Three little boys...

Well, we are hanging tough here at the Bates' casa! We are a little exhausted overall, but things seem to get easier each week with adjusting to three kiddos under the age of two under the same roof! Matthew and Caleb continue to love their brother and show a genuine concern for him (always ask for him when they get up from naps, worry about feeding Luke and have tried to share their animal crackers with him multiple times, and always try to put his pacifier back when it falls out of his mouth). I have caught them back near Luke's crib shooshing each other and saying "baby Luke..sleep..shooosh!" Of course, by this point, one of them has usually woken Luke up, but that's beside the point! We are working on teaching the twins to be more gentle with Luke, but that hasn't really happened yet! I'm sure they will learn with time, or maybe Luke will just have to be a really tough little brother! Below are a few fun videos of the boys. I am way behind on blogging (hmmm, wonder why?!) so will try to update the blog soon with pics from the last few weeks as well as some videos that Tim took on his camera.

This first video below is of Caleb and is really cute...in the middle of telling us about his basketball, our coffee machine (which is really loud) started to go off signaling the coffee was ready. Caleb heard it and that's why he starts saying "hot, hot, hot!"

One of our favorite things to do late in the day to get some energy out is to have a little "dance party!" We turn on Tim's ipod and dance with the boys. They both love dancing, but Matthew really likes it and takes after his daddy with good footwork...! This video is Chooch's first debut dance movie!

Counting to Four...Sort of :)

Matthew and Caleb "mowing" the garage...
Sweet Chooch smile...

Chooch mowing one handed...

Caleb having lots of fun! (They love these mowers and I haven't even showed them that the things blow bubbles, too...!)

Our little chunk...he is SOOO sweet! This is Luke at 3 weeks...

This is him at 4 weeks stretching...

Matthew is saying hello to his little brother :)

I am really bad at using clippers to trim the boys' nails so I use my nail files...they thought that it was time that Luke needed a trim as well. I have to watch the twins like hawks because they make a beeline for their brother as soon as I turn my back!

Popsicles in tub...what a treat!

So much fun!



These videos are great of the boys...they are really into counting right now but don't quite have it down yet as you can see!

Random, but at least it's an update !

These pictures are really random because my computer crashed and Tim is in the process of recovering my pics little by little so I don't have lots to work with but I felt bad that I hadn't posted in forever...so here are a few random ones... Well, this was our first big outing as a family of 5. We went to the TCU football scrimmage and it was super fun! Luke is under the blanket :)
Matthew is really into "climbing" right now!

Caleb sitting on his stool. I've been using these to teach the boys to climb up into the bath tub and their high chairs since I've had lifting restrictions post c-section.

Sweet big brothers with Luke...they really like to hold him, but only for one second then they say "all done, mommy."

Matthew is telling me "all done" by signing it and using his words!

Caleb and Luke...

Notice the sippy cup in Luke's lap. The boys love to take things to him...we've found easter eggs, train cars, etc in his bouncer!

Unsolicited kisses from Chooch...really sweet!

This is Tyler at his little party before he left for St. Jude. Thank you all for praying for him. Please continue to do so as he has began his chemotherapy. We love you, Ty-Ty (as Caleb says)!

This is Tim with Luke right before we left the hospital. Notice the really cute wreath my mom made!

Mommy and Luke headed home...it was SOOO awesome to meet Luke right after giving birth and then take him home with us two days later. It was such a different experience than with the twins and we were so thankful for God's mercy in such an uneventful delivery this time!

This was Caleb and his puppy balloon at Tyler's party...

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!