While I was in the hospital giving birth to Emma and then recovering from said birth, my oldest child reached a momentous milestone. 🙂

He lost both his two front teeth!

Thankful beyond measure to the Lord and excited by this wonderful gift, I am happy to announce the birth of our fourth child and second daughter Emma Jane Van Steenburgh.  She arrived at 10:49PM, Sunday, March 24th, 2013, weighing in at 7 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 19 1/2 inches long.  She is beautiful and precious and my heart is filled to the brim.  There are many things I could say about how she arrived and our current adjustment to being a family of 6, but I have only a moment before I have to feed her again, so I’m just going to post some pictures.  I know that’s all most of you care about anyway. 🙂  Thanks to you all who have been praying for me and her and our family throughout my pregnancy and for the many gifts of childcare, meals, and baby things.  We are so blessed to have such a loving family and sisters and brothers in Christ who are daily serving us and helping us make this transition smoothly.

Right after she was born

Tim got to cut the cord again.

My newest beautiful girl!

Dr. Marichal delivered her--love this face!

The children loved meeting their new sister for the first time.

Connor held her first.

Lucy didn't want to stop holding her

Tyler: smallest of allest turned big brother

Update:  Still pregnant, due Sunday (the 24th)…but the triple-decker bunk bed is finished!  Hurrah!!!

After many hours of hard work, my amazing husband managed to build an awesome piece of furniture for our three oldest children, so that our newest child Emma can be free to wake up whenever she wants in the night without disturbing those who sleep through the night.  Good work, honey!!!

There was some doubt as to whether or not this project would be completed before the baby’s arrival, but by God’s grace (and thanks to all Redemption ladies who prayed), it is finished.  Enjoy the pics!

Just a random picture of my mini-man, because he loves to entertain us with his goofy faces 🙂

We all helped with the sanding!

Serious sander!

The love of my life, hard at work

C and L asleep on mattresses on the floor before the bed was built

The bunk beast 🙂

The children love their new beds! 🙂

Our first attempt at a vegetable garden has been successful, although some crops were better than others.  For some reason, our carrots ended up completely stunted–they looked more like orange radishes–but our lettuce was beautiful as were the scallions, bok choy, and kale.  Hurray!  We’re looking forward to the spring planting if we can get our act together before the baby comes.

Bok Choy!

Lettuce

The children’s new favorite show is not on TV–it’s live!  Every day at noon when their Dad comes out of his office to do his P90X workout in the family room, the children quickly gather their drinks and head for the couch to watch.  They get a big kick out of Tony Horton’s corny narrative as Daddy sweats.

Seriously, though, Tim started P90X several weeks ago and has been diligently doing all the workouts prescribed and following the nutrition plan, although I think the egg white omelet is getting old in a hurry.  I am so proud of him for taking these steps towards better health and overall strength (and razor abs? heehee).  After our little Emma is born, I am  hoping to join him…I’ll let you know how that all works out.

Yoga--I promised Tim I wouldn't post any really embarrassing pics 🙂

Lucy and Tyler finishing up lunch in the doorway so they can watch Daddy do his exercises.