The Rundown on Maternity Leggings...And Making Your Own For $11!

Maybe you're into leggings...maybe you think no one who is pregnant should wear them...Maybe you think no one (that that means no one!) should wear them.

I've never been a big legging person. But decided this winter, they beat living in yoga pants and always feeling like I'm in my PJ's!

I went to Target earlier this week and found a nice Kamino style dress (to join the other too-short-to-wear-past-28-weeks maternity dresses I've gotten on clearance in other pregnancies). And I started looking for pregnancy leggings. I can't just wear normal leggings: the elastic rolls down my round belly and sits -quite unflatteringly- under my cesarean scar. And any elastic on my sensitive pregnant belly is obnoxious.

So my search began.

Target has them for $22.00-$25.00 (and oh boy do they feel like heaven!!!). But given the material... 1.) It didn't breath (it is 100% synthetic. Some cotton is some thing this preggo wants, even in the cooler months!) 2.) it seemed like they would wear fairly quickly...But perhaps not.

And if you're wanting to shell out that money: get them! They are seamless and have I mentioned that they feel like HEAVEN? They do.

Gap has them for $30 and Motherhood Maternity for $20sih The cheapest I could find were from Forever21 for about $11 but the had rouched bottoms...not my cup of tea. And you have to pay for shipping and handling. blegh!  Also worth mentioning, the top didn't really seem any different from regular leggings. Those would totally roll down under my c/s scar, no thank you.

I wanted $10 leggings that I could be comfy in, ones that I could roll up over my belly when I'm huge, or fold down across it or beneath it if I like.

So I made my own. I went to walmart (yup, walmart) and bought a pair for less than $6.00 I also bought this $5 seamless cami  (they sold them individually at my walmart) from there. I took them home and the pictures tell the rest...The whole converting process took 10 minutes.

lay pants out.

Cut off waist band.

lay out cami evenly

cut off just below back straps/edging

tuck pants (right side out, don't flip them inside out or any thing) inside of cami and line up back seam with the middle of the tag (NOTE: I don't mind the "tag" showing when I wear my leggings "unrolled" :I have a shirt/dress over it anyway: but putting leggings together this way the tag will be on the outside when you wear it unrolled...you always have the option of cutting the whole cami off below the "tag" so it's not an issue...But I found it helpful for keeping things lined up)

pin the front seam and the back seam evenly with the front and the back of the cami, and then pin- as best you can- all the way around...The cami is smaller/tighter than the leggings (in most cases) and so it will be hard pin: you'll have to make allowances for that when sewing.

Start at the back seam. Be sure that as you sew you keep the edges lined up as much as possible, if they curl certain ways they will be on the "outside" when you wear the leggings unrolled.

use a small to medium zig zag stitch

Because the cami is slightly smaller pull it tight as you sew so it's "as big" as the pants. This will keep you from having excess fabric (legging part) when you make your way around and are at the end of the seam.

All done!

It sits nicely up over my belly- no rolling.

And with a dress. All ready for my body to grow as it needs to (in comfort!) and for the cool season to begin!!

You can obviously be pickier about colors (getting them the same or with less contrast)...I like contrast and I really don't think I will ever wear a shirt short enough for it to be visible (yes, I'm sure the public thanks me!). 

So there you have it! All you wanted to know (and way more!) about how to meet your maternity legging needs.

The Well Behaved Child Part ONE

Yes, I still haven't finished my Working In the Home theme...I'll get to part 2 soon!

This is a vent post. I think.

Nothing like family to leave ya feeling incompetent and stressed out. :0D

Okay not really.

It's just the "Oh she's a good baby."mindset. (What is a good baby, really?) "Oh well if you train her right you'll have a well behaved child that will make people want to become a Christian." attitude. Oh and did you know that it's rude to let your 3 year old have a carrot stick before we've prayed??

I'll get back to it.

I've been having a random (or perhaps not so) fit of insecurity. Oh Mothering, it's not easy.

I'm a baby person, I've always been a baby person...I love them.

Growing up I just had a natural "knack" with babies. They like me, I could almost always get them to calm down in their parents absence. They liked me and I really liked them. You get it. I didn't mind getting spit up on, drooled on, chewed on. I didn't mind holding a screaming baby. There was nothing I liked more than calming an upset baby down and getting them to fall asleep in my arms. It was the best. I would hold and bounce that tired upset baby and dream of holding my own babies some day.

Then I had my own baby, and I wasn't good at it. Okay I wasn't bad at it. But there were all these hormones and instincts, the crying broke my heart. I was this little persons MOMMIE- if I couldn't make it better who could? I thought I knew babies, until I met Roo. Oh that girl gave me the run for my money. I'm so glad.

This is SO Roo...The, REALLY Mom, REALLY? look
5 weeks old

Oh my sweet Roo girl. She's growing way too fast. She spits out sentences like, "Oh that was horrible." and " Youw're the best Mommie in the whole wide wowld." and "You weally hewt my feelings." And some times mouthfuls of words she can't wait to get out, so nothing intelligible comes out! Oh but the expression on her face is so earnest and and sweet.

I'm so thankful for the lessons she's taught me. She taught me what it was like to hold my baby, to know my baby. to be so familiar with her in my arms that it felt wrong when she wasn't there.

So to my point...I'll try.

The "good" baby thing bothers me. I took a lot of stalk in how you parented, before I had kids. I thought you did a,b, and c and you would get x,y,and z results. And to a point, that is still very true. But I though parenting babies had more of a science to it. And then I had Roo. I thought babies were easier. I thought I would be a good Mom. That I would have an orderly baby who slept, ate and pooped at regular intervals...That's what babies do, right?

I thought a good baby meant I was a good Mama.

My babies weren't "good". My babies have been inflexible at certain stages (okay, make that most stages), they aren't much for sleep. They teeth horribly and with great noise and crank (erm, GUSTO!). They hate to travel and be out of their routine and element. They make every one around them know their misery in these situations and glue themselves to Mommie like little octopi. They don't like new people (though they surprise me at times). They had an insatiable thirst for breastmilk. They aren't big on new places (unless it's outside). They don't like to seperate from Mommie (or Daddy) and protest loudly when some one even approaches with the "I'll hold that baby" gleam in their eye.

They are the epitome of a "bad" baby.


So I must be a bad Mommie, right? I did it to them. I spoiled them. I held them too much, I let them sleep near me, I nursed them too much and should have weaned them sooner (Friendly at 20mos, is still nursing several times a day and a bit at night). Doing those things didn't make my babies mellow like I felt like several parenting sources promised. It was hard!

But you know what? It wasn't about their behavior. It was about what they needed. They came out that way. A little feisty, a little bit more vocal, a bit on the strong side personality wise. They knew what they needed, and they made it known. And my instincts kicked in and I gave. Some times I found ways to meet their need by breaking rules. They didn't sleep well and they needed lots of milk and closeness to Mommie. So I brought them into my bed. I didn't wean them or hold them back, I embraced them.

I heard the analogy recently and I loved it. Imagine you are SO thirsty and you ask for a drink. You hubby brings you a drink and you guzzle it, but right when you are starting to feel the dryness leave your mouth, your hubby snatches the drink away and says, "that's enough, you don't need so much...Too much water will spoil you!" Oh how you looong for that water! You start to crave it more than any thing. It's all you can think about, it dictates every thing about you. YOU HAVE TO HAVE MORE!
How would it be different if your hubby handed you the water and let you drink, and drink, and drink until you were satisfied? You'd happily fill up and be on your way. You wouldn't give water a second thought. It was there if you needed it. Some times if you had a lot going on you might need a bit more water than usual, but it was available.

The same idea is what fueled my instincts. My children needed me. They needed more. It wasn't about how it made me look as Mama. It didn't matter if it made them look like "bad" babies. I am their first expression and understanding of God, what a huge responsibility. I want them to know, I'm here...I'll always be here, my love, commitment, and time for you will never be rationed. Drink fully my baby, drink fully. And when you get your fill, at some point that will happen, you can run off and fly freely knowing I'm here for you...But most importantly, you'll be full of that love, you'll have seen giving, empathy, caring, grace, gentleness modeled day in and day out. You'll have seen the Father's heart for you... And as you grow I'll guide you to find you water in His arms as well. I'll lead you in prayer when you are hurt or sad. I'll pray over you. I'll be there for you.

Why is it about the outside? Why do we control the way we respond to be sure the outside aligns with what is deemed "good"?

I'll take "bad" (or could we say normal) baby and all the lessons that I have learned in giving, in learning to set boundaries in other areas of my life. The lessons of God's Grace and mercy for me.
Oh and now my Roo isn't a baby anymore. She's nearly 3.5 years old. Her cup is starting to overflow...Oh certainly she some times needs some watering! But the sweet giving and empathetic heart that is starting to appear is amazing to behold. She wants to please so very much, she is human. But I am very glad I choose to be bad.


Oh this post is so rough. I want to write more, I want to process more. I want to clarify more. But I'm afraid, I'm out of time. My children need me. Time to head back home. Part Two and more thoughts soon.

Angelina Jolie...Parenting 6 littles is "easy"

I came across this article, and it runkled me.
And I quote:

It’s easy when they’re small, she says, and don’t require much emotional
support. But as they get older, “they’re going to need a lot more talking in the
middle of the night, like I did with my mom for hours. We want to make sure we
don’t build a family so big that we don’t have absolutely enough time to raise
them each really well.”

What PLANET is the woman living on?

Okay I certainly shouldn't be surprised by this. It is Angelina Jolie for crying out loud. It's just so sad to me because this is the predominant mindset in our culture: that children "don't [or shouldn't] take much when they're little." Or that if you're a good parent your kids don't take much from you, at any stage.

And I think this mindset sets a lot of new parents up for convenience parenting. which bottom line, is neglect.

Now I'm not saying a parent has to do a, b, and c to be a "good" parent. But I do think our cultural mindset that "when they are little it is easy" should make us pause.

Easy why? Easy how?

We do children a big mis-servce (and even some extensive damage) when we view them as these little automatons until they hit their teens. Instead of individual unique people. People with very real needs and feelings.

I won't go into the neglect and abuses the babies and children in our culture endure.

But I do want to ask why this mindset that the teen years are "so hard", and take up so much time? Yes the teen years are full of change. It is intense. But why harder work? Different work, but parenting is always work.

I think the change could be compared quite closely to that of toddlerhood. The toddler is no longer a baby. But lacks the emotional and physical skills of a child. The toddler is developing fine and gross motor skills, as well as discovering the boundaries of life.

While Teens are no longer children. They still lacks the emotional and physical freedom of an adult. The Teen is transitioning into more responsibility and making decisions about the direction their life will take. Finding the balance as the boundaries slowly change as the young adult matures and is ready to leave the nest.

Both these transitions take a LOT of energy and work!

I'm not come to any other conclusions in this post. I haven't parented long enough to. But I will say that I wonder if you parent your children consistently all along. Especially in the early years giving lots of time building a strong connection and bond...Maybe the teen years won't be as much drama and conflict as you envision?

Bottom line, if parenting six small children is "easy", I need a few good nannies.

:0.