Baptism

This past weekend we were blessed with a visit from Steve's parents and sister, a snowstorm, and a Brielle's baptism. We almost had to postpone the baptism due to the snow, but favors were called in, and we made it happen.

Enjoy the slide show of Brielle's baptism.

Giving Thanks for a Life

For those of you who follow our Blog, but do not know, My (Calie) family has had a tough few weeks. It all started the Monday after Thanksgiving when my Dad's right leg went numb, followed by the whole right side of his body. He called my Mom who got him to the hospital. After many tests it was confirmed that he has a brain tumor. They kept him over night and he had a great day on Tuesday and Wednesday. The plan was to do surgery the next Monday.

On Wednesday night he had a bad headache, and within minutes of the onset had another siezure. He was taken to the hospital, and then airlifted to Mayo Hospital. They were going to do surgery when he got there, but they took a closer look and determined that the tumor was cancer, and had hemmorraged. We took the machines off of him early on Friday morning. He was moved from the ICU to another quiter floor where we stayed throughout the weekend.

On Tuesday morning he was transferred to the hospital in my hometown, St. Peter. He remains there. He has regained consousness and is speaking a little bit. The waiting will continue until the tumor takes over the rest of his brain and shuts his body down.

For now, there is nothing that anyone can do, and we are treasuring each day that we have him with us. It has been a VERY long week, and I am still not sure what day it is, but we are managing. SInce I do not get to update this site very often, you can check out our caring bridge site, http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/daveseitzer

Thanks for the prayers.

Calie

Giving Thanks

I can't believe that it has been almost 4 weeks since our last post. There just isn't quite as much free time to sign onto the computer now that there are two babies in the house. These past few weeks have flown by, yet it seems like we have had Brielle in our lives for longer than that. Isaiah has done great with welcoming his new sister into our lives. He really does not get jealous at all; he just wants to help and hold her. He helps us put her nuk in her mouth when she cries and fetches cleans diapers when we need them, as well as throw out the used ones. And we know the pinching, punching, and pushing will come later but for now we will just enjoy the fact that all he wants to do is pet her hair and kiss her head.

This past weekend we enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving Day with just the 4 of us. We did all the traditional things--church worship on Thanksgiving eve followed by a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving movie," then we watched the parade, watched some football, and ate lots of turkey. Even though it was just the four of us we had all the fixin's of a traditional meal...with plenty of food for leftovers! Isaiah also found time for some Thanksgiving art by painting turkeys with his hands. It is really hard to believe that this is only Isaiah's 2nd Thanksgiving with us. While I was reminiscing, Steve was nice enough to inform me that I have been alive for more Thanksgivings than the rest of my family combined! Gee, thanks!

Friday brought us a visit from the Peck family who we shared 4 years of Seminary with. It was great to see old friends. Later in the day my parents came for the weekend. That night we went to downtown Sun Prairie to watch the tree lighting and the Christmas fire truck parade. Isaiah loved all the fire trucks lit up with Christmas lights and decorations; he still talks about them. Saturday morning we embarked on a successful journey to get our Christmas tree for the year and then right around lunchtime my sister Katie and her family came for the afternoon/evening. From start to finish, it was a fantastic weekend! We are SO glad that everyone made the drive to meet Brielle and enjoy each other's company.

This Thanksgiving we had so many more things to be thankful for. God has been so good to us this past year--blessing us with a new home, a wonderful new church and church family, and a growing/healthy family of our own.

Cookies!!!

This morning Isaiah and I made cookies. Enjoy the pictures. I have learned that perhaps we should only embark on cooking adventures that do not involve raw eggs, and lots of chocolate.

It's a girl!

Our waiting is over! On Tuesday morning, November 2nd, at 5:06 Isaiah officially became a big brother. Our new daughter, Brielle Ann, came into this world at 7 pounds, 15 ounces, and 21 inches long. God is so good; what a miracle and blessing. She has indeed been fearfully and wonderfully made! Mom and daughter are both healthy and happy; and the plan is for them to come home tomorrow (Thursday). That's all for now, enjoy the pictures!

Just waiting

So here we sit with one week left to go, waiting for the baby to make it's grand entrance into this world. I have been feeling sort of sad about it lately, because it means that all of my attention will not be on Isaiah. It will probably be a good thing for him, but I think that I will miss having unlimited amounts of time for just him. With that said, I am more than eager to end the heartburn, kicks, and braxton-hicks contractions. I am not looking forward to the sleepless nights again though! Who am I kidding, I still have sleepless nights!

Isaiah decided last week Friday to throw away his Nuk's. We were excited, but leary. And for good reason. His naps have been shorter, and his nights have been interrupted. He still wants a Nuk and asks for them often, but somehow we are still surviving. He is also starting to get his 2 year molars. I can't see or feel them yet, but he has all of the signs that lead us to believe they are on the way. Time to buy more stock in Motrin!!!

Steve is still busy working away! Each youth group had their own special day at the corn maze, so Steve got to go three times! I think that he has seen enough corn for this year! He also has been busy working on house projects whenever he can. The latest was cleaning out the gutters and putting gutter guards on them.

We are looking forward to Halloween and going to the local businesses to "trick or treat" this afternoon. I will post pictures as soon as I can! In the meantime, enjoy the few I took yesterday.

Pumpkin Time

As we approach Halloween, Isaiah and I have been talking about Fall and Pumpkins. We decided to make a pumpkin craft today.
He had a blast, and did not want to stop!


Finished Product

Steve pointed out after I posted the last blog that not all of the pictures showed up on the last post. So here are the pictures that didn't make it on the last slide show.

House Pictures

Well, we have been in our house for almost a month, and it is almost finished. Of course as most of you know when you own a house you are never "finished". We still have THE LIST of things that we want to fix or update, but for the most part we are settled. Here is a slide show of all of the work that Steve and a congregation member have done so far on the outside of our house.

As well as working hard outside and at church, Steve worked VERY hard to clear out the garage. Since I can't lift much, most of the work was done by him. Most of the boxes are gone, we just have a few that need to be sorted out, but most of it is my old teaching stuff, so it is up to me to rearrange.

Here are the pictures of the inside of the house, before and after.

Last weekend we had a "Thank You" party for all of those people who have helped us get our house ready. It was a huge success, and we now know that our house holds around 45 people!

As for life outside of our house, the baby is due in less than three weeks, and we finally feel pretty ready. We finally got the dresser, diapers and a new coming home outfit. I even pulled out the gender nutral outfits and washed them.

Isaiah is growing faster and faster. He is like a little parrot and repeats EVERYTHING that we say and do. He even puts his fork down and takes a drink when I do during meals. We go to story time every week at the library, but he usually just watches until the end. He loves to dance, jump and create trouble.

We have enjoyed all of the warm fall weather, but we fear the winter is near. We are trying to enjoy all of the time we can outside.

A Month Later

We have been homeowners for exactly once month and one day, and we have enjoyed 7 of those days actually living in our house! That's right, we have been here for a week, and loving it! We have even had our first house guest!

Usually when we move the boxes are all stashed away and pictures hung within the fist week of us in our place. This time proves to be more challenging since we are finding things that we did not know that we even had, since they have been in storage for the past 4+ years. We have gone through most of the boxes, and even enjoyed looking at some old pictures and reports that were written. I know that I am to the point of donating the rest of the boxes, opened or not!

With some boxes still lingering, we have hung a few pictures, curtains, and wall decor. Our first visitor, Grandma Seitzer, brought us our new furniture, and spent the weekend sewing. It was great to have a third opinion in the house for the weekend too. Isaiah also enjoyed having someone dote on him 24/7.

Now we are looking forward to finishing the house and waiting for baby #2 to come. We are just one month away!

Still moving...

The title says it all, we are still in the process of moving. The house is FINALLY done being painted thanks to so many wonderful volunteers. It took many more coats of paint than we thought that it would to cover all of the walls, but our faithful painters finished it! Steve has been MIA in our current household for the past week, while he works all day and paints all night. He has been working very hard! The plan is to move on Thursday night. I can't wait to start the unpacking!

I have been busy with Isaiah and getting ready to move. With all of the paint colors picked, it is time to start picking accessories for the house. It has been fun, but challenging with only 1 car. I have also been involved with the women's group that is starting to form at our church. It is so exciting to see women of all ages excited to get involved in anything at church. Right now we are just at the planning stage and the beginning of the implementation stage.


Isaiah is growing up so fast! He is still a great eater, with the exception of breakfast. So I am trying to become more clever with nutritious foods to serve. I think that it will help our whole families eating routine to be in our new house. Isaiah is repeating everything, and putting together 2-3 word sentences. He is starting to show that he has an opinion, and we are trying to give choices when appropriate. This morning he chose to try on his new shoes, and refused to take them off. I tried to reason with him, but what the heck he might as well break them in now!

Steve as I mentioned is busy with meetings, ministry, sermons, and the new house. He even gets a little time in there to golf or watch football, but not much!

I can't wait to post pictures of the house once it's full!

Quick update

Here is the quick version of our life in the past week. We drove to MN to retrieve our belongings that have been in storage for the past 4 years. We loaded a U-Haul and brought it all back to the garage in our new house. I think that my parents were overjoyed to get a garage stall and a bedroom back!

We spent the remainder of the week picking paint colors and getting the house ready for the painting party that began today. We had a great crew that began the painting today and they have two rooms done. I feel worthless not being able to help at all, but when we stop by we are more work than help.

They will continue to paint until it's done, and we hope to be able to move in completely this weekend.

Our New House

I know....two blogs in one week. Please don't keel over! I promised pictures of the new house, and here they are.

I consider these the before pictures. Stay tuned for the "after" pictures!

promises

I promised myself that I would update the blog more often, and it hasn't worked out so well for me. So here are the happenings of the Vera family in the past few weeks.

Steve has a couple of weeks and two sermons under his belt. He is connecting with the youth groups and planning for the year. He has also kept busy with shut in visits. He has also attended many meetings.

I, Calie, have been busy planning the paint colors for our new house, as well as decor. I have also kept busy trying to keep up with Isaiah, find new doctors, transfer records, and all of the fun that comes with moving! I have accomplished one of my goals, which was to finish Isaiah's scrapbook before September.

Isaiah has by far been the busiest out of all of us. His favorite things include running, jumping, talking and being cute. He is already saying three word sentences, and repeats everything that we say. He recently started singing and doing the actions to songs. He is so smart too. We were painting and he chose the blue paint and said blue. He constantly amazes me. He also likes to say cheese and then see the picture. Here are some of the pictures from our photo session tonight.

We also went to Sun Prairie's big festival, called Cornfest. There was a parade followed by a weekend of corn eating. Isaiah sat in his stroller for an hour and a half watching, waving and clapping for the floats. We enjoyed the sweet corn and bounce houses at the festival grounds. Here are some pictures.

The other big news we need to share is that tomorrow morning we will become first time home owners. I promise there will be pictures this weekend. We will need to paint the whole house and make other minor repairs, but other than that it is move in ready. We do not have a date that we will actually be living there, since we plan to paint, clean and take our time moving in. We will let everyone know our new address soon.

Day 1, 2, and 3

We have all started a new journey of our lives here in Sun Prairie, WI. I, a stay at home mom, Steve a pastor, and Isaiah a teething machine. I am trying to get used to the routine as a stay at home mom without a car living on 40 acres of land. Day 1 included the lesson of things we should not stick in our ears, like mac and cheese. Day two was only 2 hours of Daddy time, and day 3 is shaping up to be a day full of singing the book, Chef Creole. Have you ever wanted to hide a book? I did until Isaiah started repeating and pointing out the red beans, okra, boudin, and king cake. Watching his little mind work never gets old!

Steve is getting settled in at church, hanging some pictures in his new office as well as putting away books. He has enjoyed meeting with a few members, visiting a nursing home, and playing golf. Tough job?! The extra curricular activities have also begun with meetings every night this week. He will preach his first sermon tomorrow night (Thursday).

Isaiah is getting too used to having an indoor pool right up stairs. He loves the water, and is almost too brave (if you ask me). He also loves the Great Dane "puppy" that lives here as well. He is talking non-stop, but most of the time he walks around saying 'cute'. His other favorite thing to do is ride and drive the golf cart. He and I have spent many hours just climbing in and out and pretend driving it.

The weather here could not be nicer, and for that we are most thankful! I think that is what I missed most about living here.

Steve and I both have new WI phone numbers, so if you haven't gotten the new numbers yet, send us an email or Facebook message and we will get them to you.

We Have Arrived!

Here's a quick update to let our blog-o-sphere followers know that we have landed safely in Sun Prairie. We left yesterday (Thursday) morning and drove out of the seminary campus for the last time. No mixed emotions for us, it was Wisconsin or bust! Even Isaiah was saying, "Consin" in the days leading up to our move. After a six hour drive, we were greeted by several church members who helped us unload our U-Haul. We still do not have a home of our own, so we are staying with an extremely generous couple from our congregation. They are letting us live in their home until we find one of our own. This is especially nice because we can take our time looking for the right place at the right price.

That's all for now. We still have many boxes to unpack and several new living amenities to take advantage of and enjoy. I do not start work at the church until Sunday, August 15th so we have plenty of time to get settled in and become better acquainted with our new hometown. We will even do some more house hunting early next week. Hope you are all well and please feel free to give us a call, we'd love to hear from you.

Much has happened since our last brief Memorial Day post. This disgustingly hot and humid summer has been flying by and we now are exactly one month away from finally moving out of St. Louis. We are just about the last family from our graduating class still living on campus. Moving trucks and trailers keep coming and going while we stay here eagerly awaiting our turn. Nearly all of our friends have been gone for several weeks now. New faces and families are popping up all over campus as people begin their own 4-year tenure at the seminary with summer courses.

In early June we spent a week in New Jersey. On Sunday, the 13th, I was ordained at my home congregation in Oak Ridge, Holy Faith Lutheran Church. It was a wonderful celebration. It was such a blessing to share this day with the family, friends and members of the congregation that have helped get me to this point. It was a beautiful service and excellent time of fellowship. Beyond the Ordination Sunday, we did not do too much else while we were in NJ. Unfortunately no day trips to the Jersey Shore, baseball games, or anything like that. We just spent the week in Vernon visiting with friends and family. My parents and the rest of the family had plenty of time to entertain Isaiah despite only being there for a week. But quite honestly, Isaiah did not sleep well the entire trip so it was probably for the best that the trip was not any longer. Thankfully, as soon as we were back home and he was in familiar territory he was sleeping through the night like normal.

After we returned home to STL I had to make a trip up to Sun Prairie for a home inspection. This was the most recent of several 6-hour trips we have made up north to Wisconsin in search for our future home. We originally thought that we had found a nice home for us; we even had an accepted offer and started dreaming about what we would do first and how we could decorate. But after the inspection, for a variety of reasons, it looks like that house won't pan out after all. It's unfortunate because now we have to start at the very beginning, looking at homes and searching websites. But we do have a wonderful place to stay in the meantime so we don't have to worry about living out of our car or being homeless.

As Calie has been busy working and getting ready for the National Youth Gathering down in New Orleans in just under 3 weeks, Isaiah and I have been stuck inside. In fact, today was the first day in over 2 weeks that we have been able to spend time playing outside. The last couple weeks STL has been under serious heat advisories. The temperature was daily in the upper 90's with humidity nearing 95% most days. That meant the heat index every day was well into triple digits. Luckily, the next week looks like it will be much like it was today, so I'm sure Isaiah and I will log many hours outside on the playground and chasing after his multitude of balls. If we're lucky we'll get to the zoo a time or two also. We actually spent a couple hours there this past Saturday morning. We spent most of the time in the 'children's zoo' where they have little fountain/geysers of water that shoot up from the ground. Isaiah LOVED them! We spent almost an hour there as he would just run through them and splash, sit down in the puddles and laugh. Calie and I started to feel like he was another exhibit at the zoo as people would just walk past smiling and watch him having a blast in the water. Unfortunately, we did not have a camera but next time we will try and remember Calie's video camera as I'm sure he'll put on a similar, adorable show.

Calie will be off from work on Friday and Monday for a long Independence Day weekend. No exciting plans for us though as we are going to use the weekend to pack as much as possible. The more boxes we can fill this weekend the less we'll have to worry about when Calie comes home from New Orleans. So hopefully by this time next week, we will have a corner of the house with a good junk of boxes piled up high and ready to be loaded onto a U-haul! I know that will make us both feel much better concerning our pending move. Calie will be gone for 10 days when she leaves for New Orleans! Isaiah and I have enjoyed our guys days and nights in the past, but this will be a bit too long to be without Mommy--for both of us! So while she works and sweats away in the Big Easy, the boys will head up north to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa Seitzer on the farm. I have a pretty good feeling that they are super excited to spend time with their grandson, even if it does mean having me there too.

That's all for now. Oh wait, there is one other thing. For those of you that don't already know... Calie is pregnant again. Isaiah is going to be a big brother! I'm not sure that he is able to comprehend it, but he does touch Calie's stomach and say, "baby, baby". Baby #2 is due on our 5-year anniversary on November 5th. This past Wednesday we had our 20-week ultrasound, but decided not to find out the sex of the baby so it will be a surprise! In the picture to the right you can see baby's head and arm.

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and keeping cool. Not sure when our next update will be, but we do have some pictures to share below. Enjoy!

Memorial Day Fun!

Pony Tail Fun!

Of all the toys we own, there are just too many times when nothing makes Isaiah happier than playing with Mommy's pony tail. It almost makes me want to grow one myself, or at least buy one of those redneck hunting hats with a ponytail sticking out of the back.

Mission Complete!

Just like that, four years later, we are done. It ends almost as quickly as it all began. Totally, completely, 100% done. No more tests or homework and no more papers. No more late night library sessions, group projects, or book reviews. DONE! With graduation this past Friday, our seminary experience has officially come to a close. Though I am very grateful for the influential professors, the many friends made, and the solid pastoral formation that took place here, there are no mixed emotions or bittersweet feelings on our end. We are DONE and can't wait to pack our bags and actually begin doing ministry and putting all that we have learned into practice.

We had a very nice weekend. My parents, Grandma, and Uncle came to help us celebrate this special day. These four have especially played such an integral role in getting me here. The many years of dragging me to church and elbows to the side to pay attention must have paid off. I certainly would never have been able to get to this point without them, so it was a special blessing to walk across and get my diploma with them looking up from the crowd. We had a great time with them during the graduation festivities and the couple of lazy weekend days that followed. It was nice to sit outside and relax; we won't be able to do that many more days in the sultry St. Louis summer. We ate often, enjoyed a few games, and spent a morning at Grant's Farm.

And so now begins my lazy summer days. It is wonderfully strange to wake up with nothing to do and no deadlines to worry about. Each day is about me and Isaiah, hanging out and playing outside. For the next two months (apart from the occasional need to figure out housing and mortgage loans) I get to be nothing but Daddy. This is awesome and I will be sure to soak up every minute of these next couple of months. Calie continues to work getting reading for the LCMS National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. She is our loving, humble, hard-working sugar-momma! I don't think she appreciates it when I tell her of my plans to do nothing and watch the weekdays blend together. She, more than either of us, is excited to be forever out of St. Louis--done with work and staying at home with our little guy. But bills need to be paid and her job lasts until the end of July so she continues to bring home the bacon. Of course, she has been amazing through this whole seminary endeavor and it goes without saying that I could not have done it without her. For my graduation gift, she gave me my first pastoral/ordination stole. She has been working on it for years and it is beautiful. She did such a great job, and having it made by her adds extra special meaning to it. The left side of the stole highlights our Triune God and the right side reminds me of the faithful ministry of Word and sacraments that I have been called into. We'll post a picture of it after ordination on June 13th (at my home congregation in New Jersey). Most guys get these albs as gifts, or as purchases from a catalog. Few wives take the time and have the talent and patience to do it themselves. I certainly look forward to wearing proudly in the future.

We now look forward to the next chapter of our lives, settling down and making our home somewhere in Sun Prairie, WI.