Celebrity Birth Announcement: Shayne Lamas

It just occurred to me that I forgot to post this last week. On 11/11/11, Shayne and her husband Nik welcomed a daughter. Her name is Press [yes, really] Dahl Lamas-Richie.

Source

In September, Shayne revealed the sex and name of their baby to E Online, explaining how they decided on the name Press:

"Her name came to us at the beginning of my pregnancy, because she was getting so much press... It started as a joke, her nickname was ‘Press Baby,' but when we found out it was a girl, suddenly that was her name—her name was going to be Press! I think Press is a beautiful name, we're elated, little princess Press!"

Source

  Press' middle name is Dahl, the same as Shayne's, after her great-grandmother [Lorenzo Lamas' mother] Arlene Dahl. 

It's certainly an odd name but somehow it's growing on me. Anyway, congratulations to them!

Other posts about Shayne Lamas:

 Shayne Lamas is Pregnant

Jessica Simpson Birthing at Home?

While I'm inclined to doubt this rumor, I couldn't help but get excited about reports that Jessica Simpson is planning a home birth. The National Enquirer [I know...] has said that after watching Ricki Lake's documentary The Business of Being Born -which I recommend to anyone considering a future pregnancy- Jessica is preparing to deliver her baby naturally at her home in Los Angeles.

Source

It doesn't seem all that likely and The National Enquirer isn't exactly the most reputable source but they have been right about things before. The story also states that Jessica and her fiancé Eric Johnson plan to raise the baby as a vegan. He is vegan and she has spoken about her venture into an animal-free diet since they've been together.

In any case, I'm pleasantly surprised to hear that she seems to be taking this much more seriously than most people would expect.

Other posts about Jessica Simpson

Officially Expecting: Jessica Simpson

Rumored Celebrity Pregnancies: Jessica Simpson

Officially Expecting: Jessica Simpson

I'm not sure why this isn't a bigger deal [possibly because Kim Kardashian decided to announce the end of her 2-month marriage on the same day?], but Jessica Simpson finally confirmed today that she is in fact pregnant with her first child. 

On her website, she posted the above photo with the caption, "It's true! I am going to be a mummy!" and while that's ridiculously cheesy, I also think it's kind of cute. I'm excited for her and just hope that she doesn't name the baby something terrible. Actually, even if it's a terrible name, I just hope it's spelled correctly.

Other posts about Jessica Simpson

Rumored Celebrity Pregnancies: Jessica Simpson

Real Housewives' Baby Names: Atlanta

Click here for the New York City post

This was originally posted in May 2011 and a photo was updated in October.

I already have low expectations for this one... In honor of Nene's voluntary exit from Celebrity Apprentice this week, I thought I'd review the Real Housewives of Atlanta's baby names. I haven't watched every season, so I'm only going to include cast members I am familiar with.

Photo here

Nene Leakes

Sons: Brentt and Brice

I'm really hoping that the entire internet is wrong and that extra T on Brent is a typo. Of course, Nene's soon to be ex-husband is named Greg-with-an-extra-G [he's not her children's father] so maybe it's just something she goes for. Also, what's with Brice? It's like the current trend of substituting a Y for any other vowel except with an I.

I'm also not a fan at all of matchy sibling names and I don't like when siblings have the same first initial. Grade: D- [would have been an F but Nene's hilarious].

Photo here

Kim Zolciak

Daughters: Brielle and Ariana

She's probably going to have her third child any day now [I've lost track but it seems like she's been pregnant forever] so check back for the birth announcement. As for her older daughters' names, they're not as bad as I'd expect from Kim. Ariana is a variant spelling of Arianna, and despite its popularity, is a decent name.

According to Behind the Name, Brielle is a short form of Gabrielle. I'm not a big fan of the overused -elle names and Brielle just sounds trendy to me. Overall, I'd give Kim's choices a C-.

Shereé and her daughter Tierra

Shereé Whitfield

Daughters: Tierra and Kaleigh

Son: Kairo

Yes, that says Kairo, which appears to be a misspelled version of Cairo- Shereé and Mariah Carey definitely need to hang out. Moving on: Kaleigh is as trendy as it gets and I'm not a fan. I wonder how often she has to correct people who spell it Kaylee/ one of the other many spellings. As for Tierra, I'm guessing Sheree was going more for a kewl version of the word tiara than she was thinking about the Spanish word. To be fair, Shereé did have Tierra when she was very young, but that's not an excuse for a bad name. Grade: F.

Kandi and her daughter Riley

 Kandi Burress

Daughter: Riley

I like Kandi even though I don't really understand why she's on the show. She doesn't seem to fit very well with the rest of the cast. Anyway, I'm not a big fan of the whole Riley trend but at least she didn't spell it Ryleigh or something. 

Something I just found out is that after Kandi and her fiancé AJ [who was later murdered] took a break from their relationship, she took custody of two of his daughters. I couldn't find out what their names were [one might be Ashley, after AJ] but I think that is a wonderful thing that a lot of people wouldn't do. 

I give Kandi a B- because I would typically expect a youneekly-spelled baby name from someone named Candy-with-an-I. Riley is a pleasant surprise, even if it's a boy name.

Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida

Son: Ayden Adonis

Oh, Lord, I forgot about Phaedra. If you don't watch, Phaedra told everyone her doctor was going to deliver her baby at 7 months' gestation because he was fully developed [she lied about her due date so people wouldn't know she was pregnant when they got married]. Phaedra is an attorney/ Southern belle who takes herself way too seriously. That's why I'm not surprised at all that her son's name is Ayden [a trendy misspelling of the Irish name Aidan] Adonis [please]. She did breastfeed her son on the show, though, so maybe that means she's not as nuts as she seems. Grade: F.

Photo here

Cynthia Bailey

Daughter: Noelle

Cynthia is one of my favorite non-trainwreck housewives. She also doesn't really mesh with the rest of the cast but she's very pretty and seems like a nice, real person. As for her daughter's name, it's just ok. I'm not a fan of it because I love the masculine name Noel and I think the popularity of Noelle makes parents shy away from Noel for a boy. I give her a C- for effort and for at least spelling the name correctly.

Did you know that Atlanta is the highest-rated series of all the Housewives franchises and the highest-rated reality show on Bravo? I guess I shouldn't be surprised but out of the people I know, New Jersey and Orange County seem to be the most popular.

Rumored Celebrity Pregnancies: Jessica Simpson

Over the past month or so, tabloids have been going crazy over Jessica Simpson's apparent pregnancy. It's not the first time but it might be for real. She and her fiancé Eric Johnson have made no statements either confirming or denying a pregnancy, which makes it seem all the more likely.
Then there are pictures like this:

Source: people.com

Source: people.com

Source: people.com

 There are rumors that they will be married in Hawaii on November 11th [11/11/2011] and that she is having a girl. I also read that she is considering the names Morgan and Karen, which I seriously hope is untrue. No offense if you're considering those names but there are so many great girl names and I would never use an -n ending with Johnson.

In any case, I haven't been this excited about a new celebrity baby since Angelina's twins were born so I hope it's true!

Edited 10/25/11 to add photos.

Nontoxic Gear: Green Sprouts Bath Puppet

I'm not sure if this really qualifies as gear, but I searched for months and finally found an organic cotton bathtime puppet washcloth. I actually found it when we were in Richmond, VA recently for a wedding and I came across the most amazing baby store I've ever been to. Ever. It's called Franklin Goose and they sold almost every single item/ brand I have to scour the internet to find because nowhere in Oklahoma sells it.

Anyway, they do online and phone orders as well so if you can't track down that Sustainablebabyish wool soaker or something else equally elusive, I'd try them.

Hippo Bath Puppet

 Ok, bath puppets. We got the blue hippo and now that Bay has made friends with him, I will probably get more. Amazon sells them for $8 each with free 2-day shipping if you are a Prime member or if you sign up for Amazon Moms- do it, it's free and totally worth it [you can also sign up as a dad, grandparent, aunt, or uncle].

Pig Bath Puppet

They also have a pig and alligator that should be fun as long as your child doesn't have a phobia related to either animal [Bay has only ever exhibited fear when I've shown her toy alligators, it must be the teeth].

Alligator Bath Puppet

Happy shopping!

Name Poll: Hazel vs Georgia vs Clementine

I'm not currently pregnant or adopting but I constantly think about and consider names for Bay's future siblings. Since Bayard was most popular in the 1800s and only rose to the top 1000 twice [in 1882 and 1884], I would prefer to choose names from the same time, but it seems a lot of my favorites are considered "hipster" baby names, which is not what I'm going for.

Nameberry's Hipster Name List

 The 3 girls names I'm thinking about today are Hazel, Georgia, and Clementine [the -tyne pronunciation, not -teen]. Hazel and Clementine obviously share a nature/ botanical theme with Bay [is it too cheesy?] while Bay and Georgia can both be found on a map. 

They are all old-fashioned names but Hazel and Georgia have come back in recent years. According to the SSA and Nancy, in 2010, Hazel was ranked #262 and given to 1232 babies, while Georgia ranked #326 and was bestowed upon 975 baby girls. Only 132 girls were named Clementine in 2010, so it is far from ranking in the top 1000. In popularity, Clementine is much more similar to Bayard. 

Here are the SSA rankings for all 3 names in 1884:

Hazel #122

Georgia #90

Clementine #523

I feel like they're all great names, but Hazel and Georgia's popularity scares me. I don't want any of my kids to be one of many in school or go by their last initial. That said, a lot of people don't really 'get' Clementine, so I also don't want to saddle my daughter with a name she hates. I'd appreciate it if you'd take the time to vote and/ or comment!

Hilary Duff is Pregnant

Hilary Duff announced yesterday that she and husband Mike Comrie are expecting their first child: "We also want to share the exciting news that… BABY MAKES THREE. We are extremely happy and ready to start this new chapter of our lives."

While I am interested [though a little afraid] to find out what name they will choose, I am really tired of hearing people talk about opening new chapters of their lives. Maybe I'm just a heartless bitch but cheesy things like that make me cringe. Why is that the only thing people think to say when referring to a pregnancy, wedding, or divorce? It doesn't have to be a 'chapter' or a 'journey', sometimes it's just living your life.  Whatever.

Congratulations to them!

Celebrity Birth Announcement: Jessica Alba

Congratulations to Jessica Alba and Cash Warren!

Haven Garner Warren was born this Saturday [presumably via Hypnobirthing like her older sister, Honor]. Even though I'm not a fan of initial themes, I think Haven goes well with Honor while not being too matchy- the Hs are a little much for me, though. The name fits in perfectly with their naming style: virtue and Puritan-inspired names that sound modern enough to be revived.

 

I have actually been thinking about it a lot over the past few months because I've been seeing/ hearing it more- mostly on the guilty pleasure lists of other name enthusiasts. I even came thisclose to putting it on my list [I was hesitant because people around here might think I'm a redneck who named my baby Heaven] but now I'm glad I didn't because I'm sure it's going to get quite the boost in popularity now that it's a celebrity baby name.

There were rumors that they were going to name their new little girl Eva and I'm glad those weren't true because that does not fit at all with Honor to me. I assume her middle name, Garner, is a family name and if so, I really like it.

Anyway, I can't wait to see pictures of their whole family of four soon!

Other posts about Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba Practices Hypnobirthing

Celebrity Babies and Moms: Jessica Alba

Nontoxic Toys: The Earth Friends

Back from Vacation!

Now that we're back from vacation, I plan to resume posting. We were in South Carolina staying with my in-laws and before that we were in the Northwestern US and Canada. Here is a little bit of what Bay was up to on our most recent trip [sorry for the poor quality iPhone photos].

Our dogs were a little sad the morning we left,

but Bay was happy and ready to go.

She was great on both of our flights

 even though we waited on one runway [without air conditioning] for over an hour.

When we got there, I put Bay in the crib while I unpacked

but she wasn't a fan of "baby jail" so I let her out.

 She had a lot of fun at her Grammy and Popeye's house,

got to swim in their pool,

 and ate sand went to the beach for the first time.

 She went in the chapel where S and I got married,

 tried to eat a golf ball,

and even warmed up to the crib some.

She also started pulling up and standing all. the. time.

 

She went to the beach some more,

slept in,

 and got a hug from her new best friend, Casey.

She went to a lot of new restaurants,

 got sleepy,

 and took dinnertime naps [but not before eating a tasty lemon].

She smiled at mom,

napped in the Ergo,

ate celery,

and saw a huge heron in the back yard.

She faced off with an alligator for a few dollars.

 She got several new outfits, one of which came with a bonnet.

She decided it wasn't a good look for her.

Last but not least, Bay learned to wave!