36 weeks.

the final stretch. less than four weeks to go. will he be early? will he be on time? the waiting begins. kyri was 2 days early, so i just have this feeling he will come early too. check out that belly! low and GIGANTIC. i don't so much feel like a humongous whale...i just waddle like a duck everywhere i go. if you have ever been pregnant, then you know the heaviness of that baby belly that comes in the last few weeks. it really is such a huge amount of weight to carry around with you and in such an uncomfortable place. i'm needing to pee every 5 minutes because his head is pushing ever so gently (not quite) on my bladder. it's his little pillow. so convenient. sleeping these days is not an easy task, by any means. i've been having contractions everyday, just a few here and there. this is the hardest part of the pregnancy...uncomfortable, achy, tired, hot, and just ready to be done. i hope kaden is getting ready for his arrival!

i just finished a wonderful birthing book, ina may's guide to childbirth. it was inspiring and just an amazing book to read. ina may gaskin is known as THE midwife and has delivered hundreds of babies. the book gives an outlook on the birthing experience in a way that is so very beautiful. our society puts such an emphases on the "pain" part of birth and pushes aside the beauty of the experience and the fact that as women, giving birth is what our bodies were made to do. i feel so empowered now! i'm not scared to go without an epidural with this delivery. i am actually really looking forward to having kaden naturally. it will be such a different experience in so many ways. please pray that delivering in a hospital will not put a damper on this birth and that they will be respectful of my wishes. i will labor at home as long as possible, just to be in a more comfortable environment. i just can't believe it will all be happening in a matter of days! God has blessed me with an easy pregnancy, with no complications. i really do love being pregnant, but now i'm ready to meet my son. kevin, kyri, and i are counting down the days until we get to bring our baby kaden home.

family baby shower

while kevin was away at his brother's wedding in omaha, my mom had a baby shower for me in paradise. kyri and i went down there on saturday and stayed the night. it was a great stay! kyri loves loves loves spending time with her nana. my baby shower was really nice and a great time to catch up with family and friends. my sister, stephanie, is also pregnant and is due august 11...only 4 days before me! crazy! this is her fourth and she is having a girl. my poor mom is going to be on call for two babies...hopefully we won't go into labor on the same day! you can really see how low kaden is when you compare our bellies. the shower was at cindy's house, a family friend who i just love spending time with. other than fun baby gifts given at the shower, there was a lot of yummy food to eat. always good for the pregnant mamas. there was also a lot of babies to kiss and hold. my sister-in-law was there with her little one, riley, and she is getting so big! i will soon be holding a baby of my very own...i'm ready. thanks, mom, for a wonderful baby shower and all that you did to make it so very special. i'm set! kaden, come meet your family, who already has an abundance of love for you!

mom and her two, very pregnant daughters.

kyri blowing bubbles with her cousin, kindra.

we're both going to be big sisters so very soon!

even though he had nothing but wonderful things to say about d.j. and andrea's wedding...he was sad they didn't have wedding cake. so when kyri and i got home on sunday from our trip to paradise, we made a "welcome home, daddy!" cake. chocolate cake with strawberry frosting...he was a happy daddy. happy to be home with his girls and happy to have a scrumptious cake awaiting his arrival!

baby kaden's room

"abc 123" is the theme that i chose for baby kaden's room. my first project was to paint these canvas letters/numbers to hang above his crib. they may look simple, but they took forever and ever to complete. maybe it's cause i'm such a perfectionist. it was worth the time because i love how they turned out!

his crib bedding is super cute. i found it at target and fell in love. i love the poka-dots and the crib skirt, which has numbers and letters all over it, in every color. i'm sure he'll sleep quite well in his cozy bed!

i found these curtains at marshall's for $3.50 each...what a steal! i had to hem them and i also sewed on the brown ribbon at the top. i painted the red circle coat hangers, which were only 50 cents at michael's. i'm such a bargain shopper!

here is where we will change about a million diapers in the next few years. can't wait! i painted the letters for his name, which was another time consuming project. so glad to be done with all of the painting, sewing, and washing of little baby boy clothes. we are ready for kaden's arrival...the final countdown is on!

kyri's new room

kyri's new room...which she is still just as excited about as the first day she slept in her big girl bed! she loves her birdy bedding set. i found it at wal-mart for only $35, which included the comforter, sheet set, and pillow sham...and it's organic cotton! the letters are from her old room, but i repainted them to match her new room. i just love the color scheme!

kyri's comforter came in a bag made from the same fabric, so i cut out 3 birdies and framed them. $3 frames and coordinating card stock and you have pretty cute, inexpensive decor!

kyri loves to play with her kitchen and make tea for daddy. i painted the coat rack and added the picture of grandma and grandpa...one of my faves. we sure do wish they lived closer.

we used daddy's cube organizer from college to store kyri's toys, books, and puzzles. just using what we already had! most of her toys moved over to her room, but all the baby toys stayed in kaden's room. all together we have more than we know what to do with!

kyri sleeps in until 8:00 every morning...i think it's safe to say she loves her new bed. we are so happy she is still so excited about her new room. she is even more ready now to be a big sister in just a few, short weeks!

God bless america.

happy fourth of july!

american flag in hand...ready for the downtown lincoln parade to begin. we love living in a small town!

kyri enjoying her yummy, blue popsicle.

look at those big horsies, daddy!

sure do love celebrating special days with my family.

cute as can be...our little red, white, and blue princess.

always smiling when she's with her daddy.

beautiful fireworks show...another reason we love lincoln.

kyri cuddling her daddy. she loved watching the fireworks. not so much the loud noise. the weather was beautiful and the fireworks were amazing...just like the past 5 years!

fun sun-day with the hennings!

the hornaceks had a blast at the hennings...splashing in the pool and eating a yummy barbecue dinner! kevin had a long weekend last week so we had lots of time to hang out with friends. the henning family had us over to their place for some fun in the sun! kyri got to swim in the pool with madelyn and sophie...she was in heaven! my little fishy. daddy helped her and mommy cooled off too, while chatting with angela. it was oh so relaxing. kyri fell and got her first real big cement scrape on her elbow. ouch! she hated wearing a band-aid, but it's doing much better now.

to end our fabulous evening...can you say ice-cream at leatherby's?! amazing! they have leatherby's in redding, but we haven't been to one since we moved to lincoln. the hennings live in sacramento and have one just down the street. it's their family fave! kevin and i ordered a GIANT banana split and shared it with kyri too. it was more than enough for our family of three. actually...i can never have enough ice cream. the home-made caramel sauce was the best part! the girls had fun being silly together and everyone left with bellies full of real good ice cream. perfect.

so ready to dig into our heavenly treat!

look mom! it's bigger than my face!

silly faces.

little beauties.

baby shower and wonderful friends.

my friends, lauri and kerri, gave me the most wonderful baby shower for baby kaden! there were over 20 women there (and lots of little ones too) and i just felt beyond blessed the entire evening. jenni and maya were able to come too, which was an extra special bonus! we had a pot-luck dinner, with lots and lots of delicious food. my fav was this amazing chinese chicken pasta salad...i could have eaten the entire bowl! after dinner, we played a couple of games and started opening gifts. i always hate that part because all of the attention is on me. however, i was showered with so many precious gifts for kaden! lots of blankets, diapers, baby toiletries, books, and stylish' outfits for my little man. best gift...cutest diaper cake ever made by lauri! the diapers were wrapped in these amazing muslin blankets that i can't wait to wrap around baby kaden. i am so set!

i was completely overwhelmed by the countless blessings that i received from all of my dear friends. God has placed so many amazing women in my life since we moved to lincoln and i can not thank Him enough. lauri and kerri...you outdid yourselves. my shower was perfect in every way. i feel even more ready for this baby to arrive. not only because of the abundance of blue that is overtaking the nursery...but the support and love that is overflowing from all of my friends. thank you so much!

mommies and their girls.

my adorable and delicious cake!

so happy jenni could be here for my shower!

kyri lovin' on her baby brother.

gabriel, maya, and kyri just being cute.

three prego mamas showin' off their cute baby bumps!

five little onesies on a line.

thank you, lauri and kerri! love you both!

the goodlins are back in town!

we had a wonderful visit with our dear friends, the goodlins! we were one of their stops on their california road trip. it is always a joy to catch up with jenni and brett and their little maya is growing so fast! kyri counted down the days until they arrived...she couldn't wait to have maya come and stay with us! they were inseparable the entire time and maya just followed kyri everywhere she went. kyri wasn't too fond of the messes maya would make...as if she never makes messes herself. they played together so well and kyri was in heaven having a little friend to play with...a pretty darn cute one at that!

i made a yummy pancake breakfast for all of us and then it was off to the library! maya and jenni joined kyri and i to pick out our free books and then we took the girls to jamba juice. they loved that! my friends planned my baby shower on a day that jenni would be here...such a treat! while the girls went to the baby shower, kevin and brett had a guys night out. they saw transformers 2, went out to dinner, and then went to ride some manly go-karts. they had fun, while we enjoyed the party to celebrate baby kaden! even though their visit was too short, we loved every minute of our goodlin time. whenever we see them, it seems as though no time has passed. that is a sign of true friends that will last forever!

checkin' out their new books at the library.

the girls enjoying their jamba juice...mmmmm good!

maya being as cute as can be.

naked babies!

the best we could get...love you guys!

daddy's day.

for father's day this year, we kept it simple. we went to church in the morning and then out to lunch to kev's choice...rubio's! we love their mexican food. uncle andy came up for the weekend, so he joined us as well. it is always so wonderful when he can visit the hornacek family! the night before, kyri decorated a special father's day cake for daddy. i frosted the cake in white frosting and wrote the word "dad" and she did the rest. it was her idea to put the m&m's on the letters and to make the squiggly "worms" on the side of the cake. she is so creative and was quite proud of her masterpiece! kyri also made daddy a pirate card. with a little instructions from mom (how to draw an eye patch), she drew daddy a pirate all by herself! he even has a sweet sword. she couldn't wait to give him his card! we also bought for daddy a new hat, undershirts, and a pair of pirate robeez for kaden...which i knew he would think were pretty cool. he is so excited to have a little boy! we were all able to take a glorious nap on father's day...a must on any sunday. we finished the day with mommy making a yummy dinner of steak, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and fresh peaches. the cake for dessert was deeeelicious! after kyri went to bed, kev and i watched transformers...probably one of kev's top 5 favorite movies. he has already seen the second one, now he just needs to take me to see it too!

we love you, kevin. you are such a loving dad to our beautiful kyri. you are going to be such a wonderful role model for your son, kaden. i can't wait to watch you love and care for him. my prayer is that he will grow up to be a Godly man, with a such a servants heart...just like his daddy. thank you for always giving so much of yourself to your children. kyri adores you in more ways than you will ever know! her highlight of everyday is seeing her daddy walk through the front door. you are such a joy to all of us.

32 weeks.

less than 2 months to go...can it be? i feel HUGE, but everyone tells me i look great. thanks, friends! i am feeling more and more ready for this baby to come. kadens room is all ready for him. it's super cute and i know he will love it! i have more baby boy clothes than i know what to do with, but they will sure get plenty of use! now i just need to wash all of those tiny clothes. my friends kerri and lauri are giving me a shower for kaden tomorrow, which i can't wait! my bestest friend jenni will be able to come because her family arrives later tonight. we've been looking forward to their visit for months! my mom is also giving me a shower in a couple weeks, when kevin is in omaha for his brothers wedding. so i'm going to be set! having a baby has many blessings...i just want to hold him in my arms. i'm so ready to see his precious face.

six flags!

last week, kyri and i went to six flags discovery kingdom for the day with lauri and her two boys...it was a blast! i felt pretty brave venturing out to an amusement park without kev, but i knew kyri would have so much fun. she did of course! lauri has season passes and had free passes for kyri and i...can't beat that! it was a gorgeous day and kyri was just so happy to be with friends, at such a fun-filled place! we went to the killer whale and dolphin show, kyri and gabriel rode a few rides all by themselves (so big!), we saw lots of animals, fed the sea lions, met the looney tunes gang, bought superhero capes for kyri and daddy, and we all ate WAY too much cotton candy. what a combination for a perfect day!

i just love six flags!

so big on the jeep ride all by themselves!

she loves her buddy, gabriel.

blue cotton candy...doesn't get much better than that.

riding the helicopter ride with lauri. they wouldn't let prego moms ride on anything...even the carousel. silly.

garrett, gabriel, and kyri checking out the sharks.

love you!

fish in hand...ready to feed the sea lions!

chuga - chuga, choo - choo!

mama and her sweet, little girl.

kyri and gabriel with bugs bunny!