisses; his hair is growing very SLOWLY but it's growing; when he throws fits he kicks his legs uncontrollably; he loves any toy that makes noise, lights up, etc.; he has figured out how to whisper and when you repeat back to him what he was whispering he gets embarassed and nuzzles his head in my chest (this is my new favorite thing he does); he loves sitting outside for long periods of time; he loves petting Banquet; he is still crawling backwards I am convinced that he may be just like his Poppa and never crawl and walk between 9-10 months, lets hope not but if he does at least I am preparing myself!

Mmm Ruth Chris - I Love You and Your Fabulous Steaks

We celebrated our 3 year anniversay Sept. 29th!!! We've been together 8 years total, almost a decade, and it has been without a doubt the best 8 years of my life. Of course not every single day has been a walk in the park but we've definately had more good than bad! He is my best friend and I know that he is my perfect match, there is no one else on this earth that would ever put up with my antics like he does! We are going to Wisconsin this coming weekend for our annivesary trip. I got my obesessed Packers hubby and myself tickets to the Packers/Vikings game, I totally splurged on great seats, at the same time sighing and rolling my eyes at how overpriced these tickets were! I could've totally bought a REALLY nice purse or shoes with the $ I spent on those tickets, awwww the things you do for LOVE!!! Eventhough I am not a huge football fan I am actually really excited about the trip - we are flying into Milwaukee and we are going to sight see for 1/2 a day there; then it's on to Cedarburg to stay at this adorable B&B and shop that night and 1/2 the next day; then the next day it's on to Appleton to stay at another adorable B&B and shop; then the next day it's off to Greenbay for the tailgate party and game - it's a night game and televised so watch out for us, I'll be the one covered in about a million layers to stay warm; then the next day we are flying back home. We are really going to miss Cannon so much, we wanted to take him with us but my parents quickly way laid that idea!!! I guess they know we need a little "us" time!!!

Let The Bach Weekend Fun Begin......

Ruidoso We Will Miss You

BFF's Since Junior High - Love You Ash

An Attempt To Be Sexy, Not So Sure A Pro Photographer Would Agree But We Tried

Last weekend I went to Ruidoso for my BFF's bach party. It was such a great time, we had one crazy night and the rest of the time we just hung out, did a spa day, went shopping, had a movie night and ate really awesome food. I am so happy for her we've been BFF's since Jr High and I am so honored to stand beside her as her Maid Of Honor on her very special day! I even managed to get my running in, it was so nice to run in the cool crisp air and have God's mountain masterpiece all around me. It was the perfect setting for alone time with me and God, I really enjoyed it. I also really enjoyed sleeping in kind of, like until 8:30, it was awesome. My hubby watched Cannon all weekend and did an amazing job as usual, it is so great to be married to a man who is not afraid to be left alone with a baby and you have total peace of mind the whole time knowing he is being wonderfully taken care of.

This weekend we went to Mainstay Farm and it was a blast. Cannon loved the goats and donkey; he enjoyed the hay ride; and we got some really good pics of him in the pumpkin patch and the painted cut outs. We stayed about three hours and had to leave b/c he was wanting his afternoon nap bad!!! We are going to make it an Oct tradition and as he gets older I know he will enjoy it more and more - they had face painting; pumpkin painting; a big play ground; a big slide; pedal cars; yummy food; bounce area; hay jumping; etc.

Well we are going to be crazy the next few weeks with travel - Wisconsin; Halloween (we are throwing a couple costume party at our house, I am so excited + we are doing a family themed costumes and I can't wait to see how my sweet baby looks all dressed up for his first Halloween, we are going as Popeye; Olive Oyl and Swee' Pea); New Mexico; Georgia; Littlefield......pure craziness, I am hoping to get a few blogs in but don't hold me to it b/c I am going to be a very busy momma!!!

Hope everyone is doing great : )