Caitlin Boyle, married to British guy, is releasing her second book. To celebrate, she’s having a “Bookworm Giveaway” on her blog. What’s she giving away? Not copies of HER book, no ma’am – she’s giving away some books her publisher sent her for free. All you have to do is enter:

To enter this bookworm giveaway, simply forward a copy of your Healthy Tipping Point book pre-order receipt to HTPBook@yahoo.com.  I’ll pick a winner on Monday morning.  Thanks for all the support and, most of all, HAPPY READING!

You read correctly, hams – if you want to enter the “giveaway” you have to buy her new book. I’m not even going to add anything here. I’ll just let you discuss this among yourselves.

EDIT: Caitlin, not manipulative, has now deleted over half the comments left on her post, and edited the post to say anyone can enter, while blaming the previous rules (preserved above) on her publisher. Welcome to operation classy, folks.

Kath Younger, hard worker, spent today crafting a post revealing her expert inspirational tips on being an awesome photographer:

While I do consider myself somewhat of a “professional” photographer due to taking thousands of photos daily for years, I am by no means as talented as a real pro photographer would be! I’ve just had 5 years of practice : ) I don’t shoot in manual or RAW. I tried them both and they just aren’t for me with the speed and frequency in which I take photos. I’ve mastered an amateur photographer’s system.

Revealing that she uses “amazing umbrella photography lights with my dinner posts” – she stores them in the hall closet and assembles them before setting her dinner table – she also informs us that in order to be “a good photographer, all you need to know is how to work AV mode. And never use your flash!”

It seems one commenter didn’t appreciate ole KERF’s attempts to school the internet on camera usage, remarking:

You consider yourself a professional photographer and yet you don’t shoot in RAW or manual mode? LOL!

When Kath tried to explain that “I think I made it pretty clear that I was using the word professional as “part of my job” and not a description of expertise” another commenter responded that perhaps ““Experienced” might be the better term, then, as considering oneself a professional anything definitely implies expertise and a mastery of skills.” Well Kath isn’t going to stand for your blatant disrespect of her skills – photography and writing is her “profession”!

Well in this sense professional means part of my profession. I am a photographer. I am a writer. Those are facts and they are my profession. But I understand what you’re saying. I would hope a professional photographer would not read this post thinking that I am devaluing their work or saying that I am as good, as I stated I clearly am not!

These are “facts”, people! Facts! She takes pictures, and posts them on the internet with words! Which in “fact” makes her profession…blogging.

My biggest question is, does she intend to continue setting up umbrella lights around her dinner table when she has a screaming infant throwing food at her? And where are those lights going to go when she has a closet full of strollers and baby Bjorns and high chairs? Facts!

Caitlin Boyle thinks a “fun factoid” about her marriage to a British man is…that she is married to a British man.

I can convince Kristien to try nearly anything by putting a British spin on it (he’s from the UK and moved to America when he was 16 – yes, he has an accent!).

This is a really interesting and fun fact because she’s never told us before that her husband is British, not even in a frequently asked question post. Not only is he British, but so is his family, and they all do very British things together like celebrate British holidays, go to British pubs , wear typical British fashion, and prepare traditional British food. Did I mention he has an accent?

I can’t decide if she’s trying to be helpful because she thinks her readers are too stupid to remember these basic facts about her life, or if she just has some sort of complex about her monumental achievement of marrying a foreigner and needs her adulating readers to congratulate her (again) and tell her they are (omg) so jealous of her life. I suppose it’s possible that she doesn’t want to deal with novice readers’ questions so she throws it out there every now and then to cover her bases, though I find this unlikely. It’s hard to believe that she has that many new readers who are confused about the Husband’s origins and who are e-mailing or commenting to ask from whence he came, that it’s easier for her to state that he’s British in a post every few months instead of just putting it on the about page.

Whatever her justification is for constantly including references to her British connections, it’s irritating and getting old. We get it, congratulations, now let’s move on. By repeating information that can easily be found in other posts she’s coming across as a lazy writer and like she believes most of her readers lack even the most basic reading comprehension skills. If you are a good writer your blog should read more like a narrative; the constant interjection of “have I mentioned he’s British?” when you’ve already said something similar a few weeks ago demonstrates poor self-editing. Phrases like “We especially love to watch British-themed movies in this household because the Husband is English”, and “He’s British, and I think he’ll really like the little homage to his native country”, don’t sound cute or even intelligent. Stating the obvious – especially when you’ve already given out that information – only makes you and your readers look dumb.

Pooping is a universal activity that most humans are lucky enough to engage in on a frequent basis. However, the vast majority of us don’t advertise our intestinal actions online for anyone to read. Apparently runners poop more than the average person, or at least seem to have the need to bond over it more with others, as evidenced by a number of posts on the subject including a recent one by Meghann on Meals and Miles. Contrary to what seems to be the popular response to such posts, I don’t think it makes you any more human or endearing to talk about your Crap; I  think at that point you’re just over sharing. For example,

I wasn’t even sure my mid-run stops at random porta potties, gas stations, or even in the woods off the side of the road (don’t judge – we’ve all had those moments!) were normal… Over time, the need for mid-run stops began to fade away. As my body got used to the idea of running, so did my stomach. It was something that happened gradually and I’m not sure if I can pinpoint it to anything besides the fact that my tummy just learned to go before hand or to just hold it. However, not every run is perfect. I still have flare ups and this morning was no exception. With a mile left, my tummy wasn’t doing me any favors. I was suddenly struck with the ‘I need to go NOW!‘ feeling and had to give myself a couple of (un-timed) breaks to take a few deep breaths and to get my tummy under control. I basically ended up waddling the last 1/2 mile and couldn’t get in the door fast enough.

Thanks, Meghann. I’m so glad I know about your end of the run waddle to the toilet. It’s one thing to discuss such matters between friends in a quiet, private location where no one else is listening, and another to write a blog post describing your near miss. Everybody poops, but we don’t need to talk about it.

Kath Younger, “empowering” and “inspiring”  pregnant woman with a blog, continues to keep us all updated about the world’s first  baby loaf. With all the suprising insights you usually expect from Caitlin HTP, Kath is documenting the still mysterious reproductive event known as human gestation week by week.

Today she bravely shares the secrets of going through her 15th week being a human oven:

I’m definitely feeling a bit of a shift in my physical state this week. Starting with a more rounded bump of course! But also some lower back pain that flared after my 3.5 hour car ride to Baltimore. It’s on my right side, just above my hip bone. Could this be relaxin making its first appearance? Matt was sweet to get me a pre-natal massage last week and it was everything I needed from head to do. But it got me thinking about how with such extreme physical changes going on in a relatively short period of time I probably should make massages a regular occurrence…I want to see an acupuncturist too, but I’m not sure where to start with that one! There are so many physical and chemical changes going on that I feel like some alternative medicine would be beneficial.

She’s not even out of her first barely in her second trimester and she’s already acting like she’s 7 months along. Between wearing a belly band and maternity clothes, and complaining about back pain, it seems like she’s either trying to rush the process of getting to the “omg I am SO PREGNANT” phase of baby cooking, or she’s the world’s biggest attention queen.

And let’s discuss her need for regular massage and acupuncture. The woman is 15 weeks along. Most women are barely even showing at this point. Many are working real full time jobs, doing house and yard work, commuting, shopping, cooking, and properly folding laundry. Unless she is turning into Elena there is no need to be sitting around  dreaming up ways to complicate what is essentially a biological process. If you have that much free time that all you have going on is obsessing over the human forming fingernails in your uterus and dramatizing some perceived discomforts maybe you need to find a way to fill your days.

The 27th edition of Healthy Tipping Point’s weekly pregnancy updates dives into the sticky issue of placentophagy. Caitlin, a vegetarian for the past 3 years, insists that she will consume her spent placenta despite its meaty status and seems less disturbed by the idea of eating part of herself than having to ingest flesh once again.

First of all, I definitely ‘get’ the ick factor… but not because it’s my placenta. I’m more grossed out by the fact that technically meat, and I’m a vegetarian.  Even if it’s MY meat (well, an organ) – it’s still meat.  I do find it really funny that the people in my life who are the most FREAKED OUT at the thought of me eating my placenta are omnivores who eat animal flesh on a daily basis – there isn’t a huge difference!

Fortunately for Caitlin it’s possible to encapsulate your dried and ground up placenta into convenient, and perhaps less fleshy, supplements. Of course Caitlin is intimidated by the idea of do it yourself placenta pills, describing it as both stressful and frightening, and has elected to hire someone known as a “placenta encapsulation specialist.” No need to grill her placenta like a delicious steak for this new mommy! All Caitlin and the Husband have to do is stash their used placenta on ice in a cooler (“new and never to be used again”) and bring it home with their baby.

Here’s hoping that Caitlin doesn’t experience the side effect noted by helpful commenter, Jen.

I had my placenta encapsulated and I tried taking the pills for a while. I think they helped with my mood and my recovery but I think they also made me constipated.

Gina of Fitnessista, the site that proves adding an -ista to anything makes you instantly glam, had a baby. Since pushing a vessel for combined dna out of a vagina makes one an automatic expert free from critique, Gina felt it was high time someone told you people what is expected of you when you visit Princesss Mom.

Gina advises you to bring over food, and “help out by picking up some neglected chores while they’re over: dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc”. You should also “return overdue library books, address thank-you cards, send out packages/mail”, and last but not least keep your opinions and parenting tips to yourself.

And the baby? You know, the REASON you came over to visit? Forget it:

The thing is, many people will want to come over and hold the baby, but the last thing a mom really needs help with is holding their own child. ..The mom could use help with so many other things and there will always be chances to hold and snuggle the baby after the parents have things figured out a little better.

So to all you selfish jerks who show up to hold the new arrival, please remember that just because there is a baby in the room doesn’t mean the focus should ever be off Princess Mom. You are there to serve her needs!

Not that Gina’s opinions are new – Avital posted nearly this exact post about a year ago. I guess Princess Mom flu is going around.