Describing the Bates family as "big" is an understatement. The family of 19 and stars of UPtv's reality show, Bringing Up Bates, are a huge family. And with the recent addition of grandchildren, the family is only getting bigger. So it makes sense that the Bates family grandchildren are naturally close — it's because their parents are so close, too.
There are a lot of Bates siblings that are pregnant at the moment, which is so exciting for their followers who love keeping up with them. Out of the seven Bates children that are married, there are four that are currently expecting children of their own, due some time at the end of this year or early next year. This means that these cousins will grow up knowing they have built in best friends right in their family — kind of like the Bates siblings themselves.
There are currently 11 Bates grandchildren, according to Cheat Sheet, and in every single post on social media, they appear to get along so well. Not only do they seem so well behaved, but they also seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company. But this really shouldn't come as a surprise — the Bates children are already close, and since their kids are all around the same age, too, it's only natural for them to follow in the footsteps of their parents.
This could be because the Bates siblings live so close to each other. All of the Bates siblings call eastern Tennessee home, which means that their own kids get to see a lot of each other at family gatherings and events. It's not as if they have to travel far to hang out, and when their parents are hanging out, they're certainly tagging along with them.
It's safe to say that the Bates siblings are very close. Carlin, Erin, and Whitney Bates all run and own an online store together, the Bates Sisters Boutique, and they all happen to be expecting children at the same time right now. During a recent episode of Bringing Up Bates, Whitney talked about how happy she was to work with her sisters-in-law. "I'm really excited to get to work with these girls," Whitney said during the episode, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel. "I'm really enjoying it and I can't wait to see where it goes." Needless to say, their new additions will be spending plenty of time together while their moms work.
The Bates siblings love how close they are, and it's awesome that they will be able to pass this on to their own kids. In September, Lawson Bates spoke to the Knoxville News Sentinel about their bond. "We all grew up super close, and as you get older, life changes so fast," Lawson said.
"The couples getting married and moving to different states is tough because you go from seeing them a few times a day to just a few times a year. Having them back in East Tennessee is something that everyone is pretty ecstatic about."
If they're this excited about living in such a short distance to their siblings, imagine how their own kids. Since there is no shortage of Bates siblings, there is definitely no shortage of Bates cousins to go along with them. As they get older, they will definitely appreciate this.
