Back when I pulled the ligaments in my back I couldn’t lift my right arm for a few days which meant I couldn’t do Mayci’s hair without severe pain. So Jamie stepped in and with my guidance he got her hair into a fine ponytail. Mayci did not trust him doing her hair at all. Her facial expressions were hilarious.
Last time Anthony went to the barber he asked for a fancy design to be cut into the side of his hair. He didn’t quite understand that it would be there until his hair grew back. He thought it would rub off. The next morning he ran to the mirror first thing and we so excited that his design was still there. He was just so delighted with his fancy hair.
Bubble braids and lots of tiny flower clips made for a super cute hairstyle on crazy hair day!
This one is just a quick and simple double ponytail braided into three braids each with ballies at the ponytail bases and Gabby Bows on the ends of the braid.
Little kid (no hair added) box braids have become my specialty. I’m getting faster and faster at doing the braids. Mayci always asks for rainbow beads. She likes to be colorful (she regularly tells her oldest sister she doesn’t have nearly enough braids because of course Haley needs rainbow beads, too).
After reading a biography about the Williams sisters, Mayci wanted her hair done with ALLLLL the beads. I was worried that even though the white beads were extremely lightweight, doing them around her whole head would just be too heavy at her age. So we compromised and put in two thick double braids in the back. I was so worried the bands holding the beads in place would break at school (they didn’t).
This is another quick and easy style. One ponytail up on top and two in the back with each one split into two braids. Ballies and big yellow beads completed the look.
I absolutely love Mayci’s hair up in twists. It’s truly my favorite style to do tiny twists all over her head. Takes a long time, but totally worth it.
For Mayci’s recital I did box braids with some fancy beads (sadly the color on several of the beads wore off rather quickly so that was a disappointment). I was able to pull it up the way they wanted for the show and she was just totally cute.
Another box braid style, this time for Fourth of July with a little bit of red, white, and blue in the beads. I love how the same style can look so fresh with just a different bead color.
Another quick style inspired by someone on Instagram. Ponytail with colorful elastics, beads, ballies, and tons of braids… so much is going on with this colorful style. I even learned how to secure ballies to the end of her braids when I did this one. So cute!
To get nice, sharp parts I put Shine ‘n Jam in her hair along where I want the part to be and then use a rattail comb to make the actual part.
Once I have the piece of hair I am working on next sectioned, I comb through some cream and then some Shine ‘n Jam (I don’t necessarily do the cream if I wash and style in one day, but since it had been two days, I figured more cream wouldn’t hurt).
Then I do whatever I’m planning on to the section of hair. This time I did two strand twists. I love how two strand twists look on her.
I get a few beads set up ahead of time. These beader things make it so easy to get them on her hair.
Once the beads are on her hair, I twist tiny black elastics around and around the hair above the bottom bead to hold them in place.
Pretty!
I put oil on all her parts. I reoil her parts every two or three days. Mayci loves the way the oil makes her feel so sometimes she’ll ask for them now.
All done!
Pretty twists!
The last time I did Mayci’s hair, because of how our schedule worked out that weekend, we split the work into three days. The first day I took out her braids. The second day I washed her hair.
We have a Shampoo Time mat in order to wash her hair in the sink. I don’t know why I waited so long to get this thing. It’s so helpful.
The first shampoo.
I shampoo her hair twice. I learned to do this from Kanisha at Tutus and Tennis Shoes. (I also shampoo my own hair twice now… changed my life, man.)
And the conditioner! All together it takes 10-15 minutes to shampoo and condition her very, very thick hair.
Isn’t she the cutest?
I quickly section her hair into halves and then each half into thirds. Then I put liquid (detangler) and cream in her hair and brush all the tangles out. She ends up with the most amazing ringlets.
Look at all that gorgeous, healthy hair!
The secret of our hair success is The Magic Three from Tutus and Tennis Shoes. When Mayci arrived her hair was dry and brittle, constantly breaking. A few months of using this stuff and her hair has been healthy ever since.
Since I washed her hair on Friday and was going to unable to style it until Monday, Mayci asked if I would do Anna braids.
Beautiful young lady!
Cute little photo bomber back there.
Every month we get a shipment of Tutus and Tennis Shoes Magic Three and this month included in the box was a book, Harriet’s Yellow Jacket by Analise Harris and illustrated by Adri Norris.
Mayci was so thrilled with this book. She carried it around with her looking through it for about three hours after I first read it to her. She told me she, too, has had problems with her jacket hood not fitting because her hair was too big.
She looked at the picture of the author and excitedly told me that the author has hair just like hers. So much excitement from this book all because the characters and author look like her. Representation matters. Seeing yourself in a book (or TV show or video game or whatever else) is important.
When Anthony moved in with us he was super tender headed and not used to having his hair touched. He’s been with us 2 1/2 years now and through a lot of work and persistence, he loves to have his hair done now. Sometimes his hair got done with him locked between my legs on my lap. Sometimes he screamed and covered his head. I got real good at getting it done fast. But it was never an option to not get his hair done or for him to look a mess. I gave him choices like using a comb or just my fingers at the beginning trying to get him comfortable with things touching his head. I kept his hair cut very short for a long time. He’s still on the tender-headed side so we still keep his hair short (though not as short as we used to) and I try to be extra gentle and get any tangles out without pulling too much. But his hair is beautiful and healthy now and there are no tears (his or mine) at hair time anymore.
A few weeks ago Zeke and Mayci performed in a dance recital, both doing tap routines. They’ve both been taking ballet and tap once a week since August.
The girls Zeke danced with were wearing similar costumes to what Mayci had except in yellow. One thing is for sure… the girl costumes at this recital were WAY cooler than Zeke’s!
Mayci’s hair had to be half up/half down and they said I could do a few beads. I did braids and really more than a few beads. Between her hair and her costume she was super adorable.
Smaller on the Outside 