Dear Reader,

I love maternity clothes. I thought I didn't. But I do. What I am trying to say is, I'm pregnant. Which, we were so ready for, and then we moved, and I just felt so overwhelmed by life, that it kind of took the joy out of it for a while. And then my clothes stopped fitting. And we all know I don't really like clothes anyway. And we're on temporary insurance, which means I have to self-pay at the doctor, so I haven't gone. So, we don't actually know if it's a baby in there. It could be a turtle. So I was waiting to post this exciting news until someone with a degree said, "Yep, it's a baby."

But here's what happened. I got out my box of maternity clothes on a whim. 'Cause my pants are a bit binding. And my shirts ride up a little. You know. And I tried them on. And guess what! I have good taste. I like those clothes. They feel great! Why do I not ALWAYS wear elastic pants!?

And here's the other magical thing that maternity clothes did. I no longer look awkward in the mid-section.

I glow.

Yep, right there, from the belly-button out. And fifteen minutes of wearing maternity clothes before bed made me more excited about being pregnant than I have been in weeks.

(As a side note: I cannot wait until this sweet baby joins our family, and have felt that way since long before we got pregnant. But, our life has just been so tumultuous, I did not know if I could successfully parent two. Because parenting has felt like a failure as of late. It has been a rough transition.)

So, as of tomorrow, I will officially don maternity clothes. And because this step will enable complete strangers to know about this totally intimate process that is happening to me right now, I wanted to make sure that all of the dear ones to my heart find out first.

This baby will be a springtime baby. My guess is early March. If you want another guess, I think it will be a boy, and that we will name him Max. But if I am wrong, you can laugh at me later. Because I would love a Charlotte (because we would call her Charlie). And if we have a turtle, we are gonna have to move. Because that guy will need a back yard.

My heart and prayers go out to both of my Kates. I love you both like crazy.