Wednesday, October 27, 2010

'Sesame Street' Teaches Self-Esteem

'Sesame Street' Teaches Self-Esteem

Have you seen this Sesame Street video (click on the above link to watch)? Oh how I wish this had been around when Ari was younger. I can't even count the number of times that Ari would tell me she wanted long, straight blond hair "like you mom." It would break my heart every time. I always tried to keep it healthy and do any number of cute things with her hair so that she would feel good in the hair that God gave her. Like it or not hair is a big part of most women's identity and self esteem and I wanted to give her a reason to be proud of her hair. She would have people all the time comment on how cute her hair was and just want to touch it and feel how soft it was. After years of this she would get so sick of random strangers asking to feel her hair, but I always had hopes that this attention would help her understand how beautiful her hair really is, but I'm not sure that it really made any difference. She's wanted to chemically straighten it for as long as I can remember and I have refused to let her. Being that she is biracial her hair is pretty unique. It is very soft but very curly. Her hair is thinner and finer than mine, but because of all the curl it looks big and frizzy if you don't do anything to it. It also does not grow! I mean of course it grows, but I can count on two hands the number of times she's had her hair trimmed in her entire life and yet it is still no longer than a few inches below her shoulders when it's soaking wet. This is not uncommon for black hair, but it doesn't change the fact that she has watched me cut all my hair off to donate to locks of love on two separate occasions and both times it's grown back longer than hers within a year’s time. Because her hair is unique and a combination of black and white hair I'm afraid that if I let her get her hair chemically straightened it will be too harsh on her hair and then it will all break off and because her hair grows so slowly she will have virtually no hair. I have toyed with the idea of letting her but knowing how unique her hair is I just don't know who to go to that will understand its complexities and not destroy her hair. When I got my first perm (way back in the 80s) I had waist length hair and the lady processed it too long and I had a bunch of my hair break off. I was 10 years old I think and wore my hair in pony tails quite often and would have little tufts of hair that stuck out for months that were trying to grow back from that little episode. Ari’s hair would literally take years to grow back if that happened.

We've had her hair braided a few times which she likes because it gives her the long hair that she doesn’t have to do much with everyday, but 1) it's ridiculously expensive ($100 and it lasts approx. 3 weeks) and 2) I’ve heard that it’s actually not that great for your hair because it puts too much strain on the hair follicle.

I love that this sesame street video encourages girls to love their hair just the way it is…but it’s a little late for Ari. She has already formed her opinion, along with the media’s help unfortunately on what is deemed attractive. I want Ari to see the Chris Rock movie Good Hair, but knowing how Chris Rock can be I’m afraid it might be a little crude for her so I need to watch it first and just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

If anyone has any great suggestions on both loving the hair that she has and any good stylists or products/procedures that would give her more manageable hair but won’t destroy it in the process I’m all ears.

(These are just some random pictures of Ari's hair. I used to do all kinds of "cute" things with it, but she is now in that awkward age where all girls are doing their own hair and think it looks really good. Yeah, I went through that phase and wonder why no one told me how bad my hair looked...ha ha ha. But really she usually just pulls it back in a pony tail so it's not so unruly.)



(I absolulety love these tight ringlets that it curls into when just the right amount of product is used...)

(The braids!)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

For Ari




Monday, September 27, 2010

Chicks dig scars...and Dimples!

Every time Kai smiles and those dimples come out I tell him he has to be a nice boy and treat girls right...what girl can resist a smile like that?







Thursday, September 23, 2010

New Man in My Life

I must confess that there is a new man in my life! Please don’t get me wrong, I love my husband with every fiber of my being, but there is just something that I can’t resist about my new love. I’m head-over-heels for him and have been meaning to introduce him to the blogging world for a few months now but have not gotten around to it yet. I think it has to do with my complete and total infatuation with him and that I cannot tear myself away from him.

Let me tell you a little about him. He has dark hair and an olive completion. He has a smile that melts my heart and when I hold him close he coos sweet nothings in my ear that would surely make any woman swoon. And to top it all off, he adores my girls, and they him. Believe it or not, my husband doesn’t even mind this affair of the heart; he’s pretty taken by him as well.



Meet Malakai (otherwise known as Kai), born July 17















(This is what I refer to as his victory pose, which he assumes quite often when getting his diaper changed)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Beach

Over Memorial Day weekend we drove over to the beach for something a little bit different. These are just a bunch of pictures that I took. The water was really cold (we live in NorCal so none of that warm San Diego ocean experience) so Devyn was more than happy to just stand on the sand and let the surf come up and wash over her feet. Ari was the only brave one in the bunch that would actually go out into the water.








(Showing me a mussel she found)
























(This was so funny because in the above picture she's digging a hole in the sand and when she looked up at me the entire side of her face was covered in sand.)













(Just as a side note, a woman came up to me and commented on how cute and "appropriate" Ari's swimsuit was. She was very impressed as "appropriate" swimsuits are so hard to find anymore. I made sure to tell Ari because all of her friends wear tiny little bikinis and I wanted her to know that people do notice when she isn't showing everything off!
































Just a bunch of pictures for those who care to see more pictures of my kids. We had a blast and will have to go back, but I will definitely be better about putting sun screen on. I put sunscreen on my face and arms, but was wearing capris so I didn't think to put it on my legs. I literally got one of the worst sunburns of my life, but only half way up my shins...not only does it look stupid, but now a week and a half later it is still red and sore...yikes!

Friday, May 28, 2010

Devyn Devyn Bo Bevyn



Devyn is growing up so fast and I find myself already forgetting some of the cute things that she says and does so I want to get some of them documented before I forget anymore.

Things she says:

Reason why: Like any toddler she loves to question why things are the way they are, but she never just asks why, it's always "reason why?" It is often combined with a whole phrase as well, i.e. “Reason why going there?”

Which where: This one is baffling...we have no idea why she started saying this but it just means "where?" If she wants to ask where we are going or where something is it's always "which where?"

Yesiree: She will say yes sometimes, but usually its yesiree.

Licious: Always said very emphatically, and with a strong emphasis on the Lish sound. This means delicious (and she has actually just recently started saying delicious more), but is often said when she really wants something, i.e. if she finds a lollipop, she will bring it in and show you and say “licious” repeatedly as a way of saying, I really like lollipops and I really want this one, can I have it. She will also do the same thing with the word “yummy” as well.

Me’s: This is another baffling one as she used to say “mine” but now it’s transformed to me’s, like when she’s asking if something is her she looks at you questioningly and say “Me’s?”

Nay Nay: This one has actually gone away, but for probably almost a year this was her word for “thank you.” We have no idea where it came from and we could get her to say thank and you separately, but not together. When she was being appreciative and wanted to say thank you it always reverted back to "nay nay," but this has changed in the last couple of months.

I luf you toooooo much: I love this one! Instead of telling you she loves you so much, it’s “I luf you toooooo much” and it’s just adorable (usually paired with a great big hug!)



(Just a close up of her hair for fun!)

Things she does:

Devyn is really into the alphabet right now. She refuses to slow down when singing the song though so she flies past “i” through “p” and it’s hard to tell what she’s saying, but then slows down again. Her favorite part is “w,x,y & z”. She will say that part just randomly all day long. She also loves to look for letters on building and gets all excited shouting “abc’s” while pointing and has us read and spell out to her what it says. She is getting really good at being able to tell us the letters now though. She also is doing really well with counting but specifically chooses to skip the number 3. She didn’t used to do this, so yet again, baffling. She is just one very headstrong child and won’t be told what to say and when.

She loves all creatures great and small, especially small. I’ve talked about her love of spiders before, but she is also obsessed with snails. She goes out snail hunting every time it rains.

Even though she loves the creepy crawlies she is very much a girly girl. She love to twirl when she gets a dress or skirt on the will twirl. About a month ago I put a new skirt on her and she started twirling around the living room saying “me a princess, me a princess” and then got a look of dejection on her face and using hand motions (of putting a crown on her head) she said “no, crown.” It was too cute so we went and cut out some paper and made her a crown right away…She decorated it will all kinds of beads and shiny things and she now loves to put it on and say “me a princess.” What’s funny about this is she has never even seem any of the princess movies or anything. I don’t know where she came up with this princess stuff, but I think it must be born into her. Ari has never really wanted anything to do with princesses so who knows. (Unfortunately I don't think I've taken any pictures of her in her crown.)



(This is what she's looking at in the above picture)

Well, this is really all I can think of for now, but hopefully I’ll be posting more about both Ari and Devyn as they are both growing up so fast.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Singing in the rain...

Ok, not really singing, but playing in the rain. Grandma got Devyn all this cute matching rain gear for Christmas and Devyn loves it all. I had to put the umbrella up where she couldn't get it because it was getting bent from her playing with it in the house all the time. So when DH got it out for her to use today she was so excited to use her "rain brella."

She also loves using the rain boots for dress up. It was hilarious last week when she had just gotten out of the tub and was running around "nakey" and then put these rain boots on...I had to get pictures...but I don't dare post them as you never know what creepy person could find them. But trust me, they are hilarious...I couldn't stop laughing because she just played around like it was normal to be walking around in rain boots and nothing else.


Looking at the snails (she loves the snails!)