The Bates Family
Allen, Leah, Brookelyn, & Braedyn

Monday, April 21, 2014

Braxtyn is ONE!

It is so hard to believe our littlest man is ONE! Life has certainly been busier, crazier, and more full of love and laughter since Braxtyn arrived! 
He loves to push his alligator toy all over the house!
Check out those teeth! Little man has eight and is cutting four more!
That smile will melt ANY heart, and it has certainly melted Brookelyn and Braedyn's!
Bubbles were a new thing for him.  He wasn't sure what to think of them.
Those little hands and feet.  So chubby and sweet!
Braxtyn loves sweets! Cookies, cupcakes, and birthday cake all agree with him!

Yum!
Check out those shoes! Braxtyn was so proud to wear his Daddy's shoes!

Those eyelashes! 
To celebrate his birthday, we wanted to do something FUN! When we found out The Glow Run was on his actual birthday, we decided it would be a perfect way to celebrate! After pizza and cake, we all got ready to run!
We were all so excited to celebrate with him!
Check out Braxtyn's crew!
Braxtyn loved being pushed along the route!

And we crossed the finish line with him still awake and ready to party!
Braxtyn, you are just the brightest little light! Your smile is contagious and you make our little family of five complete.  You are so smart and funny and just perfect in your own little B-Rax way.  We ALL love you to the moon and back!

Disney 2013

Wow--this post is LATE! I have had the pictures uploaded, but haven't had a minute to update the blog.  Sorry! Back in December, we took the kids to Disney.  It was a combo 10 year anniversary trip for Allen and I and a "HECK YEAH DADDY IS IN REMISSION WE ALL DESERVE TO CELEBRATE" trip!  I don't think any of us stopped smiling the entire time! 
Here are the kids the first morning at breakfast.  They were BEYOND excited!
Epcot was SO much fun! A lot of people skip Epcot, but honestly, the kids love it as much as the other parks.

They made "friends" with Bruce at The Nemo Ride.
Daddy and Braedyn were ready to GO GO GO on Test Track!
Mommy and Daddy mustered up smiles after barely holding it together on Mission Space.
One of the highlights of the trip for Braedyn was going to the Pirates League.  He got a full pirate makeover, complete with a pirate necklace from Jack Sparrow's secret treasure chest!

And, so of course The Princess, had to have her own special princess makeover by her Fairy Godmother! 

They even got to meet a few princesses!
At first, Snow White was scared of our little pirate!
But Belle loved him when he played The Beast!
We stole a little break on The People Mover after so much excitement!


The castle was beautiful at night!

Hollywood Studios was also a blast! Braedyn went through Jedi training and even got to fight Darth Vader himself!


The kiddos also loved the 3D movie!

Some mornings the kids got to take a quick dip in the pool before heading out to the parks...


...and some days we caught glimspes of famous stars like Buzz Lightyear and Cinderella...

...and most days Brookelyn and Braedyn were POOPED by the time we headed back to the hotel!


I still think Magic Kingdom was their favorite park.  Something about Cinderella's Castle makes it so magical!

Daddy and B Man watching the parade.
We all loved Mickey's Christmas Party!

It was truly a magical trip! We are so thankful that we got to spend time together as a family just having FUN!