Our Little "Model"

A couple of weeks ago, an amazing photographer, Sweet Portrayal, needed a newborn baby to model an outfit she had received.  Lucky for us, Braxtyn had just been born and happened to be available!  Look at these ADORABLE photos she took of our little man:

I love on this one how his hand is up behind his head! He loves to nap like that!

Look at those little chubby side rolls!

 

This is my favorite--if I had to pick a favorite. It is hard to do though! 

Check out that little smile!

Such a handsome little man!

Braxtyn's First Month

It is hard to believe that Braxtyn is already 4 weeks old, yet at the same time I am not sure any of us remember life before him.  He fits in just perfectly!

Look at this SWEET face! Don't you just want to kiss those little lips?!

He loves to sleep with his arms above his head when at all possible.  And, check out that awesome shirt:

At night sometimes the kids come and lay down while I nurse Braxtyn.  Most of the time they fall asleep before I finish, so this is my view:

 Isn't that sweet!? I love that they want to be with their little brother as much as possible!

Here they are as proud as can be:

This time around we have been determined that Braxtyn will take a bottle (the other two wanted NOTHING to do with it).  Braxtyn is a champ! He is great at sucking it right down!

Such a sweet, sleeping little peanut!

This is Braxtyn's first bath in the sink.  He LOVED being submerged in the warm water and seemed happy enough to stay in there all evening if we would have let him!

 

Braxtyn, this first month has been amazing, exhausting, and full of lots of learning. Your brother and sister want to hold you all the time and are great helps! You love to look at them as they sing to you and show you all your toys.  You especially like it when they help you put your paci back in your mouth! Pretty much every two hours you are ready to eat, and you are a great eater! Sleeping is a work in progress.  Some nights you go two hours and others you give Mommy a treat and sleep for a three hour stretch.  This morning you smiled for the first time (except for in your sleep which doesn't count) when Daddy told you good morning.  It was so sweet! We love you little man!

We've Had a BUSY May!

We have been SUPER busy this month!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day, which happened to fall on the same day as Braedyn's birthday! We started with a great breakfast at David and Emily's. Here is the whole Bates Gang:

And, our first picture as a family of FIVE!  Hard to believe I am now the mommy to THREE beautiful kiddos!

Braedyn's preschool also held a Mother's Day Tea for us.  It was so sweet! He made me the most beautiful bracelet out of buttons! 

One of everyone's favorite things we have done this month has to be the Kid's Tough Mudder! We heard about it from a friend and knew we had to sign the kids up! Check them out after the race:

Can you tell they had a BLAST?!

While Brookelyn loves to get dirty in the mud, she loves dance even more! She had her dance recital last week - or should I say dance MARATHON! Since she is on the Company Team, she performed in both showings, which mean Mommy, Daddy, Braedyn, and Braxtyn got to stay at the theater from 12:30 until 9:30.  It was certainly a LONG day, but we loved watching her do what she so enjoys!

We have also been busy watching Braedyn play t-ball! This is his first year, and he is doing great! Go Dodgers!

Can't wait to see what Braxtyn will be into!

Braedyn Turns Five!

It is hard to believe our little man turned FIVE yesterday!  Hasn't he grown into such a handsome little dude?!

When planning his party, he knew immediately that he wanted to have it at Chuck E Cheese's.  Here is a picture of the Star Wars cake he picked out (yes, I know the themes don't match, but I am a mother to THREE kids now and themes are just not as important as they used to be):

Here are some of the boys (Daddy included) stragegizing on how to win the most tickets:

Brookelyn got to invite one of her friends too! She and Hadley had a blast!

And, Grandpa and Uncle David got in on the action too!

Here are the kiddos doing the Cupid Shuffle with Chuck E!

Braedyn was so excited to redeem his tickets!

And where was Braxtyn during all the fun you ask?  Pretty much like this most of the party:

After lots of games for the big kids, it was time to EAT!

Then, they did a whole "Birthday Show" featuring Braedyn! It was really cute! The kids started by banging on the table and called Chuck E out.

Braedyn got a special Birthday Star crown...

and then it was time to blow out his candles!

He LOVED Chuck E Cheese!

But, the highlight for him was definitely the Ticket Blaster! Check him out grabbing the tickets:

And LOOK - he managed to grab the 1000 ticket card!! He was beyond THRILLED!

Finally, he opened his presents with all his friends helping him out.

Seriously, this is the life kid! Live it up!

Happy Birthday B-Man! Mommy, Daddy, Brookelyn, and Braxtyn love you to the moon and back!

The Bates "Triplets"

Well, there is no doubt that Braxtyn is a Bates...check out how similar the babies all look:

Brookelyn - wow she was chubby, huh?!

Braedyn

Braxtyn

They all have the same little nose and eyes.  It is funny how some siblings look nothing alike, and others are obviously brother and sister. Well, like it or not Braxtyn, we think you are going to be a little mini-me of your big brother and sister!

Can you tell how excited they are that their little brother is finally here?!

Braxtyn Arrives!

At 37 weeks and 3 days, our little surprise miracle was scheduled to arrive by c-section.  It was still hard for Allen and I to believe we were actually going to have a baby!

Right before Mommy and Daddy headed to the hospital--the kiddos have worms in their hands because it had rained and they were "saving them" from the driveway. 

Mommy got all hooked up and ready. 

The c-section was scheduled for 11:00, but everyone was ready early, so they moved it up to 10:00! Daddy had to get ready really quickly.  Check out his super cool scrubs:

It wasn't long before they called us back, had Mommy all prepped for surgery, and then let Daddy into the operating room to sit right next to Mommy's head.  The nurse told Daddy to get his camera ready, and at 10:12 am Braxtyn Eric Bates made his big debut!

He was a big boy weighing in at 8lbs 1oz even though he was almost three weeks early!

Then, Mommy got to see him for the first time...

and steal the first of many, many kisses!

Daddy went back to the nursery with Braxtyn while the doctors finished working on Mommy.

The nurses gave him a good bath.

Then he got to take a quick little nap!

Mommy had to wait in recovery until they brought Braxtyn back for her to finally hold.

 

Braxtyn had some very important people waiting to see him once we were released from the recovery room...Brookelyn and Braedyn! 

First peek at their new brother.

Such a PROUD big sister!

Sweet brothers!

There were more important people who stopped by to meet the little guy! 

Uncle David

Aunt Emily

Even The CANcer Ninja stopped by!

The littlest member of Team ALL-EN wearing his bracelet!

Daddy was such a natural, burping him and changing his first diaper!

After two days in the hospital, it was time to head home!

We were so lucky to have Honey "on call" for two weeks to help us manage the chaos!  Braxtyn loved snuggling up to her!

And, Sashi flew in to meet Braxtyn too!

About nine months ago we thought we were given the shock of our lives when we found out we were pregnant with baby number three.  A couple of weeks later we were shocked yet again to find out Allen had CANcer.  Juggling everything that comes along with pregnancy AND trying to navigate the unknown territory of CANcer has not been easy... but with Allen in remission and the arrival of Braxtyn, we are reminded how blessed we really are!