Wrestlemania!

Braedyn started a new sport this year--WRESTLING!  No, Allen has never wrestled, and neither of us know very much about the sport at all.  However, Braedyn has had a blast learning all about it this year!

Here he is for his first weigh in.

She is looking for ringworm--GROSS, I know!

Then, he goes before the panel to tell them his division and actually weigh in.

The following weekend was the actual tournament--"Rumble in Rogers" was the title!

Braedyn is on the left. 

And the winner is...BRAEDYN!

He was SO proud when the ref held his arm up!

At the end of the tournament, when all the points were added up from all his matches, he came in SECOND PLACE for his division!

Check out those muscles!

And what was The Princess doing during all this excitement you ask, well virtual crafting on her Martha Stewart App of course!  Here is the picture she took and captioned:

Don't Braedyn and his friend, Turner, look tough?!

Way to go, B-Man!!

The Holidays: A Brief Re-Cap

We had a WONDERFUL holiday season this year! In fact, it was so busy and so much fun, that I am just now getting around to posting about it!

We spent Thanksgiving here in Arkansas, with the whole Bates Clan.  Emily and David were so sweet to host everyone, and it was great to celebrate  We have SO much to be thankful for this year!

After lunch it was time to plan our Black Friday attack!  It has become a tradition that the kids look forward to every year.  First stop was Walmart, where the littlest Bates gave it up early.

After a little sleep, we woke everyone up about 4:30 am for round two!

After a lot of crazy shopping, we celebrated with donuts!

Christmas is always an exciting time for the kids.  And, this year, everyone liked sitting in Santa's lap (a  small miracle)!

One of our favorite traditions is Daddy reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to the kiddos.

Christmas morning was great! The kids loved waking up (well before the crack of dawn) and opening all their gifts.  

After a wonderful Christmas at our house, we headed to Honey and Sashi's for more fun!  The kiddos had a blast playing with their cousins!

While 2013 has certainly been a year filled with many bumps in the road, we feel beyond blessed.  Allen is in remission and sweet Braxtyn Eric arrived to keep us on our toes (as if we weren't already)! We are looking forward to what 2014 holds!

Happy Nine Month Birthday!

Braxtyn, you are getting so BIG!! Today the doctor said you were in the 25th percentile for weight, at 19.7 lbs and the 60th percentile for height at 29 inches.  You have six little teeth that help you chow down, especially on your food of choice, Taco Bueno beans!

Yes, you ate that entire bowl by yourself!

You love to feed yourself finger food too! Pretzels are your snack of choice, but you also love cheese, avocado, black olives, bread, pasta, and pretty much anything else we give you to try out.  

You are so proud that you can feed yourself!

Mommy and Daddy are certainly blessed that you are so happy most of the time.  We always comment that you are our "smiliest baby!" Most days, you are happy to play on the rug, babbling away.  While "Uh-Oh" was your first word, "Dada" was right behind it, and Braedyn is convinced you are saying "Buh-Buh" meaning brother.

Cheese!

Crawling is SO close! You can scoot all over the floor, and have mastered going backwards.  However, the whole one knee in front of the other is still a little tricky for you.

Ready to crawl!

It is amazing that you have only been with us for nine short months because we can't even remember life without your handsome little smile and sweet talking filling the house! We love you to the moon and back, Braxtyn Eric!