Earlier today, Busy Philipps and family were in attendance at the 5th Annual Kidstock Benefit in Los Angeles. I have just added the first photos from the event – a total of 22 HQ images – into our photo gallery!

We first loved her as Audrey on ‘The Creek’ – the popular teen drama Dawson’s Creek, that is. Now we can’t get enough of Busy Philipps and her wino pals on the quick-witted sitcom Cougar Town. The 31-year-old actress sat down with Celebrity Baby Scoop to chat about her “sweet” and “cuddly” daughter Birdie who is all about the potty training these days. The mom-of-one also talked about teaming up with Pepto-Bismol just in time for Cinco de Mayo, Birdie’s upcoming third birthday and plans for Baby No. 2.

CBS: Birdie is so cute!

BP: “Well, I’m obviously a huge fan!”

CBS: How is she? What is she into these days?

BP: “She’s great. The biggest thing of recent months is the potty training which she basically did on her own. I feel so lucky! When we went to Hawaii to shoot the season finale of Cougar Town 6 weeks ago, she didn’t want to wear her diapers anymore because it was too hot. So she just took them off and started using the potty. We haven’t gone back and now she’s sleeping through the night with no diaper. She actually woke up in the middle of the night, went to the bathroom, and got back in bed! I’m really excited about it! It’s the type of thing that I can only talk to other moms about. My friends without children are like, ‘Can we stop talking about your kid’s bathroom habits.’ It turns out nobody else cares [laughs]!

I’ve heard that if you’re having problems potty training your kids, just wait until the summer because it gets hot and uncomfortable and you can just have them go diaper-less outside and they’ll figure it out. But we were lucky that she just brought up the idea – she was only 2 1/2 at the time.

The other thing we’re doing is a lot of pretend-play. She’s into playing shop. So she’ll set up her toys or clothes, lined up on the floor to make a little store. And then depending on how she’s feeling, either of us will be the shopper, and we’ll go shopping with her stuff. She also likes playing school and we’re getting ready for her to start preschool in the fall.”

CBS: Do you have any party plans for her third birthday in August?

BP: “We’re doing a giant renovation on the exterior of our home. Part of it is adding a big, flat front yard that will be hedged in and will – hopefully – be beautiful. I’ve told my contractors that it has to be done by her birthday because I’ve promised her a beautiful outdoor party.

She loves the movie Tangled and we read the books from the movie – and she wants lanterns. I think I’ll hang Chinese lanterns outside and I thought a fun activity for the kids would be getting white lanterns in China Town and all the kids could decorate them with glitter and paints. And of course she wants a Rapunzel cake so I’m going to make her the Rapunzel tower for her cake.”

CBS: What are some of your favorite mommy memories?

BP: “Every day there’s something new and fantastic that happens! My daughter is very cuddly and sweet and has gotten to the point where throughout the day she’ll throw her arms around me and say, ‘I love you mommy, you’re the best,’ which is really sweet and makes me feel so lucky that I have a cuddly kid because not all kids are really cuddly. She’s a really sweet, thoughtful kid.”

CBS: Any plans for baby No. 2?

BP: “Not imminently. It’s really difficult working on a show with long hours. I was so lucky that the first year of Birdie’s life I didn’t work. I did the pilot of Cougar Town and I think I worked a total of seven days the first year of her life! I was really able to be there with her and be a full-time mom. I didn’t even have a nanny – or any help – for the first 6 months. I would like to think that with a second child I’d be able to give them the same amount of attention and time. That’s just not possible when you’re doing a network television show. We’ll see, I’m still young. Who knows what will happen in the future.”

CBS: Tell us about teaming up with Pepto-Bismol just in time for Cinco de Mayo.

BP: “Pepto-Bismol asked if I’d like to make a funny video on YouTube for Cinco de Maya. It was the perfect pairing because Cinco de Mayo is one of my favorite cultural holidays. I love Mexican food, so I celebrate! They’re making these really funny videos on YouTube and I was on board! The campaign is about smashing piñatas and if you happen to have a sore stomach, be sure to have some Pepto-Bismol on hand. Which is actually something that I do keep around the house.

If you’d like to see the video that I made, you can go to YouTube and from there you can create your own perfect piñata smash by choosing a bunch of different options. There’s some pretty funny ones on there. My favorite is the turkey that explodes the pinata. It’s fun and a good thing to do if you’re sitting at your desk on Cinco de Mayo!”

Source

“Cougar Town” actress Busy Philipps is an aptly named working mother, juggling a career on a hit ABC comedy series with raising daughter Birdie, 2, with her husband, screenwriter Marc Silverstein. Philipps is giving those with a Working Mother magazine subscription a glimpse into pregnancy and weight gain in Hollywood, and the universal language of all mothers: mommy guilt.

Philipps confides to the parenting magazine that she gained some 75 pounds while pregnant–a fact that cost her an acting job. She says that while it was “disheartening” to lose the gig, “I ended up getting to relax during most of my pregnancy…. In retrospect, I’m glad I wasn’t working. I think it all worked out for the best.”

The 31-year-old new mom, like most of us moms, had a difficult time shedding the baby weight. “I breastfed for 14 months,” Philipps says. “The first 20 or so pounds came off fairly easily, and then it was a battle. I’d hike carrying Birdie in a pack. I had a mother’s helper two or three days a week so I could go to the gym or walk. I did lose a job shortly after Birdie was born. It took me a year and half to lose all the weight. It was hard, but thank God for Spanx.” I’ll second the notion!

When Philipps finally did get back to work, she faced the guilt to which all working mothers are privy. “Last year was easier than this year,” she tells Working Mother magazine. “Now that’s she’s 2, Birdie’s really hyper aware of when I’m around and when I’m not, so it’s tough.” Preach it!

Of handling the mommy guilt “with varying degrees of difficulty,” the upbeat mom confesses, “I feel a lot of guilt…. My husband really talks me down off the ledge when I feel guilty. But I think it’s important for my daughter to know that I get so much out of my job as an actor and that it fulfills a creative need in me.”

At the end of the day, though, Philipps makes sure Birdie knows her mom has “two amazing jobs. The most important is being her mom.”

Source

Yesterday, Busy Philipps and her daughter Birdie were dressed up as Tinkerbell for the The 17th Annual Dream Halloween CAAF Benefit in Los Angeles! I have just added 30 HQ photos from the event into our gallery – thanks to Holly!

Busy Philipps is lucky enough to have two jobs that she loves: One as an actress, on the hit show Cougar Town, and another as a mom to her adorable 2-year-old daughter Birdie. The small screen star recently chatted with Babble about childbirth and motherhood – and why having a baby made her star.

On her post-baby fame: “I only became a celebrity because I had a kid. Before I was pregnant, nobody cared. My husband has a theory that celebrity gossip feels so seedy, but if you can put a positive spin on it, like touting a new baby, then people somehow feel like it’s okay. I joke to my agent that having a baby made my career. ”

On Birdie’s birth: “I had a natural childbirth, which was something that I felt very strongly about. I don’t know what I thought was going to happen beforehand, but I was completely squatting and after my doctor got [Birdie’s] head and shoulders out she asked, ‘Do you want to pull your baby out? Give me your hands.’ I didn’t even know my midwife took this picture of me with my hands pulling my daughter out and then right onto my chest. It’s hard talking about it because it sounds like I’m taking away from how sacred it was. It was an incredible experience. I also want other women to know it’s possible to have a crazy, spiritual, amazing birth in a hospital. I was in a hospital. I had a doctor. I was also lucky because I had an amazing team. I had an incredible doctor and a really great midwife and my husband who, honestly, was the most traumatized. For him, seeing me in that much pain and not being able to help me — that loss of control was difficult for him. I also had this idea that I was going to have a natural childbirth and he would [look] up at my beautiful, angelic face and the birth would be happening below the waist and he wouldn’t see. Obviously that’s not how it goes down.”

On whether she wants Birdie to follow in her footsteps: “I always think that it’s weird when musicians and actors say that they don’t want their kids to go into this business because, dude, someone let you. My job as a parent is to encourage my kid to follow her dreams and passions and to help her figure out what those are. If her passion is [acting], believe me, my kid is going to know the ups and downs of it. I want her to be happy and I want her to be passionate about her job. I tell her every day when I go to work, ‘Your mommy is so, so lucky because I have two jobs that I love.’ The first one is the most important one — and that’s being her mom — and the second one is awesome because it’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was a little girl — and that’s be on TV. If she finds something that she wants to do and that happens to be on TV or in movies or writing movies, then I’m all for it.”

Source

Forget Dawson’s Creek and Cougar Town — Busy Philipps‘ greatest career move was none other than the birth of her daughter Birdie Leigh in Aug. 2008.

“I only became a celebrity because I had a kid. Before I was pregnant nobody cared,” the actress, 31, tells Babble.

“My husband has a theory that celebrity gossip feels so seedy, but if you can put a positive spin on it, like touting a new baby, then people somehow feel it’s okay. I joke to my agent that having a baby made my career.”

Unfortunately for Philipps, her increasing popularity comes with a price: public criticism. And although she “would like to say, ‘Oh no, I don’t even pay attention,’” the first-time mother admits the negativity can take its toll.

“Right after Birdie was born, I consciously tried not to look at what people were saying, [but] a relative forwarded me a link to people saying, ‘The name Birdie is stupid’ and ‘What a terrible made-up name,’” she recalls.

“First of all, she’s named after Lady Bird Johnson, and second of all, it’s not a made-up name; it’s an old-timey name … They use it on Mad Men for God sakes!”

Choosing to see the positive side of her celebrity status, Philipps hopes becoming a mother — and opening up about natural childbirth — will inspire women when it comes to choosing a birth plan.

“It’s hard talking about it because it sounds like I’m taking away from how sacred it was. It was an incredible experience,” Philipps reveals. “I also want other women to know it’s possible to have a crazy, spiritual, amazing birth in a hospital. I was in a hospital. I had a doctor.”

But, adds the proud mama, it was Philipps herself who essentially helped deliver her daughter!

“I don’t know what I thought was going to happen beforehand, but I was completely squatting and after my doctor got [Birdie's] head and shoulders out, she asked, ‘Do you want to pull your baby out? Give me your hands,’” she shares.

“I didn’t even know my midwife took this picture of me with my hands pulling my daughter out and then right onto my chest.”

Determined to go the same route with her future children, Philipps admits the experience of natural childbirth left her with a new found sense of power. “During the days and weeks afterward, I felt like I could do anything in the world; there was nothing in this world that you could present before me that I could not conquer,” she says.

“[Natural childbirth] is not for everyone. I totally respect that. The best thing for your baby is the best thing for you. I have some friends who feel really strongly about an epidural and I’m 100 percent behind that, but that was not my plan.”

Source

Busy and her daughter, Birdie, are on the cover of the Summer 2010 issue of “Mom” magazine! I have added 6 HQ scans from the magazine, you can see them by clicking on the previews below…