family pizza and movie night!

we love making pita pizzas at the hornacek house. especially when it's pizza AND movie night! kyri was very excited when i told her we were going to make pizzas together and watch "alien's vs. monsters"...a movie we had yet to see. for the pizzas, we used whole-wheat pita bread and i had many toppings to choose from...chicken sausage, mozzarella cheese, olives, spinach, green onions, and the tomato sauce of course. kyri had so much fun being creative with her very own, personal pizza. it was even more special that we were all able to cook together. creating memories in the kitchen...gotta love that! we loaded up our pizzas and into the oven they went. they were quite scrumptious. when our bellies were full, it was time to watch the movie! we cuddled together and enoyed our evening as a family...with a little popcorn on the side. so loving being a family of four.

kyri's creation...ready to go in the oven!

healthy and delicious!

mmmmm, mmmmm good.

happy birthday, nana!

on sunday, all of nana's babies and grandbabies surprised her on her birthday! that is really all that my mom ever wants, to be with her family. my sister organized the whole thing and it worked out perfectly. i made the cupcakes, my sister provided lunch, and my brothers brought over food too. we met up at my dad's shop so we could all arrive at the same time. when we got there, kyri walked in with kindra and kayla and she was so SURPRISED! all 4 of her kids and 7 grandkids were there to spend the afternoon with her, celebrating her special day. my brother and his wife came with their daughter, riley. she is almost a year old and is so adorable! kyri just played outside pretty much the whole time with her cousin, kindra. we all had lunch together and relaxed. it was a very peaceful day and the kids had a blast! kyri and kaden were able to have lots of precious nana time. we love you, mom. happy birthday!

marcus, kaden, kindra, kyri, kayla, melody, nana, and riley.

blowing out her birthday candles with the help of two beautiful girls.

kindra and kyri are lovin' those cupcakes!

the only 2 boy grandbabies...marcus and kaden.

kaden found his thumb all by himself at nana's house!

cousins.

kaden and melody finally meet! my sister, stephanie, and i were both pregnant at the same time and she had her baby, melody rose, 8 days after kaden was born. she was actually due before me, but our little man decided to come early. my mom, stephanie, and melody came up last week so we could spend the day together. it was so fun seeing the babies together! she sure is a precious little girl. can't you tell that kaden just loves her? too cute. we just relaxed at home, out of the hot-not-fall weather. such a nice visit and so good to meet kyri and kaden's newest cousin, melody. we love you, sweet girl!

buddy.

our little buddy. that's what we like to call our kaden boy.

oh buddy, buddy.

friendly visitors.

last week was filled with friendly faces! on tuesday, my dad and grandma drove down from paradise to visit us for the day. my grandma was in town from north carolina and just had to meet her great-grandson, baby kaden! my dad took us out to dinner at p.f. changs (one of our most fav places!) and we enjoyed a delicious meal together. kyri just loves playing with her papa. she just thinks he is so funny. their visit was short...but such a treat.


"baby maya!" kyri gets so excited when maya comes to visit! jenni and maya were visiting her mom and decided to stop by and spend one day of their trip with our family. yay! kyri and maya played and played...and played. even though they are two years apart in age, they had so much fun together! it was really nice to visit with jenni and catch up on life...and share our newest joy, baby kaden. she bought us dinner at our favorite local mexican restaurant, los gallos. thanks, jenni! it was a very relaxing day with friends. we always love it when the goodlins drop by!




our last visitor of the week was uncle andy! yay! he came up for the weekend to meet his new little nephew and to also see our dear friend, jackie, before she left for guatemala. kyri was beyond ecstatic to play with uncle andy and show him her baby brother! he surprised the two of them with light sabers. kaden is a little young, but i know daddy will enjoy having light saber battles with kyri. it is always a joy when uncle comes to visit us. we are so thankful he is close to us (for now) while he is in the air force. it's going to be so hard when we won't be able to see him as often. andy is so special to our family. love you, bro!

first month of his little life...

it really is true when they say, "they grow up so fast!" i remember that with kyri and now i'm living it again with kaden. i can't believe he is already a month old. our lives have changed so much now that we are a family of four. the joy is overflowing! we are all adjusting very well. some days are crazier than others. going from one child to two is not easy...but i'm loving every minute of it! my healing from the birth is pretty much complete. so much better this time around! i really took it easy for the first couple of weeks, thanks to kevin and grandma. kevin's mom, patti, came to stay with us the first week. she was kyri's companion, they did everything together. grandma loved on kyri, kevin took care of mommy, and mommy enjoyed every minute with her new baby boy. it was such a blessing to have her here. now if only grandma and grandpa lived closer...

kaden is such a sweet baby boy. the issue with his heart in the hospital is completely gone. we took him to the doctor the day after we got home and everything is normal. he also got his little manly procedure done and did very well. i think it was harder for kevin than for kaden. it is all healed now and he's a happy boy. he has had no trouble nursing (right from the start!) and is a great eater! he's a boy. now i'm just waiting for those baby chubbie-chubbies to come. kyri came out with rollies, but i know kaden will get his. i need something to pinch! he is sleeping good at night, just waking up once to eat, which means mom isn't too exhausted everyday. yay! we've had kaden on a consistent schedule and he has taken to it very well. baby wise is a life saver! we used it with kyri and she really was such a happy baby. we are having a little trouble with naps, but he'll get there. the birth announcements have been sent out. woohoo! we used the picture of him in the tonka truck and yes, i did take that picture. our plan is to take his picture in/with the truck as he grows. so fun. daddy is enjoying every minute with his son. he really loves having a newborn again and all of the precious moments we get to share as a family. it has been a lot easier this time around. kaden loves, loves, loves his big sister. he just looks at her and you can see that he adores her. i love my babies. they are both growing so quickly before my eyes. i don't even want to blink...i don't want to miss one moment of their lives.

sweet sleepy boy.

all cuddled up in his swing.

loves his daddy oh so much.

so glad grandma was able to meet her new grandson!

grandma and her grandbabies.

kaden's first bath after his little umbilical cord came off...it took forever!

clean baby.

turtle lips.

just chillin' on daddy.

he loves looking at himself in the mirror while getting his diaper changed...kyri did too!

can't get enough of that face!

gentle touch of his sister. precious.

sisterly love.

what can i say...kyri is in love with her baby brother. she is more precious with kaden than i could have ever imagined. she wants to be near him every minute, of every day. she wants to help mommy take care of him and be the "little mother" that she is. she loves helping change his diaper, give him a bath, and burp him after he eats. when he cries, she is right there to make sure he is ok. it melts my heart when she says, "i know, i know" to help him calm down. she pretty much repeats every word that mommy says to kaden. love it! oh...and she calls him "little fella." too adorable for words. kyri is very gentle with kaden. she understands he is very fragile and is always such a little love. she can't seem to kiss him enough, but he doesn't seem to mind. she has really transitioned into a big sister...a smooth transition at that. it has been such a blessing to watch how well kyri is adjusting to having kaden in our lives now. she really is doing a fabulous job at being a big sister! mommy and daddy are so very proud of our little girl. i pray that the love kyri has for her brother only becomes stronger as they grow-up together. you can just see the joy on her face when she looks at him. sisterly love. it's a beautiful thing.

first 24 hours with our boy.

the first day with our little boy was spent in the hospital, where we felt very cared for. the nurses were wonderful. they took such great care of us. i was pretty much in the bed the entire time. it's not easy walking after giving birth. it just...hurts. my mom was there with us and spent the entire day helping with whatever she could. kerri and her family brought kyri as soon as we were settled into our recovery room. i couldn't wait to see my little girl! when she saw her brother...it was love at first sight. so precious. she was so excited to meet him! we had a very sad moment shortly after, as they had to take him into the nursery to get a better read of his heartbeat. they noticed an extra beat and so they needed to do an EKG. when they took him away, kyri was so sad. she went out the door, sat outside, and started to cry. broke my heart. it was taking a while, so my mom took kyri home to get her some lunch and put her down for a nap. when they left, i lost it. i was aching for my kyri. i missed her so much.

kaden was in the nursery for what seemed like an eternity. when they brought him back, they said that the pediatric cardiologist needed to take a look at his EKG. i have to admit, i was scared. they also told us that we would need to stay a whole extra day. so not happy about that! we just wanted to go home. that evening was a very long one, with very little sleep. the nurses came in to check on the baby and i every couple of hours. at one point, the nurse said that she didn't hear any abnormalities with his heart. i was hopeful that it had passed. the next morning, kaden's pediatrician came in to give him an overall check-up. she listened to his heart and it sounded totally normal. she told us she wanted to do another EKG just to make sure and that we could go home that evening. we really pushed for not staying another night! kyri had already spent two nights away from mommy and daddy and we just wanted to be home with her. the doctor called at around 11:00 and told us that we could just go home when we were ready and that we would just need to bring kaden in the next day to her office to see her. yay! after a little over 24 hours in the hospital, we could go home! we filled out the last of the paperwork (birth certificate, social security, etc.) and packed our bags. we picked up kyri on our way home and we now had a full car...two carseats...two little ones. we were now a family of four. so good to be home.

getting all cleaned up.

precious face.

kyri meeting her baby brother for the first time.

already so in love with him.

kerri holding our sweet little boy.

kaden chillin' with tim.

rebecca came to visit us in the hospital and brought us an oreo milkshake and cherry limeade from sonic...such a delightful friend!

i could just look at his tiny face all day long. so beautiful.

precious moment with mommy.

ready to go home and see his big sister!