Kelis She wears many hats, including musician, chef, farmer and entrepreneur, but her favorite role is being a devoted mother to her three children.

Singer best known for her 2003 hit “Milkshake“, became a mother for the first time in 2009 when she welcomed her son Knight, whom she shares with the rapper. Nas. She had another son, Shepherd, and a daughter, Galilee, from her late husband. Mike MoraDied of stomach cancer in 2022.

Kelis and her family moved to a farm in Temecula, California, a year before the COVID-19 pandemic; They grow all their food here and have over 30 animals. In an interview in June 2021 Harper’s BazaarThe mother of three shared what she hopes her children will gain from this experience. “Being able to say, ‘I belong here.’ I have this. That’s me,” he told the outlet. “I want them to have the right understanding of what wealth is.”

Kelis is private when it comes to her children and has never shown their faces on social media. However, he shares brief information about their life on the farm. As a trained chef (she studied at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu), Kelis also frequently posts about the dishes she prepares for Knight, Shepherd, and Galilee.

in July 2022 Instagram videoShe gave her followers tips for ensuring kids eat healthy, including “presenting things in a way that makes sense to them.” Regarding the food his own children eat, he stated in the post’s caption: “There’s no kids’ menu at my house, man. If you want your children to eat well, you have to start them early – that’s how .”

Speaking at the 2015 Los Angeles Women’s Fair, Kelis talked about how becoming a mother changed her. “(Motherhood) improves you,” she said, per Self. “I don’t know if this really changes you. I think it just enhances who you already are. It makes the things you do meaningful. You are more poignant and more focused.”

Read on for everything there is to know about Kelis’ three children.

Knight

The R&B singer welcomed her first child, son Knight, in July 2009. Her father is rapper Nas, from whom Kelis was in the process of divorcing when Knight was born. Kelis and Nas met at the meeting MTV Video Music Awards They got married in 2002 and got married in 2005. Kelis announced her pregnancy in February 2009 and filed for divorce in April, just two months before Knight was born.

As a child, Knight was passionate about drawing and superheroes. Kelis frequently shared photos of her artworks on Instagram and even had her own account dedicated to her drawings, @KnightandShining. The account, which has been inactive since late 2019, has a bio that reads: “I’m a 10-year-old artist and visionary .”

In September of the same year, Kelis made a post. drawing The story of a superhero named “Astroid” by Knight. In the caption, the proud mother marveled at her son’s creativity and imagination. “Defender of the Galaxy @knightandshining I love his imagination and determination to make every superhero the best with black and Afro or straight top! he wrote.

Recently, the teenager helped his mother around the farm with his younger brother. “Rise and shine, kids love collecting eggs at the farm in the morning,” Kelis wrote. October 2020 photo Image of Knight and Shepherd holding a basket full of freshly picked eggs.

Knight also helps his mother in the kitchen. Kelis shared a post in April 2022 video The photo described him and his eldest preparing a Moroccan lamb dish, and stated in its caption that Knight, who wore a Spider-Man mask to hide his face, wanted to help. While Kelis massaged the lamb with marinade, Knight joked during the video, “If it were alive, he’d pay for a very expensive massage.”

The “Trick Me” singer also creates and sells her own natural skin care products and passes on the importance of self-care to her children. Kelis shared a post in May 2022 video Here’s a photo on Instagram showing herself and Knight going through their skincare routine together. “Teaching my knight how to take care of his skin,” she wrote in her caption. “These comings out of pre-teens and teenagers are just part of growing up. But it is important to start good habits now.”

Shepherd

Kelis welcomed her second son, Shepherd, in November 2015 with husband Mike Mora, whom she married the previous year.

The singer gave her followers a rare glimpse into Shepherd’s bond with her older brother on National Siblings Day 2019. “Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero! ,” she captioned Photo of Shepherd and Knight They work side by side on the farm.

Shepherd, who is always ready to help her mother in the garden, also shared photos of her past work on Instagram. “Shep worked hard with me in the garden this morning and we had great success…man he is growing so much! Now it’s time for a fresh salad,” Kelis wrote. 2021 photo Image of Shepherd holding a large bowl of cherry tomatoes.

Kelis set up a dig at the farm for Shepherd’s sixth birthday, and wrote on Instagram: video that he and Knight wanted to be paleontologists or archaeologists when they grew up. The mother of three wrote a touching message about motherhood in the caption.

“I love being a mom, I always knew I wanted little babies but I wasn’t the type of woman to get upset about it,” she wrote. “I look at my 12-year-old giant now, Shep, who just turned 6, and little Miss Muffet, who is now 1, and I wonder how I haven’t done this before… There’s nothing like the joy a mother gets from making this happen for your little ones. This is for them, but it’s also for us. I just love it.

Galilee

Kelis and Mora welcomed their second child, a daughter named Galileo, in September 2020. The singer shared this news on Instagram on September 11. a video where she explained: “Hey, so I’ve been kind of MIA, very MIA, but for a really good reason because I just had my baby!” before noting that his labor was “intensive.”

“She is such a sweet little thing,” Kelis wrote. Photograph The next day, she shared that the newborn was holding her thumb.

A few months later, the singer thought she had her first daughter. “Funny, I’ve been a boy mom for so long and was totally content with superheroes, guns, and war games,” she wrote. Photograph from his and Galilee’s hands. “I would be so excited if I had another boy. But now that he was, I looked at his little hand in my hand and realized that I had been preparing for him my whole life.”

He continued: “Having a daughter is somehow completely different. And don’t get me wrong, we’ll still have superheroes, guns and war games with baby G. But we will do it with diamonds, rubies and pearls!!!!!!”

Kelis was 41 when she welcomed Galilee, and during an interview with him, she opened up about her postpartum experience. Harper’s Bazaar. “After having the baby – I’m 41. It wasn’t the easiest,” she told a media outlet. “It wasn’t like when I gave birth to my oldest son when I was 29. While I was thinking about how to get myself together, the first thing I did was eat and I was able to get myself together. “A place where I feel physically strong again.”

Peloponnese, just 17 days after Galilee’s birth I was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. Photographer died two years later He is 37 years old on March 15, 2022.

during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE In September 2022, Kelis revealed that her children have “always been extremely conscious” of Mora’s diagnosis and have been able to “prepare, love, and say goodbye.”

The singer added: “We were able to spend the time we needed, the time we were given, to the best of our ability.”