Family of Four

On October 16th, our life forever changed again.  We were no longer a family of 3.  We were now a family of 4!  Hollyn Sabine Havlik entered the world bright and early and utterly perfect in every way. 

 

We headed to the hospital super early Thursday morning.  Dr. Gayle wanted me in labor and delivery by 5:15am.  While we were both filled with anticipation and excitement heading to the hospital, I have to say I didn’t feel as nervous as I felt when we headed to the hospital to have Haylen.  Maybe its because this time we at least had an idea of how things were gonna go down.  We’re weren’t flying blind anymore.  We had been through this once before.  Either way, we checked in through the ER and headed up to Labor and Delivery.  When we had Haylen, before my c-section we were put in a little prep/recovery room that was partitioned off by a curtain.  Not exactly the best accommodations.   It was super small and you could only have a few visitors come back at a time.  They got me all set and ready, and when it was time for me to go to the O.R. for my spinal, they left C.J. in that tiny partitioned room to wait…alone…until he could join me in the operating room for the birth.  Talking to C.J., that was the longest, most nerve racking time of his life.  Just sitting alone with his thoughts, in a little room, all by himself, waiting for the biggest event of life.  It might have been a little stressful for him. However, fast forward to Hollyn’s birthday, this time instead of the little prep room, we got our very own labor and delivery suite.  I have to say that this made things much more laid back and comfortable.  We were allowed to have family in the room with us while we waited for my c-section.  And this time, when I was taken back, C.J. wasn’t alone, he had both sets of our parents and our 2 and a half year old to keep him busy.  Here are a few pictures from before Hollyn’s big arrival.

 

My last picture with baby sis still in my tummy.

Who knew this little IV would give us so much trouble.  It took only 3 attempts and 2 nurses to get it in. 

Daddy all dressed and ready to go. 

Mommy and Daddy patiently waiting to meet our sweet baby girl.

Big Sis was passing the time playing photographer.

Before long, it was time to go meet our new baby girl.  I was taken back to the O.R. first to get my spinal, and C.J. came shortly after.  At 7:30 on the dot, Dr. Gayle pulled out our sweet little Hollyn Sabine.  She was absolutely perfect!  7 pounds 9 ounces and 20 inches long. 

Our hearts melted the minute we saw our sweet baby girl.

While she looked very similar, she was definitely much smaller than her big sis.

 

Our very first picture with our brand new baby girl. 

After she was born, she was taken back to my labor and delivery suite where she and Daddy waited for me to get sewn back up.  The other awesome thing about my L&D room was that everything that used to be done in the nursery (first bath, footprints, etc.) was now done in the room.  So we didn’t miss a moment with our precious baby girl.  Now, as for me, I was pretty tired after my c-section, and I really don’t remember too much other than trying my best to stay awake afterwards.  I honestly don’t remember too too much about going back to the labor and delivery suite to recover.  But what I do remember is that I liked this room MUCH better than the little recovery room I had with Haylen.  It was a much more intimate experience just knowing my sweet baby girl was in her bed right next to me instead of in the nursery. 

After my recovery time, we made it to the room where we would spend the rest of our stay in the hospital.  Take a look at Haylen that evening.  Apparently, the first day of being a big sis will WEAR. YOU. OUT!!!

Baby Hollyn just snoozing in Mommy’s arms that first night.

Of course Mommy had a nice big bow ready. 

Sweet little footprint.  So tiny!

Haylen is so in love with her baby sis!  The joy you see in her face when she holds Hollyn just melts my heart.

All dressed and ready to go home. 

We were discharged Saturday afternoon from the hospital and headed home to begin our life as a family of 4!  Well…

technically, family of 5 if you count her furry big sister who was super excited to meet her too! 

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Last Saturday was the perfect morning to just get in the kitchen and start baking.  A cool (I hesitate to use the word cold…I mean, seriously, it’s still September in Texas) front had just rolled in, it was overcast, and to me, it really felt like a fall morning.  I just couldn’t resist the urge to fill the house with the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg and further reinforce that fall feeling I had.  Recently, I’ve been pinning a million and one dessert recipes, so I decided to flip through them to see what sounded good.  When I came across a recipe for iced oatmeal cookies, I couldn’t pass it up.  They looked and sounded so good, not to mention I had all the ingredients to make them (that might have had a little something to do with me picking them).  So Haylen and I went to work…

 

Waiting patiently for our cookies to come out of the oven.  She loved checking on our cookies.

“Hey Mommy!  Look at my hat!”  What’s baking without a few shenanigans from my silly girl! 

These iced oatmeal cookies turned out amazing! 

They were such a big hit in our house, I’ll share the recipe so that you all can try them too!

 

Iced Oatmeal Cookies

Original recipe found here at Mother Thyme

 

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon balking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon gound nutmeg

1 cup butter (softened)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

-Pulse rolled oats in a food processor for about 10 seconds or until coarse

-Mix oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl.  I like to whisk all these ingredients together.

-Cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.

-Add in eggs (one at a time) and vanilla.

-Gradually add in the flour mixture and mix until combined.

-Roll dough into balls (I used a tablespoon to measure out the dough) and place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Make sure they are about 2 inches apart. 

-Bake for 10-12 minutes

-Cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire baking rack to cool.

 

Glaze

Ingredients:

2 cups confectioners sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (I added this for a little extra flavor)

 

-Using a whisk, mix confectioners sugar, milk, and vanilla extract in a medium bowl.  Taste the icing to see if you need to add the full 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla…this is simply based on your taste. 

-Once cookies are cooled, dip the tops of the cookies into the glaze.

-Put cookies back on drying rack until icing sets.

 

Enjoy!

Back to School

I feel like my poor little blog always gets neglected this time of year.  With school starting back up, focus seems to shift to getting everything ready for the new school year.  I’m sure any of you teachers out there would understand this.  So for now, my posts about our summer zoo trip and our awesome beach vacation are going to have wait just a little bit longer.  But in the meantime, here’s what’s been going on in the Havlik household as of late…

 

School started back up, kiddos and all, last Monday… 

I didn’t take any pictures until Thursday.  It was Aggie Game Day!!!  First game of the season called for new Aggie clothes for our whole family (Haylen and I went shopping Wednesday night.  I went to the mall needing make up and came back with new Aggie gear for everyone.  It just seemed like the right thing to do!).  Here’s Haylen modeling her new Aggie dress.  Gig’em!

We had a busy evening Friday.  I had a check-up and Haylen had gymnastics.  We quickly changed into her leo and put her hair up in a ponytail right after school and headed straight to the doctor’s office.  When we got out of the car, Haylen found this tree and sweetly requested, “Mommy take a picture of me in front of this tree.”  Who was I to deny her a few pictures!?!  By the time we finished snapping these, CJ drove up and we all headed in to the office together.  Baby sister had a great check-up and we ended our evening with some awesome Mexican food. 

This about sums up our Saturday.  Sometimes you just need a lazy Saturday to recover from your first week back at work.  There’s no tired like teacher tired after that first week of school.  Not sure what Zoe’s excuse was, but as you can see, she was lounging just as much as we were. 

I was totally productive on Sunday.  Guess I had to make up for the lack of motivation I had on Saturday.  We woke up early and hit the floor running.  Haylen and I made homemade pancakes, whole wheat pancakes to be exact.  Yummy AND healthy!  I may just have to post the recipe on here sometime.  Haylen loves to eat them and loves to help me make them.  I remember spending weekends in the kitchen with my Gran and I remember how special those moments were to me.  So, I can’t help but smile when Haylen is so eager to grab the stool, pull it up to the countertop, and be my little helper.  Just making memories! 

We had lunch at Carter’s Burger.  Nothing like a little ice cream after lunch.  From there we went to run all of our errands…, grocery store, Petsmart, Sam’s…all to get ready for the week ahead.  CJ’s mom came in later that afternoon while Haylen and I were snoozing.  Apparently, all those errands wore us out because we took a nice little, okay I’ll be honest here, nice long nap.  We finished the evening with a little Texas Roadhouse takeout.

 

Monday was a hard day.  One of our sweet second graders at school unexpectedly passed away over the weekend.  Death is never easy, but the passing of a child…words cannot express that feeling.  As a Mommy, it made me just want to snuggle my girl a little closer and make the most of every moment.  

On a happier note, I found out Monday afternoon that Haylen’s picture had won the Instagram contest at her gym.  I never win anything, like ever, so this was quite exciting!  We won back our fall registration fee. Woohoo!!!  Speaking of the gym, Haylen had class that evening and then we all went to eat dinner at Sodolak’s. 

While eating dinner Haylen informs me, “Mommy, I’m eating my orcas.”  Oh my!  That was supposed to be okra, but I couldn’t help but picture her trying to take a bite out of Shamu! 

 

Well, it’s now Wednesday, and we’ve made it halfway through the second week of school.  My goal is to do a better job updating this little blog, but we’ll see how that goes.  Baby sister will make her debut in about 6 weeks and we have lots to get ready before then.  So until next time…

Haylenisms

Haylen came busting out of the bathroom full speed holding her little stool.  I asked her, “What are you doing?”  She stopped for a brief second and quickly said, “I gotta see what’s going on,” and continued to run with her stool to the front door.


I was looking on Facebook one morning and made a comment to CJ about something I had read.  “Looks like we won’t be seeing the Scotts when we go to The Woodlands today.  They’re going to Haiti.”  Haylen, who I didn’t think was even paying attention to the conversation pipes up, “Haiti?”  CJ says, “Yes, Haiti.  Haiti is a country.”  To which Little Bit replies, “Dad.  I already know that.”

Haylen:  “Mommy you’re beautiful!”
Me:  “I think you’re beautiful too!”
Haylen:  “Yeah!  Beautiful like a princess!” (as she spins around in a circle like she is twirling in a big ball gown)

While riding in the car to gymnastics…
Haylen:  “We need to build a barn for the cowies.”
CJ:  “Cowies???”
Haylen:  “Yeah!  Cowies!  I just made that up! (giggling hysterically)

Haylen brings me a paper she had been drawing on and said:  “Mommy I made you a heart ‘cause I love you!”


While playing outside with Daddy, she fell down face first. 
Daddy:  “Whoa!  You ate it!
Haylen:  I ate it????  (picking herself up with a puzzled look)
Daddy:  “Yeah, ‘you ate it.’  You fell down.  (trying to explain that phrase to a two year old)
Haylen (without skipping a beat):  “Yeah.  I took a big bite!!!”

Haylen has recently decided that she likes discussing the weather.  Her favorite phrase is:  “Oh my.  It sure is a hot day today.”  She also changes the phrase based on the changing conditions:  “It sure is a windy day today.” 

At dinner the other night the following conversation occurs…
Haylen:  “Maybe we should buy baby sister her own high chair.” 
Me:  “She needs her own high chair?” 
Haylen:  “Yeah.  Not mine.  One that matches.”

At the beach Haylen was telling her Daddy about the treasure she had found in the sand… “I found treasure!!!  It’s GORGEOUS!!!” 

While on vacation this week, Haylen and I were sitting on the couch in the condo and out of the blue she turns to me and says, “Mommy, maybe we should buy a condo like this one.”  It took me by surprise so I repeated what she said just to make sure, “Did you just say we should buy a condo like this one???”  She looks a me with a huge smile and says, “Yeah! I like it!”  Boy how I wish we could have bought that condo. 

Speaking of that same condo, when Haylen first went in she kept running from room to room telling us, “This is AWESOME!!!  Mom!  Dad!  This is AWESOME!!!”  She was right.  It really was, but hearing it from a two year old was hilarious!  I mean, seriously, check out this kitchen.  It’s nicer than ours!

Our San Antonio Weekend Part 2

Day 2 in San Antonio was spent just hanging out by the pool at my sister’s house.   We played in the pool, grilled burgers and hot dogs, watched a little World Cup soccer, baked brownies, and, all in all, just had a really great time being with family. 

 

Here are a few pictures from our stay…

Playing with her new pool toys.

Swimming pool fun! 

Haylen convinced Uncle Mike the pool was WAY more fun than the patio.

Looks like she was right!

We sure are going to miss everyone when they move to Michigan.

After playing in the pool, sometimes you just need a little snack.

Back to swimming in the pool.

Sometimes you just gotta busta’ move!

Haylen was cracking us up dancing to the music.

The child has some serious dance moves!

Look at that face!  Daddy taught her how to impersonate Mick Jagger.  Oh. My!!!    

After swimming, Haylen and Aunt Missy baked brownies.

Sunday morning, of course, we all went and had breakfast at the Magnolia Pancake Haus.  Same place as all the other times, just a different location.  I’ve got to say, I like this location on Huebner Rd. much better.  It’s not the food, that’s amazing at both locations, I just liked how this was a stand alone building as opposed to being part of a strip mall.  Honestly, just thought it was prettier.  

On Sunday, instead of heading back early to go home, we decided to go do a little shopping at The Shops at La Cantera.  I needed a new pair of sunglasses and well, they have a Baby Gap.  I couldn’t, just couldn’t, pass up a trip to Baby Gap.  After shopping we stopped for a little snack.  Haylen LOVES Auntie Anne’s pretzel nuggets.

 

Our weekend in San Antonio was great!  We sure are going to miss having Aunt Missy, Uncle Mike and Preston just a car ride away. 

Our San Antonio Weekend Part 1: Sea World

About 3 weeks ago, our family packed up and headed to San Antonio, well Helotes to be exact, for the weekend.  My sister who lives there is about to move out of state, so this would be our last trip to their house before their big move. 

 

We got there Friday afternoon, unloaded, picked up my nephew, and headed off for an afternoon of fun at Sea World.  Now, it has been years, and I do mean years, since either CJ or I had stepped foot in Sea World.  When we arrived, we needed to eat.  After renting a stroller, which I totally recommend due to the fact that strollers are not allowed into any of the shows or into most attractions (I’m not all about leaving our good stroller hanging out unsupervised), we headed to the nearest restaurant.  You want another one of my recommendations?  If coming to the park around lunchtime, eat before you get there.  The line was crazy long and the food, well, it was park food.  Once we were done eating we went to find the sharks.  From the minute we told her we were going to Sea World, Haylen had been so excited to see the sharks.  We found the shark exhibit and it went a little something like this…   

 

“Mommy!  Look at that guy!

And that guy!!!

Mommy!  Daddy!  LOOK AT THAT GUY!!!!”  All while jumping up and down.

Needless to say, the sharks might have possibly been her favorite attraction.  From the sharks, we walked all the way across the park to the Shamu show.  Remember how I said we hadn’t been to Sea World in quite some time?  Well, let’s just say, the Shamu show isn’t as exciting as I remember.  Now that the trainers aren’t allowed in the water with the whales, it’s just not the same.  Kinda boring if you want my honest opinion.  They tried to spice it up a little with big screens and videos, but really all the whales can do is swim around the tank, jump out of the water a little, splash the crowd, wave, and repeat.  Gets a little old after a while; however, due to the crazy standing room only crowd you’d never know it wasn’t that exciting.  The best part of the show was watching Shamu and his family swim around the tank after the show was over and everybody had left the stadium.  This was the part Haylen enjoyed the most.

From the Shamu show, we went right on over to the next show.  The show we really could not miss, Elmo Rocks!  Haylen loved this one! 

Elmo, the Sesame Street crew, upbeat music, did I mention Elmo?

Who knew Ernie could be so cool!?!

We took a little break from the shows and went to see the sea lions after Elmo.

I seriously think she could have watched them for hours.  Maybe that was due to the fact she found a great place to see that wasn’t packed with millions of people.

We watched one last show before leaving the park, and I have to say, I am so glad we did.  This show definitely made up for the lack of entertainment Shamu provided.  The Azul show did not disappoint. 

The show was funny, exciting, entertaining, AND the trainers were allowed to get into the water with the animals.

I’d highly recommend going to see this show.  By the time Azul was over, Haylen was fading fast.  We stopped at the gift shop on the way out for 2 t-shirts and a stuffed Shamu, and our sweet girl barely made it out of the parking lot before crashing in her carseat.