birthday party pics!

Finally getting around to posting about my "baby's" birthday party last weekend...

A little bit of history - because Jane and my niece, Lucy, are the same age and were born two weeks apart, we've done joint parties for the past two years. Going forward, though, I think this is the last joint party. As much as it makes sense to do so for family, it doesn't make much sense for any other reason! :p Jane and Lucy don't have the same "group" plus, I think, next year (being that they'll be four), they might be more interested in having their own special days.

So, this year, I suggested we rent a place for the party vs. doing it at my sis's house or mine... mostly due to the fact that I knew I'd be huge and grumpy and not wanting to clean up and decorate much, etc. I was right. I might have had four hours sleep the night before the party and, between company and party prep, I was zonkered! We rented an "indoor playground" for a private party and it was awesome. The kids loved it, the space was ideal and it took us ten minutes to throw everything into a garbage bag afterwards and LEAVE! WOOT WOOT! Plus, being that it was split between two families, it wasn't too expensive. I don't know that I'd do it if it were just us as it would be a little pricier than I might be willing to pay to get out of cleaning... in fact, I'd probably just do it at home and pay to have molly maids come in the next day, if I were doing it myself. :p

As far as themes go, I started planning early and, because the party was for both Jane and Lucy, didn't want to go with a typical character theme as it might be difficult to find someone/something that appealed to both of them. Last year was easy - Minnie Mouse - what two year old doesn't LOVE Minnie? But this year, Jane gave me the inspiration as I asked her what she wanted at her birthday party and she said CUPCAKES! THe child LOVES cupcakes. So, cupcake theme it was! Simple and all-pleasing, fantastico!

This was the invite and thank you card combo I came up with for the girls party...

It was inspired by the cupcake wrappers and favor boxes I found from the lovely Martha Stewart at Michaels (seen in the other photos below). I like to coordinate. It's a blessing and a curse.

I also went with the cupcake theme because, two years ago for Jane's first birthday, I bought a $40 giant cupcake pan that I promised myself I'd use more than once... so this gave me a good excuse to pull it out again. I was disappointed, however, as I found a flower-shaped cupcake pan on sale this winter and was so excited about flower-shaped cupcakes that I bought "turf" tiles to line my cupcake trays with so that it would look like flowers in the grass (I know, I'm so cool) and no matter how much batter I used - a little, a little more, too much, a little less - I could not get effin' FLOWERS! So, we just had varying sizes of different color cupcakes - that, of course, I matched to the colours of the invites and martha stewart stuff - that, of course, no one else noticed but ME! :p tee hee hee.

Here's a photo summary of my efforts...

I got the cupcakes toppers on Etsy (of course)... pretty cheap, I think it was $10 for a dozen, totally custom and I got two orders - one for Jane, one for Lucy. I did the big cupcake as a cake for just the girls - for diggin' into with fingers - and individual cupcakes for the other kids and parents instead of a cake to cut. I think it went pretty well. The kids seemed to like that they could choose a cupcake colour of their choice. The party was from 4-6pm and, conveniently, right next to a pizza spot, so it's no surprise what we ordered for dinner! :p Can you ever go wrong with pizza?!?!

I filled the loots bags with a mix of candy, mini chocolate bars, bubbles, and either pretty hair ties for girls or dinkies for boys. I mean, lets be honest... all the kids want is some candy but some parents aren't in to that so the loot bags can be tricky. We all remember loot bags growing up. Candy = success.

I'm thankful we're still in the politics-free party planning stage... I mean, we invite who we want to come. Simple as that. I suspect, once we get into the school-age-parties, things will get a little more complicated. Do you invite everyone in the class? Do you invite only the kids your kid likes? You have invite those who have invited you... and the gift thing is tricky. I always say "your presence is present enough" but people always bring gifts! Do I appreciate it, of course! But, it's not necessary. How do you truly avoid this? I mean, Jane gets enough gifts from us, the family, etc. She didn't even open her own gifts this year because she was so wired and distracted by everything that I ended up opening everything after she went to bed. :p

Because it's Friday and I feel like I'm bored writing this post, let alone for you poor folks out there reading it... I'm stopping now. :p

Here are some pics of my sweet girl. Look how grown up she is!

same ol', same ol'

This is going to be the world's shortest post as I am currently cremating at Starbucks... I have no idea what I was thinking but I thought, AC, it will be cold there (forgetting I'm 34 weeks pregnant and basically going through severe menopausal symptoms) so I wore full-length yoga pants (that don't fit at all) and a sweater... and I'm roasting. The decaf skinny vanilla latte that I continue to sip, despite ongoing cremation, is likely not helping...

Anyways, I'm here because we switched internet/cable providers yesterday after being loyal customers for like 12 years... and we immediately hated the new provider. SO, we switched back today. Sometimes a little bit of savings ISN'T worth the inconvenience. SO, we're currently without internet/tv at home and I have a ton of work to do for my Etsy shop! ARGH!

Moral of the story - some times things ARE too good to be true. Sometimes it's best to stick with the same ol', same ol', if you have no complaints... even when something sexier comes along. I apply this to my marriage as well... unless that sexier being is Taylor Kitsch, in which case, Jane and I are goners! :p tee hee hee.

I am 34 weeks pregnant!! WOOT WOOT! Two weeks and one day left of work! WOOT WOOT!

Haven't heard squat from my doc about my platelets - which, you'd think would be good news, but I'm not convinced I believed her when she said she'd "call if she was concerned"... I have little faith in the organization of the PNC (prenatal clinic). Not because they aren't great, just because they are dealing with every grumpy, complaining and screwed up pregnant woman in the city and I'm thinking my low platelets may get lost in the shuffle. I'd be worried, except, I'm only 34 weeks preggers and I see my doc in 7 days so I figure we'll still have lots of time to freak out and figure out what to do if they start dropping again.

If you don't follow me on facebook... shame on you! :p But, the update on my face issues is that I saw a DERM finally this week. Apparently, it's what I have is fantastically (sarcasm) facial, effin' eczema... so I'm being treated with Hydrocortisone cream and I'm supposed to pray it goes away after pregnancy. In the words of the derm (whom I'm a bit in love with I think) "pregnancy is screwy". Understatement my dear friend, understatement. Interestingly, since I've started expressing my anger about my itchy skin disorder, turns out it must be quite common as every 4-5 woman I speak with who've had kids or are pregnant, have experienced something similar. It's an outbreak I tell you - save yourselves! :p

Alrightly, my sweets, enough roasting for me... home time! xoxo until tomorrow.

I'm bringing frumpy back...

So I get dressed in pretty much the last dress that is still work-appropriate this
am... Because I refused to spend $70 on stupid maternity dresses and, thus, now that the belly is getting gigantic, my former respectable dresses only make me an attractive target for creepy men who have pregnancy fetishes because they are pulled up so much in front that you could probably see my voo if you tried real hard... I, unfortunately have tried real hard and cannot see it myself at this point no matter how hard I try to suck-in or maneuver the belly.

Anyways, dressed in dress. Warm, so I'm bare legged. Shoes. Crap. Shoes. What will I wear on my feet?

So with Jane on my hip (yes, I'm still carrying her - no need to lecture, I know I'm stupid), I slip into my black flats. Flats. Urgh. I am not a flats girl. I walk differently in flats. I waddle, in fact. I ask Dan if they look ok. To which he smartly replies "yes, they look fine". To which I whine, "I look frumpy!". To which he stupidly replies, "you're supposed to look frumpy, you're pregnant..." My response is to go back in and change into my heels... Just a "kitten" heel, not anything life threatening.

Big.

Big.

Mistake.

By 2:30pm, the ball of my left foot was basically aching and cramping so badly, I was limping... Like, no option but to limp because I couldn't walk on it without collapsing. An hour later, my calves spasmed and, despite stretching anywhere and everywhere I could without looking like a complete idiot (try stretching your calves in public without looking like an idiot...), my calves are now in knots and aching like I ran a half-marathon...

So, I'm bringing frumpy back...

Sexy is so 2009 anyways.

GUEST POST: Couponing for Dummies

I have long admired the dedication and loyalty of those who "coupon"... mostly, because after losing my job during pregnancy number one, finding ways to save money became a bit of an addiction (although I found other ways to spend saved money, of course, I'm only a woman) and I've kept this "saving" mentality since then. However, I've never mastered the art of couponing. If I happen to find a coupon of a product I am buying, and remember to bring it, and remember to pull it out of my purse, then I will... but I am one of those people who gets to the line-up, every time, and realizes her 4500 reuseable shopping bags are either (1) by the front door (at home) or (2) in the trunk... However, after reading this great guest post, by my friend and fantastic couponer, Laura, I realized I have part of the steps already completed - meal planning. Meal planning is life in my house. It saves HUGE money and HUGE time, as Laura says, as there's never a point where we're saying "what's for dinner" and realizing that, although we just spent $150 on groceries, we didn't actually buy anything that, together, makes a meal.... What I've never done though, is use the flyers (and what's on sale) to plan my meals. THIS is a HUGELY big deal, fantastic idea that, I realize fully, is not rocket science but just blew MY mind. :p

Here's my intention... I'm going to take Laura's tips and try to apply them to my grocery shopping next weekend and then I'll post about my experience and savings (hopefully) next Monday. I intended to do it this weekend but with Jane's birthday party (pictures to come tomorrow) and a visit from my mom-in-law from NYC, I didn't actually get to the grocery store...

Here it is! Hope you find Laura's tips helpful and can, at least, incorporate some strategies into your weekly shopping as a penny saved is a penny to spend on something for YOU (and to hide from your husband)! :p

When I had a baby and went on maternity leave the budget was tight so I decided to look at ways on how I could save money. It first started with using coupons on diapers and formula but after some internet research I found out about price matching and decided to give it a try. If you’re looking for an easy way to save money, meal planning, using coupons and price matching is the answer!

The first thing you’ll need is flyers.

Flyers are great for two reasons. 1. You can plan your meals based on what is on sale. 2. You can use these flyers to price match. Each week I sit down to make my grocery list with my flyers and when I see something that interests me I write down the item, what flyer it is from and the price listed.  By doing this I can compare the price in the flyer with the price in the grocery store (to make sure I am getting a good deal) without having to shuffle through my flyers. This also helps to be more organized at the cash register so you can remember what item you will be price matching and what flyer it is from.

Meal Planning – This is an easy way to save money! Once a week I sit down and decide what our family is going to eat for the week.  By doing this, I am only buying what our family needs and not buying unnecessary food that can get wasted, especially when it comes to produce. Not only does it saving me money but it’s saving us time knowing what we will be eating each night when we get home from work.

 

Now onto the fun part!

Price Matching – In my opinion, Wal Mart and  Real Canadian Superstore are the best places to price match. (Not all stores will do this so you will have to ask around). What this means is you take the flyer of a competitor company (Loblaws, Sobeys, Shoppers Drug Mart, No Frills, etc) to your grocery store and pay the lower price in their flyer. I do all of my shopping at Superstore and bring all of my flyers with me on my shopping trips and price match so that I don’t have to go to multiple locations to get the deals. Who has time for that? Wondering what you can price match?? Pretty much anything and everything! Food (including fruits, veggies and meat), toiletries, household products, and baby products to name a few.

Coupons - Not only can you price match to save money but you can use coupons too. There are a few websites that will mail you coupons for free, all you need to do is sign up and occasionally check to see if they have added new ones that they can mail to you. These websites include; www.websaver.com, www.save.ca, www.brandsaver.com, www.gocoupons.com. There are also printable coupons which can be found at www.smartsource.ca. Other places you can find coupons are tear pads found in the stores, magazines, inserts in newspapers and Facebook. When you “like” a company you often have  access to promotional coupons. For example, I recently liked Nordica Cottage Cheese and was able to get a coupon for a free container. Typically they are connected to websites such as websaver and save.ca so you must have an account with these websites. The best is when you can use a coupon for an item that you are price matching on a really good sale, quite often I’m able to get something for free!

At first it may seem overwhelming but once you get a system down it is quite easy and takes little time.  I have a notebook for my meal planning and grocery list/price match list, as well as a file folder for all of my coupons. My friend on the other hand has a binder for her coupons with a pad of paper in the binder. Figuring out a system that works for you will reduce the time it takes to get everything together.

I’m sure you’re wondering how much you can save?? On an average grocery bill I will spend $100 but save $30 to $40. Some weeks are better then others and it depends on the sales and what you need to buy but setting aside some time to meal plan, make a grocery list and make a price matching list is well worth the money you will be saving! Knowing that I saved even a little bit of money is a great feeling!

I know only of Laura's couponing because I follow her on facebook and regularly "like" her "Saved $60 on groceries this week" comments... and those are the types of numbers we're talking some weeks! THAT was enough to peak my interest and get her on board to write this post for you! 

Happy Couponing Mommas!

gestational thrombocytopenia

Don't you just love when I decide to give you a lesson in fantastic potential disorders and complications of pregnancy?

I know that you're missing hearing about my decaying face... :p Which, by the way, I have a derm appointment for on Monday, THANK GOD, because I went to a derm conference for work last weekend and am now convinced I have some sort of crazy disease that's going to kill me. Sometimes knowledge isn't power. Sometimes knowledge is scary. :p I'm going to see if I can convince this derm to stick with me and check out some of my moles because I've now become a paranoid and am convinced I have melanoma. :p My sister will love this as I usually make fun of her for being convinced of her own melanoma.

Anyways. Thrombocytopenia. That's me. Low platelets. I mentioned that during my last visit, it turned out that NO I didn't have gestational diabetes like I assumed after getting "the call" post diabetes workup. I have low platelets... clotting factors in my blood. Apparently the "norm" is 150-400, and mine started at 155, was at 140 last time and I just had blood work done on Monday and turns out now I'm 112... n.g.

Apparently, my doc tells me, that low platelets can be a sort of autoimmune response of the body during pregnancy... this is also what some docs/friends have mentioned when talking about my eye skin condition. So it kind of makes sense that if my immune system is weak because I'm pregnant, tired, etc. that all these stupid things are happening to me. Lets hope that it's because my body is focusing so much energy on building a sweet, healthy babe! :)

Anyways. Next step? More blood work. I forgot to mention, during my blood work this week, the nurse told me I had "three beautiful veins"... to which I responded "That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a long time and, at this point, probably the ONLY thing beautiful going on here". Tee hee hee. So, back for blood work Monday so they can track the platelet count to see if (1) it stays low or (2) drops. My understanding, if I remember the conversation at all, is that if it stays above 100, we'll just continue to monitor it every week. If it drops lower then I have to see the hematologist who will put me on one of two things to get my clotting factors back up - oral steroids or IV something. I have no idea what either of those things mean. I have no idea if they are 100% ok for baby but I assume the "risk will outweigh the benefit" in this case. And I was freaking out about taking stupid benadryl for a crappy cold a few months back. Along with the blood doc, I get to see the drug doc... and by the drug doc, I mean the guy with the good stuff. Because, apparently, if my platelets are too low - no epidural for me. Who here thinks I can make it through natural delivery?

No one?

Not one person?

Yup. Me neither. I don't want to try to make it through natural labour! That's not something I want to check off my list!

Apparently, I'm not at serious risk until my platelets drop below 50... so, lets pray that doesn't become an issue.

They checked back on my last labour and my platelets were 121. SO, they were low then too. But, apparently, they didn't track platelets or something throughout pregnancy then so they have no way of knowing if I fluctuated or what my levels were throughout pregnancy number one. And, during labour number one, no one even mentioned to me that my platelets were "low". So, I'm hoping that the 112 is just a low "fluctuation" and next week I'll be closer to 120-140ish.

Ok. Now that I've shared a bunch of boring, nonsense, numbers with you... here's the good news. Apparently, only 1 out of the 10 of you who are pregnant or planning to get pregnant will have to care at all about this post. So, you can thank me later for this vital information. :p

Anyways, everything else is great with the baby so far. LOTS of movement, good heart rate (which also freaks me out) and measuring good. I say heart rate freaks me out because when I was preggers with Jane, during one of my later appts the doc checked her heart rate and it was like 105, so I got admitted for monitoring for two hours. Turns out, Jane just didn't like it when I lay on my back. Well, you can imagine how that's affected me this time. I NEVER lie on my back and freak out when I wake up at night and realize I've been sleeping on my back, imagining that I've been cutting off the oxygen supply to my baby for the last, God knows how many, hours. Every time I lay down for them to check the heart rate (on my back), I'm waiting to hear that "slow" gallop in fear that I've done it again. ARGH.

I'm telling you. Pregnancy number two is so much more stressful than number one... for me at least. With Jane, I was naive enough to think, if I did everything "right", everything would be fine. Well, this time, I feel like I was so blessed with pregnancy number one that I'm not deserving of an ideal pregnancy number two. I know, I know. Tell me to calm down. Whatever. It's not going to work. I'm not like seriously stressing or anything... that's just not my style. But it's a constant, weak, thought in the back of my mind. Like I'm just waiting for something to go a little bit wrong.

Ok, I have to go to bed. Jane had a crappy night's sleep last night and, sure enough, I woke up this morning and my eye skin was itching all over again! ARGH! So, even though I'm not ready for bed, I'm going to bed.

Seven weeks and counting baby. Seven weeks.

three years ago and what i know now

Three years ago, right now, I was in between two emotions.... complete and total, unbelievable, rock your world LOVE and fear. Often times, I think the two come hand in hand but not so strongly, not all at once!

Today is my sweet "baby" Jane's third birthday. Oh. My. Goodness. Where did three years go?

This was my first minute with the love of my life... I don't even remember it. Those first few days are a complete blur. I just remember loving her instantly and fearing for two things: (1) not having a clue what to do and (2) not being able to give her what she needed. Not everyone falls in love with their baby instantaneously... this is normal. Sometimes it takes days, weeks, months. But I was so in love with her from the first second she was placed on my chest.

The two things I realized right away were (1) all the books I read were useless because nothing can prepare you for motherhood except 100's of years of instincts and (2) thankfully, I had common sense and instincts. I will say, however, that my most vivid memory of that blur was watching Jane sleep, all swaddled up (which, don't even bother, you will never master like the nurses do... save yourself the headache and buy some SwaddleMe's)... and her head had fallen to the side. Dan and I didn't know if this was ok. Should we prop her head up so it was straight? We asked the nurse. Seriously. She probably had severe concerns about our ability to parent a newborn baby after that point.

It is based on THIS memory alone that I feel like baby number two - although bringing along different challenges (like having double the responsibility) - alone, will be easier. At least I know the basics this time. At least I know five hundred different ways to treat cradle cap - or I can re-read the blog to see what I did before. :p I know to blame any sort of fussiness and horrible sleeping patterns on "growth spurts" because it'll make me feel like less of a failure. I know breastfeeding is going to be hard as eff for the first 8 weeks minimum. I know recovering from vaginal delivery (if all goes well) is going to suck arse... cause when you get the drugs, it ain't the actual delivering of the baby that sucks, it's the vaginal PTSD. I know I will age another 5 years in those first 6 months. I know I will be tired. I know I will hate the way I look. I know my boobs are going to be GYNORMOUS and, most of the time, feel and look like veiny over-full balloons ready to pop. I know I have to find a way to remember which boob baby ate from last time... because I know that, when screwed up, an over-full boob hurts like hell and, dear Lord help me if I get mastitis. I know that I don't care (this time) about giving the baby a soother right away. With Jane I wanted to do everything "perfectly" and suffered through 24 hours of cluster feeding in the first 2 days (which mean zero recovery for mommy) before I gave in and let her have it... giving me peace, her satisfaction, my nipples recovery, and SLEEP for all. I know my house will turn into a babies-r-us store. I know gas will be my worst enemy and burping my best, and only, ally. I know I am going to be changing A LOT of diapers. I know, if it's a girl, I already know how to do this pretty well. If it's a boy, I know I will be peed on regularly among the ceiling, walls, and anything else within a 30 ft radius. I know I will laugh about this.

What I don't know is a lot too. I imagine going from one child to two, is just as hard to explain as it is when you try to explain to someone who's not a parent, how much you love your child. I have no idea, nor can I even comprehend, at this point, how I will love another human being as much as I love Jane. I have no idea how my labour will go. I have no idea if we will have to face serious, scary and unexpected challenges. I have no idea if this is a boy or a girl... it's a girl. :p I have no idea if this baby will latch well. I have no idea if this baby will sleep well. I have no idea how Jane will actually respond when this baby is out of my belly. I have no idea how to coordinate everything between Jane, labour, daycare, hospital, visits, everything (but, you know me, I will darn well try anyways). The only thing I do know is that, just like with the first, people can tell you all they want to about their own experience becoming a parent of two and it means JACK because nobody knows what it will be like for you, until it's you.

All I can think of today is how quickly the last three years have gone by... and, where, in three years we'll be (praying, hoping, dreaming we are lucky enough to have another three years of this beautiful life). I'll still have a three year old in three years. But I'll also have a six year old. And, I imagine, just as I am today... reflecting back on how quickly the time flew by. Didn't time seem to go so much slower when we were kids? Didn't the two months of summer vacation feel like an eternity?

Dan and I took some time last night, spontaneously, and went through tons of old photos of Jane from the past few years. I cannot wait to go through it all again, and share it WITH her...

32 weeks and counting...

Oh my nerves...

During your first pregnancy, everything's so new to you and the time seems to fly by and you're just so excited about passing every week that you take weekly photos to "track your progress" that, btw, you will never look at again until you SHOULDN'T look at them (i.e. during your second pregnancy) because they make you want to crawl into a hole and hide for your third trimester.

During your second pregnancy... you're. over. it.

On the same visit to my girlfriend's the other day (who just had her second baby boy), first thing I said when she bent over to put the little guy in his bouncer was "oh my God, how much do you love being able to bend over again?" I cannot bend over. It hurts every part of me.

I can't breathe. It feels like I'm constantly doing a crunch (and I don't do crunches because I hate them). This baby is SO HIGH right now that I've convinced myself he/she is a vampire baby and will break all of my ribs in the next kick (if you're not teenager enough to have read Twilight, you have no idea what I'm talking about). Sometimes it's so uncomfortable I try to sit up straighter, only to realize, I'm as straight as possible!

I ate almost ONE piece of pizza for lunch today... one, thin crust piece of mushroom pizza (barely any cheese) and I couldn't finish it because there's no room in my stomach for food. Somehow, miraculously, however, at night this is not the case... go figure?!?!

I shaved my legs in the tub tonight. It was hell. I'm pretty sure I cut off oxygen supply to the baby for at least the full five minutes it took to shave the bottoms of two legs as it was literally as if I was lifting 100 lb barbells... you know how you hold your breath when you're lifting something really heavy, or when your doing any sort of really hard labour. That's how I shave my legs. It's hard labour.

I'm still itchy all over. My face seems to be getting better but then my eyebrow spot starting itching again today so I'm sure I'll look like death again tomorrow morning. My belly rash is mostly gone all but for one spot on my right side that refuses to depart and annoys the heck out of me. Recently, the skin on my upper arms, right above both elbows, started itching insanely but only in the middle of the night... this I love and is not annoying at all.

My pregnancy update for 32 weeks... first sentence... "no wonder you're starting to feel huge". Awesome. So, it's not just me.

I've convinced myself this baby is going to be a 10 pounder as the child seems to span from love-handle-to-love-handle. I literally feel a kick in my right love handle (which I never experienced with Jane, never so far over) and then feel the ricochet of it's bum or head or something in my left love handle. Which convinces me I'm going to have the child who never sleeps because, it literally seems like that's the case. I'm hopeful that the fact that I notice so much movement during the day means that the baby is right on the perfect schedule of sleeping during the night... ha ha ha. I'm joking. I'm not that stupid.

This is my favourite paragraph of this weeks pregnancy email:
It's hard enough to get to sleep when you're pregnant without worrying about whether you're disturbing your partner too. Follow our tips for a safe night's snooze. If you're concerned that sex in the final months will harm your baby, stop worrying. For most women, sex during pregnancy is fine right up until their waters break and may even help jump-start labour,if the baby's overdue. So go for it! 

Yes, b'y. (1) As if I care whether I'm waking Dan up or not. He's the lucky one who doesn't have to be fat, uncomfortable and gets to be same-old-same-old, least he can do is keep my grumpy arse company at 3 in the morning. (2) I'm not concerned about sex in the final months, because I've put myself on "pelvic rest". Have you heard of this? This might be the most important thing you read today... "pelvic rest". Apparently, if you have some sort of crappy pregnancy issue, your doc will put you on pelvic rest... which means you have a medical reason for not having sex. I've put myself on pelvic rest and am hopeful I can convince my doc to write me a note recommending pelvic rest for the first 6 months post-partum! :p ha ha ha. Feel free to let your partner know your doc has put you off on pelvic rest after your next docs appt. Your welcome. :) Although, I will force Dan to make woopy in the two weeks leading up to baby's due date. It worked last time! :)

Here's my 32 week pregnancy comparison from preggers numero uno to now... and, yes, I took the time just now to transpose the photos together to see if I was bigger or smaller in the belly this time vs. last. Here's the shocking news. I'm smaller. There are miracles! I should have taken a front on picture of my arse for both cases so I could compare those two things because I'm pretty sure I would not have the same pleasant result and I own that s*** happily.

I'm out of town tomorrow night for work so won't be able to complain... lucky you. :p xoxo