Before & After

I finally took the time to figure out how to import the pictures from my phone all at once. While importing them I realized why people stare at me now. I know I have been losing weight, 90 pounds in 4 1/2 months to be exact, but my family keeps telling me how different my face looks. Here is 90 pounds of progress seen just in my face. It is cute to see Garrett grow in these pictures too!

 October (almost at my largest ever).

I look more like my sister Jeanine now. 60 pounds to go!

There & Back Again...sort of...

This past month has been a frustrating whirl wind. Johnny was working in Palm Springs (two hours E of where we are now in Ontario, CA) then he was sent to Oxnard (two hours NW). Summer by the beach in Oxnard sound tempting? Yes! So we planned to move. We would save ourselves the extreme cost of Johnny living in a hotel and gas expenses plus get to be practically right on the beach. We even reserved a spot. The day before we moved Johnny was told he would be there one more week then be sent to Temecula (an hour S of where we are now). Go figure. Because we were moving I cancelled Daniel and Jaxon's summer school enrollment so other kids on the waiting list could attend...now we are out of luck! Registration for most of the activities I would have normally put them in has already past. Little League ended (thank goodness since one of the other mom's on the team hates me. We had "words" and our confrontation ended in a call to the Board President, the other mom was reprimanded, and I called CPS on her). Now what do I do with my kids all summer? So far we are rotating trips to swim, the LA Zoo, multiple Children's Museums, the Science Centers, the beach, movies, and lots of parks. Its hard! I'm tired. 

This was Daniel at the Zoo. He says his favorite animal is now the Rhino because they look alike! haha

My sister Diana brought her daughter June and our nephew Toby to the Zoo with us. It was so much fun to have all the cousins together.

Diana is going to kill me for posting this picture but she looks so good for being prego with twins. All the kids were swarming around her until a little girl arrived to order her away stating "get off my hippo."

I love it when Garrett sleeps in the carrier while we are on the go! He is so adorable. When he is awake all he wants to do is walk. My little toe head! On a super positive note I have lost 81 POUNDS in under 4 months. Don't worry I will post full body pictures after our 5K Mud Run on Saturday so you can see the full effect! I had no idea I carried so much weight on my back and thighs...that's where I notice the most difference. People tend to stare at me now. My mom says its because the shape of my face is changing. My hair is falling out in handfuls but I am told this is normal, that it will happen from usually 3-6 months post op, then will grow back. Apparently it is not supposed to be enough for anyone but me (and whoever showers after me) to notice! If you do notice, please lie to me. I'd appreciate it. Thanks so much!

I don't sleep well with Johnny gone. I stay up too late and my kids are up too early. The purpose of living in this trailer was so we could be together. Somehow he still ended up in a hotel during the week and I ended up sleeping with a watermelon. I tried to leave the watermelon on the couch until I was ready to slice it open but Wesley found great joy rolling it off onto the floor. I chucked it up onto my bed, forgot about it, then turned over in the middle of the night thinking I had a bald headed scary person invading my bed. Once I realized it was only the watermelon it was somehow comforting (in a deranged freakish kind of way) to have something next to me. 

My parents came to visit last weekend. The kids loved playing with them at the park. Garrett especially loved smacking my dad's bald head and trying to give him open mouth kisses. So cute to see him with my dad. Maybe my dad's bald head is why I don't mind sleeping next to a watermelon!!?? haha

Wheat Trial

I started giving Jaxon wheat on Monday. So far so good. I told him to tell me if his tummy hurt or if he was going to throw up. He told me once he didn't feel good and needed to throw up but then he went to the bathroom and was perfectly fine. I think he was just saying it for attention in the moment. He is LOVING the Scooby Doo graham cracker snacks, crackers, wheat bread, fish sticks, etc. etc. etc. I really hope he continues to do well with wheat. What a huge relief!

Brotherly Love

Johnny was gone all week working in Oxnard so I was on my own with the boys. It was rough at times, but we survived by staying busy. We walked to the park a few times. Every time we would get to the park Wesley would get stuck on a little hill and have to wait for me to get there (pushing Garrett in the stroller). Without me saying anything to Daniel and Jaxon they went over to him and hauled him up the hill. Jaxon would drop his bike and pull from the front, Daniel preferred pushing in the back while still riding his bike. Either way it made me one proud mamma to see them take care of each other.

Pack Mule

Ever since Johnny and I started dating my dad has been telling him that he is a pack mule. Now it has finally come to fruition. We went on a 6 mile hike this morning but the trail is pretty nice and not too steep. It is a steady climb. In the past we have parked the bikes at the top as incentive for them to keep going so we can get to the top, grab the bikes, and they can cruise down. This time they wanted to ride bikes both direction.


Of course Wesley has to do whatever the older boys do but we knew he wouldn't make it more than 3 seconds without some assistance. Jaxon wanted in on the deal and Johnny insisted on carrying Garrett. Now he really is a pack mule!

Hurray for Work!

Johnny was sent back to work this week. He started at a new substation under construction in Palm Springs with a company called Contra Costa. They promptly transferred him to a substation in Oxnard, CA where he will start this next Monday. We are happy he is back in the saddle, but not so thrilled he is working too far away to come home at night. Starting next week he will stay in a hotel while I live the high life in our trailer with the 4 heathens until the end of the school year. We have been toying with the idea of buying a house out here in the Ontario, CA area to give us some much needed stability...and increase our measly square footage. Then Johnny could take our home on wheels with him wherever he is sent. The idea is appealing yet mind boggling at the same time. The question I keep hear rattling away at the back of my mind is: If he is too far away to come home at night why not just go back to our house in Arizona? Buying is so permanent, yet the rental market out here is disgusting! $1700 a month for a piece of junk 4 bedroom in a terrible neighborhood does not get me excited in the right way! I am in desperate need of some divine inspiration.

Vitamin D

How do you get Vitamin D? The sun, right? So how can a kid who swims almost every day, rides his bike constantly, goes on 5-6 mile walks and hikes 3-5 days per week, and has the most gorgeous tan you have ever seen be constantly low on Vitamin D? I don't get it! And he takes multivitamins and calcium with vitamin D every day. Any other EE kids experiencing this?

The main issue is that if Jaxon's vitamin D is low he is not absorbing calcium properly. If he is not absorbing calcium properly his teeth chip, his bones are not as strong as they should be, growth issues, etc. etc. etc.

I have enough to keep my mind swirling at night without worrying about him not getting enough sunlight!

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Since I posted this I actually found out that he needs to be taking liquid Vitamin D on his tongue a few times per week...so why didn't they tell me that when I went to see all the EE specialists in Denver last November? Hum????