Down 115 pounds. I feel so great! Attempting to start jogging. The one frustrating part is that when I buy new clothes they are almost always too big within a week or two. I need to invest in a belt! Another frustrating part is that my boys smack my flabby arms ALL THE TIME! Not quite the quiet church entertainment I was planning.

No house yet. We have had two houses fall through. Bummer. I'm getting discouraged. The other problem is that Johnny's truck is bleeding us dry! Over 4th of July we had to put almost $3K into it when I broke down on the 5 freeway going through the Grapevine. Last week we found out we have to fix the head bolts because we are leaking coolant and carbon is building up in the system causing major issues. Just a mere $6K to fix. Add to that our truck was hit by a drunk driver a week ago. Now we have little for a down payment and need to save again. Discouraging. I cried! A few times! Quite a few times. But, I know the Lord has a plan for us. Johnny reminds me all the time. I need frequent reminding. We are just trying to figure out what comes next. Until then we unexpectedly invaded my parents home. Luckily I have amazing family. Also, Daniel and Jaxon are in school here now and doing very well. I am not in favor of moving them from this school so we are still working toward buying a house in this area. We need some divine intervention and I need to sleep more. Off to bed I go.  

The next picture I post I will plan better and have someone else take it for me instead of a self portrait of me in the bathroom mirror!

Crazy life!

Many new things happening but no time to blog...

Here is the run down.

We moved...I am living at my parents for a few weeks while we buy a house close to the Express Way in San Jacinto. At least we will be by my parents so they can help me with the kids while Johnny is gone working. Also this will allow him to take the trailer out to where ever he is working and save on the cost of a hotel. Another guy...or three other guys...are going to share the trailer with him and all split the cost. Johnny told me to do whatever I wanted so I finally made a decision. Once I decided we moved right away so we could get Daniel into the new school in the area where we plan to live. I am really going to miss Ontario, CA but I think this is for the best at this time.

Jaxon has done VERY well with the wheat trial and besides being kind of cranky which I think is just his age and emotional immaturity he has had no noticeable reaction. So, we started trialing dairy. So far so good after the first week. Last food we have to trial will be eggs but I don't plan on jumping into that any time soon.

I AM starting Jaxon in Kindergarten, he turned 5 in June. He is the right age but I planned not to start him due to so many reasons. His food allergies, Pica (yes we have had him tested and he is not nutrient deficient), wetting his pants, emotional tantrums, he still takes 2 hour naps, etc. I also wanted him to be 18 when he graduates. But, after moving so last minute we can not find ANY good preschool options out here. He can't sit home and not go to preschool or kinder this year. I also talked to a friend of mine who has taught Kindergarten at the school he will attend for the last 4 years. She assured me it will do nothing but help him and he can repeat if needed. I am going to start an intensive reading program with him to see if that will help and try to cut out his naps.

So excited to finally get into a house again! I can not wait! Its not my dream house by any means, just an investment property to hopefully sell for a good profit in 3 or so years, but it is a good size. 4 bed rooms, 2 1/2 baths.

Now off to have a nap...the 5 hours I got last night was not enough!

Stats...and finally a picture...

This was my day of surgery BEFORE pic...I can't believe I am even posting this it is so terrible!!!

Today is 5 months 2 days post op. 100 pounds down, 50 to go. I made it under the BIG 200 mark a little bit ago. Hadn't been under 200 since elementary school. It feels good, real good! Went from a 2-3X top to a regular large. Started at a size 20 jeans, put on my first size 10 today and I didn't even have to suck it in or hold my breath!! I asked Daniel and Jaxon what they thought as I modeled for them. All I got was a shrug. We had a little discussion about what an appropriate answer would be in the future. haha I had to have that same conversation with Johnny last Sunday so I guess it wasn't too surprising.

My hair is still falling out in handfuls. According to others that should be stopping within the next month. It better! There should only be one bald Percival out there and that is my dad. Another funny thing is Wesley's obsession with my arms. They have always been a particularly troublesome area for me. When I'm driving he asks me why they "hang down" and he likes to smack the back of my arms when he is on my lap. He pulls at me and pinches me. He is only two and for some reason my flabby arms have really caught his attention.

This was last Sunday. Johnny had reservations about this dress due to the leggings. I just started wearing them and I'm not so sure about them yet either. I think his mind is having a hard time with the rapid weight loss the same as mine. Especially because he doesn't see me every day right now. I never expected to look in the mirror and not recognize myself sometimes. I didn't expect the emotional relationship I now have with my scale. Its always been a challenge as an overweight woman to separate my personal self worth from my appearance in the mirror. I think that separation is even more important for me now than before.


One really comforting thing is that Johnny has not changed toward me in the least. He still acts the same, talks to me the same, tells me he loves me and that I am beautiful. The weight never mattered to him other than he wanted me to be happy and healthy. I caught myself a good man!


I also for some reason feel I need to state that I went to Tijuana, Mexico to have surgery. The choice for me was practical. In the US a Vertical Gastric Sleeve was $22-30K and there I paid $4,500 cash up front. My insurance wouldn't cover the surgery and I was turning 30. I didn't want to spend my whole life overweight and eventually have diabetes and other issues. I went to Jerusalem Hospital on 2/10/12 with Dr. Mario Almanza. He and Dr. Betencourt were amazing. Dr. Almanza is easily one of the most experienced VGS surgeons in the world because he usually does 6-8 surgeries per day and he has had the surgery himself. There were 7 women having surgery the day I was there. We all had a very positive experience and still keep in touch. I researched a great deal before making this decision. I felt comfortable the entire trip and would recommend it to others in my situation. If anyone out there would like more information contact me and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. I'm not saying this is right for everyone, but for me it was.

For the Twins

My amazing cousin Kim is having TWINS soon and my equally amazing little sister Diana is baking them for her. They will be coming in the not too distant future. We celebrated at Kim's shower last on June 30th.

When my friend Heather had boy/girl twins someone made them Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls. I loved the idea so much that I made some for Kim's babies. It was my first attempt making this type of thing and it took a whole lot longer than expected. Its a darn good thing I did the wigs last or I may have given up at the very start. I figure they must look acceptable enough if Kim thought I bought them.

The Christmas stockings are a family tradition started by my Granny when she made one for each of her grandchildren. I have now made them for all of my boys and niece and nephew.

Kim and her husband Allen love Jimmy Buffett and always have a Buffett Christmas tree, so I thought the Pirate with the parrot was appropriate for their little boy.

The Sugar Plum Fairy for their baby girl was so extremely frilly I could not pass it up. With Johnny gone working during the week this also gave me something to keep busy with at night so I wouldn't get so lonely.

Mach 1 Mud Run

Johnny and I completed the Mach 1 Mud Run in Corona a few weeks ago with my sister Jeanine and her husband Kevin. It was so much fun. I am not a great runner so we walked a lot which I'm sure drove Kevin bonkers, but it was a good time and I'm glad we did it together. Now I need to train so I can run at the mud run!

Garrett's New Obsessions

When we are home I spend all of my time dealing with Garrett's new obsessions. He likes to climb on the table or attempt to go out the window,

dump the garbage (hence why we keep it up on the table now),
try to climb over the baby gate to fall to his death,

play in the toilet, or empty my cooking supply drawer. 
Busy, busy, busy constantly. He even unplugged the night light from the charger somehow and zapped himself sucking on the end.

All work and no play makes Melody a dull mommy!

Johnny is working away from home every week now. Its hard feeling like a single mother 24/7, but I am getting better at it.

Here are a few things I have changed that have helped...

I rarely cook anymore. I don't eat much and neither do the boys it seams so I stopped stressing about it. I make a family meal on Sundays which we eat leftovers from multiple times each week. We also have lots of yogurt, string cheese, tuna, eggs, taco salad, pancakes, and more often than not lunch meat with crackers. Fresh fruit is a must. I figure its easy, cheap, and quick. At least its not french fries and hot dogs constantly, right? Its a running joke with my sister and friends that whenever we pack a lunch to go to the zoo or museum I bring tuna salad and crackers. Less dishes for me to hand wash every night too. I bought a big package of paper plates and plastic forks. I will work harder to save the planet when Johnny is home and I have a dishwasher.

Wesley has been fighting me every nap and bed time about putting his head on his pillow and laying down. I finally took the pillow away. Problem solved. He also yells "akid" about everything. I'm assuming he thinks its a naughty word. I have decided not to care and ignore it for now. 

We started our chore/star chart again. Bingo. Daniel and Jaxon have both been trying to earn stars the last few days and its like they are different kids. Daniel even helped Jaxon read during scripture reading time last night. Made my heart melt. 

We get out of the trailer. We go to the park, pool, museum, science center, every zoo within a two hour drive, restaurant play areas, my parent's house, my sister's house, the beach, etc. Here is my documentation of such places so this post is not so boring...

By the time we leave to come home they are exhausted and I get to have some quiet time.  

Last week I might have overdone it with them, but hey after learning to boogie board and eating smores around a beach bonfire they slept until 7:30 Sunday morning which was literally a little piece of heaven on earth. Usually they are up by 6am. 

A big change that has also helped is to stop packing. I don't pack my bags to spend the night anywhere. I just throw the bathroom bag in the car on top of my laundry baskets and take off. I wash clothes where ever I can (mostly at my various family member's homes). Most of the pictures I take show my kids in the same clothes all the time but it saves my sanity. I hate coin laundry!!!

I have started to listen to The Garden by Michael McLean regularly. Its a musical allegory of the Garden of Eden when Christ suffered the Atonement. My boys ask questions about it and its nice to explain the Atonement to them based on the music they hear while we drive. They like to listen to the songs Satan (or the snake in the grass as is the character in the musical) is singing. Go figure. Boys! I also read an article by David Bednar in the April Ensign Magazine called The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality. I had met with the Stake President to renew my temple recommend and he counseled me that I was struggling because I needed to let the Atonement work in my life. He was referring to the "strengthening and enabling" power referred to in this talk. For a while I have felt overwhelmed. I have beat myself up thinking that if I had planned better to spread out my kids or not had so many I would be a better mother having more time for each individually. Two of the four were not planned. Maybe we got ourselves into this difficult situation by being foolish, right? I would go to bed overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, and wonder if I had even told my boys how much I love them that day. I believe the Lord knows me and what I am capable of, but I was feeling so abandoned in my struggles. I was forgetting to lay my troubles at His feet and truly believe he would make me capable of meeting the needs of my children. I'm doing better now, far from perfect, but better. I think we are at least moving in the right direction. Baby steps.

If anyone has any other grand ideas I should try please let me know. I obviously need all the help I can get!