They Won't be Little Forever

Sheesh, there are not enough hours in the day for me to get all the things done around this house. There are piles of laundry that need to be washed, dried, hung or folded, the floors need to be swept, the dish washer is constantly needing to be loaded or unloaded, the bathrooms could use another wipe down, toys need to find there home..the list could go on and on and on...but at the end of the day, what matters the most is that I have held and loved on our sweet little Paxton and played cars, read books, and played chase with silly Maddox. The laundry and the chores will be here tomorrow, but our sweet little boys will not be little forever. Everyday they are getting older and more independent and I am trying my hardest to cherish all of the time that I have with them, even when it seems super chaotic!!

Sweet Singing and Splish Splashing

Maddox and I have a song we love to listen..it's called "By Your Side" by Tenth Avenue North. Maddox calls this song "Our Song" as we jam out to it in the car several times a day. (I loved this song when Maddox was a little baby and I would hold him and we would dance in the living room...it holds sweet memories for me) Maddox has apparently learned all the words to this song and he can sweetly sing it. Here is a video of him singing the song for Brad and I. I apologize for the poor video quality and the fact that I cannot stand in front of him to take video because he wants to see the camera more than preform for it (perhaps he will be a director someday..hahah) and as you can see in the video he is already very easily distracted..hahha!! Hope you enjoy...

Here is a sweet video of Mr. Paxton splish splashing in the bath this evening! I love this video because it captures his sweet personality right now, you just can't help but smile!!

Good Golly we are super blessed with such sweet little boys!!

Little Genius

So as most of you already know....our sweet little Maddox is a GENIUS!!! Seriously, he is so so smart and blows my mind every single day. This morning the boys and I had to go to the eye doctor to get my crazy eyes checked again. Maddox was a super little guy, sat in his chair, ate his yummy fruit loops and watched as the doctor checked my eyes. I sat in the chair, read the letters that I could see and the nurse was finished with me for a few minutes. The eye chart was still up (and it was backwards where Maddox was looking because it reflects off the mirror for me to read back to the doctor...does that make any sense). Well, I climbed out of the chair to go place the pacifier back in Paxton's little mouth...Maddox sweetly looked at me and looked at the letters (that are backwards to his little eyes)...the big E was showing and was partially covered up....he confidently stated "Look Mommy, there is an 'F' upside down" (from what the little guy was seeing it was most definitely an 'F' upside down).
My jaw dropped and I laughed out loud at my little genius!!! Not only does the little man know his letters well enough to know what an 'F' looks like but he can see it upside down and realize it is still an 'F'
Way to go our little genius!!

3 Months Already!?!

Wow I cannot believe our little P is 3 months old as of yesterday. Time is just flying by and I cannot picture our family without this little guy in it!! What are you up to these days Paxton??

You are getting so smiley and vocal. You love to "talk" to us and grin from ear to ear.
You are your happiest right after you eat (as long as you get a good burp out..lol).
You still love bath time and kick your eagerly kick your feet and splash around
You do not like to lay flat on your back to sleep, so you sleep in your Nap Nanny or in your swing
You love to be swaddled to sleep but you sure are a pro at getting out of that swaddle. We will just watch you gradually move those arms out of your tightly wrapped swaddle.
You predominately wear 3 month clothes although you can wear some 3-6 month clothes as well
You wear size 1-2 diapers
You LOVE to be held and cuddled especially when you are sleepy
You are such a sweet little guy and we are so thankful for everyday we get with you!!

Five Years

Five years ago my life changed forever.five years ago I said two somewhat simple words that transformed me from just a girl, to a wife! Five years ago I said "I do" to the man God created just for me....my kind, hard working, loving, and compassionate husband...Dennis Bradley Kalivoda!! Five years ago I could have never imagined where we would be today....a house, a dog, adding two more dogs, then back down to the one dog (I still wonder what happened to crazy Gizmo and tiny Kali),

 me changing jobs 3 times before finding my career as a mommy. The shock, fear and excitement when we found out we were pregnant. Having our first son and watching our lives transform as we fell madly in love with our spirited, kind hearted, hilarious Maddox Bradley. Adjusting our entire mindsets to caring, providing and loving this baby, while growing stronger and closer as husband and wife. Listening to Maddox pray for the first time. Watching him grow stronger, smarter, funnier and kinder every single day. Finding out we were pregnant again and discovering we would be adding another boy to our testosterone filled family!! Never realizing we were able to love two sweet boys as much as we do. Falling in love with each other more and more as we travel this amazing journey.

Five years ago I made the second best decision of my life (the first being the decision to follow Christ with all that I have). Five years ago I became a Kalivoda and my life has been forever changed. Five years ago our journey started and I can't wait to see where we are in Fifty!!

Thank you Brad for making me your Bride five short years ago! I love you so much!!

Independence

We had a great trip to Oklahoma to celebrate Independence Day and enjoy some much needed time with Brad's family!! The boys traveled so well and we had a great yet rainy Fourth of July. Because of the rain, we were not able to enjoy a fireworks show, but the rain did help the outside temperatures to remain low and comfortable.

Maddox was able to fish with Grandpa Voda (or as Maddox says "Gungpow"...and no, I have no idea why he calls him this but I think it is hilarious) Paxton was loved on by anyone who laid eyes on him and Brad and I enjoyed hanging out with his family. (Thanks again Brandon and Ashley for inviting us to stay with you guys, we really enjoyed the extra time we got to spend with you guys)
Maddox decided to celebrate his own INDEPENDENCE by staying the week with Grandma and Grandpa Voda....wow it sure feels strange not having him here, but I know he is loving every minute with his Grandparents!!
While Maddox is playing, I am attempting to clean out closets and get our house organized, and enjoy the one on one time I have with Paxton during the day whom by the way is still very DEPENDENT on me and I happen to LOVE it!!
Speaking of Paxton. He had his two month check up yesterday. Here are his stats:
Height 22.8 (30th percentile)
Weight 12lbs.11oz (60th percentile)
Head Circumference 16 (60th percentile)
Wow. Paxton has grown...ALOT!! He was in the 10th and 25th percentile at our last visit!! He is doing great. The doctor said he is really strong and is just looking fabulous!! Way to go Paxton!!

Similarities

 The boys  are already proving to be VERY different in most areas!! Their personalities are VERY different and were that way even in the womb. Maddox was super active ALL the time, kicking, squirming never being still. The sonographer would laugh when preforming the sonogram of Maddox because he would flip and flop and kick and move all over the place. Paxton on the other hand was not nearly as active and enjoyed snuggling the placenta in the womb. There were several times that I was concerned that something was wrong with Paxton because he could go several hours without giving me a good kick or flip in utero. During his sonograms the technician would often have to poke my belly pretty hard to try to make Paxton roll over so she could get a good look at his heart or other organs. Maddox was never a fan of being held for any length of time and definitely did not like to cuddle. Paxton will let you hold him all day if you could. Maddox had super strong leg muscles immediately at birth (he got great work outs in my belly) and he LOVED to jump as early as one month old. He would put all his weight on his legs and jump as long as someone would hold him. Paxton prefers to keep his legs tucked under him for the most part and we have to encourage him to put weight on his sweet little legs. Maddox had horrible tummy problems due to his lactose intolerance/milk allergy and thrived on Soy formula. Paxton gets a super bad tummy ache when given Soy formula. Maddox HATED to be swaddled (and still does not sleep with any covers on him...he does not like the feeling of being tied down) Paxton can only sleep if he is swaddled. Maddox was the serious type, always observing his surroundings and rarely talking or cooing or even smiling, he was just too serious for all of that! Paxton grins and talks pretty regularly and will even stop eating to give you a huge gummy grin (Maddox was WAY too in to his food to stop for a silly ol smile :) ).. 

The boys are very different on many levels, but they both stole my heart and bless our family on a daily basis!

While there personalities are already very different, I can't help but notice some amazing similarities in their appearances from time to time. Here are a couple examples:

The first picture is Maddox followed by a picture of Paxton.

Here are the precious gummy grins from the boys (I remember singing and working really hard to get this picture of the serious Maddox smiling for the camera and I caught the picture of Paxton when he was just chillin in the car seat..hahah)