Welcoming little Bryce

Well its baby #2 for the Bandstra family. Little Bryce looks just like his big sister! Krysten and I threw a lunch shower for Rachel to celebrate the arrival of little Bryce

The happy family, he's a beautiful little man. One more for the boy team! yeah!

Summer Lovin'

Chandler's first summer has been super eventful and tons of fun for Chris and I. We just love seeing him experience things for the first time. Here are a few fun things we've done so far. Chris' birthday was a few weeks ago and his friend Travis bought him the "love boat" sushi dinner. As you can see this boat is filled with mostly sashimi. They ate a TON of raw fish with a few sushi rolls. Chris loves sushi and I will eat the vegetable rolls but that's about it. They were on their own for this one! The picture doesn't even do justice to how much food was there. Chris had a wonderful 29th birthday. Relaxing has been on the agenda in any spare time that comes up because he is SUPER busy getting the plumbing business going.

First time in a real swing outside

Driving the Vicker's boat at the lake house.

Aunt Carol and cutie cutie Anna Grace with her shades at the lake house. We've been loving hanging out with them down there.

Baby pool on the dock, Chandler is constantly trying to climb out but its nice to be able to cool them off a bit.

Bathtime with mommy

Poolin' it! He loves any type of water so far. We'd like to teach him to swim this summer but we'll see. He wants to climb out of the float at any chance he can.

The Graduate

Congrats to my little sis Katie- She graduated from UNF in the last couple months with a Marketing degree and has since landed a job at Blue Cross. She is loving it and we are very proud of her.

Chandler Stats- Big 10 Months

Chandler turned 10 months on June 14th and I honestly can't believe it. He is changing before our eyes and doing something new just about everyday it seems like. At our last doc appt he weighed 19.5 lbs. I was pretty suprised about that because he had been gaining so fast but with him being mobile I think he's starting to thin out. He walks the furniture and I don't think it will be too long before he's on his own. He's eating all kinds of finger good and does a great job of shoving it all in his mouth. He never leaves a crumb :) We are still nursing 4 times a day and that is going well. I have been very thankful to have done it this long. He's doing some heavy reading these days...he actually loves being read to and try to soak it up everytime we can.
His "excited face" I'd love for him to do this FOREVER :)

Daddy- he pronounces it very well now.

My family at the fair, Chandler loved seeing the animals. Although things tend to startle him very easy, loud noises, people in costumes and hats. He gets so scared and cries. Its so sad but adorable at the same time.

My little Easter Bunny

Hi friends! This will be the first of many catch up posts. I thought of doing one long post but it was just too big. Have I really not updated since Easter? I am a bad blogger. I have though decided to devote more time to this because I like to update this rather than fb. I have really been convicted about wasting time in certain areas, compared to how much time I spend time I spend "catching up" with God as I feel I need to do on facebook and other things. I have chosen this as my method of keeping our dear friends and family in the loop. Also, our time as a family of three is very limited with Chris' work schedule and I like us to all be together as much as I can. That time is so precious to me.



So on to the fun things.....

Chris' extended family always has a big to do at Easter, its more like a family reunion. Always great food and alot of fun.

Is he not cute or what?

First Easter!!

8 Months Old!

Well first things first so we need to let you all know how our BIG BOY is doing! Alot has been going on in the month of April and I hope to eventually catch up on all of it here but Chandler is now 8 1/2 months old and time is flying! I think most of it is because I love the warmer months and so they go by so much faster.

Well we haven't had a "real" checkup since about 6 months and our next one will be at 9 months but I can say Chandler is definitely slowing down with his growth (thankfully for mommy since he has just started wearing 12 months clothes, well some anyway. He can still wear all his 9 months and an occasional 6-9. I wish all clothes could just be the same size? Too much to ask I guess)

I've decided I will bullet point:

-He is working on his FOURTH tooth! It totally changes his smile but I love it!

-He's now about 20 pounds...seems like he was 19 pounds forever.

-Eating solids 3 times a day. Usually cereal in the morning with fruit, a fruit and veggie for lunch and fruit, veggie and oatmeal for dinner.

-We are still making baby food as it is so much cheaper and definitely makes me feel better about what I put in his body. He's still trying new fruits and vegetables and will probably have yogurt soon. I think he's ready for it.

-Still nursing 4 times a day..this is going well, but it seems we are out a whole lot more and when we are he takes a bottle well. This means 3 bottles a day sometimes! I feel like he drinks more from a bottle though so I try to keep an eye on that. He will down a bottle no matter how much is in it!

-Sleeping has been a little crazy this past week due to us being out and about alot and his teeth but I'm happy to say that as of last night I still have a 7:30-7:30 sleeper! yay. I was worried this would really change with his teeth coming in. Its also hard to get them back on a schedule if they've missed several naps or been up late a few days in a row.

- Still taking 2 naps...Usually 9:30-11:30 and 1:00ish- 3ish :) He has turned out to be a great napper... He's not a church napper, unless he crashes! He will also of course sleep in the car and if he's in a pack and play at someone's house.

-He seems to really like the jogging stroller, I'm back to running, and while there will be no marathon training for quite a while, he is very content just being outside. About 4 miles though and he's ready to get out :) Hopefully he will get more and more used to it.

***And last but not least, you guessed it...HE'S CRAWLING! He has been army crawling for several weeks now but about a week ago he started to use his legs more. I waited to get it on video to see if he was really start, and so he's been doing this for about a week. He will still roll to things and lots of times I find him underneath his crib and can't get it out. You walk in his room and can't find him and then hear him laughing. Its hysterical..maybe one of these days I'll get that on video. The second video captures his "excited face" which everyone finds hilarious and I hope he keeps doing it for a while. I love it! Until then....Enjoy. I will do another post with other "happenings" and pictures.

Dedication

Chandler was dedicated on March 21st. We were thrilled to have both our families attend. It meant alot to us. Here is what his name means:

Chandler- English "bearer of light"

Ray- French "wise one"

James 1:17 "Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

Our Family with my sister Katie and my parents Felecia and Steve

Our family with Chris' mom Danese and step-dad Robert

It was a beautiful memory day :) We pray consistently to be the parents God wants us to be and to raise Chandler the right way and to glorify Christ. We are so thankful to God for him. His smile is such a light! Children really are a blessing.