A Family Affair!!!

Rashanda, lookie here!!! Uncle EJ's b-day party at Jin a couple of months ago. Baby R was in attendance and you looked fabulous!!! It was the first time I ever saw you at a party without heels on but of course you was still gettin' it in! If I remember correctly Baby R was movin' all over the place b/c we were dancing all night. Auntie Mayra J came to the party LATE, as usual and then had the nerve to demand we take a full photo shoot! Auntie Bev and Auntie Monique were there and so were a few of Baby R's future uncles: Brandon, Theo and DeWayne. Cousin LuCresha was in attendance and I know I'm probably leaving like 4-5 other relatives off the list that were there. Wow, so many people to LOVE and BABYSIT Baby R!

Bloggin',
Karen

Chicka-Chicka-POP

First of all Butta...that lil' belly is so adorable!!! I know you told me you had popped and I have seen you several times but I didn't know you had chicka-chicka-popped! OHHHH WEEEE I luv it!

Secondly--prenatal yoga...how cute is that! I love the pics you attached to the blog as well. I am so happy for you and can't wait for you and your new blessing to take the world by storm. I can't believe you are already so far along. It seems like just the other day you called and said, "Karen, OMG, man don't say nothin' but I'm pregnant, Mook, no really I'm PREGGO!!!" LOL, do you remember what I said back to you? LOL!!! You were like the millionth person who had called me that week to tell me they were pregnant. I swear there was something in the water during the month of September. Anyhoo, you are truly glowing and I know that God has already and will continue to touch your life in amazing ways.

I log on to the blog everyday and I am so happy to see it is serving it's purpose. You are so loved by so many people and now you will have one more person who will love you unconditionally, forever and more than you can probably ever imagine. Soon Baby R will be here just lovin' her parents to death! How great is that!

Well, we all know you are a stylish chic so I thought in the true essence of the "R" clan it was time for the blog to be UPGRADED!!! Yes, we all know Baby R and her parents do big things so I gave the blog a more fitting pink, divaesque feel!

Rashanda make sure you rub that tummy and tell that beautiful baby that I love her so much!

xoxoxoxoxo,
Karen

Prenatal Yoga

This morning from 10a - 11a, Momma R attended a prenatal yoga class in downtown Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue. Woooooosiiiiiiiiiii! It was sooooo refreshing. Yoga is mostly associated with the practice of postures, stretching, breathing and meditation. And what a treat I received this morning.

We practiced kegel exercises, we did the warrior and the tree pose (and boy am I off balance...I used to be able to do these poses with ease) and we stretched out our backs, sides and legs. She also had us participate in an exercise that would purposely hurt for 3 minutes, she explained that a contraction from beginning to end could last for about that long and we should discover who we are during a moment like this. Do we get angry, do we feel victimized, do we give up or do we feel confident. Ultimately, I believe this class is supposed to promote confidence, but let me tell you after that 2 minute mark Momma R almost threw in the towel.

At the very end of class she read us excerpts from the book (while laid on our left sides in the fetal position and relaxed), Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful: Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalini Yoga and Meditation by Gurmukh. Some of the ones I found to be the most encouraging are as follows:

- The strength that is found during pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood allows for transformation. Giving you the ability to overcome weaknesses and challenges we never imagined we could.

- Pregnancy allows you (as a woman) to take your power back.

- Leave the familiar and enter the unfamiliar with childbirth and motherhood - all the while...gaining strength.

Needless to say, I'm going back to this class next week and I'm also going to pick up a copy of the aforementioned book. When I left class today I couldn't help but to think/dream about how different the world will be when Baby R arrives, how different my world will be and how ready I am for DIFFERENT...a change.

Hugs,

Momma and Baby R

Happy V Day

Wishing all of the ladies (especially my favorite two!), a happy Valentines Day. This blog has blown up and I hope all of u are around to babysit in about 6 months! please keep the love coming and I expect to see you all at the Baby shower this spring(Going to be a Great look).. I think Baby R is ready now because her momma is getting big.. Aint she a pretty PREGGo woman?! BTW - this pic is from AC back in 06' We thought we were doing it!!

24 weeks or 6 months! WOW...

If you have it [Love], you don't need to have anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter much what else you have.
~Sir James M. Barrie

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! From Mommy and Baby R

What I Miss?!?!

Deg, what I miss? Tracie being the cake monster...Dottie tryna throw some bows...Mama R tearing the dance floor up in her Easy Spirits...
Aww man, sounded like a party I needed to be at. Sucks I couldn't make it - next time - my whole day will be reserved for yall.

Looks and sounds like you had fun Mama R. You look exquisite...like you should be in a Neutrogena commercial. Keep doing what you doing.

Hope to see you soon!!
Oh yeah, is it the smock dress or the angle of the pic!?!?! Looks like Baby R thew some "D's" on ya!!! HAHA

XOXO
Janell

The bigger, the better!

I also forgot to chime in that, I too think that you're looking wonderful & those tata's are growing by the second. I couldn't get enough of them Saturday . . .LOL! Oh, the laughs!!

Baby R . . .R u ready for the world we have waiting for U?

LMAO! Y'all are so funny!! I love u girls to pieces :-). I've been reading the blog, but I felt truly inclined to post today. LMAO! Rashanda, this weekend again brought back a lot of memories. I love you so much. I can't wait for Baby R. Be sure to tell her (every night) that Aunt Tracie & cousin Drew are ready for her.

Who's pregnant Rashanda or Naomi?!?!?!?

Yall just didnt give me enough time to suck my gut in.... Digressing-Ay, why was Tracie eating the cake that Curt's Girl purchased for him, as if it were her own, and she took pics posing with it? Nevertheless, Antoine said that they are glad we showed up-otherwise they would have been bored. No one likes to admit that we are the life of the party, withchild and all...

AWWWWW

U LOOK SO CUTE BEING PREGGERS!!! lol and ur right..u do get a full CHECK outta me for that gray smock and boots!! muy caliente mami!!! lol oh yeh and ur boobies r gettin bigger!!!!! lol overall..u look FABOLOUS!!! cant wait to see my lil cuzin!!! and my big cuzin too!! lol love u!

23 weeks and 4 days

Let's go out for Auntie Tracie's birthday! Okay what can I put on that's cute yet comfortable?

Gray smock dress from American Apparel (check), Black boots from Aerosoles (check)...comfortable (check).

I haven't been out and dressed up in a long time and Saturday night out with the girls was just what I needed. I had a blast, the food was good, the ginger ale was refreshing and the music was bumping (lol...not bumping). So now for some highlights of the night, because it just wouldn't be right without some CSI drama.

- Now I'm good and preggo and some stank waitress wouldn't let us sit down, because "this table is reserved for bottle service, ONLY". But, noone ever came to sit down at the table because noone got bottle service at the restaurant/supper club turned CLUB....hmmmmmm.

- When Tracie knocked over not one drink but two drinks onto Curtis and his girlfriend. And the

question was posed, "She might be mad, but can she beat me though?" (Awwwww....Alfred Street, New Projex) LOL!

-Lastly, the ride home...pregnant women are instigators. (inside joke...you gotta ask Auntie Lijah about that one).

Had a great time with you ladies! Enjoy the pictures. Peace, Piece, Peas....

Celebrating You!

Rashanda,

My spirit was overjoyed the day that you told me that you were expecting. You have been a true friend and confidant ever since I met you our first year of college. You are going to be the mother that all mothers will aspire to be like. I know that Baby R will feel loved and grow into a smart, independent, humble, and trustworthy women with you raising her because those are all of the qualities that you model for all of us everyday. Baby R is a truly lucky girl to have you just as much as you are blessed to have her. Congratulations! I can't wait to spoil her rotten.

Love You Both,

Auntie Carin

So Sorry I missed Baby R and Mama this weekend

But, when Baby R comes... she'll be getting gifts like this from Aunt Bevy...

Yes, that's pink Polo

I am all late...

Congratulations! I am just logging on and joining the blogging action. I am so happy for you Rashanda and Rodney! I can not wait to meet her:)