Since June… or really since the prior September, all I’ve worn is maternity clothes. No, I’m not one of those freaks of nature who leaves the hospital with baby in tow while wearing her pre-pregnancy jeans. (I know you’re surprised ;-)) And now, 5 months later, I’m all accustomed to my very limited wardrobe (now that it’s cold, I’ve only had 2 wearable pairs of pants, aka trousers). We just do laundry a lot.

There are a few reasons why I haven’t rushed out to buy new clothes. First of all, we’re pretty darned broke. This having-two-kids thing is a drain on the old bank account, especially given we’re “making payroll” every week, completely supporting another person, our nanny. Then, there’s the idea that I don’t want to make a big investment in togs that I’ll soon be unable to wear, after I slim down. (This one only has a tiny hold on my imagination right now.) But the most important reason is that I had this lingering feeling that there were a whole bunch of clothes sitting in a box somewhere (after our move), just waiting for me to discover them. After all, I had to have been wearing something back in September of 2007, and it wasn’t size 16, which is what I had readily available. Since I’d been wearing maternity clothes at the time we moved, I hadn’t paid much attention to where all my other clothes were packed.

I’d finally broken down this week and bought a pair of plus-sized jeans (18 Ws) at Target, and then, as these things usually go, we started going through boxes last night and uncovered 2 new pairs of jeans (20s) and a few new tops. I’d entirely forgotten about the jeans’ existence. Also, we unearthed some sweatpants for exercise and long-sleeved race t-shirts — so many memories in those race t-shirts. Yippee! I hadn’t realized, until this whole new wardrobe fell into my lap, how much I was eager to wear normal clothes. Of course, I’m going to be running around wearing jeans all the time, but that’s better than yoga pants, right?

So now, self-image-wise, I’m really transitioning to post-partum life. The baby started eating solid food — rice cereal — this weekend, so he’s on the road to being independent of me for his nutrition (though I still hope to breastfeed until he’s a year old). I’ve got non-maternity clothes to wear. Meanwhile, hubby went for a run this weekend, after which he felt really great and declared he is eager to support me in my exercise goals, too. My co-worker said she’d be up for training for a 5K with me in a few months, so we just need to identify the race. And we’re off….