The End is in Sight

Thought I'd give another update on where we are.  Sorry if you're tired of hearing about the status of woman parts- that's just kind of where we're living right now :)  And I have to add that this blog is not only for the enjoyment and entertainment of friends, family, and the random person who comes along from cyberspace, but it is for me and our family.  This is a record of our days, many details of which I will not be remembering down the road.  I know this because of the many times I have desperately scoured the filing cabinets in my brain trying to pull up things that at best end up with foggy details.

But don't worry- I'm not mad at you or anything (because that could kind of sound like a rant or a hormonal response to something that was said).  I think I said that mostly for my own benefit for the days when I feel like I'm only regurgitating facts on a page and wonder why I'm even bothering with it/wondering why anyone would even care about that.

So moving on.  As stated in my title, there is an end in sight to the very interesting past few weeks of our life.  Had another appt yesterday in which I found I am still 3cm dilated but have moved to 80% effaced. So I have had movement and progression every week, and every time I move closer the more it means it really could be any moment.  But I'm not going to lie- I was kind of hoping for the hollywood-ish scenario of her checking me, being amazed that I was practically about to have the baby without me even really being aware, and immediately sending me over to the hospital.  That would have been a fun story, but I honestly knew that was not going to be the case.  She still stands by her story that it could be any time, but then she started the conversation of what about this time next week and I'm still pregnant.  And then she asked me if I would not like to be pregnant anymore by this time next week.  So of course I said that would be nice.  The problem is that she is going out of town again tomorrow and will not be returning until Thursday.  She actually said she usually doesn't have that happen where she's gone like that.  I guess that was supposed to make me feel better.  So not only does that mean I am facing delivering without her again if I go on my own between now and then, but if she was here I could have probably gotten this show on the road like Monday (I'm assuming you all know I'm speaking of induction here) instead of waiting until Friday morning.  Oh well.  I don't always think induction is the best idea and there's always that thought of feeling like you're forcing your body into something it's not ready for, but in my case where I'm already progressed like I am it's more like a nudge things along instead of creating something out of nothing.  I did ask her about it, telling her I was assuming she thought I was a good candidate for induction since she was bringing it up, and she said oh yeah she thinks I'll have the baby in like four hours or something.  And it's going to be like three days before my due date anyway by that time.  So, by all technical standards it is still before the due date and "early", but  three weeks ago when this excitement began getting stirred up I really didn't think it would be this long. But, as I stated, no matter what happens between now and then we know by this time next week he will be on his way if not already here.

It's funny that scheduling an induction brings such closure, as if I was going to be pregnant forever and this was a great escape or something.  The reality is the end is in sight regardless of the scenario!  But, for whatever the reason, it does bring closure and a little ease of mind. Much easier to plan life around also, I might add!  But honestly, I would still love do go on my own between now and then.  We'll just have to see what happens!  Like I said before, I know and am trusting that God's timing is perfect even if I'm getting antsy and grumpy about it and am holding onto the fact that He knows best for all of us right now.  So we're just going to let things happen the way they're supposed to and enjoy the week.  Trying to keep perspective on it as well, because I'm sure for most of you looking at us it's going by so fast and can't believe it's already here.  We definitely have those moments, but the anticipation has constantly threatened us out of rational perspective making us feel like it's been an eternity! But we know that's really not the case at all.  And I'm so grateful that there's no medical reason or health issue for either myself or Jaxon that's made us have to go get him early.  As much of a pain (literally) this pregnancy has been at times, I have been healthy.  My doctor always praises me for my ankles looking so good because I don't have any swelling, even though as my history would prove my pregnancy fate had me gaining more weight than I wanted to! (It will go down in the books that I will just never be a small person pregnant, for whatever reason.) Definitely feeling thankful for those things.  And definitely so excited and so happy to be meeting our little man, soon.

I know most of you saw this already, but I ordered these shirts for the kids and I can't believe how cute they are.  Can't wait to take their pictures in them!!

That's all for now.  Thank you for walking through that cycle of emotion with me.  I feel better after counting my blessings and thinking about the positives.  There will be other topics someday outside of having a baby; however, I do not expect the subject matter to wane anytime soon :) Peace out from the Pate house.

Holding Up in the Holding Pattern

"How are you holding up?" and similar inquiries are coming now daily from friends and family anxiously waiting along with us.  So I thought I'd give everyone a brief breakdown of the past couple of weeks.  I certainly have no inclinations or inspiration to wax eloquent right now, so short and brief descriptions are about all you're going to get out of me for the moment :)

Check-up at 36 weeks: Found out I'm 1 1/2 cm dilated, 50% effaced (you may or may not have any idea what I'm referring to here...), and baby has definitely moved down.  I was not surprised at this beginning of progression, because I had started having little bouts of contractions and felt that some movement was happening.  Just started to feel "different". Though not surprised, this is a new experience for me seeing as how with the other two I really didn't have movement this early on until 1) full blown labor with Addison almost at due date and 2) basically no movement at all before being induced with Cadence, although it moved super fast once it got going!  After that appt, I felt like maybe he was going to come a little early after all and it wasn't just desperate wishful thinking on my part :)  Unintentionally sent Chris into a small panic mode, like an alarm clock of reality going off screaming "This is really going to happen!"  Lots of those moments happen for us all towards the end, weaving in and out of the surreal and real.

Went on about the week that week, but the "this could be happening any day now" seed was definitely planted in our minds, and legitimately so.  Had some more start/stop bouts of contractions, enough to further grow that seed of thought in our brains and make it increasingly more difficult to focus much or want to make many plans. Feeling totally blah, with some days better than others. Had our big brother/big sister sibling class and tour at the hospital that weekend (pics and funny quotes at the end of this post).  Middle of the night Monday/Tues morning after the weekend had me timing contractions wondering if this was it.  Fell back asleep, so apparently it wasn't!  And let me clarify, these contractions are uncomfortable enough to be the real thing and not the "fake" (Braxton Hicks) ones, but definitely not near as bad as they'll get!

Check-up at 37 weeks (Wed): Have moved to 3cm dilated, 60% effaced, baby same position, not down anymore or back up. This business of having babies is very tricky- there are women at my progression in full blown labor and screaming for pain meds at this point.  There are women walking around more progressed than I am at the grocery store feeling nothing.  Unfortunately there's no formula.  My doctor says to me, "This is going to be quick and easy." Should you say things like that?  Trying not to make too much of that statement, but I also know that being this progressed already does in fact mean some of the work is done, which means less is left to do when this thing goes active.  Which also makes me nervous because I do know it could also mean really fast.  I'm so so glad that in a huge city we live ten minutes from the hospital.  Then she tells me she's going to be out of town from Saturday to next Wed, so he either needs to come by like midnight Friday or wait until Thurs.  Nice.  Yeah, I'll work on that.

And that about catches us up to the present.  Obviously, he did not come Friday night, which now complicates the situation because it would be nice to not go another week but don't really want a stranger delivering the baby.  It is what it is, though. So to answer the original question of how we're holding up... Not gonna lie- this past week has been kind of hard.  Day to day life is growing increasingly harder and more strange being stuck in this strange twilight zone time warp where the minutes seem to be like days.  We have kept our schedule pretty open, and that's hard on all of us because we like going and doing and being with people. Obviously, it's growing increasingly more uncomfortable for me!  His little bottom stretches so high I can barely breathe, and his little head is down so low I can barely walk- that doesn't leave a lot of room left!!  So I'm not physically capable of a whole lot.  When I drove to church this morning, I barely crammed myself into the seat and then barely reached the petal because my tummy was hitting the steering wheel and I had to move back- yeah, awkward. We're trying as hard as we can to just carry on about business as usual, but focus and productivity are ever elusive and slippery.  This is especially hard on poor Chris who has so much to do and in the midst of all of this, God is tremendously blessing the church and we're randomly in a burst of growth and momentum here in the middle of summer- talk about grace, grace!!  I think we are operating in like a triple dose of it right now!

With all that being said it's still a very exciting time, so I hope I'm not whining too much.  It's just very hard to articulate and explain the nature of these days. I think that's one of the reasons we're all having such a hard time, because we're ready to meet our new little man and ready to move on to the new challenges of life with a newborn, a growing church, and all of the other things going on in our lives.  And I'm trying so, so hard to keep my peace, remember that God is in control, constantly turn over my anxieties, fears, and restlessness over to Him, and that His timing and plan are perfect.  So, basically- the bags are packed, the arrangements for the kids are made, and we're trying to be ready on a moment's notice but not think about it. Yeah.  So maybe the next post will be a birth announcement and story, or maybe the next post will be more of the same.  One day (and sometimes one hour) at a time.

Here's our pics from the sibling class...

They learned the proper way to hold a baby and had little practice babies... Addison's baby was bigger than the one Cadence had!  Proud siblings!

Annnnd this is what not to do when holding baby.  Let's try not to pick our nose and hold Jaxon at the same time, son.

Then they moved on to learning how to swaddle the baby with the blanket, followed by changing a diaper.  Cadence was very confident and really did not want any help from me on this. So surprised.

This is my favorite one.  Addison's baby was an anatomically correct baby boy, and his face is so classic Addison.  He does this expression sometimes when he raises his eyebrows at things like, "whoah".  This would be one of those moments.  Don't know what about the moment caused the face, but I was laughing!  We also assured the kids that they will not really be responsible for changing the diapers, maybe just helping :)

In the middle of talking about babies only drinking milk when they're born (aka do NOT feed your baby your snacks and drinks), Cadence raises her hand and proceeds to tell the class that babies also like tomato juice. Hmm.  Have no idea where that came from.

When we were touring the l&d rooms, Addison raises his hand and asks what happens when the mommy is having the baby and she really needs to go to the bathroom.  He's really thinking through this process.  Tricky, indeed!  Actually, most of his questions/comments had to do with the mom which is sweet because he has recently shown some concern/interest with me and my well-being.  I keep trying to assure him that I'm okay and that even though it's not going to be a lot of fun for me that I'll be just fine. He's aware that birth is messy and yucky and has no desire to be anywhere near that room!!  They know that they will be coming to see us ASAP and when Jaxon is all cleaned up ready to hold.  They also got big brother/big sister shirts from the class which they can proudly wear!

One of the funniest things said was at the end of the tour when we finished.  Cadence raised her hand and asked if we were now all going to take turns having the babies!!  It got a laugh out of everyone.  That's about her level of understanding of it all... sort of but not really!

And if you didn't see the pics on Facebook, I finally finished decorating the nursery.  Now to put the finishing touches on the other kids' rooms!!  It's such a happy and bright space- just how I wanted :) Here's a link to the rest of the pics here: Nursery

(got a sweet app on my iPhone that lets you take a bunch of pictures and it stitches them together to make a panoramic picture- love it!)

And that gets you all caught up.  Sorry it's kind of long.  Now back to patiently waiting... peace out from the Pate house.

The Beginning of the End and the Beginning

I was thinking of that title and its appropriateness, and it felt familiar, like I had used that phrase before.  Sure enough, I looked over the archives and I did use that phrase to describe the period of time right before we came here to Houston and there were so many things ending and beginning all at once.

And I find myself feeling many of those same feelings today, sitting here all alone (the kids have been gone all week and Chris is currently in transit to bring them home- my house is begging for familiar noise :). July is the beginning of the end and the beginning for us.  We are now entering into a holding pattern of sorts, preparing as much as we can but pretty much just waiting.  The beginning of the end of nine months of housing and growing new life. The end of monthly doctor's appts, hip pain, waddling and sleepless nights (okay, so those aren't going anywhere actually, just the nature and cause of the sleeplessness is changing).  The end of the term "Pate family" being four people.  The beginning of the end of a season of life.  This probably being the last time I'm going to be pregnant, there is definitely a finality to it all, like the period at the end of the sentence.  And as much as I am going to be glad not to be pregnant anymore, I'm certainly sensing the ebb and flow of emotion about it.  No matter how much of a pain (literally) it can be, there are probably not many things more amazing in this life than partaking in carrying and bringing into the world a child and all of the guts and glory that go along with it.  And I definitely feel the finality of this being it.  There will be no more diapers to change after this one.  No more nursing, first smiles and first steps, baby rolls and cheeks and smells.  No more "well the next time around..." My role as a mother will move out of child bearing strictly into the business of child rearing.  Definitely an entire chapter and time of our life closing. The end is met with a mixture of feelings of closure, impatience (let's do this- like today), anxiousness and if I'm being totally honest a little fear (oh wow- I am about to do this), and...

Excitement. Because the beginning of the end means the beginning of the beginning.


The beginning of a new year in our life.  We just celebrated our first year of being here in Houston in June, so very literally a new season in not only our personal lives but also ministry is upon us (And we give God major props because our first year has been a great one). And a physical new season around the corner, which means the beginning of relief.  Okay, okay, so we technically still have the hottest portion of the summer to endure and Houston doesn't get the memo to change over into fall until well after most places, but still- there is one big difference for me.  I will not be huge and pregnant anymore, so I literally feel like I can endure anything after this June and July have a little more patience to ride out the rest of the heat. So I know it's only the beginning of July, but let the huge and pregnant lady have my moment of dreaming of cooler (even if it's just a little cooler) times to come.  Eventually.

The beginning of new life and our new life together.  The new Pate family of five.  The beginning of Cadence's transition from baby to big sister, which I might add I think she'll take to the new role splendidly- she has a natural gift of being able to boss people around helping people find their direction and place and I think she'll be thrilled to have someone "under" her to do so :) The further cementing of Addison's place as the big brother. But in all seriousness my children have humongous, loving, caring hearts and Jaxon is so lucky to have them as his older siblings. I'm looking forward to seeing their interactions and how they will love on him and help us take care of him.  It's the beginning of tiny baby snuggles and cuddles.  We're ready to meet him, to hold and smell him, see what he looks like, and to introduce him to the rest of the world.  Life with a baby, though exhausting and overwhelming at times, is like learning to live and appreciate the world all over again.  Seeing through those innocent, new eyes in which everything is a discovery, a brand new world full of wonder and possibility, is so much fun. My heart is happy thinking of that.  The new beginnings headed our way are going to be pretty wonderful.

But today, it's waiting.  It's the limbo between the two worlds, the tossing between the two extremes of emotion, the packing the bags and settling down and getting comfy in the waiting.  But I can tell you, it's not all that comfy, especially if you are in this skin right now!

And so begins July, the beginning of the end and the beginning.  You would not waste a prayer on this little family during this time. Peace out from the Pate house.

One last hoorah as a party of four...

Last week as I was in the shower getting ready for us to go out of town, I was hit with a wave of emotion. I was thinking about it being our last out of town trip as a family of four, and I got a little sad.  Not that I'm not excited or looking forward to adding another member to our family, because I certainly cannot wait on so many levels to meet the little wiggle worm in my belly, but because I realized a chapter of our lives was coming to a close.  It made me see that in the last five and a half years we had grown quite comfortable, like a warm blanket on a cold day or an old friend.  It made me realize that our kids have grown into a pretty self-sufficient place in life, as far as kids go.  There are no diapers and bottoms to wipe, they can feed and bathe themselves, and though growing up is presenting its own challenges and trials, five and seven can be really fun ages.  I realized that their life as they know it is about to be turned upside down, as excited as they are about it.

Now of course, knowing the depth of joy and love unspeakable each of our children has enriched our lives with, I can only imagine how much deeper, stronger, more beautiful, and really, more fun the next chapter will be with another child.  There are days I cannot contain the joy I feel about having another baby, and I daydream about tiny fingers and toes and walk over and smell the Johnson and Johnson's Honey Apple lotion awaiting the sweet skin to lather onto.  But I've noticed about myself that when change is approaching, it throws me into this introspective spin cycle that can become really dangerous.  As good as it is to reflect, which I love to do, nipping at the heels of reflection for me can be regret.  And then I think about all of the things I wish I was, wish I would have done, time that was wasted, and this general overwhelming sense of please-God-don't-let-me-screw-my-kids'-life-up gloomy cloud.  But the good news is that I'm working really hard on letting go of the expectations I put on myself, because I'll never live up to them, and I know deep down inside that it's only by God's grace we are doing anything worthwhile anyway and He more than covers my imperfections and short comings.

So in short, I just wanted to enjoy our time, enjoy our children, and forget about all of the things I just said above.  And I really did.  We had a lovely time.  They had their age-appropriate moments, but mostly everyone got along, had great attitudes, and we just had a lot of fun.  The Great Wolf Lodge ended up being the perfect solution for us, considering I was pretty much outlawed from the doc to be out in this wicked extreme heat, and who really wants to be anyway!  It was all right there in the hotel- waterpark, food, and other fun things to do.  I think because I had been feeling so crummy before we left that I imagined myself mostly sitting poolside with a cold drink and a good book, maybe occasionally sneaking up to the room for a nap and enjoying from a distance.  But that really wasn't the case at all.  I was right there in the middle of it, and I'm so thankful I felt pretty good for those few days and had the energy and physical ability to keep up with everyone and splash around in the fun.  That's what I really wanted to be doing anyway :)  I even tried a water slide when we first got there that looked pretty innocent, but let's just say that was the one and only time I did that...

Before this gets too long, here's some of our pics from the trip.  We also took along our waterproof video camera that we've always been too nervous to put in the water, but I'm so glad we did because it was awesome!  That part will have to come later, though, because I have a lot of little clips to dump on the computer and sort through.  Good stuff, though.

Our room was SO cool- this was the front part for the kids- bunk beds!  And two TV's, which was a non-necessity but definitely a luxury we enjoyed!!  The entire hotel was made to look like you were in the woods in a cabin.

A couple of pics of the outside part.  Not as much going on out there, but still some slides and other fun stuff.  

This was what you saw as you entered into the inside part.  There were also huge glass windows throughout the lobby, so you could see all of this the minute you came into the building.  These guys are ready to go!

This was more of a little kids area.  Behind that was a big wave pool and lazy river.

More slides.  One of these (I think) is the Howling Tornado which Chris and Addison rode.  And tried to capture on the video camera, but it ended up being so crazy there wasn't much footage!  From the sound of things it was pretty intense!

 This might have been Addison's favorite part.  There was a thing called Magiquest, and it was like a big game.  You had a wand and used it to unlock things all over the hotel, giving you quests and adventures.  It sent us (mostly Addison and Chris cause I couldn't handle all of the stairs!) all over the hotel, up and down floors, waving wands at treasure chests, pictures, and talking things that interacted with you.  He was so.into.it.  It was almost all he could talk about!!

 Here he is receiving a new quest!

Every evening in the lobby they had story time/a little animated show.  Think a la Chucky Cheese moving and singing little character machines....Cadence and I went here while Chris and Addison were on wild quest adventures all over the hotel!  You were supposed to go in your PJ's.

She looks a little tired after a long day, but before the story time started she was turned around facing the other kids, and I couldn't hear her but she was telling all of them stories of her own.  From what I could see of her, it was something very important and dramatic.  Of course it was :)

And she just LOVED meeting Violet the wolf afterwards.  Please note the wolf ears in the picture :)

 Don't have many water pictures because, well, I didn't want to ruin my camera or my phone!  But I'll try to upload some of the little videos soon.  Oh- what's that?  You thought you would see pictures of me waddling around in my maternity swimsuit?  Ha- nope!  I do have a few just for documentation's sake, but I feel like a whale as it is, and I certainly don't want to have that permanently cemented in cyberspace- in a bathing suit, none the less!  Just had to get over it while I was there, but it didn't matter much to me because it wasn't like I knew anybody :)  Like I said before, it was a great trip.  It wasn't Disneyworld, our first choice that got cancelled upon finding out I was pregnant and will be due when the trip was scheduled, and it wasn't Sea World, our attempt at second best closer to home, but you would have thought our kids were at either of those places the way they were so excited and having so much fun.  That's the beauty of kids, and our kids specifically.  They don't know any better and just had a blast right where they were.  We'll do the big trips one day, but I celebrate our time for what it was and it was just perfect in that moment.  It was more than just about the cool place. It was just us, being together and having fun as a family.  The Pates are a party wherever we are :)

Peace out from the Pate house.

Jaxon in 4D

This experience was so crazy- it is really hard to describe or do it justice.  We have always wanted a 3D/4D ultrasound, but we've never had one done with any of the kids.  This probably being our last, we decided we were going to just do it.

This was an especially unique and memorable moment for me.  I have mentioned this before, but unless you are a fellow mother who has carried life inside of you it's hard to understand or try to imagine and picture the feeling of another small person moving around in your belly.  It's a very intimate and specific thing, a constant reminder and connection, and no other feeling, as in the literal, physical feeling can be used to compare or describe it.

So when I laid on that padded table and that image came on the screen, it was extremely surreal. 4D means we saw everything in live time, not just still images.  Every movement, every turn, kick, expression, and action was happening as we were seeing it.  It's a strange thing, having your insides projected on a huge television to watch. And the fact that someone else is occupying your space.  The room that used to be yours with a bladder, stomach, ribs, and everything else that is now being aggressively taken over shared.  I'm still bewildered by the thought that everything still fits in there.  Barely.

Oh, so that's what is going on in there. That's what I feel all day and night.  Hello, Jaxon.

The technician seemed particularly impressed with the clarity of the picture, and more specifically, him. She commented on his really long eyelashes and huge lips.  We sat in amazement as we saw him open and close his mouth, grab the umbellical cord (and even stick his tongue out to touch it), turn, touch his toes to his head, and many other things.  At one point he opened his eyes. I have to admit, that was a little freaky- a little too real!  He gave quite a performance- about everything cool that you could see from this experience he did.  And then at the end came the most amazing part- he started smiling. Now, granted it's probably just reflexes or something, but that didn't matter to anybody in the room.  Even the technician was freaking out!  He brought the house down!  It was so sweet.  He just looked so happy and peaceful in there.  And he just kept doing it.

It made me think of all the scriptures about God knitting us in our mother's womb and how He knows us before one of our days is lived.  I always like to think about my children being in the presence of God inside of my womb, being comforted and protected by Him while they grow.  Honestly, in that moment of that sweet smile, that's what it felt like.  Not a reflex or coincidence, but a small, tiny person so at peace and joyful, tucked safely away and blissfully enjoying the perfect environment for the time being.  I felt like we got to know him a little in those moments.  And it definitely makes all of the misery discomfort of the days of late worth it.  The sleepless, painful nights. The constant pressure and bearing down on my pelvis.  The waddling.  The exhaustion.  The emotion. The residing on top of my bladder (and I mean on top).  The "fake" contractions.  My unrecognizable figure. The constant cracking and popping of my hips awkwardly expanding in preparation of what's to come.  Just to name a few. I know it's going to be over soon.

And when those long eyelashes and big lips are in my arms and we're all lovingly gawking over the newest member of our family, it will be but a memory.  But until we can all meet him, here's a little glimpse of what we got to see:

This is the reason they can fit inside of there- that's his foot touching his head!  And right below the foot is his hand.

Baby foot!  So clear! Actually, the original images we have are even more clear, but these still turned out pretty good!

Doesn't this face already look so sweet??

Smiling.  So awesome! 

We got more, but those are the best ones.  I have to say, the funniest moment goes to Cadence: the technician would write words on the screen sometimes, saying what the body parts were or cute little phrases and Cadence exclaims, "Look!  He's saying something!! What is he saying??"  It was truly hilarious.  And with that,

Peace out from the Pate house.

Doing Life- Through Pics

*Okay, I confess- I started the blog below last Monday but never finished putting the pics on there. But, this Monday evening I feel much the same so it applies!  It has been a fun but tiring few weeks as we've had company for the past three weekends in a row.  Two weekends of family and one weekend of friends.  It's been glorious.  So wish all of our family was closer. 

As you know, Mondays are the days when the fog clears, the dust settles, and what remains are two people (myself and my husband) regrouping and putting themselves back together after a long and eventful weekend.  And I must add, my recovery time is getting longer and longer as my very pregnant body is massively rebelling, kicking and screaming, to the demands of our every day life and schedule.  Oh boy.  That's another story. Let's suffice it to say that I've been praying a lot lately for a triple extra measure of grace to run through the tape with this little guy.  I actually took two two hour naps today.  Wow.

So, just like always, a lot of nothing and everything has transpired since the last post.  I thought it might just be best to do an update through pictures, taking you on a little tour of life at the Pate house lately.  So here goes...

This guy has been one of the main stories lately- most of you that read this know about what happened, but the week we moved in (which was just not a great week altogether, hence one of the reasons it has not made mention here) Addison fell off the swing set and broke his right clavicle (collar bone).  Our first experience with a broken anything.  He has been in a sling the past five weeks, which in the time perspective of a seven year old has been an eternity not being able to play, climb up into his new loft bed, and having to use his left hand for everything!  We took him in last week (after some drama and frustration dealing with insurance and having to go more than one place) to reveal in another x-ray to reveal his bone has healed- but it has healed crooked, or not flat.  You can feel it when you touch his collar bone.  So where does that leave us?  Not sure, exactly.  The doctor who looked at it didn't seem overly concerned since he wasn't in any pain and has his range of motion back.  She assured us that it is healed and stronger than before.  The takeaway is that there is not an urgency to do anything about it for the time being, unless something starts to bother him.  We're in the process of getting some opinions and advice.  For now he is just happy to be rid of the sling and have a normal kid life back :) 

Easter. Yeah, it's been that long since I've caught up!  Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo shoot because the broken bone incident occurred three days before and it was a feat enough to get Addison dressed Sunday morning, so I wasn't going to push it with a photo shoot.  Still toying with the idea of trying at some point, just cause they looked cute :) Look at those hams.

We took a trip to the Museum of Natural Science.  There's a cool part inside that is dedicated to insects of all kinds, and then there's a massive live butterfly exhibit.  It's a huge, enclosed, glass tower thing with a rainforest like environment (think really hot and humid) where literally hundreds of all kinds of butterflies are flitting and floating about for you to see.  This pic below had tons of butterflies flying through the air, but you couldn't see it unfortunately. 

Inside the museum part was a display of hundreds of different kinds of chrysalises.  We thought it was just a display at first until we realized live butterflies were hatching out of them.  They then took the butterflies out of the case and released them into the rainforest part. It was super cool.  Can't see too close here, but we were amazed at some of the chrysalis shapes and colors.  Some of them looked like 24 carat gold- nature is truly such a masterpiece of God. 

Just a small sampling of some butterfly shots I got. The pic on the right has like 8 in it, just an idea of how many there were all around.  For a total lover of butterflies like me, it was heaven. Cadence also squealed with delight at seeing them so close all around, some even landed on you.  

Addison, well...interesting thing about that....he had a surprise reaction to the butterflies. As in, as soon as we stepped in there and saw them flying all around he started freaking out. And I mean, hysterically freaking out.  As in, Chris had to remove him from the habitat and they waited outside until we were finished.  Not so sure what was so menacing about the butterflies.  We all had a long talk about it and he thinks he'll be better next time.  It was really weird because he loves animals and insects and was really into the museum part before where we were learning all about them.  Hmm...

 A little photo op outside of the museum.  No doubt one of the last pics of us as a family of four.  It's hard to gather my true size from the pictures.  I'm really huge, people. 

T was in town for the weekend and got to have fun with us.  It was great to see her, because it had been a long time. This is such a good picture.

*I apologize for the wonkiness of the following pics- I was trying to make them smaller and fit better, and I cannot seem to get them to do anything else so it's all wacked. And as a reminder, click on the pic for a bigger version of it.

The following weekend there was something called the Art Car Parade.  It's apparently a big deal in Houston, and all of these really crazy decorated cars are on display and then there's a big parade.  We went to the preview to look at some of the cars.  They were crazy!  This is only a few of the many pics I have!

So if you look closely on the right,this

car is made of peeps. Like the candy.

This one is worthy of note, because I 

later found out that my son was 

"pretending" to lick the car...well you

can guess what happened.  The germaphobe

in me tried not to completely lose it.

All of the fish on this car moved and sang with music. It was a major hit with the kids. 

The car below on the left is made of teeth, toothpaste, and all things teeth related. Very interesting and very creepy at the same time!

 This car on the right was made of chalkboard paint.  Cadence in particular enjoyed that one.

So this was probably the coolest part for the kids- they had this huge foam party going on right in the middle of the park.  Oh, to be a kid!  The expressions on their faces are that of pure, kids having a blast, joy.  I love seeing those kinds of faces :)  And afterwards the same park has a big splash pad so we got all rinsed off!

I definitely have so many more pictures and things to share, but I think this little post is about to get overloaded.  Thus the tragedy of being so far behind.  But I wanted to put these on here at least, because we have some fun things coming up that will have their own space!  This past weekend the Hargis side of the family came to town, and we had a lot of fun as well.  Silly me- I didn't bother to take one picture the whole time which is highly unlike me!  But it was all of us- my two bros were able to come too which was a special treat!  I said it earlier, but I really wish our family was closer.  We so enjoy seeing them, but it's always a little sad when everybody goes home...

I so badly want to show you pictures of cute kids' rooms in progress, but I'm close to finishing so I'll wait.  We even have the nursery going which is so exciting!  I am DYI'ing a lot of the baby's room and kids' rooms, so it's been fun.  I recovered a glider/ottoman yesterday, and I must say I was pretty proud of myself :)  My goal is to have most all of it done by this weekend, but we'll see how it goes.  Sometimes my pregnant self has other plans so I have to just go with the flow these days :)

This weekend is going to be all about baby.  It actually started last weekend with an unbelievable 4D ultrasound (that I will share pics in it's own post).  This Saturday we enrolled in a big brother/big sister class at the hospital where the kids will talk about and learn about life with a newborn, and we get a hospital tour out of it which I was wanting.  Then Sunday afternoon our awesome church is throwing us a church-wide baby shower that will be more like a party!  It's a family/co-ed event, not a traditional shower with just women, so I know it will be a lot of fun!  It's such a blessing for them to do this, especially since we are starting all over and have no baby gear/stuff whatsoever!!  I know God will provide :)

Well, sorry this was pretty long but I needed to get it out there.  And you'll notice it took me three tries to get this thing sent out- it's obviously not Monday anymore :)  Oh well!  Peace out from the Pate house.

Mothers.

I have always appreciated, to the extent that I could understand, all that the two mothers in my life have done for me and what they mean to me.  We all have a certain understanding and awareness of the sacrifices mothers make on a daily basis and everything they go through to love and care for their families.

But seven and a half years ago I became a mother.  And then I knew.  The reality of all my mom(s) have really done and the entirety of your being it takes to be that person to the people you love sank in.  And when you know, suddenly just picking out a gift every year or making a phone call doesn't seem like enough. Words don't seem like enough to say thanks.

So, although it's a difficult thing to articulate something deep inside of you that connects you in only the way a mother can be connected to a mother, I will still say thank you.


I will say thank you by trying to raise your grandchildren in the beauty, dignity, and example you showed me throughout my life. In the selfless act of serving my family, putting my own needs aside, and pouring out my heart into being the best I can be.  Somehow I feel like being the best I can be can bring you a small amount of the honor you deserve.

Just look at those sweet things.  It's pretty easy to feel like a great mom when you have these two guys to show for it, although I feel as though I can hardly take credit for it, because they're just innately great kids.  I love how Addison is trying to get his arms around me and can barely make it! 

I hope the two mothers in my life that read this felt loved today.  I hope the two awesome mothers by marriage I have the privilege of sharing my life and family with also had a day filled with love and blessing.  Twice the family is twice the blessing!  And I hope any other mother that finds their way here to read this knows what an honor it is to carry the name "Mom". How important your job is and the weight of knowing that God has decided you're worthy of stewarding and caring for His children, made in His image. What a responsibility.  What a great blessing.  

Peace out from the Pate house.