Another Big Fat Catch-up Post!

Merry Christmas and a happy new ME! This post was originally intended to be written on New Years Day, but, like with most posts I write (mostly in my head), it never makes it to the blog! Grr. So, let's play catch up yet again shall we?!?
The holidays were fabulous! Filled with so much family and fun! The only part I could have totally done without was the freakin treats around ever corner! I don't know what it is with the month of December or Christmastime in general that makes people want to create mass quantities of sugar filled, high fat, incredibly delectible concotions and bring them to work every stinkin day, but it bites! HARD! I made it through though without too much complaining! I am so glad it's over and now and everyone is starting their New Years "I'm gonna lose 30 lbs this year" resolutions, so I should be safe, for a couple months anyway till they all give up like I always did. My babies had a wonderful Christmas as well. Hannah got a tablet, a my twinn doll and a whole bunch of craft projects and books and Hunter got a leap pad, a bunch of super why (his favorite show) stuff and, of course, books galore! Tom and I enjoyed every minute of watching the magic of christmas sweep our sweet kiddos up and wrap them in warm fuzzy memories.
As I look back on the year 2011, I can't believe how much my life has changed. It was a year ago yesterday, (Jan. 13th) that Tom and I went down to St. Marks Hospital in SLC and attended the first seminar offered by RMAP that starts the process. I've written about this day before but it honestly was such a turning point in my life that I can't stop feeling like it needs to be celebrated and acknowledged over and over again. I remember we went out to dinner before it started and I told Tom, that I was drinking my last coke, not believing for one second that I really could do it. I had already made the decision to have the surgery but I didn't realize at that time how hard it was going to be and how much I was truly going to be giving up... or how much I was truly going to gain, simply, my life.
After the seminar as we walked out, it was snowing lightly and everything looked so pure and beautiful and I felt like this huge weight (no pun intended lol) was about to be lifted off me and it was right, in every way, shape and form, this was what I was suppose to do.
Fast forward 1 year and 190 lbs and I have no regrets. I still feel, with every fiber of my being, that I made the greatest decision of my life and it was right. I still have about 40 lbs to go to reach my top goal of weighing 170 lbs (which, is still considered "overweight" on the stupid "this is how everyones body in the flippin world should be, so if your body is in any way different from the doctor who came up with it, you are fat" chart) but I know I can do it! After what I have accomplished this year, I know I can do pretty much anything! I am a rock star!
I am so utterly grateful to so many people who have made this past year bearable! The top of the list is, of course, my amazing, loving, beautiful husband Tom and my equally amazing, loving and beautiful children, who's mommy has been a little hard to live with sometimes, but has made thier world healthier, more active and for sure more FUN! Also, my family, my mommy, who was with me the whole time in the hospital and who has cheered me on the entire year! My brothers and sisters who have always had my back (even when it was big) and have made me feel "smokin" in that "you are my brother so it's a little innapropriate" way! Tom's family has also been my rock this year. My mother in law has delt with some pretty tough things herself these past few months and yet, she is always there when I need her and is a true blessing in my life and the life of my children. My big sister Kathy (we were totally meant to be sisters, I just had to marry Tom to get her!) has been a second mother to my kids which they have really needed this year especially and I will forever be indebted to her for all she does for me and for them. And, of course, my wide group of FANTISTIC FRIENDS, neighbors and co-workers who have kept me going on a daily basis! I truly could not have endured the hard days without all of the support from everybody.
So, yah, I'd say I have had probably the toughest, most incredible, rewarding and life changing year of my exsistance and I wouldn't change a thing about it! 2012 is going to be just as crazy and, hopefully, come June I can proudly say that I accomplished my goal, and for the rest of my life keep striving to maintain it and encourage and inspire others to make themselves into the best "them" they can be, cuz it feels AMAZING when you get there!

Happy New Year!

The next generation of Caine cousins

Family! Ash, Alicia, Lindsey, Amanda, Me, Tiffany and Teah

I LOVE this lady!!!

Hey! Is that Super Why I see?

They are not spoiled at all!

Our pretty tree

Me and Hannahs tradition is matching jammies!

Hannah and her My Twinn Mya

Playing operation with cousin Mandy

Miss Hannah got a real camera too!

6 Months!

Six months ago today, my life changed forever! I began the toughest journey I've ever faced and, although I had started out a little bit ahead, I had a long road in front of me. As I look back over the last 6 months and read some of the posts from right after surgery, I am still, more the ever, glad I made the decision to have gastric bypass. I have lost 120 lbs since surgery and 188 total since last Christmas! I went from a size 32/34 pants and 5xl shirt, to a size 14 pants and med. or large (women's... NOT PLUS!) shirt! Also, oddly, I've gone from a size 9 shoe to a size 8 and I'm now five foot 3 and half inches as opposed to the 5'5" I was a year ago. I still limit my food to all protein, no carbs but I do eat a little more then 2 oz on occasion (but I pay for it with uncomfortableness!) My diet is pretty much the same as it has been. I eat a lot of cheese, beans, chili, deli meat, cauliflower pizza and, of course, my oatmeal on Mondays! I have been slacking on the exercise of late, but after the holidays we are going to get right back on track! It's hard in the winter to want to do something other then snuggle under a warm blanket with a good book, but we have made a family goal to get our butts back off the couch and DANCE ONCE AGAIN!
I still get double takes in the grocery store and people coming up to me saying, you have lost a lot of weight, like I hadn't noticed lol, and I still get so many compliments from friends and family which makes the journey so much easier! I have a ton of skin. That is probably the only side effect I've experienced. I didn't lose my hair and my skin still looks fabulous (avon anew products help with that too!) and I've never had the dreaded "dumping syndrome" that people seem to always associate this surgery with. Plain and simple, I follow the rules. I take all my vitamins every day, I drink over 75 oz of water a day and I don't put sugar, bread or carbonation anywhere near my stomach!
At my 6 month dr. checkup with Dr. Smith, he said I was doing absolutely amazing and I am totally on track for making my 1 year post surgery goal of 175 lbs! That is just shy of 50 lbs to lose in 6 months and I plan to make it!
I would not have been able to make it through these last 6 months without my sweet Tom, Hannah and Hunter cheering me on and, of course, all my family and friends supporting me on a daily basis! You all have been wonderful and I am so lucky to have so many people who care about me and who are proud of me! I know my daddy and now my grandma Carol are cheering me on from above and I hope I can continue to make them proud as well.
Now it's Christmas. Treats are EVERYWHERE! It's hard, but, as you will see in the pictures below, it's totally worth it!

Last Christmas morning

A couple of weeks before surgery at Hannah's make-over party! Don't I look beautiful!

About a month after surgery

Today, 6 months and 120 lbs later

Hannah was making me pose! It was a photo shoot!



Then she cut my head off!

These are the pants I wore at my almost heaviest (at my heaviest, these were too tight and I had to resort to stretch knit pants) These are what I am wearing in the picture of me and Ash on the bridge! I am in one leg of them.



Hannah wanted to get in the other leg!

Of course, Hunter wanted in on the photo shoot too!

I always wanted one of these pictures!

What was I thinking????

Seriously, I should never write a post while I am at work! I mean, who WAS that person yesterday? I'll tell you who it was, it was grumpy work Jen and, while usually work Jen is generally pleasant, yesterday she was a big crab apple! I guess it is ok to see the ugly side of GB though, and it is a daily struggle to maintain the cheerfulness when all you want is a friggin pumpkin chocolate chip cookie! Ok, I'm not going there again today. I promised a happy post and I always keep my promises!
The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions. I turned 35 on Halloween and I was totally ok with it! I have dreaded this birthday for so long but, due to my current circumstance of feeling like I'm 25, thirty five didn't really bother me! I have accomplished so much over the last year and I am pretty proud of myself and my family. We have become stronger as a family unit, healthier and happier and that is really all I could ask for!
A couple of weeks before thanksgiving my sweet little grandma Carol (my mommy's mommy) got pretty sick. I was devastated because I was always so close with my grandma, especially when I was younger. Grandma's main goal in life, pertaining to me that is, was to get me skinny! When I was a teenager she would always tell me, "Jenni, if you don't get skinny, you will never find a husband!" Now, you might think, "how rude!" but i know that she was only doing it because she knew how awesome I was and what the world is truly like. She did everything to motivate me to lose weight, from paying for me to join curves for a year, to bribing me with a dollar a pound and a new wardrobe! The lady was hellbent on seeing me healthy. Even after I managed to find a man who also saw how awesome I was, she still worried about my health. I know my grandma loved me, probably more then all of her other 21 grandchildren (now, I know some of you read this so just deal with it... lol) and I know she was proud of me no matter what my size was, but I always wanted her to see OUR dream come true. I was fortunate enough to see my grandma a week before she died, when she was still lucid and the very last words she spoke to me in a whisper were, "my jenni, you look absolutely beautiful and I am so proud of you, I always knew you could do it." A week later we said goodbye to that amazing talented loving lady and I will miss her every day until we are together again. I am so grateful that she, of all people, got to see me healthy and happy (though I should have taken her up on that whole dollar a pound deal... I'd be up to $185!) I love you G and thank you for always believing in me!
With all of the grandma stuff going on, we had TONS of family in town during the week of thanksgiving! I was able to spend time with my favorite Aunts and cousins that I haven't seen in far too long (we're not going to let that happen again! Yeah, I'm talking to you Penny, Angie, Lindsey, Kimm, Kathy and Allison!) and I loved it! Family is what it is all about, and I have the greatest family on the planet! I consider myself so lucky that I am so close with cousins on both sides of my family and everyone should be totally jealous of our closeness, cuz it ROCKS! My awesome family has been such a huge support to me during this whole process and I can never express enough how thankful I am for ALL of them!
Thanksgiving itself wasn't as hard as I thought it would be food wise. I ate a tiny bit of turkey and some of my mom's broccoli cheese casserole (without the crunchy topping of course) and dessert, well dessert was hard, I can't lie about that but all in all, I spent more time taking pictures of my wonderful family and didn't really think that much about the food! And I truly appreciate all of them putting up with my obnoxious camera in their faces cuz it did really help take my mind off the rolls and potatoes and gravy!
Now were are gearing up for Christmas! One thing that I have noticed is I am ALWAYS FREEZING! I mean, I lost a whole stinkin person that used to keep me all nice and toasty and now I can't ever seem to get warm! Oh well, I'll take it over not being able to move any day!
I will never regret my decision to have gastric bypass, and even though I have days like yesterday where I just feel like I am being deprived of everything Delicious, the results are worth it. When I see my Hannah choosing healthy snacks or when I see my husband getting his grove thang on playing just dance or getting a beautiful note from a friend telling me how I inspire her, I remember why I truly chose to do this... Not for beauty, not for vanity, not even necessarily for MY health, I did it show anyone who cared to follow my journey that if I can do it, if I can beat this disease and addiction, if i can lose 200 lbs, then so can they! I want to be the best Jenni I can be, for my children and my husband and if I can help motivate even 1 person to be the best THEM they can be, then all the pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in the world couldn't make me go back to June and NOT make that choice!
And now, Pictures!

Thanksgiving morning

my niece Mandy took this awesome angle shot!



I am the luckiest mama!

Awww! Aren't we adoreable!

My beautiful cousin Allison

Bestest buddies

look at that face!

My mommy and her sisters.

I love hannah's foot in this picture!

Grandma Sally and her Hunter



all of our red-heads!

seriously, we are so HOT!

My daughter is absolutely beautiful!

The Robinett women (minus Jessica and Karla)
Allison, Ashlee, Kathy, me, mom, Angie, Penny, Kimm and Lindsey

Hotties!

My sisters! Me, Tiffany, Amanda and Ashlee

I love this beautiful lady!



We took Hannah to see Ballet West's Nutcracker! She LOVED it!

can't wait for it to start!

intermission at the ballet lol.

they are BROTHER AND SISTER people! EWWW!

we are a very touchy feely kinda family!

Tom took this cuz he said I looked "super hot!"

we managed to get the tree up even with all the death stuff!

what cuties!

Hunter and Jack-Jack



this was a mothers day card I made for her a few years ago and she had it framed. I will miss her so much.

I LOVE my sibs! Me, Nic, Johnny, Logan and Ash

Grandma loved scrabble!!!!!

Hannah saying goodbye.

Hunter saying goodbye.

I love you grandma.

Beautiful picture... terrible backdrop! lol

I had to add this cuz we were all laughing and making fun of all the old guys and telling them not to drop her and the mortuary people said they had never had a family laugh during this part and we said, "you've never met the Robinetts!" Also, when they set the casket down my Uncle Randy said, "that's it, she's going on a diet first thing Monday!" I LOVE my family!!!

This is what happens when you give your brother your camera!

we were all trying not to fall in the hole!



All the Robinett cousins exept for Zack! We missed you Zack!



Uncle Tim, mommy, Aunt Penny, Uncle Randy, Aunt Kathy & Uncle Jeff

Sweet babies