Must-Have Item!!

Boon Inc. makes a baby food dispensing spoon. It's SO COOL! I bought it at Babies 'R Us over the weekend and haven't stopped raving about it. It works like a charm! You fill the "handle" with baby food, give it a little squeeze and the food comes out in just the right amount. I fed Sawyer with one hand while I was eating a sandwich. I used it in the car this afternoon too. It's easy to clean, doesn't leak, and it's only $7. I highly recommend it!

Last Week

Whoops...a whole week went by and I didn't blog! Not that I didn't have anything to say - it was a busy week indeed. I would love to tell you all about it but I am not feeling too chatty right now. Instead I think I'll share our week with you by way of pictures.

Brenna came over to play on Tuesday!
These are kind of like the PB-Nana Poppers that I blogged about earlier this month. They're SO GOOD! Peanut butter/fat free cool whip mix between graham crackers. After 30 minutes in the freezer these babies satisfy my sweet tooth. His eyes are open believe it or not! Whatcha doin' Tote?? I could've given him a snack if he was hungry... Brenna turned 2!! I got to make her farm-themed cake! Me and Punkadoodle. He's a funny boy! Laura and Callie Jane. Laura and Jake made a long trip for a short visit - I'm so glad they did though!
Our 5th wedding anniversary was Friday. I'm so thankful for my husband. He loves the Lord, loves his family, and is a kind man. I know I'm so blessed to have him.

I hope you have a week full of blessings. Remember to thank the Lord for all you receive!

Does Max look like his mama, or what?

Transitions, Teeth, & Being "Tared"

After the first day of transitioning Max from a straw cup to a regular cup, I've learned a few things. 1) He needs to be in the kitchen where the floor is not carpeted, 2) I have to remind him each time to be slow, take small drinks, and use 2 hands, 3) Spills are inevitable, 4) Don't let him drink alone AFTER he is completely dressed for church or I will have to change his outfit right before heading out the door!

I was tired of his germy straw cups that after a few weeks smell like fermented apple juice no matter how many times they get washed. So today Max and I walked to the trash can and threw away his cup. He was fine with it at first but throughout the day he went over to the trash to try and retrieve it. Kinda sad. But he did pretty well with his big boy cup so I'm hopeful that this will be an easy transition.

We're TRYING to transition Sawyer to a sippy cup but the boy will have nothing to do with it! He hasn't drank from anything but me (ugly statement, sorry) since he was a few weeks old. But that has to change since we're leaving him for a week to go on vacation. Anyone have tips on how to get him to take a sippy? I've put juice in there but that hasn't enticed him at all.

Sawyer was so smiley today, I was able to get a tooth shot! Check 'em out :)




After Max was in bed for a little while this evening, I heard him whining. That's unusual so I went in to see what he needed. He said, "I sad!" I asked him why and he said, "I tared of town!" (I'm scared of the clown). He's talking about Ronald McDonald. He plays with a little car that Ronald sits in and also he watched videos of him on youtube today. Poor Maxy. I explained to him that clowns are nice and that Ronald McDonald gives french fries to children. That seemed to calm him down a bit. Hopefully this doesn't turn into a phobia - clowns are great!

Here's another cute pic of Totey Monster that I snapped yesterday. He's such a ham.

Every year my local newspaper puts out an edition of The Baby Times. If parents desire, they can put their baby's picture in the newspaper if the child was born in the previous year. This edition has Sawyer, my niece, Susie, and my niece, Callie in it since they were all born in 2009! (You can click on the pictures to see them enlarged.)

Good Morning

It's been quite the lazy day in the Hafeli household. Max woke up sick this morning. He threw up in the middle of the night and we didn't even know it! Poor little guy! As the day went on, he started feeling better and Lukas started feeling worse. So far, Sawyer and I are fine and hoping to stay that way. Max keeps saying, "Mommy, I puke. I sad." It's pathetic but sooo cute :)

Lukas is doing awesome with his workouts! He gets up every morning and works out with Bob from The Biggest Loser game for the Wii. He's lost 9.5 pounds in 2.5 weeks!! I'm so proud of him! In his words, he "craves" salads and Diet Coke. Who is this man?! :)

On another note, The Office is back with a new episode tonight! Woohoo! I've missed Michael Scott's ridiculous comments.

Callie's Dedication

Little Miss Cal was dedicated to the Lord today. I was able to go to Melissa and Aaron's church to see the ceremony. I love my niece. I pray that my boys and all my nieces will come to know the Lord at an early age. I'm thankful that they are all being raised in Christian homes with parents who truly love Christ.
I didn't get a picture of Callie today :( because I left my memory card in the computer. But here's a recent picture of the girlie (who rolls over now!)

OMW, What a Funny Day!

I had my share of laughs today.

I think I'll start with Punk...
This afternoon he grabbed his pants and then mumbled something that ended in "Peepers!" So I asked him if he had to go potty and told him to hurry to the bathroom. He replied, "No, Comfort Peepers!" (He didn't say "comfort" that well but I don't know how to spell it how he says it.) I laughed soooo hard! He meant to say Comfort Keepers (which is my parent's business)!! So I corrected him but now he's saying it on purpose because he got such a good laugh the first time around.

Now Lukas.... (I'm still laughing at these stories. I just hope I can get across to you HOW FUNNY they are!)
Max and I were making a healthy snack for the family after supper tonight. Of course Punk couldn't wait until we were done to try it so I would give him a lick of the batter off my finger. No biggie, right? So Lukas came in the kitchen, thought it looked good and wanted a lick too. Without thinking I quickly stuck my finger in his mouth! He saw it coming and was stuttering, "Wai- Wait, no, no, no" but I didn't even realize it til it was over! He said he got weak and didn't want me to ever do that again. I laughed for 5 minutes. If you know Lukas, this is HILARIOUS.

Another Lukas story....
I handed Totey Monster off to Lukas this evening for just a minute so I could go downstairs and switch the laundry over. As I was coming back up the stairs I heard, "Kari? Can you get me something to wipe this up?" So I walked into the living room to see what "this" was and found Lukas with PUKE all over the side of his face! He said he lifted Totey up into the air and out of nowhere he threw up. It was laugh out loud funny! Lukas was a good sport and let me get a picture. (Yep, he sat there for an extra 30 seconds with puke on his face just so I could document it. Nice guy!)


Sawyer doesn't look even a little bit sorry!

Sawyer was a sweetheart today, as always. He sat in his jumparoo, laughing so hard at Max running by. They must have played together like that for 5 - 10 minutes. I love watching them play together!

Project Runway starts tonight, folks. I encourage you to watch it so that we can talk about it. My sisters and I usually text our opinions to each other after each episode. Great fun!

Mr. Imitation

My parents were over last night and we were just sitting around talking. Maxy tapped my leg and said, "Mommy, Papa this..." And then started imitating Papa laughing. It was hilarious. Apparently, my Dad was laughing at something and Max took notice!

Saddest Face EVER

Sawyer was playing with his new laptop in the toy room today. He pushed a button that started playing a certain song and Max immediately stopped what he was doing, got a poochy lip, and started crying. I thought, "what in the world?!" He said it made him sad! :( But the funny thing is, he keeps wanting to push the button and have me sing along! So I appeased him one more time and sang the song for the sake of capturing it on video. But it makes me SO SAD! Watch...

Max loves the episode of Yo Gabba Gabba when Laila Ali sings, "Arm up, Arm up, and dig! and dig!"

Pictures

Max loves playing with "Mommy's toys". They're actually the toys that my grandma saved from Happy Meals. My siblings and I would play with them when we went to her house. I think it's cool that those toys, 20 years later, are still fun!


Remember these, sibs?

Sawyer's Big Day of Growth

What a day Sawyer had yesterday!!

He grew physically:
A second tooth ('bout time) on the bottom middle came through! He looks so cute with two little toofers :) He'll be stealing the food right off my plate in no time at all, just like his big brother.

He grew developmentally:
He army crawled. What?! I couldn't believe my eyes but he did it! I have yet to see him do it again though so maybe we'll have a little more "stationary baby" time left!
Also, under the developmental growth category: He yells "Mamamama" every time I leave the room! If I hold out my hands, he'll reach for me too. I love being his favorite person right now. I'm soaking it up!
Standing is his new favorite position. He'll hang onto the couch for a whole minute without teetering. My mom said I walked at 10 months, so maybe he will follow in my footsteps. We'll see.

He's growing so fast it seems. I want to remember every little thing he does and hold it in a box so I never forget. He's so precious. I just love that baby.

Mama Friends & Toddler Friends

My good friend of more than 10 years, Brittany came over yesterday for a fun visit. We have been pregnant together TWICE and have so much in common. We compare stories and give advice back and forth - always a good time with Britt!
Her daughter, Ava, and and my Max are only 2 weeks apart in age. They do a pretty good job of playing together but when it gets too quiet in the toy room, one of the Mama's have to go check to make sure one hasn't killed the other :)
Here's a picture of our kiddos: Ava, Lilly, Max, and Sawyer.

W.A.M.

I've enjoyed getting back into shape over the past 6 months. I've been taking a class at the YMCA in the mornings and that really has pushed me. Several weeks ago a couple friends asked me to run Cleveland's Half Marathon on May 16. I immediately declined, not having ever ran a long distance race. I've never even made it to 5 miles, much less 13!! But then I heard about W.A.M. - Women Achieving Miles. It's a new group at the YMCA that is training for the race! How awesome! So with my registration confirmation in my inbox, an ipod with brand spankin' new songs, and some doubts in my mind, I am ready to be challenged!!

Teaching Is Fun (ny)

Max and I put together a couple puzzles this morning. The first one was letters and the second one was numbers. I pointed to the number 4 and asked him what it was. He proudly answered, "A"! They do look similar :)

Although I correct him, I love the way he mispronounces things too. This is how he counts zero - five. "Oh, One, Two, Tree, Tore, Kibes." Kibes?! Ha!

E-I-E-I-O

Max's favorite song is EIEIO. He knows it well and sings it often. He'll sing through several verses that usually include "Papa's traterr here, Papa's traterr here" and "Vroom vroom here". It's so cute to hear him sing! But his big ending of "E-I-E-I-O" just cracks me up! Have a listen...

A New Favorite Treat: PB-Nana Poppers!

I've been putting my new cookbook to use and came across a recipe that is YUMMY. Max absolutely loves it. And the extra bonus is that it's healthy! Cut a banana into 20 pieces. Mix 1 tablespoon of peanut butter with 2 tablespoons of fat free cool whip. Put the pb and coolwhip mix in between two pieces of banana. Freeze them for 30 minutes and VOILA! You can see in the picture that all that's left of ours is one popper and several crumbs :)

Totey Monster, yes. Eating Monster, no.

You would think (atleast I thought) that Sawyer would love to eat food. But not so much. He is 7 months old and just now eating baby food twice a day. He usually makes funny faces after each bite, but this time he wouldn't keep his tongue in his mouth!

New Year's Resolution: Family Blog

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to start a family blog. Daily, no, hourly my boys do something to make me laugh. I want to share those moments with you! My intentions with this blog are to post antecdotes with lots of pictures and videos. I hope our family and friends will read about us on this blog as calling and texting just doesn't happen as often as I would like.

I am resolving to make 2010 the best year yet. But before 2009 gets too far from my mind, here are some pictures from our holiday season.

It was a blast to have all my siblings home! Thankfully,

I get to see Melissa often. But it was great to be

with BOTH my sisters at the same time!

Sawyer's First Christmas! We are so aware of how blessed

we are to have this little guy. He is a joy!

Found his tongue!

Matching jammies are so cute!