Celebration of Life

The past 2 weekends have been eventful for us, with our maternity shoot and our baby shower. If you follow me on Instagram, you've seen some of the pictures already. This won't be a long blog post, but I mainly wanted to share a few images with my blog readers from these special days.

We had our maternity shoot in Philadelphia, PA, and used the same photographer we used for our wedding ceremony. He is amazing and his website is here for more information and to book. Tell him Malik and Markeeta referred you!

8 months preggo

Then, yesterday we had our baby shower. It turned out beautifully, I have such great family and friends. I didn't have to do a thing except show up, they literally did everything. My bro-in-law and stepdad took pics for us, but while we wait for them to be edited and sent to us, here are some iPhone shots from some of our guests! :)

with my mom and nephew 

L to R: Sister, Uncle, and Cousin

Malik and I are just thankful, and so blessed. We appreciate everyone who took time from their busy lives to spend with us and help us celebrate our son. It means the world to us!!

xo

Embracing it all

I was talking to a close friend just a few days ago about embracing all of the changes our bodies go through as women to carry a child. I'll admit - I had often been afraid of what my body would do and how it would change when I ever became pregnant. This fear was more prominent in my 20s. I couldn't imagine things not being as tight or unflawed as they were (Lol). So many women are more than eager to share their horror stories of how their bodies used to look one way and then after kids, it all went downhill. I used to buy into that fear. Since getting older, and actually becoming pregnant with this beautiful boy growing inside of me, all of those thoughts dissipated. Sure, I had gotten some comments from some women here and there, telling my face was fat or I was "huge", but my sister and a good friend of mine got me all the way together. And I realized - what is happening in my body and to my body is a beautiful thing! How dare anyone try to make me feel bad or gross when there are so many women who would give anything to have this chance? To carry and bring forth another life? God has made our bodies these super powerful and miraculous vessels - I still can't fully wrap my mind around it when I sit and really think about it. Now, I look in the mirror and I embrace and accept and LOVE the new stretch marks on my thighs and butt, the way my face looks fuller and "motherly", and my ever expanding tummy. It's beautiful. I've had my husband take so many pictures of my body because I want to remember this, always. I want the memories of what God is allowing me to do right now in my life, and I celebrate it. So, if you are pregnant, or have been, and feeling bad about your body - don't allow anyone to body shame you. More importantly, don't body shame yourself! Your body will do what it needs to do in order to do this beautiful thing. Don't stress about the "snap back". Do all you can to be healthy and active, and enjoy the journey.

<3 KeetaRay