Happy First Birthday P

Happy Birthday P, P-Nut, PaxMax, P-Diddy, HotRod, Little P,  Paxton James Kalivoda! How is it possible that a year has already come and gone with you as a part of our family?! I cannot imagine our lives without you in it, and we are beyond blessed to have the honor of being your parents. You are the sweetest little guy with a BIG personality that we are gradually getting to see more and more of as you get older and more "communicative"
What are you up to these days Mr. Paxton?
Weight: 23 pounds
Size 4 diapers
Size 12-18 month clothes
Crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything.
You will walk while holding onto a piece of furniture, but I do not see you taking any unassisted steps anytime soon (I am in no rush for you to be fully mobile and running circles around me)
You still only have 2 bottom teeth and are working on ALL the rest of them. Your poor mouth is constantly swollen and a puddle of drool accompanies you at all times. I may have felt the top two teeth poking through today, but I'm not positive.
You are finally taking a little of your milk from a sippy cup...hopefully we can get rid of the bottle very soon.
We were able to say so long to your liquid gold formula and you have taken to whole milk like a champ. It has not bothered your tummy at all!! Yippee
You love to throw things and you have a pretty good arm on ya.
Your favorite toys are any toys that are in your brothers room; although his work bench and a bolt are by far your favorite things to play with.
You are such a sweet little guy when you want to be, and you are not a fan of strangers or loud noises

Paxton James. Our lives have been forever changed because of your amazing presence in our family. We love you more and more everyday. This first year has been amazing and we are so blessed to have you as our youngest little Voda!! I am so excited to watch your relationship with your brother grow stronger as you guys learn to play together. I pray you and Maddox have an unbreakable friendship that grows throughout the years. I pray you come to know the Lord, Jesus as your Lord and Savior at a very early age and surrender your life to loving and serving Him. I pray you show compassion and respect to everyone you encounter. I pray you grow strong, smart and healthy. I pray you change the world. Oh sweet Paxton, I pray you become the man the Lord created you to be.
We love you little man!! Happy first Birthday!!!

Picture Perfect

When I found out we were pregnant with our first little boy over 3 years ago, as soon as the little "boy parts" were pointed out on the black and white screen during our 18 week sonogram, a simple yet very vivid image immediately filled my mind. I saw a small, blond haired preschool aged boy sitting at our dinner table, wearing a super hero cape and simply enjoying being a BOY.
This evening, that once day dream vision became a reality as I sat at the dinner table enjoying a family meal with my 3 boys, laughing at our eldest, blonde haired preschool aged little boy eating his meal while wearing his RED Super Man Cape!! I had not invisioned that daydream since that day more than 3 years ago, but as I sat there listening to Maddox talk and talk and talk, the exact image came flooding back..it was perfect. This life perfect. While some days are more than challenging, this is exactly what the Lord had planned for me and HE reassured me that HE is in control by allowing a simple daydream to be preformed picture perfectly right in front of my eyes!

While I was too much in awe of what the Lord was showing me at dinner tonight, I did not take any pictures of him eating in his cape, but here are a few of the Super Hero playing a race car game with Daddy!!

Today

Today I took Paxton to the doctor.
Today I found out Pax has bilateral ear infections and a sinus infection. Bummer.
Today Maddox was super grumpy. Bummer.
Today I am discouraged.
Today I am adapting, changing, and revamping my parenting style with Mr. Maddox.
Today I am tired.
Today I am thankful for bedtime.
Today I read "As a parent you are constantly faced with challenging situations. The very fact that you face challenging, even overwhelming situations is a testimony to this: For some reason, the Creator of the universe seems interested in your personal growth."
Today I live and breathe that very statement.
Today I am thankful that tomorrow is a new day.

I saw the Sign

Paxton is finally picking up on sign language a little bit....he has learned to sign "more" (he usually just kind of claps, but he gets the point; however, he does not do this very often and usually just grunts and gets fussy...oh so frustrating for he and I) and he signs for "finished". Paxton has gotten really good at signing "finished". It is great that he is finally able to communicate with us, and we are able to provide what he is needing/wanting a lot easier this way. However, sometimes it doesn't always work to OUR advantage. I just walked into his room during nap time to tell him to lay down in his crib for nap time and he just looked up at me and signed "finished". Hahha...well, sorry little man, you haven't even taken a nap, you are most certainly not finished with your nap today!!!

Can any of you believe this little man is going to be a year old this week!?!? Crazy!

Oh Boy!

oh sweet Maddox....you are definitely keeping me on my toes these last few weeks (well, in all honesty, when has Maddox NOT kept me on my toes??)  You are a ball of never ending energy and you have the ability to talk non stop all day long. I am not exaggerating here, Mr. Maddox from the minute you wake in the morning to the minute you finally go to sleep you are talking ALL day long....sometimes it can be very exhausting! The new stage we are entering is the glorious stage of talking back and constant arguing! You have always known what you want and how you want it, now you are fully capable of verbally expressing those desires and often times it is NOT pretty. We have started taking toys away when you talk back or disrespectfully argue with Mommy or Daddy, and this seems to work a little bit better than time-outs for you.
Oh sweet boy, you can be the sweetest thing when YOU want to. You are constantly telling me that you love me and you can give some of the sweetest hugs. I love you to the moon and back and I always will, no matter what stage we are in; however, I will not be the least bit upset to see you leave this awesome stage behind us!!

Fun Outside

Spring is upon us and we are thrilled...we are anxiously awaiting beautiful warm summer days!! With the warmer weather (unfortunately accompanied with a ton of wind) means that we play outside as much as possible!

Super-Maddox

My precious boys at a car show

Funny story, Maddox LOVED this Chick-fil-a cow; however, Paxton was NOT a fan, he cried so hard..poor guy

Let's make good use of this wind and fly a kite!!

Fun afternoon at the Park

"Old, Like Daddy"

Well, I have mentioned previously about how trying the 3s are in our household. I read somewhere, that the 3s are so much harder because they are not only exhausting physically (with all the "busy" work that comes with taking care of a newborn) they are also exhausting emotionally and mentally. I agree with that statement completely; however, I am also learning that the 3s can be very entertaining as well. Watching Maddox take in the world around him with logic and more understanding is absolutely mind blowing and very fun to watch.
Currently, Maddox is desperately trying to grow up and become "old, like Daddy!!" (Maddox's words).
In fact, while driving home from school today, Maddox stated "Mom, I need you to pack my bag because I am going hunting tomorrow. It's okay Mommy, I always come back. Don't be sad."
Hahhahha....well, okay. I guess my 3 year old is going hunting. I asked him what he was going to hunt and he was not exactly sure, but he did inform me that when Paxton gets "his old", he could go hunting too.  I was then informed that when Maddox is "old, like Daddy" then he will be able to go hunting, drive a race car and fly a helicopter.
Don't grow up too fast on me little man. Take your time, soon enough you will be "old, like Daddy" but for now lets just enjoy being 3 and viewing the world as an innocent 3 year old.

It is crazy to listen to a small, but very intelligent little boy dream about all the things he can do when he gets older. I love to watch him grow up, but I try so desperately to encourage him to stay little as long as he can.
I often wonder if this is how God feels about us sometimes. We are so eager to get to that next step in life, to get "old like Daddy" and experience new and different things...accomplish more and receive more privileges. I wonder if God says to us "Slow down my sweet child. You will get there soon enough. Take your time and enjoy what is in front of you....I will guide you, but be patient and enjoy the life I have laid out before you."

This evening, my goal is simple. I am going to enjoy the life in front of me. I am going to embrace the 3s and the challenges with a non verbal yet opinionated almost one year old and I will love the here and now without wishing away this very fulfilling life in front of me!

Swinging

Oh sweet Brothers. Once again, I find it interesting to look back at pictures of Maddox and compare the boys looks and personalities!!! 

(Maddox was almost 15 months old here and Paxton is 11 months)