Days 199-201 (vacay, baby)

Today, Chris, Coop and I are loading up and embarking on our first family vacation and I’m so excited! Last week I was consumed by a nasty case of the nervous nellies (click here for backstory), but an overwhelming sense of summer-lovin’ freedom has since replaced my earlier feelings of anxiousness and unease.

Now, it’s all rah-rah, let’s hit the road.

But, I did not get to this point easily. Aside from my mommy issues, I have been battling the whole wardrobe dilemma. When your closet goes from t---h---i---s to this, your clothing options are severely limited. And, what’s so incredibly weird (and I never expected!) is that every time I went out to find stuff to wear on vacation, I was overcome with dread.

Huh?

Smaller size, more fun stuff to choose from, right?

Sure, in a perfect world. But in mine? Not so much. While I’ve been losing weight, certain areas—specifically my gut—have become less dense than they were before, making them harder to conceal. When your stomach area is as solid as steel (with lard, not muscle), you can throw on a tee and not be concerned about the rolls plowing through. But now that everything’s waaaaay more wiggly and wobbly then it has ever been, the rolls could crash the look of a fur-lined parka.

In a nutshell? My stomach is now the world’s biggest jell-o jiggler!!

Sigh.

I keep reminding myself that this is a necessary evil. That I must endure the waterbed effect on my gut in order to achieve my hot mama mission, but it sooo sucks in the middle of summer. It’s not like I can slap a pair of Spanx on under my Bermudas in 103-degree temps (which it’s supposed to be today! ACK!). I would die of heat stroke.

Anywhoo, after several failed shopping attempts, two semi-successful ones (I say semi because each one netted a return trip to exchange stuff that, upon home bathroom-mirror inspection, looked like sausage casings on my wobbly bits) and one great one, I finally have clothes that I actually feel kinda’ cute in. YAY!

Now, if I can just keep from eating my way toward a 20-pound weight gain over the next seven days …