Wow! Has it really been that long?

Whoah! Five months already! Lets see. . . here are my excuses. . . I have been busy with school, and mothering, and looking for a job, trying to loose weight, trying to get organized. Yeah, lame excuses, I know. Well, Todd, Michael and I were in Utah at the end of March, my mom and Russ were there too. When they go to Utah they usually have a night where all of their kids and grandkids come to their hotel, eat go swimming play games and hang out. Anyways on this particular night I promised Susan (Chris's very talented wife) (check out the link to her blog) I would update my blog at least once a month. So here goes. . .

As I was laying in bed trying to ignore the incredibly loud snore coming from my husband I started thinking about all of these things I could blog about, but since those were thoughts of a sleep deprived woman, I am going to narrow it down.

As many of you know. . . not that I wanted anyone to know (because of the expectations that I thought all of you would have and the judgements that I thought you would place on me for not meeting those expectations) In September of 2007 I had Lapband Surgery and, since you know, I thought I would go ahead and update you all on my success and my struggles. I am hoping that there will be great success and few struggles.

When I went in for surgery I weighed 299, one pound more than I weighed just before Michael was born. Right after he was born I weighed in at 275. I thought with breast feeding and dieting I was going to really loose weight. HA! Anyhow, after surgery when I went for my first follow up I had lost 11 pounds. I couldn't beleive it! It had only been 3 or 4 weeks, I had felt like I hadn't had to work at it at all! I was so happy I cried. With lapband for the first week I could eat only liquids then move on to puree and no more than half a cup. Before the surgery I didn't think this was possible to eat half a cup and feel full. It was amazing. After about a month and a half I was able to eat regular foods, minus a few things that get caught and make me vomit or choke.

At 3 months I was cleared to really start working out, not just walking anymore. At that time I had signed up for classes at CBC and was taking fitness lab. I worked out 4 times a week for an hour. One day this girl tells me she had been working out for a week and had lost 8 pounds. WOW that got me excited thinking I had this advantage and was going to loose at least 8 pounds. AT this time my weight loss to date was 32 pounds. After two weeks of working out I stood on the scale, excited about the number I was about to see. . . 272. . . What the $#&@! I had gained 4 pounds! I was so angry the next week I worked out only doing cardio.

Muscle weighs more than fat. . . right?

I got over my anger and I thought I had figured out the work out schedule that would work for me. An hour of just cardio one day and the next and half hour on the circuit followed by a half hour of cardio. My goal was to get down to 250 by the end of the quarter. That didn't work out. I am sitting at 262. Since I am not in school this quarter and because Todd wants to loose 40 pounds before the reunion, we joined the court club. I have started doing Club Max (circuit) and H2O Cardio.

Before surgery they do a lot of "prep work" they have presentations and classes that you have to go to. At these classes they said that typical results are to loose 50-75% of the excess weight in 2 years. That the first 2 years have the best results. So I would guess that I am right on track. This isn't an easy weight loss solution. But it is working. . . slowly but surely.

Because of this 2 years being most important to concentrate on loosing the weight they recommend not getting pregnant. So in case anyone wonders when Todd and I will be trying to have a baby that will be in September of 2009. Which if we are lucking right off the bat we'll have another June baby and Michael will be almost 4.

Well there is a blog, I am still a woman of my word. lol I will update you on my success as it continues.

Oh, best thing so far my knees don't hurt anymore and I can walk up the stairs like a normal person. Hoping to be able to walk down them normally soon.

An exciting week!

I have been telling Cindy that she was going to be having this baby early. I had no idea he was going to be this early. On Wednesday November 21, Cindy went in for a usual appointment. The Dr did the measuring and was about to send her home and Cindy asked if they would check to see if she was dilated. Thats when I got a call from Cindy telling me she was at the hospital and she was 90% effaced and 4.5 cm dilated. At 7:03 PM Elmer Kai Barrientos was born. 6lbs 6 oz and 19 inches long. look at all this dark hair! He is such a sweet baby. Loves to sleep and loves to be held (of course.)

Chris, Susan and Hattie got here that same day and it was great to see them. Hattie is quite the character! We got to see how shy Michael can be. That little girl sure knows how to take charge. At one point she was sitting in Michael's rocking chair and he was standing near her waiting for his turn. Hattie sticks her finger out at him and says, while shaking her finger, "no no no no no" It was so cute!

Chris got a new memory card for his camera and let Todd copy his pics. That is where these came from. Last time I took pics off our camera I really messed things up so I am posting the ones Chris took since they are already here.

We had our first snowfall last night. Brrrr it was so cold!

Ducks!

Cindy has been singing and old preschool song to Michael. "5 little ducks went out to play" Michael just loves it! When ever it is time to say "quack quack quack" he holds his hand like a duck bill and quacks, and giggles. Well ever since he learned this, every type of bird is a duck that quacks. His quacks and duck sound so much alike I can't distigiush them. Anyhow, tonight he was playing the piano with "GraaandPaa" when he suddenly stopped and started pointing at Russells shirt saying "duck duck." Russell is wearing a Postal T-shirt with a Bald Eagle that has flag wings.

Halloween!

On Halloween we met up with some friends and went trunk or treating. We found a cute little horse costume so Todd and I thought we would go as Cowboys and Michael as our hourse. Then Todd thought it would be great to make a cover for the stroller. Just to clarify it is a Stable.
After trunk or treating we went to Grandmas and the little horse kicked around her house. Then home to hand out candy to the trick or treaters.
Todds Jack-o-latern


Mine

The Pumpkin Patch

The day before Halloween we took Michael to the Pumpkin Patch at the Country Mercantile. It was so much fun! He got to ride on a wagon all around the "farm" and help Daddy pick out a pumpkin.

They had a strawbale pyramid set up for the kids to climb on and all kinds of fun stuff for kids. The part Michael loved best was after we loaded the pumpkins into the truck he got to pull the empty wagon back to the store. We had to stay way longer than we planned because he loved pulling the wagon so much we couldn't pull him away.