Gastric Bypass Surgery Update

Ok, I have been trying to catch up on so much stuff. Alot of you all have been asking about my next step in my surgery process. Unfortunately I have to put that off for now. Some of you may know that Drew was laid off this month. What comes with that is losing our insurance. I was very sadden and disappointed but maybe this is way to give me another chance to try to lose the weight on my own. I did found out that I can claim my veterans benefits from when I served in the Navy. With that I get medical coverage which will help me get all my meds and keep up on my doctors visits. But they do not cover Gastric Bypass. So now I am at a point where I have to decide what next. I have been looking into Gyms and their programs and also found out that with my work I can get a good discount with The Rush for Drew and myself and they have free Daycare for the kids while we work out.

Anyone have any advice for me or any programs that they know and have tried that have given them success....please let me know.

I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener!

Drew gave me a call one day, telling me to bring the kiddies to his work!! He had something to show them!! We get there and the Oscar Mayer Wiener Mobile was sitting out front!!

Drew works for Penske, were they service all kinds of vehicles and it just so happens that they had contracts with these people to service this vehicle!!

Autumn checking out the front!

Look at all the seats in the back!!

The kiddies loved it and got to look at it inside and out!!

Owen wanted to Drive the Big Hot Dog!!

Bye bye Wiener Mobile....Till next time!!

My Family Visits from PA!

As some of you all may have known, My daughter Autumn, Spent the summer with my Family in PA! We went up there in June to Visit my family and to drop her off there. She had a blast....but like all good things her summer with my family had to come to end, it was time for to come home! School was starting soon! My Parents took the 10 hour drive down here to bring her home and to spend a couple of days with us!! We were sooooo excited when she came home, we had not seen her in almost 2 months!

When we left her in PA she had a suit case with her clothes for the Summer and a bag of toys. When she came home, that suit case was filled with shoes!! She also had a big plastic dresser filled with lots and lots of clothes!! She was sooo spoiled there!! She loved it. She had lots of stuff for school some toys and some other things. She said she cant wait till next summer so she can go back again!! She misses Mom-Mom's swimming pool and the big Bath Tub!! My mom said she would never want to come out of it!! Autumn came back with a very nice tan!! I was really jealous, i wish i can tan!! lol!!

We had fun just spending time with my family!! They stayed at an awesome hotel that had a heated pool, an Arcade Room, a Fitness room, Miniature Golfing inside and a nice kiddies play area! It was like a little theme park for the kids lol!!! We got to enjoy the pool with mom and William!! The water was great and Owen loved it!!

A pic of us in the pool!

Mom Relaxing in the room!

The last day there we took Mom and Dad to Wee-Trade, it was a big Yard sale in a sense. Lots and lots of used and new kids stuff anything from clothes to toys to beds to bottles to diapers....you name it!! We found some good sales but man was it hot there....we were sweating our butts off!! But we had fun!

Than the last day came, we were all sad to see them go. We hung out around the house for a little and then they headed off to the Outer Banks!! We will miss them and cant wait to see them again!!

Drew and Dad relaxing on the porch!

Dad, Mom, William and the kiddies!!

We Love you!

To See Or Not To See?

Yeah!!! Ian's Glasses finally came in yesterday!! So on our way to the doctors we picked them up!! Ian was sooooo upset, but we kept explaining to him that these will help him see better!

I was very proud of him today. We had to run a couple of places to pick up a few things and he kept them on all day!! We will see how he does tomorrow, he goes back to school after being sick for 5 days!

I think they make him look very smart and cute! He will be able to see better in the classroom, and the TV at home! It will do him good!

Kids Room Makeover!

Well the kiddies and I decided that we should redo their room from dull to Awesome!! We had to come up with a theme that all the kids love and colors that were gender friendly. This was also gonna be a surprise for Autumn since she was in PA with my family for the summer! Well the kiddies decided on a jungle theme..... they all love monkeys and animals!! Owen has the awesome Fisher Price Rain forest set and we decided on colors for the room from his blanket! So we headed over to Home Depot and got them to match one of the colors for us! At first when i seen it, I thought, oh wow this is really cool!! But when I started on the wall with the pain i was a little worried. It was really bright!

The next day when the room was painted and dry, I started Painting Vines and Monkeys on the wall! They turned out nice! Owen loves them, every time he walks by the room he points and makes a monkey noise! Then it was time for the curtains. The kids originally had race car curtains up that I had made for the boys room in our old house in PA. So there was no way that i was putting them up with the monkey theme! So I came up with a tree like looking curtain! I made brown panels, to give the illusion of a tree trunk. Then I got some green felt and made leaves for the top valence! Once they were all sewed together I was very happy!! I have to ammit I was very Impressed, They turned out soooo great!

The monkeys on vines! I did i good job!

The curtains with the leaves! That I made by hand!

Once that was all said and done. It was time to work on the bunk beds. We have been searching and searching for a bunk bed that would fit in a room that was not an average sized room. All the bunk beds we had looked at have been 3 inches or more to long to fit the way we needed it too! So Drew and I decided to make our own! What a task! We measured out the space where we wanted it and then back to Home Depot!! We got all the wood we need and started that night on it! We ran into a few little snags but it all turned out great!! The kids love it and we are all so happy!! The room in total took us 4 days from beginning to end! But it was well worth it!

Drew Working on building the bunk bed!

The bunk bed all done with the mattresses in!

Another view of finished Product!

We are all pleased how it turned out and cant wait to start on the rest of the house!!

Ethan's Summer Kindergarten Visit!

Ethan had a wonderful chance to experience a little bit of kindergarten this summer for a few day! When I told him he would be going, he was a little scared and did not want to go! So the day before his big day, Mommy took him shopping for his very first school bag! He was starting to get a little bit excited by that point, because he could wait to use his new school bag!! Ethan and I got up early and headed off to the school! Once in the school and the class room he seemed to be ok....knowing there where lots of toys to play with...lol!! I waited around in the room for about an hour and watched him to make sure he would do ok. Then I slipped out!
Ethan in the morning before we left the house for school!

Ethan showing off his new School Bag!

Ethan at the school

He made me a yummy looking plastic Sandwich!

When it came to 12 noon I picked him up and he was soooo happy and could not wait for the next day of school! The summer experience has made him realize that school was not bad at all! He did great and cannot wait till his first official day of Kindergarten!

Our New Sofa!!

Ahhhhh.....our new comfy sofa finally arrived and what a relief when it did!! We ordered the sofa and recliner and waiting 2 months for them to arrive! The sofa its self has 2 recliners on each end and then we have the recliner all by its self! Drew is soooo happy to finally not have to sit on a broken recliner anymore! I can say I am truly happy!!
The awesome new sofa!!

Drew Loving up his new recliner!!

They were the best wait ever!!

Trying to catch up!

Sorry about all the late posts! We have been very busy around here and trying to get things ready for School! Playing Catch up!

Happy 4th of July 2009

This year for the 4th of July, we had a Community Picnic at our house. A couple of neighbors and us have decided it would be nice to have a little community event. We were new to the neighborhood and also a few other people, so we thought this would be a great way for everyone to get to know each other and mingle! And what a great idea it was!! We had a great time and met some great people! We also invited My Brother-In-Law and Sister-In-Law, Rob and Vicky to join the Fun! Drew and our neighbor Rick rubbed and smoked some awesome ribs!! We must of had like 5 different flavors of ribs and man o man were they so good!! The were smoked for well over 12 hours!! We had a nice roast, Chicken kabobs, Hamburgers, Hot dogs and lots and lots of fixins!!!! The kids had a great time running around playing with the other children and also their cousins!! Enjoy the pics from our evening...sorry dint bring out the camera till later.

Some more of the yummy Food!!!

Some of our neighbor enjoying the food and hanging out!

Our First ever "RedNeck Cooler" Owen loved the Ice!!The Kids Enjoying the little fireworks we got! They had a blast!


We had a great 4th of July! We hope you and Your Family did as well!!

Father's Day 2009~Buca Di Beppo, Reading, PA

For Father's Day this year we were visiting PA! It was a very spacial Fathers Day this year because we got to celebrate with some of the family!! Bobbi-Jo, her family, Tara, her family, my cousin Lisa, Mom, Dad and our family all took off for this awesome restaurant called Buca Di Beppo!! We lived in PA for years and never ate there. But let me tell you, this place was awesome and the food was so good! We were in this big round room called the Pope Room, it was pretty cool and the table was huge with a big Pope head in the middle of the table. This is the awesome Pope Room....

The cool Ceiling above our table.......

And the Star of the Dinner, The oldest Dad of the Group with mom..

The dinner was great and I also got to spend some time with my sister which was great! Except I think their kids were more behaved them mine....LOL! Bobbi-Jo's youngest just turned one the previous weekend and we had not seen her since she was tiny. She is getting so big and looks just like her mommy!! And I was amazed to see how tall Ryan had gotten! At the end of the dinner we were able to ge the kids together for a group shot.....here is 8 of 11 Grandchildren.

And a pic of Bobbi-Jo, Me, Mom and Tara!

It was great to see everyone and I cant wait to see them all again! Miss you all!!

Ethan is 5 & Ian is 9, Big boys!

Sorry for not posting this earlier, we have been very busy with the house and our trip to PA.

On May 28th 2009, Ethan Tyler Dutch Woytowich turned 5 years old!! He is getting so big and is preparing himself for Kindergarten in August!

Ethan was our baby for 4 years and the last 16 months have been hard for him to get over the whole baby thing! When Owen arrived he thought he was still the baby and still to this day does things to try to be the baby! Needless to say they are all my babies!! Ethan can tell you how to spell his name, his ABC's, Shapes, Colors and much more! His big sister Autumn loves to sit with him and teach him his math and how to write his name. We celebrated his day with cupcakes, i made for him. But daddy had to work late so he could not be home. Then I took him to the store to pick a toy and some other things that he wanted. We had a good day.

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On June 15th, 2009, Ian Thomas Woytowich turned 9 years old! We still cant believe how big our first baby is getting!! His is now a Big Boy!! Ian is very excited about going to 3rd grade in August and also to have Ethan at the school with him as well as Autumn! Ian is a very smart boy and loves to play video games, his favorite to play with daddy is Guitar Hero!! Which Ian rocks!! Ian also loves science and Math!

I made a cake for Ian and Ethan on the weekend of Ian's birthday because Drew was home. Ian and Ethan agreed on a cake flavor and icing and I made them a cake! They had a great time and enjoyed the day playing together! I also took Ian shopping just mommy and him. He had a great time! He got a new outfit, shoes and a toy. He also got some candy for his brother and sister, how sweet to think of them!!

They had a Great day and All of my babies are getting so big!!

Step 3 Complete....Ready for a New Me!

Step 3 complete! Went to my Orientation to the Weight Loss Program on Friday! I got even more useful information. The gave us this very informational book called Weight Loss Surgery for Dummies. And let me tell you, this book has it all! Any thing and everything you need to know about weight loss surgery!! We also got a binder with our outline to the program, a cool talking pedometer and a measuring tape. I meet some great people that day that are just like me with diabetes. This surgery means the world to all of us with diabetes, because it is a cure!! Living with diabetes is tough, you have to make major changes in your whole life and need extra medical care. This prepares me for my surgery because I know I can make those life changes as I did before and I have the will to be healthy!!

Next for me, is my first official appt with the doctors. I get weighed in officially for my 5% weight loss!! My appt is on July 6th. I have 4 weeks to get all my cravings and weakness out of the way. As of July 6th, I will no longer be having any sugar intake....including my TEA!! I will have to prepare myself for drinking water and sugar free drinks. I will have to turn my back on snacks and treats that are high in sugar and sub them for sugar free snacks such as sugar free Jello and sugar free Puddings!

When meeting with the team on Friday I also was informed that my insurance company required that I do 6 consecutive visit for 6 months...So that means i have to do one each month consecutively, so this puts my surgery to about December/January time. Either way I am happy, I can start out 2010 with a fresh start and a new me!

I am very thankful for my family, my husband and children have been so supportive of me getting this surgery! My husband has been my strongest support, he has been here through all my health issues and doesn't want me to be unhappy with myself and my health anymore. He knows about all the risk with my health conditions and also with the surgery and We both feel this is the best thing to do.

Well i will keep you all updated in my progress and can't wait till my next Appt!!!

Owens First Hair cut

I finally gave into getting Owens hair cut thanks to the comments we got when we were shopping last weekend!! Drew was pushing Owen in the cart at Wal-Mart this weekend and this couple came up and said "awww What a cute little girl!" Drew said "that's it! Its time to get his hair cut!" Soooo i had to finally give in!! I think he looked cute with his long hair and curls in the back! The next day i went to Fantastic Sams here in Candler, NC and got his hair cut. I was a little sad to see those cut little curls go but they had too. Unfortunately down here they don't have places that specialize in kids. I had to hold him the whole time because when we sat him down he keep tryng to get off the chair! At points he was getting antsy but they seem to get him to calm down with french fries!! Once all said and done he looks sooo cute with his little boy hair cut...The before and after pics....

And it only took me 16 months to get his first hair cut. LOL!

Owen's 15 Months!

Owen had his 15 month well baby appt. last month! He is getting big and very strong. Owen weighed in at a big 27 pounds! This boy loves to eat and eat! My chunky butt baby!! He started as always playing until we got called back to the room and then played more in the room till the doctor came in.
He got checked out by the Doctor with a clean bill of health. Then he got 3 shots....as always one crabby baby!! After about 2 days he was back to his normal playful self. As you can see he loves walking around in mommys slippers!He is tooo cute!! This blog was posted a little late since he is now 16 months now!! I cant believe how much my baby has grown....it seems just like yesterday when i had him! We are so proud of his development!!

Mother's Day 2009

What a nice beautiful day we had, the sun was shining and it was nice and warm but not to warm! Drew and the kids took me to Shoney's for the Mother's Day Breakfast Buffet! The food was great and the kids behaved for the most part! Owen was loving shoney's that is one of his favorite places to eat, because he can eat all he wants and has lots to choose from. They were very busy that morning and at one point ran out of plates for the buffet! But other than that is was very good and i didnt have a mess in the kitchen to clean up afterwards!!

Me at Shoney's

The kids enjoying the yummy food!!

After filling up on a great breakfast we went home and the kids gave me the gifts that they made in school. Ian made a cute card for me that said "you are the best mom in the world" and also made a cute colorful paper flower with it! Autumn made a book in school about mommy and why she loves her mommy! They were sooo cute!





I also got a awesome cake!! Drew took the kids to Bi-Lo and they got to decorate a cake for mommy!! they did such a awesome job and it was made from their heart!! Take a look at this masterpiece!!


I had such a great weekend between our anniversary and then mothers day!! I Hope you all had a great Mother's Day as I did and were blessed in every way!!