The family blogs

Many of you have asked when is Kelly going to blogged about her daughter's engagement and now wedding to Brandon Keilen. 

We have to remember that they have a family of 19 kids and not sure when they are going to do it. Kelly is planning to write a post about the wedding and the engagement of Brandon and Michaella. 

We are not sure when she is going to do it but I know that she is planning to do it.

Please just be patient with it.

 

Bates Family Blog - Searching For A Wedding Dress An Amazing Yet Trying Experience

I believe in love at first sight. It’s true, I do. The day I met Brandon, I knew he was the one I wanted to marry. I’ll admit that it took a little more convincing on his part, but he eventually came around and here we are today — right where I always believed we would be. In tonight’s episode we were just two months away from the day I had waited for my entire life and yet, the dress was still to be found.

To me, finding a dress meant I was one step closer to forever. By this time, I had put in about a month of online browsing, searching thousands upon thousands of dresses so I had a pretty good idea of what I liked and more so of what I didn’t like! This was going to be a piece of cake (preferably white cake with fresh strawberry frosting).

Trying on a wedding dress for the first time was overwhelming in the best way. It was surreal and felt almost like a dress rehearsal for my “big” day. Honestly, I don’t know how many dresses I tried on, but I can tell you after the first dress, things got less romantic and I was beginning to lose hope.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to bear the burden alone because my Mom and sisters came along with me. Did I mention how “refreshingly” honest they are? Thankfully my sweet sister-in-law Whitney came too — and bless-her-heart — she worked hard at softening the blows!

While the show tonight left everyone on a bit of a cliffhanger wondering if I’d ever find the dress of my dreams… those of you who keep up with Brandon and me on Instagram know that I did indeed find the dress of my dreams (after a few alterations of course)!

While I really don’t believe searching for a wedding dress is a “real” problem, watching tonight’s episode made me think of a song my brother Lawson wrote called “Problems.” You can hear it here.

Everyone has problems. Sometimes our problems are small and manageable and sometimes they’re unbearably painful. I just want to remind us to not give up and to not lose hope. Remember, God causes all things to work together for good. The Bates family — and now the Keilens — are praying for you all!

God bless!

Love,

Michael — a.k.a Mrs. Michael Keilen

Bates Family Blog - Life Has Changed As A Family Of Three... And We're Loving It!

Hi Bringing Up Bates Family!

There’s so much going on this week with our family because the day we’ve been counting down to is finally here! Our very own (and very much loved) Michael Bates is getting married Saturday! Honestly, if anyone deserves a ‘Happily Ever After,” it’s my sweet sister Michael. Her heart is so beautiful and she’s one of the sweetest, most giving people anyone could ever meet! I can’t wait for you all to see her wedding. Actually, I can’t wait to see it myself!

In other news, for those of you that watched tonight’s episode, you know that Chad and I got to bring our miracle baby home! You know, when you’re pregnant, you spend almost every waking moment daydreaming about what your baby will look like… more importantly, who will this baby look like? 😉 Will our boy have my smile and his daddy’s eyes? Or maybe he’ll act like his mama but look like his daddy? He’s gotta at least look like me a little after everything I’m doing to get him here right? And while this helps pass the time, us mamas just want happy and healthy babies right?!

Bringing Carson home and starting our new life as a family of three was one of the happiest turning points in my life! Thankfully, Chad’s mom was there to help us as we got used to life with a newborn! I don’t know what we would have done without her! I know you all must be thinking that help can’t be all that hard to come by with 19 siblings, but my parents (as much as they do for all of us) are still raising my little brothers and sisters and my older siblings. They help when they can, but they have very busy lives, too. All this to say, we loved having Carson’s grandma Paine take care of all of us!

Yes, life with a baby means on-demand feedings, sleepless nights, a newborn crying and countless diaper changes… and we couldn’t be more grateful for it all!

Bates Family Blog - 10 Wisdom And Wit Quotes

Raising a child will teach you many life lessons. After having (or being a sibling to) 19 kids, you have plenty of sage advice to offer. We’ve compiled 10 of the best quotes from the Bates family on “Bringing Up Bates” — some are enlightening and will help you on life’s journey; others will bring a smile to your face and make your day.
Enjoy these tiny treasures and share them with your friends. Don’t miss new episodes of “Bringing Up Bates” Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on UP!
“If you don’t have big dreams, you’ll never go anywhere in life.” – Tori
“Popsicles and Band-Aids are the universal fix for any problem.” – Gil
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” – Gil
“I don’t know what’s in the future, but I know Who holds the future… and I’m looking forward to what He’s going to deliver.” – Gil
“Duct tape is always important.” – Nathan
“Brandon was smart to bring candy, but he would have been smarter to bring earplugs.” – Lawson
“Give me some balloons to blow up. I’ve got a lot of hot air.” – Gil
“Brandon asked ‘what can I do to help’– that’s always a wise thing if you’re wanting to be a son-in-law.” – Gil
“What’s an average size family? Average for me growing up was a new kid every year.” – Zach
“It was only 100 people plus our family. We weren’t worried. Worst case, we had a giant jar of pickles.” – Tori

Bates Family Recipes -- From Our Kitchen To Your Table

CHICKEN PARMESAN
1/2 cup lite dukes mayo
1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt
1 tsp minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
2 cups grated parmesan cheese
4 chicken breasts
Mix together everything except for chicken and cheese. Dip chicken in mixture until covered in cheese. Bake on broiler pan 1 hr – 1 1/2 hr at 350 degrees.



SAUTEED CHICKEN
diced chicken breast
olive oil
butter (optional)
seasonings (garlic, onion, salt, pepper)
optional veggies-onions, mushrooms, garlic, etc
optional flavorings- teriyaki, honey mustard, spicy mustard, etc)
Cook diced chicken breast in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet on high. Cook until the
juices from the chicken have all cooked down and chicken is tender. Add seasonings, 1-2
teaspoons of butter for flavor (optional). Add either teriyaki sauce (we use Kikomman) or honey
mustard (we use Ken’s) or a small bit of spicy mustard. Each makes a unique flavor of chicken; we like to experiment! :)
We like to serve this with sautéed onions and zucchini.


CHILI
hamburger
1 can tomato juice or V8 juice
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans beans (can use cooked dried beans-pinto, kidney, navy, black beans, or other variety)
optional other vegetables (diced onions, peppers, mushrooms, corn, etc)
1 bag chili seasoning (we use Brown Bag or Carrol Shelby)
Brown hamburger in large stock pot; drain cooked beef and add all other ingredients. Cook on low for 1 hour or place in crock pot. (The chili is ready and can be served sooner, but the longer it cooks,the better the flavor.)
Serve chili with corn chips, sour cream, lettuce and tomatoes to make petros or serve with spaghettiv noodles and cheese to make 3 way chili.




CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
2 bags extra wide egg noodle
chicken broth
diced, cooked chicken (can use canned if pressed for time)
milk (as needed)
cheese (optional-can use sliced or Velveeta)
optional vegetables (celery, carrots, corn, onions)
seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder)
Cook noodles. Add cheese to melt. Add chicken. Add milk until the right consistency is reached.

Add other ingredients. (Erin likes to add 1 jar of Alfredo sauce to thicken and add flavor.) If you want a creamier soup base, you can add sour cream or a little half and half (but these also add calories! :) )

Bates Family Blog - Pure Love At First Sight

I know some momma’s have a hard time deciding on whether or not they’ll have an epidural but for me… I knew without a shadow of doubt, I wanted one! This momma planned on a pain-free pregnancy! In fact, my plan was to get an epidural the moment I stepped inside the hospital ready to deliver this baby of mine! Have you ever heard the saying, “if you want to make God laugh, make a plan?” Well, in tonight’s show you see just how well my plan turned out!
Even now that I’m beyond it, I can’t quite put into words just how painful natural birth was for me but the screaming and crying you saw in tonight’s episode pretty much sums it up!
When the pain started to come, the only thing that got me through was the thought that soon, I was going to get to hold my baby. While I couldn’t verbalize it then, my heart was overwhelmed with the realization that Chad and I were about to meet all of our love, our hopes and our dreams face-to-face. Of course, these sentiments get a little lost when you’re begging your husband, your mom and the nurses to help put you out of your misery!
And then it just happened… a miracle! The unbearable pain that I thought would never go away, dissipated and was replaced with a joy unlike I’ve ever known. Time stood still as I looked at my little boy in awe of God’s grace and goodness.
As I watch our lives playback, it seems as if every lovely thing that ever happened, and every heartbreak we ever endured… all led to this very moment. I waited so long to meet him and here I was, finally able to hold him. I think our hearts grew three sizes that day. 😉
I’ve said it before but I don’t mind saying it everyday… thank you for your prayers and your continued support. So many of you are like family cheering us on and we can’t wait to share what’s next with you.
Love,
Erin

Bates Family Blog - (Home)School Is In Session

Hello friends!
I hope everyone is having a great week! Currently, I’m sending you all greetings from The Bahamas!

In tonight’s episode, you saw how nervous this mama was watching one of her babies land a plane. I was such a nervous wreck that the thought of ever flying with Nathan wasn’t something I was up to volunteering for! Since the filming of the show though, let me tell you how far I’ve come! In order for Nathan to complete his pilot training, he needed quite a bit of additional flying time, so a long trip to somewhere in the world seemed inevitable. The boys started thinking (and dreaming) and since Lawson’s birthday is coming up, they got this grand idea to celebrate with a trip to The Bahamas. It all seemed like a win-win except Gil had a previously scheduled commitment preventing him from going, which of course, leaves only me. As scared as I was, I wasn’t about to send my boys off without their mama! I’m happy to say we made it safely and we’re having a wonderful time making memories that will last forever! Keep us in your prayers for the return flight home! :)

Tonight’s show gave everyone a look into our homeschool life. We get so many questions from family, friends and fans on the topic, I thought I’d try and expand on it a little…

For us, homeschooling is one of the most rewarding choices we have ever made. Gil and I both went to public school and to college and, through the opportunities we were given, we learned to highly value education. When we became parents, we started looking into all the options pertaining to the education of our kids. The more we explored, the clearer it became that homeschooling was the best choice for our family. For starters, homeschooling supports our family’s faith. Secondly, we liked the idea of having the freedom to personally evaluate the curriculum choices and make decisions based on each child’s individual learning style. For us, those benefits are enormous because our 19 children are so individually unique. I learned quickly that teaching methods that appealed to one’s learning style put another one to sleep! When that happened, I applied a different method and just like that, the sleepy child became miraculously attentive! As a homeschooling parent, I can watch, study, and diagnose my child’s strengths, weaknesses, fears, tendencies, attitudes, etc.. I can also observe what motivates them, what helps them succeed and adjust as needed.

There are many misconceptions about homeschooling. One huge misconception is that homeschoolers won’t be prepared for life, but the truth is that it has just the opposite effect. It has absolutely helped us prepare our children to face the world. Let me explain… if you take a tender, young plant and put it in the harsh winter environment, it will likely die. If you put the tender, young plant in a greenhouse and nurture it until it becomes strong, you can then transplant it outside, and even amidst the winter storms, it will be strong enough to survive. As our children began to mature, we saw this metaphor come to life and we encouraged them to pursue opportunities to serve their community because they had the sturdy roots to thrive! Homeschooling is not the best option for every family but it certainly was (and still is) for the Bates!

It’s fun to see that we’re already getting comments from tonight’s show! Thank you all so much for watching. Ya’ll are truly the best. Our heart’s prayer is that each episode encourages those who watch. Send us your comments, your questions or even your prayer requests here!

Love,

Kelly Jo


Other blogs you might like:
* Recaps: Life lessons
* Nathan learning to fly photos

Bates Family Blog - A Strong Support System

Hi y’all!

Considering my sister Michael is head over her heels in wedding plans, I thought I’d blog on behalf of the family tonight. Hope that’s okay! I have to say, while seeing yourself on TV never gets comfortable, it’s amazing to see how much God has brought us through and it gives me hope and comfort that whatever I may be going through, it’s temporary and this too shall pass.

In tonight’s episode, I was 34 weeks pregnant and early one morning, started having contractions. It’s fairly common for pregnant women to experience contractions weeks before labor but with a high-risk pregnancy, you just can’t take any chances so I woke Chad up, he called Dr. Vick and we headed to the hospital. Once we got to the hospital, I was given medicine and then more medicine to try and stop the contractions and they gave baby Carson a steroid shot to help his lung development. It was a long day but our baby was safe and that was all that mattered to me.

Right after our trip to the hospital, Dr. Vick decided weekly visits were in order so Monday’s became days we anticipated and quite honestly, days we feared. My heart and mind just couldn’t help but wonder if today would be a day when something wouldn’t be okay. Thankfully, I’m married to the man God meant for me and his love and support carried me through. There’s nothing sweeter than seeing your baby on the ultrasound and each time we got to see our baby boy moving inside me, our fears froze. Perfect love casts out all fear.

Thank you all for your prayers, your support and your love and keep watching, things are just about to get really good!

Bates Family Blog - The Man Of My Dreams Asked Me To Marry Him!

Hi everyone!

I hope this blogs finds you all well! I was asked to be the family blogger tonight because in tonight’s extra special episode, Brandon asked me to marry him! Brandon and I are officially engaged and we couldn’t be more excited!

All along, I thought I was the one with the surprise by planning a visit to DC…. little did I know, a master plan had already been put into place. Isn’t that just like life? Isn’t that just like God?!

Brandon put so much time, thought and love into our engagement. It still overwhelms me! My favorite part was when he explained the significance of the ring’s design. He designed my engagement ring with each of our initials (representing me and him) and each initial has three blue diamonds in it totaling six gems. Six is an incomplete number and in order to make everything whole, we need a center diamond representing God because God is love.
When he asked tears of joy poured down my cheeks! This was the love of my life, my crush, my dream, my “too good to be true” beau — the boy I had prayed for! This was the man I wanted to spend forever with and he was asking me to be his wife! What an inexpressible, indescribable, unfathomable privilege! God has truly given me the desire of my heart!

As most of you know, the show airs a little bit behind real life so since our engagement, we’ve been planning our wedding and counting down the days until we say “I do” to forever together! Current clock is 36 days, 13 hours, eight minutes and five seconds!

On behalf of my family, thank you all so much for watching and for your continued support!

Love,

Michaella (The Future Mrs. Keilen)

Carson Arrives!

If you have been following our family’s story on UP TV, you’ll recall the miscarriages and medical hardships that Erin and Chad have faced recently. We are so thrilled and so thankful to God that she was able to carry Carson safely throughout the pregnancy and deliver a healthy happy boy! Our hearts are also full of gratitude for the many of you who prayed or wrote words of encouragement. We believe little Carson truly is an answer to prayer and we are excited to see how God will direct him in life!

(Photos by Taryn Yager)

CHARLES STEPHEN PAINE IV

“CARSON”

BORN: MAY 14

6 pounds, 19 inches

True Inspiration

Yesterday, Lawson got the chance to sing with AJ to surprise Peyton Manning on his charity Golf tournament.

Last year AJ was diagnosed with multiple inoperable brain tumors. Lawson says that he is a fighter and true inspiration. He needs our prayers.
Proceeds from the game went to the children hospital and PeyBack foundation. If you would like to support the hospital we will be putting the links down below.
https://donate.etch.com/?_ga=1.109638853.1937087231.1422915105

Check out AJ's page on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Prayers-for-AJ-Cucksey/591788604282567

Bates Family Blog - Family (Re)Union

Hi everyone! Welcome to another season of Bringing Up Bates! We’re so excited to be back and hope each show is an encouragement to you.
Life has certainly been busy for us Bates. Remember last season when Brandon came to visit us? Well.. in tonight’s episode, it was our turn! Gil, Michael and I traveled to Chicago to meet with Brandon’s parents.
While we always love getting together with Brandon’s parents, this particular visit was more exciting than normal because it was an opportunity for us to spend time together as couples before Brandon and Michael take the next step in their relationship which of course means engagement!
Having close family ties is important to both Brandon and Michael and we saw our visit as an opportunity to just laugh together and celebrate Brandon and Michael and their future together… And maybe poke a little innocent fun at them about their future secret plans. Obviously, there was a lot of family rooting for an engagement in the near future and we love sharing in the whole excitement of the moment!
It was wonderful to just spend some relaxed time with our future son-in-law and his parents and to talk about a wedding and relationships and love! We believe in making memories and this trip gave us lots of them!
I hope wherever you are today, you’re working on making loving memories of your own! What are your favorite ways to make memories with the ones you love?

New Post on the Bates Blog

               The Bates updated their blog. Please take a look on our page tab at this link to read it:
http://fanpageofthebatesfamily.blogspot.com/p/bates-update.html