I Made It Through the Weekend and Am Feeling Positive

I think part of the reason I kicked butt last week was I started off my WW Points+ tracking on Monday and just left the weekend points behind me. I think that was exactly what I needed to get started again.

I did track this weekend and I think I'm starting to understand why I've had such a hard time adjusting to the WW Points+ program.

On the old WW Points program, when my week started on Friday, I could make it through the weekend and the rest of the work week without being in the red - that is - I always had at least a handful of either weekly or exercise points that I could use without going in the hole.

Not so much with the WW Points+ program. Because foods have a higher WW point value and my daily point allotment is lower than before and even with the extra weekly points, I'm still burning through all my weekly points by the end of the weekend.

Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but for a rule-follower like me - I can not stand to see numbers that are red ie: negative.

Here's where my numbers are as of right now. I've maxed out my daily points for today and am already in the hole five points for the week. I haven't added my dinner numbers yet for tonight, but I have added my exercise points for the Zumba class I'm going to take later tonight.

Here's where I would normally freak out. I would already feel defeated on Monday morning and usually stop tracking the rest of the week and give up, blaming the WW Points+ program.

Here's the thing though. The work week is much, much easier for me to stay within my daily points than during the weekend. So technically, as long as I exercise as I'm planning to the rest of the week, I'll see a loss on Friday.

Me, being the rule follower that I am, I don't like to enter my exercise points in for the week until after the class or if I know for sure that I'm going to go. Here, let me put in my numbers for Zumba for Tuesday and Thursday and see where I'm at. Be right back.

Ok, now see, once I go to Zumba tonight, Tuesday and Thursday I'll end up with an extra 17 points to use for the remainder of the week if I happen to go over my daily points (like I did today). See, that's totally doable. This is all just a mental hangup I have with seeing that negative red number come Monday morning.

Well, thanks for letting me ramble on about all this. It did help me remain confident in what I'm doing. For me the two main factors I have to stay focused on are daily tracking and exercise. Everything else just falls into place when I do those two things.

Weigh In and Do You Like Apples?

Weigh-In Day
Previous weight - 197.8
Current weight - 195.2
Difference - lost 2.6 pounds

Total weight lost - 49.8 pounds

Activity
Monday - Zumba (60 min.)
Tuesday - Zumba (60 min.)
Wednesday - Zumba (60 min.)
Thursday - Zumba (60 min.)

HOW YOU LIKE THEM APPLES?

Compliments and Confidence (Photos at the End of Post)

Three days of Zumba in a row and I was hurting this morning. I wore it like a badge of honor. My fourth night will be tonight at Stephanie's Zumba class. I already have my request in for Enrique Iglesias "I Like It."

The scale was down another .4 pounds this morning. I'm a daily scale weigher which works for me. I'm starting to have flashbacks to when I was doing well back in the fall and getting so excited for my Friday morning weigh ins. I was even known to have dreams about the scale in the wee hours of Friday morning in anticipation. It's been so long since I've had scale confidence. Like everything else this week, it feels great.

So today I want to talk about one of my favorite things about losing weight - the compliments. I've shared my experiences with you before, but I think it's worth talking about again because I'm sure that there are many of you out there that are motivated to lose weight so that other people will notice.

I started off my weight loss journey that way, and I think for a lot of us, as we start to lose weight and make changes, our motivations change as well. I went from wanting to lose weight because I wanted to be skinny and look good in cute clothes to wanting to lose weight to get healthy, to be a positive role model to my kids and because I ended up loving the benefits of working out. That being said, it's still awesome to get compliments.

Let me back up a little. When I was at my heaviest I didn't try. "I let myself go" I guess you could say. I hated the limited clothing that came in my size. I would go past Loft and Banana Republic and other cute stores and wish I could fit into the clothes in their window and instead I ended up buying whatever fit the best. I would sleep in as late as I could, take a shower, throw my hair in a pony tail and put on a little makeup for work. I had no pride in my appearance and I believe that can't help but rub off on how you project yourself to others.

Fast forward to my weight loss. Well, first of all, let me acknowledge that I know how much it stinks to lose 10, 20 or even 30 pounds and have it not be noticeable to the outside world. It stinks. So although I was noticing my clothes fitting looser as I started losing weight, I was still wearing the same clothes that everyone was used to me wearing.

Disclaimer - I'm going to talk about how I've improved "my look" now, but I have to admit that I still have a long way to go. I'm a bit of fashion misfit and am definitely learning as I go. So don't think I think I'm an expert or anything.

So, the first thing I did was start playing around with makeup. I'm a bit awkward with makeup. I've never had much confidence with it and so I started watching some makeup tutorials on YouTube to get more comfortable. I bought new brushes, took better care of my skin and just overall tried a little harder. I started to feel better about how I looked.

Next, after becoming an evening exerciser I also became a night shower convert. This is one of the best changes I ever made. I really appreciate the hair that I inherited. It's thick, can hold a curl and holds up to humidity. Problem is it takes forever to dry and even longer to curl and so I didn't do it very often. Especially if it meant getting up super early for work. By taking my showers at night and letting my hair airdry I saved a ton of time in the morning and now I just have to get up and curl it. I really like my hairstyle right now. I feel really great when I see it in the mirror.

Surprisingly to me, another step that helped with my pride in my appearance was jewelry. I pretty much just wore my wedding rings up until a few months ago. But then I had my Premier Jewelry party and earned a ton of free jewelry and I love wearing it every day. It really does make a difference in my appearance and the way I feel.

And lastly, and most importantly for me, now that my weight loss is noticeable and I've had to buy new clothes, I love the way I'm showing off my shape. Obviously, I was in the 190s once before - it was ten years ago when I was in my mid-20s. But the way I dressed then and the way I dress now are totally different. In my 20s I wore black pants and button down shirts or long skirts and sweater sets. I just didn't have my own style and I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. My main objective was to hide everything. Now I want to show it all off and I want to look great. I want to look fashionable. I want to feel pretty. So if I find a piece that shows off my shrinking waist but maybe doesn't hide everything that I'd like, I go with it anyway.

So that's part of the reason I love going and trying on clothes and taking photos and sharing them with you all. First of all it's a great feeling to not be in the dressing room and breaking down in unhappy tears. But it's helping me learn. It's helping me discover what looks good on me.

So on to some recent compliments.

Hands down, this is the best thing I've bought (I just typed boughten - gross) in recent years. I've lost count how many compliments I've gotten on this coat. Everyday I wear it I get compliments from friends and strangers. IT FEELS GREAT! I know they're complimenting my coat, but it does reflect on a compliment for me too. To me it tells me I look good. I'm finding my style and obviously I'm projecting that confidence outward. I think if I was wearing this coat and had my head to the ground with a frown on my face I wouldn't get as many compliments.

I also bought a purse to match this coat. This is something I would have never done previously. I buy a purse I like and carry it until it falls apart. I love the idea of building my wardrobe with different coats and purses to match. It's so much fun.

And this is my second favorite recent purchase. You'll remember I didn't buy this the first time I tried it on. Well, your comments from that post made me go back to Stein Mart to get it. I wore it to my meeting in New York and I felt like a freaking rock star. I think it looks awesome from the front. I try not to think about the back, but like I said before I'm focusing is on the flattering parts. I also wore the dress to work this week and had several compliments. Ten years ago I would have never bought this dress. I would have never bought a dress that was straight on the bottom like this. I only bought dresses that were full on the bottom. Not anymore.

Here are some photos from a recent Macy's shopping day. I didn't buy any of these. Just having fun.

These are the types of dresses I still reach for first. I liked this when I tried it on, but looking at it now - it's not showing off the weight I've lost.

Now this dress, shows it off. (But I would have to walk around with my back to everyone :)

Cute right?

Feeling Awesome and Jealousy

I can't thank everyone enough for all the kind words and encouragement they shared with me after I wrote yesterday's post. I went to Zumba last night (which was awesome, so hold that thought) and after class one of the regulars that I don't know very well came up to me and told me she had read my blog and had so many nice things to say to me. She told me a little about her own wellness goals and she said I looked great and that I'm doing such a good job. I couldn't say much back to her because I was on the verge of tears the whole time she was talking to me. Yesterday was such a breakthrough day for me and to have this woman say all these wonderful things to me just made me so happy and proud and weepy. It truly was a great day.

I took Tina's Zumba class last night. I love Tina. She is super sweet and is always cheering me on and talking about weight watchers and losing weight and Zumba. She knows my favorite routine of hers is to a song called "Shake" and so she added it to her playlist yesterday when she heard I was coming to class. Lisa was doing a song and so Tina was next to me and she leaned over and said "guess what's next!" I was really excited. After Lisa was done with her salsa, Tina went back to the middle of the room and Shake started. I caught her eye and she nodded her head for me to come over and stand next to her which I happily did. Shake is a hard song and it's long, but it's my favorite. I loved every minute of it.

Ashley snapped this photo during class last night. I'm on the left in the red tank.

This was during the warm up because my hair is still down and not drenched in sweat :)

I had another awesome thing happen last night. I got home from Zumba, read the kids a couple of bedtime stories and then heated up my Smart Ones meal and inhaled it. I logged my points into the weight watcher web site and realized I still had 5 points left for the day. This has not happened for me in months! At least not since the new points plus program launched. It felt awesome to know that I could do it. I took a shower and then had some hummus and pretzels for 4 points and before bed had a weight watchers ice cream bar with the 1 point left, plus 2 exercise points I've built up. As of right now I still have 7 exercise points in my bank and I'm going to Zumba tonight and tomorrow night. The scale this morning read 195.8. Awesome.

So.

Obviously, I've had a lot of things racing through my mind lately and I have many things I'd like to share with you. One memory I had this morning sticks out to me.

There is a woman that goes to Zumba a couple times a week. I don't know her name but she stands out in a crowd. She is all muscle. She stands in the front of class and I also see her in the weight room all the time. On Monday, we were doing this awesome song called "Gyrate" in Geraldine's class and this woman was feeling the song so much that she was going up to random women in class during the gyrate part and shaking it with them. It was awesome and made me smile.

The thing is I remember her pre-Zumba. I remember her from when I was at my heaviest - 245 pounds.

This was probably three or four years ago when Gracie was 2 or 3 and she was taking a gymnastics class on Saturday mornings. The parents sit out in a common area on the second floor of the Y and watch the kids through the window doing their tumbling. The group exercise room is around the corner from where Gracie was taking her class and every Saturday I would see this woman come out of whatever class she was taking, drenched in sweat and she and the other people from the class would stand around for a few minutes and chat and catch their breath before heading downstairs.

I remember that I judged them. Mostly I was jealous. I would roll out of bed and throw some clothes on and me and Jim would drag the kids to the YMCA and I would be so tired. And here were these super fit men and women that had just finished a killer workout before 9:30 a.m. and I thought they were showing off. I also used to think that people who posted on their Facebook status about their workouts were just showoffs looking for attention. But like I said - I was jealous. I was jealous of their dedication and their strength because I couldn't have that. I didn't think it was possible for me to ever be them. To physically make it through a exercise class, let alone having the discipline to get up on a Saturday morning to exercise. Those people were crazy.

Well, call me crazy too. Because I'm soooo one of them now. There's a reason that so many of those Biggest Loser contestants go from never stepping foot in a gym and end up being personal trainers. Once you find the kind of exercise that you love, it changes you. Now, I'm telling you. I had tried working out before - doing step classes, treadmill, walking and I hated ever minute of it. EVERY MINUTE! But Zumba is different for me. I love it. The hardest part for me is walking up the stairs to go to class. It is a party for me, just like the commercials say.

One of my favorite Zumba classes is the Saturday morning one. I was just talking to Lisa (who's teaching tonight and was taking song requests) and I asked her to play Jay Sean's Do You Remember because it reminds me of when she would do that song during the Saturday morning class. It just makes me smile. Imagine that - smiling because of song that's played during a 9:45 a.m. Saturday morning Zumba class.

Who's With Me?

Ladies and Gentleman, I am back. (pause for applause)

I have managed to maintain my weight loss for the last three and a half months. But a little thing happened over the weekend that gave me the swift kick in the butt I needed to get back into the weight loss department.

I saw 200 pounds on the scale. It scared the crap out of me.

About ten minutes after the shocking scale reading I realized I had just gotten off and airplane and remembered I ALWAYS gain weight after air travel (what's up with that?) and sure enough, by Sunday morning the scale was back down to 197.8.

But that's all it took. I'm kicking it into high gear now. I'm ready to step on the scale each week and know that I will have a loss.

It "clicked."

For those of you who've always wondered what this "clicking" thing is all about, let me try and put into words what's been going on in my head the last few days.

First - we had the 200 pound scale reading I've already mentioned. I was shocked, then scared, then determined that I will not let all the hard work I've put in over the last couple of years go down the drain. This is what started it - the "clicking."

Second - I knew I had to do something about my eating. I never adjusted to the WW Points Plus program that launched in, what was it November?, and I needed a plan. I needed my control back. I decided I needed to start over and that's what I'm doing. When I first started Weight Watchers, the most important thing I needed to do was to relearn how to eat. I did it the easy way. I cut out fast food and I ate WW Smart One frozen meals with the points printed right on the box, and I ate a lot of salads. Once I got control of my eating I started to eat healthier - avoiding high fructose corn syrup and eating organic. I have been so lost with my eating lately that I decided to start over like I did before. I'm eating the frozen dinners, just until I gain my control back and then I will reintroduce the cleaner eating I was enjoying back in the fall. This is what I need to do to succeed and it's working.

Yesterday, I knew I was going to go to the store at lunch to get one of these frozen meals since I hadn't stocked up at the store yet. I decided to go to Whole Foods to pick up a few things. On the drive over I started an inner dialog trying to talk myself into going to Jimmy John's for a sub. Back in the early fall this would have been unheard of, lately it's a daily occurrence. Two weeks ago I had Jimmy Johns for lunch every day. I got to the point where I didn't try anymore. It wasn't that I didn't care, it was that I didn't believe in myself. If I wanted to eat something, I ate it. If I wanted a cookie I ate it, instead of if I wanted a cookie I planned for it. Big difference. I stopped tracking because I would screw up over the weekend and I felt like too much damage was already done to keep track of points the rest of the week. That I would start over on Friday, but then that cycle would start over again.

I started making more frequent trips to places like Chick-fil-A for lunch and indulging in fries. I would get a cookie at McAlisters. But I stayed aware just enough that I wasn't gaining. I was cheating the system. Yesterday, that part of me that tried to sabotage my eating plans was removed from my body. All it took was ignoring the Jimmy John's voice on my shoulder and going to Whole Foods like I planned. I got a salad and a Kashi frozen meal. I felt so strong after my lunch. I had won. *Poof* - that self-doubting devil on my shoulder was gone. 

Third - I've missed Zumba. I didn't realize how much until yesterday. The stars have aligned and I knew going into this week that there were no obstacles in my way and I would be able to go to Zumba as much as I wanted. I was really, really excited. I e-mailed a few of my Zumba friends yesterday and told them how excited I was that I was coming back and their support was just amazing. When I was writing my e-mail to them, I added up my exercise totals for 2011 and I've only been to Zumba seven times in 2011. I almost starting crying. That is not me. Zumba is such a big part of my life. It not only makes me stronger physically, but it makes me happy. I need it.

Last night's Zumba class was packed as it usually is for Geraldine's class. I usually stand on the left side of the room but all the front row spots were already taken. I found a spot on the right side of the room next to my friend Nikki. On the other side of me was a girl I recognized, but didn't know. She looked at me and said "I've seen you at the Zumba the past year and you've lost a lot of weight. You look great!" People, I tell you, every time this happens to me I'm shocked and so grateful. Sometimes I forget how far I've come. I've gotten used to how I look now and forget how different I used to look. I had a nice conversation with this woman while we were getting ready for class to start and THIS is what is so great about Zumba. I honestly haven't had this kind of experience in other group exercise classes. There is something special about the people who love Zumba. I've said it before, but if you haven't tried Zumba, please give a try for a few weeks. It's changed my life in so many ways and I hope that will for you too.

Fourth - the magic ingredient with the "clicking" is the one that's the hardest to explain. I'm sure you can understand how seeing 200 lbs. would scare me into doing something, and the steps I took to get my eating under control would build my confidence, and you all know how much Zumba means to me and I can never stay away long. But there is a glue that holds all these things together and I believe it is the key to success.

It's commitment. It's going all in. It's never doubting yourself. It's knowing you will make the right choices. I got that magic ingredient back yesterday. Luckily for me, I knew what it was that I was missing and that I had gotten it back because I had had it before. Over the summer when I lost 27 pounds in six months I was all confidence. The only question I had on Friday morning when I got on the scale was "how much weight did I lose this week?" I was in total control. Food had no control over me. Exercise was as much a part of me as waking up in the morning. It was awesome.

I'm so glad to have that back.

And you know, I truly believe you have to be ready. The last couple of months I've thought I was ready to get back to losing more weight, but I didn't have that magic ingredient. If you read my posts you can see it. It wasn't there. I wasn't ready yet. I'm doing it now. It has "clicked" for me again and I'm so ready to kick some major butt.

WHO'S WITH ME?

You're forgiven

I had a New Yorker hold the door open for me when I was leaving a little chinese restaurant earlier today. It was one of the holding the door openings where he was walking in and then stopped and went back outside to let me out.  New York has been forgiven (see yesterday's post).

My love

I just scored the one and only Diet Dr. Pepper out at my meeting. (sorry it's sideways - I need a better mobile blog app.)

Done

Well, it wasn't pretty, but I did it. "It"being the couch to 5k - week two over again since I haven't been on a treadmill in about a month. Brutal.

Greetings from NYC

Yet another business trip for me. This time in New York City (said in a southern twang). I just had dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant. Although they did give me a hard time about being a single diner and wanted to seat me in the bar with a bunch of old guys. But he changed his tune when I said I'd just go somewhere else. So now I'm stuffed full but really want to work out before it gets too late. I'm just going to go and see if I can treadmill it without needing to hurl. Wish me luck.

Prank Caller

I have a story to share. It's sad, but I'm not sharing it to look for sympathy. I'm sharing it because I know so many of you have your own story, just like mine, and I want to tell all of you (myself included) that it's ok to let go of these stories.

My freshman year in high school I was home alone on a Friday night. I was in my room, listening to music, feeling sorry for myself because I had not been invited to a sleepover that a couple of my friends had been invited to. The phone rang and I answered it. The girl on the other end of the phone said "hey." I though I knew who it was (I still think I know) and so I responded back happily "Hi! What are you up to?" I could feel my spirits starting to rise  knowing my friend had called to talk to me. There was a pause on the line and then my friend said "you have a big butt" and she promptly hung up the phone.

I was in shock. I hung up the phone and laid there in disbelief. Then I cried. I cried for a long time. And I hung on to that memory for a even longer time.

I let go of this memory once I started dating Jim and I could truly believe that he was attracted to me (all of me) and his was the only person's opinion that mattered to me.

And now I know I can really let go of this memory forever. I read Kat's Adventures in Dietland post today about a similar story and reading her story reminded me that I'm in control of how I perceive myself. Like her, I wish I could go back and tell my 14-year-old self that everything will be ok. That the boy in my English class that I had a crush on would someday be my husband and father of my children and that I would be so happy and all my dreams would come true. I would tell her that I would gain confidence and self esteem and not be so painfully shy and that what others thought of me wouldn't matter to me so much.

Now I just need to get to a place where when I hear EU's "Da Butt" I don't want to run screaming from the room :)

Stein Mart Shopping Day

I needed some alone time today so I went to Stein Mart to try on some clothes. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, I just wanted to feel good. I did have a gift card to use and bought the clothes in the first three photos. I absolutely love the coat. Tag said it retailed for $70, Stein Mart was selling it for $50 and it was 50% off. Love it.

I love this. It's not the "old me" but I feel like it's the "new me."
Bright and cheerful, not hiding in black.

I don't think I own anything yellow. I like it.

This looks cuter in person. I'll probably pair it with a cute jacket.

 The rest of these I tried on but didn't buy.

This was cute, but seemed too young looking form me.

I liked this, but the sweater was too small on the bottom.

Ok, I'm kind of regretting not getting this dress.

I just felt like it was too small and I think I would have been uncomfortable wearing it.

Now this would have been a dress I would have worn when I was at my heaviest and it would have made me feel horrible and dumpy.
I was happy when I took this off.

This is another type of dress that I used to be drawn to, hoping it would help hide the things I wanted to hide.
Now I don't like these types of dresses because they hide the things I want to show off.

I like this sweater better in this photo than I did in person. It seemed dumpy in person. I think it's kinda cute now.

Maggie and Me

Today I looked into these big brown eyes, my eyes streaming tears, as the vet put my Maggie to sleep. I have no words right now; all I can do is cry.

I Went

Before

After

It was really hard. I had to take it way down, but I made it to the end of class. My face was about as red as it's ever been. At least I know it will only get easier.

I'm Telling You I'm Going to Zumba Tonight So I Don't Back Out

Now it's out there and I know I'll go. I've been sick the last two weeks and haven't worked out since Jan. 25. I'm afraid to go back. I know it will be hard. I know I'll have to stop and blow my nose several times. I know there's a chance I might not make it through class because I'm not completely well. But I have to go. I have to go so I can shake this sadness of not going. I have to go because I know I'll feel better after. I have to go because I miss my Zumba friends.

It will be hard to get there on time because I barely have time to pick up the kids, change and make it by the 6:10 start time and that was the excuse I was going to use for not going. But, since I'm not interested in being in the front row tonight it won't matter if I'm a little late.

I'm feeling better already.

Let's Catch Up Shall We? (Lots of Photos)

First of all, today was the best day ever. ("Today" was Tuesday when I started typing this, but it's now after midnight). We are in the middle of icemaggedon here in Indiana. Monday evening we saw on TV that they were going to close the kids' school and I received notice my office would be closed on Tuesday. I stayed up late and watched American Pickers with Jim. I slept in and then as I promised the kids we started a Harry Potter marathon. We made it through the first four movies and since school and the office are closed again Wednesday it looks like we'll be watching movies five and six tomorrow. Luckily our power stayed on all day, we had plenty of frozen chili in the freezer for dinner and I even made pumpkin bread for my boys earlier this evening. It was such a relaxing day.

Which I really needed after the last couple of weeks. My husband got home this past Friday night after being gone at back-to-back trainings for eight days. Jim and I are very much a parenting-team so he was greatly missed the past two weeks. Usually, Jim takes the kids to school and I pick them up, but with Jim gone I was pulling double duty and had to adjust my work hours to be able to get the kids to school. Jim also takes care of bedtime most nights (I know, I know, I have the perfect husband) since I'm at Zumba a lot during the week. I had planned on keeping my workout schedule while he was gone, but Gracie ended up getting sick and I wasn't able to take them to child watch. Then later last week, I ended up getting sick (still trying to get over it) and on top of everything we found two lost puppies in our neighborhood and I instinctively picked them up and then had know idea what to do with them. They ended up spending several hours with us on Thursday night before I was able to find their owner via the power of Facebook.

Needless to say I was so happy to have Jim home on Friday night. I was able to pull out a few more hours of Mommy time on Saturday for a Daisy Scout tea party with Gracie in the morning and then the kids' basketball game at noon. Then it was on to home where I stayed in bed until it was time to go to work Monday morning. That brings us to today - my perfect day.

I think once the ice melts I'll be well enough to get back to working out - I've missed it and can't wait to get back. I've been doing ok with my eating even though I haven't been tracking. I know I'm playing with fire by not tracking so I will start that back up again. I think I finally am getting the scale to move after several weeks of no budging which I'm very excited about.

So, now that I've got you up to speed, let me share some photos from the last couple of weeks and then we'll be all caught up. I've missed you guys :)

This is my latest hobby that's been keeping my hands busy. Crocheting.
I tried knitting first and ended up throwing the needles across the family room in frustration. Then I tried amigurumi and successfully made a ball. Then I found a great tutorial on youtube for basic crochet and was able to make this scarf - Gracie loves it.

This is my latest project. It's a baby blanket that Gracie wanted me to make for her doll. I like the pattern, but it's so tight and the yarn is so small that it's taking forever to finish. Luckily I was able to get a bunch done today and will probably finish tomorrow.

I couldn't figure out how to get the orange battery light to stop flashing even though the cable was plugged in and it was driving me crazy so I used Cade Bane to block the flashing light. This is the stuff I have to deal with when the husband is gone.

These are the yorkies I found last Thursday. They were really cute. You can see how attached the kids were starting to get.

I have to admit I really enjoyed these little guys snuggling with me in bed. It wasn't long after we got comfortable that my friend called me and said she found the owners from photos I posted on Facebook.

Daisy Scout Snowflake Tea Party. Gracie and I had a great time, we made some cute crafts, I avoided the cookie samples and Gracie was able to get her face painted before it was time to leave for her basketball game. P.S. how cute is she?

The kids show off their presents from Daddy - a pink spider monkey and cheese hat. We are big fans of footie pjs in our house.

I sent this photo to Jim while he was gone. I have an annoying habit of leaving this cabinet door open ALL the time and it drives Jim crazy.