Day Date

Being a mommy it three little ones is the most rewarding and challenging job I can imagine. One of the biggest challenges include finding one on one time with each kiddo, especially Maddox now that he is in school everyday. This week I had the rare opportunity to take Maddox on a mini date after school. I loved getting to visit with him without interruptions. I loved getting to see his gentle spirit without getting distracted with his brother or sister.
He is such a special little boy who makes a mark everywhere he goes. In the single month he has been at his new school, he has made the staff all fall in love with him. I wish I could be has confident as he is and I pray I continue to guide him to be the world changing man he is already becoming

Finding her Place

Finding her place in the land of boys!

 Harper the viking 

I love that she will play babies cuter than any tiny human I have ever watched before and then pick up a car or truck or a viking helmet and hang with the boys for a while. 

Sicky

Oh our sweet eldest little boy is sick sick sick. I mentioned in the previous post that he came home from school not feeling very well so I kept him home from school today. Well, after nap, he started running a pretty high fever  and our nurse practitioner told us to come in for a flu test today. Welp, he most definitely has the flu (the test came back positive within seconds) with the body aches, high fever, nasty cough and over all feeling crummy. Poor baby. He is handling it well (as well as you can at 6 years old) and he has now started some medicine to try to help it. Paxton has also started the meds in hopes to prevent catching it and we are instructed to keep a close eye on Harper and call the office if she starts running fever and they will start her on the meds as well (she cannot have them as a preventative measure until she is 2). Please join me in praying for a rapid recovery and that no one else catches it. (As a side note, when I informed his teacher that he tested positive for the flu she informed me that 4 other kids in his class tested positive for it as well....sheesh, 5 kids out of 14 all out with the flu at one time.....nasty nasty bug).

Random

 Oh the difference a year makes!! When I opened my computer this morning, my iphoto opened to this day last year, and this is the picture that appeared:

 Oh my sweet, chunky Harper Grace sporting her leopard tights, boots and a super cute bow.....so, I decided to dress her similarly and do a little comparison....here she is today:

 Sporting her leopard tights, gold boots and the same super cute bow (thanks Grandmom Voda). WOW! It is fascinating to see how quickly they grow up and how much changes in a years time!!

 Harper and Daddy at lunch (despite the non smile from Brad, he really was having a good time....and this was Harper giving her "bashful" smile. HA)

It is also fun to see how far Paxton has come in a years time. He is becoming much more social and such a spunky kiddo. He was SO loving today. I think he told me he loved me a good thousand times and it was the sweetest most sincere words from my little man. So proud of how far he has come and the little boy he is becoming. His teacher said he is doing well at school and learning to express himself by using his words rather than crying or getting angry. Oh and he is getting SO skinny. The kiddo doesn't eat a ton and he is growing taller but not wider. His pants have to be cinched in as far as they will go because he needs the size 3 for length but could still wear 24 months for his tiny little waist. Such an opposite of Maddox at this age. Maddox was such a chubby little baby that he had to have the bigger pants for his waist and we had to roll the pant leg so he wouldn't trip over it!!

nothing better than a cheeto snack after school

And this little man is doing so good at his new school. We absolutely LOVE his new teacher and he is learning so much everyday. He is exhausted when he gets home in the afternoons and crashes in bed at about 7pm. He came home from school feeling pretty crummy today, so off to the doctor we went. He has a viral infection and swollen sinus cavities. Nothing contagious unless he gets a fever, but he was so pitiful this afternoon, he actually started crying in the car after school because his throat hurt so badly. Poor kiddo.

Handsome fella in his chapel attire for school

And here we are this evening. The Kalivoda trio are all in bed and we are partying it up with miss Ruby Grace while her mommy and daddy have a date night!!!

Seriously....could she be any cuter!?! 

Welp, that was a super random post, but that is life around here. Full of love and very random!!

Easy peasy lemon squeez-y

So, today, Harper Grace was sitting with my mom and looke up at her and said "poo poo" she then proceeded to grab me by the hand and take me into the bathroom as she pointed to the little potty. I undressed her and placed her tiny hiney on the potty and she went tee tee on the potty. Wowzers. She seriously might be the easiest baby on the planet, especially if she potty trains herself!! Ha. Just remind me of that when she is a teenager and I'm about ready to pull my hair out (well that is if I have any hair left with two teenage boys in the house at that time as well). 

Lost in Translation

The other day we took the kids to a Japanese Hibachi place. They were excited to watch the dinner cooked in front of us. Brad was ordering an appetizer and asked Paxton if he would eat a California Roll. Paxton got excited and said "YES!!" (I thought, WOW, who is this kid. He is such a picky eater most days...maybe I just need to expand his palate a bit).
When the California Rolls arrived Paxton started crying and said "No, I wanted a CINNAMON ROLL"
HAHAHAHAH. Oh my mercy. That is the Paxton I know so well! I guess it got lost in translation a little bit.

Maddox is 6

6 years old!!!

Happy Happy Birthday Maddox Bradley. I cannot believe we are celebrating your 6th birthday! You are turning into such an amazing little man. You are kind. You are thoughtful. You are spunky. You question everything around you. You are smart. You are a go getter. You love school. You love life. You love people. You are confident. You are the best big brother to your baby sister....there is always work to be done with that relationship you have with your brother. You love your daddy and want to be just like him. You love me so tenderly and genuinely. You are a people pleaser. You know what you want, when you want it, and most of the time you find a way to get it. 6 years ago you forever changed my life gave me the title of Mommy. I am so thankful God chose us to be your parents. We are so proud of you, little man. Happy 6th Birthday.

My, oh my, how the years have flown by

 1st birthday

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday

4th birthday (Holding a lime to show how big baby Harper was in my belly)

5th birthday. What a handsome little man

6 years old! Wow....such a wonderful little boy

I, unfortunately was super sick yesterday and today and could not be at Maddox's school for his birthday treat. My mom, stepped in for me and brought his cookies and juice boxes to his class and watched as they loved on my little man. Wow, let me just tell you how wonderful his new school is. I just LOVE it. His teacher gave him a little goodie bag, and all the kids in his class went around the room and they each told Maddox something they liked about him. How precious is that. What character these children are learning at an early age, and how wonderful it is to hear such positive things  about yourself. The kids like how nice and helpful Maddox is and they enjoy playing with him!! After the cookies and juice school was dismissed, so Gigi took Maddox for a special day. They went to chucky cheese, played games and then went to Chick-fil-A to play some more and eat dinner. WOW. Seems like the little man had a fantastic birthday. Also, today, Brad's parents drove all the way from Oklahoma City to Amarillo to bring his amazing Dragon Cake that Murlon made for Maddox. We are super sad they won't be able to come celebrate with us, but my mercy, talk about going above and beyond to make sure he got his special cake (that was 8 hours in the car today). Thanks again Murlon for taking the time, energy and love to make Maddox an unforgettable birthday cake.

A New Beginning

I have to brag a little bit on the pure awesomeness of our sweet boy, Maddox. Brad and I made the difficult decision to change schools for Maddox (and ultimately Paxton and Harper as well). We simply felt the opportunities at his new school are tremendous and they will highly benefit our trio of kiddos. We prayed over it, toured, re-toured the school and finally decided if we were going to make the switch to just go ahead and do it and start him for his second semester of Kindergarten.
Maddox is such a social, go getter kid and he took the news of the switch of schools like a champ. He was excited and never showed an ounce of anxiety or fear about starting new. As we walked him into his new school today, I could tell he was a little apprehensive but he never voiced it and assured me he was great and was going to make new friends. Well, sure enough he just marched himself into his new class sat down to listen to the story being read and never looked back. He LOVED it and already had kiddos hugging him today as he left.
I truly admire my child. He is brave. He is strong. He is fearless. He is confident. He is a socialite and a kid other kids love to be around. He sees the world in rose colored glasses and he handled himself with such grace today.
Oh my sweet boy, your spirit is breathtaking! You are going to change the world....you change mine everyday.

Harper Grace is 18 Months Old

Sheesh how is she already a year and a half old? My mercy time with her just goes by so quickly as I am chasing after her and her two big brothers. She continues to bring such joy to our family and I am more and more thankful for her every single day.
What are you up to these days Harper Grace?
-weighing about 25 pounds
-wearing size 12-18 month clothes (although getting close to needing the 18-24 month size)
-size 5/6 shoe
-size 4 diaper
-drinking organic, hormone free, lactose free milk (we attempted regular lactose free milk and she turned into a beast which is so uncharacteristic for her. We also attempted organic, hormone free REGULAR milk and she seemed fine with it)
-If you are tired at all, you will not eat anything. You like most fruits and anything you can hold and eat yourself
-you have been sleeping great. Going to bed about 7:30 and sleeping until 9am. WOW
-you LOVE baby dolls. I mean LOVE them like I have never seen a baby girl love baby dolls. You hug them, kiss them, carry them with you, sleep with them. You always want a baby with you and I think it is absolutely adorable.
-you LOVE your baby cousin Ruby Grace. I mean, love her like you want to hold her and squeeze her and never let her go kind of love. It's sweet and dangerous at the same time. Ha. We got to watch Ruby the other evening and I have never seen you get as excited as you did when we held you up to see inside the infant carrier. You get this super cute/kinda freaky giggle and you hug yourself while you look at her. HAHAHA. I was giving Ruby Grace her bottle and you carried your baby doll and bottle over to me and climbed up in the chair beside me wanted to feed your baby too. But let's be honest, it didn't end as cute as I have it pictured here, you got REALLY mad that I wouldn't switch bottles with you and let your baby doll have the real bottle while Ruby Grace sucked down the fake, watch the milk magically disappear bottle. Ha. Brad had to intervene and get you ready for bed. You were just too overwhelmed with all the babieness.
-you have an ornery streak in you. You think it is hilarious to steal Paxton's Ribbit (his most beloved sleep buddy) and take off running. He freaks out and you giggle. You have also started running away from me a few times when you know you need a diaper change. Not cool kid
-you are starting to talk more and more these days. You can officially say: dadda, momma, Gigi, doggie, see, ice, please (peas), baby, thank you (tank ew) and you've got a lot of gibberish
-you have started giving kisses. OH my mercy this is my favorite. You pucker up your lips and lean in to kiss and you even make a little smacking sound. I love to receive a dozen of these a day, but I also love to watch you kiss your baby dolls and your daddy. So precious.
Oh my sweet Harper you continue to bring us such joy and laughter. You are so much fun to be around and I love your laid back personality.

Christmas 2013

It's so sad that Christmas has come and gone (although technically we are still celebrating in our house since the decor is still rockin'). We had a fantastic Christmas with all of our families and I am so sad to report we did not get very many pictures to document the occasions. I will do my best to write out what we did so we can look back years from now and remember the Christmas of 2013.

Lets see, we started off with a road trip to Oklahoma City to visit Brad's parents and his brother and beautiful sister-in-law. The kiddos had a fabulous time and I have to brag on miss Harper. She seriously is the easiest baby (well the easiest we've ever had...hahahah). She traveled the 6 hour car ride and hardly made a peep. She slept in unfamiliar rooms like a complete champ and she easily adapted to the house at the farm without trying to destroy anything. I vividly remember how much I dreaded traveling with the boys were about her age because it was a constant task to walk behind them and keep them out of stuff. She just goes with the flow and has a great time doing it.

The boys did great as well. They get to stay with Grandma and Grandpa while Brad, Harper and I stay at Brandon and Ashley's house. The boys love it and are always anxious for us to leave for the night (they get to stay up later than usual, eat snacks and watch cartoons upstairs....heaven for little boys). There was a pretty big rain/ice storm while we were there, causing slippery roads, heavy heavy tree limps and some electrical outages due to the tree limbs breaking....but overall it was an easy trip for us to travel in (unlike last year...we had to leave on Christmas Eve due to a massive snow/ice storm that was heading towards OKC). We enjoyed our stay and made great memories with Grandmom, Grandad, and Brandon and Ashley. 

We arrived back to Lubbock started to prep for Christmas Eve with just our family of 5. We attended church, ate snacky foods for dinner, opened new pajamas, a movie and board game. We read the Christmas Story from the kids bible and ate a gluten-free (or as we call it in our house Paxton OK) cupcake as we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus. We had to get the boys out of bed to put cookies and milk out for Santa because this momma forgot. Everyone slept great and we had to wake everyone up to see what Santa brought for them. They kids loved it. Maddox got a plasma car, a projector drawing thing and new handcuffs (that Santa knew that the little brother and broken his last pair of handcuffs...sneaky Santa). Paxton got a balance bike, a new car track and blue car....he was very specific with Santa that he wanted a new toy blue car. Harper received a little tykes shopping cart, a new baby doll and a toy cash register. It was a success.

We got everyone loaded up and headed to Christmas celebration and my Mom and Paul's. We were all spoiled rotten and loved every minute of it.  The kids are at such a great age where opening presents gets easier and more enjoyable. Harper and Henley are still a bit young but they are both so laid back that they just go with the flow although Harper certainly LOVED her new baby doll and little baby doll bed/carrier. She lit up and hugged and kissed that baby in pure joy. The boys and Mollie-Moo loved everything in every new box they opened and everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. Our Christmas lunch was delicious and it was fun to watch the kiddos play together.

We waited until the weekend to do our final Christmas celebration at my Dad and Kelly's. It was a wonderful day there as well. Once again the kiddos were blessed with so many new clothes and awesome toys, the cousins played well together and our lunch together was nice. Brad had to work that day and we had company coming so I had to gather everyone up after lunch and head home for naps.

Whew. 

With all the new toys, it sure has been nice to have new entertainment in the house, especially for the boys. They eagerly go play in the basement and haven't started arguing nearly as much (I know my time is limited on this one, they are only 5 and 3, but for now I will take it and appreciate it while it lasts)