Friday, December 2, 2011

Chili, Turkeys, and Beef with Horns



Oh man...I finally got a chance to update this thing..I have pretty much given up on doing this more than once a month...sorry!

Well we took our first LONG trip as a family. We went to Fort Worth for my dad's annual chili cook-off. The girls did well on the way up, but were off schedule so we had some adjusting to do once we got there. My dad and step-mom were waiting with much needed drinks ;) Soon after my sister Jamie and her husband, Russell arrived...Have I mentioned that I will be an Aunt again in May 2012? Yes! Jamie and Russell are expecting a baby around May 5th!! We are super excited for them and can not wait to meet Kai and Jaxyn's new cousin! Holidays just got a lot better!! They are waiting to find out what they are having so it is killing us all (Michael and I are thinking we may finally get a boy in the family :) Jamie has had some minor difficulties during this pregnancy so please keep her and the baby's health in your prayers (Also Russell b/c he has had a lot on his plate with juggling all of this plus work and school...kudos to him, Ya'll are both doing a great job!).
On Saturday we watched as the people as they started to arrive with their cookers and got their chili going. Michael's parents were able to join us since they live in Flower Mound and we were so happy to get to see them again! The day was filled with lots of laughs and food! Each team is judged on their chili and presentation, so many went the extra mile and wore costumes and decorated their table. There was also a dip contest which Michael and I both judged along with the chili. We were only judges this year, but next year Michael said he wants to play with the big dogs hehe. The girls finally got to meet more family members along with my step-mom's (Barbara) mom(we call her Grandmother). She is also a twin and loved getting to meet them and spend some time with them.



judging

Grandmother and Kai


Russell cooking away

Pops brewing his version

dips

so cute! its a Turkey




Grandma Lou and Kai

dad announcing the winners


Grandpa Alan and Jax

My fave....Clark Giswald from Christmas Vacation


Awww they won the toilet bowl...I thought their chili was good

Winners!



Thanksgiving!! 

We traveled to Cat Spring for Thanksgiving and spent Thanksgiving day with My mom and step-dad, Bobby. Unfortunately my sister was admitted into the hospital due to a kidney infection that caused her mucho pain so her and Russell were unable to attend Thanksgiving and had to spend it at the hospital :(  My step-sister and her two little ones did make an appearance and adored the girls! They were so great. They read to them and entertained them with toys (I asked Alison if she would let me take them home with me ;) We had a great time eating, eating, and eating some more.

Jax on the left and Kai on the right

Erin and Ava playing with the girls :)
After eating I headed to College Station for the big game, alone. Jamie was suppose to go with me to meet up with Dad and Barbara, but was unable to b/c of her hospital visit. Therefore, I had to find another candidate for the extra ticket. My friend Heather, who went to A&M was more than happy to take the other ticket and said that she was not happy with the circumstances of getting the ticket, but was happy she would get to sit in the stands (after the game she probably felt differently :/ ). The game started off well and it was exciting, but it just wasn't meant to be...a combination of bad mistakes, bad calls, and bad luck took the Aggies to a 27-25 loss to t.u.. The last time the two rivalry teams will play each other for a long time. I wish the results would have been different, but I was happy to be there and felt very grateful that after a loss like that I still had my wonderful family to come home to. During half time t.u.'s band did this...which I thought was pretty neat ;)

The announcer came on before and said that t.u. will miss A&M and "thanks for all of the memories" ready or not, SEC here we come!!
Saturday we loaded up and went to the Motl Thanksgiving in Bellville Texas. Again, the girls were able to meet a lot of family members and loved all of the attention! We had a blast eating some more and playing games with all of the cousins! Thanks for letting us and our million baby items invade your house Aunt Yvonne and Uncle Joe.















Class of 2001 Reunion!!

So I blinked and it had been 10 years since I was in high school...stuff your grasps please! Saturday after the Motl Thanksgiving we headed to Columbus to attend the 10 year reunion. Mom watched the girls and Michael and I were free to have a little fun. Well some things never change and the next morning I woke up thinking I was back in high school after the night we had. Needless to say it was soooo much fun and it was sooo great seeing a lot of faces I hadn't seen in years...10 to be exact! We have come to the conclusion that we want to have a reunion every year....Is this against the rules?

Okay my school is small but not this small...there were some people missing

love these girls..Stacy, Charlotte, and me

Eric and I

Nicole and I


Kairyn and Jaxyn

4 month pictures..Kai on the left and Jax on the right

We got our 4 month old shots :/ they did great, but mom and dad hate these! So at four months they are smiling and laughing, tracking, and holding their heads up for a long time, but still not rolling over. The doctor gave us the go ahead to start practicing with a spoon b/c he said their head control was really good. So we mixed some cereal with formula and put them in their little chairs and introduced the spoon. It was pretty funny watching them look at us like we were crazy. See they have been getting cereal in a bottle for awhile now so they were really wondering as to why they had to sit up like this and eat it off of this long thing. They are doing really good with this and are up to about 3-4 tbsp 3x a day. One more week of this cereal and then they get to experience veggies...something tells me this will also be funny.


De (my neighbor) and I have decided that we are going to make our own baby food to save money. Another friend of mine does it and she said that its super easy and saves her a lot of money. More on that when it actually happens lol. Jaxyn started hitting the toys on her play yard first and Kai figured out raspberries first so we think Jax will be our athlete and Kai our social butterfly. They have since both been hitting toys and playing with their tongues.


Their personalities are really starting to show and it is sooo fun! Michael and I have a blast with them and are still trying to figure out what we ever did without them around. I think we still both stop and ask ourselves if we really have 4 month old TWINS or if this is all just a really great dream. We thank God everyday that this is all very real!

3 months...I forgot to include this is last months blog

Arielle and Jax...she loves coming to visit especially when she has bad days...she says the babies make it all better :) we love her!

They love to read!


Jaxyn says its cold out hehe

Kairyn looks like shes scared a lot lol

Jax said it was hot in November

polar opposites sometimes (Jax on left and Kai on right)

We put them in the jumper for the first time..they weren't too sure about it :) this is Kai
 stay tuned for more adventures from our Breaths of Heaven <3

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Fall festivies, Baptized in Christ, and a special flower

So Halloween has come and gone :( which is bitter sweet for me. I am sad that Halloween is over but it just means that Christmas is right around the corner :) A lot has happened so here goes:

Halloween/Pumpkin Patch
My neighbor De was kind enough to go with us the the pumpkin patch to take pictures of the us and the girls. The pictures turned out great for how quickly we were there. The girls were hot and didn't think this was mom and dad's best idea.

Jax on the left and Kai on the right


Jaxyn

Kairyn loving this!

Jaxyn not loving it so much







On Halloween night we got together with the neighbors at our house and grilled hamburgers and handed out candy to all the little spooks. The girls were a cop and a doctor. Also, their bff neighbor, Paisley was a little piggie...too cute!! It was a lot of fun! Maybe next year we'll get the chance to take the girls trick or treating.
Paisley

Hanna and De

Vanessa (De and Hanna's mom) Hanna, De, and me


Hanna, her husband Andy, and Paisley
The cop (Kairyn)


The doctor (Jaxyn)


What's going on with the girls?

The girls are about to be 4 months old!! Wow so big already! They are growing up and doing so well! Since they are more aware of their surroundings we are having so much fun with them. They think we (actually just daddy) are the funniest people they have ever met. Here is a video of Michael and Jaxyn:

They are sleeping through the night!!! Never thought I would type those words. They get 3 naps during the day and two cereal bottles (one in the morning and one before bed time) and they sleep from 9:30/10ish to 6:30/7ish. In order to get to this point we did have to do the "cry it out" thing for a couple of nights. It was not a fun time for anyone, but we knew it needed to be done. Amber (our friend with identical twin girls) helped me out a lot with this. She also informed me that just when you think you have everything under control the girls will change again. Sooo we are not breathing a sigh of relief yet. We know there are many more obstacles and great times right around the corner. They have not rolled over yet, but any day now... They are able to hold their heads up for a long time and Jax wants to crawl and go places :)
Kai on left and Jax on right

I can't say enough how wonderful it is to have Kai and Jax in our life. Michael and I have no idea what we would do without their toothless smiles every morning. They have shown us what it means to love unconditionally.
holding hands..They love each other


such big girls :)
Kai and Jax got baptized!!
 On November 5, 2011 the girls were baptized! It was such a special time for all of us. Family came from all over to join in the joyous occasion and it could not have been more wonderful! It was so great to have all of the people that have played such a huge role in us growing in our faith show their support for Kairyn and Jaxyn taking their first walk with Christ. After the ceremony we came back to our house to continue the celebration. Kairyn and Jaxyn met Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Motl for the first time. Precious moments :) Kendl and Brian were so proud to stand up with the girls as their Godparents. Warms my heart to be so blessed with all these wonderful memories. Thank you Alan for taking pictures (I have been so bad about remembering my camera). Also, for future reference, if any one happens to catch some great memories on camera please share them with us so I can add them to the blog.

Kairyn

Jaxyn

Jaxyn thinks her daddy is the funniest

proud dad

Godparents Brian and Kendl Leatherwood





Not sure why this is sideways..had to add it bc its the only one with Father Tony

Jax

Kai


Aunt Mary and Jaxyn maybe?

Kairyn, Great Grandma Motl, and Aunt Yvonne

Kai and Aunt Am

Grandpa Alan and Jaxyn?

Great Grandpa and Kairyn and Great Grandma and Jaxyn


love this

and this...so special
 side note: Kairyn and Jaxyn were baptized with a little water from the river Jordan :) pretty cool huh?
 

Whats going on with mom and dad?

We have really been enjoying the extra sleep we are getting, that's for sure...Aside from that we have been really busy getting everything ready for all these special events and even got to spend a weekend with our favorites, Kendl and Brian for Texas State's homecoming. Nini (Cindy, Michael's mom) came and watched the girls so we could kinda come and go on Saturday for homecoming and for a night out on the big town of New Braunfels. It was so good to be able to let loose a little and enjoy each other's company without everything baby. We were very grateful to Nini for helping out and I'm sure she didn't mind spending time with the girls either ;)
Michael and I also got to attend Wurstfest (German festival here in NB) a few nights thanks to Megan staying on shift a little later than normal. Again it was nice to get away and enjoy our German heritage with lots of beer, great food, and music!
Me and Hanna (neighbor) and not sure who the kid is behind us, Hanna's old student maybe?


I also had a girl's night in Austin this past Saturday. It was so great to get to catch up with some of my favorite girls and lots of laughs were had! Thanks Michael and Nini for letting me escape for a day and night...(it was my first night away from the girls..I missed them like crazy)
Casey and Heather

Heather, Marti, Natalie, and me

The Natalies!
You all will be glad to know that we are on top of this Christmas card business this year. We had pictures taken this past Friday with a lady from Michael's networking group and hopefully we got some really good shots to make for a great Christmas card :) Check you mailboxes!

And I will leave you with this one last picture

 This is my first confederate rose bush. My mom gave me a piece off of hers from last year and I planted it over the summer. It is finally blooming so pretty. My mom told me that these flowers remind her of my Nanny (her mother) because they begin bloom in October and that is the month she past away. This bush will forever remind me of her now. I miss you so much Nanny and I would have loved for you to be able to meet my angels, but I know you are watching over us and I hope you are so proud of me.

Until next time..... <3