*Shopping*

My pants are getting a little snug. Not so much when I put them on in the morning, but I notice it when I sit down or bend over or otherwise use the lower half of my body. Right now it's pretty limited to my jeans, but as cold weather approaches with the walk to school my Capri's aren't going to cut it any more.

Compounding this small problem is the fact that I really don't own a whole lot of pants. How can this be? I worked in a kitchen. I have four pairs of cheffing pants, which at one point in time I wore seven days a week between school and work. No joke. I own more chef clothes than jeans, cause that was the smart way to spend the clothing budget. Last year I splurged on honeymoon wear, but only bought light, packable pants. I think the last time I purchased a pair of regular old blue jeans was three years ago. And those were for work.

There is a reason behind this. I. hate. buying. pants. Especially jeans. It takes me weeks of hunting and shopping and malling...all things I could do without, thank you very much, to find one pair I really like. Then I stick with those until I can not wear them anymore. It has been suggested by some that I buy several pairs of said jeans when I find that right pair...but boys don't understand that girls can not own multiple pairs of the same jeans. Every pair must be slightly different. Every pair serves a slightly different purpose. If the same style came in different washes and you like them all, well, that might be alright, but how often does that happen?

So today I decided to go ahead and take the bull by the horns and go buy some pants. I have been holding out on buying new jeans, because I knew I would be getting pregnancy soon and did not want to have to go through the shopping process twice. I did some Internet looking, to get an idea of what was out there and what other women were wearing and hit the local mall. I was feeling kind of out of it and slightly head-achy...perfect for a shopping expedition. It keeps me focused, and I know if I find something I like when I'm feeling blah it's a real match and not a "feel good" purchase I'll regret later.

I began my journey at Target. Oh yeah. I didn't feel like plunking down the normal $45-$50 for jeans that have only a limited life span. Say, a year...maybe two with another kiddo, but not of constant wear. I'm saving the big spending for maternity/nursing bras. (Yeah...TMI for all my male friends, sorry.) I can usually find some cute things there and they at least have a maternity section (a problem I would encounter later with stores that don't carry any maternity in-house). Big disappointment. Everything that fit the waist dragged on the floor and for some unknown reason, 'boot cut' was huge. I'm not going to be wearing heeled boots and have a baby belly out to there. Plus, boot cut, unless done oh so subtly, leaves my hips and thighs looking enormous. Not pretty. I finally found one pair I could live with after I hem the bottoms. Yeah, the dressing room girl didn't like me very much.

Next stop...Old Navy. This used to be a haven for me and regular jeans, so I thought I'd give maternity a shot. I like the fact that they give you options like short or regular inseam (short please!) and have little tags that tell the expectant mother which trimesters the pants are good for. I was going for the whole package, 1-2-3 (also good for post birth!) as I'm just about out of my first trimester and wanting to get the most wear out of the pants. Back to not wanting to have to do this all over again. I found one pair I could live with. Actually, they are very cute and I really like them...but one pair. Out of the six I tried on. Out of the dozen I searched through. One pair. This is how picky I am and this is why I don't take anyone with me when I shop serious for clothes. At least I found a 'short' pair. No hemming required.

Now I was beginning to feel really frustrated. I had wanted to acquire at least three pairs of jeans...and I had exhausted the know shopping stops. I tried a big national store. Not one singe piece of maternity clothing. I was surprised, given the amount of children's clothes they carried.

I decided to wander the mall and see what jumped out at me. What I found was Motherhood Maternity. An entire store devoted to pregnant women. No $200 pants in sight (A Pea In The Pod really really charges $200 for a pair of maternity jeans). I was stoked. The staff was super friendly and helpful, plus the fitting rooms were outfitted with little strap-on tummy pillows to help you visualize the pants as the baby gets bigger. Cool. I just did the good old stretch them out test, worked just fine. I ended up with another pair of super comfy jeans and a bonus pair of green cargo pants. The cargo pants are rather large...I won't be wearing them for at least another month...but the jeans are going to go into immediate rotation. Much happiness. Of course, I am now on their mailing list and who knows what kind of scary baby related stuff is going to show up. I've been promised two issues of 'Parents' magazine and samples of Huggies. Great. But I really like the jeans. I might even break my rule and go get another pair. Just like the first. I'll just have to remember when I wore which where.