Letter To Santa

Make a Smilebox greeting

We Need Africa

Silent Night

They've been practicing for the Christmas program at school. Here is a sneak preview.

We've Landed...

Our dossier is now in Ethiopia! That always seems like a big step when everything you've done up to this point arrives in the same country as your child. I feel like I'm having deja vu from a couple of years ago! The anxious feelings I had nearly 3 years ago are coming back again :) I'm thankful that this time we have Wyatt to keep us so busy so we don't go insane again waiting! Next step = referral! As many of you know, we did not receive a referral for Wyatt so this will be a new experience for us. The time frame is 3-6 months for a referral, so it could be a while. Hopefully with the holidays, time will fly.

We've Been Elfed!

The Schlafer's have gone country...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Wyatt's Whoopie Cushion

Thanks to Kim, we've found one thing that can make Wyatt belly laugh like no other...a Whoopie Cushion! This video, however, documents the end of Whoppie Cushion #1 (listen for the pop). Note to self: Car seats and whoopie cushions don't mix.

Nursery Rhymes, Wyatt Style

Here is Wyatt's rendition of "Little Miss Muffet". Earlier today, he told me that he is the spider and I am Miss Muffet and he'd scream at me, similar to what you're about to see. He has to put that "boy" twist on everything!

Some Random Pictures

No really good stories to share, so here are some random pictures and a video.


We sat down to eat and Wyatt busted this out. I had never heard it before. It is one of my Wyatt favorites.



This is Wyatt's Fire Station that he made by himself. The firemen came to his school last week. We have heard no less than 50 times that playing with matches is dangerous. I am impresses with his "stop, drop and roll" technique.



Wyatt was a "sketelon" (Wyatt's pronunciation of skeleton) for the YMCA Fall Celebration.



These are the spider cupcakes we made for Wyatt's Fall Celebration at school tomorrow. I think the kids will love them...the teachers may not be fond of the spider rings, but hey, its all about the kids, right?



Wyatt gets a kick out of it when we make pancakes that spell his name. He loves that he can recognize a "W"!



"Sour Cream and Sprinkles" take pancakes from good to perfection. Wyatt refers to whipped cream as sour cream...you should see the faces when he orders that at restaurants.

Another first...and hopefully last!

Wyatt had his first (and fingers crossed, last) surgery today. He had hernia that he was apparently born with, but we just noticed it. Everything went well, minus the 3 hour wait prior to the surgery, which wasn't too bad, just long.. Thank goodness for the car for him to play with. His behavior was remarkable considering the limit space for 3 hours! We went around and around this little square to occupy ourselves. The procedure itself took less than an hour. By the time we were able to see him, he was sitting on a nurse's lap talking about dragons. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was pleasantly suprised to say the least. We came home and except for a little dizziness at first, he was pretty much back to normal. He was ready to watch his new movie (Aladdin) and open his presents from Madeline and Grandma. In fact, those were about the first words he said to us...I want to go home and open my presents!
He seems to be in very little pain - just a few complains here and there. He has been on a pretty regular motrin/tylenol schedule though. We'll see what tomorrow holds. Here are some pictures from today.


Wyatt in his car. They took him up to the Operating Room in this. It kept the tears away...well at least until he was out of our sight.


Wyatt reading Mom a book. I never knew "The Last Lecture" was about Nemo, Dora and a pond.


Wyatt checking everything out.


Dad and Wyatt in the waiting room.


Dad and Wyatt calming their nerves by watching some construction while waiting for our name to be called.

We LOVE Fall Break!!

I've been on Fall Break all week, which means lots of Mom and Wyatt time. He still goes to school while I "work" on my graduate school portfolio. But before and after school, we've enjoyed reading, making craft, playing outside feeding the duck and going to the playground.

Wyatt's quote of the day. He came up to me with a picture of me, my sister and my Grandma.
Wyatt - "That's you. That's Kim."
Me - "Yep"
Wyatt - "Who is that?" (pointing to my Grandma)
Me- "That's my Grandma."
Wyatt - "Where is she?"
Me- "She died." (instantly thinking that was going to prompt way to many questions!)
Wyatt - "Why?"
Me - "She went to be with Jesus"
Wyatt - "You need a Grandma. I'll share mine"
He automatically got on Santa's nice list for the day!!


The simple fact that he is sitting still warrants a picture!


The ducks can be a little aggressive, so Wyatt stands on the bench to avoid any contact.


We always get the "Don't throw rocks at the ducks" speech before throwing rocks into the water.


This is my new favorite picture.


Yes, my kid is from Kentucky. He is giving out a big "Yee-Haw" in this picture. Sad, but true.

Carving Pumpkins

We had a great time carving pumpkins today. Wyatt amazed us when he referenced carving pumpkins at Grandma and Grandpa's last year. This year, the highlight was when the seeds flew all over when Wyatt was trying to scoop them out.

Wyatt's Quote of the Day:
(After being warned that if he keeps making bad choice he'll be on Santa's naughty list - no, I'm not above bribing with Santa in October) "I want to be on Santa's Airplane List"

Finally...Fall!

Welcome Fall! Time for carmel apples and the pumpkin patch!

Soul Mates

The Circus

1 bag of cotton candy stuffed in a cheap hat = $12
1 1/2 packages of fruit snacks = $0.50
1 1/2 boxes of popcorn = $4.50
1 sprite = $3.00
1 coloring book = $4.00
Wyatt's first circus = Priceless

Officially Waiting

As of last Thursday, we are officially waiting for a referral. We found out today that the earliest we should expect a referral would be in 4 months. I'm not even going to mention the possible length of time it could take. So, maybe the first viewing of Gabe will ring in the new year, or be our Valentine's present. Either way, we know he'll appear when the time is right. If you've kept up with our blog from the beginning, you know the whole referral thing is very foreign to us. However, we look forward to the day when we can look at his picture and put a face with the name of the boy in a far away place that we already call our son.

Dossier Is In The Mail

We sent off our dossier to Little Miracles yesterday! It is a huge relief to have that completed and out of our hands. One mile stone down and lots to go. We've gotten lots of questions about when we'll go there and when Gabe will be home. We know the process could take between 7 and 12 months total (we're already 3+ months in). We are not sure of specific time lines yet, but are we'll keep you updated as we find them out!

Wyatt's ABC's

Preschool has paid off...Wyatt knows his ABC's!

"Jesus Loves Me"

Wyatt's new song. We went to teach him the other day and he already knew the whole thing! I guess we learned what they do in Church.

Gabe Update

We have definitely been slacking in terms of giving updates on the process of Gabe's adoption - mostly because we are at a standstill ourselves. We are currently waiting for our I-171H from Louisville. This is the document that allows us to bring an orphan into the country and it must be included in our dossier. We still have a little to do on our dossier, but that will take no time. Actually, we could probably get it done in an afternoon, if we'd actually set the time aside and do it. But, until we get that paperwork back from Louisville, we can't send it off anyways. So, fingers crossed, we'll get it in the mail this week!

The Zoo

We went to the Louisville Zoo this weekend and had a great time. Again, Wyatt's favorite was the cranes. We're all a little baffled by that, but oh well. His quote of the day. He was in a van (see picture) and we asked where he was going. His response..."I'm going to 'Opia to get Gabe. I'll be back in a minute." We about died.

Horse Park

The Horse Park had a free family day yesterday. We met up with some friends and had lots of fun on the inflatables. We learned a lesson in waiting in lines - which is especially fun when its 90 degrees with a 3 year old! Here are some pictures from his favorite obstacle course inflatable.

Wyatt's Big Wheel

We all remember doing this...




And the follow up conversation...

First Week of School

Whoever said time flies obviously had kids! Wyatt began school this week. He now goes to preschool for half a day and an after school program at the same church. So far, so good. When we picked him up yesterday he said he had fun, but when told he was going back again, he decided he'd rather stay at home. Join the club kid! So, as you can see from the breakfast photo, he needed a little pep talk, but he did just great! We had a little confusion in the schedule, so we walked him to school on his 2nd day of preschool instead of his first, but hey, its still within the first week!
Both days the teachers have said, "he said something funny today." Am I the only one who gets a little nervous when they hear that? Today's quote..."I have a sister, Gabe. He can walk." Yes, he would be talking about his brother, Gabe, who currently lives in Ethiopia, who we said Wyatt can teach how to walk. I guess for a 3 year old, he summed it up okay!! The teacher was confused, but we understood exactly what he was talking about.
Here are some pictures from the yesterday and today.