Matthew and Caleb with Luke

We wanted to post some pictures and videos of the Matthew and Caleb with Luke. The good news is that Matthew and Caleb are very aware of their new baby brother. The bad news is that they are pretty rough with him. I don't know if this is because they think that they can treat him like they treat each other or because this is some sort of natural territorial behavior like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. Either way, it makes for great family videos!

Matthew showing mommy Luke's nose

Pops is holding Luke

The boys had a hard time saying bye bye to mommy after their first hospital visit

I think MiMi has found a new apple for her eye

Caleb is giving Luke a big old kiss

Gruncle Steve is reading the boys their new favorite book. It is a book about some school out in West Texas with red and black colors...I can never remember the name of that place.

Graunt Nelda and Gruncle Steve got the boys some new rain gear.

Caleb wants to go play in the rain.

The boys are having some fun

Luke Thomas Bates

Well we finally added the third child to the Bates' clan today. At 7:55am, Luke was born and weighed 9 lbs 1 oz and was 22 inches long. Both Luke and Emily are doing great and we are so thankful for that.

In other great news, my nephew Tyler was discharged from the hospital today. This was ahead of schedule and is great news because they are likely to start his cancer treatment in the next couple weeks. Everyday that he can spend like a normal 3 year old is a huge blessing.

Here are some pics from today with more to come over the following 18 years:

Luke listening to some music (getting his hearing checked - he passed!)

I finally got a shot with his eyes open

Here is another pic with his eyes open.

Getting his first bath. He actually liked taking a bath...just like his daddy.

This is about 20 minutes after he was born looking up at his mama.

This was taken after he had been in the world for about two minutes. For those of you familiar with this, he is doing the same "moon eyes" that his daddy is famous for.

Emily was pretty zonked at this point, but was still willing to put up with picture-happy daddy.

Update...

Well, I wanted to update you guys on some news from the Bates Family. We are scheduled to have Luke (Lord-willing :)) on Tuesday, March 23rd, at 7:30 a.m. via c-section. I am anxiously awaiting this day and must say that I am ready for this little guy to be here. I am definitely doing a lot of waddling these days!

I went to the doctor yesterday and everything looked great. I am just taking it easy over the next few days so that we don't have any surprises. We have set up the nursery and started to get out the baby gear. I still don't think Matthew and Caleb know what is about to happen, but they are going to find out soon enough!

I think they will be sweet big brothers and they will definitely be getting lots of attention in the upcoming weeks from friends and family which will definitely help. Please pray for Tuesday morning that all will go smoothly and that we will give birth to a healthy baby boy.

Our family would also like to ask for your prayers for our nephew, Tyler. Tyler is Tom (Tim's brother) and Jenn's almost 3 year old son. He was diagnosed Tuesday evening with a brain tumor at Cooks and had surgery yesterday to remove the tumor. The surgery was successful in that they were able to remove the tumor, however the oncologist is concerned that it is likely cancerous.

Tom and Jenn will find out more details about the tumor and the treatment plan for Tyler next Tuesday or Wednesday after a pathology report is completed. Tyler remains in the ICU at this point, but is doing really well. Our hearts are absolutely broken for their family and we would appreciate your prayers as they continue down this difficult road.

They have a blog with more specific updates at : http://www.tomandjennbates.blogspot.com/ and there will also be information on their blog in the upcoming weeks about how to pray for them and help them with food, childcare, etc. Tyler also has 3 little brothers (8 month old triplets Blake, Grant, and Carter) at home so please pray for Tom and Jenn as they care for Tyler at Cooks and then also take care of their other kiddos.

Even though there is a lot going on in our family right now, we are confident that the Lord does not ever leave our side and is a refuge to us in times of need. We are clinging to Him as things seem so uncertain at this point. Please pray for continued peace and strength for Tom, Jenn, and Tyler. We love you guys so much!

Update on the Fam!!!

Visit from Mimi and Papa in February...
Uh-oh...we thought it would be fun to get out all of the diapers and turn this box into a little boat...

The funny thing about this picture is that Caleb has never liked pacifiers, but somehow he convinced his brother to let him borrow it for their boatride...

This was right before we left for church and we told the boys it was time to go "bye-bye." We grabbed our stuff and found them waiting at the garage door for us. Of course, Matthew, who LOVES hats, found Daddy's hat to wear out the door!

This is Matthew "pretend feeding" Mimi noodles out of a book...Grauntie Nelda, do you remember teaching him this?!

Caleb's new thing is "stretching" with Daddy...he loves it!!!

Daddy and his boys...all dressed in purple...Tim couldn't be happier!

This was taken March 1st. I was 36 weeks to the day during this pic and we found out at the doctor that day that Luke weighs almost 8 pounds! We still have 3 weeks to go until our scheduled date for delivery so he is going to be a big chunk! We are so thankful that the pregnancy has gone so smoothly and that Luke is healthy.

This is Mere and Nathan Salter hanging with Caleb on the couch...sooo sweet! Caleb loved hanging out with those two and Jacob...so did Matthew, he just wasn't as in to the cuddle and sitting still part!

This is Mere-Mere with Chooch after his new do...spikorama!

Caleb and Mommy...now that's some real "spikage!"

VIDEOS BELOW:

Note---these were taken when Tim had the boys a few Saturdays ago and Mommy got a fun girly afternoon...they had so much fun!