Fun Kid Pictures

Ian meeting Owen Bird, born 2 weeks before him.

Ian, Cami, cousins Kylie and Austin, and Benjamin

Ian with Uncle Mike

Ben is painting himself to look like the Hulk or a big Packer fan.

Ian making his way up the stairs.

Princess Cami Belle with daddy's tie

It has been a tough few days battling very little sleep. Ian has a cough, has teeth coming in, and is not a very happy boy right now. We are not exactly sure what is going on, but kind of expected a few days of sadness. It breaks my heart to see him so sad. Ben and Cami have been great at trying to make him happy. They are such loving little kids.

Cami Gotcha Day

Tomorrow we will celebrate Cami's Gotcha Day. It is amazing that she has been home 3 years now. How time flies!!! We try to make each child's Gotcha Day (the day when we officially got them in Korea) special. When Justin and I asked Cami if there was something special she would like to do or have for her special day, she responded with "I want to go to the mall and get a pretty dress and then go on a family date to Fridays for dinner". Oh she is such a girl!!! We are going to indulge her with a trip to the mall after Korean lessons and then go for an early dinner. She is such a beautiful and intelligent little girl, who definitely knows what she wants.

Time is going by so fast. Now that Ian's baptism is over, it is time to start planning Ian's Tol ceremony/ 1st birthday party. We are planning on having it on Feb. 23 at St. Paul Lutheran Church. It worked well for the baptism and has room for more people that our house has room for. I will be making a few dishes and have asked a few friends to make some traditional Korean dishes as well. We will try to make it as traditional as possible, but don't plan on having all of the food that is normally at the Tol, such as an assortment of 12 different kinds of rice cakes. If you would like to learn a little about a Tol, you can visit www.lifeinkorea.com/culture/tol It will give you information on the different events, etc.

We will be adding more pictures soon.

Baptism

Ian's baptism and lunch went well despite the VERY cold weather. We are amazed at how many wonderful friends and family we have. We thank and praise God that He has put so many loving people in our lives. We were expecting around 50 - 60 people for the baptism and lunch and with the extremely cold weather, we were expecting a few last minute cancellations. Instead, we had several people call last minute asking to attend and ended up with about 70 people. We are overwhelmed at the love shown for Ian. Thank you to all of you who came out in the cold and supported Ian and us as he got baptized.

Our Big Boy...

About 6 weeks ago we met our son and brought him home. At our first doctor appointment he weighed 18 pounds. Today we headed back to the doctor after 3 long weeks of yucky diaper rash after diaper rash. He now weighs 20 pounds 2 ounces. WOW. I can't believe that he has gained 2 pounds in such a short time. I am constantly amazed by him. I love watching him and holding him and loving him. I managed the doctor with all 3 kids today. We made it with no problems, not even from the snow. It was worth the trip. His poor little bottom just can't recover from the yucky rash. With family and friends coming in this weekend, we figured that now is the time to find an alternative to letting him wander around the house with a naked bum (the only thing that totally seems to help relieve some of the pain from the rash). We are hoping that the stronger prescription cream they gave us will help. They even gave us formula and diaper cream samples to take with us. It makes you feel a little better about spending a bunch of money going to the doctor if you can take home some free samples.

Our not so little bundle of joy is also on the move. He hates to sit still, always wanting to stand or walk while holding your hands. He has also mastered climbing the stairs. He is up the flights of stairs before you realize that he has left the kitchen. What an amazing little boy!

Tomorrow my brother, Mike, and sister in law, Allison, and the kids fly into Milwaukee from southern California. It will be quite a change from the 70 degree weather they are use to. My dad and Jean are also headed in to Milwaukee from Ohio, followed by my mom and Bruce coming in on Saturday. We are looking forward to having family and friends join us to celebrate Ian's baptism this coming Sunday. Please come and join us at 10am at St. Paul Lutheran Church on Sherman Ave. We would love to have you help us celebrate. We will have a lunch after in the lower level fellowship hall.

The kids love being able to play with Ian and share everything that he is learning to do. Ben is especially proud that Ian followed him upstairs to play with him in his room. Cami loves encouraging Ian to stand and she also makes sure he stays out of "trouble". She will take away anything that she deems not acceptable for him to be playing with or not "safe". They are both amazing siblings who love each other and their little brother very much. I feel so blessed that I have the opportunity to be with each of them every day and watch them grow and change...and boy are they growing! I am already dreading going back to work in March. I have already inquired about the possiblity of delaying my return until April just so that I can be home a little longer with them.

In love....

We had an amazing time with Ian today. It was such a treat being able to both be home with him. It was so nice to have some time with both of us just doting on him. I think he enjoyed that as well. It was fun to play with him and help him walk and stand. We were able to take extra time to hold him, rock him, and just talk to him. We had fun just getting to know him a little bit better and him getting to know us better. He just looks up at our faces as if he is thinking, "they are not too bad".

I love my son with all of my heart. I am constantly amazed by how my love grows for him everyday. It has been such a blessing being able to spend everyday with him. I love being home and know that it is going to break my heart when I go back to work. I just try to remember that I need to work just a few months before Ian is officially adopted then I am blessed to receive another 5 months of leave from Midwest. It will be nice to have the summer off to enjoy with the kids and to be able to spend time with friends and family.

Ian wore his Packer outfit today (something of Ben's that fit him) to cheer the Packers to victory!

Packer Fan

Ian is all dressed in Packer gear and ready to watch the game with dad. We are looking forward to spending a little alone time with Ian as Ben and Cami are headed to Morgan's house, a friend from preschool. We are ready to tackle a few projects around the house as well. I think our wish list of what we would like to get done in the few hours the kids are gone is much bigger than we will actually accomplish. This will be our first time completely alone with Ian, so I am sure that he will be the main project to spend time with.

Happy New Year!

Above : Ian is looking at Paul Kyle, one of his godfathers.
Below: Caleb, Cami, and Ian sitting on the couch on New Year's Eve.

It has been a busy few weeks as we are still adjusting to having 3 kids. It is definitely a challenge getting 3 kids ready in the morning and out the door in the freezing cold before 8am to get either Ben or Cami to school on time. We are slowly trying to figure it out.

Our house was in full swing on New Year's Eve as we were lucky enough to find 2 babysitters for 7 kids, all who are under the age of 5, so we could go out to dinner with some friends. Chris and Jim, Kris and Jason, Becca and Bill, and Justin and I headed to Prime Quarter for dinner. We enjoyed adult conversation, even though a lot of it was about the kids, and a great dinner. I think it is the first time in a long time that we were able to enjoy more than one course without having to take a child to the bathroom or deal with something else. We arrived home and all the kids were still awake! They had a great time and were sad to see us back.

We will celebrate Ian's baptism on Sunday, January 20. We would love to have our friends and family join us for the celebration at St. Paul Lutheran Church at 2126 N. Sherman Ave., Madison at 10am. There will be a lunch following the service.

We will be posting more pictures soon.

Oh...Ian said Dada today. Justin was very excited. Ian looked right at him and said dada!