Halfway through the summer, and to say that it’s been busy is an understatement. There has been SO much going on! Between shuttling the kids around to different activities, house/apartment hunting, vacationing, boating, and SURGERY (that’s really what this post is about), we’ve barely had time to do laundry and grocery shopping! Here’s a few pics of summer so far, just to fill you in! Few bullet points while I’m at it too!
* Mariah is having the summer of her life! Vacationing with grandparents, sailing school, soccer camp, and a visit with her birth mom coming up (ugh for us, yay for her!), she’s exclaimed several times, “BEST. SUMMER. EVER!”

Hiking the Adirondaks!

Learning to sail on her own



They were next!

Tubing on the Delaware

“SHEEEESEEE MAMA!”


Potty Time!

Insisting on being a “sirena” like his sister!

My little animal lover

First time fishing (catch and release upon Noah’s insistence!)!

He loves his mama

Dapper young sir

Fisrt train ride was EVERYTHING!

“MAMA, I swim!”

He absolutely LOVES karate!

Bubble time

Handsome Buddy

Loving rides on Mama’s back

Being all patriotic!

Ice Pops are his absolutely FAVE!

One of the handful of words he knows is “CHEESE”

Scheming lakeside

Rainbow Avenger

Sleepy time cuddly boy

Me and my Love

❤ ❤ ❤

Always feeling lucky with this lady

A “whaley” great time on family vacation 7/17
So about 1000 words in (you are seriously long winded Sammie, sheesh!), the real reason for this post. “Sleeves in Summer” is alllllll about the surgery that I had a month ago. On 7/6/2017 at 6am, I went in to have weight loss surgery. A month and 3 days later I am down 31 lbs and under 200lbs, which hasn’t been a thing for me in 17 years. Since 2000, which happens to be my junior year which is why I remember it so vividly and accurately. I remember declining going to the senior prom with a friend because I couldn’t fathom trying to find a “fat dress” since I was over 200lbs and all of my friends were all wered double 0 and shopping at Aber.Crombie which, I couldnt fit in my luscious size THIRTEEN jeans! Seriously! a freaking 13!!! Like, Marilyn Monroe wore a 13 and I wouldn’t go to Macy’s and get a dress from the “Plus size” section! So this has been a thing for as long as I can remember.
Weight loss surgery was something that came up before with my PCP, but we always sorta said, “You’re young. You have time. You can always lose weight later”, but all things said and done, weight loss never happened. I have tried EVERYTHING with the exception of Weight Watchers (mainly because I’m cheap but also because I freaking hate routine on my free time). Curves, Insulin Resistance Diet, diet pills, dieting, exercise, food restrictions, boot camp, you name it! It would work for a few weeks, and then i would just plateau or gain it all back. We discussed a little more after seeing the endocrinologist how my hormones and PCOS plays a huge role in my weight loss plan, but ultimately, it was the MAIN reason I could now lose weight and KEEP it off. I could go into very exact and medical reasons for not losing weight due to PCOS, but generally speaking, hormonal imbalance due to PCOS makes it difficult to lose weight, and losing weight is the only tried and true way to “cure” PCOS. SO since i was about 16, it’s been this vicious cycle of +/- 50lbs every few months, which you can imagine is NOT GOOD for a human body. So after I gave birth to Austin, Callie and I decided to look into this as a solution for a lot of my medical issues (also tied in with PCOS {and because of PCOS} is HBP, High Cholesterol, High Glucose, Sleep Apnea, and ulcers in my stomach. Throw all of those health issues into the mix with 4 beautiful children and a hopefully LONG ASS LIFE, and nothing was jiving, so we decided that this was the best option.
I’ll say, there were two times when I thought it was the WORST possible thing I could have done. I cried my face off saying, “WHAT HAVE I DONE!? I’ve ruined my life!” But a month and 3 days out, 31lbs down, BP normal averaging at 127/65 (my average was usually 160/100), sleeping ALL NIGHT, and all the size 38 and 40 and XXL and XL stuff out of my closet, I have to say, best decision I could have ever made! I may not have loads of energy now (portions are literally less than a quarter of what I used to eat so still adjusting to getting in the correct amount of protein a day which BTW is TOTALLY a process and entirely time consuming) but it feels like I’m getting back to my old self every day, and I wouldn’t change anything about this decision. Heartburn is the WORST thing i have ever experienced (never had heartburn EVER prior to surgery), but all in all, feeling good, and doing good.
I originally didn’t want to tell people that I was having this surgery. I just didnt want people talking shit or making assumptions about me being lazy, or about me not “wanting to lose weight enough to do it naturally” (yes, someone actually said that!!! I KNOW!), but then I reminded myself, “MY life, my story, how I want it!” And i did it. And i couldn’t be happier. Well, I’d be happier if I could have chocolate ice cream with chocoloate fudge, topped with Oreas and chocolate sauce! MMMMMM! Chocolate!

BEfore in MAY 2016 when I started the process

July 22, 2 weeks after my procedure, same jacket

On vacation one month PostOP 8/6

1 month Post Op