Alanis Morissette goes earthy for newborn baby's name

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Alanis Morissette's baby has arrived, officially making her the mom of two! Tweeting the better-late-than-never news, the singer posted this message to social media on Friday:

 

she's here! onyx solace morissette-treadway June 23 2016 #beyondblessed pic.twitter.com/dcv6BROnp0

— Alanis Morissette (@Alanis) July 8, 2016

That's right, Alanis and husband husband Mario "Souleye" Treadway are now parents of both a son and a daughter! Onyx Solace Morissette-Treadway is also being welcomed into the world by her big brother, 5-year-old Ever Imre Morissette-Treadway.

In hindsight, it's now clear that Alanis Morissette had already given birth when she shared that naked, underwater photo of her pregnant self -- quite the sneaky way to throw people off, right? I think it's lovely their family had a few private weeks alone with their baby girl.

The 42-year-old is right on trend with our BabyCenter members, who are loving the name Onyx this year. Check out how it's surged in popularity for girls:

Onyx is, of course, a banded variety of agate with alternating black and white parallel bands -- but I hope I'm not being too presumptuous about the name's inspiration. Alanis is known as a bit of an earthy person, but her baby girl also could be named after the city in California (or Arkansas), a river in the Antarctic, or the pro wrestler Kyle McNeely, who goes by the same name.

Just saying...a few of those seem more likely than the others to have inspired this pair of celebrity parents.

Congratulations to Alanis and the entire family on their new arrival!

What's your favorite earthy or nature-inspired name?

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Photos: PR Photos

 

 

Alanis and her husband have chosen to hyphenate their last names for their kids. Check out more celebs who are mixing things up, with famous men who've taken their ladies' names:

Many thought Jack and Meg White of The White Stripes were siblings, but they actually married in 1996. Jack opted to take his bride's last name as his own, swapping Gillis for White.

(Andy Baker/Newspix/REX Shutterstock)

Meg and Jack White officially divorced in 2000. In 2005, the musician married Karen Elson, with whom he has daughter Scarlett and son Henry. Meg served as the maid of honor.

Jack and Karen announced their separation in 2011 by throwing "a positive swing bang humdinger."

(Maria Laura Antonelli/REX Shutterstock)

Zoe Saldana and Marco Perego secretly married in June 2013 in London. In her July 2015 cover interview with InStyle, Saldana revealed that, in a reversal of tradition, the Italian artist adopted her surname upon marriage. Thereafter, the actress became Zoe Saldana-Perego or Zoe Perego and Marco became Marco Perego-Saldana or Marco Saldana.

(REX Shutterstock)

The pair welcomed twin boys named Cy and Bowie in November 2014. The boys' last name is Perego-Saldana.

(Andrew Evans  / PR Photos)

When Carlos Peña wed Alex Vega in 2014, they opted to go halfsies on their new last name.

(Andrew Evans  / PR Photos)

Rather than hyphenate the stars added their names together, each adopting PeñaVega going forward. The actor and the Spy Kids actress have yet to share if they plan to start a family.

(Andrew Evans  / PR Photos)

Jay Mohr got incredibly creative for his second anniversary gift to wife Nikki Cox. As a present, he added her last name to his, becoming Jon (his birth name) Ferguson Cox Mohr.

(Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos)

After marrying in 2006, the couple welcomed son Meredith Daniel Mohr in 2011. The comedian also has a son named Jackson, who was born during Jay's previous marriage.

(Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos)

Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (pictured here with his daughter) also gets points in the creativity department -- choosing to mash up his last name with his wife's. Upon wedding Corina Raigosa in 1987, she and Antonio Villar "meshed" their names into "Villaraigosa."

(Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos)

The couple filed for divorce in 2007, but both have continued to use their combined name. He is the father of four, the two youngest of which were born during his marriage to Corina.

(Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos)

John Lennon added Yoko Ono's last name to his when they married in 1969. He said of the change, "Yoko changed her name for me, I've changed mine for her. One for both, both for each other. She has a ring, I have a ring. It gives us nine 'O's between us, which is good luck. Ten would not be good luck."

(Wikimediacommons)

His legal name when he died in 1980 was John Winston Ono Lennon, and hers is Yoko Ono Lennon. After suffering three miscarriages she gave birth their son Sean in 1975. John's firstborn child, son Julian, arrived in 1963 during his marriage to Cynthia Lennon.

(Wikimediacommons)

For his fifth marriage, Lorenzo Lamas decided to hyphenate. Upon marrying Shawna Craig in 2011 he changed his name to Lorenzo Lamas-Craig.

Wikipedia notes: This decision was motivated by the fact that his previous wife, Shauna, kept the surname Lamas, and is legally named Shauna Lamas, and Lamas' fifth wife, Shawna, whose given name is a homonym and almost identical to that of Shauna, did not wish to have a virtually identical full name.

(Glenn Francis / PR Photos)

Shawna Craig gave birth to Lorenzo's grandson in 2015!

(KeithJMX / PR Photos)

The unique pregnancy came about after Shayne Lamas, who is Lorenzo's daughter (Shawna's step-daughter) suffered a near-fatal pregnancy loss in 2014. Shawna volunteered to be a surrogate for Shayne and her husband Nik...

(Christine Tager / PR Photos)

who legally changed his name from Hooman Abedi Karamian to Nik Lamas-Richie upon marrying. The couple are now parents to daughter Press and son Lyon.

(Christine Tager / PR Photos)

Jay-Z, whose birth name is Shawn Carter, bucked tradition by hyphenating his last name with Beyonce's when they married in 2008. Legally, he is now Shawn Knowles-Carter. A source told the Daily Star the couple wanted to keep "Knowles" because Beyonce's parents don't have any sons.

(Janet Mayer / PR Photos)

The singer's legal name is now Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter. Interestingly, their daughter's name is Blue Ivy Carter. She was born on January 7, 2012.

(Alex Mateo / PR Photos)

Cancer survivor Tig Notaro is now a mom times 2!

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Tig Notaro's dream of becoming a mom has come true, times two! The comedian, who famously shared about her cancer battle on stage, has welcomed twin sons with wife Stephanie Allynne.

Making the big announcement via Facebook, the 45-year-old wrote:

"Max and Finn Notaro arrived happy, healthy and really, really cute on June 26. [Our cat] Fluff has a ton of questions about how long they plan on staying. Thank you everybody for your endless love and support."

Max and Finn were conceived with Stephanie's eggs, and carried via a surrogate.

Tig Notaro announced their sons were on the way in January, in a heart-warming message about the future she and Stephanie were creating for their entire family.

"I have really come to believe SO MUCH in the saying that 'it takes a village' and we have taken that to heart by creating our own little village tucked away in the hills of Los Angeles," she explained to fans.

"Stephanie and I have built a beautiful little compound that her entire wonderful family actually occupies with us. Tea with her sister, dinners with her mother, music with her brother-- its all beyond any fantasy I had ever imagined for myself. Borrowing a stick of butter from one another's fridge, carpooling to the store and pet sitting for whomever may be traveling that particular week. With the loved ones and wildlife that tread across our yard daily, we truly can not wait to share this world with Itsy and Bitsy upon their eagerly anticipated arrival into our lives."

Doesn't that sound wonderful? I wish we all could be surrounded by such love and support!

As a longtime listener of This American Life I've always enjoyed hearing from Tig, but it wasn't until I watched Tig on Netflix that I learned more about all this couple has gone through.

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I highly recommend it if you haven't seen it yet, and I couldn't be more thrilled to hear of Max and Finn's arrival. Congratulations to Tig and Stephanie!

What names would you pick for twin boys?

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Photo: PR Photos

 

More stars who've faced cancer battles:

 

Ellie Kemper's pregnancy pet peeve: "I'm like ahh!"

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Mom-to-be Ellie Kemper is finding out quickly that pregnancy makes strangers go a little nutty. Where once the most interaction you'd get is a half-smile or comment on the weather, now there's touching.

"Now I'm showing and I don’t know what goes through a person’s mind—a stranger's mind no less—when they think oh yes, your stomach is something that now belongs to me and I can touch it," the pregnant actress shared on Today Sunday. "It’s actually crazy."

"In a way, I think it’s a nice reminder of humanity, but then I quickly go back to the idea that you wouldn’t do this if I wasn’t pregnant."

Ellie, who is pictured below with her The Secret Life of Pets costars, is currently expecting her first child with husband Michael Koman.

Speaking of the belly-touching, the star of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt went on to say that it's less weird now that she's showing, but even friends touching her first-trimester stomach weirded her out.

"It was just odd. I’m not a very touchy feely comfortable person so with someone touching me, 'I'm like ahh personal space violation,'" the 36-year-old joked. "It was like touching my digestion. There was nothing quite there."

While I can remember far back enough to my pregnancies to empathize with Ellie (the first time my mother-in-law shot a hand out to my gut I nearly died), I'm also guilty of having felt a few bumps. Not of strangers -- I seriously don't understand who does that -- but of my friends and sisters-in-law.

Pregnancy is just such a magical thing when you're not the one in the middle of it! The tautness of an expecting belly is a wonder to behold, and it's hard not to want to touch just for a second.

To all the pregnant people out there I'd like to remind that it's not your stomach we're trying to touch, it's the baby, but I doubt that's of any consolation for invading your space!

All I can say is belly-touching is one subject I can see both sides of, and the farther away I am from carrying my own babies the more tempted I find myself to reach out and reminisce for just a moment. Apologies in advance, friends.

What's your biggest pregnancy pet peeve?

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Photos: PR Photos

 

More pregnancy problems, as shared by real moms on Twitter:

Blake Lively's proud motherhood hasn't transformed her

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Although Blake Lively and her hunky husband Ryan Reynolds together are a double-dose of celebrity draw, they're making an effort to give their children some privacy.

"My husband and I chose a profession and a side effect of that is your personal life is public," the actress, who is currently pregnant with their second child, recently told Marie Claire UK.

Speaking of their firstborn daughter James, Blake noted she "hasn’t had the opportunity to choose whether or not she wants her personal life to be public or not. So in order to give her as much normality as possible, we want her to have a childhood like we had. So we can’t really throw her into the lion’s den that is LA, not that we really want to."

And though the fame aspect can be tricky, Blake Lively has taken easily to motherhood. Just don't ask how becoming a mom has changed her.

She explained: "When women become mothers, it’s all: ‘How’s your style?’, ‘Do you dress differently?’, ‘Do you go to Mommy & Me classes?’ I wanted to go to a Mommy & Me class before I was a mom. People really expect that you’re suddenly a different woman, and I think it strips a woman’s identity in a way that is kind of strange, because I’ve always been innately maternal my whole life."

It's quite nice to hear how Blake still feels like herself, but what about those of us who haven't always felt a maternal instinct?

I don't think I even really know Mommy & Me classes existed before I had kids, and I most certainly never would have attended one if given the chance. As someone who is proud to be a mom but didn't have the desire all along, motherhood rocked my world. I had to change, and in that transition my identity grew murky. Moving to a new area meant finding new friends, not working for the first time in years meant trying to find new ways to pass the day, etc. All the things I did before were gone, which made me feel like the me I had known all along was gone.

It'd be great if all of us felt like Blake, that we were able to roll right along as we went from being kid-free to moms, but I suspect there are many out there who can't quite relate to her experience.

Did becoming a mom change you? How do you feel about that?

Join the conversation

Photos: PR Photos, Matt Baron/BEImages

 

A look at Blake Lively's gorgeous maternity style:

(PR Photos)

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(Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock)

(Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock)

(Dave Allocca/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock)

(James Gourley/REX/Shutterstock)

(David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock)

( James McCauley/REX/Shutterstock )

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(Beretta/Sims/REX/Shutterstock)

(Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock)

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(VILLARD/NIVIERE/SIPA/REX/Shutterstock)

Fergie's new MILF$ video features her famous mom friends

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Fergie recruited some of her very famous friends to star in the video for her new song, "M.I.L.F.$."

Released on Friday, the video rolls out one star-studded cameo after another, as Fergie's "mom friends" Ciara, Alessandra Ambrosio, Amber Valletta, Kim Kardashian and more join the 41-year-old singer in the fictional town of Milfville - where pole dancing in giant milkshake glasses and dairy showers are apparently the norm.

One of the eye-catching video's early scenes shows model mama Chrissy Teigen breastfeeding her brand new baby Luna. Little Luna isn't the only celebrity child to put in an appearance - Victoria's Secret model Ambrosio's 7-year-old daughter Anja also shares a scene with her mom.

While the acronym M.I.L.F. is generally kind of cringe-worthy, in this case Fergie, who has son Axl with her husband Josh Duhamel, says that it actually means something quite different.

“Changing the acronym to Moms I’d Like To Follow is about empowering women who do it all,” she explains. “They have a career, a family, and still find the time to take care of themselves and feel sexy. With a wink of course :).”

Take a look...

So, do you feel empowered yet?

This song isn't exactly my summer jam, but I give them credit for attempting to show that motherhood can be sexy, too. It's an unexpected addition to the standard fantasies: Sexy school teacher, sexy waitress, sexy model, sexy rock star. And yes, sexy mother.

Despite rumors to the contrary, that part of us doesn't necessarily shrivel up and die the moment our babies are born. The famous moms featured in this video are proof of that, often pushing the boundaries of society's expectations of motherhood. Kim Kardashian kicks off a heated debate every time she bares her body on Instagram. Ciara came under fire not long ago for the "racy" gown she wore to sing the national anthem at the College Football Playoffs.

As Fergie says, the message comes "with a wink" - the video is meant to be provocative and over-the-top, and from the gratuitous milk baths to the Milfman's sudden dairy craving at the sight of a mom nursing in public, it definitely does achieve that.

This is always something I struggle with, though. Women as objects, women being ogled, women being a collection of physical attributes. Same old, right? But on the other hand, there is progress in women taking control over that, just as there is in acknowledging that we should be able to celebrate every aspect of who we are without being vilified. If a woman is objectified, that's on the audience, not on the length of her miniskirt.

In the end, I just don't think this video exactly shatters, or even pushes all that hard against, the status quo. You could argue that as a singer, as an artist, that's not Fergie's responsibility. But if you're going to label something as "empowering," I think you have to go a lot further.

What do you think of "M.I.L.F.$.?"

Photos: PR Photos, REX USA