- Pennie came to potluck AND to Madison’s soccer game. More of Pennie makes for a better life and a better adoptee experience (and a better adoptive mother experience). Someone asked me a couple of weeks ago if maybe Madison needed a break from new sisterhood — i.e., less time with her first mom and baby brother — and I see where they’re coming from in theory. Sure, less first mom and less baby brother might make it all less in her face BUT less Pennie sucks for Madison because she loves her (I wasn’t crazy about my baby brother when he showed up either but it would have been a mistake to send me to grandma’s because I needed more time with my mom not less). All you have to do is see Madison hugging on Pennie to know It Is Good. Besides which, she may be jealous of her baby brother but the more she sees him, the more she feels good about her big sister role.
- Also, I like having Pennie around ‘cuz I am fond of her. I also like to see her being Roscoe’s mommy because she is such a good one. I love to see her comfortably tossing him around like a seasoned mom. I like to see him scanning the scenery and then focusing on her face and calming right down. And he’s been looking just like Tommy but then yesterday he up and made himself look like Pennie’s little brother and I like to see those changes, too.
- Brett scheduled my GRE for next week. Perhaps I should start studying again.
- Speaking of getting back on track, I ran for the first time in about a month today figuring whatever was blooming had to be dead or dying by now. Sure enough, my breath is not what it was pre-asthma arrival but I wasn’t wheezing like I was a month ago. AND! New (to me) running shoes were so comfortable that I had NO SHIN SPLINTS. New Balance shoes are my friends.
- I have got to find some pants to fit Madison’s hiney. I hate these super-tight, low-ride, flare-leg leggings. My child needs some regular comfy stretchy pants. We called the inlaws who are visiting Portland to ask them to pretty please swing by the Hanna outlet. Why is it so hard to find regular old PANTS? Also shirts? Hate that they’re all fitted. Madison’s body type is not on the rack right now and it’s pissing me off.
- Everyone (besides me) at the office is at a conference this week. You know what that means? It means I can catch up on the quarterly magazine we put out! Also the flyers/brochures for upcoming trainings. When my office mates come back, I should be totally on top of things (theoretically). This and the running bodes well for my sanity and my insomnia.
- I went thrifting and got this jacket from Lands End (not this exact one — a past season’s version so it’s less fitted and the collar is different but the length is the same and the pink color is slightly less bright). My price? Four bucks. I also got a beautiful squishy fall sweater; the New Balance shoes for me, barely worn Lands End sneakers for Madison; barely worn Vans for Noah; a graduation gown (black) for his Halloween costume; a dance costume for Madison (sparkly purple); and a black & white skirt because the three I have aren’t enough for me. I think that’s all I got. Oh wait — also two new with tags Bitten bras. Suggested retail guesstimate? At least $375 (I didn’t include the New Balance shoes, the graduation gown or the dance costume). My price? Less than twenty-five bucks. But I didn’t find one damn pair of pants to fit Madison.
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I hear ya on the girls’ pants. I had some leggings luck on Lands End this fall. They periodically have big sales so if you sign up for the emails you’ll know when. I like the fit of them on my daughter.
What size is M now? I’m thrifting this week – Q is letting me out of her sight. Gage needs some pants! He’s got a skinny hiney, but not skinny enough for slims! We need elastic..
I have a tough time saying what size she is. Sometimes she’s as small as a 5 and sometimes a 7/8 doesn’t fit. It’s all those skinny pants. I keep buying ‘em and bringing ‘em home and they don’t work. (I stopped at another thrift store and got four shirts and two pairs of pants for three bucks — they were having a sale. Neither pair of pants fit and only three of the shirts.)
It was nice to see that sweet baby on Friday. He is so darn cute! He’s a lucky boy to have Madison and all these other people lovin’ on him!
Where did you thrift yesterday???
He is a cutie, eh? I went to the Village Thrift in Linden (on Cleveland Avenue). Ohio Thrift has raised their prices and are starting to mark any recognizable labels WAY up. Grrrr.
We’re going to have to bite the bullet and buy some Hannas, too. The rest of our clothes are from thrift stores, which is how I justify the purchase of the ONLY PAIR OF JEANS ON THE MARKET that my daughter doesn’t run screaming from the room to avoid when I pull them out of the drawer. The rest of her pants are leggings and stretch/yoga-style pants. It’s so frustrating and I just ache for my beautiful curvy girl already.
I took Linley pants shopping yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to find some at Old Navy that fit really well. She’s been having problems with them running too low every where else. These still looked stylish (she is in 6th grade and that stuff is starting to matter) but fit her still little girl figure.
I noticed they came in slim, regular and plus- so there were lots of options for a better fit.
Finding “fittable” pants for one of my girls is practically a full time job. When she was Madison’s age, we had good luck with jeans from Children’s Place, b/c they all have a hidden elastic adjustable thing inside the waist. That way, I could buy them a little bigger to accommodate backside and thighs, without them being gaping at the waistband. The down side–not super quality. You won’t be handing them down like you might the Hannas.
I’m with you in cursing the people “designing” mass-market “children’s” clothes these days–it’s like they’ve never seen a pre-teen body :-<
trixie lived in stretch pants (target variety) for years because they just didn’t make jeans to fit her … but now kohl’s has girl’s jeans in half sizes, and i think old navy may too … that fit perfectly! don’t know if you’re looking for jeans (that’s the bottom part of trixie’s uniform) but you might want to give kohl’s and/or old navy a try. of course, the beauty of no uniform is that she can just wear dresses all the time, which is my solution to having a body that the fashion industry doesn’t make pants for. actually, now that i think of it, have you tried boys, in husky sizes? that might work too.
Madison doesn’t like jeans although that may just be the lack of jeans that fit her comfortably. She does do a lot of dresses but she’s grown out of those, too (!!!) and again, it’s those nice waistless Hanna/Lands End dresses that suit her best and the newer dresses are all skinny and tight. And then we still need leggings for underneath.
Basically she’s wider than the clothes for someone her height. All the manufacturers seem to assume that girls this age stretch out a bunch so some of the size 5s are wide enough for her while some of the size 6/7/8s in the same brand are too skinny.
But I’m taking notes on the advice here and I’ll keep looking!!
Good score with the coat!! It annoys me that they don’t have clothes that fit all the different body types. If they have that with kid’s clothes that really annoys me!!
OH, what a nice soft jacket! I should try to learn to thrift too…
We’re trying jeans for the first time since Aud was a toddler. I just ordered some elastic-back jeans from Lands End (had to get some uniform slacks, and LE are the only ones with elastic for big girls). Audrey is curvy, and she inherited the belly that my younger brother and our cousin have. Her belly waxes and wanes with her growth spurts, and it makes me so frustrated trying to find pants/jeans that don’t cut into her. Dresses would be perfect–but she hates looking “girly.” So we’ve done sweats and yoga pants in the winters (Texas, so mild) until this year.
She’s 7 and tall and gorgeous. But with her belly, all pants are too long in the inseam and must be altered. Thank goodness the husband is good with the sewing machine!
For my girl who isn’t shaped like the hip-hugger clothes on the rack, I shop (shh, don’t tell) in the boys’ section. The jeans and tees are cut wider, and the tees are usually beefier. And plain tees can be painted or girlied up if necessary.