hair update and my baby is so smart!

so, I caved in last night and relaxed my hair. yep, no more frizzy roots for me. to be honest my curly hair had become pretty unmanageable. I would comb it each and every day and my roots would still be knotted or frizzy. Even straightening my hair with a flat iron didn't work because the knots were so bad. I tried using an olive oil concoction that I made. It softened my curls, but in a few days I was back to knots. I do feel somewhat defeated, but not really. I know you're not supposed to relax your hair while pregnant, but I bought a mild, all-natural kind of relaxer and made sure the bathroom was fully ventilated. I do not think I could've gone to a salon because of all the fumes, so doing it at home worked best. In addition, most doctors say that one can return to dyeing and using other chemical processes on one's hair once she hits the second trimester, so I feel pretty safe about it. Plus JT is kicking and moving around as I type this. So, he hasn't been harmed. Plus, I wanted to do it now when my hair is strong from all the prenatal vitamins and junk. Once JT arrives my hair will be depleted of nourishment.
So, what did I discover in my 7 months of having chemical-free hair?
1. I do not need to relax my hair every six weeks. While my roots weren't straight like they are now, they were manageable for a good four months. So, I propose relaxing my hair once every season.
2. my hair grew really fast. this could be because of the prenatal vitamins, but I think a large part of it has to do with not being exposed to chemicals every month and limiting the amount of heat I put on my hair. My hair is down my back now. It's never been that long before.
3. i can have relaxed hair and still wear it curly. most people with curly hair have rather tame roots and a curly shaft. my situation was the opposite. I can still make my shaft curly with my Mixed Chicks products, but I need something to keep my roots wavy/smooth
4. it's okay to use chemicals on your hair. I really wanted to be this earthy, crunchy granola mama (I still do). I think it's okay to admit that my hair is not going to be tame without some sort of chemical on it. Just like eventually, I will have to dye my hair (I haven't seen a grey hair yet, but I don't doubt that motherhood will cause them arrive)

okay, so now onto my baby. did you know that June is the month for smart babies to be born? Mr. Soup really wants our baby to be born in May. I sort of do to, but that's just for work reasons. I'd rather start my maternity leave early than take time off in the fall. That's another story though. However, more kids with high IQs were born in June. I believe this to be true because--
1. JT only kicks or moves around a bunch when I'm not at work. It's like he knows I have to deal with crazy kids and is saying, "don't worry, mama. I'll just sleep." okay so maybe it's just because that's when he wants to do some of his 12-14 hours of sleeping. In my book it's genius.
2. he knows who we are! well, he knows who his daddy is. he doesn't really respond to my voice, but let Mr. Soup talk to my belly or even just walk into the room and have a normal conversation with me, and JT goes crazy!! He starts kicking and moving. He gets so excited to hear his daddy. I think it's something about Mr. Soup's deep voice. I hope that's the case because I really can't stand to think of us talking in high-pitched baby talk. *shudders*
other updates:
-painting JT's nursery 3/19. We've got so much stuff for his nursery! I can't wait to post pictures. It's going to be so cute! i'm having a painting party with my girls while Mr. Soup is out of town.
-the next couple of months will be devoted to JT. birthing classes, infant safety classes, breastfeeding classes, breast-pumping classes, etc are all on the calendar. we're trying to throw in some fun things for us as well.
-we've narrowed down our new car choices to Honda Odyssey (most expensive, but best mini-van on the market), Toyota Sienna, and Mazda 5.
-we've completed a sibling set of names. not sure why we feel the need to have a sibling set completed, especially since we don't know if we'll have more kids after JT (I know, I know...how could you say that, Mrs. Soup? right now I can't imagine loving another kiddo as much as I love JT. I know that will change, but right now that's how I feel) and we probably won't be having 4 kids! I've posted our names before, but now we have a second girl choice. we didn't notice this trend, but all our potential kids' names have four letters. that helped us narrow down a 2nd girls' name.
Joel Tariq - our first boy. Joel in honor of his grandfather and deceased uncle. Tariq means Morning Star in Arabic.
Adam Le0 - Adam and Joel seem like siblings and Leo is in honor of his maternal grandfather and uncle (both their middle names are Leo)
Lena/Lina Elise - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this name! I better have one freaking' girl!
Skye Francesca - we both love Skye for a girl and Francesca is in honor of Mr. Soup's deceased grandmother Frances. I know there are no girl names from my side of the family in this set, but there is literally nothing I would consider using. nothing at all. I know Skye is not a classic name, but it is actually a name and it's simple. I think pairing it with a classic girly name like Francesca makes it work well. The spelling is unique without be yoo-neek (see my previous posts on purposely misspelled name)

transition hair

the last time I relaxed my hair was July 2010, so I'm almost six months into being relaxer free. I will say it's not as easy as I thought it would be. My reasons for giving up on relaxing my hair were not profound. I didn't wake up with a sense of African pride or join some kind of back to natural movement. In fact, there have been days where I have blown my hair straight because it was just easier than trying to make curls. Yes. Make curls. Since I'm in the transition stage, Half of my hair is straight from previous relaxers and my new growth is curly. I'm trying to grow my curly hair out to my natural hair's length. I'm avoiding doing what people term "the big CHOP!" I do think I need to do a mini-chop. I have quite a few dead ends. I think I may do it tomorrow.
Okay, so here are my reasons for going natural:
Mr. Soup and I were trying to conceive and I knew I would have to give up coloring and relaxing my hair if I got pregnant, so I decided to stop it early.
healthier hair and scalp
money saver
I've started reading hair blogs for tips. This is my favorite so far. Nikki is about my age and a new mother. She went natural in '07 and even wore her hair natural in her wedding (she looked stunning, may I add) Unlike her husband, my husband actually prefers my hair natural. He's been my biggest supporter and he actually encouraged me to stop relaxing my hair (I'm hoping his reasons weren't economically motivated). Okay so here is a link to her blog: Curly Nikki
I often wonder what Baby Soup's hair will be like, especially if she is a girl. Hair defines so much of who we are. For me as a child is was a source of pride, but also brought on low self-esteem at some points in my life. I wanted to fit in and have straight hair like my mom's, but my hair was so tightly coiled. We tried everything to make it "behave." My mom was a real trooper though, and I think she's very happy that I have embraced my natural hair. I guess I will let my daughter choose what she wants to do with her hair, just as my mom did. I just hope she sees the natural beauty she possesses.