These are photos of Victoria Beckham at Vogue festival in London with eldest son Brooklyn in tow, which is nice because I’m sure Brooklyn appreciates some one-on-one mommy time. He may not get much of that since he has three younger siblings. I’m guessing that Victoria is wearing one of her VB creations here, and oddly enough, she appears to be drowning in her own skirt. Perhaps that’s an intentional look. I hope so because Victoria’s obsession with her waistline couldn’t possibly take her down to a lower weight without severe health consequences in the long run.

Miss Posh gave a delightful talk at this event, and she spoke of her difficulties as an up-and-coming designer while struggling to fulfill her duties as a mother to four children. She admits that trying to “do it all” often leaves her feeling “constantly guilty.” Here are some excerpts of her speech:

She feels so guilty juggling work & motherhood: “I think you feel so torn, don’t you? But I’ve got great people who handle my schedule and everything does revolve around the children. So, if there’s a parents’ night or an Easter bonnet parade or a nativity play, whatever it might be, then I plan everything around that so I can always be there.”

She thinks she’s a nightmare bosss: “I’m a perfectionist, I like everything to be right. I’m probably a complete pain in the neck to work with because it is really important to me because I’ve grown this brand from nothing to where it is now.”

Fashion is her passion: “There’s a lot of people here, I hope I’m going to say something good now. I’ve always wanted to be involved in the fashion industry, I felt it in my tummy. At the beginning there was a lot of raised eyebrows, or those that could raise their eyebrows. When I started, i did one-on-one presentations, I’d talk for hours to people who didn’t even speak English. I think a lot of people probably thought, ‘Shut up, stop going on about a bloody grosgrain waistband!’”

Will she ever do London fashion week? “I’d never say never to showing in London, but I’ve got a great thing going in New York. Maybe one day.”

[From Daily Mail]

I giggled a bit at the thought of Posh saying the word, “tummy” — she’s so funny. Also, I appreciate Victoria admitting that she feels guilty while “doing it all” but being unable to stop (even though surely Isla Fisher and Drew Barrymore would say that Posh should just give up). Certainly, VB has a pretty high work ethic if she can force herself to work long hours even though David clearly makes enough money to support the entire family plus a small country full of orphans as well. At the same time, the Beckham children do seem rather well adjusted, and they’re often spotted with their parents. Posh is just fine, and so is her family. Guilt is a wonderful means of checking balances though.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

These are photos of Nicole Richie at Paris fashion week earlier this month, and once again, I am marvelling at how she’s left former BFF Paris Hilton languishing in the dust. During their “Simple Life” days, Paris was kind of a big deal, and everyone just kind of looked at Nicole as the unkempt, somewhat funny sidekick. Now Nicole has completely remade herself with a fashion mini-empire, and she’s pretty stable with two kids and a family life and everything.

While there have been buzzings around Nicole and Joel having trouble while he’s away in Australia filming “The Voice,” I think they’re actually fine. In fact, Joel has been gushing about Nicole a lot lately by admitting he had to beg Nicole to date him, and he wrote a sweet letter: “Sometimes I keep it to myself and sometimes I can’t help myself and I gotta tell the whole world how much I love her. I feel like the luckiest man alive to have my wife and kids. When the world outside breaks me down, they build me back up. Hope everyone out there finds this kind of love.” Hmm. I have a feeling that if, say, a woman would have written that note, we’d find it suspicious, but with Joel it seems authentic, right? We’ll see.

Nicole recently appeared on Chelsea Handler’s show, and Chelsea asked her about motherhood stuff. In response, Nicole said she’s really not looking to have another kid anytime soon, and she’s also tired of how moms talk about everything that goes on with their kids. Here are some highlights:

Nicole Richie is glad to be done with diaper duty. During an Apr. 23 appearance on Chelsea Lately, the Fashion Star mentor and mom to Harlow, 5, and Sparrow, 3, revealed she’s not sure she’s ready for a third child.

“You haven’t had a baby in forever. What’s your problem?” host Chelsea Handler joked. “Are you being selfish right now?”

Richie fired back, “I’m just chillin’. Let me just chill! I really like that they’re doing their own thing. They’re at school until 3. I don’t have to, like, look after them — or even think about them! It’s like every other day.”

When asked point blank if she wants to expand her family, Richie replied, “I don’t know.” Unlike some mothers, Joel Madden’s wife said she’s not one to brag about her kids’ every attribute. “They want to talk about their spit-up and how cute their boogers are. I try to not be that mom,” she explained. “I know what is really cute and what I only think is cute.”

The former “Simple Life” star is enjoying some free time now that her children are becoming more independent. In fact, Richie recently went on a childless vacation with a group of friends (including fellow mother of two Jessica Alba). “Everyone left their kids at home,” the 31-year-old House of Harlow designer said. “It worked out great.”

[From Us Weekly]

I agree that, in general, moms tend to give too much TMI about their kids, and I try really hard not to fall into that trap, but it happens sometimes. Also, I can totally understand why Nicole might be relishing her private time at the moment and why she’d be reluctant to give that up for another baby. Babies are so much work, and it’s great that Nicole can admit she’s probably not willing to deal with diapers again. Honesty!

Photos courtesy of WENN

Here are some photos of Shakira at her perfume launch last month in Paris. Notice that she is wearing leather pants after having given birth in late January to her first child, a baby boy named Milan. I’m always struck by Shakira’s offbeat beauty, but I just have to say that I miss her as a brunette. She looks so much better with her natural hair color than that straw-colored mess that she’s been sporting for the past handful of years. Go back to brown, Shakira!

As part of a recent NBC promotion where Shakira was in attendance as part of “The Voice” judging panel, Shakira talked a lot to Us Weekly about how how reality as a mother compares to her expectations. Naturally, the subject of post-baby bodies came up too, and here are some excerpts:

On the reality of a baby: “I didn’t expect babies to need so many diapers! Nobody told me they needed to be changed so often! I mean he’s a great, great baby. He’s an easy one, I think. But nobody told me it would be this hard. It takes a lot of energy from you. But I love it, I’m really enjoying every bit of it. It’s just that it’s not as idyllic as everybody tells you, but also not as horrible as everyone tells you.”

On getting her pre-baby body back: “I mean, I guess our mothers and grandmothers weren’t under the pressure that women of today are after delivering a baby. My dad says that there’s nothing better than a little meat on the bone! He likes my mom a little chubby. So she was never under the pressure to get back to her old weight, and she never did, actually! But it’s different, I have a career, and that’s the only part that’s been a bit stressful because I knew that I’d have to come back here to do ‘The Voice’ two months after I delivered a baby. I didn’t have my four months maternity like every woman on earth has. So I’m not trying to complain, but it’s been a process full of challenges in my life. I’m still a few pounds over! Zumba has been pretty great for me even during pregnancy. I did it almost until the end.”

Balancing motherhood & work: “Thank God the father is very involved. He has been amazing. The baby spends as much time with me as he does with his dad. He’s the kind of dad who’s full hands on. He changes diapers, he bathes him, he enjoys playing with the baby, he enjoys feeding him, all of that stuff. So that’s great help for me, you know. I can’t imagine doing all of this and not having the father do his part of the job. So that’s a huge help to me.”

[From Us Weekly]

First off, I think that “four months of maternity” is a myth … at least in the United States. Twelve years ago, I got six weeks paid leave in my then-salaried job, but I could have chosen to take up to three full months at incrementally lower percentages of pay as the time passed. Is that how it still works? I don’t plan on having any more kids, so it shall remain a mystery to me. One kiddo is enough for my attention span, thank you very much.

As for Shakira “complaining but not complaining” about how soon she returned to work after giving birth, well, that was totally her choice. Nobody made her sign onto replace Christina Aguilera last September when she was already four or five months pregnant. Shakira is a multi-millionare already, so she could quit working right now and have enough money to live on forever. Obviously, she wants to work, but I’m not going to feel sorry for her at all for voluntarily starting a new gig immediately after becoming a first-time mother.

Photos courtesy of WENN

The lovely Isla Fisher covers the spring issue of Gotham magazine to promote her (thankless) role of Myrtle Wilson in The Great Gatsby. I don’t expect this post to gather much interest like most posts on parenthood simply because poor Isla has fallen by the wayside in Hollywood. She was really cute and funny in Wedding Crashers several years ago, but then she signed up for some terrible flops like Confessions of a Shopaholic and settled into voice work while also taking some time off to raise her two children with husband Sacha Baron Cohen. I get the feeling that a lot of people confused Isla with Amy Adams for awhile, but Amy’s career has really taken off in the past handful of years while Isla’s has languished somewhat. Now Isla returns in Gatsby, and she’s also appearing later this year alongside Morgan Freeman and Woody Harrelson in Now You See Me. OH, and she’s also in post-production on an untitled Elmore Leonard project in the role of Melanie Ralston, who was played in Jackie Brown by Bridget Fonda (who herself has pulled a decade-long disappearing act). Weird.

In this Gotham shoot, Isla is styled right out of the Jazz Age with a fringy, flapper-esque dress and a couple of floaty, ethereal gowns. She looks entirely gorgeous, and the interview is slightly eventful as well as she admits to being completely overwhelmed by the experience of filming Gatsby alongside Baz Luhrmann and actors like Leo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan. Isla also discusses the extended break she took from Hollywood to have two daughters and stay at home with them during their respective infancies. Like Drew Barrymore’s recent declaration that you can’t have it all in terms of maintaining both career and motherhood, Isla expresses her belief that you shouldn’t even want to have it all. Here are some excerpts:

Working on The Great Gatsby: “It was thrilling and terrifying. Given the caliber of the director and cast on Gatsby, I definitely felt out of my comfort zone. I did feel like I was going to be called out and sent home at some point–you always feel very insecure, at least I do. The set was like a playground of rich costumes (his wife Catherine Martin does them) and color and music and laughter. Everybody cares on a Baz Luhrmann film set because everyone is so effing grateful to be there.”

Will she ever collaborate with hubby Sacha Baron Cohen? “Personally, I think we collaborate on enough behind closed doors. We’re working on some really important collaborations, and I think that’s more important. Obviously, I’m a big fan of his. My favorite movie will always be Bruno, and my favorite line will always be when he looks up at the sky and goes, ‘So many stars in the sky. Makes you think of all the hot guys in the world.’ So freaking random and funny.”

On balancing work & motherhood: “I took three years off. It’s not like you’re taking a break and looking on IMDbPro to see your StarMeter falling. You’re doing the most important, incredible thing. When you come back in, the perspective has changed. I truly believe you can’t have it all and you shouldn’t want to.”

[From Gotham Magazine]

Hmm. I certainly don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to have it all because I think most women do. I think most of us would love to find enough hours in the day to make a ton of money while still managing to be the perfectly attentive mother as well, but that’s just not possible. Something always has to give even if it’s just a matter of a few hours of sleep. Even Ivanka Trump, who is on the extreme end of working motherhood with her 16-hour work days, doesn’t really have it all, but she has enough of what she wants to make it work for her.

More and more these days, it sucks to realize that women will always be judged for their respective choices in the working motherhood discussion. It seems that you can either have an amazing career and miss some of your kid’s milestone moments, or you can be a stay-at-home mom and sacrifice financial stability and a retirement fund. It’s a tough choice for sure, and there’s some middle ground there but not much to be found. Of course, men are rarely faced with the same choice, but that won’t be changing anytime soon.

Photos courtesy of Gotham Magazine

Heidi Klum has been doing several photo ops with her bodyguard boyfriend, Martin Kristen in recent days. Here are the two of them with two of Heidi’s kids, Leni and Lou (plus some friends) as they enjoyed a lunch out in Brentwood on Sunday. As a side note, does anyone wonder if Martin still draws the same salary as when he was “just” her bodyguard — that must be a pretty weird situation on payday, huh? Maybe Heidi does direct deposit, and they just try not to think about money changing hands between them as they’re, you know, totally doing it.

For whatever reason, Heidi has decided to discuss her new juicing obsession with the media, and she has revealed that her kids don’t always love it. To resolve the situation, Heidi says that she has been paying her kids a dollar apiece to drink their morning juice concoctions. To say the very least, this is a strange way to encourage healthy habits, right? As in, Heidi is paying her boyfriend, and now she’s paying her kids. So weird:

Keeping her children healthy comes at a price for Heidi Klum.

The 39-year-old supermodel has revealed she bribes her four children, Leni, eight, Henry, seven, Johan, six, and Lou, three, to get them to finish daily smoothies.

She said: “I’ve never really done a real diet. My New Year’s resolution for 2013 was to start every day with a fresh juice.

“We make an effort every morning – we peel pineapples, apples, lemons, bananas, kiwis, ginger and berries and we make delicious smoothies.

“Some of my kids don’t love it so I decided I would pay them a dollar if they finish their drink. All of the money goes into their piggy banks, they have collected a bunch of money since January 1. What’s good for them is good for me as well.”

[From Daily Mail]

Most parents have dealt with this sort of situation before because kids can be notoriously picky eaters, and they love to test their parents’ patience. Luckily, a lot of them can be encouraged to eat everything on their plates to avoid the loss of dessert or another privilege, which is a bit of a bribe but not too bad. Yet it seems rather extreme for Heidi to actually give her kids money so they’ll drink their healthy juice, and it doesn’t seem like a great way to encourage healthy eating habits for a lifetime. Sure, Heidi has enough money to not worry about tossing dollar bills at her kids, but will this method actually help them in the long run? Probably not.

Here’s Heidi and Martin doing the happy family thing in Malibu over this past Saturday. She’s laying it on real thick while Seal continues to lay pretty low.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

I’ll be perfectly honest here and admit that I scoffed a little bit at this story until searching for photos of Peter Facinelli and his three daughters — Lola, Luca, and Fiona — that he shares with former wife Jennie Garth. As you can see, Peter is having quite the time of his life with his daughters in these pictures from last September during a Hawaii vacation. Peter and Jennie officially split last March when he filed for divorce, but by many accounts, it was clear that Peter had checked out of the marriage for quite some time beforehand, and he had some side pieces along the way.

After the divorce, Peter asked Jennie to stop giving interviews because it made him look bad, but now that he’s promoting the fifth season of “Nurse Jackie,” Peter has decided to talk too. Fortunately, he’s not talking about the actual split, but Peter is shilling his family a little bit by saying how wonderful it is that he’s co-parenting with Jennie because now he has the opportunity to spend time with his daughters and bond with them. Like, I guess he didn’t spend much time with his kids when he was busy stepping out on their mother, right? Here’s what Peter had to say to HuffPo:

Twilight actor Peter Facinelli stopped by HuffPost Live on Monday to reflect on his acting career. Also on the agenda? What it’s like to co-parent his three daughters with ex Jennie Garth.

“Co-parenting has been great. I’m able to have the kids every other week and in some ways — a lot of ways — it makes me an even better father,” Facinelli said. “I get to get up and make them breakfast, make them lunches, take them to school and I have the full responsibility of all three girls for the whole entire week, and I bond a lot with them that way.”

Facinelli filed for divorce from Garth in March 2012 after 11 years of marriage. In November 2012, he took his relationship public with “Nurse Jackie” co-star Jaimie Alexander. Garth has been linked to Jeremy Salken, the drummer for the electronica duo Big Gigantic, since the split.

[From HuffPo]

For the ultra curious amongst you, here’s a link to the video interview, which I didn’t embed here because of the autoplay curse. From this interview, I’m receiving strong vibes that when Peter and Jennie started having problems (or when he decided to start sleeping with other chicks), he basically cut out of family life altogether. I guess, in that regard, it makes sense that he’s getting to know his kids much better now that the pressure of a bad marriage has disappeared. It’s still a sad situation, of course.

Here’s Peter with his new girlfriend, Jaime Alexander, while attending the Saving Tails fundraiser in LA on 4/13.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet

Crazy Anne Heche is a mommy blogger now. Yes, you read that correctly. She’s so nutty, and I don’t mean to slight anyone who has an actual, documented case of mental illness, but Anne is the one who titled her memoir, Call Me Crazy, while she discussed her famed alter-ego, Celestia, who came out during her 2000 breakdown. That’s all in the past though, hopefully, and I tend to think that she could very well be certifiable, but I think she was also begging for attention and framed herself in the manner most befitting.

Anne is still currently with her Men in Trees co-star, James “McTreemy” Tupper, and they have been engaged for years. Anne has a four year-old son, Atlas, with James, and she is also mother to Homer, 11, whose father is Coley Lafoon. Anne and Coley’s divorce was very acrimonious with Coley winning primary custody while Anne spent most of her time in Canada for work. She was very bitter about the situation and even dissed Coley repeatedly on Letterman, and she’s always seemed quite angry that she has to pay Coley child support. Again, that’s something that Anne would like us to forget as she writes her mommy blogging series for People. In this heavily edited excerpt (which was previously a rambling book with “????” and “!!!!” in abundance), Anne describes how she dealt with a public temper tantrum on the part of Atlas. She frames the incident as one where she felt guilty about being a working mother, so she took Atlas to a toy store where he had a meltdown:

When Attie is upset, his face starts to get red before actual sounds come out. Gradually he manages to emit sputters, umphs and crazy-hot emotional spits which erupt as a precursor to his eventual verbal declaration.

Apparently a skate-boarding-parachute-guy was NOT the toy that Atlas had hoped for. The fit began with not wanting the skateboard part to be attached to the guy part and then the fury traveled its way up the body of skateboard guy to the parachute part, that was apparently NOT supposed to be connected to the guy AT ALL — shoulders, head or otherwise. Attie set off immediately to disconnect ALL parts.

All of Larchmont was listening. “I don’t want this toy, I want another toy!” he cried. Mommy conundrum: Do I escape this tantrum easily and without much embarrassment by allowing my newly-turned 4-year-old to bully and manipulate me into getting him another toy? Or do I do the appropriate thing and try to calmly pry him off the sidewalk, where he is now balled up, yelling that he wants the toy store to be his “new home” and attempt to parent him with discipline?

This is a tough one. I don’t like strangers to be staring at me, especially not while I anticipate my own internal decisions of motherhood with a snotty-nosed fit-fest happening in a corner on the sidewalk. I chose discipline. Self, that is. “Don’t cave, Anne,” I told myself over and over as I witnessed a groovy 20-something, clearly childless couple, wonder out loud, “Is that kid … lost?” And then catch themselves when I shook my head, and then wanted to scream, “Mommy attempting to parent correctly!” But I didn’t. It was written all over me. I was trying to be strong, but felt like a total and complete loser.

I managed to muster enough self-worth and will to know that a spoiled child is not what I wanted for Atlas’ life even more than I didn’t want it for mine. I remembered the wise words of a kind grandmother who once told me, “If you don’t control them at an early age, they will come to control you.”

And then a miracle happened: A beautiful woman who had avoided us on the sidewalk by taking the street, caught my eye just as Atlas was getting buckled in — and she winked at me. Atlas fell asleep within 30 seconds of the ride home. But this day, I had a renewed hope. A support system I never realized I have: Mommies are always out there, surrounding us and encouraging us, giving us strength and a wink when we most need it. We can trust it.

Look around — we are always there, witnessing and thanking you for being strong, parenting against all odds. You fighting the good fight for our children and their future as good, caring, loving citizens, and that’s what counts.

[From People]

This blog of Anne’s is nothing groundbreaking, of course. Nearly every parent out there has experienced the searing embarrassment of a child throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of a store or restaurant. It’s not a big deal, really; and although some people will glare at you as if you should never bring your child out in public, I think most people are understanding about the situation and realize that kids do this all the time. I have learned to tune out tantrum-throwing children in stores, but it does bother me when parents don’t seem to care if their kids are throwing fits on airplanes. Like, if I paid hundreds of dollars for my seat, the least you can do is shush your kid, not act like nothing is happening. Even if you have to bribe them a little bit to keep the peace on that flight, it’s worth it for the entire plane’s sake.

With that said, Anne does seem like a good mom though even if she’s acting as if she’s the first person in the world to encounter a public temper tantrum.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Ever since Drew Barrymore gave birth six months ago to her first child, a daughter named Olive, she’s gone a little bit overboard in her enthusiasm like a lot of parents tend to do. Drew’s post-birth interviews with magazines were a little bit nauseating especially in her insistence that she’s a super hands-on mom and even tie-dyes yoga leggings while her kid naps in between her own granola-rolling sessions or something. I don’t know if Drew has a nanny — she must certainly have some help, but she’s putting it out there loud and clear that she is super involved in all aspects of parenting. Is that part of her future brand? Perhaps.

Now Drew is talking more about why she’s given up a chunk of her career to stay at home and raise Olive. This story spoke to me in a sharp contrast to last week’s story about Ivanka Trump and the 16-hour work day, which CB covered. I understand Ivanka’s point, which is that she feels more useful in the world if she’s working like crazy (and certainly, Ivanka is free to make her own parenting decisions), but I arrive at a different perspective. My own mother was a workaholic; she’d drop us off at school in the morning, and we’d be lucky if we saw her before going to bed every night. She rarely took a day off even on the weekends because work was her thing. My dad was (and still is) a teacher, so he was home with us after school and during the summers, but it sure would have been nice to see my mom sometimes too. I don’t say this to evoke pity, but kids really do need their moms to be around at least sometimes, and if one doesn’t have to work 16-hour days, I think cutting back to something more reasonable (10 or 12 even) is probably better for kids’ wellbeing. Anyway, here is Drew’s point of view on the topic:

On the great myth: “I was raised in that generation where it was all, ‘Women can have it all!’ and I don’t think you can. I think something falls off the table. The good thing is that the things that stay on the table become so much more important. You have to choose your battles. I can’t direct movies right now; I would miss out on my daughter (Olive, 6 months). And I worked so hard to get to that point in my life, but it was a clear choice. I just had to make it.”

Will she become a “lifestyle guru” someday? “Whatever it is – it could be a beauty line, a movie, a cookbook (I’ll get there one day, but not yet. No one wants to eat my food, trust me) – maintain a sense of humor! It gets so serious out there. I love a good fart joke!”

[From USA Today]

I totally get what Drew is saying here about the semi-backlash of the “have it all” myth — perhaps even moreso because the “generation” that Drew speaks of is my own (she’s only a few days younger than I am). We were the first official generation of latchkey kids, and I’ve made perhaps too much of a big deal about not letting my daughter go through the same experience. I’m extremely lucky to be able to work at home, and that’s how I deal with the balancing act of work and parenting. So even though Drew is hippie-hipster-love-child-ish, I think we’d get along over a few drinks and fart jokes.

As for Drew’s self-recognition that she’s not the lifestyle-guru type, I just have to acknowledge my gratefulness in advance. Now if only we could stop the Goop from spreading any further.

Photos courtesy of WENN

Jessica Alba covers the May issue of Glamour to promote her book of lifestyle tips that may very well be more grounded than Gwyneth Paltrow’s, but the cover headline, “I set up my own business — and now I can help you!” is certainly sanctimonious enough for both of them combined. While Alba looks lovely as always (seriously, the girl can’t take a bad photo) on the cover, I assume that the headline is meant to convince us that if Alba can open her own company (the Honest Company, which sells environmentally-friendly household products) and enjoy almost immediate success, so can we. Of course, Alba also had her own celebrity that provided for many talk show and magazine appareances to discuss her brand before it even launched, so excuse me for laughing a bit when she thinks any of us could do the same in such a short period of time.

To a certain degree, I appreciate that Alba’s taken some time off acting to get her company going, but now she’s telling Glamour that she also pulled away from acting so that she could concentrate upon parenthood. She also says that she won’t do just any film that comes along now — it’s gotta be a really meaty character for her to justify stepping away from her daughters and husband, Cash Warren. Hmm, really?

She only wants to work in good films now: “When you have kids, you kind of think, I don’t need to work just to work. I want to sink my teeth into a character that makes it worth not being with my kids, or not being at the office. Having kids, having strong relationships with my husband, my friends, that it is my priority… that’s what really defines me, not a tabloid or a movie opening or a poster or an endorsement.”

On the Honest Company: “I am not approaching it like an actress, I’m approaching it like a mum, and I just want the best for my family and I feel like all mums do. You can’t really argue with that.”

Is she an actress or business woman now? “I am both… As you are building your career you make certain choices, and I didn’t know how to not work, and I didn’t know how to discern what I wanted to do or not do. I was just like, bring it.”

Her multitasking idol is Eleanor Roosevelt: “The perseverance she had made the world a better place for women, for the civil rights movement, just all the things that she did for veterans, teachers. She was one woman who dreamt big and didn’t take no for an answer.”

[From Glamour]

My god, Alba still doesn’t understand why she’s no longer in demand as an actress. Remember how she blamed her directors and screenwriters for her own awful performances? Well, she’s still in that state of mind. Alba needs to look inward and realize that the only director who really offers her roles anymore is Robert Rodriguez, and she’s appeared in four of his movies (Spy Kids 4, Machete, Machete Kills, and the upcoming Sin City 2) in the past few years alone. As much as I have enjoyed some of Robbie Rod’s earlier movies, the man isn’t exactly one to feature high quality acting in his films. Oh well.

As much as Alba appears to detest the tabloids, she did make it into this week’s issue of Star, which publishes a story about how Cash is driving Jessica crazy because he “sits in front of the TV, watching sports, and hosts parties for his friends while Jessica is running around like a mad woman. She is fed up wih him living off the money she makes.” In a previous Alba story, I noted that Cash hasn’t worked in his offical capacity as a film producer in over three years, so perhaps Star’s story isn’t entirely off the mark. Some of you noted that Cash has some family money, although I’m sure Jessica can’t be thrilled if she’s truly the only one running around like crazy only to have him loafing on the couch, but who knows.

Here are some photos of Jessica and Cash in St. Barts together on Wednesday.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN

Giuliana Rancic covers the weekend issue of Chicago Sun-Times Splash magazine to promote her upcoming NBC show, “Ready for Love,” which she will co-host with her husband, Bill. The show sounds like a “Bachelor” knockoff even though Giuliana attempts (in this interview) to distance her project from other reality-based dating shows. Also, her words make it quite evident that Giuliana can’t make up her mind about whether or not she wants to have more kids. Here, she says that she’s very interested in doing so, but a few weeks ago, she told Us Weekly that she’d always wanted a big family but admitted that one kid is a lot of work already, so she’s not sure and that “as of now there’s nothing in the works.”

About a month ago, she controversally stated that she and Bill “put our marriage first and our child second, because the best thing we can do for him is have a strong marriage.” At first, I reckoned that Giuliana and Bill were actually spending quite a lot of time with baby Duke (who is currently seven months old) and perhaps just taking some special couple time to go out on “adults-only” dates and such, which seemed wise. Then the very next day, they hopped on an airplane for what looked like a baby-free vacation, which seemed very bizarre. There’s no way I could have spent over a week without my daughter when she was a baby, and I couldn’t ever do it now that she’s a pre-teen either. Their baby may have been on a later flight as Giuliana posed for some candids in the pool at her resort with him about a week after they left. Here are some excerpts from the Splash interview where Giuliana elaborates a bit more on her and Bill’s efforts to balance marriage and baby:

Advice she’d give her younger self: “You’ll never use geometry. So don’t sweat that D, girl. I wasn’t the best student. Instead, I was being social, having fun, developing a sense of humor. And these are all skills that help me every day.”

On “Ready for Love”: “It’’s unlike anything that’s ever been on TV,” she says of the series, which pairs three men with three expert matchmakers who help them screen potential partners.

Is it possible to find true love on tv? “Not on ‘The Bachelor.’” The difference with her show, she claims, is that the female cast members know exactly who they’ll be dating — before accepting applications, Executive Producer Eva Longoria introduced the bachelors to the world on “The Today Show” last spring. “Women applied if they saw something about a certain guy and thought, ‘I want to get to know him.’ That initial connection is so importan. It’s like when I met Bill. It was love at first sight. I knew there was something about him the second I laid eyes on him.”

More on marriage first, parenthood second: “Your marriage is the first example of a relationship that your child is exposed to. Bill and I are always kissing and holding hands and loving on each other in front of our child, and I think that’s so important for [Duke] to see. I want him to respect women. We never want to lose our marriage or ourselves. We made a vow, and we plan on keeping it.”

Bill is sooo romantic: “Bill doesn’t even drink coffee, but every day he insists on making my coffee. And you know why? Because his dad made his mom coffee every day, and he thought that was so romantic. A couple of weeks ago, I was at a shoot that was running late, and I was supposed to take Duke to a mommy-and-me class. Let’s just say I didn’t quite make it on time, and a certain someone had to fill in for me. And if you know my husband, that is not his cup of tea.”

She’ll pull away from E! in a few years? “I’ve accomplished everything I’ve ever wanted to. I’d love to ride that wave for awhile, then eventually pull back, spend more time with the baby and Bill in Chicago. Bill’s made no secret of not liking LA. And I’m not a big fan, either. There’s something about Chicago we love. I have great friendships here, the people are wonderful and it’s where we want Duke to go to school.”

Will she have more kids? “We’d only be so lucky.” But even then, Rancic won’t hide from the cameras. “Our long-term goal is to host a daytime relationship show together in Chicago.”

[From Splash/Sun Times

Like I said already, I agree that couple time is very important for parents if they can manage to grab a few hours here and there away from their kids, but I think Giuliana and Bill are taking things to an extreme by perhaps vacationing away from their baby during his infancy. I guess I just don't understand the "high-pressure" lifestyle of an E! "Fashion Police" diva, or maybe Giuliana and Bill weren't as ready to assume the parenting lifestyle (such as it is) as they once imagined. That probably sounds super bitchy of me to say, but Giuliana would freely judge me as a parent, so you know, she can deal.

Photos courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times, Fame/Flynet, and WENN