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

Menu: October 10-16

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday: Chicken and Spinach Pasta Bake, Bread and Salad

Wednesday: Creamy Crock Pot Chicken, Brown Rice and Salad

Thursday: Manicotti, Bread and Spinach Salad

Friday: Date Night!

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Church Fellowship Meal (bringing White Chicken Chili and Spinach Salad)