As Abigail is the oldest, she considers herself to be the one in control. Let me be honest here and say: I think that sometimes she really is in control. She's amazing. She's going to be a CEO or CFO or one of those Proverbs 31 women who care for her kids from the home and runs a fortune 500 company making enough money to give her family coats to wear in the winter. She is an incredible artist. She plays the piano. She is also a collector. In fact, she collects things and stashes them away in little nooks and crannies all over the house. Finding them is like discovering her little hiding places, small secret coves of her creative mind.
ETHAN: Ethan is my son.
Ethan is my only boy, and also the smartest kid on the planet. I'm not kidding. He reads incredibly well and can do multiplication faster than his sister and her classmates. He has this confidence thing where he says immediately after you tell him something that he already knew that. For example, me: "Hey, did you know this movie has Jack Black's voice over in it?" ethan: "I already knew that dad! Yeah, I already knew that!" There's no way he knew that, but that's for another story. He's a lot of fun to be a around, always funny, quirky, and making his sisters (and father) laugh out loud.
Ethan is my only boy, and also the smartest kid on the planet. I'm not kidding. He reads incredibly well and can do multiplication faster than his sister and her classmates. He has this confidence thing where he says immediately after you tell him something that he already knew that. For example, me: "Hey, did you know this movie has Jack Black's voice over in it?" ethan: "I already knew that dad! Yeah, I already knew that!" There's no way he knew that, but that's for another story. He's a lot of fun to be a around, always funny, quirky, and making his sisters (and father) laugh out loud.
SABRINA: Sabrina is our little girl we lost as a still birth.
We miss Sabrina so much. She was our third pregnancy. She made it full term. We had no idea anything was wrong. In fact, we still have no idea exactly what happened. About a week before she was due, we found out that she had passed away. We went into the hospital on a snowy night to give birth to our little girl who we never got to hold, alive, warm, moving, eventually giggling and dancing. It was Christmas Eve. We sang 'silent night' to her till the morning sun came and whisked her little body away on Christmas day. She will always be a part of our family.
SOPHIA: Sophia is my youngest daughter.
Sophia is my little ball of sunshine. In fact, after she was born I changed our wireless code to 'sunshine' just so I could think of her every time I logged into our system. She does this thing that kills me. When I'm writing on the computer or reading a book, she'll climb up onto my lap, squeezing her body into the only tiny space available, and then let out a giggle because she's made it to her daddy's lap. She is always laughing and saying things like: "I want to go with you da da." I can hardly leave the house without her wanting to tag along. She is such a people person. She is spunky and a great addition to our family.
BABY: My new baby girl is coming soon.
We are pregnant with a new baby. This will be the last pregnancy my poor wife will have to endure. Our new little one is due in July and we are so excited. We found out it's a girl. Which, if you are counting, leaves me with three girls and one boy. This kinda freaks me out. It means Ethan and I are incredibly outnumbered. It also means I have three weddings to pay for. So eventually when my book is published (I don't have one yet, but I will), please purchase about a thousand copies for your own personal library. Think of it as a wedding gift.
BABY: My new baby girl is coming soon.
We are pregnant with a new baby. This will be the last pregnancy my poor wife will have to endure. Our new little one is due in July and we are so excited. We found out it's a girl. Which, if you are counting, leaves me with three girls and one boy. This kinda freaks me out. It means Ethan and I are incredibly outnumbered. It also means I have three weddings to pay for. So eventually when my book is published (I don't have one yet, but I will), please purchase about a thousand copies for your own personal library. Think of it as a wedding gift.
FAMILY: Most of my immediate family lives in Phoenix where I was raised. My parents are Don and Helen Bates who raised seven kids while selling real estate. My mother is a nurse at a hospital in Phoenix. My twin brother Benjamin is also in AZ. He's an indie film writer and currently working on a novel. Micah (married to Johannah) lives in Albuquerque (but rumor has it they are moving to Denver). Daniel lives here in Portland. Jessica (married to David), Nathan, and Susanna all live in Phoenix. If your counting there's seven kids in all: five boys, two girls. We were raised on a five acre piece of property in the middle of the dessert next to Williams Air Force base where jets would constantly fly overhead. Arizona is too hot for my blood; it's good to be in Portland. I also miss my family a lot.
(to be continued) (part 2 of 3)
AB.
*written by Abraham Bates - photos by Nancy Bates - Copyright AbrahamBates.com
