New Year's Eve Baby: Happy Birthday GG

Wishing you and yours a prosperous and blessed
New Year!

and a

Very Happy Birthday to GG who turned 2 today!

(click to enlarge to see the photo collages I put together for her.
You can check out the entire album of pics used to put this together HERE)

*created using Free Software from Shape Collage

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Bellyitch Bump Day: Belly Progression

Creative Portraits Photography offers this "Progression" series where they take a picture of a baby bump each stage until the baby is born! What an excellent idea. The studio is based in Redding, California and I think I will contact them to see if they would be willing to donate a session and print for my 2010 Maternity Session giveaway. The idea is to get a photog in at least 5 regions of the US to donate. So far, I only have DC and Florida. Working on it.

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Celebrity Update: Bumps, Babies & Bellies

A very pregnant R&B songstress and Reality TV star Keyshia Cole threw a Christmas party for needy children recently. Source

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Khloe and Kendra didn't take long to pimp out and cash in on the first baby pics.

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The rumors about Khloe Kardashian's pregnancy seem to be even more persistent than ever. For the last several weeks, numerous sources have reported that Khloe is pregnant. Adding fuel to the fire are photos depicting a supposed baby bump in recent weeks. So what is the truth?

Following the much awaited episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians last Sunday, one would think the rumors would be dead. Khloe took a pregnancy test and received positive results only to later get her period while out to eat with Kourtney and her mom. Despite this revelation, rumors continue to ignite about Khloe's pregnancy.

Speculation about change in Khloe's appearance may suggest that she is in fact pregnant. Further, it is possible to experience what might seem to be a period when you in fact are pregnant. Could it be that Khloe is expecting? Was it all just a scripted segment for the show? Could Khloe have miscarried?

Pregnant or not, one thing seems to be certain and that is Khloe's desire to be a mom. She seemed sincerely disappointed when she got her period and thought that positive test was a fluke. Further, Khloe is a new aunt and has reportedly told friends that she is not taking birth control. One way or another, it seems that this reality star has a baby on the mind.

Source

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Jim Bob Duggar is opening up about how his and wife Michelle's 19th child Josie, born four months premature, is faring. Plus, he details the family's plans to relocate for the holidays to be closer to the newborn.

"Josie is 2-weeks-old today," Jim Bob tells People.com. "We continue to take things day by day - she remains in the NICU where doctors are tracking her progress."

The site says the Duggars live about 200 miles away from the Little Rock, Ark. hospital where Josie is being cared for - but the family intends to make a temporary move.

"Our entire family is planning to relocate to Little Rock temporarily to be close to Josie," Jim Bob says. "In the meantime, we're grateful that a close friend in Little Rock has opened up their home to us for the holidays.
From ET Online:

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Robin Thicke and his wife, Paula Patton, have decided on the name for their newborn that is due next May. The couple is well-prepared for all outcomes, picking two names, one for a boy and one for a girl.

If the child is a boy, they are naming him Julian. Julian is of Greek origin and means “Jove’s child.” It is also a variant of Julius.

If the child is a girl, they are naming her Isabella. Isabella is of Hebrew origin and means “My God is a vow.” Isabella was ranked second in name popularity in 2008.

source

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Padma Lakshmi had that mom-to-be glow as she arrived at Indochine’s 25th Anniversary celebration, held November 20th in New York City. She stunned everyone is her gorgeous red dress with plunging neckline.

The Top Chef host, 39, expects her first child in late March/early April. She told Jimmy Kimmel last week that she’s feeling “totally blissed out” and enjoying her pregnancy, although she’s not sharing the sex of the baby!

source

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File this under L for Late News

Judy Reyes, famous for her portrayal of Nurse Carla on 'Scrubs,' is taking on a new role: mommy. The actress and her boyfriend, director George Valencia, have a newborn daughter.

According to PEOPLE, Leila Rey Valencia was born on Friday, Nov. 27 at 7:11 p.m., weighing in at 6 lbs., 7 oz and measuring 19 inches long. This is the first child for Reyes, 42, and Valencia.

"Lelia is absolutely beautiful. Both mom and baby are very happy." Reyes' rep Patrick McCarthy told Life & Style magazine. Source

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From Knocked up Celebs.com

Just the other day Knocked up Celebs" published the cute photo shoot with Indy 500 driver Helio Castroneves and Adriana Henao while they were getting ready for their baby that was due in January. But Christmas has come a couple days later for both Helio and Adriana since now they are parents to a baby girl. Mikaella was born today (December 28th) and weighed 7 lbs, 3 oz and was 19 inches long. Helio posted the picture on Twitter for everyone to see."

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Rebecca Gayheart and husband Eric Dane are expecting a baby Girl according to Celebrity Baby Scoop

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Black Celeb Kids has a photo of singer/actress Christina Milian who hosted a baby shower this month with her hubby mega producer and recording artist The Dream. According to OK! magazine, the couple treated guests to a decadent day filled with manicures, pedicures, and make-overs provided by Valerie Beverly Hills. “Other shower attendees noshed on delicious Asian inspired goodies from Philippe West Hollywood. But, to top off the intimate party, Christina also served bite- sized cupcakes from Famous Cupcakes just to make sure everyone’s sweet tooth was satisfied." according to OK!.

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Little Lesiw Little Blooms Winner Announced

Congratulations to Meli of The Meli Faif Life blog

for winning the

three Little Lesiw Bloom Contest!

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Merry Christmas from Bellyitch

MERRY CHRISTMAS

from Bellyitch

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Holiday Visit to Past Pregnancy Blog Spotlights

On this night before Christmas, I thought it would be a great idea to check in and revisit some of the past Bellyitch baby blog spotlights, see the new babies and check out the expanding bellies. This is an update to the last catching up Post where we got a glimpse of Baby Michael Davis, The Rented Nursery and His Boys Can Swim. This time, we're going back to...

Mon Petit Amour , a Canadian pregnancy Blog Spotlight post updated recently that baby was born December 5th, 2009 weighing 8 lbs, 5 oz and measuring 21 inches. Mom is taking a break from Blogging to get to know new baby for a while. Too cute!
I'm Just Sayin' - Kerri's blog, A spotlight from August, is full of great photos updating us all on baby Aiden (who is already almost 3 months old Born October 9) and new parenthood discoveries. It's such a treat to watch the wonderment. She's doing a great job getting back in the swing of things! I love those cheeks. too cute!
Baby Number 8 - Has 7 weeks go. Allison took this fun photo shoot recently.

Tifi Mom - Is 39 weeks and counting. Looking Great and still blogging. I love the simple classic aspect of her blog. She's looking great and hanging in there well with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays and being nearly due! wow!

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OMG! We're Pregnant - is now "And Then There were Three", it is now a private blog though momma OMG has decided to hang up her blogging boots for a while as she and daddy OMG enjoy their little one and parenting. Their daughter was born October 13.

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Baby Dickey - Updated* to add that little Ryan Tyler was born Dec 27th at 3:30am. 7 lb 9 ounces, 20 inches. And in true Twitter style, Emily tweeted every detail via #twitterbirth. How angelic and peaceful he looks.

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Nine Months to Life - Sarah is 35 Weeks and counting. The baby is in breech and she is anxious for Christmas, she blogs. Her writing is still refreshing and candidly honest.

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Heir to Blair - Blair gave birth to her lovely little boy Harrison on October 14, 2009. She's moved to a fancier Wordpress blog home with lots of extra fun bells and whistles.

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Being Mrs. Jones - Christina had her baby and you can read all about the birth story of little Izzy just last week on December 16. It's pretty detail and has loads of very neat photos. She shares wonderful pics via twitter also ever so often. Such a pretty little doll.

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Moments and Impressions - Nessa is 38 weeks and counting. She's got her Tree up and shares photos of her work shower on her page these days.

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Baby Makin(g) Machine - Future Mama is 13 weeks along and has great photos of her wedding as she and hubby just celebrated their 5th year wedding anniversary recently.

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Dear Baby - Has her hospital bag packed and will give birth any day now. Wow. Anxiously waiting. The photo essays and poems on this blog are the absolute best, I tell ya.

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Celebrity Update: New Babies and Stylish Celebrity Kids

Kourtney Kardashian and her boyfriend Scott Disick welcomed their son Mason Dash Disick this Monday. He was 7lbs 6 ounces. Congrats to the two of them. In other Kardashian news, the promos for next week's episodes hint that Khloe maybe pregnant. Stay Tuned...
Actress Leelee Sobieski and her fashion designer fiance, Ada Kimmel, welcomed a little girl into the world late last Wednesday evening.Jennifer Hudson is reportedly pregnant with a surprise Baby #2!

In Tiger news, it looks like Elin has taken the kids to Sweden where she and her sister purchased land and a fixer upper house, reports say. She is reported to be still having mixed feelings about sticking it out with Tiger, but her close friends say she is more likely than not going to file for divorce and seek primary custody with supervised visits. I hear what's really got her pissed off is that there was one relationship that lasted before and after the marriage (I think the one with Rachel Uchitel) which reveals there was some sort of bond there and that ish is unforgivable if you ask me.


Wow! When you screw around on your wife with an army of skanks you can't really expect to keep the happy home now too. Tiger's been seen vacationing with friends in the Caribbean so it looks like he may be over it too or maybe just trying to get his mind off of folks...maybe hunting for new chicks. The dude seriously should NOT have gotten married so young.

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and in cute celebrity baby news. These A-List babies that get all the press coverage are oh so stylish. I hear one network is scheduled to do a special shortly on the top 10 Fab Dressed Celeb babies. I was contacted to be one of the talking heads but didn't make the cut. BOOO!


I will still be watching. Here are some of the ones I'm sure made the...Of course the adorable baby with the million dollar wardrobe will be in there, Suri Cruise.



and check out Kingston with Gwen Stefani. Homeboy looks like a Hanna Andersson Ad. Too cute!

How about the French Styling of little Nahla Aubrey who is now 21 months old, seen here with her mom Halle Berry. Source: Celebrity Babies
And there was lots of buzz over child actress Willow Smith who was seen recently with her parents Jada Pinkett-Smith and Will Smith sporting hair with the sides of her head shaved with the top worn long and flat over her face, clipped with a decorative silver star. Wow! What a creative cut for a 9 year old, eh?


A UK Poll listed the top 10 Styled Celeb kids lately and came up with the following, though any and all children of color are CONSPICUOUSLY ABSENT from this Poll! I wonder what a US Poll would reveal after all children of Celebrities of color are rarely stalked and pasted over magazines much.


1. Suri Cruise: The controversial high heels and mini-purse clinch it.
2. Cruz Beckham: Dad David Beckham's natural style rubs off on the offspring!
3. Brooklyn Beckham: Told you....
4. Lourdes: Even though she's been dressing like her mom, circa 1985.
5. Romeo Beckham: Another Beckham hits the list. No surprise there!
6. Junior Andre: Peter Andre and Katie Price's son looks adorable in a leather jacket and jeans.
7. Shiloh Jolie-Pitt: Shiloh's just a sweet looking kid, no matter what she wears, but we do love her hoodies!
8. Kingston Rossdale: That hair, that hair.
9. Poppy Oliver: Chef Jamie Oliver's daughter is obviously a UK-centric pick, but if you Google her, you'll see what she's so sweet.
10. Princess Tiaamii Andre: Peter Andre and Katie Price's dau


But seriously BlackCelebKids has loads of African American and Mixed Race children and if Angelina could only hook up Zahra's hair right, she would look halfway decent.


I've scouted and found several sites that stalk Asian American, Asian, Latin American and Latin stars' children. Maybe, I'll start featuring some here.

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Review: Relish! Family Dinner Planning Site

I was offered to preview a one month membership with Relish!, an online menu planning site for the busy family looking for new options for meal preparation. (value $7.00)

First off, you know I was all over that option as my kids current meals prepared by me consist of one of the following:


1. Mac and Cheese, the instant kind, not even homemade
2. Hot Dogs (so bad as I hate the preservatives put in mystery dogs)
3. No or little Veggies
4. Pizza (though admittedly, I sometimes consider the tomato paste in the sauce a veggie)
5. Peanut Butter and Jelly
6. Chicken nuggets and Fries (Tyson's baked or McD's)


Pa-the-tic!


It's not that I have no imagination, just busy --Between writing three blogs, representing my law firm and PR clients, raising three children, trying to be a wife and having an active social media life (I am one of those folks that constantly update her Facebook status and tweet info via two active Twitter accounts)...


...Oh and did I mention that I produce a webshow on the Multicultural Cooking Network? Yup!


As you can imagine, being able to come up with nutritious meals every week for the family is challenging, to say the least.


Every Thursday, I get delivered in my inbox from Relish! a list of delicious meals options including desert. All I have to do is click the boxes to 5 meals I'd like to prepare for the week and then voila! An instant grocery list and recipes are produced for me to print out.

The list includes common items that I would likely have in my pantry and then stuff I would probably need to purchase when doing that weekend's shopping. It was smart of them to deliver the email before most folks do their week's shopping. The 5 dinners and sides cost less than $85 per week at the grocery store which is important in this recessionary economy. Each of the meals take less than 30 minutes to prepare which is great for a time-strapped person like myself!


I tried it and my husband was happy to eat a well prepared meal with veggies that looked like it took some thought to put together. He actually gave me a kiss after eating the pasta dish I whipped up. Of course, I had to force the kids to eat something different, but I must say that variety is great because at some point they will break down and actually like something I put in front of them. GG is a great eater so she actually consumed some of the lemon pepper fish I fixed.





Overall, I was very pleased with Relish! And for just $7 a month, that's not a bad investment for the sake of your family's healthy eating habits. I'd say its worth the investment.


And look here, apparently, from its website, Relish! has been featured in several national publications! Well kudos to them for a good product.

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Community Saturday : Product Round up

Here's a round up of miscellaneous requests, notes and information I've been given and asked to pass on to the folks that keep up with this blog:

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I was sent a one month supply of Healthy Curb from NT Factor to review. It is a food supplement made of all natural ingredients and is touted by its makers to curb your appetite and encourage your metabolism to speed up. Well, I'm all for that as I'd rather be skinny than fat any day. Call me shallow if you want. I started taking the product while doing the colon cleanser fast so I am not certain which contributed to my weight loss, but I definitely am smaller.


I must add the caveat that I run 12 miles a week on a minimum and take spin classes at least twice a week and take a weight lifting class twice a week. Also, I do NOT weigh myself regularly and after the last time I got on the scale and saw a number that I was not expecting to see, I haven't been back on a scale since then. I do believe I am losing weight because I am slowly getting back into my size 4 and 6 clothes again. Not yet. I think I am a 7-8 still now. I am hopeful that Healthy Curb and my continued exercise regimen will help me get there soon. I have to fit into this costume (see right) for Trinidad Carnival in 2010. Um yeah!

Bellyitch readers get a special 15% discount. If you want to order this product from Healthy Curb, use this code at check out: HC1010.

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The Natural Baby Company, which sells cloth diapers and other natural baby products, introduces Gro Baby Bio Wipes. These wipes are free of harmful chemicals, compostable and made from 100% renewable materials.

From the makers: Moistened with Aloe Vera botanicals, Vitamin E and purified water, Gro Baby Bio Wipes work to naturally clean, calm and soothe baby’s sensitive skin. Made from plant based Ingeo fibers derived from 100% renewable resources, the Gro Baby Bio Wipes are high in strength making them sturdy and tough on messes, but not on baby. Now mom and dad can clean up the most unpleasant diaper change with ease, speed and a minimal impact on our planet.

“The ingredients used in most commercial baby wipes are not only harmful for the planet, but are enough to make both baby and parents uncomfortable,” said Kim Ormsby, Creator of Gro Baby. “And as roughly 18 billion disposable diapers are dumped each year, the number of wipes that join them is staggering. At Gro Baby, our mission is to help clean baby’s waste without being wasteful to the environment, making the Gro Baby Bio Wipes the perfect addition to our Gro Baby family of earth friendly products.”

Unlike other baby wipes that use harsh chemicals, alcohol, perfumes, and even chlorine to scrub babies clean, Gro Baby Bio Wipes are completely free of chlorine, preservatives, alcohol, fragrances, and dyes. Gentler on baby’s skin, and gentle on the planet, Gro Baby Bio Wipes are a perfect match to Gro Baby’s recently released Bio Soaker diaper pads—the eco friendly diapering system that protects baby and the earth. With compostability at the forefront of Gro Baby designs, Gro Baby’s Bio line allows mom and dad to start greening baby early, from the bottom up.

Gro Baby Bio Wipes retail for $5.99 and include 80 wipes in each easy to open and resealable package. Gro Baby can be purchased at: www.TheNaturalBabyCo.com

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I've partnered up with the author of Worry Free C-Section who's got a wonderful electronic book out that in plain speak walks the average mom through what to expect before, during and after her c-section. The matter-of-fact tone and style of the book is great as it addresses common worries and fears. The book can be a good companion to other literature by licensed practitioners that may provide more technical details that are purposefully absent in this book. Check it out and order your copy to the right column of this blog

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On my Santa wish list is a video camcorder, someone sent me an email link of an impressive new trio of Coby digital camcorders from a low cost brand that makes decent quality stuff for good price. Check these products that Coby sell.

Coby Electronics CAM3000 – Mini Digital Camcorder – SRP: $39.99 – This extremely affordable entry-level unit is sure to brighten the spirits of young and old with an easy-to-use “bar-style” design that offers a big bang for the buck.

Coby Electronics CAM4000 – Digital Camcorder – SRP: $59.99 – A terrific mid-level option, Coby’s CAM4000 features a sizeable 2.4” LCD flip screen that folds compactly into a sleek handheld unit, perfect for use on-the-go.

Coby Electronics CAM5000 – Mini HD Digital Camcorder – SRP: $99.99 – A super-stylish digital camcorder, the CAM5000 heats up the pack with its unique HD capability and 128 MB of built-in memory.

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