Doctor Appt 8/20 Update

I know its a little late, but my theory is better late than never. Above are the pics we took on the morning of Thursday August 20th before leaving for the Doctor's office. At the Dr everything went well. We lucked out and because we haven't had any complications, problems, aches, pains or anything else, Dr. Davis decided to wait until our 6 month appointment to do the 10 vials of blood and all the tests. So at least I didn't get tortured this time, but I will get tortured on our next appointment which is on Dec 3! Dr. Davis was extremely happy with our progress and said to keep up the good work and he can't wait to see us in 3 more months but that he probably won't recognize us. So for the record the official weigh-in for Chris was 304 which means he is down a total of 75 lbs as of Thursday. As for me, my official weight was 224 which means I am down a total of 79 lbs! We both feel great and I feel better than I have in years.

For my birthday this year I got a bike (yes its is what I asked for) which shocked everyone especially my husband. You see about 2 years ago we went to buy me a bike and I freaked out and started crying when I sat on it because I was scared to death I couldn't balance or anything. So needless to say I didn't get a bike then. Well a few weeks ago we were in Academy and I walked over to the bikes and found an old fashion bike (called a beach cruiser) that is very basic no speeds no nothing, just the old time foot brakes. So I told Chris to get it down for me, I wanted to try again! Well I was nervous but felt fine and wasn't scared to death and I had balance again. So I got the bike for my birthday and yesterday we went for our first bike ride. We rode for a whole hour and went like 5 miles! I couldn't believe it. I just knew I wouldn't be able to get out of bed this morning, but both of us did without a problem. We were a little sore but that's all. After it stopped raining here this evening, we went again for an hour and another 5 miles. Its amazing what losing almost 80 lbs can do for you. I feel great and so does Chris. Well that's the latest in our world. Hopefully one day this week we can get some pics on the bikes to post. Until next time, blessings to you all!

My B-Day in Pictures....

Chris in the hotel room before leaving for the RiverWalk

Amy on the balcony before leaving for the RiverWalk

All the pics below are at places on the RiverWalk:

This was such a neat sculpture. It looked like giant pieces of candy made out of glass. It was gorgeous!

A beautiful mosaic

The below pics are at the Wax Museum:

The 3 Stooges

My Marilyn Monroe impression....I didn't even know Chris was taking a picture!

Johnny Depp

Marilyn Monroe

John Wayne

The below pics are from Ripley's Believe it or Not!

World's largest tire. I was standing on a wooden box that was at least a foot tall!

Chris and the 1400 lb man!

The sales guy in the Ripley's store took this pic for us.

Inside the lobby of our hotel!

On our way to dinner on Sat night

The view from the tower before being seated for dinner. The tower makes one complete revolution every hour.

The sunset we watched from our table!

Outside the tower looking up at night

The manager took this picture for us after dinner before we went down in the dreaded elevator again! You can kinda see the lights of the city behind us.

My stylish 4D glasses....being goofy!

At the bottom of the Tower in the park area

We really did have a wonderful time. And again if you are in San Antonio, you must go to America's Tower and eat at the Chart House! I still need to scan in and save the old fashion picture, but I will have to do that another day.

Until Thursday evening after we go to the Doctor.....Blessings to you All!

We're Home!!!!

We got home about 8:30 last night and the girls were so happy to see us. We got lots of puppy kisses! They had fun at Grandma & Grandpa's playing with Gracie but I think they were glad to have us home. We had an absolute blast. We got to Schlitterbahn with my cousin, his wife and daughter about 10:30 Friday morning and we closed it down at 8:00pm that night. It was very crowded and the lines were long but we still had a great time! From there we went to dinner at Crystal Springs and I think they have the best catfish I have ever had! It was wonderful. We ate and talked and talked and talked some more before we realized that we were the only ones left in the building and they were closed. So we gathered up and headed out. We told them bye and got hugs from Miss Caitlyn and we were on our way to the hotel in San Antonio. We got there about 11:30pm and we were so tired and worn out. We both said, if we hadn't lost the weight we don't think we would have made it with all the walking, climbing hills and the heat! We got in the room unpacked, showered and went to bed! We got up the next morning and had a great made to order omelet breakfast before we left for the RiverWalk. When we first got to the RiverWalk we made our way to the boat so that we could get a good view and decide exactly what all we wanted to do. Of course with our luck the boat broke down! And they were about to move us to another boat when the mechanic showed up and one two three he fixed it and we were on our way. After that we ate at Casa Rio some wonderful Mexican Food! From there we walked around all over and ended up going and doing the old fashion photos. They turned out great! From there we hit the wax museum and Ripley's. Then we did a little shopping and headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. For dinner we went to The Chart House at the top of Tower America (it spins so get a full view of the city). Our reservations were at 8:30. We got there around 8:00 and now I was worried because I wasn't sure Chris was going to go up. You see he is scared of heights. He can look out but not down. So he got his nerve up and they sardined us in the elevator that one side is glass and when he saw that he almost died. So he was up against the wall with his head buried against the wooden wall holding on to the bar for dear life. I on the other hand hate elevators and am very claustrophobic so I have my back against the wood wall holding on to the bar for dear life while looking out the glass because then I don't feel so trapped. We made it to the top and we were both doing good. We sat and waited for our table and watched the sunset and the lights come up on the town. It was beautiful. So now they come to take us to our table and we are up against the windows.....Chris almost passed out. He looked at me and said I will be back I can't do this. So the hostess said no problem, let me sit you on the inner section. So she did and this worked so much better for Chris. Against the window you could see straight to the ground because the windows were curved the inner section was about 2 feet above the outer section so you could still see the city looking out but not see straight down and because it was raised you did not have heads in the way of your view. We enjoyed one of the best meals I have ever had. The food was fabulous. We had shrimp and crab fondue and a dish called Shrimp Fresca. It was angel hair pasta in a white wine sauce with tomatoes and peppers and topped with Parmesan crusted shrimp. It was to die for. If you are in San Antonio I highly recommend it. After dinner we went to the IMAX 4D and then back to the hotel about midnight. We got up Sunday morning and had another great breakfast and then headed off to Gruene, TX. We walked and shopped and walked and shopped and had a wonderful lunch at the Gristmill. YUMMY! We got home about 8:30 last night and although we had a blast we were glad to be home in our own bed with our babies! So I definitely had a great birthday weekend and one I won't soon forget. I promise, as soon as I get a moment, I will get all the pics uploaded but give me a couple days to get it done. Also we both go to the Dr on Thursday for the 10 vials of blood. So please pray that they can find my veins and I don't get poked 10 times! They never have problems getting blood from Chris, but me its always drama. Until next time, Blessings to you all!

Countdown...2 days to go (only 1 1/2 of work)....

And then its off to Schlitterbahn and San Antonio to celebrate my birthday! I am so excited. We are meeting some cousins at Schlitterbahn on Friday for the day then on to San Antonio that evening where we have a wonderful FREE...yes you heard me Free 2 room suite at the Embassy Suites on the Riverwalk! On Saturday night, my actual b-day, we are eating at the Chart House at the top of America's Tower. I have never been there but know a few who have and they say its wonderful! Of course we will be sharing a plate and we probably still won't be able to finish it, but thats ok. So we will be taking lots of pictures and I will do my best to get them on here soon after we get home on Sunday....but you know me, it might take a few days.

I have discovered in the last few weeks that the amount of food I can or can't eat doesn't bother me at all....I am just thrilled to have the tastes in my mouth. For instance, chips and salsa, I love chips and salsa and the fact that I don't eat a whole bowl....I really don't care that its only like 6 chips! Its just great having the flavors again! We are both still doing great and neither of us has gotten sick a single time. A week or two ago we went with my mom and step dad to a favorite restaurant of ours close to their house and we ordered meatloaf and split it. Well we had enough left over from that one plate to both have lunch out of it the next day. To that my mom and Mike replied with "Ya'll are such cheap dates now!" Wow I don't mind being called cheap in that context.

One last thing before I wrap things up since I am still at work and my report just finished running.....please say some extra prayers for our dear friends Ang & B as they begin the IVF process again in the next week or two. They need all the prayers and good thoughts we have to give.

Until next time when I will be a year older but skinnier (I just love saying skinny!).....Blessings to all!

Hi Dr. Davis....his response...Hi Mr & Mrs Skinny!

First let me start out by saying sorry for the late update on Chris's Dr appointment on last Thursday. Everything went great! As we were walking down the hall to the exam room Dr. Davis was walking towards us and he said and I quote "Wow look at Mr & Mrs Skinny Nord walking towards me! You both look like a million bucks!" We both cracked up and said, not skinny yet but well on our way. Now back to the details of Chris's visit, his new weight is 314 lbs thats 25 lbs lost since surgery and a grand total of 65 lbs so far. Dr. Davis laughed and said between the 2 of us we have lost a whole person. When you hear it put that way it really makes you realize how far you have come. Everything for Chris checked out great and Dr. Davis said to keep up the great work. He talked to us about the new website his office is starting and said he would love for us to give some testimonials on there with pics and we said we would be happy to. We told him about the blog and his new website when it is launched will have a place to link your blog to his website so that new and past patients can contact people for support. We were also excited to find out that the monthly support groups now take place at his new office instead of having to go all the way to the medical center. So we will officially go to our first support group on 8/18. We are excited about this step in the process as this is something that Chris did not do the first time around. We both are now on the same Dr schedule which makes things much easier. He said that we can both come in on 8/20 for labs...that means 10 vials of blood each! Yuck....but it will be worth it to know that all of our levels are correct and that we don't have any problems. On Thursday of this week Chris will be officially released to eat anything without restriction that he can handle. This of course means sticking to a low fat low calorie diet but now he can have baked chips and raw veggies and things along those lines. So he is very much looking forward to that. We are both doing well and we are getting ready to go to San Antonio for a long weekend the weekend of my birthday. Its not only a celebration of my birthday but also our success on this new journey in life. Before I sign off let me take a moment to thank each of you again for your prayers during this journey. They have definitely paid off and we are doing great. Until next time....Blessings to each and everyone of you.