Going Back to Work

In just over a week, I will be heading back to work. I have enjoyed having the last 4 months off to spend with my family. I find great joy in taking care of my children. It is a lot of work and often tiring and frustrating, but worth every moment. While I am excited to get back to flying and have some adult conversation and do something I enjoy doing, I am also a little sad. I know I will miss my family terribly when I am gone. I am thankful that I have a really nice schedule that allows me to be home on Monday and Wednesday by noon and all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. I am also thankful that the kids will get some daddy time next month as Justin takes on the job of caring for our children and our house when I am flying. It will be a challenge, but I know he will do a great job. While we would love to use his vacation time for a vacation, it is worth the sacrafice in order to have him stay with the kids. They will get some great bonding time! I think it will also be good for Ian since he hasn't taken to a babysitter yet.

We do have some good news. Ian has been diaper rash free for over a week. Thank you Rosie, a friend from Justin's work, for giving us Calmoseptine cream to try. What a difference. We tried about a dozen different creams for him and a few prescriptions, none cleared the rash until now. She is a true blessing. I was willing to try it, but also not very hopeful since we have tried so many creams and diapers, etc. We are happy and Ian is even happier. No more crying out in pain when we have diaper changes and no more going diaper free for hours hoping to clear it up! Thank You Thank You Thank You!

Here are a few pictures from the last few days...

Almost Easter

We are only days away from Easter and the kids could not be more excited. They know the story of Jesus death and resurrection, but at this age, they are more excited about the Easter bunny coming. Ben was very concerned today that Ian does not have an Easter basket. He is always thoughtful of his sister and brother. He was worried that Ian won't get any treats from the Easter bunny this year without a basket. I told him not to worry about it, that we would make sure that Ian had something for the easter bunny to put his treats in (not that he will be able to eat most of what the "bunny" brings. I am sure that mommy and daddy will happily help him eat any treats that may come.
Last week we enjoyed a visit from Grandpa Ron, Dana's dad. The kids always enjoy a visit from their grandparents. They enjoy spending time with Grandpa Ron playing in the basement, going to Chuck E. Cheese and this time a special treat to go to Toys R Us. Seeing the pure joy in their faces when we walked into Toys R Us and hearing their squeals of excitement was definitely worth any price paid! They were so excited that they could barely contain themselves. Ian wasn't sure to make of all of it, but had a blast standing in the back of the cart while we strolled around the store. Ian found a small ball that he could reach from the cart and happily played with it the entire time we were in the store. Needless to say, we brought the little ball home and he still enjoys playing with it. He likes that it is easy to grasp. It was a good visit and the kids were sad to see grandpa go.

Time for colds

Another week has gone by and I wonder where it went. It seems that the time is going by too fast. Ian has been home more than 3 months now and I often wonder how we lived without him. He just fits so perfectly into our family. It is proof that God does have your child/children picked out for you. I can't express how blessed I feel to be Ben, Cami, and Ian's mom. My heart just aches when I am away from them. I love them more than I can express.

We have just spent the last several days battling colds. Ben and Cami seem to be doing ok with theirs, but Ian has had 3 nights of little sleep as he battles a slight cold, big fever, the never ending diaper rash (ok so it stopped for a few days and now it is back) and either nightmares or other pain we are unaware of. With the little sleep he has gotten, mom and dad are very sleepy as well. Sleeplessness mixed a cold ourselves doesn't always make for the most fun days. The kids and Justin went to Eastside for church this morning for the kids singing then ran errands while Ian and I stayed home. Ian slept on and off, mostly crying while he was awake. It was a long 3 hours, but I am glad that I was able to be here to comfort him and hold him both while he was awake and while he slept. I know this time will pass and I just want to take it all in and be there to hold him and to show him that I love him. Ben and Cami have done a great job at showing him extra love during this hard time. They love to give him kisses, hugs, and they love trying to make him laugh. They also run to get a little Christmas book that lights up and plays music. He loves that and helps to calm him down. We were definitely blessed with amazing kids.

Now we continue to pray for patience and guidance in helping us be the best parents that we can be.

Ian's 1st Birthday

Ben and Cami holding a giraffe bone

The family at the Phoenix Zoo

February 27 is a very important day in the Marthaler family. We celebrate Ian's birthday and Cami's baptism birthday. We spent the morning at the Phoenix Zoo enjoying the animals and the warm weather. It was nice to get away from the cold. The kids loved having the opportunity to wear shorts and run around outside.

After the zoo, we headed back to Wisconsin and back to the cold. We had a great flight back. Ian got to celebrate his birthday with 2 Midwest chocolate chip cookies. He wasn't too interested in the cookies after 2 small bites.
Ian enjoying his own seat on Midwest Airlines

We got back to Milwaukee and checked Dana's work mail. A supervisor had put a newspaper clipping from the USA Today on February 15 that showed Dana and Ian with Mike Huckabee. It is pretty cool that Ian has been seen by people all over the United States. We will put the picture in his baby book for him to see when he gets older. It is a pretty proud moment for mom and dad to see Ian in the paper!

February 15, 2008 USA Today picture of Ian and Dana meeting Mike Huckabee

Ian is enjoying his brownie cake

We made one stop on the way home from Milwaukee to Madison for dinner. The kids chose TGIFridays for dinner. We enjoyed our dinner and then sang Happy Birthday to Ian as he dug into a chocolate brownie.

Phoenix Getaway

We headed to Phoenix to visit Grandpa Meier and take the chance to get a little warmth in our skin. The kids had a hard time sleeping because they were so excited to go on the plane and go to Arizona. They remember being here just 3 months ago, the exact trip when we got the phone call to go and get Ian. We enjoyed time with Grandpa. Ian and Grandpa got to know each other a little bit. We also got to see Grandma Meiers memorial. We miss her so much, but know that she is much happier in heaven with God.
We got to the hotel after visiting grandpa and enjoyed some time in the pool and hot tub. We are now ready for relaxing and go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day for Ian as he turns 1 year old. The last three months has gone by way to fast. It is sad to know that our baby is growing up. Tomorrow we plan to have a little fun before heading back to chilly and snowy Wisconsin. The 80 degree weather has been a nice teaser.

Ian's Tol

What an amazing day for Ian's Tol. The weather was wonderful and many friends came to celebrate Ian's Tol and the Korean New Year.

The food was so good. The ladies from the Korean church worked for several days preparing the food. They came to the church early to set up the food and also help set up the Tol table. Stephanie Kyle was kind enough to come and help with the kids and also help me set up the church the day before the Tol. I can't put into words how blessed and unworthy we feel having so many people step in to help make this a very special event.

Special thanks to

God for blessing us with amazing friends and family that have supported us through this journey

Miya for all of your help and your patience as we navigated our way through the planning of this event. I know we could not have done this without your help!

Stephanie for your help with the kids, house, and set up. Thanks for stepping in and being there for your Godson.

Kate for your help with the crafts

Pastor Park, Jung Sook, Mrs. Jung, Jung Min, Judy, and Sung Son for all of the food, balloon decorations, Tol table, and everything else you did to make this an event that far surpassed all expectations.

First Steps

Today is yet another cold, icy, and snow filled day in Wisconsin. We had planned to go to church this morning and then the Korean New Year Party for our Korean adoption group. We stayed in the house all day. While it is pretty to watch the snow come down, it was not a nice day to be in it. After much deliberation with the Korean group board, we decided to cancel the New Year's party for today. The decision was tough since the food prep had already begun. We made dumplings at Jung Sook's house
on Saturday afternoon, which I have to add is quite a process. All the ingredients inside the dumplings are prepared individually before mixing together and then putting inside the dumpling shell. The ladies from the Korean church have worked hard to prepare food for the party. After some discussion, we decided to move the party to this coming weekend and have it with Ian's Tol/ 1st birthday party. It works perfectly since many of the people attending Ian's party are from the Korean group. Those that are not from the Korean group are in for a treat. There will be Korean food prepared by ladies that are from Korea. The food is amazing! We are so blessed that they have offered to help. We look forward to seeing you at the party. Please let me know if you can attend either by emailing dmarthaler@gmail.com or calling.





We do have some fun news. The bad weather kept us inside all day, which gave us time to play inside and get a few chores done around the house that we needed to do. Ian took the opportunity to show us that he can walk. He took 3 steps from daddy into mommy's arms. We were so proud of him. He has been standing on his own now for a few weeks and has been thinking about taking a step. He finally got up the courage to try it out with mommy and daddy right there watching. It was truly an amazing event. We are so proud!!!