Nancy Grace Married And Expecting Twins

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It seems to be the trend in Hollywood to have twins lately and Nancy Grace is continuing on with tradition.

It was announced today that she was married in April in a small, private ceremony attended only by their families in Macon, Ga and that she is expecting twins this winter.

Grace, 47, tells the Post that she wed David Linch, an investment banker in Atlanta, whom she met at Mercer College in the late ’70s.

According to Grace, she was never planning to marry. “We’ve been in touch all these years and a lot of time we were separated by geography and time,” she says. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to get married. I told my family only two days before [the wedding].”

Adds Grace: “I never thought it would happen like this. I thought ‘mother’ and ‘wife’ was just not part of God’s plan for me.”

Grace, who is due to give birth in January, would not reveal whether or not she underwent fertility treatments. But the expectant mom does say finding “such happiness” at this point in her life should inspire people. “Tell women out there that there is hope,” she says.

The anchor plans to officially reveal her news on Tuesday’s edition of her eponymous CNN Headline News show, the Post reports.

SOURCE

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Tips For Potty Training

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There are some milestones in your child’s life that are harder to achieve than others. Some moms find potty training especially difficult, enlisting the help of professional or enrolling their toddlers in potty training boot camps.

Her are some tips that may help you in your diaper-free conquest:

Your child may be ready to start trying to use the toilet if he or she:

• stays dry for a couple of hours each day
• takes an interest when you, your partner or older siblings go to the toilet
• has bowel movements at regular times of the day, eg after breakfast
• can demonstrate when a bowel movement is taking place, by squatting or making a grunting sound for example
• lets you know he wants to be changed when his nappy is soiled

It’s usually best not to start toilet training your child during times of stress, such as:

• the arrival of a new baby in the family
• starting a new childcare arrangement
• moving from a cot to a bed
• moving house
• family relationship problems
• when a family member is ill

1. Be positive and upbeat – show the change as something exciting.
2. Give lots of praise whenever your child manages to do a poo on the potty. Stress how grown up and clever he is.
3. Don’t rush things. Sometimes if you start teaching later, it takes less time. Toddlers over two and a half may learn almost overnight.
4. Expect setbacks. Learning to use the toilet is just like other skills your toddler learns – you expect a lot of falls before walking comes easily.
5. Give your toddler clothes that can be pulled down or up easily. You may also want him to wear training pants at first, to cope with those inevitable accidents.
6. Never force your child to sit on the potty. This will only upset him and won’t make the process any faster.
7. Some toddlers enjoy picking out their own potty and toilet seat.
8. Many toddlers are afraid of the sound of the toilet flushing or don’t like to see the poo being flushed away. If your child feels like this, just wait until he has run off to play, then flush.
9. It always takes longer for a child to learn to stay dry at night. When he starts having the occasional dry nappy in the morning, it’s a good sign that the time is right to try going without a nappy.
10. Do your best not to be angry with your child if he has an accident. Just say, cheerfully, “Never mind, you’ll get there next time. Let’s get you some dry pants.”
11. Remember to get your toddler to wash their hands afterwards, so that using the potty or toilet is associated with handwashing from the word go.

SOURCE

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Brothers Each Welcome Twins – Hours Apart

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A set of brothers in the UK welcomed two sets of twins, within 72 hours of each other – making it a double celebration for the couples.

After learning that she was expecting twins, Michelle Bootle’s first reaction was to telephone her sister-in-law with the good news.

A few days later, Fiona Bootle returned the compliment – by announcing that she, too, had two babies on the way.

David Bootle, 35, a chartiy press officer, said that he and his 33-year-old brother Steve had always done everything together. “So once we got over the shock it made sense that our wives were both going to give birth to twins at the same time.”

Michelle, 33, a solicitor, lives in Leeds with Steve, a photographer. It was in October that they discovered she was expecting twins.

David and Fiona, who live in Gateshead, already had one daughter, two-year-old Ruth, but wanted another addition to their family.

When Michelle rang with her news, Fiona, 32, who is also a solicitor, knew that she too was pregnant.

“I didn’t want to tell Michelle and Steve because they were so excited about their own news,” she said.

“We told them the following weekend and they were thrilled for us – but we didn’t know that we were expecting twins too until a scan at 12 weeks. When the doctor told us I was expecting twins too, I nearly fell off the scanning table in shock. I just looked at David in complete amazement. When we got home we were still in shock, but we rang and told them about our twins too.

“Every time I went for a scan I would ring Michelle and we would compare notes, and then she would ring me when she had her scan. We compared bumps too, to see who was growing faster.”

Michelle’s twins Daniel and Lucy were born on May 16 weighing 5lb 8oz and 6lb 8oz. Fiona’s twins Toby and John arrived three days later weighing 7lb 5oz and 6lb 9oz.

Fiona said: “We will definitely consider joint birthday parties as they grow up.”

Both women delivered twins that were a healthy weight. Usually both babies weigh the same as a full term single baby.

SOURCE

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Is Your Sunscreen Safe?

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Last week I posted some tips for keeping your children safe in the sun. The Envirnonmental Working Group (EWG) has done an independant study on the popular sunscreens that most families use and the findings are scary.

If the sun doesn’t get you, your sunscreen might.

A new study claims five of six sunscreens inadequately block harmful rays or contain substances with “significant” safety issues.

The Environmental Working Group plans to report today that just 128 of 785 sunscreens studied offer “very good sun protection with ingredients that present minimal health risks.”

The group gives 620 other products “Caution” ratings and lists the remaining 37 as “Avoid.”

“Most people trust that the claims on a (sunscreen) bottle will ensure that the product truly protects their and their families’ health,” researchers wrote. “Nothing could be less certain.”

EWG didn’t test sunscreens in a lab, but checked each brand’s ingredients against some 400 safety and efficacy studies.

EWG Executive Director Richard Wiles said some products work great, but contain questionable substances like oxybenzone. He said some studies have shown oxybenzone mimics the hormone estrogen, which doctors have tied to certain cancers.

Other findings:

EWG gave only three of 10 top-selling brands good ratings: Blue Lizard Australian Suncream SPF 30/Baby, California Baby Water-Resistant Hypo-Allergenic Sunscreen SPF 30-plus and Aveeno Baby Sunblock Lotion Continuous Protection SPF 55.
Well-known products like Coppertone Sport Sunblock Lotion SPF 15 and Neutrogena Healthy Skin Face Lotion SPF 15 got “Avoid” ratings. Neutrogena did not immediately comment, while Coppertone would only say that it sells “a variety of different products for different needs.”

54 percent of brands tested contain important ingredients that can sometimes break down after just minutes in the sun.

13 percent block sunburn-producing UVB rays, but not UVA rays thought to cause cancer, premature skin aging and other problems.

Dr. Hensin Tsao of Massachusetts General Hospital concedes well-known “Sun Protection Factor” ratings only refer to UVB, as experts don’t agree on how to measure UVA protection.

“I wouldn’t want to call (current) labeling dubious, but I would say people should be careful reading labels,” the dermatologist said.

Still, John Bailey of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association, an industry trade group, rejects the study’s findings.

“I think it’s very much a disservice to draw sunscreen usage into question based on piecing together scientific literature without going into a lab and doing tests,” he said. “Sunscreens are safe and effective in protecting people against UV radiation’s harmful effects, and I think people should use them.”

This whole thing is very frustrating. Why has no one ever tested these products before. Parents trust what the labels tell them. They believe that there is someone policing what is written on these bottles and that the words are truthfull. I am one of those parents…

Related Articles:

Tips For Protecting Your Kids Against Excessive Sun Exposure

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