Growing Pains

I'm not sure about the other kids out there, but my children have a knack for growing out of pajamas in the middle of a season, when there are no suitable replacements to be found.  This phenomenon was discovered during my son's first winter, when he was nine months and wearing 18 month-sized sleepers.  My sister promptly nicknamed my son Moose the day after he was born, and his growth chart certainly held up the name.  By his first birthday, we were on to size 2T, with no blanket sleepers in sight.  I've never been a fan of having a blanket in the bed/crib of any infant/toddler, so this sleeper-shortage was a huge problem.  I searched clearance bins and the Internet coming up empty handed.  Even my dad, who lived in Washington at the time, was unable to find any sort of winter pajama.  What was worse is that we had trouble finding ANY kind of substitute for Moose's pajamas.  I took the lesson to heart, vowing this wouldn't be the case the following winter. 

For the last four years, I have bought my children three sets of pajamas that are just a smidge big, and one set for the next two sizes up as a precaution.  I have been fortunate over the years that both my mother and mother-in-law have delivered pajamas to my kids on more than one occasion, so there hasn't been another pajama shortage.  Baby Girl likes wearing her brother's hand-me-downs in a pinch, and Moose always has a size up tucked away.  It's been a good six months since any pajama fairy has visited, and after bath a few nights ago we discovered that both kids were about two to three inches out of their pajama bottoms.  How did that happen?  It's been pretty warm here, and the children haven't worn long bottoms in about a month.  Before I continue, it's important to say that I am a fabric hoarder.  That being said, my collection is vast, but organized.  I may not always have exactly what I'm looking for, but I have something to make-do with.  I pulled out the fleece bin and cut two pairs of lounge bottoms for Moose.   Baby Girl chose some flannel-backed Tinker Bell fabric months ago that, fortunately for me, I hadn't cut into, so she'll be rockin' that fabric this summer.   We stopped in a fabric store the other day for some notions and came out with some monster print softy fabric for another pair of pants for Moose.  Who can resist a five-year-old boy asking his mother to sew him something?  Not me!

And what did I learn from this post?  It wouldn't hurt for me to take a photography class!