"I have BIG hair! Looks like Cotton Candy! Yummy Candy!"- Chad Ona Sullivan

If only I had a dime for every minute I spent on hair and skin care, I'd adopt another child!  I never imagined how much time I would spend on hair care for my boys.  I guess I should be more specific Chad's hair.  Ian still has fine thin baby hair.  Hopefully one day it will grow in, but for now I am enjoying the ease of Ian's hair.

Chad on the other hand....he has the kinkiest hair I have ever seen.  I am still absolutely in awww of how tight it is.  Just look at this.  That little black circle is Chad's curl.  It is almost 4 inches long if streched out staight!

I know it would be much easier on me just to shave it down.  But the back of his head is really really flat and he looks so much cuter with hair.  And I just love his hair!  Unfortunately, I was not using the right products for his hair until recently.  His hair was hard and dry.  I didn't know this wasn't normal until I felt the hair of one of Chad's new friends, a fellow adopted Congolese girl.  (Yeah, I am the ignorant white mom).  Her hair was soooo soft.  So, I began to rethink our hair care products.  The products I was using seemed to work for  most afican american children, but my boy has A LOT more african in him!

I asked one of the more veteran OFA parents, Cami.  She gave me a list of products from Miss Jessy's.  I about had a cow when I saw the price of these products!  But I do not want Chad to be known as the "poor little black boy who has a white mama who does NOT know what she is doing with his hair".  So, I bought shampoo, conditioner, Rapid Recovery Treatment, and Baby Buttercream.

Well, I was absolutely AMAZED by the difference in Chad's hair after one use of these products.  It was so soft and it was so much easier to pick through.  Which was a blessing, we spent I am guessing at least 20 minutes a day picking this boy's hair out.  If it was not done twice daily, it would be IMPOSSIBLE to pick out the next day.

Here is a picture of some twists I tried a few months ago.  I made the twists to big, so they only stayed in for a few days.  I didn't like them well enough to have them lock.

So, Megan introduced me to the NUDRED.  You have to watch the video. I really wich I had known about this product before I spent 3 days twisting Chad's hair!  If you haven't noticed, Chad does not like to sit still!  So, I twisted while he ate  and even while he sleeped.I have done part of Chad's hair with it and it is a real time saver!  If his was shorter, it would be breeze to make little twists!  To most of you all's suprise Chad's hair is close to 4 inches long when it is stretched out!  But I am thinking of getting it cut just so I can use the NUDRED on him with ease.  I apologize the music is REALLY annoying, but it is amazing how quickly this guys hair transforms in front of your eyes!

Today, I tried something for the first time.  I used Missy Jessy's products and blow dried his hair combing it out continuously.  This gave him a little Afro.  The pictures don't show it very well.  I should have spent a little more time blow drying it out.  As some parts are much longer than others.  After, I finisheded, Chad looked in the mirror and said, "I have BIG hair!  Looks like cotton candy, yummy candy!"   And well, it did.

So, his hair is somewhat under control.  Now we have skin issues : (   I thought we had his skin under control, but now he has this dry skin rash on his face.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with african skin, it takes a lot of work to keep it healthy.  Last winter, we would apply a lotion and then a vaseline type product on top of it THREE times a day.  Yes, they were greasy little boys.  I had greasy hand prints on all of our windows, but without doing this their skin would get ashy gray and dry.  With two babies, I felt like this was and changing diapers was all I did!

So, all you mothers of african babies out there, what are you using on the skin?