clothes shopping, pre- and post-pregnancy

A few weeks ago, I bought a pair of jeans since there is NO way that I will yet be able to fit into any of my pre-pregnancy jeans. Then yesterday I also bought 2 pair of shorts and 2 pair of capris since it's getting to be summer and I don't want to be hot. I was amazed at how little time it took to select the properly fitting garments. Maybe it's b/c I'm 2 sizes larger than I was 2 summers ago and clothes don't fit skinny people very well? I don't know.

Anyway, here's what I went through in the past, trying to find pants.

1. Arrive at the store.
2. Select 2 sizes of pants each in 3 different brands, and optimistically take them to the dressing room.
3. Discover that on one of the brands, the smaller size is too small overall but the next size up is big overall.
4. Discover that the smaller size of the other brand fits in the waist but is too tight in the hips, and the next size up fits great in the hips but is gaping in the waist.
5. Pull on one of the third brand, and it fits great... but even though I am wearing low low bikini panties, the pants' rise is so low that my underwear shows in the back when I bend over. Plus I keep feeling like I need to pull them up.
6. Put all the pants back on the hangers and deposit them onto the did-not-fit rack.
7. Repeat steps 2 through 6 through several different stores.
8. Finally find 2 pairs of elastic-waist pants that are suitable, but definitely not "in fashion". Snatch them up quickly while they still fit.
Total time - 17 hours spread over 4 days.

Then, here is what I did yesterday:

1. Arrive at store.
2. Using the same size number as the jeans I bought a couple of weeks ago, grab 1 denim pair of shorts, one khaki pair of shorts, one denim capri, and one khaki capri.
3. Take them to the dressing room and notice that they all come with some sort of belt or tie around the waist, so if any of them have a slight waist gappage then the little beltlets will help cinch that in.
4. Try on each garment and look in the mirror, pleased with the fit. The rise is high enough, the gap in the waist isn't too big, the hips fit fine and I can sit and squat in them as well as stand.
5. Take them to the checkout and purchase.
Total time - 30 minutes.

Not sure exactly why clothes fit me better today, but I'm not going to complain. (Although eventually I would like to one day wear my too-small shorts again.)

restless sleeper, done dyeing

Ever since she was tiny, L has been a restless sleeper. I'll lay her down in the middle of her crib and she will wiggle and squirm and move around until she's wedged herself next to an edge. But she's never bothered by this, and continues to sleep peacefully. A few weeks ago, I encountered this when I went to peek at her in the morning:



Then this morning, her little feet were sticking out between the rails and on top of the bumper. In both cases she was still either sleeping or as happy as can be. (She usually wakes up in a good mood). I just think it's funny how much she moves.

Tuesday, hubby and I finally dyed. I dyed a length of fabric to be used as a wrap baby carrier, and we also dyed 48 prefold diapers. I'm pleased with the way most everything turned out. Here's a few samples:

I was surprised how long the overall dyeing process took, but I shouldn't have been surprised since each of the 49 pieces of cloth had to be tied and dyed individually. Hubby and I had a lot of fun, though. Maybe someday I can dye some more. :)

new tricks and giggles

Well, L finally found something funny enough to laugh at it more than once. (Although it was hard to tell that she was laughing b/c her laugh is still that "heh heh" sound that could be a cry if you weren't looking at her.) Anyway. It's been unseasonably cold here lately, but even her warm-weather sleepers have feet on them, so opportunity to clip her nails is few and far between. But the other day I was changing her and she was in a good mood, so I thought I'd clip the most offensive few toenails while her feet were exposed. I did this right there on the changing table, and my elbow happened to be up in her face. For some reason, she thought that was SO funny. She made her laughy noise and I looked at her to make sure she was laughing, and she had a HUGE grin on her face. Since then, she has at the very least smiled at an elbow in her face, and even has giggled a few more times. :)

Her other trick she has done before once or twice, but started it back up again pretty regularly yesterday. She has always been fond of sticking her tongue out, but yesterday she kept sticking it into her bottom lip. It made her look like an ape. lol. I think it's possibly another sign that she's teething, b/c it almost seemed like she was feeling her gums w/ her tongue. Her cheeks also keep turning pinker than usual. Otherwise, she still has a great disposition. Sure would be nice if teething is mild for her... but I've been so blessed w/ her laid-back-ness (is that a word?) so far that I'm sure I'm in for some long days and nights coming up. Oh well, she's more than worth it. :)

they don't smell like cheese anymore, and some sewing

So, for the past several days, L's diapers have only been wet. I knew she was "saving up" a doozy for me, and it finally arrived this afternoon. Maybe it was the beans and chili I'd been eating this past week, I don't know, but her diaper did NOT smell like the strong cheese that they used to in the past. It was a regular stinky diaper. Very ripe. Certain circumstances have prevented me from going grocery shopping lately, but tomorrow I will have to try to get some healthier foods and hopefully her "cheesy" diapers will return. I had always heard that the dipes stay "unstinky" so long as she's not eating solids yet, but I guess there is always an exception.

As for sewing, I made a pouch that I'll have to take in quite a bit, and I'm also still working on a mei tai for my friends who are having their baby in Oklahoma later this month (or early next month). Hopefully I can finish both of those today and tomorrow.

I'm done training for my newest work at home gig, and have "real" work to do this afternoon already. I am very excited. :)

first orientation session, they're already impressed

So on Monday I had sent out an e-mail to one of the companies, and they immediately sent back an audio file, an information letter, and a questionaire. Part of the questionaire was to transcribe the very short audio file. I did this and sent back the questionaire Monday evening. Tuesday I waited ALL day, to hear something either from them or from a possible two other companies that I had high hopes for. It wasn't until late afternoon that I finally got an e-mail, with my acceptance letter and orientation instructions attached. I was so excited! I got my username and password and made plans to attend this morning's orientation session. During that, I transcribed two full-length 4-minute test files. The person oriented me kept making such comments as "Very good" "Are you sure you haven't done this before?" "You are doing incredibly well" and "one of the best I've ever seen." :)

I have "homework" (a vocabulary list to study and transcribe) before my next orientation session, at 2:00 pm today. The nature of this work is quarterly, so April 15, July 15, October 15, and January 15 and the 4 weeks following are the "busy" season, then I'll have a couple months of light season in between. Maybe one of those other companies will still contact me back and I can have something to supplement the slow times... but even if not, I am very excited about working. I was also so lucky to be applying right before one of their busy seasons while they're hiring.

transcription will be in my future

Whether it's the near future or the far future... and whether it's medical or general... all that is yet to be determined. But speaking of "determined", that is what I am now. I am determined to be a work at home transcriber. The forums at Work At Home Mom are a fabulous wealth of information and experience from those who have been there. I put out my applications with as many companies listed as I feasably could, and hope to find gainful employment soon.

If none of my online searches pan out, I will still be doing transcription, but I will be doing it the "hard" way, by marketing myself. I will have to check with my mom and a friend of mine who both do transcription to see if they will let me get a little experience. Having even a tiny amount of experience is better when marketing onesself than saying "Hi, can I transcribe for you? BTW you'll be my guinea pig because I've never done it before."

I am still technically "active" with LiveOps, and will take enough calls to stay active with them. Lydia is an easy baby and will entertain herself, but she does so very noisily, which of course is not a good background noise to have when I'm taking a call. Transcription would be ideal because I have the skills and the motivation (single income family still living on about an income and a tenth lifestyle... it's that little tenth that'll get us into trouble eventually). And that's all I really need. I don't plan on having any work at home option to be a full-time endeavor... just a little something to help take the "edge" off the budget each month.

teeth may be coming soon

Last time I went to the store, I picked up some Hyland's teething tablets, just in case I needed them sometime in the near future. And today, I picked up on a few teensy signs that she may possibly be teething. The center of her bottom gum almost feels rough, but I can't remember if it feels that way normally or what. It's definitely rougher than the outer edges of her gums, though. Then this evening I changed a poopy diaper, and it was very slightly greenish and very slightly mucousy. And the past couple of days she's been a teensy bit fussier than normal, but I only noticed that b/c I am with her all day. Even her daddy can't really see any change in her temperament. So maybe some teeth are on the way. I'll have to keep an eye out for any more changes.

For now, though, I'm enjoying her toothless grins:

visit with the inlaws

I had a good visit with the inlaws this weekend. Felt sorry for my poor MIL though. She's been suffering from frequent UTI's and had one over the weekend... laid her up on Sunday with a 102 degree fever. (39 celcius). She'll have surgery this summer to make some repairs to that area. Hopefully the infections will stop then, too.

I took both the wrap and the pouch, intending to use the pouch on my travelling days since it's quicker and easier to pop her in and out than the wrap, and to practice w/ the wrap while visiting. But I never got around to using the wrap. I did get LOTS of comments on the pouch though. L is a quiet baby who usually just looks around at things. Today on the way back, I stopped for lunch and set my food down on a table, then walked back to get some napkins, passing a guy who was sitting close by. On my way back to the table he said to me that he thought I was pregnant w/ a baby's face printed on my shirt... until he saw L move her head. What a start that must have given him. :P

On that same lunch visit, I was sitting in a back corner so I could feed L a little privately. I was soon joined by another breastfeeding mother (she w/ a 2 month old) who also had a toddler. I was pretty much finished by the time she sat down, but we chatted for a bit. I didn't feel like my 5-hour drive was very long at all after hearing her trip... El Paso, TX to Ohio. She said it was going to have taken her 3 days by the time she gets to her destination.

L's newest "trick" is sucking on her bottom lip. Sometimes she just does that, and sometimes she talks while she's sucking on it. It's a good way for her to blow a bunch of bubbles. :P Over the weekend we visited the church that hubby and I went to when we lived there, and everyone said that she looks like hubby. :P Maybe our next baby will be a little mini-me. But that's a long way off. I'm still enjoying this one and trying to give her all the attention she deserves. :)

My next few months are going to be VERY busy. I have another trip planned towards the end of this month, then in May I'm going camping for a week (in cabins w/ showers and utilities... no tents in the woods for me, thank you very much. lol), then in early June I'm going to Indiana, then in late June back to OK to help out MIL after her surgery. Hopefully I can rest a little in July and then possibly make a trip to my family in August. Hubby's sister is arriving from Japan for a visit in August so I'll be able to coordinate a visit w/ her too around the same time.

So if you don't see a blog from me until after August... that's why. :P