Hair stuff part 2

A while ago I blogged about my new hair. Now I'm back, because anyone who has even a little wave (and would like curly hair) should know this. Basically anyone who is not perfectly happy with their hair should know this.

Last summer, because of J's allergy issues we had to switch all products containing detergents. Laundry, dish washing liquid, cleaning, toothpaste and also shampoo. Detergents come in many forms but the most common one is sodium lauryl sulfate. What I did not know is how these products were affecting me too. I thought that my hair got better because I switched to organic products and vinegar rinse, (this most likely helped too) but it turns out the biggest culprit is the same SLS!! 

This is how my hair is now, after shower, no styling products and in an a/c'd room so no humidity to explain the result. This is my natural hair.... (Pardon the natural face too ;) )

How many hours have I wasted with an iron trying to get my hair do this??! So, after some googling it seems that this actually is old news to some. They wrote a book about it too. How come no one told me?? So in case I'm not the only one who missed it it is called the curly hair method and for sure worked like magic to me. Without me knowing it. Good bye irons. Good bye wasted time curling only to have them drop as soon as I leave the house. It's crazy curly and natural.

I don't have access to Finnish shops now, so I don't know if supermarket brands have sulfate free versions. But the flow shampoo bar for blondes (because I still believe I'm one, at least a little bit) is not too expensive and lasts a long while. Beware that using this product you won't need to shampoo your hair that often anymore - depending on my activities 2 to 3 times a week keeps it clean. And I used to wash my hair every day with shampoo. And by the next day it felt nasty. Slowly your scalp will adjust.

Crazy, huh! Now all I need to do is wait for it to grow a bit :)

life lessons on friendship

moving to the other side of the world has had its ups and downs. leaving all of my friends behind was definitely a downside to the change. it has been a learning experience on friendship over the last six months, starting from how do people react when you say you are leaving. some are exited for you, some not so much.

interestingly some friendships, i would say the true ones, have grown stronger, i feel just as connected as i did in Finland even more so somehow. but then there are those friendships that even before i left i started to feel them cool down. i don't open up easily, and it is very hard for me to trust anyone fully, and yet each time that i get disappointed it still hurts. i feel sad for these friends that i thought i had made for life, who have felt the need to shut me out of their lives. nothing is ever permanent, and for me the boundaries of friendship should not be only physical, and a true friend can be there for you over the phone, email or just in thoughts. 

i'm glad i still have my true friends back home, waiting and asking when will we be vising, booking skype appointments etc. i know that those friends will be there for me no matter what. and i hope they know that i will also be there for them, always.

 

Love yourselves. And love each other. Happy Easter everyone!

my BIG boy

My little Max has had no interest at all to potty training. I tried it a few weeks back but wrestling a kid to pee wasn't giving any results, so I gave up quite fast - like after 2 minutes. :)

You can imagine my surprise when few days ago a naked guy (last seen clothed) enters our bedroom, and goes into our toilet. This is what I found:

He was peeing. His way. With toys. Standing up on the toilet seat. His style. Since then he has kept it up. No trying to make him sit. That would just be way to simple for my little monkey. <3 br="">

My little medic

Today Julius wanted to play doctor for the first time in his life. I was to be a patient and he would tend to my wounds accordingly. Clearly the poor boy knew what he is doing. So many wound treatments under the belt. But maybe a future profession?? The care and precision he was showing implies there is a talent... Or maybe that's just proud mama talking.. I missed the first part of cleaning the wound...

Putting medicine lotion

Remembered that at the hospital they use a stick to apply it to wounds.

Cutting some "gauze" as you can see at this point I already had two wounds all wrapped up.

 Finalizing.

At this point M grabbed the iPad and I missed the final shot. It was so sweet though. He is becoming such a big boy. And what attention to detail!!!

Room #1

The previous post was written before the love, but got jammed up in the drafts with all the hassle of the more. 

We are now staying for the fourth night in the new place.

Home sweet HOME.
At the moment I'm enjoying a quiet moment. There's the fan blowing some air, and I can hear some frogs outside. But quiet. Kids and Tonny are fast asleep and I am alone in our living room. I'm sitting on a duvet cover leaning on a pillow, and the only furniture in the room is shoe rack and four dining chairs that we finally got yesterday. No sofa, tv, dining table, curtains - not even a carpet. But I'm happy. At peace. There is something about privacy and independence that empowers me.

I'm taking it one room at a time and because I want them to love our new home, the kids came first. If i knew how to draw i would have pursued a life in interior design. As it is now, i just get to plan with our homes. With the kids i wanted color, color, color. But with a twist. And let me tell you, our fundi had to repeat some libes a couple of times before i was happy with the end result. 

    Entrance, you can see the little table got a different color this time. Not a very bright idea to put white table for kids. :(

We are missing some tinga tinga mini stools I have fallen in love with for the table and big pillows under the bed for comfy reading corner (I'm too old to climb up to the bed). Maybe some paintings on the wall but otherwise they are all set.

The boys are in heaven. All of a sudden I'm not needed 24/7 anymore, rather I need struggle to get them away from their games during meal and nap time.

Next up is kitchen...

Meaning of Home

You hear the saying -you don't know what you got, until it's gone- often in love songs. But what I've come to realize is that it applies to many things in life. Most recently home. I've lived by myself since my early twenties and even before that would like to think that I was quite independent. (I'm sure my siblings will be rolling their eyes right about now..) I couldn't even gather how much effort it would take to live under other people's rules again. Don't get me wrong, I am truly grateful to my in-laws that they graciously took us in. It was not even a discussion, but rather expected. But culture-shock aside, the independent woman inside me started to rebel - fast. Of course it is so easy now to be all understanding and zen about it, but in the heat (literal and figurative) of the moment it is harder to hold my tongue. So I think us moving out will be the best for everyone.

Our new home is tiny, but enough for us. J&M will have their own room, we our bedroom (wow) small living/dining area and a little kitchen. I will have to use all my creativity to make it work for us, but I am up for the challenge. The little designer in me is anxious to hit the paint shop tomorrow. We don't want to stay in the fumes so we try to paint and clean everything before finally moving there.

The thing is that we own precisely three pieces of furniture in this part of the world. Our bed. Kids bed/storage unit and their little table. Aside from that we have ikea kids plates and cups and total of 6 muumi cups. Not to forget forks and knifes. Pole pole sasa. 

Welcome to visit and sit on the floor :). Well I've been reading a lot about minimizing property, getting rid of the unnecessary. You could call this is jump start. Nothing to get rid of (except a pile of clothes that fall off of me) only buying what we truly need. How about that.