A North Carolina mom called back by the Army four years after honorable discharge was excused from service after she reported for duty with her kids in tow. Guess Uncle Sam didn't want to babysit. -- Strollerderby

Katie Holmes opens up to Glamour about what it was like to be a new mom in the media spotlight. "But I definitely felt like - as a woman, as the mother of Suri – I want to handle this! My mom is very strong and if anyone ever said anything about any of us, she would be, 'Excuse me? That's my family!'" Also? She wants to have America over for dinner ... and maybe a game of Scrabble. -- Celebrity Baby Blog

March is National Reading Month. Get your little bookworm ready for reading with these five tips. -- LilSugar

It's the golden rule of new motherhood: Sleep when the baby sleeps. Can't relax? Here are seven simple rules for taking a nap. -- Divine Caroline

Spring is almost here, just a few weeks to go. Beat those winter blahs by going tropical ... without ever leaving your house. -- MomFinds

Do you hide out in the bathroom to get a few minutes peace? Serve dinner on those wasteful paper plates? Share all your parenting secrets over at Mom Confidential -- BabyCenter

Got pregnancy heartburn? Studies show that the old wives tale just might be true: Moms with heartburn give birth to babies with more hair. -- Poked and Prodded | Health

Traveling during pregnancy doesn't have to be stressful. Make it safe and comfortable by following a few simple tips. -- Fit Pregnancy

Tired of crumbs in the bottom of your purse? (I know I am.) Store your kids' granola and breakfast bars in a sunglasses case, and they won't be all broken and crumbly when you finally open them. This why-didn't-I-think-of-that-moment brought to you by Parenthacks.

BBC-run CBeebies Network is getting complaints from parents because a new host, Cerrie Burnell, has only one hand. Parents are upset that she is "forcing" them to discuss disabilities. 'It can only be a good thing that parents are using me as a chance to talk disability with their children," says Burnell. "It just goes to show how important it is to have positive, disabled role models on CBeebies and television in general." MomLogic

Here's a typical mom fantasy: A morning TV show offers you a complete makeover, managed by a team of high-end beauty experts. You arrive at the studio looking wan and tired and mom-ish, and hours later you look just like Katie Holmes!

Great, right? Sure, except for the part about how your kids hate your new look.

That's exactly what happened to Lindsay Ephgrave this week. The 28-year-old SAH mom was completely transformed by celebrity hairdresser Charles Worthington, who changed her long blond mop into a chic brown bob. Ephgrave was delighted, saying, "I don't look like me. I look completely different. I love it."

Unfortunately, Ephgrave's 10-month-old son Charlie did not love his mom's new look. The poor baby burst into tears when he saw his mother, and began calling for his Mama. Apparently, Ephgrave was right -- she didn't look like herself.

I find this story hilarious (apart from little Charlie's sad crying) because no one in my house ever notices when I change my hair or my makeup or my clothes. Two summers ago I had a dye job that went awry and I came home from the salon with orange hair. Orange! My kids didn't even notice. The next day, a different stylist dyed my orange hair dark brown (I am naturally a dark blond). Still, no one said a word. To this day my kids swear they don't remember either the orange or brown hair (which I kept for quite a long time). I cannot even fathom how that can be true, but whatever.

The upside is that I style myself however I want and my boys don't say a word. That's a good thing.

What about your kids -- do they ever criticize your look? Or cry about a new hair do?

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My girls get themselves dressed every morning, which is why one went out today with striped tights and very differently striped leg warmers, while the other wore a red velor dress with black tights and pink tennis shoes.

As long as they get dressed, the rest is just details.

Tom Cruise has said that, like a typical tot, daughter Suri Cruise likes to choose her own clothes every morning, too, and prefers dresses. But for some reason, I never see her in mismatched socks or blindingly opposing patterns. Is that she has her mom's sense of style? Or is it because at age three, she already has the closet of a fashionista?

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Imagine being a celebrity mom, with a stylist on call to make sure that your hair and clothes were perfect all the time. Wouldn't that be terrific? Most of us don't get a personal stylist, but that doesn't mean we can't look like Hollywood's hottest celebrity moms.

You can get their look just by making a few simple tweaks to your own closet. Because looking like a celebrity isn't about buying the same brand names; it's about paying attention to the details -- color and shape and fabric. It's about wearing clothes that flatter you and no being afraid to stand out in a crowd.

Here are five of our favorite celebrity moms and the little details that make their look one you might want to test out yourself.

Tom Cruise is looking to be a father again, but not until wife Katie is ready to take the time. Papa Cruise and wife Katie Holmes are already parents to two-year-old Suri (and Tom is dad to Isabella and Conner from his former marriage to Nicole Kidman) and Cruise says, when the time is right, that he and the Mrs. will be trying to give Suri another sibling.

Katie is currently in New York starring in a revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons, which she plans to be engaged with until early next year. Cruise is still making movies. Tom says when they had Suri they stopped doing all those sorts of things in order to focus on their children, which is basically what the rest of us do or hope to do, so they'll have to wait until next year, I guess, right?

Tom noted that he was speaking for himself and not his wife, who was not wherever Cruise was when he spilled his beans. Considering the reviews for All My Sons aren't that hot, perhaps TomKat will get started on creating another celebuspawn sooner than they expect! I'm sure part of the reason the couch jumper is being so vocal is to deny the rumors that Katie is already pregnant. Good luck, kids.

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Fueling speculation that something is amiss in their marriage, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes spent their second anniversary apart ... on opposite coasts. Katie's in New York appearing on Broadway in Arthur Miller's All My Sons, while Tom is hard at work in L.A. Instead of spending the night celebrating by candlelight, Katie went to work.

It's not fun spending your anniversary alone, just like it's no fun to work on your birthday. And when your marriage is so young, it might just sting a little more. But is this really an indication that Tom and Katie aren't serious about their marriage? According to the press, Tom and Katie have worked hard during this separation (which will last until January) to see each other as frequently as possible. Does it matter that they didn't spend this one particular day together?

I'm of the personal mind-set that couples have way too much pressure put on them during romantic occasions, and that these artificially high expectations put everyone at risk for disappointment. If our anniversary is on Wednesday and we're both tired, can't we just celebrate on Saturday instead? I think so. But apparently, if you're a part of the dynamic duo that is TomKat, you can't. At least not without a little gossip.

How do you celebrate your anniversary?

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Suri Cruise is nearly two and a half years old. Heaven knows you couldn't forget that if you tried. And while she has more fashion sense than pretty much any other tot on the planet, there is one thing that seems to still give us all pause. No, it's not how her celebrity parents could have actually spawned her, nor is it how much is spent keeping her best-dressed and -tressed. Nah--it's that thing where she's still carrying around a baby bottle.

Yes, still. It seems like this first made the news when Suri was more than a year old and still using a bottle. Like sippy cups are so great. Now she's making headlines again for still sporting the baby bottle--when she's not even really a baby. My question is this: what is the big deal? My kid is nearly seventeen months old and he still occasionally uses a bottle. We've tried really hard to break him of the habit, but, for a while, he simply eschewed the sippy cup. He could use one, sure, but he couldn't get the same amount of milk from the sippy as from the bottle. So, we let him roll with it. Eventually, he switched over to predominantly using the sippy.

I know there are standards and practices for how we're supposed to raise our children. I know that guidelines have been set to help us make our way through this crazy maze called parenthood. But with issues as large as world hunger, violence, abuse and immunizations out there for us to tackle, why does anyone give a rat's butt about whether or not Suri Cruise still uses her baby bottle? I feel sorry for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes--they're busy people who are trying to raise a kid and have full-time jobs too. it ain't easy. And not every kid fits the model she's supposed to. Is it really the end of the world if Suri still uses a bottle?

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Now the the Jolie-Pitts have delivered their much-anticipated twins, the world needs a new belly to watch. Katie Holmes is a likely target, and The Daily Mail is reporting that Tom Cruise's wife is sporting a mysterious belly bump. Looking over the pictures, all I have to say is that if that's a baby bump, then I've been pregnant for, oh, about 16 years. (Note to The Daily Mail: That's not a bump... that's a big lunch.)

While we're on the subject of Suri's mom, can we talk about something? Not the mom hair, which Katie recently and wisely cut into a much cuter pageboy. I'm talking about those jeans, those pegged jeans. I'm having 8th grade flashbacks, and believe me, that's not a good thing. But she's been in those baggy, pegged jeans pretty frequently lately, which, stylish woman that she is does make a person wonder....

Is Katie just trying to fit in with the other moms on the playground, or do you think she's making room for baby number two?

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Katie Holmes may very well have the most-watched hairline in America. And recently, she cut her precision bob into something a little shorter. And maybe a little less chic. And, according to some, more Mom-like. But not in a good way.

The NY Daily News points out that since she began dating Tom Cruise, Katie's hair has gotten shorter and shorter. Of course, in that time, she has also had a baby, and there might be some correlation -- what mom has time for long flowing tresses, especially long flowing Hollywood tresses? But they don't seem happy with Holmes' newest short 'do complaining that "While the new look is fitting for a young mom, if Katie goes any shorter she'll be headed into 'G.I. Jane' territory."

So is short hair always Mom Hair? And is Mom Hair always frumpy? What do you think -- what's the easiest Mom style?

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Remember when Katie Holmes was just a cute young actress, schlepping around in blue jeans and looking like an everyday girl? Since hooking up with Tom Cruise, she has transformed into a glamorous fashion plate who wears designer duds and expensive haircuts. Katie may have come into all that money after reaching adulthood, but her daughter was born to it. Little Suri Cruise will never know what it is like to wear cheap fabric and a discount haircut. And while Suri's access to the best of everything is obvious just by looking at her, her parents would rather keep the details of what they spend on their daughter private.

That's why Tom and Katie have sicced their lawyers on Petit Tresor, a high-end baby boutique in Los Angeles. Not only have they been blabbing about how much the famous couple spend in the store, according to Cruise and Holmes, they have inflated the numbers.

A cease-and-desist letter was sent to the store accusing reps of invading their privacy and putting out false information. They specifically object to Petit Tresor's assertion that the couple spent between $350,000 and $400,000 on baby items and accuse them of spreading the lies "for the purpose of enhancing [the store's] image and obtaining a commercial advantage."

I don't often agree with Tom Cruise, but he is right - he and his family have a right to privacy when it comes to their personal shopping habits. However, I have always kind of assumed that shopping at Petit Tresor is like having lunch at The Ivy: celebs go there because they want the attention. Surely there are many more discreet places to purchase high-end baby gear than paparazzi-infested Petit Tresor.

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MSN is reporting, as they and many other media outlets before them have been since Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had their first offspring, that the TomKat super couple is planning another baby. this will be at least the fifth time I've read such a thing, which in my mind is really nothing more than speculation.

Not so, says a source who revealed all to E News: "[Katie] said she's got "the itch." I don't think they mean poison ivy. Apparently Mrs. Cruise is longing for another infant in the house. The insider also said Katie felt Suri would make a good big sister. It is alleged that Katie was the one who wanted to hold off on having more children, not Tom--until now.

All eyes are once again on Katie's stomach--did she eat a sandwich? Is she having a fat day?? Is she--OMG, pregnant??? Not that those eyes ever left her stomach in the first place. Well, if they are in the planning phases of having a new baby, good luck, Cruises! Hopefully they'll be able to keep things under wraps until they're ready to share such news with the world...and the paparazzi!

Pic of Katie pre-TomKat by mricon.

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Suri Cruise, daughter of actors Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes recently celebrated her 2nd birthday, officially becoming a Big Girl. However, recent photos of the cutie have the internet abuzz with the question: did this little child really get a hair color change?

Photos of the formerly raven-haired tyke leaving a Manhattan hotel with her similarly dark-haired parents make Suri's hair appear to have become three shades lighter practically overnight. Speculation on this phenomena ranges from being due to the angle of the lighting, bleaching in the sun, children's hair naturally fading as they grow, and to a chemical treatments.

If Suri's hair has been chemically treated: umm, why?! And also, could I have the name of that colorist? My kids' hair looks fine, it's their mama that could use some help!

Seems Tom Cruise has reversed his opinion about post partum depression. He's also gone public with his change of mind and heart. In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, for whom you'll recall he jumped all over a couch as he professed his love for now-wife Katie Holmes, Cruise admits what he said about Brooke Shields in his other most-famous moment back in 2006. His harsh comments about Brooke Shields turning to medication--specifically anti-depressants--to treat her post partum depression came under fire from all sides.

Now Cruise confirms that what he said came out the wrong way, that he was raised by four women with babies and that he doesn't want to tell anyone what they should or shouldn't be doing or believing in. He insists what he said about Shields "came out wrong, it's just not true." Cruise has since apologized to Shields several times.

The damage, however, seems to have been done. Cruise was attacked by the media, mothers and feminists everywhere. His career seems to have taken a back seat to his rantings. In the interview Cruise comments that he regrets saying a lot of what he did and talking about Shields at all. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, and perhaps he's just trying to save face, but it does take some guts to come out and say you're wrong about something, especially when you admit it to the whole world.

By the way, remember the Tom Cruise from the pic? The young cutie? Hrd to believe how far he--and we--have come after all these years!

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When I was pregnant my husband and I had this running joke that I could get as big as I liked so long as I didn't weigh more than he did by the end of the pregnancy. It was more a self-imposed rule that my husband used to make fun of.

I'd started out with a pretty low BMI--one that I worked hard for, mind you. So when the pounds started piling on, all in a very healthful way (well, except for those cupcakes in the third trimester) my husband would tease me that by the end of the whole thing I was going to be bigger than he was.

Well, I managed to pull it off an gained somewhere between 35-40 pounds (I think, it may have been less) so I did not ever weigh as much as my husband. But, what about moms who are as big, or are bigger, than their husbands?

LilSugar has taken note of some of the more famous couples wherein the wife or woman is bigger--taller, curvier, whatever--than her husband or man. JLo and Marc Anthony, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban are all discussed.

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I'm always reluctant to post anything about Tom Cruise here, partially because I shy away from celeb posts, but mostly because I've heard stories about how Scientologists like to sue, and oh, god, what if they found this tiny little corner of the Internet and decided to pounce? So I am not going to say how intensely disturbed I am after watching this leaked video about Tom's spiritual beliefs. I'll just say I was...fascinated.

The video contains a monologue from the intense actor where he talks a lot about how he is here to help people, how now that he knows he cannot look away, he cannot just go away and frolic and vacation because now he knows. It's rambling and circular and superhero action movie music plays repeatedly and distractingly in the background. I thought the whole jumping-on-the-Oprah-couch thing was weird -- but this kind of gave me chills. Seriously, what is up with this? Religion is one thing, faith is another, foaming adherence to an obscure organization is...cultish.

The whole thing is elevated by the sudden Stepford-wife-ishness of Katie Holmes, who was previously down to earth and natural in interviews. Perez Hilton posted a few videos of her on Lettermen -- one recently and one a few years ago and the difference in her personality and ease is disconcerting. She seems to have a different spirit.

I wonder about Suri Cruise. No doubt, the little girl is gorgeous and privileged. But to grow up knowing that your parents are famous for being wooden, weird, and sketchy is a pretty big burden for a kid to bear.

Anyhoo. The videos are some pretty excellent time wasters for your lunch break. If you're into trainwreckish speculation on celebrity parents, like me.