Only the Good Stuff

It's been *quite* the week, as is evidenced by my craptastic blog entries!  But, no one likes a Negative Nellie, so I'll recap this week with ONLY the good stuff:

• As I write, the boys are napping, I'm squeaky clean (as in showered!  Hallelujah!) and sipping a freshly brewed cuppa Caribou.  Ahhh....heaven.
• A dear friend who bailed me out on Tuesday night helps me out when Steve is traveling got some AWESOME NEWS this week about her family's adoption proceedings.  I can't tell you details, but it's FANTASTIC and my boys will have a playmate soon, when this little miracle happens!  Praise God!
• The boys have another new little playmate fresh from Seattle - Miss G and her mom not only visited us, but they made us dinner to boot!  Thanks a ton!
• Both Matthew and Nathan have learned to say "mom-mom," and have been chattering all week!  We took a walk yesterday and I heard one say, "mom-mom-mom-mom," to which the other replied, "mom-mom-mom-mom!"  They shook it up a bit at breakfast and Matthew was saying "mom-mom-mom," to which Nathan replied "bob-bob-bob-bob" (his Grandpa K, whom the cousins call Pa-pa, but we'll get there)!
• They are also climbing the stairs!  Oi!  We *may* just have to put up another gate (which I will despise since I climb the stairs 100 times a day- literally!).  Their little trick is to make a break for the stairs while I'm busy changing his brother's (likely poopy) diaper, get up one or two, then occasionally tumble down.  Okay, it's only happened twice, but they both scared the daylights out of me!  These guys are tough, though, and just shake the bumps off and keep going.  
• I've been teaching the boys a few simple signs (like "more," "drink," and "please,"), and they're actually getting it!  No kidding, both the fellas can sign "more," when they want more food!  Okay, not every time, and yeah, it's not perfect formation, but it's happening!  When they sign to me, it's like getting the best teaching evaluation EVER!
• We had a successful bath last night, as evidenced by an 89% sitting rate!  It's been a struggle...if they're out of the tub, they want in, if they're in the tub, they want out!  And we can't skip bath nights anymore because they (ahem, Matthew) give themselves hair treatments - avacado, oatmeal, banana, yogurt, you name it.  I'm thinking that's why his hair is so soft and shiny!

 And...drumroll please.....

Matthew cut tooth number 5 this morning!!!!

That explains part of this week's awesome crabbiness, at least!  I'm fairly certain Nathan is cutting a big tooth (sleeplessness, snot, and a low-grade temp yesterday), but he won't cooperate to let me see and I haven't worked up the guts to stick my finger past his 8 little daggers. 

They have also been particularly helpful this week.  Notice who is in the photos?  His brother likes to play with toys, which, unfortunately for him, make far less interesting photos, but a much happier mama.

Three pans, ah-ah-ah!

Four pans, ah-ah-ah-ah!

He did it, not me.

And because I can't let Matthew hog all the photos today, here's one you haven't seen:

It's Nathan and Daddy sharing his first piece of naan at LaZeez (in Midland - you HAVE to go!).

I've got the most handsome fellas! 

What else would you like to know?  Send me some questions via formspring!

Free Coffee!

Okay, for those of you who don't know, my second job- because my first is taking care of the munchkins - is finding awesome deals for my family.  I haven't shared them on the blog because that just means less free stuff for me!  Just kidding!  It's really because I want to keep the blog (mostly) about the boys.  But when I went to get my free Dunkin' Donuts coffee sample and I saw THIS cool little gadget for my blog, I decided to be a little less selfish today and share the love.

I promise not to turn into one of those money-saving blogs because there are so many out there and honestly, that's where I find my freebies so I'd just be repeating the same info.  Here's my absolute favorite site and where I find all the goods:

http://www.pocketyourdollars.com/

Carrie Rocha, the author, is a Twin Cities native, so many of her deals are from around here.  Besides the freebies she finds online, she posts grocery lists every week that match coupons.  I've been using her brains, and have to tell you that I saved 40$ off yesterday's groceries using coupons and I'm sending the receipt away for a 5$ Jenny-O turkey rebate, which is like another 5% off my bill.

Carrie is on the radio and afternoon news shows in the TC all the time, and I'm super excited because I get to meet her in two weeks!  She's speaking at the Mothers of Multiples Conference that I'm attending - neat, huh?

Anyhow, that's enough for now.  I'll work on the Easter pictures this afternoon.

Enjoy your coffee!

Mountain Thunder Coffee

http://www.mountainthunder.com/

Burnt toast.  The odor fills one's nose the same way that the delicious aroma of freshly brewed coffee beans does.  I smelled my dad's burnt toast this morning before I opened my eyes, which made me think of COFFEE!

OH, how I miss my coffee!  I'm in coffee pergatory right now, waiting, waiting, WAITING for the day I can drink of God's most wonderful creation.  I believe the promised land flowed with milk and coffee...who drinks milk and honey? Oh, but I do like sugar, so if they used honey instead I guess it could be milk and honey and coffee...but I digress. 

Why no coffee? you ask.    My children.  I now understand what sacrafice means!  I had to give it up in my 9th week of pregnancy when my stomach lurched while grinding beans one morning.  That was one very wicked day of caffiene withdrawl!  I got back on the wagon the day I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes five months later.  I decided that if I couldn't have sugar, I WAS going to have my coffee!  The last two months of the pregnancy was pretty rough, but I had coffee to make it all better.

THEN I delivered early.  Darn kids robbed me of three more weeks of coffee drinking! 

The boys were just a few weeks old and I was SO sleep deprived I could hardly believe it.  In fact, I remember thinking, THIS is why they use sleep deprivation as a form of torture!  Steve was making coffee.  Mmm, just thinking about grinding the beans now makes my mouth water.  I'll have just a bit, a teacup full instead of my Mountain Thunder coffee mug, I reasoned.   I sipped that teacup and made it last all morning...ah, heavenly.  How could something so wonderful POSSIBLY affect the babies?

Oh, we learned.  In a hurry we discovered why nursing moms (me, at least!) should NOT drink coffee.  Let's just say I'm OFF the wagon again, waiting in coffee pergatory for those pearly gates to open and let me in coffee paradise.

Where is coffee paradise?  It's at Mountain Thunder Coffee in Kona, Hawaii.  When you leave the sunny, warm Kona coast and drive about 30 minutes up the hill into the cooler, foggier coffee region, you discover coffee heaven.  I've had the privilege to visit twice and can't wait to return.

There's so much to learn about coffee there!  Did you know that when you buy a "Kona Blend" coffee that it's only 10% Kona beans and those are the lowest quality beans that plantation is allowed to sell?  I don't even buy it any more! 

Now don't get thinking I drink 100% Kona coffee all the time.  That would be like eating wedding cake every day!  (Not that I wouldn't like that, though.)  We buy a bag or two of Kona to bring home with us and brew it until it's gone.  We've learned you can't save it for special occasions because otherwise the beans dry out and then you've got a very expensive bag of dried up, tasteless beans.  Might as well be decaf then.

Isn't it funny how something so strange as the smell of burnt toast can remind you of something so fabulous as Mountain Thunder Coffee from your Hawaiin vacation?  Or is it just me?