I'm really getting into Valencia's hair so I have to post again. I braided it again this week and tried 2 colors of hair this time. I think it turned out really cool.
I decided to add one row of beads to spice it up.


I gave Tallie a row of beads too for fun.


Here are a couple funny pics of Beckett. That boy is soooo cute.
He's into gloves lately and HAD to wear these when we left the house.
I put him in his chair for breakfast and on his own he decided to say a prayer. How cute!

1 year appointment

Valencia had her 1 year home doctor's appointment yesterday. I was very interested to see how much physically she's changed in the year that she's been home. You will not believe the results of a balanced diet (that includes veggies!) and exercise (they did a lot of sitting and laying around in the orphanage).

In one year Valencia has grown 8 inches and gained 3 lbs!

Isn't that amazing??

Hair Braiding

I've made my first attempt to braid in extensions for Valencia myself. I thought I'd give it a try since the difference in cost is $4 vs $70. I watched a couple youtube videos and was ready to go.

Since it took almost an entire Saturday just to take out her old braids I had to leave her hair out for the week before doing it and here's what she looked like:
I learned from a Haitian woman recently that vaseline is the wonder product for her hair and it's true! A little vaseline , well, a lot of vaseline makes her hair look great.


First... the supplies:

Here she is almost done. It took three movies to complete -- that's a lot of sitting! I was worried she wouldn't sit for me as good as the women at the salon, but she was really good (I think it had something to do with the movies!). Tallie and Beckett enjoyed watching movies ALL DAY too.
In the end it turned out okay - actually I was pretty proud of myself. I got better as I went along and luckily you start underneath so the first braids aren't noticeable. The only thing I didn't do great was pull the hair tight enough. The next day she looked like she'd gotten her braids done a few weeks ago, so unfortunately they're not going to last as long but that's okay. She loves her new long hair and we'll try again. Next time I think I want to try putting in beads.
What's funny is I didn't take a picture when we were all done. I think we were all tired and it was bed time by the time I did the last one.