Aggie Angel

You have to read this post...what an amazing man!

http://martinfamilyandmito.blogspot.com/2011/09/stranger-friends.html

Help him...Help Will!!!

Simple Request

Hi everyone! I know I've been MIA lately but today I have something very important and near and dear to my heart to blog about!

On July 5th my cousin Lori and her husband Neil received the devastating news that their 2 year old son, Will, had Leigh's Disease. It's a very rare neurometabolic disorder in the mitochondrial disease family. The easiest way to explain it is that this particular manifestation of the disease causes lesions in the brain and eventually the brain will stop functioning and there is no cure or suppressant. It's unlikely he will live to see his teenage years.

The news was obviously more than crushing to them as Will is an only child. It's been hard for the entire family however as a mother myself I can't imagine the pain and fear that Lori and Neil feel. I'm devastated for them and I ask that you please read up on their blog: www.martinfamilyandmito.blogspot.com and follow their story. I ask this of you for a few reasons...to become familiar with this retched disease (the more awareness the better) and to keep all 3 of them in your prayers!

Did you know that Mitochondrial Diseases are as common as child cancer? Probably not and I didn't know that either! Last week was Mitochondrial Awareness Week (I would have posted this last week but I just found this out! Better late than never!) so help me spread awareness! You can follow my cousins blog, blog about her blog, or "like" the United Mitochondrial Foundations Facebook page. Thank you so much! It really means a lot to me and my family!

Big Girl Karter

Out of all my pregnancies I have BY FAR experienced the nesting phase the most this time around!! Kyle will agree on this! Instead of nesting it's actually more of super anal psycho cleaning bitch. I have cried over my to do list and that things will never get done a few times! Then the next day I get it done and I'm the happiest person you've ever met! I have cleaned out almost every cabinet and drawer in the house, my closet and all my drawers in our master bath, the kids bathroom cabinets and linen closet, Keaton's whole room-clothes and toys, then we cleaned out one room that was the study and made that Karter's room so I moved all her stuff from her room into her new big girl room and made her old nursery Kambry's room! So I got down all the newborn stuff and washed everything and now the entire house feels organized and ready for baby! It's crazy how motivated you are and you simply can't rest until it's all done!

So back to Karter's big girl room...this was so much fun! We've lived in this house now for 2 years and have never really "made it home" or added our own touch to it because we don't own it and figured we'd be here a few months. That few months has turned into a much longer amount of time and even though it's temporary we need to feel at home! So we got permission to paint and it looks amazing! More pics of the house to come but right now we'll focus on Karter! I wanted her room bright pink and that it is!! We bought new furniture for her and my super talented friend, JoDee, made her bedding! That's right, she MADE it!! I picked out all the fabric and then she went to town making my vision a reality!! THANK YOU SO MUCH JODEE!!! It turned out awesome!! I can't show you everything yet because we're still waiting on a desk and shelves to finish it off but here are some sneak peeks!

I was so excited when I found ribbon that matched her bedding so I made this bow holder for her bows! =)

Sneak peek of what the bedding looks like! It's soooo darn cute!!

I bought this decal on Etsy and love it! This is right above her bed and she'll look up at it and say, "Mommy did" and point to it! =)

So once the room was pretty much finished we decided to TRY to let her sleep in her new bed and see how she does! I just knew this would be a big disaster and she'd be back in her crib in no time. I thought she'd get out of bed a zillion times, naps would be over, etc! Keaton was 2.5 when we switched him so I just knew 22 months would be too young. Apparently my optimistic attitude wasn't shining through on this topic! So last Sunday night we decided to try! She cried and cried for a while and Kyle decided to lay with her. I did NOT want that to become a habit but we thought maybe once she woke up alone she'd realize she did it and it wasn't so bad. So sure enough she woke up happy as a lark and when I put her down for a nap that day I just shut the door and expected to see her walking out shortly after but didn't...she went straight to sleep!! Every night and naptime all week since has been a breeze!! I am truly blown away!!! That was the easiest transition ever and she LOVES her new room!! Now the crib is raised back up and ready for baby Kambry to arrive!!

Loves reading and snuggling with her Daddy!!

Sound Asleep!!! =)

Thirty One

I am now a Thirty One bag consultant!! =)

Yes I am STILL selling Scentsy and probably always will, haha! I love it!! Scentsy has been really successful for me and my team has grown a lot!! The one thing I always wished about Scentsy though was that I had gotten into it earlier! It has grown so much and just seems to be everywhere!! Luckily business is still good and I'm still loving it! Thirty One is still relatively small and I figured this was the perfect time to get in a give it a shot while it's still growing!! I do plan on doing both and being pretty awesome at both! ;)

I just fell in love with these bags and started buying them for myself and after my 3rd bag and buying them as gifts I figured I might as well make money off of something I'm buying so much!! Why not give it a shot and see how it works out?! If it doesn't work as well as Scentsy has for me then I end up with a lot of cute bags...nothing to loose! =) I don't think that will be the case though! Thirty One has adorable stuff and they're growing so much! I'm really excited to see where it takes me!!

You can check out my website at: www.mythirtyone.com/kristinkotz

You can order from the Spring/Summer catalog now or take a sneak peek into the Fall/Winter catalog that has a lot of new products and patterns!! The new catalog goes live on July 25th!!!

Let me know if you're interested in a catalog, hosting a party, or signing up to sell the bags yourself!! These make excellent hostess gifts, baby shower gifts, graduation gifts, etc!! Who doesn't LOVE a monogrammed bag?? =)

My fav product right now is the Large Utility Tote!! I bought one this summer and it is the ONLY bag that is big enough to fit all of our towels, snacks, and pool toys in it!! Also great to throw a bunch of toys in when you're traveling or going to a playdate!! I LOVE it!!! =)

www.mythirtyone.com/kristinkotz

Kambry's Baby Shower

My sweet sister Carrie gave me a baby shower to celebrate our little Kambry! It was such a fun day spent with family and friends! She did such a great job making everything so special! Every single thing she made was gluten free and she even had a beautiful cake made that was gluten free and oh so delicious!!! Thank you so much Carrie!! I love you so much!!

Belly at 33 weeks!

All the yummy food!!

Delicious GF cake!!!

Me and my sister Carrie!! We missed you Amie!! =(
(my other sister was out of town on a family trip they had already planned.)

Me and Summer

Me and some of the girls! Love yall!!

Me with Kambry's Aunt Amanda and DeeDee!! =)

My sweet aunts and cousins came in town to share our joy!! Loved seeing them and having them there!! XOXO

Thanks everyone for a wonderful memory for me to share with Kambry!!!!

Almost 36 Weeks!

So I have been a HORRIBLE blogger!

My pregnancy is almost OVER...CRAY-Z!!!!!

I'm feeling great! This has been another easy pregnancy! I'm not miserable where I just want her out right now like some people get...but I am super super excited to meet her and just hold her and have someone around the house that small again! =)

Keaton is really excited for her and I know he'll do great! Karter just LOVES babies so I have a feeling she's going to be all over her! It will be cute but hopefully she wont also be jealous and want mommy to hold her all the time instead! That can be really hard/annoying when you're trying to nurse an upset baby! We'll all get used to her though, Im just so freaking excited! =)

The ridiculous swelling in my legs and feet hasn't started yet but no doubt it's right around the corner! I do have major heartburn every evening but besides that things are pretty normal! I love feeling her move all around in my belly, it's so amazing!! Keaton loves feeling her move too and he'll sit and watch TV with me with his hands on my belly...so sweet! If you ask Karter where Kambry or Sissy is she'll lift up my shirt and say, " belly!" Even if I'm wearing a dress she tries to lift it up to see the belly, for some reason pointing to it from the outside apparently just isn't good enough for her! =)

Right now we're in the process of decorating Karter a new "big girl" room and moving Kambry's newborn stuff right into Karter's old nursery. I figured we already have a girl baby room ready so why get anything new?? Karter's room is coming along and is going to look so cute! Pictures will for sure be posted once it's done! My uber talented friend JoDee is making her bedding and it looks AMAZING!!! She is so good at sewing and it is something that will be so special and Karter can use from childhood into her teenage years! Yes Karter, this furniture and bedding is yours until you're married...ENJOY! =)

I'm still nervous about removing Karter from her crib...I fear that naps will be finished after that but we'll see! Maybe the transition will be great, I'd just prefer to wait until she were 2.5 or so but 22 months will have to do! I'll let you know how it goes, wish us luck!!

I Promise

I promise...

I will blog soon! =) I know you're all on the edge of your seats just WAITING for me to post something, right?! haha! ;)

Well anyway, I just feel like there's so much catching up to do and right now, I'm super busy getting the house painted, selling furniture, getting new furniture and decor, getting Karter's big girl room ready (pics to come, so cute!), and much much more so blogging just isn't happening!

Maybe next week...

Keaton Turns 4!!

On March 22, my baby boy turned 4 years old!! So with a birthday comes a PARTY!! I love planning parties and Keaton helped me pick out a lot of stuff for his bash! He of course wanted a Star Wars party so that's what he got!

A couple days before we made Red Velvet Cake Pops to give as party favors along with thier pinata candy.

He is an excellent helper! =)

Cake Pops wrapped and tied up...ready to go!!

Then we made chocolate cupcakes and somebody really liked the batter!

I made some signs for the party. This was the bucket that the cake pops were in!

Yummy Star Wars cupcakes!!

Happy Birthday Keaton!!!

This is the sign I made for the food (AKA Galactic Goodies!) table!

Keaton loved the welcome sign! I also made a sign that said, "YODA SODA" that I put on the drink cooler, hehe! =)

Each year I do a photo-book of the kids birthdays so I had a table with his baby book and 3 previous birthday party books for people to look through! I'm a proud mom, what can I say?? =)

Excited birthday boy in his Darth Vadar shirt!

Mimi and adorable cousin Clayton!

Opening presents!

Pinata Time!!

Keaton with some buddies from his class...so cute!!

Karter loving her lollipop!

Sweet Girl!!

The pinata headpiece made a great addition to his Darth Vadar outfit! =)

Karter showing some love to her cousin, Brennar!!

Having so much fun!

Keaton and cousin Breyton!!

Darth Vadar!!!

Proud mommy and daddy! It was a great day celebrating our son!!

His party was on the 20th, so 2 days later was his actual birthday which required more celebration! Last year we went to Denny's for breakfast so I asked him where he wanted to go this year and of course he said, THE DONUT SHOP!! So we headed out for a donut birthday breakfast! =)

Notice how he eats the chocolate off the top of the donut and leaves the rest, haha!! =)

DeeDee, Mo, and cousin Clayton joined us!

After breakfast I took him to school and I got to go to chapel with him and watch them recognize his birthday. Then I went to his class and read one of Keaton's favorite books from home, "The Day the Teacher Went Bananas" to the class! Keaton loved having me there and of course I loved every second of it!

He got to choose his birthday dinner too and he chose none other than HOTDOGS! How easy can you get, right!? Thank you Keaton, haha! So that night Kyle grilled the hotdogs while we sat outside visiting and Keaton and Karter played. At 6:35 (the time he was born) , Keaton got his annual birthday kiss from mommy and daddy!


He is just my little angel and I couldn't be more proud of him! He is 100% rowdy boy but has excellent manners and is so sensitive and considerate. He thanks me for everything I do for him, even washing his clothes or changing his bedsheets!! I can't wait to watch what an amazing man he grows up to be. Although I'm not ready for that anytime soon! I love you Mr. Keaton!!!! May God bless you and keep you safe always! =) HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

ITS A GIRL!!!

INTRODUCING...KAMBRY LEAH KOTZEBUE

Yes that's right! We are having a GIRL the first week of August!! I must say we're kind of shocked because after we had Keaton we kind of expected to have all boys and we'd be lucky to have a girl. Now it's looking like Keaton may be our only boy! =) We couldn't be happier! I told Kyle that I can remember from a very young age always saying, "I want to have 3 kids, a boy and then 2 girls! A boy first so he can protect his sisters!". HAHA! Crazy that's what I'm getting! God is GREAT!!!

Are you shocked we found out early? Well I didn't want to but Kyle did. At first I was going to let him be the only one to know but later after weeks of thinking that was our plan, we decided that it's too big of a special moment and whether it's at the ultrasound or birth, we needed to share that moment together! So then we went back and forth and came to this conclusion...we've already experienced it both ways...we found out with Keaton, and then waited and were surprised with Karter. Each way was just as equally awesome and each way has different pros. This time it felt right to find out early. Keaton would know who was coming because he's old enough now to really be involved and we could focus the birth on a specific baby arriving instead of constantly wondering, "WHAT IS IT????"! So there you have it, we found out and feel great about our decision!! =)

Kyle and I have had the name Kambry picked out since High School but then when I was pregnant with Karter we didn't know her sex and Carter was our boy name. Keaton just named my belly C/Karter and we fell in love with the name whether it was a boy or girl! So now I'm so happy to use the girl name we've had for so long! The middle name is after my mom, Donna Leah! A great lady to be named after...I love you mom!!!!!!!!!

Our ultrasound was on Thursday and we had the room filled! It was me, Kyle, Kyle's mom DeeDee, my mom Mo, Keaton, Karter, Uncle Bryce, and cousin Clayton! I apologized right when we walked in for our obnoxious group but they had told me I could bring whoever and they loved it! =) We were all so excited and nobody in the room really had a clue what it was, even at the end of the ultrasound we were clueless until she showed us the goods...or lack there of! =)

Keaton was really hoping for a brother and kept saying through the ultrasound, "Yup, it looks like a boy to me!". Haha! So when she said, "It's a girl!". His response was, "Awww, man!". It was very funny but he was laughing and smiling and he's coming around to the fact that he'll be surrounded by girls! I'm super excited because Karter and Kambry will only be one school year apart so I hope they'll be best friends! I'm already picturing the big bows and matching outfits...I LOVE IT!!!

After our ultrasound we went to my moms house to meet the rest of our family for dinner and the big reveal. We weren't sure if Keaton could keep the secret but he did, he didn't tell a soul...I was very impressed! Then we had everyone film their guess on camera and let Keaton share the name of his new sibling...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It was a perfect day and evening! I love that I got to experience knowing I was carrying my son when I was pregnant with Keaton, I had no idea who I was carrying with Karter but was pleasantly surprised when she came out, and now I get to experience knowing I'm carrying my daughter in me. It feels perfect to have experienced all the different ways! =) Glory to God!!!!

Proud parents and grandparents! (DeeDee's visor/sunglass combo says, "It's a Girl!)

Mommy and Daddy! We can't wait to meet Kambry!!

Spring Break 2011

What a fun and busy week! Honestly we didn't do anything HUGE...no big trips, no awesome new locations that we checked out, just lots of time together and go go go!! =) We went to a park almost everyday, had multiple playdates at friends houses, lots of birthday parties (Keaton's included, that post next!), and 3 slumber parties, it was just a great week with the kids!

Karter modeling her bow...hamming it up for the camera! =)

Storytime with Daddy!

My 3 LOVES!!

Picnic in the backyard!

They love eachother so much!!

Burger King fun!

They love to hold hands and of course I LOVE it too!!

I love watching them interact together, they're going to be so close! Can't wait to see what #3 does to the mix! =) Updates on that coming soon too!! I have some catching up to do!! =)