Redneck Swimming Hole

    I love a pool....I do not love getting in a bathing suit in public, but I sure love to swim so I usually bring the pool to me.  Those easy set pools that you blow up and fill are AWESOME. Most of the time.  We've had one for the past three years.  I now know that two years is the limit for one of these pools.
     As we pulled out our pool this year we had to deal with NINE small holes in the inflatable ring on top.  SIGH - NINE! I swear there were none when we put it away!  After talking we changed the location in the backyard and put it where we thought it would be more private (i.e. away from the little girl next door who pops up over the fence like Jack in the box yelling "whatcha doin?" over and over and over), and get more sun.  We didn't realize it was also more uneven.
     After filling the pool and setting it up we quickly realized it was sloping like crazy and had to drain it, lay down sand, and start over.  It looks pretty good now!

If you don't look too close.  We got it MOSTLY even except for this side that we are holding up with chairs.....

I know......how very redneck of us. Don't you love the wood in the chairs weighting them down?  I have to credit my mother for this idea....because after if fell over for the third time I was ready to scrap it....but she figured this out.

oh......and if you don't count all the patches.  All NINE of them.  My mother also tried to put those little stickers that you put on the bottom of your shower to stop you from slipping on top of the patches to distract.....but that just made things worse.

We haven't gotten in yet, it's warming up.....if we can keep it from caving in on one side.  I have some friends coming over this weekend.....I hope we all don't wash away over the side!

Next year.....buying the hard sided pool......because seriously if it springs one more leak in the air ring I'm going to fill it full of "fix a flat" and call it summer!

Goal!!

I lost 30 pounds!! It took 8 LOOOOONG months. I had to lose 30 pounds to prove I could lose weight.  Seriously, who asks fat gastric bypass patients to lose weight?  IF I could lose it I wouldn't need bariatric surgery, no wonder so many people fail in the pre-op phase because I almost gave up several times.

Finally I decided to just knuckle down and lose it the good old fashion way with a super crash fasting cleanse. I only drank lemon water mixed with cayenne pepper and agave for three days, no solid food at all.  Good Times. I don't care, it qualified me for surgery and that's all that matters.
I am scheduled for surgery on June 11th!  Yay!  Here's a refresher of what I'm having done, the gastric sleeve.

Now, all I have to do is make it to June 11th without gaining weight...............maybe I'll do the cleanse thing each week.  I may not have fingers left if I try that too much more because I will gnaw them off. 
Oh, and it would be awesome to get Erik potty trained before then.

But since he thinks the potty is just a reading chair, I don't see that happening anytime soon.  Especially when I find the potty on his head.

CP.......NAH!!!

Erik's had a SLEW of doctor's appointments over the last month.  In his last IEP they requested LOTS of work ups to "validate" his receiving services.  I guess the fact that he DIDN'T WALK until was 2 and a half was no big deal. Sheez!

He's been to the dentist....which was awesome when he saw the TV on the ceiling.  He was not so thrilled with Raj the hygienist.

He had to see a neurologist today to check for CP and Autism....really?  OK whatever, we'll jump through the hoops to get the services.  After his dentist appointment yesterday he wasn't thrilled.  But when the Doctor walked in the door he said to her "You are smashing and have a nice ponytail, don't touch me."  She laughed for a good long while and finally convinced him to let her test all his reflexes.  He did OK.
 She completely ruled out CP and Autism (duh) but thought the original diagnosis of Benign Hypotonia was correct.  She ordered some blood tests to rule out Fragile X syndrome just to be sure....I haven't Googled it yet...I don't know what it is.  She did say it could have been the cause of my many previous miscarriages........that's interesting.
I got a big lecture about not coming in sooner, I told her I asked his pediatrician at 9 months, 12 months, 18 months and 2 years for a consult as well as a PT referral but she said he was fine....I also told her that the PT also stated he was "fine".  She was pretty shocked that his Dr didn't do anything way sooner.  I felt validated, but it's too late now.
Erik was happy to get back to his swing and now be done with Dr's appointments for a while.