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!

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!