Aletta: 3 months

Our baby girl is three months old today! She is such a joy and a wonderful addition to our family. Aletta (also known as Lettie Lou Who, Letta Lou and Ayetta Douise (Ev's name for her) ) is a very happy and content baby. She is often satisfied to sit in her bouncy seat and watch her crazy siblings. It's hard to believe that before too long she will be running around with them.
Aletta is a great sleeper and is currently on a really good schedule. Most days she wakes up at 7:00/7:30 am and eats every three hours during the day and then goes to bed after she eats at around 7:30pm. She still sleeps in our room in the pack n play but I am considering moving her upstairs soon since she is sleeping so well. Aletta is close to rolling over. She probably could do it she just hasn't had the chance to yet (the floor can be a hazardous place for a baby to lay around at our house).
I'm really enjoying having a baby in the family again. It is fun to have children at various stages/ages. There are special things about each age and it is nice to be able to experience them all at once. I love having Evie to teach and have conversations with: she really is my little companion or as she would say she is my "big helper." Judah is all boy and it is great to begin to get a glimpse into what he is thinking as he starts to communicate a little more each day. And I LOVE having a cute little baby to snuggle with.
The Lord has blessed us richly with these little ones and I pray earnestly that we would be good stewards of these eternal souls under our care.

Menu: November 22 - November 30

Tuesday: Burritos, Chips and Salad

Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken, Brown Rice and Corn

Thursday: Thanksgiving with Family (bringing pie)

Friday: Dinner at Kyle's parents

Saturday: Burgers, Fries and Salad

Sunday: Mongolian Beef, Brown Rice and Steamed Broccoli

Monday: Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas, Chips and Salad

Tuesday: Pepperoni and Pineapple Pizza, Applesauce and Carrots

Wednesday: Turkey Roast and Caramelized Butternut Squash

Day of Worship: Reassessing the Christian Life in Light of the Sabbath

"Our aversion to Sabbath-keeping is not always an exegetical or theological problem, but rather a symptom of the greater problem of worldliness."-Ryan M. McGraw

The moral commandment to honor the Sabbath is one of, if not the most, neglected command of the Scriptures. It's not that anyone outright denies the Sabbath command, at least I've never met anyone that does. Rather, the issue primarily lies in the practical observance of the Lord's Day--simply, Christians are not spending the day in public and private worship. For too many the Sabbath has become a day to advance one's own reputation, production, or station in life instead of a day to advance in holiness under the ordinary means of grace. This book, written by my good friend Ryan McGraw, is all about the practical observance of the Sabbath. If you find yourself struggling to even desire or delight in the Sabbath, a symptom all too common in the church, this is the type of book you want to pick up and read. It's not an academic book, he doesn't retrace work already done by guys like Walter Chantry or Joey Pipa. Rather, it's a winsome, pastoral treatment of an issue that is killing the spiritual life and vitality of the Christian church. Buy it, read it, you won't regret it (click on the picture to purchase a copy).

Evelyn: 39 months

It is my plan to give an update on each of the kids once a month. So here goes Evie's update :)

I love this girl! She is so sweet, tenderhearted and affectionate. There is never a dull moment when Evie is around. She talks CONSTANTLY and Kyle and I are often impressed with her vocabulary. I love being able to have conversations with her and understand what is going on in her head. We are memorizing the childrens' shorter catechism using this book and that has prompted many good discussions about the things of God. We have been encouraged to see the fruit of discipline in Ev; she is much more compliant and obedient than she was a 6 months ago.

Evie is a great big sister. She adores Aletta and Judah is her best buddy. She calls herself my "big helper" and she especially likes to help me cook. Evelyn is Daddy's girl: she looks forward to any time she gets to spend with Kyle. Today she cried for about 15 minutes because she didn't come downstairs in time to get a hug from Daddy before he left for school.

Evie LOVES to "do school": she is constantly asking me to do school with her. I love that she loves to learn and I hope that that will continue for the rest of her life.

I could say a lot more but I think I will stop here for this month :)

Update: Huckie

So Kyle informed me that I needed to give an update on Huck...so here it goes. Huck is his same annoying self...he sheds all over my house, knocks over our kids, steals their food and drools all over. Besides that he is great. No really, Huck is loved. Judah ADORES his dog and Huck is very good with the kids. I'm happy that the kids will grow up with a dog. I'm not really a dog person but I do like Huck. He is almost 2 1/2 now so he is mellowing out a bit which I am thankful for.

* Taking a picture of your dog with photobooth is harder than you would think :)

Update: Rachel

Here are some of the things going on in my life:

- I am enjoying growing as a wife/mother/homemaker. I've been learning more and more what it means to rely on the strength of the Lord each day and not my own. This has been very good for me! I'm so thankful for the sanctifying work of the Spirit.

- I LOVE staying home and caring for our children! It gives me great joy to be the one teaching and nurturing them everyday. I'm very grateful for this privilege! We have tons of fun together :)

- I started doing some preschool with Evie this year which has been great! We are doing the Timberdoodle preschool ciriculumm, supplemented with some bible, devotional and catechism material. Evie really enjoys this! Judah is usually doing some sort of "school" along with us. Since Ev just turned 3 this August, we plan on taking this preschool ciriculumm and spreading it out over the next two years. I think it will be good to ease into homeschooling mode :)

- I've been enjoying building deeper relationships with the women at church and finding ways to serve. I'm starting to really feel at "home" at First RP which is a huge blessing.

- I've been finding more time to read lately. I just finished Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches (I hope to post a review of it in the next couple of days) and a book by Ian Duguid called Hero of Heroes (some devotional thoughts on the beatitudes). I have a long list of books that I'm working through :)

- I'm thankful to be feeling well physically! I feel better than I have in years (the children have been sleeping well, especially Aletta ;) ) I'm enjoying running on the treadmill most days. I find that this has helped my energy level a lot and it has been great to get back into shape after Aletta's birth.

- I continue to enjoy finding new ways to streamline housework/cooking and things of that nature. I'm growing in my love for organization...maybe that comes with having more kids.

- Well there are some updates. There is more I could write but I will leave it at this for now :)

Menu: November 15 - 23

Tuesday: Shepherd's Pie (didn't get to this last week), applesauce

Wednesday: Pizza Soup, Steamed Broccoli and Orange Wedges

Thursday: Imitation Chipotle Burritos, Chips and Spinach Salad

Friday: Date Night! (kids with Grandpa and Grandma)

Saturday: Mediterranean Chicken Flatbread Melts (my own creation) and Sweet Potato Casserole

Sunday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, Homemade French Fries, Spinach Salad and Apple Crisp (Guests)

Monday: Turkey Tenderloin Roast, Baked Potatoes and Steamed Veggies

Tuesday: Pepperoni and Pineapple Pizza and Applesauce

Wednesday: Teriyaki Chicken, Brown Rice and Skillet Corn

Update: Kyle

Kyle is currently keeping busy with:

• Classes at PRTS - focusing on learning Greek and getting through those courses.
• Preaching both morning and evening services at First RP - He is going through Ephesians in the morning (on chapter 5) and he will be beginning a series on Lamentation this Sunday evening.
  
• Attending church session meetings - Good experience
• Leading a book study on "The Marrow of Modern Divinity" for church - Meets every other Sunday evening at our house. It has been great so far!
  
• Working a few hours each week at Reformation Heritage Books - He designs and sends out marketing emails. Also he does some stuff with Twitter as well.
  
• Being a Husband and Daddy - Since Kyle's parents moved to town we've been able to go out on monthly dates which has been wonderful! Kyle is a great daddy: I love seeing him interact with the kids!

I'm very thankful for all the work that Kyle does so that I am able to stay home and take care of the children/home.

Judah Scott-19 months

Our little man is 19 months today! He is such a character and fills our home with a lot of laughter and volume :) Judah walk/runs very well and is getting more proficient at stairs. Reading books and playing outside are Judah's favorite things to do. He says a few words here and there but mostly communicates in grunts. I am VERY excited for him to be able to talk. Judah loves his sisters! He and Evie are best friends and spend their days playing together.

Aletta has Arrived! (a few months ago ;) )

Aletta Louise Borg was born at 11:37 pm on August 24, 2011. The first contractions started just after midnight on the 24th. By 3:30 am I woke Kyle up to let him know that I was having contractions painful enough that I couldn't sleep. Around 5:30 am we went for a walk around our block to try to keep things moving. We were facing a scheduled C section that Friday if Aletta hadn't arrived by then. Because I had a C section with Judah (he was breech) they wouldn't induce me and the doctor was worried about letting me go too far past my due date (Aletta was born 11 days late).
That whole morning I kept having contractions about 10 minutes apart that were actually pretty intense. Kyle and I went on our 2 mile loop around our neighborhood 4 times that day :) At about 1:00 pm we were getting kind of discouraged. I was having painful enough contractions that I couldn't really focus on anything else but they weren't coming any closer together. At this point I decided to try to lay down and try to rest for a little while. I was able to fitfully sleep until about 3:00 pm. When I got up I decided to call my doctor and see if I could come in and at least get my cervix checked to see if any progress was being made.
We went in at 4:00 pm and I was 3 cm and 70 % effaced. The day before at my appointment I had been 2 cm and 30 % effaced so I had made a little progress. The doctor stripped my membranes again and we headed home to see what would happen. Once we got home my contractions intensified even more but stayed about 8 minutes apart. I just kept doing things around the house and taking care of the kids, stopping to focus when I had a contraction. At around 8:00 pm I was in the kitchen talking to my Mom and I had a contraction. My Mom kept talking and I kind of shortly told her to not talk to me. This signaled to her that my labor was getting pretty serious. She mentioned to Kyle that we might want to head to the hospital (we had been wanted to labor at home as long as we could).
In between contractions I put the kids to bed and finished packing my hospital bag. We left for the hospital at 8:45 pm. It is only a mile down the road so thankfully I didn't have a contraction on the way :) My contractions never got any closer together than 8 minutes which really threw me off. I was discouraged and thought I was still in early labor because of this. When we got to the hospital they put me in a triage room to check me and see if I could be admitted. The nurse checked me at about 9:15 pm and I was 6 cm with a bulging water bag. I was very excited to hear this! I was encouraged that all of these painful contractions had been accomplishing something. At this point Kyle called our friend Heidi (she was acting as our Doula) and told her she better head to the hospital. I kind of regret that we didn't call her earlier because she had a hour to drive, but it all turned out in the end.
I was admitted and taken up to my room at about 9:45. I was still having SUPER intense contractions every eight minutes. I was thankful to have a rest in between contractions but these were worse than the contractions I had with Evie when I was on Pitocin. I decided that I would really like an epidural (they are amazing btw) because we were past the point that it would make my labor stall. I had to get a full bag of fluids before they would give it me so I didn't get the epidural until about 10:30 pm (just shortly after Heidi arrived). I was SOO thankful once the epidural kicked in. I was exhausted from being up the night before and having such intense contractions. Heidi, Kyle and I were able to talk and relax a bit until I was ready to push.
At about 11:10 pm my water broke and they noticed that there was meconium in the water. Because of this there were a few extra nurses present when Aletta was born. Also there were several students that asked to observe because they don't see VBACs very often. Anyway I started pushing at about 11:20 pm and our baby girl was born at 11:37 pm. I was very pleased with how everything turned out. The Lord was very good to us! I'm super thankful to have been able to have a successful VBAC. The recovery this time was so much easier than with Judah. Aletta had to have some deep suction done because of the meconium in the water but otherwise she didn't have any problems. She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces and was 18.5 inches long.

He is such a good Daddy :)

Evie and Judah came to the hospital the next morning to meet Aletta! They loved her right away :)

Sometimes its hard to believe that we have three children. They are such blessings!

Aletta at about 1 week.

Four weeks!

10 weeks!

Aletta today (11 weeks tomorrow!)
Our little baby is so precious. She is very happy and content most of the time. Aletta is a great sleeper: usually sleeping from around 9 pm to 6 am. This is a huge blessing! I feel better than I have in a long time. Aletta is very smiley and she just laughed for the first time last week :) Her brother and sister adore her! She keeps pretty entertained during the day sitting in her bouncy seat and watching Evie and Judah. It's hard to believe that before too long she will be playing right alongside them :)

Menu: November 7-13

Monday: Chipotle Casserole, Chips and Spinach Salad

Tuesday: Lasagna, Garlic Bread and Frozen Veggies

Wednesday: Honey Chicken Stir Fry, Applesauce

Thursday: Calzones, Spinach Salad and Fruit

Friday: Buffalo Chicken Wraps

Saturday: Shepherd's Pie and Applesauce

Sunday: Chicken Tortilla Soup and Cornbread