The word first surfaced on a Brazilian website citing sources from the written press who said that Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady were expecting their second child together and that the supermodel would be about two months along. Until we’ll have official confirmation, here’s how a not – pregnant Gisele looks like (from Vogue Paris’ June 2012 issue):

Gisele Bundchen Pregnant Again. Expecting Second Child With Tom Brady

I have a confession to make, though – I’m particularly nervous whenever we throw one of these parties (though I should’ve got used to it by now): I want to get everything right and make everything as perfect as humanly possible. Hence, I thought this cute little poster from the “Keep Calm” series fits right in this weekend’s theme. How was your Mother’s Day? And how do you prepare your party? Do you have, like, a secret for keeping calm?

Keep Calm And…

Holding on to that celebrity extra zing: Jessica Simpson was rushed to the Cedars – Sinai hospital for the birth of her baby girl Maxwell Drew Johnson and installed in a really special birthing suite. One which costs only $3,784 a night (3 bedrooms, 2 baths, muffin baskets, and more). There’s no word if she found that perfect leopard print caftan she was dreaming about, but I’m guessing it would’ve been a perfect match for the VIP lounge serving as her delivery room.

Congrats To Jessica Simpson For Baby Girl Maxwell Drew Johnson!

She shared this image below on her Facebook page – should we expect a pictorial soon? (It does look kinda of artsy to be just an amateur thing – who books Mert & Marcus for a domestic session, anyway?)

Alessandra Ambrosio With Baby Bump. Without Clothes

Anyway, of all days, all those long hours sneaking behind it, trying hard to not press the play button, it had to be today. Today I watched it! Today, my dahlings, I went through the entire tissue box in that two minutes time! Not half of it! There’s no half measures when it comes to the hardest job in the world. The best job in the world! Today, you see, it’s our baby girl’s birthday. She’ll always be our baby girl. (Happy Birthday Princess! We love you so much!)

And any girl who grew up in a boy – filled house knows how special she is! That’s how our little girl is, with three brothers! She’s the princess of the house. The princess of our hearts. Now, hoping I din’t scare you off, press play and watch one of the most clever – built advertising campaigns I’ve seen in a long time. (P & G for London Olympics 2012).

Advertising Vs. Matters Of The Heart

Michelle Paige (former first lady of New York) and her 23yo daughter are part of Calypso‘s initiative (as reported by wwd), as well as Annie Georgia Greenberg (Refinery29 editor) and her mother, Ella, among many others. Isn’t it sweet?

I recently came forward about my nasty fashion habit to match the family’s outfits. It’s actually more of a coordination than identical match, so you needn’t worry, we don’t look like something out of a paint box. An example: you’ll rarely find either of us wearing chinos while the rest of us are wearing jeans or the other way around. Or (all) the boys wear jeans and the girls wear dresses (or linen pants). It’s that kind of outfits matching I’m after.

But, much like our friend Ellington pointed out, we don’t wear identical outfits except for special themed occasions (like weddings and themed parties, yes). And those too revolve around white & blue or some other color. But mainly white. So you see, we’re actually pretty basic at matching and coordinating outfits. (phew! Feels good to have that out of my chest – I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea).

Mother – Daughter Matching Outfits From Calypso

Arizona is one of the most sought – after models of the moment (and by “moment” I mean three seasons already). But did you know she’s also a mother to a 3yo baby boy, Nikko? You know what that means, right? That means that Arizona Muse was pregnant. And look at her now!

When questioned about juggling modeling career and baby, post baby body and so forth, Arizona said it would be better to shape your career prior to having a baby. (hit the jump for an answer to “why that”) and also:

You just have to give your body time. You can’t have a three-month-old baby and think, ‘That’s it for me.’ I tell mothers that you have to wait a whole year before you start judging your body, before you start working on it.

Now, call me Arizona, call me anything you like, but most of all, call me “I told you so”! You’re not being pregnant for three months, now why ask of your body something as radical as forgetting about the pregnancy in the next three months after you’ve given birth? They say nine months to put on the baby fat, nine months (at least) to take it off. And that’s no joke.

Now I said I’d give you some good reasons as to why (or not) should you establish a career before having a baby. The pros? Well, you’re financially stable, duh! And you have that page of your life already mapped out, you don’t need to nurse your baby and shiver with insecurity about your job. That way you can concentrate on your wee one alone (hopefully, ideally). Either way, what you need to understand when you’re taking the pregnancy boat is that you need time. Patience and time. And the rest will follow.

Arizona Muse About Baby Fat

However, I’m certain that the girls had serious contractual responsibility towards Victoria’s Secret, so they had to get back fast and honor them. And so they did! But once the pregnancy – birth rollercoaster was put in motion, another responsibility ensued, even more important than the VS one: being a role model for mothers all over the world. Which could be something they haven’t anticipated avant bébé. (the story continues right after the jump)

The common (mis)belief is that women who become mothers (as in go through a pregnancy or more) can no longer go back to what / who they used to be. Physically, that’s a major lie women are being forcefully fed with during their pre – baby life. At such a degree that baby making can induce major panic. (we’ll get back to that later). There’s a truthful dimension to the “never go back” slogan – mentally, no woman can go back to what she was after she went through a pregnancy and after delivering her baby. Holding that wee one in your arms, I’m tellin’ya, it’s an epiphany of mythical proportions! It’s definitely a life changing moment, a turning point in our heads (and bodies). Reading about it (and telling stories about it) will never level the actual feeling.

Growing a baby (inside and outside of you) grows you. Literally. What women don’t see before having their babies, is that, for a good period of time in their life, not only they won’t consider their body as a priority, but that their entire list of priorities is going upside down. Almost everything crumbles and rebuilds itself in a new, better architecture. And that goes also for the physical and the mental aspect of every woman out there. (if there’s any man reading these lines, I apologize for not rendering their side of the story. God made me a woman, you see. Maybe in my next life I’ll be a man and then I’ll enjoy the parenting perspective through a man’s eyes! Until then… hang on or move on, either way you’ll have it, I’m still going to spill my story! Hopefully you’ll hang on? Thanks)

I started this by talking about Alessandra Ambrosio and Adriana Lima. Not because I take them as the ultimate role models to illustrate my point, but because I was casually reading about them and their plans and this huge sisterhood of baby bumps kicked in and took over. See, these women are models. That’s what they do for a living! If you were a lawyer, a dentist, a social worker, you name it, you’d do pretty much the same thing they do – only you’d get to keep your clothes on! Doing their job, that’s what they’re doing. And that’s what you (many of you reading these lines) are doing too. From dawn till dusk, even beyond, you’re working your eyes out.

But in the end, is it worth it? Of course it is, said the house mortgage. Of course it is, said the car out front! Of course it is, whispered the clothes in your wardrobe! Great! You have wonderful clothes, amazing shoes, a beautiful house and a great car. You have so many options, so many going for you right now and still you don’t get a good nigh sleep. Most of the nights. “I work too hard” you say to yourself. “I don’t go out as much as I ought to” and so forth. You try to change things. Twist your schedule, find some hobbies, get a new man. And still, after a while, your nights become restless again.

You know when you’ll really have a great night sleep? (Heck! Any sleep will be a great sleep during that special time! And you won’t know what an amazing nap is until you’ll feel that the toilet seat could be your perfect pillow!) When you’ll have your baby! Supposing Jennifer Lopez isn’t reading these lines and so she won’t have to raise her eyebrows looking at the impressive number of helping staff in her service, dealing with the babies and their needs! No, I’m talking about normal people! I love me some normal moms! Some normal women who just entered the motherhood swirl and fondly embrace their maddening condition!

So, let’s pretend you had your baby, right? Like any new human being you’re beginning to have a relationship with, you’ll start by getting to know each other. You’ll have your frets and animosities, you’ll have your moments of despair but also countless reasons to enjoy each other and feel like you’ve just touched Heaven whenever you touch the other one’s hand. Now imagine you’d have to get up, leave that amazing mini – you and go work a sweat! How’s the sound of that? baby – gym. Gym – baby? Suddenly it’s not all that important to get your pre – baby body back, huh? You’ll have plenty of time for that when that cutie pie grows up and you won’t feel your knees melting each time he / she looks at you. And viceversa!

So you see, at that very moment you’ll feel deep respect and heartwarming empathy for models who just had their babies and they have to go out and work their eyes out to look just like before! Heidi Klum, Alessandra Ambrosio, Adriana Lima, Miranda Kerr, just a handful of beautiful young women you’ve seen looking aaahmazing in their underwear, catwalking their heavenly bodies on Victoria’s Secret runway and who had to get toned abs before enjoying simple things like breastfeeding their babies or measuring each square feet of their home, night after night, while holding their crying baby in their arms.

And you know the irony of it all? That although it’s the baby who brought all that “baby fat” upon your heavenly body, it is the same baby who’ll also take it away! Breastfeeding? It burns fat faster than ten ice cubes would melt in your morning protein shake! Holding your baby in your arms to comfort whenever his or her tummy aches? Tones your arms like a thousand biceps and triceps stretches could! Walking night after night with your baby in your arms is unbelievably toning for your legs. Putting your baby in your crib, taking your baby from your crib definitely makes your upper body work!

And until you can regain your avant baby wardrobe, you can always trick your way back into great clothes! Loose fitting shapes are de rigueur right now, every designer joined the oversize trend for two seasons already. So wearing a bubbly skirt won’t look just as camouflage as it actually is for you! It’ll look trendy! Slouchy looking boyfriend jeans are still in, season after season, fashionistas keep their BFjeans close and wear them faithfully!

Loose maxi dresses are a mother’s best friend! During the pregnancy and after giving birth, they’re perfectly comfortable and amazingly concealing! You’re certainly not a VS model to put on an abs show on the beach! You’re very concerned about the effects of the sun on your skin, so you either stay away from the beach, or keep covered while under the sun – so nobody’ll get to actually see your baby fat – it’s that simple! You’re picking up healthier habits like drinking lots of tea or plain (non mineral) water, eat regularly, healthier food, dress comfortably and enjoy every aspect of your life to never before known heights of enthusiasm and engagement! And yes, maybe you won’t be as you were before having your baby, but you know what? You’ll be better! Healthier, more motivated, happier, fulfilled and, yes, so much more beautiful!

(this would’ve never been possible without the help, support and appreciation of my amazing Adored Husband whom I love to pieces from here to eternity and then some, without our wonderful, continually challenging four kids contributing to our daily routine and then some. Or without you! My unspeakably supporting readers and virtual friends! You know what they say: good mothers have sticky floors, messy kitchens, dirty ovens, laundry piles and happy kids! Amen to that!) (the photos were handpicked from here, there and everywhere, assembled with utmost care and dedication by yours truly)

The Beach Belongs To You! Mothers Can Be Bombshells Too!

And there she goes at it again, flaunting her respectably pregnant body on the cover of Elle Magazine April 2012 (the US edition) as photographed by Carter Smith. The newsstand cover is a SFW version of the subscribers cover, who, in exchange for their loyalty to Elle, they received a clothesless Jessica Simpson in their mailbox. Hurray! Ain’t that a privilege! (congrats to the mom – to – be: Jessica is expecting a baby girl! How sweet!)

So, although the question seems redundant, which is the cover you prefer the most (in this Elle case): Jessica with or without clothes? Because in either one of them, Jess still is quite pregnant, mind you! After all it’s really not about fashion. April is not about fashion, daahlings! It’s about being pregnant and landing an Elle here and a Vogue there (yes Sienna, I’m pointing at you!).

Jessica Simpson Pregnant Elle Cover: To Be Or Not To Be Dressed?

The baby boy was born on February 27th and his name is Samuel. Everyone is reportedly healthy and happy! We are too! Congrats to the lovely couple and blessings to the entire family, and especially to their youngest one! (and just because I was waiting for a pretext to slip this little wonder in, check out an amazing baby announcement after the jump! Be warned though: don’t press play if you’re wearing non – waterproof mascara! I ignored the warning and now I look like a zebra!)

Congrats To Jennifer Garner And Ben Affleck For Baby Boy Samuel!