Merry Christmas!!

I am sorry it has taken me so long to get this post up. One of our Christmas gifts was a NEW DIGITAL CAMERA!!! I am so excited, ours broke last year and we have been borrowing our friends the Kargs extra camera, and now we get to give it back. =)Anyway with that said it has taken me a while to figure out how to get all the new software added and download all the new pictures.

I have a few Christmas celebrations to tell you about. Because D had to work on Christmas Eve, and we were going to be heading to Phoenix first thing Christmas morning, D, Baby A and I, celebrated our Christmas on Sunday the 23rd. We are REALLY bummed that J couldn't be with us that night. I made Christmas dinner, ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, with green beans, it turned out really good. Santa had come earlier in the day (while we were at church), so after dinner we opened our gifts. Can you believe it but Santa brought D a PlayStation 2, oh goodness. I got a new crock pot, and Baby A got lots of new clothes, and some new toys. I think she liked all the wrapping paper and boxes more than she did the gifts. =) Santa was good to us this year. Baby A and I attended the Christmas Eve service at our church on Christmas Eve, it was a beautiful candle light service. It's was nice to go and celebrate the real meaning for the season.Christmas Day Baby A and I picked D up from the fire station and headed down the hill. We always spend Christmas morning with my family and Christmas evening with his family. Mom and Dan made us a great Christmas morning breakfast, that included biscuits & gravy, eggs, bacon, sausage & fruit. MMM it was all so good. After breakfast I played Santa (that's why we have no picture of us opening gifts =)) and handed out all the gifts. Baby A got the most adorable outfit and pair of boots from my sister, and got an awesome ASU jacket from Grandma. Then we just hung out chit-chatted and relaxed. It was great spending time with our family.

Kissing Cousins

The Holmes Family

Grandma and her Babies

Sisters Brothers

After my Moms we headed to D's parents house where we FINALLY got to see J. Once their we opened gifts then had another great meal, ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and the list goes on, it was delicious! J got some really great gifts, she got an iHome to go with her new iPod, clothes, gift cards, the high School Musical Movies, a game and a cross necklace. Baby A got more clothes, a beautiful necklace from Aunt L (her first piece of jewelry) and her first QUAD! She loves it, we can barely get her off of it. Again it was a great afternoon spending time with family.

What a beautiful smile. Our Beautiful GirlsTrue LoveGrandma C playing SantaVroom Vroom -Look at my pretty new necklace

Cousin A

Aunt L and Baby A blowing Rasberries

Pooped after a LONG day

Oh, no our day isn't over yet. After leaving D's parents house we stopped by my Tia's house to see my Nana, Tio's, Tia's and cousins. Of course Baby A HAD to wear her NEW ASU jacket into the house. Boy did that cause a ruckus. =) (they are all UofA alumni and fans) It was nice visiting with everyone, good thing we saved room in our bellies because it was especially nice when Nana served us up some of her homemade tamales, frijoles, tortillas and menduo man they are SO GOOD! What a day, but once again we got out of town way too late.

Cousin Ayla and Baby A, Baby A is sad she has to sit with a UofA fan. =)

Baby A and Tia Martina

Tia Moni and Tio Oscar

Cousin Ivette and Baby A

Nana and Baby A

Tia Moni, Cousin Maddison and Baby A

We had a great Christmas and hope that all of you had a great Christmas too.

All our Love,

D, M, J, & A Bates

Aunt L, RN

Aunt L graduated last week from MCC with her Registered Nurse Degree! It has been a long road for L, D & A but it has finally come to an end. She will start working full-time for Banner Desert hospital in January. We are all so proud of Aunt L. Congratulations on your huge accomplishment! We love you!

Fun day with the Kargs!

S, F and A came up the other day to hang out. We mostly spent the day just hanging out. The kids all had fun playing together, and we even got to go feed the horses, which the kids LOVE. S and I finally finished a Christmas surprise for our guys that we have been working hard on for a couple of months. It was a great day, but it always is when we get to spend time with friends & family.

9 Month Update

Baby A is now 9 months old, and what a month she has had. Baby A is all over the place! She has learned to crawl! There is no stopping her at anytime, she just keeps going and going. She also pulls her self to a stand on EVERYTHING, and has even tries to walk while holding on to the coffee table. Changing her diaper, and getting her dressed is close to impossible now. And she will eat IF she can STAND not sit in her high chair. She has also started to not want her baby food anymore, she wants what mom and dad are eating. We try to limit how much of our food she is getting, it is not always the best for us so it definitely is not good for her not to mention Baby A still has no teeth so it makes it tuff to feed her what we are having all the time. She is also learning to wave hi and bye, and learning to clap. We have also taught her how to roar like a lion and make an elephant noise and move her arm like an elephant trunk.
I will have to post her height and weight in a couple of weeks because she does not go for her 9 month appointment until January 4th. Every month I try to take her picture on the same chair so we can compare month to month, and this month was tuff (as you can see) because she would not sit still! We are really looking forward to her first Christmas. She is so adorable, she loves all the Christmas lights, tree and paper. Here is a couple pictures of her playing under the Christmas tree. We hope all of you are doing great, and wish you all a great Christmas Season. Don't forget to check back for Christmas pictures and the rest of Baby A's 9 month update.

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My "BESTEST" Friend

Me and my "BESTEST" friend R Karg being silly.