Friday Favorites

Hello, hello!

Another Friday is here. I had great intentions of blogging this week and then life intervened and well, that didn't happen. I do however have my favorite pictures from the week. 

I'm joining Erika, Andrea and Narci with our Friday favorites. 

My baby sister...

On Saturday night I went out with Dani and her friends for her birthday. We had such a good time. It's been a while since I've laughed that hard. I love my sister so much and getting to spend time with her is one of my favorites. 

My favorite men...

Sunday was Father's Day and we took my dad out with Dani and Bobby. The men in my life are so great. I have a full post on the dinner but here are the pictures of my boys. Tim is such a good daddy. I could write up a million reasons why we love him but the main one is he takes care of us. He's such a good daddy to these kids. 

And these two men are such good dads too. I took this picture a few months back because it is so them. We had all gone to dinner and they were done so they took the kids outside so we could finish and this is what I caught. 

I love both these dads. One helped raise me and one helped raise Tim and both did a good job if I do say so myself!

Sonic run...

On Monday the kids and I needed to get out of the house so we walked across the street to Sonic. They have a patio you can sit on and eat your food on. Both kids loved it. 

Still my baby...

While Hayden was napping Landry wanted to hang out with me and watch tv. About 10 minutes into it I caught her like this. 

She's still my baby sometimes. And I love it!

Brobee...

On Tuesday my mom needed to get her hair done so she dropped Brody off for a bit. Oh how my kids love him. They didn't leave his side the whole time. I'm telling you, he was plenty entertained. 

Big Brother watch party...

Our favorite summer show started on Wednesday but Tim and I caught up last night. Landry and Hayden love an opportunity to sit in our bed and watch tv. So this happened. 

Neither one knew what was going on but neither one cared! 

This weekend promises to be a good one. We have date night planned with friends and lots of swimming in store. Plus, we are headed to see a certain blue fish on the big screen!

Happy Friday!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday! 

We have had such a great week. This week was busy and fun all at the same time. It went by quickly, so here is a wrap-up of what all we did. 

I'm linking up with Erika, Narci and Andrea with my favorite pictures of the week. 

Make that money...

Last Friday and Saturday we had a garage sale at my moms house. It's one of those days you dread and look forward to at the same time. We did pretty good and made some extra spending money and donated lots of clothes that were left to a local charity. A win win in my book. 

A tree pose?...

So Landry and Hayden were playing on my yoga mat and Landry was attempting poses and Tim came downstairs and showed her tree pose. I was so proud of him. I just love these three!

Swim day...

On Tuesday we went over to Tims parents house to hang out and swim. My kids are perfectly content to just be in the water all day. 

 

3,2,1,3...

Hayden's new thing is jumping off the diving board. He stands up there and says 3,2,1,3,go. Then jumps in. It cracks us up. Not quite sure where he learned his counting from?

Girls trip...

So on Wednesday, my mom, Steph and Debbi and I set out for a little girls getaway. We headed north to WinStar casino and resort. I have never been here before. It was so nice! All I wanted to do was lay out, sleep in and eat good food. I did all three and it was fabulous! I'm so glad we went. Next time I'm bringing my sister though. She would love it!

Happy weekending! 

Friday Favorites

It's Friday!

Woohoo! As we speak I am sitting in the lovely June sun having a garage sale. Remind me to never pick June for this kind of event. I have a feeling we will be in the pool most of the evening recovering! 

Here are my favorite pictures of the week. I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci once again. 

Just keep swimming...

We ended swim lessons last week and I was so proud of my boy. He exceeded my expectations and earned his badge on Monday, which Landry never did. 

He loved swim lessons and loved having his buddies there even more!

Boating with the Boozers...

Last weekend we went out on the boat with the Boozers. We had such a good time. Tim and I both tried surfing and both failed miserably. But the kids had fun and we all got on the tube. Even Hayden! He loved it!

VBS...

Our church had vbs this past week and while I worked it, Landry and Hayden attended it. This was both our first year to go and we loved it. I had snack duty and loved every minute of it. I just love our church. We had over 600 kids attend!

That wraps up another week! 

Now if it wasn't so hot...

Tim's Transformation

This post has been a long time coming. If you've known Tim for any length of time you have watched him over this past year completely transform himself. I figured it was time to write his story and if in any way we can help others who have questions or are questioning the procedure he had, then that's just a bonus. 

I met Tim officially in junior high but we didn't become friends until high school. Then after about two years of being friends, I fell in love with him. If you've been around him for any length of time you know what I'm talking about when I say he's easy to fall in love with. He's got such an easy going attitude and is always willing to lend a helping hand and has the funniest personality of anyone I know. 

When we graduated and went to college Tim slowly started gaining weight. It wasn't dramatic at first, but after we got married and "real life" set in, it became more apparent. We both worked and then two years after marriage, Landry came along. Tim was always a stress eater. Without playing sports or working out consistently the stress eating and not being active caught up with him. Before he knew it he was 325 pounds. 

He had a stressful job, a wife, two kids and a mortgage. He was happy on the outside but on the inside he was miserable. He hated what he saw when he looked in the mirror. He tried various diets and would loose weight but would always put it back on. I'm a pretty healthy person and I try to eat well and work out pretty consistently. I would try to have him eat like me but it never worked. He would get so frustrated and quit. 

I love Tim. I have since I was 17. His weight was never an issue with me. I think it got to a point where I just looked past it. I knew he was big, but I never said anything. I mean why should I tell him, he knew it! I remember the day he told me he wanted to have surgery. We had taken a photo at Christmas with the four of us and he saw it and hated it. 

We have a close friend who had the surgery three years ago so Tim knew what to expect with this surgery. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but after trying everything else he knew this was the right choice for him. He consulted with one doctor and didn't meet the requirements for the surgery so he met with Dr Fenzel and he really worked with Tim. It turned out Tim had a hiatal hernia. So when they went in to fix that they also did the gastric sleeve surgery. All we had to pay were the hospital fees and doctors fees. That was an answer from God. I had prayed for us to find a way to make this work for us and it did. 

Surgery was set for June 8. He went in early that morning and I got to go back to see him about three hours later. He was really groggy and sore. They make you stay in the hospital until you can swallow 12 medicine cups of water. That's hard! Plus you have to be able to keep them down. 

The week after we got home was hard. He couldn't keep anything down and would dry heave for days. But after a few days of that it got much better. I will say it took a lot of getting used to at first. I was so accustomed to making dinner for the four of us the way I always had. And Tim would take three bites and be done. It was such a change from the old Tim. Plus, there were so many things he couldn't eat on top of that. It took some researching on my part but I knew it was for his own good. 

About one month after surgery is when we started seeing a few changes. About three months after surgery other people started seeing a change and noticing. 

I took pictures of him every few months and once we started looking back at them you could really see how far he had come. 

I want to share his before and afters for those that are wondering how this surgery can work. 

Before-June 7, 2015 (325 pounds)

After- June 7, 2016 (190 pounds)

Tim was asked by his doctor to interview and tell his story for their office and media outlets. I was so proud of him. It was really out of his comfort zone but he really wants to help others. He's had so many people come up to him and ask about the surgery and procedure and he's always willing to give them the story straight up. 

Words cannot express how proud of him I am. He's come so far in just a short amount of time. 

Friday Favorites

Well another Friday is here! I'm so bummed about all this rain. We had some fun outdoor activities planned for this weekend and I'm going to need the rain to stop asap. 

I'm returning with my favorite pictures of the week. I'm joining Narci, Andrea and Erika for Friday favorites. 

Cousin love...

A few weeks ago we took my mama out to dinner for Mother's Day and Landry insisted she sit by Brody. If you knew how obsessed my kids were with this little guy, you'd laugh. They stay by his side constantly and always want to touch him or hold him. It's so sweet. I hope they grow up close. 

My mini me...

Landry tells me all the time she wants to be just like me. I love that. It makes me feel really good. The other day she came into the kitchen with my wedges on. Then she said take my picture, I look just like you. 

Oh Lord have mercy we are in trouble. 

My sweet Grammy...

Last week, Hayden and I went and had lunch with my Grammy and Grandaddy. Hayden brought his books so Grammy could read to him. I just love this woman. She is so patient with him and I'm so glad they are still around to get to be close to my kids. 

First and last day...

Last Wednesday was Landrys last day of school. I cannot believe how fast this year flew by. When I look at how much she has changed over the year it makes me realize just how fleeting this time is. 

Red Nose Day...

Last Thursday was Red Nose Day and we Smiths got in on the action. I love the meaning behind the red noses. 

More cousin love...

On Sunday we celebrated Memorial Day at my parents house. These three were in the pool a good majority of the day. I cannot wait until they can all swim on their own but until then I'll stay in the shallow end and watch :)

His cheese face...

When I say Hayden "say cheese", this is what you get

I love it!

Happy weekend folks!!!

Angel

On Sunday we had to put our dear sweet Angel to sleep. 

Words cannot describe how hard this was for our family. Angel was such a huge part of our lives, I'm not quite sure we realized how much until I started looking through pictures of her. 

Tim and I got Angel over 10 years ago. About six months before we got married. Tim wanted a dog really bad and we decided to go to Petsmart one day on a whim. There she was. The only full bred dog. She was a year and a half and fully potty trained and we were sold. The only problem was that she was quite large and we were told since we were living in an apartment we couldn't get her. We were devestated. So my dad went back up there, signed the papers for us and she was ours! 

Oh how we loved her. Tim and I treated her just like a child. She slept in the bed with us, she rode around town with us and we walked her almost daily. 

I think one of the things she'll be remembered for in my eyes were two of the hardest days of my life. Both my misscarriages came as quite a shock to us. 

Dogs are very intuitive and somehow Angel just knew something was wrong with me. She laid on me and stayed by my side while I cried and healed and let me scream and pray and loved on me through it all. 

We were a little worried when Landry came along. You see, her papers told us that she had never been around children before and they weren't quite sure how she would do around them. I'm telling you though, in Angel fashion she took in that girl like she was her puppy. 

She stayed by her side and when I got up to feed her at 3am she got up with me.

They were two peas in a pod

And then Hayden came along and I was a little worried of the dynamic of two children against her, but again, she rallied and I think she grew more attached to Hayden then she did Landry. 

She was such a sweet dog. On Sunday when we knew it wouldn't be much longer we were all at my parents house and each of us talked to her and loved on her and made her as comfortable as we could. 

She will be dearly missed by us. She was such a huge part of our lives. Love you Angel!