So, rather than try to post something that is in any way nice to look at, I thought I'd share a bit about where I'm at in the process.
After I get the modeling work done, which involves getting the characters shape the way I want them, I use an auto-rigger that will make it easier for me to control and animate the characters. But the auto-rigger I use gets crankier the larger Mel gets. It starts to make it so that random parts of her belly move when they shouldn't, so I usually have to fix these errors before I can start animating. So that's where I'm at right now. :)
For some reason, there doesn't seem to be as many errors to clean up as last time, so hopefully this step will be quick!