A Beautiful Body Project
Now THIS is what I'm talking about... Pregnancy is already doing a bunch of really crazy things to my body. My hormones are raging harder than the 13 year old version of me, my skin is breaking out worse than it has in years, and our little lovemuffin is the size of about an orange this week (holy cow it is growing SO fast!!! Like .. WOAH!) Seriously, I feel like the 9 months your baby spends growing in utero, is like a micro vision of how fast the next 2 decades are going to fly by. I also think its funny that they keep comparing the baby to the size of a different fruit every week - where are the cookies and jelly beans and pickles, or is that just me and my cravings?!
As my body is changing and growing, I find myself looking around for a positive source of body image strength. There are enough women out there on the message boards nitpicking and criticizing each other over personal choices and decisions, and I wanted to see more beauty in pregnancy. This is probably because my once well groomed and glamourous self finds her head in the toilet more days than not, catching her reflection in the mirror with hair in a bun, because she doesn't get enough sleep the night before and has zero energy for wanting to blow out and curl the mop herself - and lets be real, if I have "morning" sickness 2-3 times a day still, I'm not going to risk getting my leftovers in my mane.... The struggle is real, folks.
All of that being said, I was successful in finding what I was after, "A Beautiful Body Project". There are a few talented angels out there that are capable of looking at the world through literal rose colored shades, and translating the beauty they see through their camera lens, and are gracious enough to share the end result with us. Photographer Jade Beall redefines "what beautiful inside and out means", and showcases women who are in all stages of motherhood. Let me tell you that for any mom out there, this is visual soup for the soul; I've yet to see or appreciate many things more beautiful and natural than this. Check it out here to read more, (look at that ladies, Cosmo gave us something you usually only see in the bedroom that actually works!) Here are some of the photos I found on their site from Jade Beall, and they are stunning! (Extra bonus points for the moms who were photographed breastfeeding! #NormalizeBreastfeeding ) Way to go to all the moms!
