dear hawaii

(do you see the rainbow?)

dear hawaii,
there is something about our big family adventure to your warm and breezy coast that changed something in my new mama heart. on a very practical level, you gave me a subtle but important shift in confidence – a way of being and operating in new places with baby True, a specific permission to jump out of our quiet routine and into plane rides, car rides, bar-b-q’s, new people, and on and on . it wasn’t hard at all! i think i was armed and ready for worst case scenarios but they never arrived (and they never really do, even at home). instead, i was relaxed. baby was relaxed. and we loved it.

(this baby is happy)

i think the thing that really shifted for me was this: no stressing necessary. the days of really really hard are long gone (the early months of baby reflux). i can let all of that go, the shoe is not going to drop. thank you, hawaii. i really needed the release and that bit of confidence boost to keep leaning into all that is unpredictable and perfectly perfect.

thank you for your warm breeze, your ocean sounds, your quiet mornings that arrived easily after long long sleeps (haven’t slept that much in months!).

thank you for the joys of witnessing the bliss of our friends and their families.

and for the silliness of seriously grumpy faces (doesn’t like the sand or the ocean just yet!). but he loved sitting in a restaurant high chair for the first time and sitting in a grocery cart for the first time!

thank you for shaved ice. the best.

all smiles, and flirtatious, he loved all of his new pals and they loved him. it was so wonderful to introduce him to our long time friends…..

thank you for big full bellies, and a growing baby boy who is a content, sweet little soul – happy to crawl and explore and sleep and blow raspberries and offer up big smiles to just about anyone who will take them.

thank you for birthdays, for rainbows, for scrabble, and rum. thank you for endless sweets and cola, and that true blue feeling of rest. thank you for all the conversations about spirits, babies, faith, family. and mostly, thank you for creating some pretty special memories and for being the place where i fell even more in love with my family.

Hi, I'm Kelly Rae Roberts!

Before I picked up my first paintbrush at the age of 30, I was a medical social worker. I followed my whispers and started playing with paint and everything changed.

Now I’m a full-time artist, author and Possibilitarian, who helps women explore and nourish their creative souls.