Hair Growth

Lucky you...this is not the unwanted hair growth blog post.  I just got to thinking about how much has changed in our routine in the past year and I wanted to see the difference it's made.  If any...

This past week while detangling Sadie's hair I spotted a nice set of curls about 2 inches long in my hand...my heart sunk.  I just broke out in a sweat.  It takes so much to keep Sadie's hair growing and healthy.  And it just breaks my heart when we lose some.  So the next day I went out and purchased two swim caps, one Lycra and one the typical waterproof cap.  Put the Lycra on first to keep from pulling at her hair, and then the waterproof silicone one on top. 

So to encourage myself I decided to start looking through pics a year ago to see how Sadie's head was doing.  Sorry that some of these are great pics of Sadie herself, but they show growth in length and thickening of her hair.  Yahoo! 

 This was exactly a year ago!  These are double rope twists with beads.  I am guessing she has grown at least 4 inches in her hair. 

 Here is Emery a year ago!  Now her hair grows like crazy, and because of it...I don't get so nervous when I see shed hair...nor when I detangle.  We'll get there Sadie, one day!!! 

 Notice on these two, above and below, you can see Sadie's scalp through her teeny weeny afro.  Wow!

 This one too!  This was late March!  UNREAL!!!! 

 And this is where we are now!  I am just amazed.  Here is what we have changed:

• She wears a sleep cap religiously when sleeping, napping and wrestling or tumbling.
• Satin in car seat back
• Apple Cider Vinegar in place of shampoo (we never really shampooed passed about age 18m)
• Detangling-I am embarrassed to say I wasn't really even detangling.  Her hair just wasn't long enough or thick enough...or so I thought.  We love our Tangle Teezer (yes even more than the Denman!)
• Coconut oil-I didn't know about coconut oil until last February people!!!  Wha?
• Protective styling-I didn't realize how hard it was on the hair to daily maintain an afro or puffs
• Homemade detangler as spritzer instead of just water to dampen
• And this is the first year we will wear a swim cap! 

I think the only things I was doing right were adding moisture daily, attempting a sleep cap and no shampoo. 

 This one shows great growth because she can actually wear a twist out! 

 This is going back 2 years since it was Emme's coming home picture!!! 

 And here is a good pic for showing Emery's growth!  It was this time last year Sadie loving cut Emery's hair!  I will never forget the heart attack I had this day.  Yowzers! I can't even tell where her hair was cut now!

Dear Receptionists,

I want to thank you for your smiles as I checked into your office this morning. You have no idea how I anticipated your reaction to me and my children. Thank you for telling me how beautiful my daughters are. What you don't know is that this week has been full of unsolicited disrespectful parenting advice from black women in random stores. Oh how we needed your warm reception of us. Thank you for telling me you love their hair and that I do a good job taking care of their curls. What you don't know is that this does just as much for my girls to be accepted by other African Americans as it does for their white mama. You could've just as easily just stared at us and talked about us when we left...but you didn't. You had the heart to talk to me about this rather taboo topic... white parents raising black children. I need you to know how you fed my soul today.

In this sinful world where young black boys are being murdered and their killers claim self defense and walk, and where black people are rude to me because they disapprove...I cannot help but constantly plead that Jesus carry us through. I live for Jesus alone. I don't have to worry about others approval...but I sure do want it for my kids. Sweet receptionists, I need you to know that your smiles, gentle hearts and encouraging words gave me great hope that we in fact are moving forward.

Hair we go loopty loo!

If you cannot tell I am OBSESSED with these curls. Well the boys' curls too, but they don't let me take pictures of them ;) This was my first attempt at yarn extensions. They are holding great in Sadie's hair. They improved Emery's hold too, but she just doesn't hold a style as well as Sadie. I think it's that she doesn't keep her sleep cap on plus spends more time on her head! She also seems to be more sensitive to the pull of a style. I don't twist tightly, in fact its kinda hard to get a twist as tight as a cornrow, but she still got bumps at her hairline after 2 days.

Please excuse Emery's messy face. Evidently she ate the playdough I thought she was playing with! Doesn't it look cute though? Her first single ponytail! She looks so much older too. And as if I needed one more reminder that my baby is not a baby anymore...she slept in a big girl bed two nights ago. We decided to move her back to the crib because there is just no way she is big enough for a bed....right? I mean yes, all 3 of her older sibs moved by now. But she just looks so tiny! Ugh...

Eeeek. Blog fail

Sorry I haven't posted in so long! I am gearing up for the half marathon so running plus mothering 4 babes and being an awesome wife (totally kidding-I am only subpar) leaves little blog time!!!! We joined the Y!!! It has been so much fun for the kids to get to play basketball! What a great picture.

This is our new favorite hang out spot! Especially when the weather is too cold for the park.

I think they are worn out!! How cute is this?

And here's our little cheerleader! She loves banging on the seats!!!

A visit to the aquarium again. Isn't she crazy beautiful?!?!

I did Sadie's hair last Friday. I did flat rope twists up into one puff! I LOVED how it turned out! It officially lasted a week! Completely thrilled with that.

I think they feel comfortable at the aquarium, don't you??

MLK Jr. day parade in Atlanta! What a wonderful day to live in this city!

Sadie sporting her adorable faux frohawk. I LOVE doing her hair! She had so much fun watching the parade.

This was the closest we got to a family pic, thank you Owen for taking it!!!

HOW COOL! Not sure what group this was but they sang and stomped and there were lots of races amongst them...do you see Ebenezer Baptist Church behind them? This is THE church that Martin Luther King, Jr. himself preached at!

Oh man...I love this picture. I am quite certain that I have the best husband alive. He also is the best daddy alive. I am not partial at all by the way.

So you might be wondering...we were 2 of only a dozen other white people at the parade. As sad as I am that more of my Caucasian friends don't come to these parades, some comments from other patrons are less than encouraging. One guy was trying to sell me a picture of MLK so he hollered at me, "You look like you come to these things all of the time." What do I say to that? I wanted to yank him by the ear pulling him aside to remind him that my children could feel the stares and his comment did not help them feel like they belong here. Matter of fact, us being here was the complete reason MLK Jr spent his life preaching about love, acceptance and equal rights. Blake and I were so thankful that with each year that we go to the parade, or maybe as we mature, we feel more comfortable and sweat less ;)

Oh lands. This might just be an all time favorite pic of mine. How in the world am I so blessed?!?!

I Refuse...

Sometimes I just want to close my eyes
And act like everyone's alright
When I know they're not

This world needs God
But it's easier to stand and watch
I could say a prayer and just move on
Like nothing's wrong

But I refuse
'Cause I don't want to live like I don't care
I don't want to say another empty prayer
Oh, I refuse

To sit around and wait for someone else
To do what God has called me to do myself
Oh, I could choose
Not to move but I refuse

I can hear the least of these
Crying out so desperately
And I know we are the hands and feet
Of You, oh God

So, if You say move
It's time for me to follow through
And do what I was made to do
Show them who You are



I hope you've heard this song...it so speaks of what my heart feels about our love for Jesus and our lives being lived out for Him. We cannot say we belong to Jesus and then live a life that resembles nothing of Him. If we do, then our hearts aren't truly His, right?

I thought of this song as I read a new link on our adoption agencies website. I hope you will take a second to read this...it's heart breaking and at the same time shows that we all need to say "I REFUSE" to sit here any longer. Did you know that even with all of the adoptions that we hear about and take place worldwide, that 14,050,000 children remain orphans and age out of the system every year!

God use me. Break me. Remind us that this life is not mine, but yours. Any fears we have about what you might be calling us to is not from you...for you do not give us a spirit of fear.

More hair fun!

By Thursday of this week our hair was in desperate need of some change. I am realizing now (I know, I should've caught on earlier) why protective styles are necessary. So I've been giving myself pep talks and gearing up for some different styles.

Now. I am not posting these pics to brag on what I've done. Because you will see that I'm not too talented here, BUT if I don't post these I won't remember where I came from. I also have to say that this was not easy for me. One row into Sadie's hair and I was sweating and talking myself out of cornrows, wanting to take it down.

Part of my job as their mommy is to learn, be patient with myself and enjoy taking care of their hair. So, here I am in the beginning. Most white people will think these are fabulous, but anyone with chocolate curls can see from a block away that I don't quite have this down. That's OK...we gotta start somewhere...and I just pray that they are young enough that I am not scarring them from embarrassment. I want them to love their hair and feel good about how we fix it.

I did two sections attempting cornrows and just couldn't swing it. Sadie's hair is just not long enough and her curl pattern is tighter than Emery's. So I moved to double rope flat twists...I felt safer there! It made me feel better when a brown mama from Owen's school whom we've come to know told me this day to keep doing twists on her for now until her hair grew out. Phew. It's not just me.

From start to finish this took me an hour. She did really well, but about 30 minutes in needed a stretch break. I think we'll start saving TV and movies for hair time. She was totally loving Sesame Street while I did this.

A couple days ago I shared that I finally did my first cornrow. I've been trying and practicing a while on Sadie, but could never do it. I finally decided to try a small section on Emme. Again, not great...but I did it!!! It's holding up OK after a couple of days, but more than anything it's going to be amazing how much of a difference it makes to not manipulate her hair so much. I also put some satin scarves in the girls car seats finally since we're in the car more lately! Every little thing should make a difference.

Awww!!! My sweet Emery with her flirty gappy toothed smile.

She is so much fun!

After a couple of days, they are getting fuzzy but I think we can go another day before fixing them for church Sunday!

Sadie afterwards! I also have to brag, she has been wearing undies for 10 days. Lots of accidents, but huge progress! She'll be 3 in 2 weeks so its about time!