Breastfeeding

Courtesy Ladies’ Home Journal

Home is where the heart is and for Nicole Kidman, it has led her to establish her roots alongside her husband Keith Urban and their 16-month-old daughter Sunday Rose in Nashville, Tenn. While the small town feel and country living is a far cry from her days in Hollywood, the actress has come to prefer it that way.

“I love living here,” she tells the December issue of Ladies’ Home Journal. “I feel protected here, especially now that I have the baby.”

Allowing country crooner Keith to step into the spotlight hasn’t been an issue for Nicole, who admits watching him shine when it comes to his successful albums and tours is “much bigger than what I’m doing right now.” Often joining him on the road — the couple insist they are never apart for more than four days at a time — both Nicole and Sunday are privy to Keith’s stellar voice each morning!

“I hum a little. When your husband’s a huge singer, the last thing you do is sing with him.”

That isn’t to say Nicole’s career has taken a complete backseat to her family. Only weeks after giving birth to Sunday, Nicole packed up her daughter and headed to Italy to film her latest movie Nine. Having baby girl on set proved to be a good distraction! “Kate [Hudson] had her son there,” Nicole recalls, “and Penélope [Cruz] and Fergie were like, ‘I can’t wait to have a baby.’”

Settling into life with an infant on set was nothing short of a new experience for all! Come time for costume fittings Nicole — who was nursing at the time — found herself with a few newly acquired curves. “They’re not very big, my boobs, so they just became normal size,” she notes.

“I loved it! When you’ve had a slightly androgynous body your whole life, having breasts is a nice feeling.”

And while she may make light of her experience, having the chance to carry a child isn’t something Nicole takes for granted. “I loved bringing life into the world,” she raves. “To be completely responsible for this baby growing inside me. I’m grateful for that experience.”

Her trip to Italy was only the beginning for Keith and Nicole’s daughter. The glitz and glamour that accompanies her parents’ careers has certainly left a lasting impression on Sunday, who has logged thousands of air miles with the pair. “Sunday’s third word was ‘wow’ and I say that word a lot,” says the Australian native who, in addition to a farm in Nashville, has property — and a handful of alpacas — in her homeland.

“I hope when I’m 80 I’ll still be saying it. I’ve been given extraordinary opportunities, with huge dreams fulfilled. I’m 42 and my eyes are still wide open.”

Click below to read about Nicole’s mom’s group and children Isabella and Connor.

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Courtesy Women’s Health

Nothing reshuffles priorities quite like motherhood, and Ashlee Simpson-Wentz wouldn’t have it any other way. Proud to be a “really young mom” to Bronx Mowgli, turning 1 this week — her first child with husband Pete Wentz – the 25-year-old actress and singer tells the December issue of Women’s Health that career now comes second to family.

“Pete and Bronx come first,” she explains. “It has humbled me.”

“I believe in letting life happen. There’s good, there’s bad, and then there’s great. If you learn from those things, you grow. I’ve really done a lot for 25, and there’s still a lot to come.”

There were no jitters about pregnancy, a state of being Ashlee says she never felt compelled to “second-guess.” Quite the opposite, being an expectant mother was “the most calm I’d ever been in my life,” she reveals.

That sense of serenity extended to her approach to shedding the 50 pounds she gained while pregnant, something which — by her own account — happened with relative ease, with the help of a personal trainer. “I wasn’t in a rush to get back to this body for anyone else,” she insists. “It was more like, ‘I wanna look good [for me]. I wanna feel good.’”

Her secret weapon? Baby boy himself! “[I do] Bronx Pilates,” she explains. “And these [points to her biceps] are from holding him. He’s in my arms all the time.”

While exercise might have come naturally to Ashlee, diet was another matter entirely, and a home-delivery meal service often left her feeling unsatisfied. “It was hard, because I’m an eater,” she admits. “If I want a grilled cheese sandwich, I’ll eat a grilled cheese sandwich.”

Proclaiming that she “likes curves” — noting that she “had E’s!” during the five months she breastfed her son — and “what defines sexy is not someone’s weight,” Ashlee is quick to point out that her husband accepts her for who she is, no matter the size.

“Pete isn’t worried about stretch marks. He always makes me feel sexy.”

Source: Women’s Health, December issue

– Missy

Frazer Harrison/Getty

Proudly proclaiming herself a “very good” mom, Kimora Lee Simmons says the proof rests with her children, themselves. Ming Lee, 9 ½, Aoki Lee, 7, and Kenzo Lee, 5 months, are “fun,” “sweet,” “well-behaved” and “mannerable” kids, the 34-year-old Baby Phat CEO tells OK! “It’s a successful thing we’ve got going on.” Kimora adds,

“The most fulfilling thing in my life is to be a parent and a mother…That’s what I was made to do. There’s times when I’ve been the mom and the dad. I’m very good at it; that’s what I do. It’s my thing.”

Although she admits she is “scared” to juggle her various professional commitments and her ever-growing family with husband Djimon Hounsou, she hints that a fourth child is likely. “I’m young, so why not?” she asks before adding, “I don’t put a number on it, but I wouldn’t mind — whatever happens. If it’s four or five, I wouldn’t mind.”

“I think I’ve been blessed enough to take care of them and blessed enough to have the wherewithal to deal with them, and the mental capacity and the patience, so I don’t see why I couldn’t or why I wouldn’t. I love it. It’s the most rewarding thing of my life, and I think Djimon feels the same way.”

That’s not to say that a pregnancy announcement is imminent, however! “I would like a little moment to be free to eat what I want and have a little drink and to enjoy my body post-baby, since the baby has moved out,” she points out. “We always call it the baby condo that they left behind — you know, the belly. Before I get a new occupant in the condo, I’d like a little moment of freedom.”

Kimora promised that when she has news, she’ll share it!

“I’ll let you know — I can’t keep a secret, I have a big mouth. And if I don’t have a big mouth, I’ll have a big belly, so you’ll see one or the other. But so far, nothing yet.”

Click below for Kimora’s thoughts on the differences between baby girls and baby boys.

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Charles Gallay/Getty

It doesn’t take much for Marley Shelton to feel sexy these days. “At this stage, anything besides sweats, since I’m in mommy mode,” the new mama of 9-week-old daughter West tells Celebrity Baby Blog.

That said, on hand at the launch party for Stella McCartney for GapKids, Marley wasn’t concentrating on her own fashion sense — she was all about stocking up for baby girl! “I have a two-month-old so I bought her one of the blazers,” she said.

“She has to wait until she’s one, but I’m so excited for her to rock her first Stella McCartney blazer.”

Marley will soon be celebrating a milestone of her own — getting back to her pre-baby weight.

In addition to spending her time hiking in the Hollywood Hills, the actress reveals that, for her, the key lies in nursing.

“Breastfeeding is my magic bullet. It burns a ton of calories so that’s kind of what I’ve been doing.”

Despite the upcoming holidays, there will be no topping the greatest gift of all for Marley: motherhood. “Being a brand new mom, I’d have to say my daughter is the best gift I’ve ever been given,” she raves.

West is the first child for Marley and her husband, producer Beau Flynn.

– Anya with reporting by Tiffany Matloob

Update: We’ve now added the full interview and photos — plus one exclusive outtake that didn’t make the magazine! See the images and read the article in the extended post.

Originally posted October 21st: Weeks after welcoming their first son, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden — along with their 21-month-old daughter Harlow Winter Kate — are showing off the latest addition to their family, Sparrow James Midnight Madden.

Justin Coit for PEOPLE for use on CBB

Click below for the full interview and lots of great photos!
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Alexandra Wyman/WireImage

Halloween is always a big day for Seal and wife Heidi Klum, and this year — despite welcoming their fourth child, daughter Lou Sulola, just three weeks beforehand — the couple showed again that they are game.

Chatting with reporters while dressed as crows at Heidi’s 10th Annual Halloween Party at Voyeur in West Hollywood on Saturday, Seal spoke lovingly to Celebrity Baby Blog about the family’s newest addition.

“It’s a funny thing, having another child, because you have three kids who you love dearly and you think to yourself how could you possibly find any more love to give anyone else,” he notes.

“The first time you hold your baby in your arms there is this overwhelming sense of otherworldliness that is very, very difficult to describe.”

Although the couple are no doubt tired, Seal says that Lou makes it all worthwhile.

He explains,

“Sleep deprivation is kind of pretty much neutralized by what I call the amnesia gene. They look at you and you forget that when you have more kids.”

Earlier in the day Seal took the couple’s older three children — Leni, 5 ½, Henry, 4, and Johan, 3 this month — trick-or-treating for the first time.

The boys dressed as skeletons, Seal said, while Leni dressed as a skeleton-witch hybrid.

“She tends to be very strong-headed, a bit like someone else I know,” he joked, “She was a great witch at school in the parade last week.”

The 46-year-old singer was less forthcoming when asked to spill Heidi’s body-after-baby secrets.

“You know I’m not going to do that,” he laughed before conceding, “she just has a knack for all of these things.”

“There isn’t actually anyone quite like her. I certainly haven’t met anyone like her. She just has a knack for it. She is the person that can pretty much do anything and I’ve got used to that within a few months of marriage…she’s the woman, she can do it all.”

Click below to read about how the three older Samuel children are adapting to life with Lou.

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Fame

If Minnie Driver gets her way, son Henry Story, 13 months, won’t be an only child for long. “Hell yeah,” the 39-year-old actress tells OK! “I want more. I gotta work this year, and then I really want to have more kids.”

Her enthusiasm hasn’t been dampened by the “hardcore” first year of life with baby. “Making these really important choices on extraordinarily little amounts of sleep is the most challenging part,” Minnie explains.

“Protecting your newborn baby, being able to feed them, being able to feed yourself, being able to keep the clothes clean, being able to keep the place clean … it’s really challenging when you’re sleeping for maybe two-hour increments and then waking up and breastfeeding. Well, I was.”

Adding that “the first year is not for the faint of heart, but it’s amazing,” Minnie says that motherhood has taught her to be “incredibly present” because “these babies change on an hour-to-hour basis.” Case in point? Henry’s own growing list of milestones to date  — a list which now includes walking, talking, and snuggling with dog Bubba! Calling her son “a little piece of heaven,” Minnie shares,

“Mama was his first word, Dada, then ‘tar’ — which is guitar, and Bubba, which is the dog. And now he blows kisses at the ladies in the supermarket. He’s a big flirt. Big blue eyes, big white blond head of hair. He’s very handsome.”

Minnie’s new film Motherhood is in theaters now.

Source: OK!

– Missy

Alexandra Wyman/WireImage

In an expansive new interview with About.com, actress and author Jane Seymour dishes on the highs — and occasional lows — of being a mom to twins.

When in-vitro fertilization resulted in two miscarriages, Jane says that she and husband James Keach had “almost given up,” but then a third pregnancy resulted in three embryos. One “never really formed,” and the end result were twin boys John and Kristopher, now 13.

Born six weeks prematurely via emergency c-section after Jane developed pre-eclampsia, the babies weren’t out of the woods yet.

“Johnny turned blue twice when we got home because we really wanted to come home soon and that was a big mistake,” Jane recalls. “So then we had to take both of them back to the hospital and I had to stay with them overnight, a couple of nights, monitoring them for sucking, swallowing and breathing.”

Breastfeeding was a challenge for mom, too. Noting that “the beauty of the human body is you have two feeding apparatus,” Jane says that the boys “invariably … wanted to eat at the same time.” As one would finish up the other would be readying to nurse.

“I was referred to as the ‘Dairy Queen,” Jane quips. “I was literally on tap all the time.” When she found herself struggling to even eat enough food to sustain her milk supply, Jane supplemented with formula — to good results.

“[It] worked just perfectly for us. It was no problem with them adjusting to a combination. I always tell people, ‘Don’t feel you have to do one thing and not another.’”

Click below to read about why Jane was on ‘pins and needles’ during the twins’ infancy.

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Mike/Splash News Online

Before she was a mom Minnie Driver says she treated her career like a baby, mistakenly believing that “it required as much nurturing and as much attention.” Since welcoming son Henry Story, 13 months, Minnie says she finally sees the difference between the two.

“I’ve discovered there’s no amount of hassle that could ever be bigger than my love of Henry and the hilarity and joy that he’s brought into my life and continues to bring,” the 39-year-old actress tells PARADE.

Minnie says that being an aunt to her sister’s three children helped prepare her for motherhood — somewhat. What it didn’t prepare her for, however, was life with a newborn. “My mind was just on the impending birth and the immediate future,” she explains. “Having a little baby is very different than dealing with your kids when they’re older.”

“You’re not juggling school schedules and stuff. I’m sure that all will come, but the first year of Henry’s life has been just an insane earthquake for me.”

That she has tackled that year while continuing to make movies is something Minnie admits is “incredibly challenging.” Her first film postpartum — Betty Anne Waters, costarring Hilary Swank — was shot when Henry was just 5-months-old, Minnie notes.

“We were in Michigan in the middle of winter and it was ten below,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘What am I doing?’” Between baby boy and her film commitments, Minnie concedes that her singing career was temporarily put on hold. “There’s no time,” she observes.

“If he’s sleeping, I’m trying to sleep and when you’re breastfeeding, you’re the milk machine. There’s no time to, like, pick up the guitar and write a song, much less go for a walk or have a beer. It’s like, ‘Good luck.’ But I’m going back in the studio and I’m just about to start another record.”

When she’s feeling overwhelmed or in need of advice, Minnie reveals that she will often frequent Mamapedia. Calling the site “amazing,” Minnie notes that “you can ask questions and mothers across America can answer, so you can get maybe ten answers and it’s kind of a cool resource.” An online community can only go so far, however. Minnie adds,

“Sitting down and reading about somebody else’s tough experiences of being a mother, you’re suddenly like, ‘My God, I’ve got a kid and I don’t have time to read about this. I’ve got to go do it.”

Source: PARADE

– Missy

Erin Patrice O’Brien for PEOPLE for use on CBB

Months before welcoming her first child, Ana Ortiz was keeping her pregnancy pounds in check; The Ugly Betty actress was hopeful her commitment to staying in shape would help make her bounce back after baby that much easier. “I attribute it to working out while I was pregnant,” the new mama tells That’s Fit about her postpartum weightloss.

Burning calories by nursing her daughter Paloma Louise, 4 months next week, has also proven beneficial.

“They do say breastfeeding is nature’s lipo.”

That said, nursing — and her age! — have put a limit on 38-year-old Ana’s voracious appetite. “The older I got it’s like, ‘Oh, I can’t have pizza at two in the morning?!’” she jokes. “Because I’m breastfeeding I have to have more fat, so I’ve been on a quest for healthy fats — avocados, fish, nuts. But I have my weaknesses — red wine is a big weakness.”

In addition to walking in lieu of driving, the New Yorker admits much of her efforts have been made possible due to Le Maison, a fitness center that concentrates on body weight and rubber band exercises. And while she depended on a trainer while pregnant in order to safely monitor her routines, Ana has since gone solo — calling herself “too cheap” to hire one — and now stays fit through the art of dance. “I’ve always been a physical person, but I get bored easily, so dancing is a wonderful workout,” she says.

While staying active has always been a part of Ana’s routine, she admits becoming a mother has made good health a priority.

“I think it’s really important for my daughter to see her parents being physically fit and for that to be a part of her life,” she explains.

“The examples we set for her will stay with her the rest of her life.”

Paloma is the first child for Ana and her husband Noah Lebenzon.

Source: That’s Fit

– Anya