Even in the first photographs of little Harlow Richie Madden, you could see that the girl had personality. She just has such an expressive face, like she finds the world funny. Her mom Nicole Richie, 27, has gone through her public trials with drug abuse and multiple DUIs and has come out the other side intact and healthy, if still a bit thin. You can tell that Nicole dotes on nine month old Harlow and that having a baby has really changed her attitude, outlook, and life. In the article to accompany her cover story in People, Nicole’s boyfriend and Harlow’s dad, Joel Madden, talks about what a great mom she is and how she works hard for their little daughter:

She purees her own green beans and records her daughter’s every smile in a journal – making her “the best mom I’ve ever seen,” Joel Madden, speaking in PEOPLE’s latest cover story (on sale Friday), raves about girlfriend Nicole Richie.

Richie and Madden just moved into a new L.A. home after spending the summer touring with Madden’s Good Charlotte band, and are in the midst of organizing an Oct. 19 walk in L.A. to help end family homelessness. But when they spoke with PEOPLE, what they really enjoyed talking about was their 9-month-old, Harlow.

Nicole: “Harlow’s a delicate soul. She studies people. She’s very coy. People say that she and I make the same expressions. But everyone says she looks like Joel.”

Joel: “I’m cool with it, as long as she doesn’t look like me in a wig when she’s 16. I like that she looks like me – it’s my get-out-of-jail-free card.”

Nicole (on maternal responsibilities): “I think my sense of self is still the same. But I don’t do things, we do things. I work around her.”

Joe: “Nicole is completely dedicated. I do whatever she tells me to do. I’m cool with that. She’s really good with the baby. I’m really good with finances. All of Harlow’s education and all that stuff, I already have planned.”

Nicole (on marriage plans): “When we get married, everyone will know. It will happen when it happens.

Joel (on having more kids): “If it could be as easy as Harlow, sure.”

[From People]

One thing that’s also changed for Nicole and Joel is their dedication to charity. They founded the Richie-Madden Children’s Foundation right before Harlow was born and have since raised thousands for charity. Their current campaign is dedicated to building a playground at the facility for homeless families, Beyond Shelter, in Los Angeles. You can help and donate $5 by texting CHILD to 90999. Here’s a link to a video that features Nicole visiting with the children and families there. (It’s set to music and there isn’t talking until the end when a little girl recites a poem.)

Nicole really has changed her life around since becoming a mother and she’s sincere about it. You can see how that adorable little girl would provide plenty of inspiration.

Now that Nicole and Joel have moved they’re just a bit farther from Joel’s twin, Benji, and his girlfriend, Paris Hilton. Benji used to live right down the street and his proximity was said to be annoying Nicole after he took up with Paris. If Paris and Benji have kids together Nicole will never escape her.

Nicole Richie is shown out at DUI class on 10/6/08. Credit: VAH/Fame Pictures

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden on 5/22/08. Credit: Fame

I feel I must give props where props are due (please read that in a Victorian manner, it sounds better). A lot of celebs make a lot of promise about all the changes they’re going to make after they’ve gotten in trouble. Go to church, go to Africa, just not be such a sucky person, etc. Yes I’m talking to you Paris Hilton.

If you’d asked me who was the least likely to follow through on non-court mandated volunteer work, I would have said Nicole Richie. And I probably would have placed her odds as about the same as Paris’. And I probably would have lost some money.

Nicole has really followed through with the Richie-Madden Children’s Foundation, co-created with boyfriend/baby daddy Joel Madden. It’s hard to know how much of it is Nicole and how much is Joel. But either way, the couple has consistently raised money for underprivileged children over the last several months, and stayed active with the foundation. Their latest campaign has raised $10,000 that will go towards a playground.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are turning text messages into serious money for kids in need.

A week after they launched their Text CHILD to 90999 campaign, the Richie-Madden Children’s Foundation has raised close to $10,000 toward their goal of $35,000 to build a playground for the children at Beyond Shelter in Los Angeles.

The funds came in via 1,825 text messages, each donating $5, from donations in 48 states.

[From People]

It’s really easy to dismiss what Nicole has done, and I’m not trying to claim there’s some significant personality change. But it doesn’t really matter what the reason is or if they’re just getting donations because of their famous names. Nicole and Joel have followed through on their promises and children that are in need are benefiting from it.

Every week, a different tabloid is reporting on the shaky relationship of celebutante Nicole Richie and her baby’s father, Good Charlotte rocker Joel Madden. Seems like every time Madden gets his picture snapped with another female – whether it’s Lindsay Lohan or Mary Kate Olsen – it means he’s cheating. This week’s sage comes to us courtesy of Star Magazine, who is claiming that Joel’s latest dalliance is with Mischa Barton.

After a bitter fight with Joel Madden, Nicole Richie packed her bags — and their daughter! — and headed to her mom’s. But things only got worse when she caught Joel with… Mischa Barton.
For months they’d been fighting over everything from marriage to moving, but Nicole and Joel’s strained relationship hit a new low when, during yet another battle, she screamed at him, “We’re through,” and fled to her mother’s home, taking their daughter, Harlow, with her, a friend tells Star. Although Nicole returned the next day, “This was her way of sending Joel a message,” says the pal. “Nicole loves him, but things need to change.”

Days after their big blowup, things were no better, so Nicole once again walked out on Joel — jetting to New York City, with Harlow in tow, for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. She wasn’t alone for long. Joel followed her to the Big Apple, and the quarrelsome couple made a brief yet disastrous appearance at the Charlotte Ronson afterparty at Country Club on Sept. 6. “She was just in a miserable mood, and there was obvious tension,” an eyewitness tells Star. “I didn’t see her talk to Joel the entire night, and it seemed like he was avoiding her too. Nicole was just so angry!”

The next day, it was Joel’s turn to walk out on Nicole! He headed back to L.A., where his band, Good Charlotte, performed that night at an MTV VMAs party at the Chateau Marmont hotel. And despite his relationship with Nicole hanging by a thread, Joel partied like he didn’t have a care in the world — with Nicole pal Mischa! Days earlier, Mischa had broken up with boyfriend, Taylor Locke and that night she was front-row center at the show, dancing seductively for Joel, says a source. “He kept checking out Mischa and smiling at her.”

[From Star Magazine]

If Star and all the other tabloids were correct, then Nicole and Joel have broken up about 50 times by now. Remember the frenzy over the photo of Joel sitting on a couch with Lohan? Of course, the tabloids had cropped the photo so we couldn’t see her girlfriend, Samantha Ronson, sitting on the other side of him. Don’t get me wrong – Joel does strike me as a bit of a flirt, but so does Nicole. Besides, taking up with Mischa Barton would be a serious downgrade – I don’t believe it. Just picturing the former OC star “dancing seductively” makes me feel nauseous.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are shown leaving a deli in LA on 9/5/08. Credit: Homero Tercero/WENN

Something tells me the relationship between Joel Madden and Nicole Richie is no walk in the park. The two are clearly very different sorts, and despite hearing a lot of press about how much Nicole has changed (thanks to Joel) it’s hard not to notice the implication that there was a lot to change… to be more like Joel. It’s one thing if Nicole wanted to be a better person or a better mother on her own, but it seems more like she’s pretending to morph into this happy homemaker to keep her relationship together. Somehow you can just tell regular old Nicole is still under there.

Now I found regular old Nicole annoying as hell and totally rude. But I get the feeling she’s changed only for Joel, which is about as effective as an alcoholic going into rehab because someone else tells them to. The change won’t be real if you don’t really want it.

Apparently Nicole’s old jealous ways boiled to the surface after Joel admitted to spending some time with her old friend Mary-Kate Olsen. Even though it sounded fairly innocent, Nicole wasn’t having it.

A source said: “During the dinner, Mary-Kate was very playful with Joel. It was all fun and games, but with the Olsens nothing is as simple as that. Nicole exploded at Joel and demanded that they leave the party. Afterward, Nicole warned him to stay away from Mary-Kate.” Mary-Kate, 22, went to watch the rocker perform in New York last week, further angering Nicole – who gave birth to the couple’s first child, daughter Harlow, in January – by hanging out with the band after the show.

The source added to Life and Style magazine: “After the concert, Joel invited her back to see the tour bus. He showed her some baby photos of Harlow. Joel isn’t one to lie or hide things from Nicole, so the next day he told her about it on the phone. Nicole freaked out. Joel thought she’d respect the fact that he was trying to be honest – after all, he and Mary-Kate are just friends – but Nicole was hurt and angry. He couldn’t deal with it, so he hung up, and she kept texting him after that.”

The argument is said to be the latest in a series of rows between the couple, resulting in them putting off setting a date for their wedding. The insider claimed: “They’re having their usual ups and downs. I think they’re madly in love and want to get married. But I also think it’s moments like this that will continue to keep their wedding on hold.”

[From Hollywood Rag]

I give this relationship another year, tops. And that isn’t because I don’t think either of them haven’t or won’t try hard enough. The problem is that they seem so different, and Joel seems to have required Nicole to settle down in a way she’s not ready for, and thus it isn’t going to take. If there’s any time a person needs to become mature and responsible it’s when they have a kid. But somehow it just seems like Nicole’s done it only for Joel, and it’s not a real change. She’s still indulging in petty teenage drama like this. If Mary-Kate Olsen’s mere presence can cause this level of a freak out, things probably weren’t that solid in the first place.

Note by Celebitchy: I see these two lasting for some reason and hope JayBird isn’t right. They have a daughter together and Nicole’s changes seem more than superficial to me. We’ll have to see though.

Here’s Nicole doing her best Mary-Kate impression on July 25th. Images thanks to WENN.

Joel Madden and Nicole Richie on 12/3/07 at the launch of the Richie-Madden Children’s Foundation. Credit:Dimitri Halkidis / WENN
Joel Madden and his twin brother Benji are covered in tattoos, but there’s one place Joel’s fiance Nicole Richie supposedly objects to seeing ink on her man – in his mouth. Nicole is said to have nixed Joel’s idea of having his front tooth tattooed with a picture of their daughter, Harlow, six months. This story was in Star Magazine, so take it for the creative fiction it probably is:

Nicole Richie thinks Joel Madden has had enough body art. So she flipped when he announced his plans to get more. “Joel promised Nicole that he wouldn’t get any more tattoos,” a source says. So a friend suggested a tooth tattoo, which is a photo imprinted on the tooth. “But when Joel told Nicole he wanted to get their daughter Harlow’s face tattooed on one of his front teeth, she shrieked, ‘Absolutely not!’”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, July 28, 2008]

There was just a feature on Boing Boing about tooth tattoos and I would bet that Star is pulling this out of their asses after reading about it. Star had a whole story about Nicole and Joel’s nonexistent planned wedding blowout along with a complete itinerary, so I wouldn’t put it past them.

Tooth tattoos run from $75 to $500 and you can get celebrity faces in your mouth along with symbols, animals and just about anything you want. They’re tiny but detailed hand portraits made on crowns and placed over the existing tooth.

Unlike skin tattoos the version you get on your teeth can be easily sanded off at the dentist’s office in a few minutes. At ToothArtist.com, they call teeth tattoos a “white collar tattoo,” because they can hidden on the back molars if desired. That said, I wouldn’t want my husband getting a tooth tattoo in the front and would prefer he go for more traditional ink on the upper arm. It’s permanent but doesn’t affect appearance as much.

If I were Nicole Richie, I could understand trying to get a little Paris Hilton-free time. Nicole and Paris have famously been feuding off and on for years, but have supposedly been cool with each other for a while now. Still, you don’t see the twosome hitting the stores or getting lunch together like you used to, even before Nicole had baby Harlow with boyfriend Joel Madden.

Paris, seemingly unable to stand the lack of attention thrust her way, hooked up with Joel’s twin brother Benji within minutes of him being single again. There were rumors again that Paris was driving Nicole crazy again, now that she was more actively in her life. And apparently that hasn’t died down – Paris has moved in next door to Nicole.

New mom Nicole Richie is constantly cooing over her love of suburban life – at least she was until best friend Paris Hilton moved in next door. Richie lives with baby daddy Joel Madden in Glendale, Calif., and Joel’s twin brother, Benji Madden, who now dates Hilton, lives next door. Friends of Richie told Page Six recently, “Nicole moved out there to get away from the paparazzi, but when Paris calls them they come to her quiet street and disrupt everything. She’s getting a little fed up.”

[From Page Six]

Paris is acting like that pathetic, clueless girl who followed around the more popular girls, exactly copying everything they did. She sees that Nicole is getting a lot of positive attention for her new life, so instead of figuring out what she can do to get some good press, Paris starts blabbing about how she wants a baby too, and then moves in next door. While it’s cute that the Madden boys live next door to each other, it’s probably time that they start their own lives… and Paris should maybe consider doing the same.

Here are Paris and Nicky Hilton leaving the Pop Factory opening party in Los Angeles on Thursday. Images thanks to WENN.

About a year ago a joke book came out called The Nicole Richie Cookbook. It was sixty some pages long, and each page was blank. Haha, Nicole doesn’t eat. Mildly funny at best. Now what’s a much funnier idea is Nicole Richie actually writing a cookbook herself. Which is just what she wants to do, if you believe her friends that chat with OK! Magazine. Apparently Nicole is just knee-deep in domestic bliss, and wants to share her happiness – or at least her recipes – with the rest of us.

Move over Rachael Ray, there’s another cute cook in the kitchen! The Simple Life star Nicole Richie took up cooking in order to become the perfect partner and mom. Now, she’s gotten so good at it she wants to publish her own cookbook!

“She keeps a box full of recipes handwritten on index cards,” a pal of Nicole,26, tells OK!. “She has mac and cheese down to a fine science!”

But when it comes to whipping up meals for fiance Joel Madden,29, Nicole, who is mom to their 5-month old daughter Harlow, looks to the lighter side.

Says the source, “She keeps things low-fat to help her and Joel watch their weight!”

[From OK! Magazine]

Well yeah, because they’re such fatties. Watching their weight should be a big priority for the both of them. Actually Joel seems to have gone through a pudgy phase or two – as has Nicole, now that I think about it. But they’ve both been looking pretty trim for the past couple years. In fact Nicole’s got it down to a science.

Although celeb ass-kissy OK! claims that the two are super domestic and blissfully happy, People quotes Joel as saying they have no plans to get married. They’ve often been referred to as each other’s fiance (see the OK! article above), but in terms of taking a walk down the aisle, it sounds like Joel would rather saunter the other way.

“We don’t have any plans for that right now,” Madden told PEOPLE on Wednesday. “We’re just happy, and we’re being a family, and that’s where we’re at right now. But marriage means something different to everyone.”

“Right now we’re really happy,” the Good Charlotte frontman says, “and we’re concentrating on our family, and that’s what is making us happy right now. We’re moving at our own pace.”

[From People]

It’s funny because you can tell Joel is just barely holding back from screaming “Don’t rush me!” to the reporter. I think there may have been a “F*#% you” muttered under his breath. Joel clearly had a little line all rehearsed and ready to go, since he basically said the same thing twice. We get it, you’re supposedly happy and don’t want to be tied to Nicole Richie or her low fat for the rest of your life. I’m not sure many people could blame you.

Here’s Nicole at the Cartier Charity Love Bracelet Launch in Los Angeles on June 18th. Images thanks to WENN. Header of 23 Nicole and Joel going for a walk in Hollywood on May 18th. Images thanks to Splash.

Yesterday photos of Mary Kate Olsen partying with Nicole Richie, Joel Madden and Mary Kate’s ex, Max Snow, were leaked and published on Oh No They Didn’t. The photos show the privileged 20-somethings having a good time in a spacious house with their friends, looking drunk and playing with a piñata. Most of them are wearing plaid and it seems like it’s the theme of the night and could be a pajama party.

Nicole Richie holds up a bottle of water in one picture so it’s possible she was pregnant with little Harlow at that point. Harlow was born January 11, which would mean she was pregnant starting in May, 2007. Max Snow and Mary Kate Olsen broke up sometime in the early fall of last year.

There’s nothing particularly incriminating about these photos and they all look pretty innocent. The one where they’re scrambling on the floor over something looks possibly drug-related, but they’re probably just trying to collect the candy from the piñata.

When Paris Hilton scrawled over her myspace page how much she loved Benji Madden and gushed about him in interviews, I thought that she was a nightmare girlfriend and that it would soon be over. As time has gone on – the pair have been together for four months – and they didn’t break up, I realized that Benji must really, really like Paris. Or he would have kicked her to the curb weeks ago.

Yesterday he did an interview with Ryan Seacrest, and talked about how happy he is with her.

“I’m so beyond happy,” Benji, 29, said of his hot relationship with Paris Hilton. “Of course,” he added, “when you’re that happy, you think about everything.”

When asked if he worries about having kids, Benji replied: “Not at all. I mean, she’s my best friend” – prompting Joel to interject sarcastically, “I can see it tomorrow, ‘Benji’s Ready for Fatherhood.’ ”

Continued Benji: “I’ve never been so happy. Nothing worries me in life anymore. When you find that best friend, that love, all your worries kind of go away. Your work gets better and everything you do, you have someone supporting you, and she’s that for me. I’ve never been supported so much.”

In his repeated refrain, Benji said, “I’m a lucky guy. Her family is so nice to me. And now the four of us, we all … it’s great, you know.”

Could that possibly mean a double wedding? Responded both bothers, in unison: “No.”

People

I don’t know who had the idea for the double wedding. I think twins get very tired of doing everything together, and Joel and Benji work together already. For most women a wedding day is the only day you get to wear an ludicrously expensive frock that you will only wear once, that trails on the floor. You get to be the center of attention all day, eat cake after dieting to fit into said dress, and go home with a heap of presents and the love of your life. Why would you want to share the spotlight with another bride, even if they are your best friend?

I know not all brides go down the route of wearing an enormous, expensive white dress, but Paris is obviously that kind of girl. And we’re likely to be subjected to every detail of her wedding and subsequent divorce from Benji.

Note by Celebitchy: This is the second time Benji has called into the Ryan Seacrest show and publicly proclaimed his love for Paris. He first discussed their relationship in early May, calling her “wife material” and saying he wanted to get on a rooftop and yell “I’m in love!”

Benji Madden and Paris Hilton are shown at Tao nightclub on 6/7/08, thanks to WENN.

Joel Madden addressed the rumors that he and fianc&ecaute; Nicole Richie are getting married in a $2 million ceremony at the end of the month. On a post on his band Good Charlotte’s blog, he poked fun at Star Magazine’s report, which we repeated here, that a three day wedding was in the works. Joel titled the post “WE DID IT!! NICOLE AND I FINALLY GOT MARRIED!! click here for the pictures!!” and started out the article saying “CHECK OUT MY BLOG FOR A PICTURE OF ME AND MY BEAUTIFUL BRIDE. ALL I CAN SAY IS I AM SO VERY HAPPY……”

A black and white photo of a wedding cake was visible and when you clicked through to the rest of the post it showed a picture of a bride and groom with monkeys’ heads Photoshopped in. Joel explained that he had to clear up the rumors about a wedding because he was getting messages from his friends asking why they weren’t invited:

So i feel really stupid even posting this, but i’ve been getting calls and texts from my family all week asking me why they weren’t invited to my wedding. I guess the only answer i could give them was that i didnt know we were having one. So i just found out that star magazine wrote some story about a 2 MILLION dollar wedding we are supposed to be having, and thats where it came from. Sooooo if you were pissed at me for not inviting you or even telling you, dont blame me, theres nothing to worry about. Its just star magazine. How long do you think it will be before they write we called it off, or we broke up? i give them a week or two……

[From GoodCharlotte.com]

He’s right about Star and he’s obviously writing from experience. I was fooled by that story because they had a whole itinerary for the three day wedding and so many details that it sounded like they had at least one source. Usually when the tabloids make up entire stories they’re vague and include a lot of insider quotes about the supposed fights a couple had or how they feel. In this case Star fabricated a whole wedding with details that they must have pulled out of their asses. Or maybe someone sold a story to Star and they got duped. Either way, Joel and Nicole probably aren’t getting married this month. It’s always possible that they’re trying to keep their wedding private, but since this is Star we’re talking about and Nicole and Joel won’t be shy about selling their wedding photos, I’ll take Joel’s word for it.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are shown at the LA Lakers vs. Boston Celtics game 5 in LA on 6/15/08, thanks to WENN.