John David Pate-3years old

James Daniel Pate-3years old

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

The Pates Lately....






My goodness where do I even start....

I won't how incredibly BUSY we are in our family. Raising 5 kids all under the age of 9, working a full time job, and trying to maintain our home is completely over-whelming at times, unbelievably exhausting, yet, totally satisfying and very humbling to say the least.

I have to admit that some days are so busy that I forget to "stop and smell the roses"...But I think no matter where you are in life, being busy and stressed with the day to day obligations we all have, leaves us feeling wilted......

I don't ever want to forget the "little things" in our days that bring such joy to my heart and smiles to my face...so let me refresh for a minute (since I actually have five minutes to do so) and catch you all up on the Pate Family (moreso the Miracle Babies)

Claire and Ellie recently paricipated in our local Lil Miss Oak Mt. beauty pageant...such fun and copletely hilarious to watch the little ones walk around looking like little lost sheep....Ellie won Best Hair" and "Miss Photogenic" and Claire won over our hearts with participating in something that required her to walk on stage in front of a huge crowd..(she is VERY timid and shy)....







Jenna and the boys started their new home daycare this week. What a pure blessing that is. Although adjusting to a new routine AGAIN for the third week in a row IS NOT fun, the fact that we are now back together with our Oak Mt. teacher kids in a home with the most amazing, loving, caring, Godly, educated women helping to raise our children....is well worth all the effort in change and re-adjustment. Please be in prayer for God to continue to bless these women (Lee Fogle, Maddie Cleary, Jenn Goode, Peggy, and Joan Brock) as they truly do impact the lives of our sweet little ones.

In just a few weeks, as the boys have been in school, learning amongst the "bigger kids"...I am stunned with how much they are learning. Yesterday in the van, I heard in the background, "We will, we will rock you" (by John David) and then I heard, "UH OH, no no bubba" (by James)...they are talking so much. In the bathtub last night, one of them (not even sure who) picked up a blue stacking cup and said, "bu"...OMG...I said, "Where is the yellow cup?" and the other one picked up the yellow stacking cup....AHHH, so apparently they know their colors...well, blue, yellow and green that is....the red and orange were never identified. OH, what a blessing to see them learning. I always worried with the notion of whether they would have huge gaps in development from their prematurity, and obviously that worry was a waste of time. Sure they are still smaller than average and appear younger than their peers, but not by much. I have noticed the boys doing more than some of their peers at the YMCA when we go play in the childwatch. I think having three girls (very typical, sometimes advanced) before preemie twin boys makes me worry about them more. But from all the moms of boys I talk to, they all tell me the same thing, "boys mature slower than girls".....Regardless, I am so thrilled with the boys' learning and development right now...so very thankful.

Tonight as I prepared to put them to bed, I stopped for a minute and just stared at them, looked deep into their eyes and and burned the sweetest image into my mind...the smell of their coconut shampoo heads, the sound of "momma peas" (asking me to read a book in our chair together), their (kind of) chunky toddler fat thighs, and lastly the feeling of them laying together on my chest breathing into my neck while I sang "Please Papa Daddy" song to them....just absolutely priceless....

The days are going so fast..which seems so odd because I am so exhausted by days end and sometimes think, "will this day ever end"...looking back on pictures and videos from months past make me want to freeze time as all my babies are growing up so fast.

In church lately we have been talking about 'stress'...and term near and dear to so many of us. I yearn to be at a place with God where stress doesn't take root in my spirit. I have so many responsibilities in my everyday life, that I sometimes feel the 'stress to the limit' emotion and want to just have a total breakdown...but then I hear a song, see a verse, remember a friend from church battling breast cancer right now, see a precious face of a preemie baby boy that was near death, remember my bestfriend in the whole world who wants nothing more than to just hug her momma one last time but can't because she is no longer on this Earth, feel my children hug me and say 'I love you Mommy', hear my husband tell me how much he appreciates me....AND the stress doesn't seem so bad....seems more manageable...tolerable, even enjoyable!

I would like to end this post with a prayer request.

My stepsister, Cindy, has a little boy named Hayden who is approaching 1 year old. She just found out that Hayden has a form of cerebral palsy. Please be in prayer for God to open doors and take hold of this situation. Pray for Hayden to receive the help he needs and for Cindy to feel support from all around as she continues to raise her son and give him the best she can.

2 comments:

Trina said...

Claire and Ellie are so beautiful all dolled up. You have some future heartbreakers! Well, ALL of your kiddos are going to break many, many hearts. :)

How exciting to see John David's and James's progress! I think I would have cracked up at "we will rock you."

I hope you're having a great school year so far, even though it has been somewhat stressful with the adjustments.

Screen Door Prep said...

Oh, they are all so big & so darling! It has been far too long since we've seen y'all, but the time just flies w/ kids, doesn't it? Those girls look so grown-up in their little pageant photos! I just about fainted the other day - I had left the television on WE, where I had that silly wedding cakes show on during naptime, & then our little sassy girl noticed "Little Miss Perfect" when she got up & was just glued to it & clapping around & prancing. Ha!

We are just so thrilled with how well all of y'all are doing, especially those sweet little miracle baby twins...& we will keep your stepsister & nephew in our prayers.