Happy 6 Months Lyla!

Six months ago today my sweet angel was born. In honor of her half birthday (her daddy thinks I'm silly) we spent the day gearing up for Christmas. We headed out to a Christmas tree farm in Flowermound and had a lot of fun taking pictures with all the fun wooden cut outs.







That was the extent of our trip to this Christmas tree farm. The trees there were around $250.00 and they weren't very pretty. I couldn't justify spending that much on a tree. Especially because in Iowa we always cut down our trees and hand the cashier a twenty and it covers the cost of the tree. I understand that they have to import these trees down here but come on! So on our way home we stopped at Calloway's Nursery and were so excited with the results. These trees were GORGEOUS and cost about half as much.






We picked out a 7-8 foot Noble Fir and she is gorgeous! When we got home I put Lyla down for a nap and Scottie and I decorated the tree. I loved every second of it. When she woke up we took some fun photos and let Lyla hang up her first Christmas ornament.



Now that Lyla is 6 months old she does a lot better when we go out to eat so we decided to go to Pei Wei for dinner. This place gave Lyla plenty to look at. After dinner we ran to Target and then home. Once we got home we bathed Lyla, gave her a bottle and she hit the hay. One of my favorite parts of the day/night is when Scott and I have a few hours to ourselves. Tonight we laid a big blanket out and watched a movie underneath all of the Christmas lights! A perfect end to a great day.

p.s. Forgot to mention that I spotted a few teeth coming in on her bottom gums...we will see how this goes...wish us luck!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am writing this the night before the big day because there really isn't a big day tomorrow...The Chandlers already celebrated our Thanksgiving down at the ranch a few weeks ago and well I like to pretend that my family isn't together celebrating Thanksgiving without us. So I wanted to reflect on a few things that I am thankful for...cliche I know but it's Thanksgiving.

I am most thankful for my savior Jesus Christ. Without his ultimate sacrifice I would be nothing.

I am thankful for my amazing husband who is such a wonderful helper. He tells me daily how much he loves me. I love you sweetie pie! You are an amazing father and an even better husband.

I am thankful for Lyla. She has brought us both so much joy these past six months. Motherhood has been a challenge but one that I accepted and welcomed with arms wide open. I love you sweet pea!

I am thankful for my family up north. I love each and every one of you in your own unique and special way. Each one of you bring so much joy in my life. You have all helped shape me in who I am today. Thank you for being such a great mother/father/sister/brother/niece/nephew/cousin/aunt/uncle/grandma/grandpa. And thank you for being so good to my little Lyla Bean.

I am thankful for my family down south. This past year was probably one of the hardest years of my life. Thank you for all of the help getting us to Texas and the continued help since we have been here. Thank you for spoiling us and spoiling our little Lyla. We love you so much!

I am thankful for my San Diego/Iowa/Texas friends. We miss you all and wish we had more time to get to see each and every one of you. We love you!

I am thankful for Pastor Barry and Community Bible Church. I think of our church family almost every day. It breaks our hearts to know that we will never be able to go back. Your sermons and the people we met at CBC were so special.

I am thankful for the roof over my head, the clothes on my back and the food in my pantry. So many people go without and how ever so blessed we are to be comfortable in life.

I could go on and on like this for hours. There are so many things we are thankful for and these are the first few that came to mind. I want to wish all of you readers a Happy Thanksgiving. Now nobody can give me a hard time about listening to Christmas music because it is officially the CHRISTMAS SEASON!!

Yippy!

I am blogging for one reason only...to say HOW EXCITED I AM THAT I CAN USE A WINTER BACKGROUND ON MY BLOG! I will say that I was a little disappointed that they didn't have Christmas backgrounds yet...hopefully after Thanksgiving right?

Shopping...Shopping...and more Shopping!

Lyla and I flew into Indiana last week for an amazing family weekend. The flight went well and Lyla slept the entire way...probably because she didn't sleep at all that night. Once we arrived Hol picked us up from the airport (bless her heart) and we headed to the Bezy house. Mar was eating in her high chair and Max was taking care of his business on the potty. Poor thing, when I walked in to surprise him he wanted to stand up and hug me but he had a messy booty so he couldn't really. Mar just giggled when she saw us and continued to the entire rest of the trip. Grandma Leela was thrilled to hold her little Lyla Bean. The rest of Thursday was spent playing with the kids, doing a little shopping ( I think I can't remember because we were back and forth so much) and anxiously waiting for Apey and Papa Doug. They rolled in after bed time but got to sneak a peak at the Bean while she was sleeping. That night Lyla started to fuss so instead of rocking her back to sleep I just pulled her up into bed with me and SHE SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT WITHOUT WAKING UP ONCE! My family jokes that she behaves so well in the midwest because she wants to live there hehehe. Once we woke up and again had some cousin time, and did some more shopping. As I sit here and try and remember what we did each day seriously it all jumbles into a mess of memories. I blame my lack of sleep as to why my memory is being so shotty and also all the shopping we did kind of all runs together. Brooke and James got into town late Friday night and it was so good to see them. It's always a good time when Brooke is around...she is always cracking us up. Saturday we woke up early and hit the mall. Papa Doug stayed home and babysat the grandbabies with Jason we were able to get some good shopping in. We knew we only had a few hours because we wanted to be back for the Iowa game so we went at it hard. Funniest part of the day by far was when we were at the MAC counter and I smeared purple eye shadow on Ape's face without her realizing that I had something on my finger. We were cracking up so hard, even the girls working were dying. Poor Ape had no clue even though there were a million mirrors around. She was a good sport once she found out though. Seriously we had tears rolling down our cheeks from laughing so hard. Now here comes the highlight to our trip...KONA GRILL!! Yes the food was amazing but what was even more amazing was all of us sisters and my mom sitting at a table together enjoying an amazing meal without kids interrupting or cell phones going off. Seriously it had been years since just us five got to have a special meal together. I am so glad we opted for Kona instead of Jimmy Johns...thanks Hol for making the final decision and also girls for letting me try your sushi...I'm still craving the rolls, edamame, and Mom's salad! Too soon our meal was over and it was time to get home to watch the Hawkeyes. What an awesome yet sad game for all of us Hawkeye fans. I guess being with my family made the bad feelings go away. After the game we all headed out the door for some yummy Mexican. Lyla has been pretty good when we have gone out to eat but for some reason she wasn't feeling the Mexican so thanks to Auntie Holly and some rocking in her car seat, she survived. We also got to celebrate Brookies birthday together...this rarely happens so it was extra special! Once the kids were bathed and down for the night us sisters and my Mom went downstairs and had some fun chat time. Ugh I can't stress enough how much I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE these special times when it is just us. We always have so much fun talking about our past and giggling at how Mom can remember bad stories about our ex boyfriends that we have long forgotten. Sunday morning came too soon and I think we all woke up sad knowing everyone would be leaving (except Lyla and I). The last day is always the worst. Eventually it was getting late and everyone started to shove off. Goodbyes never ever get easier. Even now that I am in Texas (much closer than San Diego) it still destroys me to say goodbye. I've said it before and I'll say it again that I am so blessed to have such an awesome relationship with my family, which makes the goodbyes so hard. Luckily Lyla and I didn't fly out until Monday evening so once everyone left Hol and I went and got pedicures and came home, popped a bag of popcorn and watched TV. Sunday left us and Monday meant time for us to go see Daddy. Monday I absorbed every last second with my sister Hol and her two kids. They are so great with Lyla and Hol, I can't say enough how helpful she is with Lyla when I come into town...she has everything all laid out and ready for us every time. This makes traveling so much easier on me and Lyla and takes away so much stress! Thanks sis for all the help again! As I close this blog my heart still aches a little at the thought of us all being apart again. Enjoy your Thanksgiving together guys and I will see you all the day after Christmas! LOVE YOU!

Weekend at the Ranch

Traditionally the Chandler family all gets together at the Ranch every Thanksgiving. This year not everyone was going to be able to make it so we celebrated Thanksgiving a few weeks early. Scott, Lyla and I met Grammy, Bryan and Linda, Nate, Christe and the boys, Deborah, Caitlin and her boyfriend Derek out there on Saturday. Aside from Deborah we were the last to arrive. I think Grammy was itching to get her hands on her newest great granddaughter. In the past the Ranch was so entertaining for me...jeep rides, fishing, walks along the trails, but now that Lyla is here most of those adventures were put on the back burner. Especially because Lyla was sick all weekend and I started to feel crummy Saturday night. We didn't let the bug ruin our time out there. We still made way too much food and ate even more. I was in charge of green bean casserole and the strawberry shortcut cake. The thanksgiving meal was delicious...Bryan fried the turkeys...my favorite way to prepare the bird. Most of the weekend was spent enjoying each others company, watching football, learning about Grammy and her amazing life, and being entertained by the three little kiddos. The ranch will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the place that Scott asked me to be his wife. Seems like an eternity ago...crazy to think it was only 4 years ago. My how time flies! Thanks Chandlers for a fun weekend...I think we are still digesting the Thanksgiving feast! We love you!!

Grammy and Lyla

Making our feast!

Sick little Lyla