Watching the news last night the update on the California mother who just had 8 babies also has — wait for it — 6 other children. Yes, math wizards, that’s 14 kids. She’s almost hitting the Duggar 18. Slight difference between this new mom and the Duggar mother … she’s a single mother living with her parents.

I’m never one to tell anyone how many kids they think they should have, but this case does raise several questions. ABC News talked this morning about the ethics of a fertility doctor who would implant 8 embryos.

Medical Contributor Tim Johnson of ABC News says:

[Experts] would be astounded if a fertility specialist actually implanted eight eggs,” ABC News medical contributor Dr. Tim Johnson said. “Current guidelines, which are guidelines, not law, would suggest between one and four. … A vast majority of experts would say that [implanting eight] is bad practice.”

The ABC News story says that, according to the grandmother, her daughter had in vitro and decided later that she couldn’t opt for natural selection.

The octuplets’ grandmother Angela Suleman told The Los Angeles Times that her daughter had a fertility treatment last year in which the eight embryos were implanted … “

This story is surely bound to raise more questions from a variety of people. The family was shown on TV asking for privacy.

Related:

• ABC News coverage
• LA Times coverage
• Recent posts about the Duggar’s eighteenth baby

**UPDATE (2-6-09)**
Mom of 14 speaks out:

Update: 2/27/09

• Grandfather (Nadia’s father) Speaks Out on Oprah

The other night my husband needed to run up to our local CVS drugstore to get something that we couldn’t due without until morning. I don’t recall what the item was — I immediately forgot when he offered to take my son with him on the errand.

*JOY*

**Excitement**

*** 15 minutes of alone time for me! ***

{big smile}

These days, it’s rare that I’m in the house by myself. I can’t remember the last time it happened actually, which is why I got so excited the other night to have those precious few moments of solitude.

Last night I was reading Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s “Gift from the Sea,” a precious book about Mrs. Lindbergh’s time of solitude on an island in SW Florida more than 50 years ago. The book is timeless, offering gifts of insight and wisdom from her point of view as a wife and mother.

This passage struck me:

Now, instead of planting our solitude with our own dream blossoms, we choke the space with continuous music, chatter and companionship to which we do not even listen. It is simply there to fill the vacuum. When the noise stops there is no inner music to take its place. We must re-learn how to be alone.”

I believe Lindbergh is saying that we are so used to being surrounded by people, children, friends — I’ll add, in this day and age, the Internet, TV, coworkers, teachers, busyness. How do we silence all that goes on in our minds?

I’m sure you’ve tried to be in a peaceful moment, maybe it’s as you close your eyes with your head on the pillow. You slowly quiet down from the day. Then, thoughts and sounds overpower this quiet moment. Did I turn the stove off after dinner? Did I put the wet laundry in the dryer? That conversation I had with my son’s teacher about his performance comes screeching back into my head. Did I say everything I needed to say to her?

We need to learn how to be quiet. As Lindbergh said, “we need to re-learn to be alone.”

Related:

• Get a copy of “Gift from the Sea“

A representative for Parents.com emailed me about a Toy and Recall finder that I think is pretty interesting for parents to learn about. The Web site put together a database and slide show detailing all the recent toy recalls — with pictures.

Searchable Database

The site uses an easy searchable database which allows you to search by a variety of ways:

• Enter Product Name, Brand or Model Number
• Choose a category (such as clothing, cribs and strollers)
• Choose a date range (last month, last 6 months, last year or all of the above)

I decided to try out the databaseI’m looking for new booster seats for my son so I did a search on car seat recalls within the last year. The search results display a list of 9 car seats which have been recalled. Pretty cool for just a couple clicks. It’s a great resource for busy parents like me. Be sure to visit the site to find out about products you’re interested in.

• Toy and Product Recall Finder
• Get the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) recall alerts

Photo courtesy Parents.com

Like a lot of new moms, I had the brilliant idea to bake a cake for my son’s first birthday.

I started out by looking up a cake decorating class. I headed to the nearest craft store and found a series of Wilton classes offered. For one month I made one cake a week at my weekly cake decorating 101 class.

That a lot of work. You have to bake a cake every week and frost it, then in class you decorate it in a new style each week. I took the class about four months before I wanted to make an official birthday cake. Glad I did too.

In the class I learned how to properly use the icing tip bags, how to make the frosting (you make it thin or thick based on what you are decorating) and other useful tips.

Once I completed the class, I started practicing on my first cake: a duck cake for my son’s first birthday.

It all starts with the duck pan.

Tips I Learned Along The Way

• I tried my favorite cake recipe in the pan for the first go round, but it didn’t hold its shape so I used a pound cake from the box. I find it’s the best for these molded cakes that need to hold a shape.
• I made the base of the cake out of a sheet pan (two layers). Looking back, I wish I had used more blue frosting and made waves in the icing.
• I just placed the duck on top, no dowels.
• When icing a cake with star tip, you must first have a base of smooth icing on the cake (in the same color.) If you neglect this step, you’ll definitely see the bare cake under your frosting.
• I used a white life saver candy with a blue MnM on top for the eyes. They really make the cake. Just glue them on with some of the icing underneath each piece of candy,.

He’s not perfect, but he is cute.

Those eyes. They make the cake.

The pan is versatile enough that you could make this cake for a baby shower too.

Related:

• Wilton classes
• Wilton buttercream icing
• The pan — you can’t do it without THE PAN
• Wilton’s Sweet Duck Cake directions
• Duck cake pictures — these are better than mine!
  
• My Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake (with photos)
• My car cake (with photos)

My friends over at The Orlando Sentinel’s “Moms at Work” blog posted a great entry today with tips from Lisa Cianci, a 12-year working mom veteran.

Her first tip is to “find a job you love.” Absolutely. It really won’t work very well if you hate your job. If you do, either find another job or consider leaving the workforce (if you are financially able). Hating your job might be a sign that you really don’t want to work.

I won’t give away all of the tips here … but you can read the entire post here.