First Official Haircut

Since adopting Baylie, I have learned A LOT about black hair. Since adopting Jalen, I have learned that there are also do's and don'ts about boy hair. When we were first considering trans-racial adoption, our agency counseled us not to shave our child's hair while we were sending monthly pictures to the mother because it was upsetting to them. I didn't realize until recently how important it is in the African American culture to not cut the hair at all until after the first birthday. I had mentioned to a couple of my friends that I wanted to trim Jalen's hair and they told me absolutely not. I learned that in some families they believe it will make the hair grow in funny and in other families they think it will make the child stutter or have other unforseen problems. This is interesting because in many Latin American and Oriental cultures, they shave babies while they are still very little. I now feel a little guilty about sending Jalen's birthmom pictures of when we trimmed the crown of his head because it was growing so much faster than the rest.

Ever since Jalen's first birthday, one of my girlfriends has been hinting that I should now cut his hair. It was pretty uneven. So today, we cut it. I should have taken a better 'before' picture, but you can kind of see how fuzzy his hair is over his ears (that's not a shadow on the chair, it's his hair). It was that way on top of his head too, but pretty bald in between.

He was so good. He didn't cry at all and seemed to even enjoy it. I'm having a hard time though because now he looks more like a little boy than a baby. I'm not ready for that.

Seriously, could he be any cuter??!!

Pick Up the Rope

My niece Ashley turned 16 on February 1. It's hard to believe. She was the first grandchild born in our family and we thought the sun rose and set on everything she did. At the time I was shocked by how much love I felt for this little girl. She has always been precocious and intelligent.

When she was 6 1/2 years old, she wrote a short essay for a speech contest sponsored by the International House of Blues in Las Vegas. She wrote it all by herself, which is pretty amazing. But then she is, and always has been, amazing. As this is Black History month, I thought it very appropriate to share on my blog - with her permission. At the time she wrote this, she had no idea that one day she would have first cousins of a different race.

I think the theme for the essay was from Dr. King: "Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."

My friends and I wanted to jump rope so we could have fun. The girl who is supposed to turn the rope does not want to do her job. She just lets the rope drop and that hurts everyone.

My friend threw the rope down and she said, "I don't want to play with you anymore." I told her, "Come on, I'll jump with you." But she would not try and said, "White girls can't jump." She was blaming me because she didn't know how to jump, but I did not know this. This made me feel really, really sad.

This girl won't or can't pick up the rope. What will we do? We can just look at it or solve our problem. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand of racial injustice. Now is the time for us to pick up the rope.

I left my other friends and told her I'd show her how. We jumped together.

That day I learned how to pick up the rope. Now is the time for everybody, everywhere to pick up the rope like Dr. Martin Luther King said. Then we can truly become a brotherhood. Thank you.

I love racial equality and unconditional love as expressed by the children in my family.

Child Proofing Fail

Yes, that is an outlet protector being used as a pacifier and an outlet cover being used as a toy. The hole in the wall where the outlet cover used to be is now covered with duct tape. We'll see how that holds up.

Here in South Carolina, spring is in the air...and in the mouth...and on the hands.

Why I Love My Dorky Husband

Please tilt your head to the left :).

Happy Valentines Day!

Who knew that getting a nice Valentine shot would be so difficult?

Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

I was going to title this one "Luke, I am your father!" but I thought this might get more attention!

Ever since I can remember, my family has given me a hard time because I snore. Apparently my snoring shakes the foundations of the house. I've actually woken myself up on an airplane by snoring - very embarassing.

David says my snoring is not that bad. On the other hand, David can sleep through just about anything. David has been telling me for a while that I stop breathing while I sleep and it freaks him out. I have woken up from time to time gasping for air.

So I finally decided to see a doctor about it and it turns out I have sleep apnea. I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but have learned that it causes cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, arrhythmias, diabetes and memory loss. Not too mention that I'm tired all the time.

I went and spent the night doing a sleep study where someone else spent the night watching me sleep. Kind of creepy, but at least it was a women watching me. It was basically like staying in a hotel, but I got hooked up to all kinds of wires. The hardest part was spending the night away from my kids. I didn't like that - although I did sleep better!

They discovered that I quit breathing 19 times a minute while sleeping. Who knew!? (David says he knew.) Apparently that's not even as bad as most people that have sleep apnea. So I went back for another study and this time wore a mask.

With the mask, I only stop breathing two times a minute, which apparently is normal. So now I go to bed looking like this:

Yeah, poor David. Maybe he wishes he'd kept my sleeping issues to himself!

Chocolate Cheerio Massacre

This is what it looks like when you ask your almost 3-year-old to give her brother some more Cheerios.

This is what it looks like after he's eaten some and thrown some on the floor.

Am I the only mom that takes the vacuum nozzle directly to her child?