Easter

Checking out the chicks and ducklings at Tractor Supply
I think Isaac is cuter than the chick :)
Playing with Grandma
Julia wanted to see what was going on
Kind of a gross picture, but funny too. Isaac decided he didn't like the taste of boiled eggs!
I like this picture of Caleb. It's not very often we get a "natural" smile when taking a picture!
Nate reading to the boys during Cardale's visit.
Family picture on Easter

Easter egg hunt. I like Tim's idea of sipping wine during the hunt!
Isaac checking out the eggs.

We spent Easter weekend at my parent's house along with my siblings. We had some really nice weather! The boys enjoy seeing the chicks at Tractor Supply every spring. Caleb really wanted to buy some chicks. I had to remind him that chicks grow up into chickens that can peck you. Remember, the chickens at Uncle Reuben's house and how you didn't like them? :) I also don't think our neighbors would appreciate a bunch of chickens in our backyard. The boys had fun decorating Easter eggs, although Isaac cracked most of the ones he touched. Cardale also came over for an afternoon which was probably the highlight of the weekend for Isaac. Caleb enjoys playing with Cardale, but Isaac and Cardale have alot of fun together. Granted, there is still some of the rivalry between them, but overall they have a good time. We are very excited for Cardale and his parents because his adoption will be finalized in a couple weeks!

My Mom was feeling a little better over Easter weekend, but ended up back in the hospital this week. Her pancreas is kind of going crazy on her. She's hoping to go home this week and then she'll see a specialist at University of Michigan in a couple weeks. Hopefully the specialist can figure out what needs to be done and get the procedure scheduled quickly!

We started reintroducing apples into Isaac's diet. The first apple slices he ate went well. However, yesterday we gave him apple slices at lunch and applesauce at supper. He complained his stomach hurt and then threw up at bedtime. Ouch. It's not looking so good for apples in the diet.

Still Here!

Opening her package from Gpa and Gma D- the paper was the best part!
Cruising around the house
Quick get a picture, they are getting along! ;)
Isaac with his "Thomas the Train" sunglasses
Isaac showing his new fireman boots from Gma D- he wears them alot!
Caleb got his first lollipop from his teacher, I was actually a little jealous. Lollipops are so cool!
Enjoying a snack in a cute spring outfit

It's hard to believe I haven't blogged since Julia's birthday. It seems like life has been in the fast lane this past month. After learning we had to cut wheat and dairy out of Isaac's diet, I was overwhelmed. It took a few days to gain confidence that I could find food for him to eat. After changing his diet we did notice some changes in Isaac. He wasn't waking up during the night anymore and he wasn't complaining about his stomach hurting all of the time. This week his blood work came back saying he isn't allergic to any food. Say what?? The pediatrician had warned me that allergy testing isn't always conclusive, she was right. The allergist said we can start reintroducing wheat and apples into Isaac's diet and keep a journal about how he does. Since his skin reacted so quickly to milk products, she recommends keeping milk out of his diet for another year or two. At that point they will do a food challenge to see how he tolerates milk. We started reintroducing wheat into his diet a couple of days ago. I know it is still early to know for sure, but he has been crabbier and complaining about his back/stomach hurting. I'm praying that maybe he's just getting sick, but I'm guessing he has a sensitivity to wheat. We'll see what happens.

This past month my Mom also got really sick. She ended up in the hospital with pancreatitis for over a week. She is home now, but struggling with nausea. The doctors think they know what caused the pancreatitis, but she needs to see a specialist at the University of Chicago as well. Please keep praying that she regains her appetite and strength soon.

Julia started taking some steps on her own a couple of days after her birthday! She will occasionally walk between Nate and I, but she still prefers crawling. She is discovering her voice these days. I think she realizes the boys are pretty loud and she feels the need to compete and make sure she is noticed. :) We are down to one bottle a day now, yay! She is drinking whole milk better, but we still have to add a little sugar free chocolate syrup.

Caleb is reading now! He can read the little books made up of 3 letter words. It is so amazing to see your child reading. Soccer will start soon which he is excited about. We are trying to teach him how to ride a two wheel bike. It will be slow going, but I'm confident he'll catch on this summer.

It seems like there was more I wanted to write about, but my brain is shutting down. :) I pray you all have a wonderful Easter celebrating our risen Lord!

Julia's 1st Birthday

Our beautiful girl
Daddy loves his girl
Butterfly cake

Not so sure about the hat
Julia loved the cake!
Celebrating on her actual birthday

Julia is 1 year old today! We are so grateful to be celebrating this milestone with our daughter. These past 3 months have been joy-filled. Everyone comments on how well she has adjusted to our family and I think it really is amazing. It is like she has always been here. She is happy and healthy. I think she is going to be talking earlier than our boys did. She says mama, dada, bye-bye and is close to saying please, bottle and hi. This week she has started pretending she is talking on the phone. She'll put her hand up to her ear and babble, very cute. She is also walking behind the push toys now and she is SO proud of herself. We're still working on her understanding of the word "no." She laughs and continues on with what she was doing when we tell her no, little stinker. :) She still likes to "clean" our floors by finding specks and trying to eat them and she is very curious these days.

This past Saturday we had a birthday party for Julia. We had some family and friends over and our house was crazy! There were alot of boys running around as our basement isn't usable right now because Nate is drywalling. But, everyone had a good time. We dressed Julia up in her hanbok, which is a traditional Korean outfit worn on birthdays and special holidays. We then did a doljabi table which is a Korean first birthday tradition. We put Julia in front of a table with different items on it. A pencil (scholar), string (long life), microphone (entertainer), ball (sports), hammer (builder/architect), stethoscope (doctor), and I put a Bible for missionary. :) Whichever item the child picks will be their future career. Julia went right for the pencil. I knew she was smart. :) We served a traditional American feast of pizza and cake! Julia loved the cake. She was eating it as fast as she could. Thank you to all of our friends and family who celebrated with us!

Today we celebrated her birthday with my Mom here. I was gone all day so my Mom made a nice pot roast dinner. For birthdays in Korea they make rice cakes. That wasn't happening so I copied someone else's idea of making rice krispie treats instead. Of course, the boys enjoyed helping Julia open and play with her presents.

Today I took Isaac to a pediatric allergist. He's been complaining alot about his stomach hurting and I felt like we were missing something with his food allergies. And I didn't feel like I completely understand food allergies and what he should be avoiding, etc. The visit was very informative. He had the allergy skin test done and he is allergic to milk, wheat, and apples. He is also allergic to dust mites and dogs. The wheat allergy really threw me for a loop. He has always eaten wheat products. But, the Dr. recommended completely removing milk and wheat products from his diet for a couple weeks to see if he stops complaining about his stomach. I can then reintroduce wheat and see what happens. She said the wheat might have been a false positive, I hope that is true! The milk products have to be completely removed though. He is strongly allergic to them and she prescribed an epi pen for him. There is still a chance he could outgrow the milk allergy, that would be wonderful! The Dr. was really helpful in understanding Isaac's asthma/lung issues. He gets a horrible cough with every cold and he throws up multiple times during a cold because he is coughing so hard. She prescribed a different inhaler he can use during his colds that should cut down on his coughing, thank you! So I left the appt with mixed emotions. I have a better understanding of what my child needs, but that also discouraged me. We are going to be one of those families that other people don't understand. Yes, you have to be careful around our kid and not give him "normal" foods. Yes, we're going to be bringing our own food to events. I'm trying hard not to feel sorry for myself, because he doesn't have a terminal illness or cancer, just special dietary needs. I would appreciate prayers over the next couple of weeks as I try to serve foods that are dairy and wheat free, oh boy.

WI Dells

Mike and Jack
Caleb being forced to take a picture :)
In the wavepool
First time in a pool!


Peek a boo
This smile she does is so funny
Gotta love hotel beds

This past Sunday thru Wednesday we went to the Wisconsin Dells. Nate's parents are part of a timeshare condo group and they had points that needed to be used up. They kindly offered a condo stay to Colleen and us. So we stayed with Colleen's family at the Glacier Canyon Lodge. It was really nice! There were 4 indoor waterparks that we could use and we visited all of them! Caleb is at an age where he had a great time going down waterslides, etc. The littler ones enjoyed playing in the water as well. I enjoyed floating around the lazy river with Julia on my lap. :) We definitely wore the kids out, Caleb took a nap 2 days in a row- unheard of! It was fun to hang out with Colleen, Mike and Jack for a couple days. Thanks again Mom and Dad!

Road trip

Mommy's girl. Not sure why she made this face. :)
I bought some kid chopsticks online and Isaac loves them! He wants them at every meal.
Caleb eating cereal with his chopsticks.
Pretty ballerina!

Building with blocks at the museum
Supper at Chuck E. Cheese!
Isaac sitting with Nate's Grandma DeMaster (she's 98!)
Family picture with Grandma
Julia with Nate's Grandma VanStelle
On our way home!

This past weekend we took a road trip. We drove to my grandparent's house in Wheaton on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately they were out of town for the weekend, but they were kind enough to let us stay at their house. On Saturday we went to the children's museum in Naperville. We all had a great time. We took naps back at the house and went to Chuck E Cheese for supper. As always, that place was crazy, but we actually had fun. :) On Sunday morning we drove to Sheboygan, WI and had lunch at Nate's aunt and uncle's house with other relatives. They were kind enough to watch the kids so Nate and I could visit Grandma DeMaster. She lives in a retirement home and her room is small. It would have been very stressful to bring the kids with. :) We then went to my aunt and uncle's house for supper. After that we went to a birthday party for Nate's Great-Aunt who turned 100! Nate's Grandma and Great-Aunt really enjoyed watching our kids run around. They loved to look at Isaac and stroke his cheeks and hands. Amazingly Isaac just stood there and let them. Although he was kind of spacing out, like "I'm pretending this isn't happening. " :) The kids were quite tired by Sunday evening, so we didn't last long at the party. We then went back to my aunt and uncle's house to sleep. I think we crammed too much into Sunday. For some reason kids do not switch time zones easily! They went to bed late every night, but still woke up super early. But, that is my only complaint of the weekend. On Monday morning we had breakfast with Nate's Grandma VanStelle and Aunt Linda. We then drove home. Overall the weekend went so well! The kids were healthy and travelled well. We turned Julia's carseat around and she did great in the car. I think she just feels better when she can see us. Now we are back home and back into our routine!

I'm published (kind of!)

Check out this link to Bethany's South Korea blog where they shared my thoughts about our trip to Korea. The Korean program has had the option of having your child escorted to the states or the parents traveling to Korea. Bethany is changing the requirements this year and asking all families to travel, so they are sharing stories from families who have traveled recently.

http://www.bethany.org/blogs/koreablog.nsf

Julia update

I don't always do a great job of writing things down about the kids' growth and changes. When filling out babybooks, etc I often go back to the blog for information. :) So, sorry if you don't find this overly interesting!

Julia just keeps growing! I'm curious to see how much she has grown at her 1 year check-up. (Her birthday is March 9.) She stands alone for a couple seconds and walks pretty well when we walk with her. She seems to understand the words "no" and "come here." We love the faces she makes at us. I also love how she shakes her whole body in excitement when we come to pick her up. She still enjoys most food. She is my first child that loves to eat green beans! I also wonder if she is starting to wean herself from the bottle. She is less interested in drinking the bottle and we hate to waste formula- it's expensive! I gave her milk the other day in a sippy cup. She drank some sips and made funny faces. She didn't drink much of it, but she didn't seem to hate it. I'm so nervous she is going to have a food allergy. I pray about it alot and ask God that if she does have an allergy, can it be the same as Isaac's?? I bought a new (used) baby carrier for Julia and I don't use it as much as I thought I would- which is good. She's happy just crawling around. I usually use the carrier during the hour before supper. And all of the Moms reading this just smiled in understanding. :) I wish she would be done with this phase of cleaning my floors! If there is a speck, she will find it and eat it. Yuck. We don't hear her grieving much anymore. If she is feeling sick and really upset she will cry, "Umma." We love listening to her baby babbles and watching her grow everyday!

Isaac had some funny sayings the other day. I was driving in the car with Isaac and he was talking about the garbage truck. I thought I was making the appropriate sounds to show I was listening until Isaac yelled, "Talk! Mommy, talk to me!" Ok, I got the message. :) We then went to a friend's house. They have a dog that had spilled dog food over the floor. Isaac said, "Doggy made a mess. Doggy go in time-out." So cute.