Selma Blair's Hip Breastfeeding Attitude

Now this is an awesome quote by Selma Blair, mom to Arthur.

The actress tells People Magazine via Babyrazzi:

“The only time he cries is if he’s hungry. We all have nipples. I don’t care who I offend; my baby wants to eat. If I can’t get a cover over me quick enough, so be it.”

I agree 100% with this attitude. It’s not that I ever set out to offend anyone by breastfeeding, but it’s just the way a baby eats, you know?

And seriously, what is so offensive about a glimpse of a naked breast feeding a child?

Octomom's Nude Photo Shoot: Yay or Nay?

I wrote about Nadya Suleman, aka Octomom, for Huffington Post today. She did a nearly-nude photo shoot for Closer magazine and I think it’s actually pretty cool. She’s representing mothers of the world and showing there’s nothing wrong with a certain-aged woman’s naked body.

I discovered the latest report about her photo shoot on Perezitos this morning. Of course, she’s receiving a lot of backlash for having done the photos.

It seems that a lot of people are saying her having taken these photos are the equivalent to having done porn, which she said she would never do, regardless of how broke she was.

The photos are totally tasteful and I don’t see why anyone would feel the need to trash her for posing. The only aside I would make is that the photos themselves are not well done. If anyone should be upset about anything, it’s that the magazine seemed to do a low-budget photo shoot.

What do you think? Is it harmful for a mother to pose nude or nearly-nude because of her children?

Alicia Silverstone's Chewed Food Baby Diet

Following up on January Jones’ placenta pills is the latest buzzing story about Alicia Silverstone from Celebrity Baby Scoop.

She likes to feed her baby food that she chews up first in her own mouth and then just kind of transfer it to 10-month-old Bear Blu’s mouth.

Some people are supportive and some are totally icked out about the whole affair.

True, it goes against our instincts and what we’ve learned about germs, not to mention that as mothers we’ve even been warned about kissing our babies on the mouth because of the transfer of germs.

But at the same time, Silverstone has a point about this being the way other animals feed their young.

While I never took it as extreme as Silverstone, I can remember a few times pre-chewing some morsels for my babies to make it easier for them to eat.

I guess being a mother of three now it takes more than hearing about chewed food to make me feel queasy.

I mean, I’ve been peed, pooped and thrown up on numerous times. I’ve seen more tushies in various states of messiness than I ever imagined possible.

What’s the big deal about a little pre-chewed food?

Mad Men's January Jones Takes Placenta Vitamins...Have You?

I spoke recently about how Mad Men’s January Jones balances motherhood and her acting work.

I learned something new about her today though from Celeb Baby Laundry.

… January does have a secret weapon to looking so good despite her demanding schedule and it’s not what you’d expect. She pops placenta vitamins. Yes – you read that right – placenta vitamins. What are they? ‘Your placenta gets dehydrated and made into vitamins. It’s something I was very hesitant about, but we’re the only mammals who don’t ingest our own placentas. It’s not witch-crafty or anything! I suggest it to all moms!’

Sounds like a cool way to eat your placenta but not worry about that whole ick-factor of actually eating it in its raw form.

Have you done anything interesting with your placenta?

Tori Spelling Pregnant and My Time in the Pool

So let’s start with the latest Celebrity Momster who’s pregnant—Tori Spelling! Us Weekly reports that just five months after having baby number three, she’s pregnant with number four.

Now that is brave. After giving birth to my third I was like—oh my goodness, what was I thinking?! To be ready so quickly after the third, just…wow!

But even Spelling admits having more babies doesn’t make it any easier, unlike what some mothers told me!

"People always think the first one was the hardest. But I'm like, 'No the first one was easy for me because I could lay around all day. I didn't have two little ones to take care of,'" Spelling has said. "This is the hardest one because I'm always going with the kids."

How true that is. Just this weekend my family went to a four-year-old’s swim party. Sound like fun? Well, if the children were made out of inner tubing that floats, it might have been. But I woke up cranky and then try managing three small kids in a crowded swimming pool. Fun is probably not the first word that comes to my mind.

Even in the midst of the miserableness though, I was reminding myself that these are the moments with my children. The ones I’ll look back on with fondness.

Well, maybe not the pool…

Nicole Richie Can Balance It All and So Can You

Celebrity Momster Nicole Richie is the cover girl for the March 2012 California Style magazine.

Celeb Baby Laundry reports that she talks about balancing motherhood and career in the issue.

 “I can’t sit here and say that it’s easy all day long. I’m just figuring out how to make it work. But I really don’t have anything to complain about. I have a very supportive family and husband [Joel Madden] and that makes it so much easier. My parents live here. They’re each 10 minutes away from me, and they’re very eager to come over even when I don’t want them to.”

I think that just about sums it all up—trying to figure it out as we go along. I suppose I have this fear that I actually am making it work really well right now and that one day I’ll wake up and realize how well I managed it all and be like—why didn’t I recognize that and enjoy it all more?

I think I waste too much time worrying about not doing everything as best as possible, even as I’m probably doing pretty well at the balance.

Maybe we need to give ourselves more credit as mothers for doing such a good job of balancing it all!

Talk to a Celebrity Momster (For a Small Fee...)

Only in the computer age. Now we all have the opportunity to speak with a real Celebrity Momster.

International Business Times reports: Want To Talk To A Celebrity? Dina Lohan, Octo-Mom, Danielle Staub And Others On Dial-A-Star.com.

So the idea is, you pay between $10 - $25 per minute to talk to your favorite reality stars.

Some of the Celebrity Momsters available are:

Talk to Dina Lohan on the phone for $25.00 a minute

Danielle Staub

Danielle Staub is known for being a "Real Housewife of New Jersey." Besides the reality show, Staub has also gone on to become a T.V. personality, author, singer and "adult performer." With such a hard-hitting resume, you can talk to Staub for a reasonable $18.00 a minute.

Nadya Suleman

Remember octo-mom? Nadya Suleman somehow has time to talk to fans with 14 kids running around. Ask her how she manages to do it for $12.00 a minute.

You can also speak with Lindsay Lohan's mother, Dina Lohan (who has the highest per minute rate of $25.00).

I’m really curious if anyone is going to pay these rates to chat with a “star.” I mean, a five-minute conversation with Dina Lohan will set you back $125!

Definitely not going to be a lot of parenting advice passing over the wires in that amount of time—not that that’s why someone would be calling.

Do you think people will pay these rates for a few minutes of their fave celeb’s time?

Celebrity Momsters Adopting Getting Special Treatment?

Huffington Post UK has an article about celebrity adoption. With all the celebrities adopting recently, it’s no surprise that regular ol’ folks are asking—hey! Are Celebrity Momsters getting special preference?

According to Huff Post, it’s probably not the celebrity status that helps so much as celebrities’ money. And celebrities who adopt are obviously going to make it into the news, but all the regular people down your block aren’t.

 "Cult of Celebrity" author Cooper Lawrence also cites Madonna's adoption of David Banda from Malawi as an example of wealth (but perhaps not celebrity) making things easier.

"If you remember, [Madonna] had trouble adopting David from Malawi until she started throwing cash into it. Most of us can't do that," Lawrence said. "Both Madonna and Angelina Jolie have the multimillions of dollars that are needed in order to improve conditions for children still in those countries, such as funding orphanages directly."

Any way you look at it, Celebrity Momsters adopting children and bringing more light to the need for good adoptive families can only be positive. Hopefully, the more parents who are aware of the joys of adopting children, the more homes that will be found and shared.

Molly Sims Gets Honest About Her Birthing Plan

I love it when Celebrity Momsters get their honest on!

Expectant mom Molly Sims lays it all out for Babyrazzi from foods that make her want to barf to the fact that the smell of her own perfume (you DO have you your own perfume, don’t you?!) is less than pleasing.

She also is very honest when it comes to her birthing plan:

“We’re just reading and taking it all in.  I’m definitely going to do a birthing class, which we’re just about to start. I’m going to learn how to breathe and be zen. Or I’ll just get an epidural!” she added, laughing.

“Some people are like, ‘You’ve got to go with the pain or you’ll never remember it,’ others are like, ‘No [expletive] way!’”

I read something recently that some mothers are saying that if a mom-to-be isn’t totally committed to the natural birth process that it most likely won’t happen.

I can totally understand that commitment to an ideal is important, but also being prepared for what may happen seems to be good, too.

I went into all my labors hoping for a natural birth, but I responded to the circumstances and I have no regrets about it.

What do you think? Should a mother be totally committed to her birth plan or be open to rolling with the punches (or crazy pain, as the case may be)?

Kris Kardashian Shares a Photo for Her Son's Birthday

Mommyish shares a nearly-nude shot of Kris Jenner, mother to the Kardashian clan.

Kris released this photo in honor of her son Rob Kardashian‘s 25th birthday. The reality TV mogul and momager is photographed here, pregnant with her son, in 1987.

What do you guys think? Would you be mega-embarrassed if your mom shared a photo like this in honor of your birthday? Or mega-proud?

January Jones Juggles Career and Motherhood

I’m really wishing all mothers could be treated like Celebrity Momsters when it comes to balancing work and baby.

January Jones talks with Us Weekly about her struggles with motherhood, which granted, do not sound too difficult.

"I was back when the baby was only 6 or 7 weeks old so it was difficult," the actress, 34, told Us Weekly about her return to the set at Mad Men's Season 5 premiere in Hollywood Wednesday. "It was difficult to be a working mom and just juggling all of that. But everyone made it work and it was great."

But luckily for both Jones and her son, 7 months, the team at Mad Men was more than willing to make things work for the first-time mom.

"They made it baby friendly for me, because I'm the first female on set to have a baby so I got to bring him," she said. "He had his own room and I was able to work around it because I was nursing."

It is probably statements like Jones’ that frustrate regular working moms. Jones describes what sounds kind of like an ideal situation to a lot of mothers: being able to bring baby to work, having people around you make sure everything is working for you, and even giving your baby his or her own room to hang out in so you can nurse when it is time.

Of course, this is not to say that everything is easy for Jones by any means, just being a new mother can be a stressful time regardless, but perhaps we can use her example to put our own situations in perspective, we can find new appreciation for the blessings we have in our own lives when it comes to those around us who help make balancing our careers and family a reality.

Uma Thurman Balances it All

Uma Thurman is all about balancing career and motherhood.

Celeb Baby Laundry talks to her about how she does it.

Again, we hear it from Celebrity Momsters, the key to balancing it all is being able to drop work when we need to, but not completely.

“I have booted my career to the back seat for an amount of time but I have always tried to never let it go,” says Thurman.

“I try to get back to work and that is good for me too. When I am ready to go back to work I do. I think work centers me in a certain type of way that almost nothing else does.”

Of course, for regular moms, that is perfect in an ideal world, but for moms who have to work, it is not so simple.

How do you handle the pressure of having to work when you’d really rather just be with your kids?

Jessica Simpson Talks Pregnant Sex

I’m really curious about how other moms feel about Celebrity Momsters revealing intimate details about their love lives.

Celebrity Baby Scoop reports on Jessica Simpson’s interview on On-Air with Ryan Seacrest Tuesday morning. Simpson had no problem answering any and all questions.

“When asked if she was currently feeling intimate with fiancé Eric Johnson, she didn't hold back.

She exclaimed, "Yes, I am definitely feeling intimate -- I'm kind of unstoppable at the moment!"

"The big O is like the biggest O ever," she revealed.

She also added that Eric is not complaining about her desires.

"He's always ready," she laughed. "It's pretty interesting how your body works."”

I’m really curious: are there moms who wouldn’t have a problem with Jessica Simpson talking about these things before she was pregnant, but now that she’s pregnant, do you think she should not reveal so much?

Do we have different standards for moms? Are we not supposed to be so revealing?

Or, do you feel that Jessica Simpson and others should never be that revealing—regardless whether she’s a mom or not?

Alicia SIlverstone's Mom Style

I’m struck by how Celebrity Momsters seem to be categorized so simply into either of just a few categories. And I think we do the same thing with regular mothers, too.

We’re always either:

1.       earth-crunchy-breastfeeding-mamas who love every moment of motherhood or

2.       bottle feeding-allowing TV watching-moms who complain about finding balance.

I’m even guilty of this. As soon as I saw Parenting Magazine’s Q&A with Clueless Star Alicia Silverstone who is mother to 11-month-old Bear Blu and author of the vegan cookbook The Kind Diet, I knew I would be reading about a category #1 Celebrity Momster.

I was ready for the whole mother hood is the best thing ever line of answers, and true to stereotype…

Describe your parenting style in one word: Attuned.

What's always in your refrigerator? Vegenaise, Earth Balance “butter,” and umeboshi plum vinegar—yum! We also eat a lot of flaxseed oil and kale.

Favorite place on earth: Breastfeeding my son and staring into his eyes, while holding his little tush.

Best piece of parenting advice you ever got: It passes so quickly, so enjoy every moment.

First word that pops into your head when you hear the word “mom:” My heart just melts.

I’m not knocking Silverstone’s interview or lifestyle by any means; I think it’s wonderful!

I’m just thinking most of us moms fall into a middle-zone somewhere, like we try to eat healthy, but maybe don’t always succeed, and we don’t set our kids in front of TV every day, but recognize it is sometimes a necessary convenience.

We recognize the beautiful privilege we’ve been given to raise our children, but we also would like to have our own lives and selves outside of being “mom.”

Do you think we are more often shown Celebrity Momsters living the extremes? Would you like to see more examples of moms living the middle-ground in the tabloids?

Madonna is Just Like You and Me (Well, Almost...)

Madonna is the latest Celebrity Momster to join the it’s-so-hard-to-be-a-mom conversation.

I read readers’ comments with great interest and while there were a few voices of wisdom pointing out that Madonna has as much a right as “regular” moms to voice her difficulties, the majority of opinions were—how dare she go there?!

According to Celebrity Baby Scoop, Madonna told The Sun, "I'm not going to lie - it's hard work having four kids and doing all the work I do. Everybody has something to say about the way I live my life. At the end of the day I'm doing my best. If people don't like it, then that's really their problem. Sometimes I cope with it very well, sometimes it's a struggle. It's a challenge juggling everything - multi-tasking is my middle name."

Readers’ anger came from Madonna saying it’s hard raising four kids when she can hire all the help she needs and wants. They also point out that she can always make the choice to scale back on her work load. While all of this is true, I think we need to also notice that she is facing the same struggle all moms face.

How much work do we pursue as opposed to how much actual in-the-trenches child-rearing do we tackle? It’s a very real question for many moms—even those who don’t have the luxury of making the choice of working or not. Regardless of our financial situations, we are all struggling to balance the demands of work and motherhood.

And we need to take into account that Madonna also has a whole host of other concerns that us “regular” moms don’t. And I don’t think Madonna sounds like she’s complaining at all about her situation; she’s simply being honest.

It’s not to say that one situation—Celebrity Momster or regular mom— is better or worse than the other. It’s just to say that a lot of mothers have the same struggle at heart. How do I balance it all? How do I satisfy my greatest needs and desires as a person separate from being a mother?

Heidi Klum Likes Honesty

Heidi Klum, 38, talks in the April issue of Elle magazine about her recent split from Seal and the importance of her children.

Celebrity Baby Scoop has a quote about what makes Klum feel the most beautiful: “To be honest, it’s with my children. In my job, people tell you that all the time: ‘This shoot was great. You look amazing.’ But you never know what they say when you turn away. You can’t think about that—you’d go mental. But the kids don’t edit anything. When they kiss you and tell you they love you and say, ‘Mama, you’re the best’ — that’s really the only thing you care about.”

I understand what she is saying—you can count on your children to be absolutely honest with you, of course, that means they’ll also call you out when you’re not at your best.

My daughter is always the first one to answer when I ask, “Does this look okay?” or “Do you love me?” with “Umm, not so much” or “I LIKE-love you.”

My job is to accept her answers without getting mad, so that she can continue to be honest without worrying about upsetting me. Not an easy or glamorous job, but an important one.

Gwen Stefani Talks the Nightmare of Balancing Career and Kids

When I was young, my mom had a coffee mug with a cartoon super mother flying through the sky multi-tasking as she went. I remember the poor disheveled carton figure looked like she’d been side-swiped by a low-flying airplane.

I now understand how true that silly mug was. As I think most moms do. The whole balancing thing is kind of hard when there are literally not enough hours in the day to complete everything and make everyone happy.

Celebrity Baby Scoop talks with a Celebrity Momster sharing her take on balancing career and children.

"I've never been able to balance being a mum and my singing career - it's a nightmare," Gwen, who has kids Kingston, 5, and Zuma, 3, with her husband Gavin Rossdale, tells Closer magazine. "I love my boys, so if there's a decision to make, they come first."

For a lot of moms, work demands cannot be put off until tomorrow to just spend time with the kids.

The goal for me is to balance all aspects of life as well as I can and make sure my kids know that it’s not that I don’t want to spend time with them; I just sometimes can’t! (Oh, and I do also love most of my work, except for my inbox filled with Final Projects waiting to be graded…)

This is probably the ideal for a lot of families. But, of course, while Gwen Stefani can afford to be choosy about turning down work obligations, how do regular mothers handle that challenge?

Jessica Simpson Does a Demi Moore

Us Weekly shares the latest news on a soon-to-be Celebrity Momster.

Simpson strikes quite a candid pose revealing more than would probably be allowed for a cover photo of a non-pregnant woman.

“Heavily pregnant Simpson, 31, poses nude on the April cover of ELLE magazine; Moore, 49, did the same for the cover of Vanity Fair in August 1991 when she was pregnant with daughter Scout LaRue.”

Why is it that people who would be in an uproar about that shot if she weren’t pregnant think it’s acceptable while she is?

Is it because she is not seen as a “sexy” object when pregnant? So the sight of her body as a “mother” is somehow “otherly” and allowed to be seen in this state?

If so, how silly that would seem since being pregnant means you’re obviously, you know, sexual.

Celebrity Momster Quote of the Day

Babyrazzi quotes Celebrity Momster Julianne Moore, who’s on the cover of March’s issue of More magazine,  about motherhood.

“I don’t want my daughter or her friends to be interested in Jessica Simpson,” Julianne states in the magazine. ” I want them to be interested in what’s happening in their own lives.”

If at a young age girls begin to look outside themselves for where importance lies, they are going to by default see very external measures of success as being what is important.

Young women should be focused on the beauty and splendor of their own maturing selves, not the outside trappings of celebrity glamour and style.

So how do we encourage girls to focus more on themselves than the sparkly celebrities they see all around them?

I think Moore has really hit the nail on the head with this simple statement of what’s so bad with young women obsessing over celebrity culture.

Jessica Alba Gets Honest About Motherhood

Photo from Gossip-Juice.com

Welcome guest blogger, Imogen Reed, writing about Jessica Alba's motherhood journey!

Jessica Alba might be more famous for being a celebrity mom than she ever was for being an actress, but to be fair to the 30 year old mother of two she seems to be making a highly successful career out of it. She’s always been considered one of the most beautiful women in the world, and accused of being arrogant and conceited by the paparazzi and celebrity gossip columns in the past. However since embracing motherhood Jessica seems to be more happy and content, while not being afraid to admit that being a mom can also be challenging.

She’s certainly making headlines at the moment, not to mention the cover of the March issue of LA Confidential, thanks to the launch of her new business. While most celebrity entrepreneurs will lend their name to an overpriced perfume, badly made clothing line or a gimmicky restaurant, Jessica has bucked the trend by starting an enterprise that might actually work.  When expecting her first baby, now aged four, Jessica says she was alarmed by the high levels of chemicals found in everyday baby products and this is what inspired her to start The Honest Company, an innovative service that delivers all natural baby essentials to your door every month. This is a significant trend in the market with many consumers moving away from the cheapest, pesticide infested food and clothing to everything from organic potatoes and cotton to organic mattresses in the home.

It’s not all glamour for this celebrity mom

Lots of people thought she was crazy when she first started conceptualizing the idea 3 years ago, but then lots of people don’t realize how toxic many everyday baby products can be. It’s not just the diapers either. Essentials such as shampoos and baby wipes can have a host of toxic chemicals which aren’t just bad for babies skin and health, they are incredibly damaging to the environment as well.

Jessica has taken her commitment to her business to the extreme. She’s thoroughly tested over 20 different products which cover every aspect of raising a baby. There aren’t many celebrity moms who will endorse non-glamorous items such as dish soap and hand sanitizer, but Jessica seems to have totally considered the needs of mothers everywhere and it is something she really should be applauded for.

Keeping it real

Another thing that proves that Jessica has really bucked the trend on celebrity backed product lines is her insistence that these monthly boxes of baby goodies should be affordable for the vast majority of families, rather than the elite few. A box of eco-friendly diapers costs less than $20 a week and the toiletries and home cleaning range are less than $9 for a week’s supply. There are even price comparisons against conventional products on the website to help you check that you’re getting a good deal.  Oh and those diapers are super cute as well, coming in fancy skull and crossbones prints or gorgeous pink stars and stripes amongst many other trendy designs. 

Alba has also committed to giving back by donating a portion of the profits spent with The Honest Company to Baby2Baby, an LA based charity that donates baby essentials to families in need. Of course it’s no great surprise for a celebrity mom to be supporting a charity, but it is good to see that she’s taking her business responsibilities seriously and making the effort to help a worthy cause.

Applauding Women in Business

It’s actually quite nice to see that Jessica has joined the many thousands of mompreneurs worldwide who are creating businesses that reflect both the needs of their families and a commitment to the environment. While her celebrity endorsement probably cuts out a lot of the leg work, after all it’s easier to get press coverage when you are a hot gossip column topic; you genuinely get the feeling that she is totally dedicated to creating a range that is both practical and affordable for a large number of families.

Perhaps she can be forgiven for achieving such an amazing post pregnancy figure when she demonstrates such a heartfelt commitment to improving the everyday lives of normal moms. There are many women who feel more whole and complete after becoming a mother and it could just be that Jessica Alba is one of them.

Snookie Might Be Pregnant--Let's Keep it Classy!

There’s a rumor that Snookie from Jersey Shore is pregnant.

I’ve never seen the show, but I’ve seen all the crazy headlines. Lots of people are jumping on the bandwagon of silly jokes about Snookie as a mom.

Hollywood Life reports Snooki’s Ex-Boyfriend Admits: ‘I Hope She Has A Miscarriage.’

Jersey Shore‘s Snooki and her ex-boyfriend Emilio Masella had a bad breakup, but that’s absolutely NO excuse for his terrible remarks that he hopes she has a miscarriage! Whether the pint-sized star is pregnant or not, he should never wish that on anybody! “I hope for her sake, not to be rude or anything, but I hope she has a miscarriage,” he tells TMZ.com.

Beyond the fact that to wish something like that on anybody is just so horribly ignorant and sad, but to wish a loss of pregnancy on someone you once were in a relationship with?

Regardless of someone’s age or past behaviors, the news of a pregnancy can have amazing transformational results.

So if Snookie does turn out to be pregnant, I wish her all the Celebrity Momster support I have and faith that she can be a wonderful mother.

Jennifer Ansiton Happy Just the Way She Is

Us Magazine reports on Jennifer Aniston’s attitude to motherhood and I think it rocks.

During an interview on CBS This Morning Sunday, the Wanderlust actress complained that it's "very narrow-minded" for people to assume she's unhappy without a baby to nurture. "That doesn't measure the level of my happiness or my success in my life, in my achievements, in any of that."

To assume that if a woman has expressed interest in having a baby but doesn’t have one yet that they are somehow unhappy is presumptuous on our part.

The actress, who's currently dating Justin Theroux, 40, added that she doesn't give "a crap what other people think" and she's happier "than I've ever been."

Bravo for Aniston expressing her feelings on the issue. If only we all could say loud and proud that we are okay with who we are and what our beliefs are without worry about what others will think of us.As mothers, we need to respect not only other mothers and their ways of parenting, but possible mothers-to-be, or even those women who choose to not be mothers.

Anyone Going to Accuse Beyonce of Being a Stripper Now?

Us Magazine reports on Beyonce’s public breastfeeding.

That’s very cool news for all the mothers being accused of being strippers because of public breastfeeding  recently. Here’s a public figure nursing in public.

“Escorted by husband Jay-Z, the "Girls (Run the World)" singer, 30, took along daughter Blue Ivy, seven weeks, for a casual lunch at Sant Ambroeus in NYC's West Village last Saturday. And Beyonce nursed her little girl at her the table, an observer tells Us Weekly.”

Or, wait a minute. Unless now nursing mothers are going to be accused of being rock stars for public nursing!