Kase Michael Sietstra

On Thursday, June 24 at 7:44 P.M. - we welcomed our son into the world - Kase Michael Sietstra. He weighed in at 8 lbs 11 ozs and 21" long with a beautiful head of black hair! This has been the most challenging and awesome journey that we have ever been on and it was pure joy to finally see this child that has been growing for 9 months and to finally meet the fruit of God's faithfulness!

Kase (pronounced like just in "case") gets his name from Keith's grandfather whose name was Cornelius Schelling, but went by the name Case. Cornelius also has biblical roots in Acts Chapter 10. We pray that our Kase will follow in his great-grandfather's footsteps and grow into a man of God who is full of the spirit and love! His middle name - Michael - he shares with his daddy.

We really are just in awe of the goodness of God. When our infertility problems arose nearly 3 years ago, we just didn't know what plan or path God had for us and our desire for a future family. He has proven himself good and faithful over and over again during this time and we just want to acknowledge that it is only by His love and goodness we are able to celebrate this joyous time in our lives. We feel like we have a very special story to share with others about our journey and also an incredible story to share with our son someday!

Enjoy some of the many pictures that Kase has already adorned our home in:

All Ready!

Below are pictures of our baby nursery, soon to be occupied by a little bambino!

Everything is set and ready to go...now we just need baby to come and bless us with his presence!

JOY

You remember the Johnny Appleseed song we sang when we were young? "Oh the Lord's been good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun the rain and the appleseed. The Lord is GOOD TO ME." Well, it's been on repeat in my head today because I can't believe this day is here. No, the baby is not coming yet, but it is my last day of work before he's born! I have been dreaming about this day for the last 3 1/2 years and now it's finally here! AAHHH!!! If I could run and jump and do a cartwheel right now I totally would...but since I can't, I'll just sit here and bask in my pure joy.

Isaiah 55:8-9 has been a verse of comfort for me during our infertility. It reads, " 'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord, 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.' " HOW TRUE IS THIS?!?! Why do we stress, why do we "plan", why do we worry? The Lord's plans are SO MUCH bigger than we could ever imagine!!! As ironic as it sounds, I am thankful for our time of infertility. Without that time of longing and waiting, I don't know that I'd be experiencing this spirit of overflowing JOY! Thank you, Jesus, for being faithful to your children. Thank you for times of JOY!

10 things I've heard these past 9 months

Sometimes I'm amazed at the lack of tact from some people when it comes to what they'll say to a pregnant woman. These past 9 months have given me much to laugh and cry about, which has given me a great blog topic! It's a good thing I have such a great sense of humor or these would really upset me :) Here are 10 things that should never be said to a pregnant woman, but unfortunately have been said to me...my commentary in green italics.

1. Innocent Question: Are you having any food cravings?
Not-So-Innocent-Answer: I think Anita just craves food in general. If you put it in front of her, she'll eat it.

2. Are we having twins? From the lady at Pottery Barn

3. I think you're getting bigger by the minute!

4. Whoa, Nita, you're going to need a bigger bed when you come visit us! Thank you to my youngest brother Payton for this loving comment.

5. You're STILL pregnant?

6. I only gained 20 pounds with my first baby. Can I smack you in the face now, or shall I wait until later?

7. You have HOW MANY months left? WOW!

8. Are you going to have a natural birth? I tried, but it was the worst pain in my life. I had terrible back labor for 30 hours and ended up having a c-section which left me in agonizing pain for 3 weeks straight. REALLY, is this supposed to encourage me?! REALLY?!

9. Oh honey, your ankles are huge! This from some random lady at the grocery store. And yes, thank you for noticing that I have Barney Rubble feet.

10. Unless Mother Nature makes "it" fall off, your baby is definitely a boy!

So again, isn't it a good thing that I have such a great sense of humor about the expansion of my body? :) And while it is easy to complain about the aches, pains, hormonal changes, and many other things regarding pregnancy, I couldn't be more happy to be 9 months pregnant and merely DAYS away from meeting our little boy!

Deck, Part 1

Part 1 of our summer deck project began over Memorial Day. Keith and our dads worked on installing our new patio door, which is FABULOUS! I'm still amazed at how much more light flows through our main floor because of the door. Molly is also a big fan of the door, she can bark at everything she sees now! Great, huh?! :) The next step will be installing the deck, which we hope to accomplish sometime this summer, financial situation willing. Here are some before, during & after pictures of the hard work.

All we need are a few coats of paint on the trim and our door is set! Any thoughts on what kind of window treatments I should hang?

Good thing my husband is sweet...

I can no longer reach my toes. So, Keith graciously helped me paint my toenails this past week. And I must say, I was extremely impressed at his attention to detail. I couldn't resist taking a few pictures to show off my hubby. And yes, my feet really are that chubby :)