The Wiz with a Twist

Well here we are 14 weeks after the baby was born!

As you may have read I put in individual braids to ease the pregnancy hair styling. I didn't feel like getting up each morning with a messed up head of hair. When I put the braids in I cut the permed ends off. That was my secret big chop.

This past Wednesday I decided I would freshen up my braids. When I took them down to rebraid it I thought, "Hmm maybe I should take them out and two strand twist it." I asked my daughters what they thought. They said, "Mommy it's cute! You should wear it like that!" Sometimes I question their advice lol! This time I took their advice and started to take the braids down and twist it. I wasn't sure about it. How would this look? Is my hair long enough to look good like this? Can I really keep up with it like this? Would my husband like it? Oh the questions flooded my mind as I took each braid extension out and twisted my natural hair.

I actually didn't finish my hair until the next morning. It took a while between parenting and meeting my husband at our new house later on that night. I was supposed to meet him at 6:30 pm but I wasn't finished with my hair. I did get it to a point where the untwisted hair wouldn't be noticeable with a hair accessory from http://tomokastwists.com/ .

I looked at my hair and the way it flopped I thought, "I look like the scare crow on The Wiz!" I slipped on the hair accessory and went about getting ready to go. The kids told me my hair looked great and it lifted my spirits a little. I was still unsure if I had the confidence to wear this style. I decided I would have the confidence, besides I didn't have time to worry about all that, I needed to get the baby dressed, diaper bag ready, older kids ready to go etc, etc. No time for nonsense mom was on a roll!

So we get in the car and the thoughts flood in again. Is this hair style ok for me? Do I really look like MJ in the movie The Wiz?? What will my husband say? Will I get rude comments? LOL what happened to my decision of confidence? I know it's just the enemy trying to make me uncomfortable with who I am naturally. So in the name of Jesus... !!!

I was still unsure of how my husband was going to like it. He told me he liked it natural. So I was stepping out and letting my guard down. When I saw him he said, "I like your hair!" I smiled in relief but was quickly distracted with the kids. We went on about our night and when we got home my husband took my face in his hands and kissed me and told me he loved my hair!! I was like whoa! It was the first time that he has ran his fingers in my hair since I don’t know when! He didn't like the braids lol. Hey I needed a break being pregnant and all lol!

Any how I hope I can keep this up. I do still feel a little self conscience but I'm getting over it.

Here I am now:

Creative Yet?

Well baby is here! We are all so very happy about her arrival. To read more about that visit http://tscullen.blogspot.com/

Since baby is here that means I can get creative with my natural hair right? No not really. I'm still not up for doing my own hair. I need to redo some of my braids. I've been doing them a little at a time. Life with the baby is busy busy busy! We love it though. So it sort of takes away from the hair scene. The girls are still wearing their braid locs. I asked the girls what did they liked best about having locs and they said as I guessed that they don't have to use the comb and it's easier to handle. It's wash and go for them. My son still has his Mohawk. It's growing longer. The top doesn't really stand as much as it was. He still gets lots of compliments.

When am I going to take these braids out? I don't know. I do know that after I do, I'll be comfortable with the length and possibly where twists or take the jump to getting locs. That's the plan for now! Until then I will concentrate and be creative with the kids hair and just let mine grow with the transition braids.

short update

Here is a short update of what's be going on with our natural hair journey. I'm still in braids. I did cut them today with hopes of having a layered sort of look. I think I did ok. Since I'm about 30 weeks almost 31 weeks pregnant, I don't think I'll be taking any snap shots yet. I'm not feeling up to being photographed. I'm in my blah pregnancy mode now. 3rd trimester is here and I'm hoping it will go fast! The baby is moving quite a lot. Her movements have slowed down but she still stretches, rolls and kicks. It sort of wears me down. If you want to read more about the pregnancy visit my other blog just for my thoughts at http://tscullen.blogspot.com/
My girls are still happy with their braid locs. I've had to retighten them since I last blogged. My son is still wearing his Mohawk too. Here are some updated photos of them.

Here is my son's Mohawk. He's not doing school work, he's actually messing with the girl's math books trying to see if he can do their work lol.

His hair is getting longer. He started his Mohawk in August 2008.

Here's one of the girls with their braid out hair do. She got the ends wet so it's not exactly how it was when we first took it down,

Mohawks n' Braid locs

It's been a long while since I've updated this blog. I'm still on my journey. I decided to take a little hair combing break and put the braids back in. I'm 27 weeks and 4 days pregnant at the moment. I kind of got tired of getting up looking crazy and having to fix my hair. So braids it is. While I put them in I did the big chop. I cut inches of my hair. So it's all natural in there! Yay! I did this about 2 years ago and loved my natural hair when I took the braids out. I'm one that doesn't think she can sport the tiny fro. I'm not comfortable with it. Some ladies look great with it. I don't think I would. It does make life easier for me. I tried to contact the consultant in my area months ago but she hasn't returned my phone call. Oh well. I might just find a way to do mine at home! Any how this is me now. Pregnant with the braids. I was 24 weeks here.

My girls now have braid locs! I'm proud of myself for doing the DIY. It's saving me lots of money. They are doing quite well. I started to re tighten them for the 2nd time. My son is getting locs too. His started out with twists. He's been sporting this Mohawk since last August. He gets tons of compliments on it. It is rather cool. I do need some great moisturizing products for our hair. I prefer something all natural. I've been trying to keep up with the lock it up yahoo group. There are so many good suggestions and questions coming through. Anyhow if you have a home recipe or a product that you like please leave me a comment telling me about it. Here are my girls, and my son. One daughter has her hair curled and the other straight. The girls also just got braces earlier this month!

When the Smiles Came Out.

Yesterday I washed my girls hair and braided it in cornrows while it was wet. I let it air dry and they went to bed with their hair like this. They they liked their hair in the cornrows. I think it was simple for them. They also knew their hair wouldn't be tangled up with Bed head in the morning. Both the girls don't like to have their hair fixed. So I'm trying to find easy hair styles that does not involved heat. Here is what the Cornrows looked liked. I also did this to my hair the day before. I have my roots twisted but they don't.
This afternoon I took their hair down after their school day was finished. It's thick and wavy. I don't have the Tomoka's Twists yet so I took two hairpins and pushed the sides up and back. I'm excited to try the Tomoka's twist hair accessories. They are so cute! So here is what they look like now with their big wavy hair. They are so happy about their hair now. All the smiles came out when they looked in the mirror. It feels good to like your hair!

Guiding Encouragment.

So I got up today and decided to braid and band my hair. The first two times I did inside braids. This time I did outside braids and it came out wavier than last time. I’m not sure if I like it yet. I think I’d like it to be some where in-between. This is a good hairstyle for my transitioning. It’s giving me some practice on the braiding and banding. So far so good. My hair is growing well. I found the hair growth guide in the Going Natural book interesting. Last week I took a strand of my hair and laid it on the guide. I placed a clear cover over it to take a picture of it. It s been about 4 months since I made the decision to go natural.


According to that guide I have about 2.5 inches of natural hair growth. Now my question has been asked but not answered, is this how you measure natural African American hair? I’ve seen some stretch it out and wondered if this was right. The hair in the photo is not stretched, just flattened for photo sake. I've also noticed the different textures on my head. I don’t think I will be contacting a consultant just yet. I want a bit more growth before going to the consultant again.
I have found this time around I don't have that urge to perm at all. My husband has been a great encouragement to me in this whole process. He's told me he likes my hair and is happy to see me with my hair like this. He says he loves the texture and how soft it is. It is weird because I have to get used to him having his fingers in my hair now. I'm not used to it but love it when he reaches over and feels my hair. It is such a blessing to hear his compliments on this journey. I am enjoying this journey. So far so good with the transitioning!

Reading up

Ok, so today I had sort of a bad hair day. It wasn't bad I just was blah about my hair. I couldn't decide on how I wanted to wear it today. I started out with two braids in the back then decided to just wear it pulled back on the sides. Yesterday I had it all curled and felt good about it. The mist from the shower made my curls fall. So I had blah hair today. I'm still wearing the twists.
I bought some natural hair books. I got

Curl Talk: Everything You Need to Know to Love and Care for Your Curly, Kinky, Wavy, or Frizzy Hair

Hair Rules!: The Ultimate Hair-Care Guide for Women with Kinky, Curly, or Wavy Hair

Going-Natural: How to Fall in Love with Nappy Hair [Illustrated]

Organic Body Care Recipes

Locs for Life: The Root to Well Being for African-American Women

I just finished Locs for Life. I read this whole book on a plane from Los Angeles to St. Louis. It was a short good read. I did learn a bit about locs. The author talks of her experience with her natural hair. I think most women with kinky hair can identify with her struggles of dealing with hair and fitting into society's views.

I haven't started reading the other books just yet. I did thumb through the book Going-Natural. It has an hair growth measurement guide that interested me. You can see the measurement guide it if you click on the link and view the book online.

I'm excited about the Organics Body Care Recipes books since reading The Green Beauty Guide. I've become interested more in the green sort of living. One of the things I think about is just how much damage has relaxing my hair done to my hair and scalp over the years. The chemicals that are in the relaxers are scary. That just makes reading about natural choices and alternatives more appealing.

Aside from the books, I did see a website that was interesting. http://naturalsuccess.ning.com/ it is a wonderful site!