One Year Ago

It is so amazing to think of the many changes we have faced in the year since Eden walked into the Medford airport, into our family and home!  I promise I have a whole post on just that, but I have been amazed lately at how much her hair has grown, and for those of you who don't understand about African hair, that is no little thing!!  It takes a lot of tender, loving, care to keep Eden's hair happy so it can grow!

One year ago, shortly after she came home.

He hair is in braids, so it is stretched to it's maximum length.

Mom was still doing a lot of learning...

This picture was taken at KVI, before she came to America.

This picture was taken last week!  Look at how long her braids are!!

He hair is well past her shoulders.

We loved her big hair in her school pict this year.

I think part of learning the ropes with Eden's hair is knowing how to deal with shrinkage.  While shrinkage is not a big deal, if you want to have nice, long braids, or have her hair straighter and more length, then banding her hair after wash day, or braiding always helps.  I love her hair no matter which way, but if you want to define curls then you have to use quite a bit of hair product and / or water, which in turn, makes her hair wet, which causes shrinkage.  For her school pictures I did not put any defining product in her hair for curls.  The main goal is that her hair is heathy and doesn't get dried out, because that causes breakage.  Anyway, it's fun to see the fruit of our labors...healthy, maintained, happy hair!!