Life and Hair.

Ten months ago, I made one of the most impulsive decisions of my life (I may be exaggerating just a little). I talked a little about my hair here but if you haven't read that post (and don't feel like reading it now), I'll just go over my hair really fast.
A little over a year ago, I decided to stop chemically straightening my hair. After about four months of no chemicals, I decided to have all my relaxed hair chopped off (leaving me with about two inches of hair growth).

Now, after having your hair look and feel a certain way for 10+ years, it took awhile for me to figure out my hair. There were points were I felt I should just go back to being relaxed but there was one major reason I didn't: I was pregnant with Asher. I wore braids during a majority of my pregnancy but once I took the out, I did not know what to do with my hair. Luckily YouTube saved me and I have started to play around with it more.
If you see me now, I most likely have my hair in a twist-out, which turns me hair into a big, curly afro. Liam and I are hair twins now!
It feels great to enjoy my hair although I have had many trials and moments when I question my decision but then I remember my ultimate goal: to live a natural, healthy life (plus my afro is lovely).

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow (Maybe)

I am contemplating a huge hair change tomorrow. This change has been in the making for a few months now but I think the time has come to finally take this huge step.
Since I was about 14 years old, I have been chemically straightening, or relaxing, my hair. Over the last couple of years, I have tried to take better care of my hair. I became a YouTube junkie, bought tons of hair products and spent hours upon hours in the hair salon (literally). Now, I never had an issue with my naturally curly hair. Mostly I kept relaxing it because that's what I had to do. Relaxed hair doesn't revert back to curly so once you make the decision to use chemicals to change the texture of your hair, you are making a commitment to the upkeep that comes along with straighter hair.
One of the main reasons I decided to "go natural" is that I am trying to live a healthier life. I want to eat better, live better and limit my families exposure to harsh chemicals. I had to admit that the chemicals I was putting on my hair every 6-8 weeks was not healthy at all. I frequently suffered from burns on my scalp, headaches and to be honest, my hair suffered at times. The final straw came when I realized that I had severe breakage in the center of my head. I knew that it was time for me to make a change and try something different.
It has now been about four months since my last relaxer. I have about two inches of "natural" growth which doesn't look like much when your hair is tightly coiled. After talking things over with Will and my mom (who actually just cut all her hair off recently), I plan to cut all my hair off tomorrow. I plan to go to a barber shop and explain my situation to them. I want to keep my little two inches of growth but the rest of it can go. I am not the type of person who likes to hang on to something I no longer feel I need (or want). Besides, it's only hair. It will eventually grow back (and hopefully be better than ever). Although this is a big move, I'm excited to make this change. Plus, I think this will make doing my hair much easier while in Germany. Wish me luck!

Our First Milestone of 2012

Since Will is returning to work after a month of leave, he was definitely due for a haircut. We decided to take a trip to the salon this morning since I have drill and will have the car out of town until next week (yay for hotel living with Liam). The topic of Liam's hair has come up a few times in the last few months and since Daddy was already going, we decided to get Liam's first haircut.

When we walked into the salon, there were two chairs right next to each other open. Will sat in one and I sat with Liam on my lap in the other. I had originally planned to take pictures during the process but that didn't happen. Now that I think about it, I should have taken one of him before so that we could see the difference. Even though we didn't get tons of pictures of this milestone, I was able to get a lock of his little curls and snapped pictures afterwards.

Every time I look at him now, I start to tear up. He looks like such a big boy now that he doesn't have his crazy, curly, baby afro. It makes me realize that I have a toddler on my hands. Definitely makes me want to cry...or start planning baby number two :)