Josh Duggar admits infidelity, wife Anna’s reaction

by

Whitney Barthel

posted in Celebrities

Earlier this week, news broke of Josh Duggar, the eldest Duggar child, owning at least two Ashley Madison accounts.

Ashley Madison is a website that helps match up individuals looking to have extramarital relations. The hugely popular website is based in Canada and hosts over 32 million active members. Their slogan “Life is short. Have an affair,” leaves little to the imagination.

According to cybersecurity company Trustify, Duggar paid $986 between 2012 and 2015 for membership and other fees. He described himself as an “attached male seeking female” looking for “conventional sex, experimenting with sex toys and one-night stands.”

Thursday, Josh Duggar admitted to the press

I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife.

I brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions that happened when I was 14-15 years old, and now I have re-broken their trust.

After news broke early this year of Josh’s molestation involving four of his sisters and one non-relative, wife Anna told People

I can imagine the shock many of you are going through reading this. I remember feeling that same shock. When my family and I first visited the Duggar home, Josh shared his past teenage mistakes. I was surprised at his openness and humility and at the same time didn’t know why he was sharing it. For Josh, he wanted not just me but my parents to know who he really was -- even every difficult past mistakes.

While looking past mistakes made long ago is one thing, everyone has been waiting with bated breath to see how this poor woman, and mother to Josh’s four children, will react.

Although there has been no news directly from Anna herself, a source with close ties to the Duggar family told People

Anna will not leave him. As with her in-laws, she is turning more to her faith than ever. She and Josh are probably praying around the clock right now, I would assume.

[Anna] is fully and permanently committed to her marriage and her children. And she'll have the support of Jim Bob and Michelle and everyone else in their circle in terms of staying with him and making this work. Divorce is not even something that will be discussed.

 

 

What would you do if you were Anna? Could you look past this recent scandal? Comment below!

 

 

 

 

Photo credit: REX USA

Eva Amurri writes about miscarriage heartbreak

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Actress Eva Amurri was 9 weeks along when she miscarried.

Long enough to have celebrated the news with her husband, to have started secretly hoping for a girl, to have heard her baby's heartbeat, to have staged an impromptu "big sister" photo shoot with her daughter Marlowe. At Marlowe's first birthday party, Eva and her husband Kyle Martino shared their happy news with family and friends.

Then came the shocking, heartbreaking news.

"At my next visit for a routine ultrasound, the baby's heart was no longer beating," the actress reveals. "Just like that, it was all over. I remained in the office and went through the procedure to remove the baby from my uterus."

Though Eva, whose mother is actress Susan Sarandon, hadn't yet announced her pregnancy to the general public, so she could have chosen to grieve the loss privately. Instead, she penned an incredibly honest and emotional account of the miscarriage in a blog post , writing, "I am sharing in the hopes that we can be a light for people going through similar circumstances. And to remind myself and others that there is no shame in voicing our heartbreaks and allowing others to comfort us."

She recalls the day she learned that the baby was gone: "My doctor told me that this was most likely a case of there being an underlying major developmental problem with the fetus, and that it had simply stopped growing. That nature had taken its course in the most brutally honest and simple way that nature sometimes works."

In the days since, she's been on an emotional roller coaster, she says, experiencing confusion, anger, sadness. And, perhaps surprisingly, gratitude.

"I have the most amazingly supportive husband, and two loving families. I have wonderful friends, who have brought me nearly to my knees with their care and compassion during this hard time. And most of all, I have a healthy and happy daughter who I can hold in my arms and whisper in to her ear how much I adore her and how blessed I feel that I was lucky enough to bring her in to the world. I have so much.

Of course what I don't have, and what I never will have, is this one little angel who has slipped away from me. And while it will take time for me to make peace with that fact, it gives me a lot of solace knowing that I told– that I have shared its existence with you, that it mattered, and that we loved it. And that will have to do."

I'm fortunate to have never had to mourn a pregnancy the way that Eva and so many others have. Her story of her miscarriage still moved me to tears, though.

I imagine it wasn't an easy decision for Eva to let the world into such a personal experience, particularly in such an open and heartfelt way. It sounds like it was cathartic for her in some ways to share her story, but I also think it was a very brave and generous choice, one that can only help other women and families who are going through something similar.

Have you suffered a miscarriage?

An updated look at other celebrities who’ve gone public with their experiences through infertility and loss:

Photo: REX USA/Everett Collection

Video: Watch Kelly Clarkson's emotional pregnancy reveal

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Kelly Clarkson is so pregnant with baby two she just can't hold the news (or all the emotions) in. The singer ended up making an unplanned reveal mid-concert Wednesday night, after she got caught up on the lyrics to "Piece by Piece."

"I was not planning on announcing this, but I'm pregnant," the mother of River Rose Blackstock told the crowd after getting choked up. "Totally pregnant!"

It's worth noting, at this point, that one especially tender line in the song goes: "Piece by piece, he'll restore my faith that a man can be kind and a father should be great."

Take a peek at Kelly Clarkson struggling through the beautiful song...

...and then E! News has a glimpse of the big reveal as captured by a concert-goer:

"This is not how I wanted to announce that," Kelly can be heard saying as tears trickle down her cheeks. "My makeup artist is backstage just, like, hating me....I would like to apologize to my husband. This was not planned. I'm just so hormonal."

I'm not an overly sentimental person, but dang. There's something that just gets me about the nervous excitement of a pregnancy announcement! Between my sympathetic-crier tendencies and the touching lyrics I'm a mess.

After finding out our first child was on the way my husband and I bought picture frames that said "Grandparents" across the top. We didn't even have an ultrasound photo yet, so rather than a picture inside we wrote our little one's due date. I was very nervous to give the frames to each of our sets of parents, especially because this was the first grandchild for everyone, but it went pretty smoothly.

There were tears, shed by my mother-in-law, but thankfully they were of the happy variety.

How did you spread the news baby was on the way? Would you do it differently if given a second chance? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

Photos: MediaPunch/REX Shutterstock

 

A look at how other parents in the spotlight have revealed their big news:

Video: Watch Kelly Clarkson's emotional pregnancy reveal

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Kelly Clarkson is so pregnant with baby two she just can't hold the news (or all the emotions) in. The singer ended up making an unplanned reveal mid-concert Wednesday night, after she got caught up on the lyrics to "Piece by Piece."

"I was not planning on announcing this, but I'm pregnant," the mother of River Rose Blackstock told the crowd after getting choked up. "Totally pregnant!"

It's worth noting, at this point, that one especially tender line in the song goes: "Piece by piece, he'll restore my faith that a man can be kind and a father should be great."

Take a peek at Kelly Clarkson struggling through the beautiful song...

...and then E! News has a glimpse of the big reveal as captured by a concert-goer:

"This is not how I wanted to announce that," Kelly can be heard saying as tears trickle down her cheeks. "My makeup artist is backstage just, like, hating me....I would like to apologize to my husband. This was not planned. I'm just so hormonal."

I'm not an overly sentimental person, but dang. There's something that just gets me about the nervous excitement of a pregnancy announcement! Between my sympathetic-crier tendencies and the touching lyrics I'm a mess.

After finding out our first child was on the way my husband and I bought picture frames that said "Grandparents" across the top. We didn't even have an ultrasound photo yet, so rather than a picture inside we wrote our little one's due date. I was very nervous to give the frames to each of our sets of parents, especially because this was the first grandchild for everyone, but it went pretty smoothly.

There were tears, shed by my mother-in-law, but thankfully they were of the happy variety.

How did you spread the news baby was on the way? Would you do it differently if given a second chance? Join the conversation by leaving a comment below!

Photos: MediaPunch/REX Shutterstock

 

A look at how other parents in the spotlight have revealed their big news:

Surprise! Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a first-time father

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has officially joined the celebrity dads club! In surprising news, it has been confirmed the actor and new wife Tasha McCauley welcomed a son last weekend.

"The family is all happy and healthy," an unnamed source told People while confirming the news -- and that's just about all we get to know about the baby boy. His name is being kept private at this time, as well as further details about his arrival.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt opting to keep details about his family private shouldn't come as too big of a surprise.

"I have a girlfriend, but I tend not to really like to talk about it in public," the 34-year-old star told Howard Stern in 2013 while sharing a bit about his personal life but not going so far as to name any names. "The girl that I’m with, she really doesn’t want to be a part of that."

While I do respect the new parents' right to privacy, I'll also admit I'm curious what they've decided to call their little one. The first name, of course, but also the last name(s).

Perhaps Joseph and Tasha will hyphenate the last names just as his parents (Dennis Levitt and Jane Gordon) chose to do? How does that work when the mother of father already has a hyphenated name?

If anyone knows I'd be curious to hear.

Congratulations to the new parents on their son's arrival -- as well as on keeping such a big secret!

Photos: PR Photos

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt isn't the only star who feels rubbed the wrong way by fame at time. A look at what other celebrities have said about the perks and pitfalls of fame:

Alec Baldwin gives thanks for his kids' many nannies

by

Carolyn Robertson

posted in Celebrities

Busy dad-of-two took to Instagram today to share a heartfelt message of thanks to the women who make it all possible.

Sharing an adorable shot of his daughter Carmen, who turns 3 next week, snuggling on her nanny's shoulder while in the background another woman tends to baby brother Rafael in the stroller, Alec wrote: "I am forever indebted to the women who have helped care for our children. Muchos gracias Lizzy, Sandra, Zena, Lisa and Avril."

How sweet!

Of course, it didn't take long for some of the 30 Rock actor's Instagram followers to do the math: Does that mean Alec and his wife Hilaria have FIVE caregivers for two children?

Several of them pointed out this equation in the comments, with one adding, "Why don't you [and your] wife just take care of [your] own kids without help? Why do you need help while your there?"

Others, though, were far more understanding - and honest - about it. After all, they pointed out, the nannies are probably on rotation, so it's not like they have five caregivers on the clock around the clock. Even if they did, some noted, what's the harm so long as the kids are well cared for?

"If money wasn't an object, I would have the same," admitted one fan. "More love for
the babies."

This isn't the first time celebrities have opened up about having help with the kids. Some parents, like Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, have refused to hire even one nanny, reasoning, “We just want to know our kid. We want to be the people that know what to do when the baby’s crying to make the baby not cry anymore. I think the only way to do that is by being the one who’s there.”

Others have been completely forthright about their reliance on caretakers. Like mom-of-two Amy Poehler, who very memorably paid tribute to her sons' nannies during an award acceptance speech a few years ago. "On behalf of every sister and mother and person who stands in your kitchen and helps you love your child, I say thank you and I celebrate you tonight."

I think it's easy - and somewhat tempting - to jump all over famous folks who seem to always have nannies in tow. Honestly, though, who among us doesn't rely on help every once in a while? My own mom has been a constant presence in my children's lives, to the point where I can't really imagine raising them without her around. I'm forever grateful, and I think my girls are only better off for it.

I do think it's vital that a parent loves, knows and understands his own child, and that the child feels safe and comfortable going to mom or dad for help and reassurance. Beyond that, though, I'm a firm believer that it takes a village. If that village happens to include professional caregivers who are receiving a paycheck, who am I to judge?

What do you think? And if you could afford it, would you hire a nanny (or five)?

Photo: PR Photos, Photograp/REX Shutterstock

Christina Aguilera's birthday girl puts a message in a bottle

by

Sara McGinnis

posted in Celebrities

Christina Aguilera's baby girl is officially an entire year old. The singer shared a peek at their birthday fun with fans, posting a photo of Summer Rain Rutler to Instagram on Monday. Check out the darling's amazing blue eyes here.

Xtina, who is also mom to 7-year-old son Max Liron Bratman, previously told People, "It’s the little things that are so amazing as a mom and just make me so happy and proud to be the mother of two beautiful, amazing, incredibly talented, lovely children."

Matt Rutler, who is Summer Rain's father and Christina Aguilera's fiancé, also shared a few pictures to celebrate their daughter's big day. Along with posting a sweet photo of his daughter in his arms, the proud dad also shared a video that caught my attention. In the short clip Summer 'writes' on a piece of paper that is put in a bottle, and then the whole thing is tossed into the ocean. Check it out by clicking here.

I originally thought the message in the bottle was part of the birthday festivities, but the video clip is dated five weeks ago. Still, it got me thinking. I won't lie that my very green heart didn't cringe a little at the sight of something being thrown into the sea, but I love the idea of kids writing a note every year on their special day. If you were to save them over the years they'd change so much!

A Facebook friend of mine is also in birthday mode this week, and I couldn't help but notice her family starts the honoree's day with breakfast of choice and presents. No waiting all day in anticipation, they hop right to it! I think we're terribly regular in our house, but I do love hearing about how other families celebrate.

What are birthdays like in your home? Any unique traditions? Tell us about how you celebrate by leaving a comment below!

Photo: Rob Latour/REX Shutterstock

 

First birthday "smash cake" photos as sent in by our BabyCenter Community members: