Amazon - Starbucks Natural Fusions Coffee Deal

Hey everyone. I just heard about this deal on Amazon for Starbucks Natural Fusions Coffee for $6.50 for a 2pack shipped.

Go to Amazon and add either one of the following products to your cart:

Starbucks Natural Fusions Ground Coffee, Cinnamon Flavored, 11-Ounce Packages (Pack of 2)

or:

Starbucks Natural Fusions Ground Coffee, Vanilla Flavored, 11-Ounce Packages (Pack of 2)

The coupon codes to be used at checkout are: FUSIONC5 and STARBUK3 which should bring your total down to $6.50 for a 2pack.

You can get free shipping if you aren't currently a member of Amazon Prime by applying for Amazon Mom, which is a program for caregivers that gives you free Amazon Prime membership for three months (and with the Amazon Prime you get free shipping).

I don't drink coffee, so I haven't personally tried this one out yet, so if you do happen to try it and find that it isn't bringing the total down to $6.50 a 2pack, will you let me know?

Wow.

I'm seriously behind the times when it comes to blogging. I have to admit that I spend much more time keeping up with Facebook than I do keeping up with the blog.

One of the reasons I wanted to post tonight was to let you know that I'm getting setup as an Amazon Affiliate which basically means that if you plan to purchase something from Amazon, and you follow my link, I get a small referral fee.

This is a new adventure for me and I'm looking forward to seeing what potential might be there. You know how it is - in this economy, you have to do everything you possibly can to make those ends meet. I'm also trying to work to save some money aside for our ten year anniversary, which is only about 2.5 years away. CRAZY. We want to do something special since we never went on a honeymoon, so I'm setting aside for that a percentage of the profit from various endeavors I tackle.

Feel free to spread the word to any of your friends who might consider purchasing something from Amazon. All you need to do is follow the link from the sidebar. Thanks!

The Big Meeting

Thanks to those of you who prayed for our meeting with Jonathan's birthmom. This was the first time we've seen her in person since she was discharged from the hospital after he was born. We've sent pictures all throughout the past 15 months. After his birthday, our agreement only required us to send pictures once annually, but we asked her what her preference would be continuing forward. We want to always be sensitive to her. If she wants to see pictures, she can. If she doesn't want to see them, we won't send them. She did thank us for sending more pictures and for being willing to meet with her and let her see him even though we do not have to based on our adoption agreement.

Around Christmas we were thinking that it might be nice to ask if she wanted to see him. It took until now to find a time that worked for all of us. We were able to get some pictures with Jonathan and his brothers together as well as a few with Jonathan and his birthmom. Those are pictures that we'll be able to set aside and far down the road be able to share with Jonathan when the timing is right. Obviously I won't post the pictures here as she deserves to maintain her privacy and not have her picture out on the web.

As we walked away from the meeting, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. We had a good meeting. She was able to see him interact with us, ask questions and know that he is in a great home and loved beyond measure. I'm thankful that she is still at peace about her decision (something both she and her mom, who was there as well, shared with me).

We have been blessed. Jonathan is amazing and it is hard to imagine him not being a part of our lives, but that absolutely would have been true had she not chosen the route of adoption and picked us to rear him. I praise God for His leading in our lives and in her life to bring us together.

My Christmas Tree

Okay, so at this point, if you even remotely know us, you know that I love to joke around that I'm married to the Grinch. He isn't really a Grinch but mainly just rejects the commercialism that surrounds Christmas. So, for the 6.5 years we have been married, there have been no Christmas decorations found adorning our home around the holidays. This year Jonathan turned 14 months just before Christmas. I started telling Mike that this might have to be the last year he can be a Grinch and that next year I would like to have a tree since Jonathan will be more aware of what is going on around him next year. We can develop our own Christmas traditions and as a family we can make sure that our Christmas is not enveloped in commercialism and yes, we can do that WITH a Christmas tree.

So after Christmas I began looking for an artificial tree on sale. I was hoping to hit the good deals at Target or something and find one to stash for next year. Well, I was walking through Walgreens one day and saw a sign on one of their store display trees that said "Open Box Christmas Tree, $14.99". So, I asked one of the employees if that meant that they do actually have the box or if it came without the box. She asked a manager and the manager came back and said if I wanted it I could have it for $5.00. I decided I would take it and kind of assumed they would take off the decorations, but instead they just pushed it over to the beauty counter and told me I could check out there.

In the mean time, the reason I was at Walgreens is that for the month of January, using coupons from back in October, you could get 2 Bayer Blood Glucose Monitors for free and it would spit out $13.00 in Walgreens Money. I believe that over the course of the month I picked up somewhere in the vicinity of 165 meters. For those of you doing math in your head, that is approximately $1072.50 in Walgreens money that I earned last month to spend on diapers, milk, food and etc...

So back to my Christmas tree. I went to check out and my total was $5.35 and they didn't remove ANY of the decorations. Bonus. I handed her one of the aforementioned Walgreens money (AKA Register Rewards) that I got free. She didn't think she could use it on a clearance item but the manager told her that if the register would accept it, she could take it. One quick scan later, my total was $0.35 for my Christmas tree. Almost giddy with excitement, I handed her the change and with one hand on the cart containing my son and one hand carrying my artificial tree, blissfully walked out to the car. I did have some fun getting it in, but the fact that I had a Christmas tree and even more so that I only paid $0.35 in real money for it completely made my day.

Oh yes, and my favorite Grinch's response? He claimed that I defiled his house by bringing the tree in it. I think he really is okay with it though. Now if I could just find a box to store it in for the next year...now if I only had a garage to store the box in for the next year...oh well. Today I choose to be thankful for my tree.

PS...for the life of me, I can't get the paragraph spacing to work, so you'll just have to imagine they are there. It is actually driving me crazy...

A Few Christmas Pictures

Here are some pictures of us the Sunday after Christmas. I love Jonathan's little outfit. I found this outfit at Sears a few months before we even knew about Jonathan. It was normally $30.00 on sale for $14.99 on CLEARANCE for $1.49. WHOHOO. I picked it up thinking that maybe I would use it as a shower gift or something. Little did I know at that time that God had already planned the little man who would perfectly fit this outfit this Christmas. Praise the Lord.

Family Portrait

Mike's mom was with us for Christmas, so we had her take a family picture before we went on a walk with the dogs. Here we are - all seven of us - getting everyone to look at once - virtually impossible.

He's WALKING

Hey Everyone, sorry that it has been so long since I updated. I tend to do a lot more updating on Facebook nowadays since I can better control who sees our information. However, I know a few of you don't use Facebook, so just for you, here is little man walking:

Yes, I know there is no video to see yet. I tried uploading it and it thought and thought and thought and never finished. I finally gave up. The video isn't that long, so I'm not sure what the hold up is. I'll try again tomorrow. Instead I will give you a picture of him that I love - this is my current favorite...

Flying

After seeing the link to the website for a long time, I finally visited the fly lady website this past week and I'm happy to say that I am about 8 days into having a shiny sink. Sometimes I look around the house and I see fifty things that need to get done and no way to get them done before I leave for practice. I signed up for the email list and have started following some of the structured habits they encourage you to get into.

I can't say I've bought into everything hook, line and sinker. I haven't bought any of the 52 great items they try to sell you to make your cleaning easier. But, on this, day 8 of a clean and shiny sink, I'm thankful for how it has helped me already.

Bath Time Is Fun Time

Jonathan loves his bath time. These were taken before his haircut.

Still Alive

Yes, I'm still alive. I have been crazy busy, but I promise to do a real update with pictures and everything within the next couple of days. :)

In Memory of Angel

Well, this post has been in my mind for a few days now, but I just haven't sat down to write it. It is late, so bear with me - my thoughts might still end up jumbled a little.

Monday marked a year since the day we received the call that Melissa, the birthmom who chose us, had complications and that the baby girl had been stillborn. I will never forget that moment, standing in my kitchen, trying to maintain composure long enough to finish the call with the attorney and call Mike who was at the port ministry that day. It was a few days later when I was talking and crying with Melissa that she told me that she had named the baby girl Angel. She said she was beautiful and perfect. A daughter. We hadn't known she was a girl until she was already gone. I remember crying. A lot. Even now, I'm barely into this post and already crying.

You know how they say that hindsight is 20/20? Well, during those days, I had no idea what God was planning. I knew He had a plan. I knew I could trust Him, but I also knew that I was hurting. Everywhere I looked life didn't seem fair. In my limited vision, I saw people with children and it seemed like it was so easy for them and I didn't understand why God would take Angel away from us. As I look back now with hindsight on this past year, I'm once again overwhelmed by God's love and His perfect plan.

On October 17, 2008, God blessed our family with Jonathan David. He has been such a joy and I have loved the past 11 months of being his mommy. In fact, I can't imagine our life without him. Long before I knew that Mike and I would struggle with having biological kids, God had already planned that we would lose Angel but get to keep Jonathan.

Not only was God's plan perfect, but His timing was perfect as well. We were introduced to the possibility of Jonathan only 8 days after finding out about Angel passing. Had the complications with Melissa's pregnancy not happened when they did, we would have been still waiting on that adoption and missed the chance to meet Jonathan's birthmom.

These past few days I've thought of and prayed for Melissa. Our only contact with her had been through the attorney's office, and we only spoke to her a few times afterwards. I wonder how she is doing and if this week has been rough for her. I've thought of Diana, Jonathan's birthmom, and prayed for her. We send her pictures each month, but she stopped replying to the emails after just a few months. I wonder how she is doing and if we'll ever hear from her again.

Above all, I praise God for His wisdom and for knowing that Jonathan was the perfect fit for our home. I praise Him for giving us the strength to go through each step of the process. I praise Him for the hope that someday I will meet Angel in heaven. God truly is good all the time.

Jonathan, Casey, Cody and the Nursery...

Jonathan likes to crawl over to the kennel and see the dogs. This is him with Casey. Lately he has been using the kennel to help pull himself up to stand. He's getting so big!

This is a picture of the nursery/guest bedroom with my super cool favorite new feature: the light blocking curtain. WHOHOO!

Here is Cody telling Jonathan how much he loves him. :)

Help! How Do You Do It?

Okay, so this is a moment to say that I'm struggling. I'm really only three weeks in to my 8 1/2 month sports season...and I'm already burned out. I feel like I'm failing in just about everything in life right now. Do you ever get so tired that you feel that way? Here are my current issues (at least the ones I'm willing to admit):

1. Struggling with balancing volleyball practices which include a jv team, a varsity team and a 10 month old who is mobile. The gym air hasn't been cooling well and they brought in a big floor fan, so I can't just let Jonathan crawl or even run around in his walker because I don't want him to lose a hand in the fan. It is very difficult to keep both teams working effectively at the level they are at and keep up with Jonathan at the same time with no other adult in the gym. I told Mr. Redmon again today that I really need an assistant. What I didn't tell him is that I'm so frustrated and discouraged with the whole process that if things don't change, you can count on this being my last year coaching. With status quo, I'm not the coach the jv team deserves, I'm not the coach the varsity team deserves, and I'm not the mommy that Jonathan deserves. I just CAN'T do it all. He told me he would ask in the meeting tomorrow if there are any volunteers who would like to come help. I'm not holding my breath.

2. Struggling with keeping up with my responsibilities at home. I admit it. I'm not the best housekeeper in the world. I tend to let things somehow always get to the point where it takes more work to clean up in a hurry if I need to. I try to stay on top of stuff - you know, the preventative cleaning where if, for example, you straighten the kitchen every evening after supper then it never gets a pileup of dishes or abstract junk that ended up getting put on the counter space. However, a few nights of coming home exhausted and "I'll take care of that later" takes over. Added on to all of this is the fact that Jonathan is loving his newfound mobileness. He can crawl all over and is starting to climb on stuff. I don't feel like I can leave him in the middle of the living room playing and go do some cleaning in another room because I'm worried about what he'll get into while I'm gone. He used to be a maniac sleeper (yes, I know I was spoiled), but this last week he has been working himself into only taking about 15-20 minute naps at a time and then screaming and kneeling in his crib with his face against the bars like a prison inmate.

3. Struggling with my weight. I don't know about you, but this is a battle I've faced since I was in 7th grade. If you look at photos yearly of my life since then, you'll see the pendulum swing. I lose the weight and feel great and then previous habits kick back in and I start putting the weight back on. I get discouraged about that, which somehow only seems to make it worse and the saga continues. Mountain Dew is a serious "comfort food" for me. For instance, I convinced myself that I needed a one liter bottle of Mountain Dew each afternoon of basketball and volleyball camp to get me through the day. Yeah. Probably not so healthy, huh? I like to joke that I haven't lost my pregnancy weight yet, but that really isn't funny since I never was pregnant. :(

I could probably go on and on with the list, but I'll leave my confessions at this point right now. So my big question is, how do YOU do it? I know I have a bunch of super moms out there as friends who will have great ideas for how I can do better. How do you multi-task? Any brilliant ideas that might help me survive volleyball season followed by basketball season? For those of you who have been there, how do you keep everything organized at home while chasing down a 10 month old and trying to protect him from as many bumps and bruises as possible? Any good ideas, other than shutting my mouth and not putting the food in, for how to work on the weight issue? Beyond all these, what Scripture do you use to encourage you and lift you up when you just feel like you are failing and you feel discouraged?

Thanks, my friends.

Stepping Up On The Soapbox To Remind...

To anyone who might come across this post - bear with me. I don't often (at least I don't think so) jump up on my soapbox, but occasionally I can't help it. Things build up in me until I release it. So, take it as my two cents and then move on. :)

Okay, if you know me or have read this blog for long, you know that my husband and I have gone through infertility and the inability to bear a child physically. So yes, I am probably a little biased on this issue.

With that history in perspective, I struggle with the assumptions and expectations out there as well as sometimes seeing what seems like people taking for granted the incredible gift of God to have babies "the natural way".

As I was in college, I watched two of my older sisters struggle with infertility. People would regularly ask, "So, when are you going to start having kids?" without realizing that they were desperately praying and trying. Long before I experienced it firsthand, I learned that this isn't a "kosher" question to ask. You don't know what is going on personally in the lives of that couple. Most often you will be better off to simply not ask the question. If you are burdened about them having a baby, pray for them. Don't ask.

By the way, since those years, one sister adopted two kids and the other miraculously had a son followed by another son followed by a daughter.

If you are privileged to have children that God has given you, recognize it as a gift. The Bible refers to children many times and includesnaming them a treasure and saying basically that blessed is the man who has his "quiver" full of them. Whether you have one child (as we do) or 8 children (as some friends of mine have) or anywhere in the middle, look at them as a blessing. Yes, I recognize that there are days of frustration and that kids can drive you crazy, but each one is a blessing and a gift. People who choose to have 52 children (okay, so exaggerating a little) and have been blessed by God with all the correct working body parts and the ability to have that many should not complain about how their lives have been drastically changed or their dreams have been cut short because of this.

I'll step back down off the soapbox with a sigh, mainly because I still regularly find myself crying at the computer when I come across blogs or comments that seem insensitive to the fact that everyone can't just schedule when and how many children they are going to have.

I love my son beyond belief. I wouldn't trade one moment with him and I'm striving to cherish each and every step of growth in his life. Would I love to have had the privilege of having him grow in my womb? Absolutely. Would I have loved to have the bonding experience of breast feeding him from birth? Definitely. Do I sometimes struggle when I'm in groups of ladies and the topic of pregnancy stories and birth stories comes up? Yep.

God is good. I'm not bitter with the situation God has placed us in. He knew that I would grow through this process. All I'm saying is please be sensitive to those around you.

Random Summer Pictures

Works of God - Providing Through Friends

I have to praise God for MORE provision. Last night at church one friend gave us a booster seat that attaches to the table that will be great as Jonathan gets a little older and is ready to eat at the table. Then another friend gave us the next step car seat for Jonathan. It is in GREAT condition. We are super excited about both of these things for the little guy that God provided for us through friends. Thank you to our super cool friends. :)

Works of God - Providing $400 through 41 Monitors

Okay - this has been an amazing week for us. God provided for us through a Walgreens sale and 41 little pieces of paper.

You see, Walgreens was selling blood glucose monitors for $10.00. They were also giving $10.00 in Walgreens Register Rewards (basically Walgreens money) for each one. I managed to get my hands on 41 coupons that would make the monitors completely free. So, I would go into Walgreens, get a monitor, take it to the register and hand them the coupon. They would ring it through bringing the balance to $0. I would pay nothing. They would hand me the monitor, a receipt and a $10.00 Register Reward that I can spend on anything in the store (except cigarettes and alcohol, but I think I'm okay with that). :)

Here is the picture from my first day. I was excited because baby formula was on sale for $9.99. I always had to add filler to get to $10.00 in order to use the Register Reward they just gave me free. So, I added a .39 package of pudding and payed .38 cents using my Walgreens gift card to get a package of pudding and formula that will last Jonathan about a week.


This was from part way through the week. I used a few of the $10 Register Rewards to hook us up with some toilet paper as well as more formula and more pudding.

This was at the end today with the total of monitors gotten all week long - 41 (though two of them are missing because I already sold them on Amazon for a profit of approximately $9.00 each.

So the grand total came to 41 monitors procured during the course of the week. One of the Register Rewards didn't print, so I "only" got 40 of the $10.00 Register Rewards. For those of you doing math, that is $400.00 in Walgreens money. I'm down to about $250.00 now after stocking up on toilet paper and formula (of which I was able to pick up 11 cans and I think that will be enough to get me through to the end of Jonathan needing formula - WHOHOO).

In the next two weeks before they expire, I plan to stock up on non-perishables and other things that we may be needing in the near future.

I must thank my super awesome husband for being so great and going with me on two outings to round up as many as we could. He would be my driver on the route and if I needed him to come check out a few monitors, I would call him and he and Jonathan would come in and help with the checkout. I love having a husband who is super supportive.

Tonight I praise God for providing for us through "unconventional" means. We are working hard to be wise stewards and give Him all the glory for showing Himself as Jehovah Jireh - our God provides.

Venturing Out Again

Well, I thought I would attempt venturing out again into the un-password protected world of blogging. I have left comment moderation in effect, so I can still control content, but hopefully this will go more smoothly this time around.

Thanks for your patience with all the changes. :)

Jonathan's Finalization Hearing

I realized this morning that I had posted on Facebook about the finalization but not here. I am so glad we were warned that it would be short. The other family who was also finalizing that day had different expectations and I think they were a little in shock over how quickly everything was done. We got in there, were sworn in and within less than 10 minutes both finalizations were completed, including pictures with the judge. Yes, it is a little anti-climatic, but that really doesn't take away from the sweetness of the day and the reality that Jonathan is ours.

Julie came with us, which was AWESOME! She took video and pictures for us and that was great, but more than that, it was nice to share it with a friend. We went out to eat afterwards to celebrate and had a great time of fellowship. Since she has been there through all of my meltdowns in the past year, it was fitting that she could be there through this exciting moment.

It doesn't really feel that much different. In my heart I have been Jonathan's mommy since before we brought him home from the hospital. For the first seven months we were his parents in every way but the official document. Now that we have that signed, we just continue going on being his parents. The best part is the relief in knowing that nothing can change the fact that as long as God allows all of us to be here and a part of this world, we will do so together.

Thank you for all of your encouragement throughout this process. We are thankful for the friends who have been there for us all along.

I Never Knew

A year ago on this day I sat in the congregation crying and wishing that I had just stayed home. Growing up I had always planned on having biological children. I guess I just took it for granted that I would be able to have them. I certainly never pictured myself sitting in a church service crying over a day meant to honor women who all had what I didn't. Before the years of trying, hoping, believing I could be pregnant only to find out I wasn't, crying on Mike's shoulders month after month while working to keep myself from being bitter,

I never knew that the ache to have a child could be this strong.

Nine months ago we received the call from our adoption attorney that we had been matched with a birthmom due in January. Could it be true? Was someone actually willing to make that ultimate sacrifice of love and give us the opportunity, privilege and responsibility to rear her baby? We were on cloud nine. I was trying to be cautiously optimistic, but I admit that I was getting more and more excited by the day. Then on September 21st, I received the call from our adoption attorney. Our birthmom had had complications. Our baby was stillborn. She told that it was a girl. Later when I spoke to the birthmom she told me that she named the girl Angel. We wept. We ached. Friends consoled, people prayed, but the loss was still overwhelming. She was never a part of my body, but my heart already loved her.

I never knew that losing a baby would hurt this much.

On September 29th, our attorney called and asked if we would be willing to have our profile shown again. They had another birthmom and she was due in just about a month. We decided to have them show our profile. I thanked God at the time knowing that even if she didn't choose us, the HOPE that there could be another baby was very encouraging when before that call I really just wanted to lie in bed for 2 weeks and cry it out. She picked us. We had hope that we would have a baby of our own in just about a month. I was pessimistic. I was prepared that something would go wrong. I was nervous when we met her because I was sure she wouldn't like me. I was sure she would change her mind. She didn't. On October 17th, we got the phone call that she went to the hospital (10 days earlier than the scheduled C-section).

I never knew that the anticipation could be so intense and the waiting so nerve-wracking.

The birthmom's mother called Mike. She said "you have a beautiful baby boy." I cried. A lot. We told our family and friends. We named him Jonathan David. 48 hours began. They let us see him when he was just two hours old. He was tiny. We couldn't hold him since he was under the warmer. I rubbed him lightly with my finger. I cried. Again. We prayed that she wouldn't change her mind. We spent Saturday taking care of him in the nursery of the hospital and Sunday praying that he would truly be ours.I never knew that he would instantly change our lives forever.We took him home. We survived the middle-of-the-night feedings, the gag me 50 wipes needed gross diapers and the adjustments of being new parents. He ate, he slept, he filled his diapers. We took pictures upon pictures.

I never knew that I would love Mike even more once I saw him in the role of Daddy.

He grew. Little by little our baby was becoming a little boy. He started looking around intentionally. Then one day, he smiled. And again, and again and again he smiled. Now he giggles. He sees his Daddy and sometimes explodes in giggles.

I never knew the smile of my little one would light up my whole world and make even a bad day good.

As I sat in church this Mother's Day, I relished in the fact that I am now a Mommy. But as I sat there I began thinking of others. Having walked the road before, I prayed for any in that service who might be feeling as I did last year. I thought of a few friends who would have a rough day today and prayed for them. I thanked God for the gift of Jonathan David. I prayed that nothing will get in the way of the finalization that is scheduled for 16 days from today. I praise God for what He has done in and through us this past year. I praise Him for providing for us so we could pay adoption fees and I know that He will continue to provide for us until the day it is paid off. I thank God for friends who have been there and have been an amazing source of encouragement over the past few years.

I never knew that being a Mommy would be one of the best things in the world to happen to me.