It appears there’s a chance – a chance – that I might have misjudged Nicole Richie’s ability to be a decent parent. I’m not saying I’m totally wrong, but it appears that, if nothing else, fiancé Joel Madden has been a good influence on her. When the two set up the Richie Madden Children’s Foundation, I assumed it was just to get some good PR, and detract from Nicole’s DUI and spending 84 minutes in jail while pregnant. A lot of celebs seem to talk about how they’re starting a charity, and then you never hear about it again. That’s what I assumed would happen here. Kind of like Paris Hilton’s peacekeeping mission to Africa that we’ve been hearing about for so long. But it appears that the Richie/Madden duo actually are trying to do some good with their charity – they handed out $200,000 worth of baby goods to 100 needy families through the Los Angeles Free Clinic.

The couple hosted a surprise baby shower Monday for 100 expectant and new moms at the Los Angeles Free Clinic in Hollywood, where they handed out more than $200,000 worth of gifts. “The looks on their faces were priceless,” Richie told reporters after the shower. “Some of them didn’t even believe us [when they saw the gifts]. They thought we were joking.”

The Richie Madden Children’s Foundation, Madden said, was an idea the couple had when they found out they were expecting. “We grew up in Los Angeles,” he said, “and we want our child to be a part of the community, and to know that there’s a responsibility to help the community.” And it’s a family affair. “We named it the Richie Madden Children’s Foundation because we each have families and our families are close, and our family is involved,” Richie said. By her side with his arm stroking her back during moments in the conference, Madden quipped, “We’re lucky that we have families that get along and love each other,” adding, “I think it’s great that our child will grow up as a part of that family.”

Amongst the goodies given to families in need were Baby Bjorn products, cribs, mattresses and toys from Fisher-Price. “Everything they got, we got,” Richie says, “so everything that will be in their nursery, will be in our nursery.”

[From People]

People reported that for Nicole’s baby shower, guests were asked to bring gifts to donate to the charity instead of for the couple – though each guest did bring a book for the baby. I don’t want to sound naive, but I’m pretty impressed. There are few people less in need of baby supplies than celebrities. Nicole still got to have the fun of a shower (and I’m assuming the dumb games involving storks and diapers and such) but they actually managed to do something really great and useful for people in need. Hopefully this is a positive indication that Nicole is maturing and able to think about the needs of others.

Picture note by Celebitchy Nicole Richie is shown on 11/26/07 before having lunch with Paris and Nicky Hilton for publicity purposes.

To me, there are only a few things that are truly scary. Nuclear war, being in a car accident, and that little dead girl from “The Ring” climbing through my television set. I just bought a plasma TV under the assumption that she can’t fit in there. The store clerk wouldn’t put anything in writing, but he was pretty sure she wouldn’t like the plasma, since she died in a well. So I’m assuming I’m safe there. The only thought that rivals any of those is the possibility that someday, a child could burst forth from the loins of Paris Hilton. Scary, right? Which would you rather have, Paris Hilton’s baby shooting out of your TV or the dead Ring girl? I know, it’s not really one of those questions that can be answered.

Paris wants to have a baby, and it sounds like she has really well thought out, unselfish reasons. She wants her kid to be able to play with Nicole Richie’s baby. I wonder what she’s planning on doing with it the rest of the time.

Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie have been best friends – and occasionally the best of enemies – for years. Now that Richie is pregnant, Hilton says she’s hoping their offspring will be second-generation BFFs. “Nicole and I have been playing together since we were two years old,” she told PEOPLE at the Nissan Live Sets One Year Anniversary Party. “I was just telling her, ‘I want a baby so that our babies can play together.’”

Still, Hilton admits, she has a few things to take care of first – like finding a man! “I don’t have a boyfriend right now,” the Simple Life star insisted. “But I would love to start a family.” In the meantime, she’ll be content playing Auntie Paris to Richie’s baby with Joel Madden. (The little one is due in January). “[Nicole] is really excited, and happy, and a little scared,” Hilton said, adding that Madden is “a gentleman. … We all can’t wait!”

[From People]

Well at least she’s got her head on straight. If evolutionary theory is correct, Paris Hilton really shouldn’t be able to mate successfully. Though if that were true, a lot of people wouldn’t be able to reproduce; but it seems like a lot of the worst candidates are also the most fruitful. I wonder if Paris can teach her kid to speak with her unique vocal combination of flat affect with a side of valley girl accent, or if that’s a unique trait that can’t be reproduced. Something tells me she’ll end up being a godmother very soon, and hopefully that little tiny bit of responsibility will scare her off the idea of kids for a while.

Picture note by Jaybird: Here’s Paris hawking her new perfume “Can Can Paris Hilton” at Macy’s in Garden City, New York on November 13, 2007. Seems motherly to me. Images thanks to PR Photos.

There was a story that Nicole Richie wasn’t going to invite Paris Hilton to her planned (and postponed) wedding to Joel Madden after Paris asked Nicole if Joel was really the father of her baby. Paris and Nicole haven’t been seen out together since their over-hyped supposed makeup for the sake of their never-ending reality series The Simple Life. It was also thought that Paris was making an obnoxious dig at Nicole when she publicly told Christina Aguilera “Congratulations to the most beautiful pregnant woman in the world.”

Maybe these two have buried the hatchet, or maybe they just realize that they generate more publicity together, because Paris is hosting Nicole Richie’s baby shower this weekend:

According to In Touch, invites just went out for the shower, scheduled to take place at 12:30 p.m. on Sun., Nov. 18, at a Beverly Hills estate.

The party’s being given by Nicole’s mom, Brenda, but sister Sophia and “loving friends” Paris Hilton and Masha Gordon are listed as the official hosts.

Don’t see Paris hitting Party City to pick up supplies? Well, she’s not. Wedding planner to the stars Mindy Weiss is actually handling all the nitty-gritty—such as ensuring Nicole’s favorite foods will be served, including sushi (sorry, Nic, the raw stuff’s just for your buddies), coconut shrimp, lobster, lemon-pepper chicken, fruit and cake.

[From E! Online]

And in case you assumed that Nicole would be collecting all sorts of high-end baby crap like most of the other celebrity moms, she’s not expecting her friends to buy it for her at least. Nicole and her fiance, Joel Madden, have started a nonprofit organization, The Richie Madden Children’s Foundation, and ask that baby shower attendees make donations of needed baby items instead of giving gifts to Nicole. They’re also asking fans to make donations to their foundation, with the items to go to families in need who visit the LA Free Clinic. They plan to start a website with a baby registry for people to purchase items:

Nicole would like to invite friends, family and fans across America to participate in the moms-in-need program and highly publicized baby shower. The Richie Madden Children’s Foundation will create and promote an online registry to inspire the purchases of items for moms and their families in need. Anyone in the country will be able buy from the registry on her behalf for the clinic. The registry link will live on the Richie Madden Children’s Foundation website for at least six months and will be updated regularly based on the needs of the LA Free Clinic and other participating clinics.

[From PDF press release linked from USWeekly]

That’s surprisingly awesome of Nicole and Joel. Add in that Nicole is asking Paris Hilton to co-host her baby shower and she seems to have actually matured a bit. Maybe once the baby arrives she’ll realize what a spoiled brat she’s been her whole life and will start to dedicate most of her time to her new charity.

Photo of Nicole Richie’s shower invite fromInTouch. Nicole Richie is shown out shopping on 10/31, thanks to Splash News. Paris Hilton is shown promoting her Can Can fragrance at Macy’s in Philadelphia on 11/14, thanks to PRPhotos.

Nicole Richie seems to have postponed her planned wedding to boyfriend Joel Madden until after their baby is born in January. There were reports that she was going to marry Joel sometime this month, but it seems like they are going to wait as we haven’t heard much more about it.

This weeks’ National Enquirer claims that Nicole’s dad, Lionel Richie, told her to hold off getting married until after she had the baby. He’s also said to have promised to foot the entire bill:

[Nicole Richie’s dad] Lionel Richie keeps advising his fragile princess to postpone the wedding, avoid all the nuptual frenzy and just chill! Said a family insider: “Lionel doesn’t think Nicole can handle the stress, and told her: ‘Baby, in life it’s first things first!’” Knowing Nicole’s vulnerable and worried about delivering a healthy baby, Lionel’s assured her that as Father of The Bride, he’ll spend big bucks for a spectacular wedding whenever she wants it - but right now, he wants her to focus solely on the birth.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, November 12, 2007]

Nicole may be waiting to get married on the advice of her family, but she’s still preparing for the ceremony in little ways. Star Magazine reports that Nicole purchased costumes for her little dogs including a tuxedo for her Shih tzu, Honeychild, and a bridesmaid dress for Foxxy Cleopatra, her Pomeranian. That’s kind of cheesy, but it could also be cute:

[Nicole Richie] recently bought a canine tuxedo for her mutt, Honeychild, and a bridesmaid dress for her Pomeranian, Foxxy Cleopatra, from tony Santa Monica pet store The Wagging Tail. She wants the pooches to walk down the aisle with her when she weds her baby daddy.

[From Star Magazine, print edition, November 12, 2007]

Maybe the outfits were for Halloween, but since they could also serve as doggie wedding attire, it does sound like she’s planning for her pets to walk down the aisle with her. At least she has a soft spot for her animals considering how nasty and cold she’s rumored to be. Hopefully she’ll feel that way about her baby, too

Nicole Richie is shown in the header image on 10/30/07 shopping. Thanks to Splash News for this picture. She is seen with Honeychild and Foxxy Cleopatra in images found at Celebrity Dog Blog.

You know how there are those mothers that sacrifice so much for their kids that they lose a part of themselves? The ones that feel guilty if they do anything nice for themselves or take ten minutes to put on makeup in the morning? Well surprisingly, we don’t need to worry about Nicole Richie being one of those moms. While it turns out the reports of her smoking may or may not have been true (Nicole claims she wasn’t even in New York at the time, but the New York Post is standing by their story. Regardless of what you think of them, I still think the Post is a hell of a lot more reliable than Nicole Richie. Further reports of her not giving a crap about her future child have surfaced.

Nicole Richie has had enough of pregnancy, according to a report in this week’s edition of Star Magazine. The pint-sized mom-to-be, who was accused of recently smoking earlier this week, has been sunbathing, chilling in the jacuzzi, and dying her hair. All of which are major No-No’s for an expectant mother. “Nicole could be doing real damage to the child, without even knowing it,” a friend tells the weekly gossip rag. “She’s being very careless. She just doesn’t want to be pregnant anymore. She’s tired of it. The thrill has definitely worn off.” “Nicole feels like she’s been pregnant for years, not months!”

“Nicole was out sunbathing in Hawaii three days in a row when she was there for her birthday,” Star’s source says. “She also relaxed in the Jacuzzi-another no-no for someone who’s pregnant.” Other Richie insiders claim Nicole was spotted at the Neil George Salon in Beverly Hills getting her hair dyed. “Most hairdressers and doctors tell women not to dye their hair while they are expecting. But Nicole doesn’t seem to think the advice applies to her.”

The Star report also blasts Nicole for allegedly trying to keep her pregnancy weight gain to a minimum: “She’s just not eating enough…. She had body image issues before she was pregnant. She’s tired of her body growing , and she to be done with it all. She figures she’s doing the best she can, and if that isn’t good enough for other people, well, that’s just tough,” Nic’s friend reports. “Nicole is tired of being pregnant. She wants to have a normal body, be able to eat sushi and have a drink without everyone giving a hard time about it.”

[From PopCrunch]

Boy that really makes you think of how true that trite phrase “Sometimes your best isn’t good enough” really is. If that’s Nicole Richie’s best, it doesn’t have anything to do with “if it’s not good enough for other people” - it has to do with if it’s not good enough for her baby, and it’s not. I know a lot of commenters will disagree with me, but when I was forced to watch the Simple Life a few times, I found her to be much more obnoxious and rude than Paris Hilton. She’d always say really inappropriate, rude, and sexual things to people to make them uncomfortable, and then laugh at them. I read an article once that talked about her “cutting” humor – and that was the most charitable way I’ve ever heard it. Paris is just too dumb and vapid; Nicole has a little bit of intelligence (little bit, I said little bit) – just enough to know how to truly be mean. She’ll make a great mother.

Six months pregnant Nicole Richie has denied yesterday’s report from The NY Post that she was seen smoking outside of two different restaurants in NY. She says through a rep that not only did she not smoke, she also was nowhere near NY recently and has been out of the country:

Richie’s rep tells Extra that accounts of Richie smoking are “irresponsible and untrue.” And while columnist Cindy Adams claims Richie lit up outside New York restaurants DaSilvano and Nobu (with fiance and father-to-be Joel Madden, even), Richie and Madden are reportedly abroad and nowhere near New York.

[From USWeekly]

Richie has said that she wants a natural birth and told Diane Sawyer that she doesn’t allow people to smoke around her and has given up anything that could possibly harm the baby, including caffeine and sushi. While there is only hearsay to back up reports of a pregnant Nicole behaving irresponsibly, there’s another pseudo celebrity in Britain who can’t deny pictures of her smoking after going on a drinking bender three months into her pregnancy. Former Atomic Kitten member and “I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here” winner Kerry Katona, who recently announced that she is due with her fourth child in May, was photographed smoking after she reportedly downed four martinis and a shot of vodka:

Kerry, twice Celebrity Mum of the Year, downed FOUR MARTINIS and a slug of VODKA in a pub with pals—despite being 12 weeks into an already troubled fourth pregnancy.

Then she popped to a restaurant over the road for a Chinese meal—and puffed greedily on a ciggie outside in the cold. One surprised drinker said: “Everyone knows Kerry’s pregnant so it was a bit of a shock to see her drinking and smoking.

“But she just said, ‘What the hell, a couple can’t hurt’.

“She went to the bar and ordered pints for the others and Martini for herself. It was the same round when the others were buying—and she also had a shot of vodka. She knocked it back in one, winced and then wiped her hand across her mouth and put the glass down.”

Her behaviour is even more shocking after her pregnancy with Heidi was beset by a string of miscarriage scares before the litle girl was born in February.

And the 27-year-old ex-Atomic Kitten star was also rushed into hospital last month—on the day she announced she was pregnant again. At first Kerry—who is married to ex-cabbie Mark Croft, 37, and also has daughters, Molly, six, and Lilly-Sue, four, by her first husband, former Westlife star Brian McFadden—was told she’d lost the baby.

But when she returned later the same day still feeling unwell, doctors discovered its heartbeat.

[From News Of The World via Gossip Rocks]

News of The World isn’t the most reliable source, and while Katona was photographed smoking, they may have embellished the part about how much booze she downed. There was a lot of controversy over a statement that Rachel Weisz made last year about how European doctors said that it was ok to drink while you’re pregnant - except not in the first three months while the fetus was most vulnerable. I had my only pregnancy in America, and my doctors told me not to drink at all. Once a midwife said I could have a glass of wine if I was in labor and I looked at her like she had two heads. Some obstetricians will tell you that an occasional glass is fine, especially in Europe, but it doesn’t seem worth the risk to your baby to me.

There was a recent study that found that moderate drinking posed no ascertainable risk to the baby after three months, and British associations are rethinking a ban on alcohol during pregnancy. When there’s no benefit to the baby from drinking though, why would you risk your baby’s health?

So Kerry Katona is supposedly downing shots and martinis when she’s barely three months’ pregnant, and she’s justifying smoking by making the ridiculous statement that stress from not smoking is worse for the baby! Commentors on ONTD on the post about Nicole Richie smoking brought up this photo that appeared in The Roanoke Times about a woman worrying about stress to her fetus from nearby construction noise - while she was smoking a cigarette. Snopes.com verifies that this is an actual newspaper clipping that was not doctored.

It looks like Nicole Richie is having trouble being true to her word and fighting her addictions. I know, I’ll wait while you pick up your jaw from the floor. Nicole vowed to Diane Sawyer that she had cleaned up her act due to her pregnancy. And we all know telling Diane Sawyer is pretty much the same thing as swearing on a revered, holy book. People expect you to stick with it.

Sounding neither defensive nor particularly alarmed, Richie, 25, said, “Just like any mother, you know, you want to take the best care of yourself, especially while you’re pregnant. And I’m definitely eating healthier now, and I’m really playing by the rules.”

By that, Richie said, “I do not drink caffeine at all, cut out sushi” – and, in response to questions from Sawyer, who had also mentioned Richie’s cocaine and heroin use – “No alcohol … No marijuana … No pills … Nothing … No smoking around me.”

[From People]

So that all sounds good. Sounds like Nicole Richie is thinking about someone besides herself and being relatively nice, normal and sane about the whole thing. Except that it was all bull.

MOMMY-to-be Nicole Richie. 3:30 p.m. Pony tail, black jeans, waistcoat. Exits DaSilvano with one young girl, one middle-age lady. On the sidewalk, after checking who’s at which outdoor tables, she lights up. They jump into a waiting black Caddy Escalade, Nicole into the front seat. Still smoking.

Three days later, 7:30 p.m., Nobu. For somebody who doesn’t eat, she sure frequents lots of restaurants. She’s there with the baby in the bun’s father. They leave. Outside she lights up again

[From the New York Post]

I’m sure it sucks to quit smoking, and I would bet it’s a lot harder when you’re pregnant and having a ton of cravings and/or mood swings to deal with. But I can’t imagine anytime where it would be more imperative to slap on a Nicoderm patch and do your best. I guess it’s possible Nicole was doing her best and just couldn’t quit, but from most reports about her personality, she’s not exactly the most mature, kind, or nice individual. The kind of rude and inappropriate comments she says to people make Paris Hilton look like Miss Manners. Something tells me that she hasn’t suddenly matured like she wants everyone to think. I’m kinda worried that in about a year everyone will be comparing her parenting to Whitney Bears. Except Nicole’s kids will probably already be able to give the paps the middle finger while lighting up a Newport Light.

Picture note by Jaybird: Header image of Nicole arriving to a surprise baby shower for her at Katsuya restaurant in Hollywood yesterday. Images thanks to Splash Photos.

Joel Madden and Nicole Richie were recently in Australia while his band, Good Charlotte was on tour there. Madden said he loved it so much that he’s going to look for a condo there. He said he’s interested in spending at least a full season in Australia every year:

Joel said recently: “People keep saying to us ‘how come you spend so much time down there?’ and I just say that it’s the best place in the world.”

He added that they would love to spend a minimum of three months a year down under and are looking to buy a home together: “I’m going to have a look around tomorrow for a place, a nice condo.”

“It’s only one flight man. The lifestyle here is insane.

[From Fametastic]

Anything that keeps Nicole Richie away from the paparazzi for large chunks of time sounds like a good idea to me. Once she has the baby she’ll probably start parading it around LA in little golden strollers and designer clothes like Gwen Stefani did with Kingston.

The big Star cover story about how Nicole Richie is having “Pregnancy Trouble!” isn’t really much more than Richie being worried over Braxton Hicks contractions, which are mild sporadic contractions that are common in pregnancy and nothing to worry about. Six-months-pregnant Richie is said to be “constantly worrying about having a miscarriage,” and “a basket case” after some minor Braxton Hicks contractions in Australia while she was there with boyfriend Joel Madden made her fear that she was having premature labor:

Nicole Richie got the scare of a lifetime while she was thousands of miles away from home in an Australian hotel. The six-months-pregnant star was relaxing in her room with rocker boyfriend Joel Madden, who’s been on his Good Charlotte tour Down Under, when “she felt a deep pain in her lower abdomen like her stomach was seizing up. She believed she was going into labor.”

Although Nicole’s doctor told her it was just a Braxton Hicks contraction (when the uterus “practices” for labor) and perfectly normal, she’s still afraid the baby could be born prematurely. Says the source, “Her stress level is through the roof.”

[From Star Magazine, print edition, October 29, 2007]

The article goes on to quote a doctor who provides a scary picture of how Richie’s baby would be fighting for its life if it were born at this point, as if that’s even an issue. And of course they speculate on what would happen to her unborn baby if she continued to do drugs and alcohol, when it’s pretty clear that she gave all that up when she figured out she was pregnant.

What’s more interesting to me is how Nicole is said to be acting like a total bitch, being typically rude to Joel’s fans and to the help. He’s said to be “mortified” by her behavior. At least she gets a pregnancy pass, but what excuse is she going to have once the baby is out?

Nicole Richie is shown on 10/2/07 carrying a couple of candy bars and walking to her car in Beverly Hills. Thanks to WENN for this photo.

Nicole Richie and fiancé Joel Madden have set a wedding date, and it looks like she could be waddling rather than walking down the aisle.

Nicole Richie is set to marry her lover and the father of her baby, Joel Madden, in a last minute ceremony on 13th October.

Sources in American reveal the couple have decided to tie the knot in a lavish wedding in Laguna Beach, California next month.

The Sun

Well, I can only assume that the date is for this year, I guess organizing a wedding when you are a celebrity is a little different than for us average girls. Instead of getting the best deal for flowers, you’re getting the best deal on the exclusive pictures. Instead of shopping for a dress, you could get your stylist to bring a selection to you. Instead of worrying about being too pregnant and unwell to make those aisle preparations, you can just hire someone to make all the preparations for you and all you have to do is turn up. Looking really nice, or if not just get the exclusive pictures retouched.

Seems to take some of the fun out of it to me!

Nicole is lucky to have all that help – she’s going to be busy undertaking an alcohol education course.

The course consists of 52 hours of group counseling, biweekly face-to-face interviews with counselors and the completion of 12 hours of alcohol education. Attending 12-step meetings is encouraged but not required.

According to the Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, the program hosts roughly 340 participants at any given time and will set Richie back $1,790, which she is required to pony up herself. Upon completion of the course, she will be eligible to get her driver’s license reissued by the state DMV.

On July 27, she was sentenced to four days in jail, fined $2,048, ordered to complete a minimum three-week alcohol-education course and placed on three years’ probation.

E! Online

Of course, Nicole has been court ordered to participate in the program, probably as part of the deal that got her in and out of jail in 82 minutes. I am impressed that Nicole is taking on more than what her sentence required, it shows a real commitment to staying sober and off the roads.

Nicole seems to be getting her act together, so I’m looking forward to her settling down and going back to her reguar day job of…er, being Paris’ best friend? An ‘It’ girl? What is it she does as a day job?

Picture note by Celebitchy: Nicole Richie and Joel Madden are shown outside Mr. Chow on 9/28. Thanks to WENN for these photos.

Nicole Richie has signed up for a year and half alcohol education program, called SB 38, according to People.com. She was ordered to attend alcohol education as part of her DUI sentencing, for which she also received three years probation, a $2,048 fine, and four days in jail, which was cut down to just 82 minutes when she showed up to serve her time on August 24.

It sounds like Richie will have to commit a lot of time to the program. The website for SB38 says she’ll have to do interviews with a counselor twice a week as well as put in 52 hours of group counseling. That’s an entire year of weekly one-hour sessions. She’ll also have to attend 12 hours of alcohol education. I wonder if she’ll see those shocking videos of car accident victims.

Multiple Offender Drinking Driver Program (SB-38), sometimes known as the SB-38 program, (named after the sponsoring Senate Bill 38 legislation) is for people who have been convicted of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs on more than one occasion within a 7 year period. The program is 18 months in length and consists of 52 hours of group counseling, bi-weekly face –to- face interviews and 12 hours of alcohol education. Attendance at 12 step meetings is encouraged.

Whether or not the offender is ordered to go through the program by the court, he or she must complete it in order to get their drivers’ license returned. All multiple offenders have their licenses suspended or revoked for a period of 2-5 years. They must complete this state licensed program before the DMV will re-issue their license.

[From Santa Barbara Council on Alcoholism & Drug Abuse website via People.com]

It sounds like Richie is just doing what she has to do to get her life back on track, something that Britney needs dire help with. She has sworn off all drugs, alcohol and cigarettes for the health of her baby and is even said to be planning a drug-free natural birth.

Meanwhile The National Enquirer reports that six months-pregnant Richie is having a boy, and that her fiance Joel Madden is ecstatic:

“It’s a boy!” gushed soon-to-be daddy Joel Madden as he and pregnant paramour Nicole Richie shopped at Seattle’s Bootyland, buying baby tees imprinted with up-against-the-wall icons David Bowie, the Ramones, and Che Guevara… “He looked genuinely over the moon,” said a shopper. “He’s a bit nervous about being a new dad, but ecstatic that it’s a boy!”

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, October 1, 2007]

Well they have a 50/50 chance of being right. Back when Angelina was pregnant there were stories that she was having a boy, too.

Nicole Richie is shown out on 9/27. Thanks to WENN for these photos.