So Much To Be Thankful For

Happy Thanksgiving from the Kalivoda Family!!! We had a wonderful time in Oklahoma visiting Brad's family and we are a little sad to already be back in Lubbock (Brad had to work on Friday, so we left Thanksgiving evening and made that glorious 6 hour drive home!)
On our way home from Oklahoma last night, Maddox was wide awake just chillin in his car seat for the last 4 hours of the drive (keep in mind, we did not leave Oklahoma City until about 6pm, which would get us home around midnight....so for Maddox to be awake, not upset at all and it be almost 11pm, well, we were a little shocked to say the least) all of the sudden about 40 miles away from the house, Maddox starts counting. Now normally his counting sounds a little like this "One, two, one, two, one! Yeah!!!" So when Maddox started out with "One, Two...." we obviously assumed another "one, two, one" would follow.....well much to our surprise, Maddox just took off and said "three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten!!!! Yeah" Brad and I both sat there, looked at each other with the most bewildered look on our faces and couldn't believe what we had just heard. Maddox continued to count to ten the entire way home!! It was so funny! Way to go little man...you never cease to amaze us!!! Well, I was able to get his counting on video this evening while the Madd-man was taking a bath (please forgive the horrible quality of video, I had to stand in the hallway so he wouldn't see the camera...if he sees the camera he wants to see what is on it and will not let me take a good video any more....learning to be a little sneaky)

A few pictures from Thanksgiving! Thanks Kalivoda's for a great holiday..we had a great time and we can't wait to see you guys again soon! Miss you already!

Aunt Kim swinging Maddox!! He loves this girl! (So do I)

Papa Voda and Maddox playing on the four wheeler outside Bass ProDaddy and Maddox shooting a gun at Bass Pro

Oh the excitement of the huge fish at Bass Pro...Maddox was in heaven

Date Night

This evening I did NOT have to say :

"sweetie, please sit on your bottom"
"no, we do not put food in our nose, food is for our mouths. You can eat it or leave it on your plate"
"no, this is Mommy's drink, your cup is right here....Oh, I'm sorry you would rather have my drink, but your cup is right here...oh look at this fun straw...show me how you drink out of YOUR cup."
"sweetie, sit on your bottom....listen and obey or you will have a consequence"
"can you find the letter 'M' on this menu while we wait for our food"
"buckle? Would you like to try to buckle yourself in your highchair again?"
"no, we do not stick our fork in our nose. Your fork is for eating your food."
"no, we do not stick our fork in our ears either. Forks are for eating food only."
"no, you do not stick the spoon in your ears or nose either."
"oh thank you for listening and using your inside voice...that is a very good boy"
"where are your ears? Can you hear what we are asking you to do?"
"That's right, that is Green."
"I know that person is coughing, but it is not nice to mimic other people"
"No, I'm sorry we cannot go outside right now"
"I know you are finished and want to go, but we are not finished until everyone is finished eating"
"no, please don't stick your finger in your nose or ears......no, please don't stick your finger in Daddy's ear either"
"Yes, our waiter has a pen in his pocket.....No, it is not YOUR pen"


Thank you mom for watching Maddox this evening so Brad and I could enjoy a fabulous date night!!! Gosh, if you really think about it, dinner this evening was so boring...hahah. Brad, thank you for a wonderful evening....you are the best husband and friend I could ever ask for.

Catching Up....Again

Gosh, I have not been too great at keeping this blog updated....once again, I have no exciting or creative way to get you updated, so I will just start with last weekend....My good friend Rusty got married on Saturday and I had the privilege to be his Best Wo-Man....that is correct, I was a GroomsMaid and stood on his side..that was definitely a first for me, but I really enjoyed it and was honored to show my support for him and his new bride. Rusty and I have been good friends since we were 3 years old in the nursery at church; however, we joke that we really didn't like each other until junior high...he didn't like me when we were little because he says "thats the girl who knows all the answers" and I didn't like him because he was loud and rambunctious until junior high, then he was quiet and mumbled all the time..hahah. Please keep him in your prayers, he is in the army and will be deployed for Afghanistan in January...I cannot imagine how difficult all this must be on his new wife Amie and his family.

After the wedding on Saturday, Brad, Maddox and I loaded up and headed to Midland to see my best friend Sarah and her husband Dusty. We had some furniture to give them (still trying to figure out how to get the once used as a guest room cleaned out for a nursery) and I was excited to see her, catch up on everything and see her beautiful new house! We had a wonderful time and it makes me even more sad that we no longer live 11 seconds away from each other. Thanks again, Dusty and Sarah for your great friendship and your hospitality this past weekend....we can't wait to see you again soon!!

As far as Baby Voda is going, everything seems to be going great. I still have some "morning" sickness (anytime of the day) but not nearly as bad as a few weeks ago. I think I have felt him/her move, but I am not completely certain. We have an appointment December 10 and after that appointment they will schedule the ultrasound where we can hopefully see the sex of this little one...I am super excited!!! This pregnancy seems to constantly prove that no two pregnancies are ever the same....I am carrying this little one much differently than I did with Maddox and I am not gaining weight nearly as fast as I did with the Madd-man; however, I am sure that is mostly because I rarely have an appetite and I most certainly did NOT have that problem with Maddox. My heart is getting more and more excited about watching our family grow and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for us!

Sorry to ramble on so much, I will leave you with a video of Maddox dancing to his Thanksgiving card from Grandma and PaPa Voda (thanks again for the card, he loves it!!)

This Post is Brought to You by the Letters M, O, E, B

Here is a video of Maddox learning his letters

Random

Hello all!! Thank you for your support and encouragement as our secret is now out in the open. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am officially out of the first trimester and so far I am LOVING this second trimester......WOW I have energy again and it feels great!! Maddox has been so much fun lately (well, he is always fun, but we have had less and less discipline moments the last few days which helps this mommy enjoy the day much better). Brad asked me the other day what one of my favorite parts about being a mommy was and after a lot of thought....currently, one of my favorite things is watching Maddox learn new things. He currently counts to 3 and knows if there is one, two, or three items in front of him. He knows the letters "M" "O" and "E" and can find them on any page of a book or anywhere he might possibly see some letters...I joke that he learned to spell my name "Mom-e" I don't know why these 3 letters have stood out so much to him....but I love it!! He is learning his colors beautifully, but sometimes everything is "PINK" I have no idea that he even knew the color pink, but maybe he is letting me know to get ready for a lot of pink and prepare for a little girl...hahahah....I really have no idea, but you can ask him what color something is and he will say "pink" I will correct him and he will say "No, no, PINK" such a sweet silly little boy!

As I mentioned, I have had energy the last few days and I put that energy to use by putting up all of our Christmas decorations....I know, I am super early, but I wanted to enjoy it this year and not feel like I was rushing to get the tree up and then rushing to take it back down. I love it and I feel so relaxed and at peace when I see the pretty lights on the trees.....(Maddox loves the lights and the Trishmas Wree....aka the Christmas Tree...and the pretty "balls" aka ornaments)

I will take pictures and post them after a while.

Sorry this post was so random and I do not have a current picture to post; however, I will leave you with a picture of Maddox from this date last year.

Kalivoda Party of Four

This is a post I have waited roughly 13 weeks to write.

Looks like Maddox has been keeping a little secret:

(His shirt says "I'm going to be a Big Bro")

Brad and I are so excited to watch our family grow from 3 to 4 as we are preparing to welcome a new little baby Voda in May. I am about 13 weeks pregnant and we had our first ultrasound yesterday....everything is looking great....good strong heartbeat and it look like he/she was sucking its thumb.
Wow, this pregnancy has already proven to be much different than the first (which I expected). I did not have any morning sickness with Maddox and had a great appetite; however, my body is responding much differently this go around and I had all day morning sickness for about 8 weeks and I still do not have a huge appetite....Brad says it has to be a girl :) I am however feeling much better and I am gradually gaining more and more energy...I'm not sure how I run out of energy by the end of the day...its not like I am chasing a very active 21 month old around all day...hahah. Brad and I are both excited to have these little ones close in age and we pray they have an amazing bond and we can keep our sanity..hahah!!!
I have to say a special thank you to my amazing husband. I have been a ball of emotions this past week and he was been so supportive and uplifting and helps me laugh at the crazy hormones. Thank you Brad for your constant support and how patient you are with me....you are amazing and I love you more and more everyday.

Always Learning

Once again, the Lord is using this precious little boy to teach me more and more about His love and faithfulness. Let me attempt to put into words what the Lord showed me today. Maddox has entered a phase for a while now where he will drop or throw things that he actually wants and then get upset if he cannot reach them (when he is in his car seat, high chair or crib). Lately he has started to throw Raffie (his lovie, blanket, best friend) out of his crib and then he gets upset because he cannot get him back until I come in and give him to him. Well, this reminds me of my relationship with the Lord. Just like Maddox loves his Raffie and wants him by his side at all times, he has a laps of judgement and thinks for a second "I'll be okay if I throw him out of here for a little while. I don't have to have Raffie with me in my crib." Then Maddox immediately regrets that decision and needs help getting him back. My relationship with Christ is often somewhat similar. I love the Lord and want Him with me all through the day and night. I need Him to guide me, be my friend and love on me; however, there are times when I let myself think "Oh, I am sure I can handle this on my own. I don't have to have Jesus with me right now, I'll be fine." And more often than I like to admit, I push Him aside and attempt to live my life alone; however, I immediately regret that decision and desperately call for Him back. Now, unlike Maddox and Raffie, the Lord is right there as soon as I ask. Thank you Jesus for blessing our lives and showing us more and more of your love and faithfulness

Here are a few pictures from a couple weekends ago when we visited the Vodas!!!