Happy New Year!

Oh, what's that you say?  It's almost February?  Ooops.

We've been a little busy around here trying to launch the Pate Family 2.0 upgrade for 2012, riding the wave of motivation and focus that comes along with the beginning of a new year.  Only problem is that we literally rode the wave into the new year- as in, if we had to walk on our own two legs into the new year we would have crawled and then collapsed when we crossed the finish line of 2011.  Since I have yet to convince our sweet Jaxon that he will not miss anything at 3:00am, that the rest of the world is sleeping and so should we, we are trying with all our might to keep up with the pace the new year is bringing but truth be told...we're kinda needing about a week straight of uninterrupted, taking sleeping pills kind of sleep a little tired. He's slowly, and I do mean slowly, starting to get better.  I know it will come.  And he just so happens to be about the cutest, most charming thing you've ever seen and pretty happy at all other times, so he's sort of saving face right now.  Literally, with his face.  But in the meantime, we are probably maxing out our grace allotment for each day! It's amazing how not getting proper rest affects everything you do.  And considering I had sleeping problems in pregnancy (he got an early start), it's been almost a year since I have had much sleep worth writing home about.  So, I'm trying to forge on the best I can, trying to stay thankful (and I truly, truly am) for a healthy, beautiful baby and cherishing him in this phase of life, while trying to figure out how to get it all done in the current state of...well...this current state!  We have great ideas, great goals and vision, both personally and for our family, and we're implementing them a little at a time. So to say that we shot out into January with a bang?  Not exactly :)  But we're getting there.

That's one of the reasons I haven't posted much.  Haven't exactly been teeming with inspiration and extra time and energy.  I also got sick over Christmas and it hung around for entirely too long. And I have also had computer issues which has made it almost impossible to post, so I had that going for me as well.  So there.  Just kidding. I've at least solved the computer issues so we're back in business!

Here's a little of what we've been up to this month...

One of the first things we did to start the new year was to join the Y.  I cannot tell you how awesome this place is!  I need to try to get more pics of it, but it's a massive three story complex, with a huge workout area, women's only workout area complete with monitors to see inside the nursery, multiple studios that house the group fitness classes (the programs I used to teach, to be exact, which was a huge draw), racquetball courts, two swimming pools, batting cages, basketball courts, and the kids area has a huge playground and rock climbing wall.  And a huge bonus is that the nursery and child care area is full of wonderful people that take great care of the kids.  The whole family looks forward to going there every week, and we are so excited to be members!

Another great thing about the Y is that Addison got signed up for karate and he really likes it.  This will be week three, and it's going to be so great for him.  Have to get a better pic of him in the uniform, it's pretty intimidating :)  So the Y is like a one stop shop for us- drop off Addison at karate, drop off Cadence and Jaxon to play, and mommy and daddy go work out (and watch karate some).  Can't beat that!

 Our one big Christmas present to both big kids was an Xbox 360 with a Kinect.  As much as we have loved the Wii (and it's about to bite the dust on us), this really puts it to shame.  You truly use your body, no remotes (if it's a Kinect game anyway), and it's quite a workout!  I mean, not to name names or anything, but some people that might be pictured below were majorly sweaty and sore after playing some of the games!  It's a lot of fun.  The picture below is them boxing.  

 In response to the aforementioned present, Addison wrote us this.  It was so sweet.  In case you can't read the handwriting (we're working really hard on our penmanship cause as brilliant as that dude is it's one of the harder things for him), here's what this says: "Hello mommy and daddy I loved the xbox so much that I wanted to give you this card. It has money on the other page. Cadence wanted to pitch into it.  I love you guys so much. Love, Addison."  And the second page, complete with a pile of change (that included Chuckie Cheese coins), "This is all we have. Sorry we couldn't give more."  Yeah, pretty cute stuff.

We had our annual prayer and fasting week.  We had prayer meetings at our house every day that week, and it was really good.  We had at least 20 people show up every night.  It's always good to start the year out like this to get focused.  Even the kids participated on their own accord- they fasted dessert for the week!  

Jaxon has made the cross over to the big boy world and is eating baby food now.  Got this awesome machine for Christmas that steams the food and then blends it up right there.  I'm really enjoying making my own food this time around.  It's pretty easy and I feel good that I'm giving him the best nutritional start!  Wish I would have done it with the other two, but fortunately they're good eaters anyway :)

With the new year brought a new curriculum change for us in school.  I have switched everything but math to the A Beka curriculum, a very popular but trusted and proven one.  I feel better about this switch, and I love that it's written from a Christian perspective.  We are enjoying it very much so far.  Addison really seems to be enjoying History.

The new year also brought some new changes to our bedroom.  For the first time in eleven years of marriage, we have purchased our first bed!  Of course, we have always had a bed but just always been blessed with some great hand-me-downs over the years.  I will wait for another post to reveal the finished product of this monstrosity, but it's quite the bed!  The good news was that a lot of it was assembled already inside these boxes. 

Cadence is also having a good time in school.  She created this little diorama one day and she got to name the city whatever she wanted so she picked this.  Of course she did.  This is just the kind of city Cadence would live in.

Chris's birthday fell on a Sunday this year.  God is certainly moving at City Life Church! He preached a great message, followed by a birthday lunch at one of our personal favs, Grand Luxe! Man, that's some good eating!

And what does a six month old do all day long, you ask?  Well, he plays and plays, with hopefully a little rest in between.  Pictured is the bumbo seat, new high chair, and jumperoo play thing, all which he loves.  He also loves just rolling around on the floor, eating his toes.  We have a little cushioned mattress topper on the floor for now, since our first floor is all hardwood.  And he has also moved to his crib in his room.  He has been in our room with us, and I was hoping he'd be sleeping through the night when we moved him upstairs to his room.  But he's not and it was time, so oh well!  But really, can he be any cuter???  I think not.

 So there's a little big snippet of January.  And I had to get this in today because I just couldn't live with myself if I looked at that side bar and next to January there was a big, FAT zero.  The month was here and it was gone in a breath.  And February will be the same- lots going on, but hopefully with a little more documentation this time :)

Peace out from the Pate house.