A Snapshot of Five

*This post was started yesterday on Cadence's actual birthday- it just didn't make it to post status until today :)

This time five years ago I was sitting in a hospital still dizzily trying to recall what had just happened that day.  What started as a somewhat routine induction ended up with Cadence making a very quick, dramatic entrance in the world. In some ways it seems like that should have been just yesterday when I think about her being five years old today. In other ways, I can hardly remember what our family was like before she was part of it.

This is probably one of my favorite pictures ever. So fresh, so new. A daughter.

Since I got all mushy mushy for Valentine's Day, I decided to just do a quick snapshot in list form of some things that make Cadence, well, Cadence at five:

*Totally into My Little Ponies (this has been a longstanding love in her life), Barbies, Disney Princess, Nintendo DS, and Pokemon (as much as we're trying to discourage that one).

*Not as loyal to a particular cartoon right now as she has been in the past (Dora, Yo Gabba Gabba, etc). Maybe because there's 100 choices and she like them all, so she jumps around.

*Loves to color, paint, cut, glue (especially glue things to your wall...), dress up, wear jewelry.

*Sleeps with about ten animals on any given night, but right now the two that are non-negotiable are Hello Kitty (or Rita as you named her) and Mr. Doggie.  One tightly squeezed in each arm, almost covering your whole face.

*Loves to do school every day.  So eager to learn, so eager to be a big girl.

*Best buds currently are Annika, Kami, Nic, Sam, Victoria, and of course Addison :)

*Very bossy assertive, emotional, sassy, but generally happy and affectionate. With exception of the diva moments.

*Extremely quirky. I don't even have any other way to describe or expound on that.  Just what you think when you see the word quirky. Yep.

*Puts hands on hips frequently, almost like the period at the end of what she says.

*Thinks she is entitled to dessert after every single meal, and will always have "room" in her tummy for it, even if she didn't have room to finish her dinner...

*Every bit (and more) as delightful and fun as she is challenging and at times frustrating :)

We had an art party this past weekend.  It was this place that you paint your own pottery and then they put it in the oven and all that stuff.  We haven't picked up our finished pieces yet, but it looked like they had fun doing it! Perfect party for our little artist!

Cadence's rainbow cake. I had a lot of fun making this! Check out the inside...

 Yummy!

 All of our friends at the party! We had a great time!

See the rest of the birthday pics here

Since I did the whole musical slide show for her b-day last year, I decided not to do it again.  Maybe every other year or something. Still hard to believe my baby is five.  And even harder to believe that she is about to make the transition from the baby to the middle child. Lots of changes around here!  More on that soon to come... But for now, peace out from the Pate house.

Love, Love, Love Part 4

And the grand finale.  The one that started it all... Considering I have about 21 years of history and memories with this man, I think I'll just stick to a few things I love and appreciate right now for brevity's sake.  And for the sake of everyone that will yell at the screen "Get a room already!". Because I could be mushier, sappier, and more sugary coated dripping with honey sweeter about this man than you could handle.

Christopher Sean Pate

(mmm...Florida...smiling...)

I love that neither one of us has a sense of direction, so every outing that is new becomes....an adventure.

I love that we share a love of the arts together (and what a great musician you are).  Music is a huge part of our lives and who we are, and it's a connection I'm so thankful for.  We have enjoyed live music experiences, Broadway shows, and cool jazz scenes together.  But the coolest thing is that we create and experience worshiping the King of Kings together.  Every week.  For over ten years. What a powerful gift we have the privilege of sharing.

I love that you go shopping with me.  I love it because I know you hate it but you know I enjoy it so you offer to do it.  Women be shopping (you have to read that with attitude), as you like to say.

I love how hard you work to put your family first. You have always been so great about this, and we always feel like we're number one in your life.  And I emphasize how hard you work to do it, because it's harder to do now than it's ever been.  But I love that you still value that so much.

I love your light heartedness and humor.  This is always one of the biggest things people instantly notice and love about you as well.  You are mostly the reason for the laughter, smiles, and giggles in our home.  

I love how our kids think you're the greatest. thing. EVER. Nothing more endearing than a man who is the hero of their home. 

I love to hear you preach.  Every week.  Every time.  All these years. I find myself beaming with pride every week and amazed at the pure gift God has given you.  And it's certainly a gift.  You've got "it". 

I love how you love people.  For someone who thought he would never be a pastor, you have a genuine love and concern for people that makes you an incredible (and natural) pastor.  You always go out of your way to make sure people know they are valued, appreciated, and taken care of.  It's been such a joy watching you in this new role and seeing such a natural fit. And this is ultimately a reflection of how you love God, which is inspiring and challenging.

I love how you make coffee for me sometimes and (especially as of late with my pregnant self) have been letting me sleep in some.  Not that either one of us sleeps in much with our little ray of sunshine (Cadence) coming in every morning, but still...

I love that I just want to be around you. All of the time. After all these years.  It speaks a lot about you and our relationship that in this season of life (having to run the church out of our home office) we are together pretty much 24/7 and we're not at each other's throats or always antsy to get out of the house and away from each other.  Even if we're just watching a TV show together after the kids go to bed, I just like being in the same room as you. Still my best friend after all this time. How great is that.

To end I quote a Harry Connick Jr favorite:

If they asked me I could write a book
About the way you walk and whisper and look
I could write the preface on how we met
So the world would never forget
And the simple secret of the plot
Is just to tell them that I love you a lot
Then the world discovers as my book ends
How to make two lovers of friends 

I love you, Chris.  Happy Valentine's Day.

And Happy Love day to all of our friends and family.  You are so special in our lives, and we love all of you.

Love, Love, Love Part 3

Addison James Pate

First born.  Son of my youth.  It's always hard to put into words the depths of you. But it's easy to talk about some things I love:

I love how hospitable you are when people are over to our home.  When other kids are here you are always making sure they are okay, include them in your games, and get them food and drinks.  You even always show people that come to watch you and Cadence where everything is and make sure that they are alright.  You have a genuine love for people at such a young age. 

I love your laugh.  You can be so serious, so when you are really tickled by something and you let out this little gut laugh, it is a sound your Mommy and Daddy love to hear. It reminds us in the midst of your maturity that you are still a little boy.  Our little boy.

I love your long eyelashes.  Someday I know this will be one of those small things that your wife will love about you, too. Cause what girl doesn't love a guy with pretty eyes?

I love your thirst for knowledge and learning.  You have always blown us away at your level of intelligence for your age, but now that you are older we are seeing that it's not only a natural inclination and gift, but that you truly do love learning new things.  You are random trivia fact guy, and it's one of your "party tricks" to go around quizzing anyone at our house about all kinds of facts. 

I love, love to hear you sing. You have the sweetest, purest, most pitch perfect voice.  I will go into mourning for days and days when adolescence finds you and wrestles that innocent high voice out of you and trades it for a (albeit much manlier and undoubtedly more cool for you) lower, more adult tone. Although I'm sure you will continue to have a great voice,  I will have to have lots of recordings to cherish and relive those sweet little boyhood days.

I love your "fly away" arms (and anyone that knows you will know exactly what I'm talking about).  When something is exciting, like a video game or show, or you are anticipating someone's reaction to something, or anything intense, you shake your hands really fast up and down.  Sometimes it shakes your whole body.  You're probably the only kid we know that gets a workout playing games (that's not like the Wii games).  It's definitely a unique thing!

I love how God is drawing you already.  You know Him, and your relationship with Him is real. We have theological discussions with you that we would have with adults.  You are such a deep thinker and are already wrestling with issues like sin, suffering, starvation, homeless, and those that don't know God.  I can see your compassion coming out when you talk about those things, and I know that God will continue to use that for His Kingdom.  Your innate sense of justice and wanting things to be right comes out in even the most minute every day situations. You also already have a very acute conscious and are quick to repent and know when you have done wrong.  And it always really bothers you.  Such a tender, tender heart.

I love that you close your eyes when you hug.  You love so deeply.

There is a special relationship between a mother and a son.  It's such a treasure for me to have the privilege of having both a son and a daughter and understanding and knowing the differences within the dynamics of that. I know how hard that day will be as I'm watching God join you to the one whom you will leave and cleave with.  To give your heart to.  Until that time (which I have plenty of precious years to enjoy and prepare myself before that day comes), I am happy to be the woman who has your heart.  I will nurture and hold it dear to my own and gently prepare to send you out into the world.  Love you my dear Addison.

Love, Love, Love Part 2

Cadence Faith Pate

Oh my darling daughter.  You are every color of the rainbow and then some. Here's some things I love about you:

I love your blue eyes.  Nobody else in our family has them.  Deep as the sea.

I love your quirkiness.  The older you are getting, the more zaniness comes out of you daily.  You say things all day long that make me and Daddy look at each other and just laugh. 

I love your curls.  You are about to be five, and you have still never had a haircut.  It's about time for a trim, but we just haven't even wanted to touch it.  You worked hard to get those curls (took you forever to get hair), so now those long, bouncing locks are so precious.

I love how affectionate you are. There is not a hug, tickle, or kiss that happens in our home that doesn't involve you. You will come running across the room if you see us hugging just to get in on it. Literally.

I love your imagination.  Your creativity knows no bounds.  From your hand coming to life to a balloon to a stick, you bring inanimate things to life with sparkle and usually song.  The world is your playground, and I know this will be a tremendous gift that God grows and develops in you as you get older.  I look forward to being crafty and creative with you as something we can enjoy together for the rest of our lives. 

I love your fire. There are times that being a passionate little thing can bring it's challenges for us, but I know this will be something that will mark your life.  You love big, and your spunkiness keeps things interesting!  Plus, it's hard to blame you for that too much because you come by that one honestly, dear :)

I love that you are musical.  You love to move to music, you love to sing music, you just love music.  Your name being a musical term is very fitting for you.  You even sing along to the background music of your video games as you play, but an octave higher.  We don't even know if you realize you're doing it, and we're amazed that you hit those notes.  (We're talking like Mariah Carey here, people.)  And who could forget the song you made up about our dog, Mac.

I love that right now you have the cutest little lisp, due to the knocking out removal of your front teeth before their time.  Which reminds me of another thing I love about you: you are as girly as the day is long, but you are tough as nails.  You can throw down like nobody and more than hold your own!

There's so much about you still coming to light and more we will come to know and love as you grow, but you are already such a beautiful person, inside and out.  I could keep listing until I've filled the cyber pages into chapters. I look forward to the privilege, honor, and challenge of partaking in your shaping and morphing into a young woman.  I look forward to being your best friend one day when I'm old and I watch you raise your own family. I hope you will share those juicy secrets and desires of your heart during the late night talks of the tumultuous and confusing mess known as adolescence, because I want to be there to walk with you in it.  

I'm so glad that God blessed me with a daughter.  You bring me great joy, and you are a ray of sunshine in our home.  I love you, sweet Cadence.

Love, Love, Love Part 1

Well, since the universal day of love is approaching I thought I'd dedicate a post a day to the most important people in my life: my sweet little family. Here's day one:

Baby Pate

(Repeat pic- I'm a little limited in choices right now :)12 wks in this pic, but you are now 15)

Technically, you are the youngest one in our family.  This time next year, I'll be writing about all of the wonderful things that make you you, how sweet and yummy you are, and how much we're enjoying you discovering the world and how fun it is to have a baby in the house again.  But today it's the thought of you, the anticipation of you. We haven't even met you yet and you are already so loved by your family.  You will have the most doting and loving big brother and sister who will bring you so much joy. I can already imagine how your face will light up at the sound of their little voices. And of course pretty awesome parents, if I do say so myself :)

You and I already have a relationship.  The really special part about being a mother is those nine months I carry you as you grow and prepare to meet the world. Now I'm not gonna lie, little one- it's not always roses! You have already wreaked a lot of havoc on my unassuming body, but it's certainly worth it and an honor and experience not many get to share. Since you are my third, I've been feeling your little flutters for a while now, much earlier than with the other two.  In those moments, when you are moving and stretching your tiny, developing arms and legs, it's just you and me. I wish everybody else could feel that and have that moment, but it's something only a mother will ever know. Like last week after praise and worship when I sat down after singing and you so distinctly made yourself known.  That must have resonated with the presence you already feel there with you in my womb.  You already know Him. (Ps 22:10)

I love that you will be so perfect for our family.  You will (most likely, more than likely, maybe) complete our family. Like putting a seal on a letter. We are excited to find out soon if you are a boy or a girl, but either way we will celebrate you. And we look forward to meeting you. Not that I look forward to the actual process of getting you here, but nonetheless...I love you.