Amy Schumer is looking for motivation during her “tough” pregnancy.
The 37-year-oldI Feel Prettystar revealed her struggles in an Instagram post on Thursday. Schumer announced she was expecting her first child with husband Chris Fischer in October.
“The last few days have been tough. I’m grateful as hell and know it’s temporary but tough just the same,” she wrote in the caption of a photo featuring her dog.
The comedian, who has had to postpone show dates from her comedy tour, asked her fans for motivation by having them tag her in photos and videos of their children.
“Please if you don’t mind. Post pics of your kids and tag me #amyschumer,” she wrote. “My friends sending me pics and vids of their kids is making me feel so much better. Much love accepting dog photos too.”
By now, parents of school-aged children have received first quarter grades and can gauge, after attending a parent-teacher meeting, how well their child is doing in school.
Early in the semester, I was offered aRocketbook Everlast36-page reusable intelligent notebook (retails: $29.49) which allows users to send handwritten notes jotted won on the notebook to their favorite cloud service.
The patented pages look and feel like paper, but they are actually made up of a proprietary page that lets erasable pens and markers bond to them until moisture is applied.
That’s the beauty and genius of this notebook. The notes can be wiped clean after they are scanned and uploaded to the cloud.
It’s like having a 7-subject notebook powered by tech but in one.
The first page of the notebook includes 7 symbols you can assign each subject. After penning notes, the student or biz owner (depending on who is using the notebook and for what purpose), scans the pages and QRC code on the corner and sends it to an associated Rocketbook app which files the notes into the pre-determined category.
After a few uploads or so, students will see a continuous stream of notes. They can use them to create outlines to study from, to print out note cards, or simply to review before class or skim before a quiz or exam.
It cuts out the trauma that would occur if the student were to lose a notebook. It’s great for that kid who loses papers and struggles with organization.
My 16-year old son Caleb tested it out. Now the kid is an honors student tho he misspelled the word “pineapple” in this demo. I think we was joking around but who knows. (ha) Overall, I was impressed that he used it all semester long and took it out frequently. He plans to continue to use it.
Get yours for $29.49 and although that’s a bit steep, the fact that you can reuse it time and time again and get more than a year’s worth of value from it makes it more cost efficient to disposable notebooks! WATCH my son’s demo here!
In all the fuss and bustle of the Holiday season, I have been neglecting my expecting celeb mama coverage!
Thank goodness, we can still get features from other sites to update us and here is a quick roundup:
Lily Aldridge: Second-time mom-to-be Victoria Secret model showed us her daily beauty routine and it’s totally wonderful! She is so cute! I cannot stand it! You can catch it here at Vogue!
Porsha Williams – Oh my goodness! I’m gushing over the sight of the Real Housewives of Atlanta reality TV star’s baby dancing in her belly in the middle of the night to the snoring of Williams’ fiance. Watch it on Instagram or Hollywood Life by Bonnie Fullerhere
Maria Nordø Jørstad: Oh yeah and theTriplets of Copenhagen have been here for about a month now their mom is keeping it real with her very-much-still-there post partum belly. Click Below:
We are well into Holiday shopping season and Bellyitch has released about 15 of close to 45 Gift Guides that will be published to guide readers looking for that perfect gift for that special someone (or someones ) on their shopping list.
This year, we’ve tried to go BIG and curate some guides for every type of person possible.
This is a growing list but what we have so far. Click to be taken to the itemized list or scroll down to see below for the Graphic that accompanies each list:
In America, 328 parents have decided to name their child, “ABCDE”, pronounced, AB-si-dee”, according to the Social Security Administration database which has existed only since 2014.
One said child and her mom Traci Redford were pre-boarding a Southwest Airlines flight in Orange County going home to El Paso, Texas when Redford overheard an airline employee mocking her daughter’s name.
According to news affiliate ABC7 in Los Angeles. The Redfords were preboarding — as they usually do because Abcde is epileptic — when the Southwest Airlines gate agent started laughing and pointing at the child and making fun of her unique name to fellow airline employees. “I turned around and said, ‘Hey, if I can hear you, my daughter can hear you, so I’d appreciate if you’d just stop,’” Redford told ABC7.
Redford said her daughter asked her, “‘Mom, why is she laughing at my name?’” then replied. “‘You know, honey, not everybody is nice. And not everyone’s gonna be nice, and it’s unfortunate,’”
The employee took a photo of the girl’s boarding pass and posted in on Facebook. That’s when a social media user told the mom of the posting after reporting it to Southwest. The airlines issued an apoloyg ot the mom after she filed a formal complaint but failed to get a response for two weeks.
The Airline’s statement reads:
“We extend our sincere apology to the family. We take great pride in extending our Southwest Hospitality to all of our Customers, which includes living by the Golden Rule and treating every individual with respect, in person or online. The post is not indicative of the care, respect, and civility we expect from all of our Employees. We have followed up with the Employee involved, and while we do not disclose personnel actions publicly, we are using this as an opportunity to reinforce our policies and emphasize our expectations for all Employees.”
She took it to ABC7 which got nationwide attention, but most people online are blaming the mom for giving her daughter that name. Click to read the commentary:
How We Got Our Son Into Reading Series Chapter Books
Editor’s Note: I am reposting this article from 2014 for a friend whose son is struggling with expressive writing. Also, if you have a son age 12-14 who will need to take standardized tests that require Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Language Composition, Verbal Logic and general Verbal Skills, getting said boy into reading NOW is a good idea!
Here is what my husband and I did to transition our son from Graphic novels to real chapters books and Book series!
Parents to boys often lament over the fact that they can’t seem to get their sons into reading and enjoying books for pleasure. For those that are reading, they prefer the fun books from comic strips like “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” or the “Big Nate”books but not more substantive chapter books that are all words with no illustrations. My husband and I faced such a quandary through our son’s early childhood as well.
Like many modern parents, we had succumbed to the pressure of indulging his interest in video games. We got him his first starter game console in first or second grade and between that, and online games, it was a wrap. He would throw fits like a crack addict if we told him he couldn’t play games. He’d bug us when we were out to hurry and go home so he could get his Xbox fix. His grades and interest in school slipped. It got out of hand.
And that is when we instituted a strict policy for him and our other two kids of not playing video games or watching TV during the school week. It was a tough transition, and they all put up much resistance but it worked to wean our son off the video game dependency.
But what about getting him to harness a natural love for books? Getting him to read for pleasure and look forward to the next book in a series to come out? How do we get there? We know kids who read regularly have a higher vocabulary, do better at composition and reading comprehension exams and generally fare better in standardized tests.
In 2014, 6 years after weaning him from a video game addiction, at age 12, he became an avid reader of Sci-Fi and fantasy series and his nose was constantly inside a book.
It was a challenge but we got there. How did we do it? First, we credit his excellent fourth grade teacher for assigning as summer reading a book that featured a boy our son’s age that had similar awkwardness and was equally shy: “The Liberation of Gabriel King”by K.L. Going. He could relate to the main character which was a kid during desegregation 70’s who was socially awkward but had to endure middle school. He got through it with his best buddy, a little black girl integrated into his school. Their ups and downs and school yard antics entertained our kid and he could relate to the characters. He read the book even when not asked. We were on to something.
To get him into series, we didn’t want to scare him and start out with the common 500+-page ones so we learned from our local librarian to try out “The Wicket Chronicles”series by Joan Lennon. The lettering was large and the chapters fairly short. It is a great transition to series set.
Similarly, Mary Pope Osborne’s”Magic Tree House”series of 28-books of adventures about a brother and sister duo who travel to exotic lands and times via their backyard tree house is good for transitioning to longer chapter books.
To move on to more complex series, we got a recommendation from a clerk at Barnes and Nobles to try Jeanne DuPrau’s “Book of Ember” series, which featured an 11 year old girl as the protagonist. Our son was in the 5th grade then and 10-years old. Again, the relatable main character was the trick! It was also a little longer than The Wicket series but still under 500 pages each, about 350.
By then, the “Hunger Games” series was hot and all the rage. We gave him that book but he couldn’t get into it so we tried another Suzanne Collins series where a boy was the protagonist, Gregor. That worked!
Our kid really enjoyed “The Underland Chronicles”and quickly got through it thru the summer before his 6th grade year.
We figured out books with strong and brave boy lead characters with ensemble support characters were the trick and thus quickly and easily introduced Rick Riordan to his life. So 6th grade fall was all about “Percy Jackson and the Olympians”.
In the Summer he was digesting Michael Grant‘s 6 book“Gone” series.
By the time he was in the 7th grade, he was going through the 3-book series in Riordan’s “The Heroes of Olympus”and each of those are about 500 pages each!
You can go with the books and series we used or ask your local or school librarian or local book store clerk for suggestions. I also recommend The Faerie Wars series by Herbie Brennan!
But certainly test out various books until you get the right one. Definitely do some trial and error. Another alternative will be to start with the book on tape versions and listen on the way to school or during long trips. Then cut him off and tell him to find out what happened next, he’ll have to read the book version himself.
Be creative. Stick with it. Hang in there and don’t give up parents. It works out in the end if you don’t give up.
Wrap Up:
1. Go with a book where the main character is a boy 2. Adventure series are great way to go as are sci-fi or fantasy adventures 3. Start with shorter series with large lettering and short chapters and gradually move up to books with more pages. 4. Get recommendations from librarians, book clerks and online reviews by other parents and readers, especially if the review is coming from a kid himself. 5. Don’t give up. Keep introducing different books until you figure out a series or topic he can get into and want to follow up on.
Congratulations to Bravo TV‘s Real Housewives of Potomac’sMonique Samuels and her husband, Chris Samuels, on the birth of their son, on Monday, November 26.
The reality TV star shared the news on her Instagram page arrival of their newborn via a PEOPLE magazine exclusive.
This is the couple’s third child. They are parents 5-year old Christopher and 3-year old daughter Milani.
Here is what to get to that affluent mom and dad OR that woman and man who have everything they can possibly want so they are incredibly hard to shop for:
Helicopter Ride or Lessons Above a Fantastic City ($1355+ depending on the city)
This latest season of Keeping Up with The Kardashians started with the eldest of the sisters Kourtney Kardashian in tears over being told by sister Kim that she (Kourt)is the least interesting to look at.
That was over 6 months ago when the show taped and since then, Kourtney has ”cougared” her way through at least two different romantic partners who were years her junior and had made up for being told she isn’t interesting by posting a series of super sexy photos in social media.
Before, I think I can fairly say she was the last Kardashian that a lot of regulars folksy moms could relate to. She kept it rated PG and mom-focused.
The reality Tv star’s image rebrand worked to catch the eye of GQ Mexico editors, at least, who feature her in its double winter issue.
And one particular photo shot by Michael Schwartz features the “assets” of the mom of three prominently!
In the photo, the 39-year old wears a long sleeve black turtleneck and no bottoms it appears.
To say the image, posted in IG, took many of her 70 million fans and followers by surprise is an understatement!
While she got a lot of love in the comment section, I can say a significant amount were body shaming ones and women expressing disappointment and stating the image will bring shame to her kids.
I don’t want to contribute too much to them by amplifying them so you can go to her post and read them for yourself.
ETA: This is not the first time, Kourt has posted a nude photo of herself from a fashion spread. She did so in 2017, andwhile preggers in 2014 in Vanity Fair!
Still, this close up one is quite different.
What do you think!? Let’s talk about it in social! Find me @bellyitch on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram!
Last year, for Small Business Saturday, I encouraged my readers to support the brands for which I am an affiliate for but this year, I’ve opened up three online shops and am offering discounts and deals in hopes that you will continue to support this platform and purchase from me.
My Mom Charm Store is an online store of this Parenting blog, Bellyitch Blog. It sells novelty tees, and lifestyle items like mugs, pillows, a fun quirky clock and more.
My Etsy shop Digital Publishing Academysells legal, marketing and productivity templates for online digital business owners like Podcasters, YouTubers, Bloggers, Vloggers and eCommerce shop owners!
Get 20% off any item when you purchase today, Small Business Saturday thru Cyber MONDAY! ENTER Promo CODE: ETSYCYBER2018 at checkout for discount!
Also, I’m offering a steep discount of $20 OFF for my Blogger’s Legal and Marketing tool kit, regularly priced $29! This Brings the price down to $9!!!! Available to the First 25 buyers!
Get my Ebook on “How to Valuate Your Blog for Venture Capital Sale”for just $2.99, which is 60% off the Original Price. GET IT HERE!
Get Over 500 Stock Photography Images from Picnoi for $34.00 OFF the Original Price!
Finally, my beauty blog, JJBraids, sells hair and if you wear your hair in ethnic braided styles or know someone who does and is looking for a new hairstyle to rock at the Office Holiday party or an upcoming New Year’s Eve bash, invite them to shop my Hair store and get 5% off their purchase when they enter the promocode JJNewbie at checkout!
