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" Kim Raver is between feedings. The 38-year-old actress has grown accustomed to this frequent and seemingly fleeting state since October, when she brought her second son, Leo, home from the hospital. It&amp;#039;s during these between times that the rest of her busy life takes place. &amp;quot;The rest&amp;quot; encompasses plenty: working 15 hours five to six days a week taping Lipstick Jungle, NBC&amp;#039;s new dramedy about three high-powered Manhattan working women; taking 5-year-old son Luke to school, after a few minutes of playing dinosaurs; catching up with her husband, filmmaker Manu Boyer; frosting a homemade birthday cake; sewing a Halloween costume; sleeping a few hours; and, oh, taking the occasional shower. This life-as-spin-art juggle of career and motherhood has been part of the native New Yorker&amp;#039;s world ever since Luke was born, and now that Kim&amp;#039;s a mom of two, the pace doesn&amp;#039;t show any signs of slowing. Luckily, she&amp;#039;s learned a thing or two (or seven) since her first go-round at motherhood, and she&amp;#039;s passionate about passing them on.  1. Recruit family and friends &amp;quot;The day after I came home from the hospital with Leo, my mom came over. I had had a C-section and I was so sleep deprived \u2013 I&amp;#039;d been getting up to play with Luke so he wouldn&amp;#039;t feel left out \u2013 and completely disheveled. I just felt like a mess. &amp;quot;So my mom walked in with this cooler bag. She walked me into the kitchen and put the cooler on top of the counter and she started pulling out all this Tupperware. She gave me this piece of paper and was like, &amp;#039;Okay, here&amp;#039;s the menu.&amp;#039; She had made five meals, each of which had about three courses. And I started crying. Because all the meals were comfort food that she used to make for me as a kid. Except she had adapted them because she knew I would be squeezing into my work wardrobe in four or five weeks. So if it had originally been a heavy-cream sauce, she&amp;#039;d made a horseradish-yogurt sauce instead. And she&amp;#039;d made an apple-potato puree because she knew the apples would help my digestion; after a C-section, you need fiber. Basically my mom had factored all my needs into each of these low-fat, high-protein meals.  &amp;quot;I was so moved because it wasn&amp;#039;t just food, it was an incredible gesture of motherhood. My mom \u2013 who raised me and my older sister on her own \u2013 realized how hard it is with a new baby. She had taken the time to make these meals in order to take care of me, so that I could take care of my sons. I&amp;#039;m crying right now just talking about it. So my advice is, for your baby shower, instead of asking for a closet full of stuff you don&amp;#039;t end up using, ask a family member or a friend who loves to cook \u2013 or ask five friends \u2013 to make a meal for you when you first come home. It&amp;#039;s so amazingly comforting to have that.&amp;quot; 2. Know that it gets easier &amp;quot;The whole week after you give birth is so intense: You&amp;#039;re recuperating and nursing, and you&amp;#039;re exhausted. But it&amp;#039;s kind of like, Oh, my God \u2013 for me at least \u2013 and, not to sound all weird or profound, but it&amp;#039;s kind of, That&amp;#039;s why I&amp;#039;m on this planet! But I also remember being so tired with my first one and thinking, Is the rest of my life going to be like this? With Leo, it&amp;#039;s gotten incrementally easier. I&amp;#039;ve started being okay with the sleepless nights because I know I won&amp;#039;t be nursing every two hours for the rest of my life. And my husband and I are so much more relaxed as parents. Whereas whenever Luke cried, I was in complete angst and stomach turning, Oh, my God, what&amp;#039;s not right? What&amp;#039;s happening? I remember Luke getting a cold when he was a few weeks old, and I was a basket case. And then recently Leo got a cold \u2013 and he got a cold. With Luke, I was so worried about every little thing. With Leo, who I hear crying in the other room right now, I&amp;#039;m like, &amp;#039;Okay, let&amp;#039;s solve the problem.... What is it?&amp;#039;&amp;quot; 3. Play dinosaurs whenever possible &amp;quot;Kids are so in the moment, and I learn from mine every day. Sometimes when I&amp;#039;m running around trying to get ready for work and trying to nurse Leo, Luke will be in the corner, playing with his dinosaurs. That&amp;#039;s what&amp;#039;s important to him, and it really brings me into what&amp;#039;s important. Yes, you have to be the adult and get things done, but you can also take a few minutes and play dinosaurs, because life&amp;#039;s too short. My kids give me these amazing reminders to love life and not get caught up in all the ridiculous minutiae that we do get caught up in.  &amp;quot;Another example is that because of my career, I can&amp;#039;t always nurse Leo at home. So wherever I am with him \u2013 in my trailer or dressing room \u2013 I stop everyone and everything and make sure that is our time. People always want something from me; I&amp;#039;m sure so many parents feel that way. But sometimes you have to close the door and tell yourself, It&amp;#039;s okay to take this time with my kids.&amp;quot;  4. Follow your own dreams &amp;quot;Whenever I worry about the hours I work \u2013 sometimes they&amp;#039;re 16-hour days \u2013 I think about my mom. Even though she worked insane hours as a producer for commercials, she was always there for me. I don&amp;#039;t know whether it was because she was a single mom \u2013 so it was me, my sister, and my mom, the three of us, through thick and thin \u2013 but there wasn&amp;#039;t a moment, never a moment, growing up when I didn&amp;#039;t feel loved by her. I mean, my Halloween costumes were handmade! I think that&amp;#039;s what&amp;#039;s given me the inspiration to have my career: I never felt my mom loved me any less because she was working. So I hope to pass that on \u2013 that it&amp;#039;s a good thing to have dreams and pursue them, and you can still be there for your kids. Like last year, I was on set filming in a diner at 3 in the morning, and in between takes and memorizing lines, instead of just hanging out, I&amp;#039;d hang out and sew my son&amp;#039;s lion costume.&amp;quot;   5. Forget the goody bags &amp;quot;My husband, Manu, is an amazing sounding board, and he helps me keep everything in perspective. I&amp;#039;ll have such high expectations of myself, like I&amp;#039;ll be up all night icing a homemade birthday cake in the shape of a Cars character for Luke and worrying about the goody bags for the party. Manu will say, &amp;#039;Forget the goody bags! You don&amp;#039;t need the goody bags!&amp;#039; Whereas I want to do them because everyone else does them. He&amp;#039;ll tell me, &amp;#039;You don&amp;#039;t need that because you&amp;#039;re doing this already. Just the fact that we&amp;#039;re having the party and being there for the kids is enough.&amp;#039;&amp;quot;  6. Let boys be boys &amp;quot;I was at my son&amp;#039;s school for Mother&amp;#039;s Day, and there were three of us moms who looked like we had just fallen out of the washing machine: Our hair was sticking up, our clothes were totally mismatched and rumpled. And I see this other group of women who are completely coiffed and pressed and perfect, and I was like, What&amp;#039;s the deal? And the mothers who were disheveled, our boys were on tricycles and scooters, and there was this huge pile tumbling in the dirt, and we were trying to separate them. And the completely pulled-together group, all of their kids \u2013 all girls! \u2013 were sitting at a table, having a little tea party, and I was like, There lies the difference. I know it&amp;#039;s a total stereotype and I am totally a feminist, but I gotta tell you: I will go out to dinner with Brooke [Shields, Kim&amp;#039;s Lipstick Jungle costar] and her girls. And, granted, my son is really chill. He&amp;#039;s really chill, but still he&amp;#039;ll be climbing up over my head while Brooke&amp;#039;s daughter Rowan is just sitting there. But I love it. I love having boys.&amp;quot; 7. Notice everything &amp;quot;This morning, Luke and I were running out the door to his school, and he was in his corduroy jeans and his little boots and his corduroy jacket with his cool little hat, and he started skipping. And so I started skipping down the street with him singing, &amp;#039;Skip, skip, skip to my Lou&amp;#039; and I was like, Oh, my God, and I had this flash of the streets of New York and the taxis and the smell of winter and snow, and it reminded me of my childhood, which was great.  &amp;quot;I really can&amp;#039;t imagine my life without the experience of being a mom. When my son hugs me and tells me, &amp;#039;I love you so much,&amp;#039; it makes everything...&amp;#039;cause there are moments when you&amp;#039;re like, How am I going to do all this? I&amp;#039;m up making Luke&amp;#039;s lunch, packing him up for the day. I&amp;#039;m trying to read and memorize my lines. I worked till 4 in the morning, but I got up at 5:30 because I&amp;#039;m nursing, and I gotta get my kid ready. But when I&amp;#039;m with my family, it&amp;#039;s amazing to think, Wow, my husband and I made these kids. It&amp;#039;s this very simple, natural thing, but it&amp;#039;s just great. I wouldn&amp;#039;t trade it for anything.&amp;quot;  Recipes for new moms Exclusively for REDBOOK readers, Kim&amp;#039;s mom, Tina Raver, shares some of the meals she made for Kim right after Leo was born.  Veal or Chicken Paillard 2 large slices of veal or chicken breast, cut 1/8-inch thick Flour, for dredging 3 Tbsp olive oil or butter 1 clove garlic, chopped Salt and pepper, to taste 1 lemon (juice one half, slice other half) 2 Tbsp capers, drained, chopped 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped 3 Tbsp hot water Put veal slices between sheets of plastic wrap one at a time and pound with a meat mallet to even out thickness; dredge lightly in flour. Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then garlic. Fry both sides of meat until golden. Season with salt and pepper and add lemon juice, capers, 1 Tbsp of the parsley, lemon slices, and 2 to 3 Tbsp hot water. Let it bubble up, then cover pan and cook 2 minutes, so meat is cooked through (make sure there is liquid left in pan). Turn off heat and let pan stand 5 minutes with lid on. Add the remaining parsley and serve (or store for next day). Easy Meatloaf 1 medium onion, chopped 3 celery sticks, chopped 3 carrots, sliced 1/2 green or red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 (10-oz) box sliced mushrooms 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped 2 Tbsp soy sauce 1/2 lb ground veal 1/2 lb ground beef 1/2 lb ground pork Salt and pepper, to taste 1 Tbsp mustard 1 small can tomato sauce Heat oven to 350F. In a large frying pan (coated with oil or cooking spray, unless nonstick), saut\u00E9 onion, celery, carrots, pepper, mushrooms, and parsley until soft and wilted. Add soy sauce and continue to stir, cooking for a total of 8 to 10 minutes. Put meats into a large mixing bowl and mix with salt, pepper, and mustard. Add vegetable mixture and stir until well blended. Put into a meatloaf pan. Cover meat with tomato sauce. Bake 45 to 60 minutes. Serve with green beans and boiled new potatoes.  Web-Exclusive Recipes from Kim&amp;#039;s Mom: Chicken Soup With Whole Chicken 1 whole organic chicken 3 to 4 carrots 1 medium onion 3 stalks of celery 1 tsp dill Sprinkle of parsley for garnish 1 package noodles (thin egg noodles or vermicelli)  2 cans of chicken broth 2 cubes of chicken bouillon 4 cups of water Salt and pepper to taste 1 Bay leaf 1 lemon 1 cup chopped broccoli 2 Tbsp olive oil Saute onion, celery, and carrots in olive oil until onion is transluscent. Add whole chicken and let brown ever so lightly. Add water, boullion cubes, chicken broth, carrots, bay leaf, dill, and let simmer on low for one hour. Remove chicken and let cool, then carve. Cook noodles separately. Boil broccoli separately in some of the chicken broth until tender. Place lemon slice at bottom of soup bowl. Place chicken, noodles and broccoli on top of lemon. Ladle soup on top of the other elements in the bowl. Garnish with dill and parsley.  Pork Loin  2 pork loins  Whole grain mustard 1 package mushrooms, sliced 2 Tbsp red wine or vermouth 1/2 cup water 1/2 cup chicken broth 1 cup low-fat sour cream 4 Tbsp butter 1 cup milk 2 Tbsp flour Preheat the oven to 375F. With butcher string tie two pork loins together so it makes a neat package. Slather entire roast with generous amount of whole grain mustard. Brown the loin in frying pan in butter until nicely brown on all sides. (This can take 20 minutes.) Once nice and brown, put loin in a baking dish and add water, chicken broth, and red wine. Let it bake in oven for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt 1 Tbsp butter in frying pan and cook mushrooms until soft. When the roast is done, remove it from the oven and let it rest while making gravy in the roasting pan. To make the gravy: Add the butter to the roasting pan, let it melt. Add flour, stir vigorously, and then add milk and sour cream. Add cooked mushrooms to sauce or serve on roast separately with the other vegetables. Serve with butternut squash, green beans, or carrots. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/mom-kids/advice/a2668/hollywood-mom-0308/>