These are a few of his favorite things

I love having this blog not only to keep my family updated on the growth and journey of Maddox's adventure through life, but I also love having a way to document what is going on in Maddox's world and what he is exploring and discovering everyday. I am using this post to document his favorite things at 9 months.....


This is a must have in the Kalivoda house, primarily in Maddox's room, this is the best lullaby CD I have heard, very peaceful and helps our little man go right to sleep...ahhh I can actually hear it playing right now through the baby monitor, I love it!!


This also is a must have in Maddox's room, his little fish aquarium!!! He loves to look at the fish swimming and it makes for a great night light if I need to check on him in the middle of the night, just a soft glow!! It also provides something for him to look at while he is attempting to fall asleep.


Maddox LOVES books and being read to!!! He really enjoys this book and turning the pages with you!!!


He Loves learning to eat little finger foods by himself and he enjoys these "tasty" Gerber graduate snacks (it is so much fun watching him eat these because they get a little sticky in his hand and he can't figure out how to let them go in his mouth, I have to be careful to check his hands or he'll keep one in his sweaty little palm all day!)


He definitely prefers the stage 2 baby food over the Stage 3 baby food with larger chunks of vegetables and such.


Oh the love of soy milk!!! what a bond these two have made over the past several months!! hahha!!!


Sweet Sweet little Raffie his sleeping companion! He cuddles this little guy every night before bed or nap! We have a Woofie (a dog like this) for the car, and Raffie #2 that stays at Grammy's house!! If Maddox had a best friend I do believe it would be this little guy!


Oh Mr. Quackers our bath time companion! Maddox adores this little guy and "plays" with him every bath (by playing I mean chewing on one of the wings vigorously...it is hilarious, he only chews on the same wing every time and gets a little upset if you don't let him "play" with Mr. Quackers long enough


Thank you for letting me share this post so I can have something to look back at and remember the fun times at 9 months old!!

Splish Splash

I thought I would share a cute video of Maddox splashin away in the bath tub this morning! He loves his bath, but very rarly splashes so I found it hillarious!!


The following are pics to show how much he loves his bath but HATES when I put him up on the changing table to place a diaper on him again. (I can only imagine what it will be like when he has the ability to remove his clothing himself. "Naked is best" is his moto.)


(if you click this one to make it bigger, you can see his bottom two teeth....can someone say braces....looks like they are going to be very crooked...or perhaps he is just getting ready for halloween and getting his Jack-o-lantern face on!!!



This last picture is a favorite of mine because it shows how much Maddox loves his books. He loves to be read to, and we all love reading to him. He has currently discovered how to turn the page for you...it is absolutely precious!

Strength with Come as I wait upon the Lord

Another weekend has come and gone and the beginning of the week is upon us. We had another wonderful weekend though....Friday evening we were able to have dinner with an old friend and it sure was nice to catch up even though it was only about an hour or so. Saturday Maddox and I went to watch the Tech game and Grammy's house (thanks for having us over mom) we had a wonderful time with Aunt Carol, Aunt Kam and Uncle J and Grammy of course!!! It didn't hurt any that Tech knocked the pants right off of Kansas!!!! Grammy and Pawpaw kept Maddox over night and Brad and I were able to enjoy a nice evening, going on a date and spending some time together. We are very blessed to have such amazing family whether here or there or anywhere that love us and Maddox so much and bless our lives on a daily basis! Sunday morning Brad and I went to church, it was very helpful that my mom kept Maddox for us because I wanted to give him another week of being completely healthy before placing him in an environment where he can catch a bug so easily! We spent the rest of the day Sunday as a family of 3 and enjoyed every minute of it.
Ok, so there was what we did this weekend and here is what I learned this weekend. While worshiping at church through singing, some lyrics of a song said "Strength will come when we wait upon the Lord." I have heard this song many times before, but these particular lyrics hit my heart at its core. These past 9 months have been the hardest (yet most rewarding) 9 months of my life thus far, as I desperately seek to find the way to parent and meet Maddox's needs in a world that I am completely clueless in. There have been many many many sleepless nights, when I could not get Maddox to sleep and there was no way to comfort him, and I would cry out to God to help me and often wondered what He was trying to teach me because it didn't seem like He was ever going to answer my prayers (however, the last week Maddox has sleept through the entire night for 5 nights in a row....way to go little man!!!) Although now I can already see an increase in my patience level and the ability to find joy in the small things, what I truly believe the Lord was teaching me was STRENGTH. I am constantly learing the God never leaves us and he always hears my cries even when I don't get an immediate answer. My strength will come as I wait upon the Lord, I will wait upon the Lord.


The girls: Me, Aunt Kam (and cousin Mollie Michelle) and Aunt Carol


The boys: Uncle J and Maddox playing outside


Me, Uncle J and Maddox


Maddox and Unlce J ringing the bell when Tech scored (they had to ring that bell A LOT on Saturday....GO TECH!!!)


Pawpaw and Maddox


Bradley and Maddox Bradley

Thankful Thursday!

I do believe these pictures will speak for themselves!!! Here are some pics we had taken to celebrate 9 months of the Madd-man!!!

Not So Worldess Wednesday

148....can you guess the significance of this number?? Could it be the number of days until Maddox is a year old? Nope, that's not it, in fact Maddox turns a year old in just 73 days (insert mommy cliche here...."where has the time gone?" gosh I cannot believe I will have a one year old walking around here so quickly)
Could 148 be the number of times in one day that I had to tell Maddox "no" because he was attempting to climb on our television? Nope, that is also incorrect; however, I do believe that would be a close guess to the number of times the smallest of words trickles out of my mouth in any give day.
Okay, I will give you a hint...what if I type the number as 1:48. Does that help?? Well it is actually 1:48am and that would be the exact time Maddox has woken up the past 3 night. Not at 1:47, or 1:49, it is precisely 1:48am. He wakes up sobbing, sitting in his crib, eyes closed and practically inconsolable. He has been off his schedule for a few weeks now because he was sick and we traveled...it has been a little difficult to regulate him back to the routine. When he had the tummy bug I had to feed him in the middle of the night because he simply was not eating nearly enough during the day. I have discovered that our little one is a creature of habit and longs for routine and consistency....aren't we all though. If I were to say what one of the hardest parts of becoming a stay at home mother for me it would have to be the inconsistency of everyday and not having a definite routine. Now don't get me wrong, I attempt to do the same "big" things with Maddox everyday (breakfast, playtime, bath, book, bottle, nap, lunch, playtime, nap, reading time, dinner, family time, bath, book, bottle, bed, and repeat) However, what occurs during those times of wakefulness are often very different, Maddox's temperament is different everyday, and the lenght of naps vary from day to day. It is very different from when I worked and had to be somewhere everyday at the same time, did practically the same thing everyday and I knew where I'd be at almost any given point. I could plan, schedule and very little was left up to "fate" or in my case now the needs or desires of my little 9 month old. I am very blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with Maddox and I am constantly learning to go with the flow which is completely out of my nature. I am learning to enjoy the simple things in life and focus on Maddox and help him learn, discover, play and enjoy the most out of everyday!!! I knew as a parent I would be constantly teaching a little one, but I never could have imagined how much my son would teach me on a daily basis.

Times are a Changin

Well hello all..sorry it has been a while since I have updated...and let me tell you it seems that there is a lot to update! Things are changing here in the Voda house....we have a fast and curious crawler who needless to say is into EVERYTHING!!! It is so much fun to watch him explore and discover new things. He has figured out how to get to his bottom and sit up (this is a great task for him; however, it is not so great when he figures out how to sit on his bottom when he is SLEEPING!!! Poor baby is so tired he can't figure out how to lay back down) He is pulling himself to standing in his crib, he claps when we say "everybody clap your hands" he clicks his tongue and makes a popping sound with his lips! I am telling you he learned all of this in 5 short days. In the midst of all the learning going on in this house, there was also a flood of frustration fuming from our little Man! He was simply overwhelmed with all the new things he was figuring out and we had several melt downs and a lot of sobbing and screaming!!! Just when I thought I was going to pull all of my hair out, it seems our sweet boy has returned from the dark unknown and he is enjoying this strange world once again. However, I am vigorously reading the book "The Strong Willed Child" by Dr. James Dobson....have you seen the new cover? It has Maddox's face on it....okay so not really, but this book was definitely written with our strong willed Madd-man in mind.

Well, more updates...this past weekend we traveled to Oklahoma City to visit the family and celebrate with Aunt Kim as she graduated!! Congrats Kim, we are so proud of you and your hard work!!! It was a great time with the family, although Maddox was a little out of his element and was still a bit fussy; overall it was a great trip and we definitely enjoyed the time with family!!!

Wordless Wednesday