I'm here :)

It was a very, very long week at work and I had many after school activities so I had little time for anything else this week, hence the lack of blogging. I'm sorry! Work doesn't usually stress me out, but this week was definitely a stressor.

So, I ended the long week the way any smart woman does...by spending lots of money! haha!

We ventured into the big city today (with the help of our Garmin, of course) and purchased baby furniture at Treasure Rooms. I really love the set we purchased. We actually ended up buying 3 pieces, instead of the 2 I thought we would purchase. They had the three piece set on sale and since we live in IL, we don't pay sales tax (it's like the ONLY time in the history of the world where there is a tax advantage to living in IL). That saved us quite a bit of money. We also went ahead and got the mattress, too, although if I would have thought things through more carefully, we wouldn't have purchased the mattress; we would have put it on a registry in the future. Ah well. It's done and the set is so nice, I'm very happy with it.

We usually are BIG FANS of the dark, espresso furniture. And, they had the set we like in both a darker cherry and the espresso. We got to thinking about it and decided that we wanted something a little different than the usual. Our master bedroom furniture, the living room furniture, and the basement furniture is all espresso finish.

So, to be different and because we liked the finish of the cherry more, we went with that instead. And I'm really glad we did. I think it's going to look great in the soon-to-be-nursery.

Here is the set: (we got the sleigh crib, the 5 drawer dresser (not pictured) and the combo table (seen in the back)): It's the Carragio Collection by Creations:


While we were shopping, my mom called to congratulate Hubs on passing the EPPP (the national licensing exam for psychologists). She also said they would like to take us out to dinner tonight with the group to celebrate! SCORE! We're always up for food :)

Speaking of the EPPP, I am SO PROUD of my husband. It's very difficult to explain the journey he's been on in pursuit of his dream. He had four years of college, 5 years of graduate school (it's a 6 year program that he completed in 5 to save us money), a year long internship, and a year of post-doctorate work. All of this is required to become a psychologist.

Then, we decided to reside in IL. This decision made his life exponentially more difficult because IL is ridiuclous when it comes to licensing mental health professionals. Even with his doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology, he needed more hours to become a mid-level provider, so he had to test at the lowest level (licensed professional counselor), which meant he required supervision (he couldn't practice independently). This meant we had to find an employer who had the required supervision staff AND separately, we had to find a licensed clinical psychologist to agree to provide additional supervision. Through the Grace of God, we found a relatively local psychologist and as God would have it, this psychologist had also interned at Girls and Boys Town in Omaha (where Hubs had completed his internship). One of Hubs supervisors at GBT agreed to contact this local psychologist and vouch for Hubs. Dr J agreed to supervise Hubs (having only met him ONCE) .

This turned out to be such a blessing. Dr J not only provided excellent supervision, he is a great guy for Hubs to have connected with early on in his career. He and Hubs are more than colleagues now; they're friends.

Two years later, he had enough post-doctoral experience to now sit for the mid-level licensing exam, which he also studied very hard for and passed. At this point, he became a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). Now he could practice independently (no more supervision nor was he required to be in a clinic with other MH counselors).

When people asked him what he did for a living, he would simply reply, "I'm a counselor."

I'm not trying to be petty, but he was WAY more than just a counselor at this point. He had his Bachelors degree, his Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, his Doctorate Degree in Clinical Psychology, he had completed a year long internship in psychology at a world renowned mental health facility and he had also finished his required post-doctoral year. He wasn't just a "counselor."

But, according to the state of IL, he was just that.

Until yesterday.

In IL, you have to wait until you are ONE year post-doc before you can sit for the EPPP. In my humble opinion, this is a crazy requirement. By the time you can sit for the EPPP in IL, you've had your doctorate degree for 3 years and you've been seeing patients for 7 years. You can defend your doctorate dissertation, you can see clients, develop treatment plans, bill insurance companies, but you can't sit for a stinking test? It's crazy.

He sat for the EPPP the first part of January and we've been waiting ever since for the results. Then yesterday (Friday) at 4pm, I couldn't take it anymore. I called the IL Dept of Professional Regulation to inquire about the status of his license. If he passed his test, his license should have already been issued. If he didn't pass, they wouldn't be able to give us any info except that they cannot issue his license. The gal answered the phone, looked up his application and said, "todays your lucky day. The license was issued this morning."

THANK THE LORD!

I was in total disbelief. Not in disbelief that he passed, but in disbelief that after all these years, we just learned that there is a license that says Hubs is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist (side note: I even asked the lady to please read to me the title on the license. While she graciously acknowledged my request, I know she must have been thinking how crazy I was for making that simple, yet odd, request).

Three little words that mean SO MUCH to both of us: Licensed Clinical Psychologist.

This is such a simplified version of the reality that was our journey. There were many, many set backs (albeit, temporary set backs, but setbacks nonetheless). There were the countless internship applications that we mailed (many of which were likely never opened because one site admitted they only accept the first X number of good applicants for interviews...after they've met that quota, they stop opening applications...so, first come, first serve. WHO KNEW?!). There were several trips across the country for internship interviews, which meant there were accompanying credit card charges for each of those trips.

Then, on the evening of a family Christmas party at our house, we learned that Hubs didn't get the St. Louis interview we I had so desperately wanted him to get (THAT is the site that apparently didn't open all of the applications- whatever, it was THEIR loss). Then there was the reality that we would have to live separate lives (again) while he went off on Internship. (Another blessing in disguise- Girls and Boys Town was the BEST match for him. He learned SO MUCH and made the best friends during his Internship. Friends that took such good care of him when I couldn't. The St. Louis site would have been such a bad match for him. In hindsight, I'm very, very grateful he ended up in Omaha).

Then there was the IL committee who delayed one of his licenses because they felt Hubs didn't have enough Substance Abuse training. KNIFE TO MY HEART. He has a Masters AND a Doctorate degree in CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY. You're telling me that what we've scarified thus far and all of the education and training he's had isn't enough for a Masters Level license? SERIOUSLY?!

And we were supposed to feel better when they told us that "most" applications didn't have enough Substance Abuse training and were required to take a semester long course.

Again, they were saying that what he had done thus far wasn't good enough. I'll never forget the emotional breakdown I had driving to 54th Street Grill to pick up our dinner that Friday night we received the "what you've done isn't enough" letter. The poor gal who came out to give me our food looked horrified by the crazy blond haired, mascara-ruined, sobby faced, hysterical crier who handed her the debit card.

Forget that. Hubs promptly wrote his appeal letter; ultimately involving his program director of his doctorate program who also confirmed that the training he received more than qualifies him for the license he was seeking.

And, the state overturned their original decision. Turns out that having TWO graduate degrees DOES qualify one for a master's level license in this state. THANK GOD.

All of that to say, we're SO thankful and relieved that it's over. IT'S OVER. Done. There is nothing more Hubs can do in his profession. There is no higher degree, no higher license. Now, he FINALLY can take all he's worked for in this life and use it to help others.

And we all couldn't be more proud of him. His family and my family have been so supportive of us during these past 8 years. And now, there's someone else who is beaming with pride: Bubs. I just know it. In a weird way, it's such a cool feeling to know that Bubs was there when Daddy got the good news of his final success.

And tonight we'll CELEBRATE! We'll drink and eat and be merry.

And be content. And grateful.

It's done.

Until next time....XOXO!

The one thing I know for sure

This I know for sure:

Bubs will have a round face and cute chubby cheeks.

How do I know this?

May I present to you, Exhibit A:



This is Hubs at 3 months old. How cute is he?

Now, Exhibit B:



This is me at an unknown age (probably also around 3 months old).

I think we both have cute, puffy cheeks because we smile a lot. (In fact, Hubs was smiling in his sleep the other night which was SO CUTE). And, although Hubs has dark hair now, he was born with a lighter mop so I suspect Bubs will have cheeky cheeks and light hair. We could possibly even have a red headed babes- both my mom and her dad (my grandpa) are/were red heads.

Although, come to think of it, I never saw my grandpa with red hair. I only knew him to have bright white hair and every picture I ever saw of him was a black and white photo, so as far as I'm concerned, the legend of his red hair could all just be gossip (you know how word got around back in those days).

And, my mom's red hair didn't actually turn red until later in her childhood (age 11, I think?). She was born with super blond hair. But you should see the pics of her from high school and right before her wedding...the most beautiful, shiny, long red hair. These days, some people pay a lot of good money to get her color of hair.

So, we may not know what we're having, but I'm fairly certain we'll have the cutest little chubby cheeked, blond haired baby we'll have ever seen.

Until then....XOXO!

Long weekend follows a long week

Last week was a long week for me at work. Needless to say, I'm thankful for this 3 day weekend!

Last week was also a rough week for my body. It wasn't terrible by any means, it was just more gaggalicious than ever before. In fact, towards the end of the week, I felt compelled to close my office door to prevent others from having to endure the gagfest. I let staff know that my door was closed, but that I wasn't on an important phone call nor was I trying not to be bothered (I rarely close my office door); I just wanted to shelter others from the nasty gagging noises.

I could tell that my abdomen went through some physical changes, too. Getting up too quickly from my office chair usually results in sharp, pulling pains (more on the right side than the left). Its a very similar feeling to have an inguinal hernia (which I've had and also had surgically repaired). Usually the pain subsides within just a few seconds. I wasn't too worried about the pains and then my BFF, M (who is also pregnant and due the same time as us), emailed me with some random pregnancy info, some of which was:

Belly Pain...as you enter your second trimester, things begin the great shift and expansion project. It will not be as traumatic as the last month or so, but all the same...it's weird. I have noticed the last couple of days that if I stand up too quickly I get a sharpish pain low on my belly. The muscles and stuff are starting to loosen and stretch, so just be careful. You still move quickly in these early months because you don't have a 7 pound kid wedged in your pelvis, but your muscles don't want to move that quickly standing up (I think it's more the stretching from sitting to standing). Anyway, it's normal. What's not normal, is if the sharp pain lasts a long time or at random times (call the doctor).

Like I said, I wasn't worried about the pain but I felt even better after getting her email.

She also said in her email that maternity pants don't fit her well b/c she's not big enough to fill them out, yet her pre-pregnancy pants are too tight (especially after eating). She suggested something along the lines of a BellaBand. I appreciate the suggestion and truth be told, I had already purchased one back in week 7 because I got sick of sucking in my fat I needed it.

It's SO MUCH FUN having a BFF who is pregnant too (and, particularly one who is due around the same time)!

My mom asked me the other day if we planned on getting a 3D ultrasound.

I don't know. Sometimes I think about how fun it would be to get the insider look at our little one. Maybe get a glimpse of which features Bubs has of daddy and which features Bubs has of mine. On the other hand, we're really enjoying the surprises that will come with the delivery. Not knowing the sex and then also maybe not having seen Bubs too much during the 9 months. It's all part of the experience of surprise.

We haven't had any ultrasounds thus far (which seems to be highly unusual...everyone we knows has had at least one U/S by now, but not us) so maybe we'll keep the mystery going and just wait until the big day to see our baby.

Who knows. Maybe we get to 30 weeks and NEED to have something more, something to see or hold of Bubs.

Guess we'll see!!

In other news, I'm up 3.5 pounds since we first got pregnant. I think that making it through the first trimester with only 3.5 lbs gained is quite an accomplishment! I really can't take credit, though. With the food I've been eating, I should have gained 35.0 lbs already :)

I'm thinking about putting a weight tracker on the sidebar so you can follow along, pound by pound. I honestly don't care if people know how much I weigh. Maybe having it publicly displayed with help me exert some discipline in my food choices. Or, maybe I'll just keep eating what I'm eating ;)

Until next time, XOXO...

Oh and I'm planning on posting two baby pictures in the near future...one of Hubs as an infant and one of me. One thing that will not be a surprise about Bubs is that he or she is bound to have a very round face and cute puffy cheeks :)

I feel pregnant

Today is the first day that I feel pregnant (physically, in my belly). It came right after lunch where I actually didn't eat too much food (I had a business luncheon where there was a buffet so I had a salad, green beans, 1/2 of a roll, and a small spoonful of Au gratin potatoes). I get to socializing and don't eat very much (I am my father's daughter, after all). The main course was fried chicken and that didn't sound good so I stuck mostly with green beans and the salad.

I was driving back to the office and my stomach felt very full, like I ate too much. And, it was harder/tighter than it's ever been.

I'm wondering if part of it is mental...during the meeting, many people came up to me to ask how I was feeling and had questions about how the pregnancy is going and such. Of course, that gets me thinking about the pregnancy (sometimes I go for hours not thinking about anything baby related...but that mostly just happens when I'm at work and have others things I HAVE to do).

So, whether it's mental or not, the fact remains that I feel pregnant today.

And I love it.

And, Hubs said my stomach looks bigger, too!

I'm still feeling pretty good. The gagging has been occurring more frequently over the past few days. It happens regularly at work now (I used to be able to hide it or contain it more.... not so much anymore). Poor Jill... she walked into my office at the exact moment that I gagged. I didn't realize she had come in but then I turned around and she just had this stunned look on her face.

I've received some great suggestions through comments ya'll are leaving. Bob suggested I write in a journal that eventually would be given to Bubs...I really like that idea. I"ll have to keep a separate journal, though, as Cheryl suggested since there may be things I want to write down that I'll never want our child to know!

Hubs is smack dab in the midst of an allergy attack so he hasn't been sleeping nor feeling well. I wish I could help him feel better. I've never had allergies and never knew what they were like until after we married. It's like having a cold for weeks at a time. Excessive drainage, coughing...it's miserable.

On the flip side, I have been sleeping REALLY well and I didn't have to get up to pee last night until 6am! SCORE!

We have a three day weekend coming up and we plan on hitting the baby stuff pretty hard this weekend. We have to make room in the storage room so things can start coming down stairs and out of the nursery.

Again, Hubs has no idea what he's in for :)

And, in case you're wondering, we're sticking with our newly established Valentine's Day plans: Dinner at IHOP with Scott, Robin, Jennie, Ben followed by ice cream cupcakes at Scott and Robins. Breakfast for dinner AND ice cream cupcakes? HEAVEN.

Hope all is well with you.

Until next time...XOXO.

Oh, PS- I promise to post a belly pic within the next 10 days. Pinky promise.

Supplements

After "how far along are you," the second most frequently asked question I receive is, "what supplements are you taking now that you're pregnant?"

I take:

• 10,000 IU Vitamin D every day
• Pre-natal vitamin (with iodine) every day
• DHA (a second pill that comes with the pre-natal vitamin) every day
• 500 mg Dimagnesium malate every day
• 12.5 mg Iodoral (Iodine) once/week

The magnesium is for muscle health (no pre-term labor for me!) which includes heart health (my first two visits with the OB are the ONLY two visits I've had with a medical doctor in which my blood pressure wasn't elevated). In fact, my blood pressure at my last OB visit was perfect at 120/80. Magnesium also helps prevent constipation (which I have yet to experience and hope I never do).

The Vitamin D is for...well, everything.

The Iodine is for my thyroid health and it is especially crucial for the baby's brain and neurological development. After several months on Iodine treatment (pre-pregnancy), my TSH went from 2.98 to 1.1 (1.1 is PERFECT, just ask Dr. Davis). I'm convinced that improving my thyroid health assisted in conception.

That's it. Nothing too spectacular, but each is very important. I keep the vitamins on my nightstand along with a bottle of Gatorade so I can take them first thing in the morning.

Oh, and my next post will be about my health goals during pregnancy (including yoga, my walking regimen, and eating habits).

Until then.....XOXO

Picture this...

Friday morning I awakened around the usual time and noticed Hubs wasn't in bed. I always get up before him so I laid in bed for a few minutes, listening for movement around the house to see if I could pinpoint his location. After several minutes of silence (I didn't even hear Cooper, which is highly unusual since he usually cold noses my arm in order to get me up), I went into the bathroom thinking he was hanging out there.

Nope.

So then I headed downstairs into the pitch blackness of the main hallway. No lights were on. At all. I walked into the kitchen where Coop came up to me. I asked Coop where daddy was and he lead me into the dark living room. No lights, not even much coming in from the window. But, I could see him. Hubs was sitting in the rocking recliner near the fireplace just lying there, slightly reclined with his feet up. He had his glasses on and he was just lying there, awake, starring at the ceiling.

I walked over, kissed his forehead and said, "are you feeling OK? why are you up so early?"

He leaned in for a real kiss then said, "couldn't sleep. I'm too excited."

Today we would get to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time.

At our first OB appt several weeks earlier, we had fully anticipated having an ultrasound. Nearly everyone we know got an U/S at their first visit and we didn't think we would be any different. But, as it turned out, no such luck for us-- we walked out of the visit with no actual medical confirmation that we were pregnant.

Fast forward 4 weeks. This morning would be the day we would get that much awaited, highly anticipated confirmation that Bubs was indeed real.

We got to the office about 30 mins early. We were Dr. T's first appointment of the day and he saw us right away. As he walked into the exam room, Dr. T joked that he "didn't have any worms" {for the early birds}.

He came over to me, put his hand on my shoulder and said, "shall we hear the heart beat?"

"Yes, please."

He pulled out his baby ears, pressed them to my belly and instantly found the heart beat. But, before Hubs or I could hear it, it went away. Dr. T said, "did you hear that? That was it!"

"NO! We didn't hear anything" {worry}

"Well, the baby is kicking and moving, so when that happens, we can't hear the heartbeat very well. Hold on just a sec...There it is! Hear it now?"

{Silence}

Hubs was towards the end of the table, down closer to my feet than my mid-section. He closed his eyes, leaned in and....then cracked the biggest smile I've ever seen on him.

{woosh woosh...woosh woosh...woosh woosh}

There it was; Bubs beating heart. My eyes filled with tears and I'll never forget the look on Hubs face the second he heard it too.

Hubs connected with Bubs right then and I'll always remember that moment. I'm sure it's one of many sweet, sweet moments I'll see them share.

The rest of the visit was great. Actually, it was perfect. Literally, perfect. Dr. T said all of my lab work came back "totally perfect." Nothing was even a little off. He said that "even for a pregnant woman," my labs are perfect. I'm very proud of that! (Dr. T might call it genetics; I call it "Vitamin D")

Those tears are the only ones I've shed thus far. I am quite surprised at how in-check these hormones seem to be. I wonder if that's likely to keep up?

Oh, and my next post will be what supplements I'm taking. Besides "how far along are you," the other most commonly asked question has been what pills/supplements I'm on now that I'm pregnant. I know you're excited to find out :)

Until then....

The one about organizing

Not surprisingly, I am thoroughly enjoying all of the planning and organizing that comes with having a baby. Organizing is an escape for me. People who aren't naturally inclined towards organization don't understand that organizing HELPS ME ENJOY THINGS MORE. I know that sounds crazy, but if I can plan for an event, I'm more excited when the event arrives. And, I'm not at all sad when the event is over because there's always something else to plan next.

Prior to our wedding, a coworker shared with me that she went through post-wedding depression after her wedding. She was so sad that the build up and the positive anxiety about the wedding was over.

I'm not THAT kind of planner. Although planning helps me enjoy things more, ultimately, it's simply a means to an end. I was looking forward to our wedding, but I was more excited about the marriage. Those who know our story know that I wouldn't be happy with just one night with Hubs (wedding): I wanted EVERY night with him (marriage).

Planning is planning to me. It doesn't matter if it's a big event (wedding, baby, house warming party) or an everyday occurrence (cleaning out the garage, laundry, dishes), I plan it out.

Because there are so many things to consider with a baby, I have no less than 3-4 different baby related projects going on. To keep track of them all, I've got my organizing gear.

This is the stack of my gear. My laptop is on the bottom and is covered with books, notebooks, and to-do lists. The green book on top is my daily planner. This is something I've had since pre-pregnancy and it's doing double-duty now that it also serves as the master planner!

Baby Bargains. This is the first baby book I purchased. My sister-in-love recommended it and boy am I glad she did! It's a planners dream. It gives great tips and tricks on how to find the best baby gear (for example, why not get a gently used high chair at a garage sale and then power wash it at the local car wash to make sure it's in tip top shape?). The authors have also reviewed many, many baby related items (baby stores, registries, furniture makers, etc) and given honest (non-compensated) reviews based on their own experiences plus feedback they've seen online or received directly from Baby Bargains customers.

This is an organizing book I purchased. It has some helpful info, but I haven't really gotten that into it yet. It does have a brief list of things to do each month which has been helpful. To be honest, it was an impulse buy. Had I spent more time evaluating it, I probably would have put the $17 it cost towards a Starbucks Strawberries'n'cream frapucinno something else.

This composition book is pretty small and I keep it in my purse so I can write down ideas I have or things to add to the to-do list. I use this along with the notebook shown below (which is bigger so I tend not to carry it with me very often).

This is my main to-do notebook. It has sturdy binder rings so its held up well to all of my abuse over the years. I LOVE this notebook mostly because I also used it while planning for our wedding. How cool is that? Two major life events contained in the same notebook?

This is a planner that my friend, Sara, just gave me the other day. She's 28 weeks preggers and received it in the mail recently. Obviously, she's not going to use a 40 week notebook when she's over halfway through her pregnancy so she graciously gave it to me! Thanks Sara! I browsed through it the other day and it has good info, especially in regards to items to register for (and how many of each to put on the registry). I have a feeling it's going to be a nice addition to my organizing profile.

Finally, this is the MASTER planner. It is a FiveStar flexible notebook. Again, it's very sturdy so it can endure those "toss it in the backseat of the car" moments that happen daily every-so-often. It contains several plastic zip pockets where I can store coupons, loyal customer punch cards, pens, magazine cut outs (ideas), and more. The first section is a red notebook where I (again) list items we need to do. I'm still working through what to-do items will be kept where (there are some things to-do around the house, then there are things to-do just in the nursery, then there are things to register for, etc). Lots of to-do lists... I'm in Heaven.

So, that's the start of my organizing. Poor Hubs had no idea what he was in for :) But, he's adjusting very well.

Oh yea, and my next post will probably be about our first two OB visits (which contains the story about the only time I've cried during pregnancy).

P.S. Even though we're not finding out whether Bubs is a boy or a girl, I'm going to put a poll on the side bar for you to vote on what YOU think Bubs is.

Until then, love to you all!

Ask and ye shall receive

The nasty emails and threats of bodily harm have sunk in...I finally put together the baby blog some all of you requested.

Here's the deal: I blog, you comment. Deal? :)

I've actually tried putting together a blog for the past few weeks, but, being the perfectionist I am, I spent more time (like, hours) searching for the perfect blog design and gave up because I didn't see anything I liked.

While in the shower this morning, I figured I had better just start one, even if it looks simple and not all colorful and pretty and organized and, well, me-ish.

Obviously, I waited until I got OUT of the shower to actually start the blog ;)

We're almost 12 weeks along. I'll say "we" a lot because I certainly am not going through this alone. Hubs has been absolutely wonderful through the trying-to-conceive (or "TTC" as those of who have been trying for a while come to call it) and now through the first few weeks of pregnancy. It's not MY baby, it's OUR baby.

I feel great. I feel really, really good. I'm sleeping well. I'm eating well :) A few times a day, I'll dry heave, but I don't feel nauseous and I don't actually get sick, so I'm perfectly fine with gagging.

A few things:

1. I'm freaked out by the floating baby in the side bar ---> but it's a good way to keep up with how far along we are, so Virtual Bubs is here to stay
2. Surprisingly, I am NOT (yet) freaked out by the labor and delivery process (I plan on observing the Amy method of birthing, to be explained in a future post)
3. I. AM. IN. PLANNING. HEAVEN.
4. I'm disappointed in my current eating habits and hope to change those without sacrificing too much of the things that help me feel like a human being (mostly chocolate donuts- those aren't going anywhere)
5. I'm not at all put off by unsolicited pregnancy/birthing/parenting advice. Although that may change over the next few months, I'm so freaking excited to be pregnant that I'll talk about it with anyone who wants to share their knowledge and experience with me (caveat being bad labor stories- there's no room in my life for those.)
6. I have the BEST FRIENDS in the world. So much has already been given to us- love and support being paramount, but also material goods, such as LOADS of very comfortable maternity clothes (Lisa, Jennie, THANK YOU!)....baby goods such as a Graco travel system, swings, seats, and a lot of other things that I can't mentally picture what they are (thanks AMY for the baby stuff!).
7. I've only cried once so far. That story to come later.
   

There is it. The first post of many on this amazing journey we've started. Thanks to those who kept up the pressure for me to actually start the blog. Now that it's here, I promise it'll be a part of my daily life. Cheryl told me that one of the best things she did while pregnant was keep a blog.

Oh, and my next post is about all of the organizing I've done thus far. Hold on kids, you're going to love it as much as I do!

P.S. Not sure when I'll post belly pics. At this point, I feel bigger, but I mostly attribute that to the fact that I stopped sucking in my belly fat about a month ago so although it looks like I'm bigger, I'm really not. I've just become terrible at hiding what I've been carrying around for years. Give me a few weeks, then I'll post (and then you can "oh" and "aw" at how "big" I am :)... at that point, it'll be more believable that it's because of Bubs.....)

Much love to you all!