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!

Belly Shots...

Here are some photos from the end of my pregnancy showing how big Braxtyn was growing:

28 weeks

30 weeks

34 weeks

36 weeks

Braxtyn arrive a week and a half after the last picture--good thing he was early--I don't think my belly could have stretched much more!!

Braxtyn's Baby Shower

Emily was so sweet to host Baby Braxtyn's baby shower! And, even sweeter was that she let Brookelyn co-host!

Brookelyn was the perfect little co-hostess! And how cute is the wreath that Emily made?!

Emily did a beautiful job decorating! She was super crafty and let the kids help out making little signs and picture frames!

A BIG thank you to all the ladies that came to celebrate with us! And, another BIG thank you to Brookelyn's friends who also helped out.  They were just adorable!

Braxtyn is fixed up on baby gear! Thank you for all the beautiful baby gifts!

Of course I didn't get a picture with Emily! Isn't that always how it works? We were so busy having fun that we forgot! Thank you Aunt Emily and Uncle David for putting together such a beautiful party to welcome Braxtyn to the world! Hard to believe the little guy will be arriving a week from today!

One Mile Fun Run!

On Saturday Brookelyn ran her first race of the season!  Daddy had been training her on the weekends, and Brookelyn was so excited!  Uncle David even decided to run with them!

Here they are before the race.

And they were OFF!

Mommy and Braedyn cheered them on! 

And here they come back to the finish line!

Brookelyn was leading the way!

Thumbs up for a GREAT finish!

Super proud Daddy!

Way to go!

After the race we headed to the half marathon route to cheer on Aunt Emily and our other friends running the race.  It just so happened that the PowerBar aid station was right next to where we set up, and they needed more volunteers to hand out gels to the runners.  So, we agreed to help out.  The kids had a BLAST!

Ready to hand out the gels!

Braedyn in action!

Up next, Daddy is training Brookelyn to run her first 5K!

Happy Easter 2013

Easter morning was very exciting around the Bates' house! Brookelyn and Braedyn waited for Daddy to say that it was ok to head downstairs and start collecting their eggs!

And, then they were OFF!

Here they are checking out their Easter basket goodies:

Finally, a shirt "with buttons" (as Braedyn calls collared shirts) that he is excited about!

Then, he spotted all the eggs...

and they headed off to collect as many as they could!

Daddy helped with the ones they couldn't reach!

Finally, it was time to check out all their loot!

Some of the eggs had quarters in them, and others had puzzle pieces!

Then, it was time to crack some confetti eggs on Daddy's head! (Check out Allen mouthing the word "ow" in this shot!)

Braedyn got a few cracked on his head too!

The boys cracked them on each other's heads too!

Happy Easter!

Baby Braxtyn

In the midst of juggling two crazy kiddos' schedules and Allen's CANcer treatments, we have also been busy preparing for the newest Bates to arrive! We have officially decided on a name, Braxtyn.  All credit goes to Daddy for picking his name.  When Braedyn was born, we wavered between the two names, so when we found out this baby was going to be a boy, Allen was sure he wanted to name him Braxtyn.  (He already has visions of Braxtyn scoring a touchdown, making an "X" with his arms as a celebration dance.)

Allen helped put the final touches on Braxtyn's nursery this week! Here are some pictures:

In this one you can see the rug.  We agonized over the rug, buying and returning several before finally deciding on this one - it is super soft sheepskin!

Thank you to Pinterest for the idea of painting his name on the wall! The black "B" is actually a letter that is hung on the wall, and then I made stencils for the green letters.  It was tedious but not hard.  I also repainted all the knobs on the changing table and armoire to coordinate with the grey crib.  

We thought the tree branches looked cute on top of the armoire.  

Here is a shot of the footstool Allen helped me make to coordinate with the rocking chair.  The buttons on top are in the chevron fabric.  

Back at the gender ultrasound (18 weeks), doctors found several small cysts in Braxtyn's brain.  As a result, we had a Level II Ultrasound done before Christmas.  That ultrasound showed that all but one cyst had gone away.  It also showed that the baby's placenta had implanted very close to the cervix.  This is dangerous because the baby must be delievered before the placenta.  So, the doctors scheduled another Level II Ultrasound, which was done last week (at 28 weeks).  The great news is that all the cysts are gone! However, the placenta hasn't moved up and is sitting 1 cm from the cervix.  The doctors aren't optimistic about it moving up these last few weeks, but it is possible.  I have an appointment with the OB Wednesday, so we will just wait and see what she says.  If it doesn't move, then Braxtyn will be born by scheduled c-section.  In Allen's words, "Why not check another medical procedure off the list?!" 

We were able to get some great pictures of the not-so-little guy durning our appointment! I say not-so-little because like his brother and sister, he is measuring big.  He is a whopping 3.2 lbs already (2.5 is normal)!  The first thing we both said is that he looks just like Braedyn.  

 We can't wait to meet you, Braxtyn!

Baby Shower/Congrats on the New Job Party!

Allen has the sweetest co-workers! They have been amazing throughout Allen's treatments, offering to help in so many ways!  When Allen took a new position in Sam's Club, he was sad to leave his awesome team and colleagues.  They were so thoughtful to throw us a baby shower/congrats party!

They did such an adorable job of decorating!

They really helped us get started planning for Baby Bates' impending arrival!

A little small for Daddy, but perfect for the baby!

Check out the name tower one of Allen's co-workers made for the baby! Adorable!

It was such a fun afternoon!