Jennifer Garner is by outside appearances happily married to her husband of nearly seven years, Ben Affleck. She’s also very pregnant with her third child and is reportedly due in just a few short weeks. This is her second marriage, as she was married to Actor Scott Foley from 2000 to 2003. In a new interview with The Sun, Garner says that she found divorce “crushing” and suggests that she married too young. Outlets are focusing on her comments about divorce and marriage, but she does go into detail about her upbringing and how she got her start in acting, which you can read at the source.

Everyone reaches maturity at different times. I wish I’d known to wait for marriage until I was 30 or over.

I did marry in my twenties (to actor Scott Foley, whom she divorced eight years ago) and I found divorce a crushing experience.

I thought the divorce statistics would never apply to me. I was beyond heartbroken when they did. But I got up and got on with it. I also kept my belief in marriage.

I did not have a fairytale vision of the future but still believed I would find someone to commit to and raise kids with.

Ben is not only my husband, he has helped me in every way. He is the base of my life.

He is an incredibly loving and generous man. I expected he would be a great dad and he is. But what really surprised me was how, when something goes wrong, he is so much calmer than I am.

The great thing about growing older is that you do become more confident. If I have to dress up for something, I wear something true to myself, otherwise it feels like a costume. So my policy is to wear a dressed-up version of something I would normally wear.

I don’t dread it any more. It is a reality of the job. I always try to keep it simple. I love being the age that I am and am looking forward to being 40.

I have figured so much more out about life and feel the older women get, the more beautiful they get. We become ourselves — which is something you can’t teach anyone at 18.”

[From The Sun.co.uk via OK! Magazine]

There’s been a lot of gossip that Garner isn’t exactly the faithful type. We’ve heard that she cheated on Foley with actor Michael Vartan from Alias, whom she hooked up with in 2003 either before or after her divorce. Then there were rumors that she was unfaithful to Vartan with Affleck, as she started dating Affleck in 2004 seemingly right around the time she split with Vartan. Whatever went on, at the least she was relationship hopping. She seems like the type of woman who feels that they need to be in a relationship all the time. She has that in common with Ben’s ex, Jennifer Lopez.

It is nice to hear Jennifer gush about Ben. They speak about each other sparingly but when they do you can tell that they have a lot of respect and love for each other. You do get the sense that they’ve weathered storms together like so many other couples, but that they’re in a good place now. Maybe she’s also telling us, in a roundabout way, that divorce is not an option for her again.

Here’s Garner out yesterday with her daughter Violet, 7. That girl is so adorable! She’s also shown the day before with daughter Seraphina, 3, equally adorable and sassy. Photo of her with Ben is from 1-9-12. Credit: Pablo/FameFlynet Pictures

Here are some new photos of Jennifer Garner and her bump in LA yesterday. We’ve been saying that Jennifer is “ready to pop” for weeks now, but seriously, look at her. I don’t think she’s got that much longer, do you? Us Weekly’s sources say she’s due in late February or early March – so she’s got a month longer? That can’t be right! Jennifer and Jessica Simpson are like the anti-Beyonces. They carry to large so fast, people just don’t believe their due dates.

I do have to say, though, Jennifer is carrying differently with this pregnancy – her legs and her face don’t seem to have gained much weight, which I’m sure is part of some old wives’ tale about the gender of the baby. Early reports indicated that this one was definitely a boy, and considering Ben Affleck’s willingness to be publicly affectionate with Jennifer, I think many of us assumed that Ben’s physicality with his wife meant that he was finally “getting his son.” But! When Jennifer was on the Tonight Show recently, she made it sound like the gender wasn’t a sure thing:

Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s third child may end up with the most unusual name in Hollywood if they leave it up to daughters Violet, 6, and Seraphina, 3.

“Our girls are working on names. At first they were definitely Disney. It was like, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse Affleck,” Garner, 39, said on The Tonight Show Wednesday. “And then they’ve moved on. Then it was Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Smee.”

“They’re coming up with lists and coming in and saying, ‘Let’s have a baby-naming contest! Let’s have a baby-naming poll!’” the Butter star added. “They ask everyone, because they just want to know. But we’re not telling.”

Garner said she knows the sex of her baby, though she chose not to reveal it on The Tonight Show. The actress previously said she’s hoping for a little girl, but she isn’t sure if Affleck, 39, feels the same way.

“I would have thought [he wanted a boy]. At first I think I really thought so,” Garner told host Jay Leno. “And then he kind of said, ‘Well, we have girls. We know how to do girls. My girls love me. I’m the big guy in the house.’ So, now I’m not sure.”

Garner, who announced her third pregnancy in August, is due in late February/early March.

[From Us Weekly]

So Ben will be fine with another girl? He very well might be. I can sometimes have a low opinion of Affleck, but I don’t think he’s really d-bagging out on the sex of the baby. He’ll be happy with a healthy baby, a boy or a girl. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be dimply and on parade soon enough!

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.

Here are some new photos of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, out and about in Brentwood yesterday. I’m doing this because I know that you bitches love photos of A) Babies and preggo celebrities, B) Dimples and C) celebrities with their animals. I don’t think I even knew that Jennifer and Ben had a dog. He/she is a German shepherd, and he looks very… ALERT. Like, he’s all “DADDY, I wanna eat the paparazzo! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.” My dog gets the same look when his mortal enemy, the UPS truck, comes down the road. It’s the look of “As God as my witness, if I ever get off this chain and catch you near my mom ever again, I am going to rip you apart.” God, I love puppies! That’s a really beautiful dog. He’s darker than most German Shepherds that I’ve seen.

As for Jen, she’s obviously still knocked up. Any day now, any day now! Poor Jen, she must be super-uncomfortable. Still, it must be nice for her to get some face time with the paparazzi with her usually-reticent husband in tow. Ben seems like he’s gained a bit of sympathy weight with this pregnancy too, right? All of a sudden, he’s carrying himself differently, like he’s just acquired a gut and some kind of moob situation. As for his hair/wiglet situation – it’s a tragedy, and that effing beanie isn’t helping matters. Whatever, though. Happy couple, a bump, dimples and a puppy! This story has all the required gossip elements.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

I feel like I’ve been saying “any minute now” about Jennifer Garner’s impending birth for months. But seriously, she’s probably going to give birth any minute now, right? Look at how big she is! Of course, she’s been looking super-preggo for a few months now. Still, I’ll just call it now – I think Jennifer will give birth in the next… two weeks? Yep. That’s my guess.

Anyway, these are new photos of Garner minus her dimply girls. Jennifer was just out running errands yesterday, and apparently she just bought a new car – a red Range Rover, which you can see here, at The Mail. The Mail seems to take the new car purchase as evidence that Jennifer is definitely having a boy, which… seems weird. I think she’s having a boy this time too, but not because of a car purchase.

Also – Fame Pictures notes that Jennifer has a bunny-eared case for her iPhone. I bet her girls picked it out, don’t you? It’s very cute.

Photos courtesy of Fame.

There’s not really much of a story with these photos, I just thought they were cute pics, and we haven’t talked about Jennifer Garner in a while. I’m including new photos of Jennifer doing some grocery shopping yesterday, seemingly solo and doing almost everything herself. I’m also including photos of Ben and Jen from a few days ago, when they were spotted looking lovey-dovey coming out of a doctor’s appointment.

Even though Garner and The Dimple Parade have been photographed regularly the past few months, I really do feel like this has been her most low-key pregnancy. Jennifer and Ben Affleck seem tighter than ever – there hasn’t been a scandal for them in a while, although I still think there’s something more to the stories about his gambling. Still, they weathered the speculation well, and at this point, it kind of seems like their marriage is even stronger today than it was one year ago, or two years ago. Ben even seems happier to see the paparazzi around! I suspect that Jennifer really is pregnant with a boy, Ben’s long-awaited son.

I totally forget if Jennifer ever confirmed when the baby is due. I suspect it’s coming up very soon, right? Look at that belly. No pillowy pregnancy for Jennifer. And it just blows me away how much cuter her style is when she’s pregnant.

Photos courtesy of Fame, WENN.

These are just some adorable photos of Ben Affleck, a very pregnant Jennifer Garner (she’s shown below, that’s the nanny above) and their girls Violet, six, and Seraphina, almost three. The girls set up a lemonade stand outside their mansion and sold drinks to the public. They even sold them to the paparazzi!

Here’s the description from the photo agency, Fame. It’s worded strangely but you get the point:

Violet and her little sister Seraphina Affleck took to their driveway in the Pacific Palisades, California to sell sweet drinks from their homemade lemonade stand on December 27, 2011 with the help of their nanny. Their mother a very pregnant Jennifer Garner bought a cup herself along with her mother and shortly after dad Ben Affleck came out in sweatpants to help get the girls more customers. Ben asked a few of the surrounding photographers if they would like to buy a glass that a few did enjoy from the girls

I think the lemonade stand is a metaphor for how Garner deals with photographers. She knows they’re there and she’s learned to go with it and maximize the cuteness while Ben is not entirely on board. She surely stages some photo ops, but I still don’t believe that every paparazzi outing with this family is orchestrated. I could be wrong, who knows. I give her the benefit of the doubt because she seems normal. (You’ve probably heard me discuss this before about them, it’s my go-to topic with the Garner-Afflecks.)

Garner is looking like she’s due any day now. She might very well be. She made the announcement of her pregnancy back in late August, and if she was four months along at that time she would be eight months now. It’s possible she was even further along in August and wasn’t showing that much. So the Afflecks are going to welcome another little one soon. I’m wondering if they’ll have another girl or if they’re going to have that boy that Ben is rumored to want.

The family is shown with their nanny, and I’m pretty sure it’s the same one Garner gave a shout out to on Jimmy Kimmel earlier this year. Garner’s mom is also there.

Those girls are just so sweet and cute. Seeing them makes me want to have another kid. Look at Seraphina’s bunny slippers! That sign just slays me.

Photo credit: WENN and Fame

Jennifer Garner covers the January issue of InStyle Magazine, and she promoting her role in the smaller, independent film Butter. That’s the film about competitive butter-carving, and Garner produced the film as well. In addition to talking about that film, she’s also talking a lot about her family. Not just the kids, but her husband too, which is a rare thing. Well… let me say it this way – Jennifer will often say something about Ben in her interviews, but Ben rarely says anything about her. Usually Jennifer shows a little caution when discussing her husband, but I think she feels like she and Ben are in a better place right now, because this is the most gushy as I’ve ever seen her. They’ve been together for seven years now, and she’s pregnant with their third kid. Maybe Jennifer feels like they’re already passed the rough phase of their marriage?

The secret to her 7-year-marriage to Ben Affleck: “We both know we couldn’t do what we do without each other. Ben always says, ‘If you love it, we can make it happen.’ ”

Affleck gives her diamonds: Affleck, 39, enjoys showering his wife with diamonds. He gave her a pair of pink and white diamond Harry Winston bands, one for each of their two daughters, Violet, 6, and Seraphina, who turns 3 next month. “He knows when to swoop in with the gesture. He’s sweet that way,” Garner says. “Honestly, I would do anything for that man, because I know it’s not taken for granted.”

Pregnancy at age 39: “A game changer.” Garner admitted to having a difficult first trimester, complete with nausea, exhaustion and junk-food cravings. “I wish I was one of those cute pregnant girls who wear skinny jeans throughout their pregnancies. But I just gain weight. I’m trying really hard to be mindful, but when I’m making the kids mac and cheese, I want it badly.”

Not giving her kids junk food: “My kids had never seen Doritos before. They would say, ‘Mom, where did you get that orange chip? I really want that.’”

On somebody she’d like to meet: “During my second pregnancy I loved listening to the cellist Yo-Yo Ma. I’ve thought about contacting him, but I’ve never had the nerve.”

On loving her current state of life: “I’m not as myopic as I used to be. During those Alias years I worked 362 days a year. It was great, but I wouldn’t trade my life now for anything.”

On the joys of being a producer: “Being a producer has helped me find the part of myself that has a voice. I’m not just the good girl who’s handed a script.”

On her Butter character: “I identified with her loss of identity,” she says of her character. “You identify with your career then become a mom and put everything you have into the happiness of those kids. And though I wouldn’t change it for anything, you lose part of yourself.”

[From People, Celebrity Gossip & InStyle]

It’s surprising that Garner even admits that she’s “lost” part of herself in motherhood, considering Garner is usually all about being Mother Superior, even going out of her way to say that “there’s no deeper want” for a woman than to be a mom. The junk food stuff could have gotten in Goop territory, but Garner saved it by admitting that she too succumbs to cravings.

But really, the most interesting stuff is the Ben Affleck stuff. He buys her diamonds? He buys her PINK diamonds. He also bought Jennifer Lopez a pink diamond… I’m just sayin’. And Ben says stuff like “If you love it, we can make it happen.” ???? Amazing. Hopefully, Ben and Jen really have turned a corner and their marriage is super-strong right now. Fingers crossed.

InStyle photos courtesy of Celebrity Gossip.

I can barely believe my eyes. Ben Affleck, looking like he enjoys being with his wife and oldest daughter? Ben Affleck being openly affectionate and lovey-dovey with his wife IN PUBLIC? Ben Affleck not being surly when the paparazzi are around? Who are you, Ben Affleck?!? I thought I knew you!

So these are new photos of Ben, Jen and Violet in LA yesterday. Jennifer is ??? God knows how many months pregnant. This pregnancy seems to be much more low-key than her two previous pregnancies – there are still lots of photos of Jennifer and the girls, but she’s taken it down a notch and they’re not getting photographed on a daily basis at this point. This isn’t even the first time (during this pregnancy) where Ben Affleck seems to be enjoying some face-time with his family, although this New Affleck (Affleck 2.0: The Loving Father & Husband Version) has never, in my memory, been so cutesy with his wife. Yes, he’ll hold her hand, but it usually comes with a scowl. I kind of like this new Ben. I wish I could see them like this more often. Usually, whenever the paparazzi are shooting Ben and his family, Ben almost always looks like he wants to curl up and die.

So why does Ben seem so affectionate? Is it just because his lovely wife is preggo and Ben is just trying to be a better dude? Is it because Ben might finally be getting his longed-for son? Jennifer is reportedly pregnant with a son this time, so maybe Ben is just excited about all of the ball games and boy things he’ll be sharing with his son. Or is there another, sketchier reason? Remember how Ben’s name was mentioned often in all of those reports about those high-stakes, underground poker games in Hollywood? Tobey Maguire just settled in one of lawsuits stemming from the games. But I’m sure that’s nothing. It’s just a coincidence!

Photos courtesy of Fame & WENN.

If you’ve been watching The Rachel Zoe Project for long enough, you get to know how Rachel works with some of her bigger clients. Most of the big names don’t actually want to appear on the show, but Rachel must have worn some of them down, because many end up doing at least one appearance. You get an idea of these celebrities not only from their brief appearances, but by how Rachel and her staff talk about the clients. Like, Zoe Saldana comes across as a know-it-all pill who thinks she can pull off anything straight from the runway. Kate Hudson seems flaky and self-absorbed, and she and Rachel have a very sycophantic relationship. Johnny Weir is always fabulous, and he can work stilettos better than most women. Demi Moore is a demanding perfectionist about her “look”. Cameron Diaz wants what no one else has, and Rachel will do anything to get it for her.

Quite honestly, Jennifer Garner comes across the best out of all of Zoe’s clients. I may hate Garner’s casual style – which I’m guessing she does herself – but on red carpets, Jennifer pretty much just wears what Rachel tells her to wear, and she can look decent/good to great. Garner even did a sit-down interview once for TRZP, and she admitted that she really doesn’t know much about fashion, but whatever she’s learned, she’s learned at Rachel Zoe’s feet. I get the feeling that Zoe pushes Garner to wear more vintage, to really pour on the glamour for big occasions, and to go with big designers like Oscar de la Renta and Valentino instead of experimenting with lesser-known labels.

Anyway, now I know something else about Rachel Zoe’s relationship with Garner – Jennifer claims that Rachel won’t let her wear maternity clothes. Rough!

Before giving birth in March, stylist Rachel Zoe was one of the most fashionable pregnant women in Hollywood — so it comes as no surprise that her client Jennifer Garner is too.

“Rachel is still determined not to put me in maternity clothes,” Garner, 39, told reporters at a special screening of Butter at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood Sunday.

“I think she was so little when she was pregnant, she didn’t wear them. Sooner or later, she is going to have to put me in them!” Garner laughed. “Eventually that’s going to happen, but so far she’s gotten her way!”

The Lanvin-clad actress — currently expecting her third child with husband of six years Ben Affleck, 39 — added that she has about “four months to go” until her due date.

“Jen has always wanted three kids,” a source recently told Us Weekly. “This was her plan all along.”

[From Us Weekly]

So I’m guessing that the wrinkled Lanvin is not maternity-wear? Ugh. On one side, I understand that Rachel is just trying to ensure that her client have the best styles available to her and maybe Rachel is taking this as a personal challenge to find great clothes that will work as maternity-wear. On the other side, it feels like Rachel expects every girl she works with to starve, even when they’re pregnant. Rough.

Photos courtesy of WENN.

Jennifer Garner was all over the place this weekend. She pap’d herself and her daughters again, of course, like always, but she also did two different red carpets. On Saturday night, it was an event called “Reel Stories, Real Lives” – Ben Affleck was not in attendance, but Russell Brand was, and he and Garner were friendly on the red carpet. The Saturday night photos are the ones where Garner is wearing a black lace dress and tuxedo jacket. Then last night she did the AFI Fest premiere of her new film, Butter. Those are the pics where she’s wearing a wrinkled, one-shoulder maternity cocktail dress by Lanvin in what seems like a very dark navy blue.

Besides the wrinkles – which she gets a pass for because she’s super-preggo – I really like the Lanvin. It’s a different choice for Garner, and I applaud her for trying something that she normally wouldn’t. I like the “sari” effect in a cocktail dress – it reminds me, in design, of that mint green Valentino sari that Jennifer Lopez wore to the Oscars… when J.Lo was with Ben. Ben wasn’t at the AFI Fest premiere either.

Should I say something about Jennifer’s bump? Much like Jessica Simpson’s it looks way more natural and real than Beyonce’s. I think Jennifer is carrying very well with this pregnancy – she seems a lot smaller than she did when she was pregnant with Seraphina. I much prefer the Lanvin dress to the black lace one too – the lace one looks like she’s a knocked-up widow.

Here’s a question: does pregnancy make your lips bigger? Because her lips look HUGE.

Photos courtesy of WENN.