Where did December go??

That's what I thought to myself when I logged onto this thing.  Can't believe my posting has been so sparse lately.  Oh wait, yes I can believe it.  It's because I've just kind of floated through December, half awake.

Growing a baby and no caffeine equals very very tired mommy.  I could sleep all day long!  Literally, a couple of days I woke up and then went back to sleep like an hour later!  I should take this opportunity to give a shout out to my absolutely wonderful, sweet husband.  He has been so gracious to me while I've been sickly and tired really helping out and doing things like getting everyone's breakfast so I can sleep (and bring mine to me in bed so I don't lose it before I put it in!).  He also has to do most of the dishes because our sink has a mysterious smell we can't seem to get rid of right now and it literally turns my stomach over.  Can hardly be around it.  Chris already said I had a "super sniffer" as it is, so pregnancy has turned it into like superpower levels.  Except it definitely works against me, not in my favor!  All that to say 1) my husband is amazing and I love him dearly and 2) this is the reason I am not getting around to things like blogging these days.  And there's my personal update. One of these days, hopefully pretty soon, the tune will be changing.  It's just a phase, and it will pass :)  And then pregnant bliss will ensue. At least that's how it worked the other two times, anyway :)

We had ourselves a quiet little Christmas here at the house.  I'm kind of in denial that the holidays are over, mostly because for us they're not!  We leave next week to visit family, so the kids will have two more Christmases before it's all said and done.  With just us and the kids, it felt a little empty at moments since we weren't with any of our family, but it was still a sweet time.  And we had company for Christmas lunch.  Some friends from the church came over and they brought some really yummy food with them, so that was really nice!  I also made a chocolate cake from scratch and an eggnog cheesecake, both of which were a hit.  I do love baking :) We went over one night and decorated gingerbread houses with friends, went to look at Christmas lights (we went to River Oaks- like the richest neighborhood in Houston-these houses were so amazing!), and we even found Santa outside at one of the houses which was fun!  We also had our really awesome church Christmas party that you can see pics on my Facebook page if you want to.  It was such a great night!

Our gingerbread house turned out to be quite interesting....had to be rescued because it kept falling apart!

Um, don't you just want to eat that up??....

Santa! Had to bribe Addison because he knew it wasn't the real santa.  We actually told him the story this year of the real St. Nicolas, so I don't really know what he thinks about the "other" Santas.  He didn't talk about it much, but also didn't seem too upset or disappointed about it all, either! 

A quick pose before tearing into the presents!

They were really happy with their gifts! (They opened ours and G-ma and G-pa's presents here)

Of course you know who was right in the middle of it.  Yes, that's a Christmas shirt. Not a sweater- I can't do the sweaters.  But I thought this shirt was funny because it says, "Sorry Santa- I ate the cookies." It was so fitting.

Our Christmas lunch crew.  Such fun!

And we got an early Christmas present: we got to see little baby Pate for the first time at my first doctor's appt a few days before Christmas.  Of course, at this stage he/she just looks like a little bean blob in there, but she zoomed in so you could see the little flicker heart beating.  It's amazing every time.  Something so tiny with a beating heart. I am happy to suffer through all the symptoms when I remember that is what's going on inside of me :)

The part that is the dotted line is baby- the other part is the yolk sac which will soon become part of the placenta.  According to the pics, the due date(s) are anywhere from Aug 8-10th.  Who knows!

I really hate to lump sum all of Christmas into one post, but that's what it is.  I resolve to get back into better blogging habits in the new year.  So, here's hoping!  Hope all of you have enjoyed your holiday!  Peace out from the Pate house.

So...

You thought we just went off the grid after that last post, didn't you...that we snuck away in Florida and decided not to come back. It has been a while. I have to admit, after writing that last post I thought to myself that the next post would be kind of a downer compared to that. Never thought I could top myself. But we did.

But before I get ahead of myself, I should say that we did indeed have a lovely time in Florida.  We got to spend time with such amazing people, and it was so refreshing and timely to be encouraged and recharged. I can't believe that I didn't take a single picture with any of the said amazing people- shame on me. I do have some great pics of the beach, though :)  But we truly are so blessed and thankful to belong to such a great spiritual family (Every Nation). They truly do value relationships and do so much to encourage you and make you feel like you're not just the new kid on the block with a little church (like we felt). We didn't feel that way anymore after being around everyone. It is an invaluable support system, and I know so many pastors do not have that so we are grateful.

Pics from our sunrise beach morning. I took a series from when the sun just came up until we left. The colors didn't transfer well at all here- it's so much more vivid and colorful!

 A couple from the resort... it was all so beautiful! I'm peaceful just looking at these :)

Throughout the week I found myself feeling a little "off". That's just about the only way I could describe it. Little more tired than usual, emotional, really hungry, and bloated beyond belief.  So during our break on Thurs before our Christmas ball that evening, I decided to go to the store and buy a pregnancy test. Honestly, I really didn't think I was pregnant. I had my suspicions, but I had felt like that before and thought I was and wasn't. Plus, I have very irregular cycles and all that stuff so I didn't think all that much of it.  But I was thinking about it. So I just wanted to put my mind at ease- because honestly if I wasn't, then I was going to consume large amounts of caffeine because I was so exhausted.  It would affect what I would put in my body the remaining time we were gone.  So I think I was a little in disbelief when a little plus sign immediately appeared on that test.  I walked out of the bathroom to Chris who was awaiting the results and I could barely talk.  Just kind of laugh in a I'm-in-shock kind of way where words just get knocked out of you. And there you have it.  I don't even think the pee dried on the stick (TMI??) before we got on the phone and called our family. We're not those kind of people that can keep a secret like that for a long time.  Besides, almost everybody that does that does it out of fear in case something bad happens.  So for us it's almost like a step of faith to just put it out there because we trust God, He is the creator of life, and He must know what He's doing. (We keep telling ourselves that). When He says it's time, it's time! And although this is a crazy season of life right now, we do want another baby and didn't want our kids to be too much older before it happened.  So we're excited.

So that moves us along to the present. Most of the reason it's been so long since I've blogged is because I picked up some germ while we were traveling, and by the time we landed in Houston I was not feeling well.  When you're pregnant you can hardly take anything, especially in the beginning, so I spent all of last week sick "toughing it out". Just a bad cold or something, but it took a long time to get better sans drugs!  And now that has gotten better (but sadly Chris is now getting over it), but every pregnancy symptom in the book is coming on pretty strong. So I've been just making it through the day this week, basically. That sounds bad I know, but it's true.  I'm still trying to continue to have a good attitude and be thankful the reason I'm feeling so terrible is because life is happening and growing inside of me, it's just hard when you're up against a battle of raging hormones :)  I would appreciate your prayers, dear friends and family! This too shall pass soon, but I'd really love to feel more like myself and for my family to survive me during this time as well :)  Because I want to be excited and happy, especially with Christmas coming up.  I'm one of the biggest lovers of Christmas you'll find, but I haven't been too merry. Okay you get the picture. I'm done whining!

A new season in the life of the Pates has begun.  The kids are really excited.  Addison was so cute- he told like everybody he saw at church (good thing we were telling people!), and he's been coming up with all kinds of names.  They both seem to be very aware of the fact that I haven't been well, and sometimes they show concern for me.  It's very sweet.  This baby is lucky to have the most amazing big brother and sister in the world!

Well, that's all I have for now. A major life announcement will have to do.  I had planned on doing some Christmas-y posts by now, but oh well!  There's still time, I guess :)  Peace out from the Pate house.