Week 26: Thanksgiving and More!

This week was very eventful!

First, the holidays. My husband and I had a Pre-Thanksgiving party for all our friends on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. I cooked a turkey (which turned out awesome by the way--little tip: cook the turkey breast-side down), stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, and gravy, and everyone else brought lots of food. It was delicious and tons of fun! Although, I think it's getting a little harder to host big parties like that because I get tired so easily.

Then we went to Santa Barbara to visit my uncle for Thanksgiving. We got to spend a lot of time with my 6 year old cousin which was really fun and interesting for us. For one thing, Aaron loves kids and he spent nearly all his time hanging out with her. It was so adorable. They played video games and other games together and it was so sweet to get a tiny picture of our future with a kid. He's going to be the best father ever! On the other hand, we took her out on a walk one day and she got bored very easily. I wanted to keep walking and going, but she wouldn't do it. And, she got hungry. So, we had to stop, get her some food, and cut our time out short. Then, she got something in her eye and we couldn't even make it back to the car. I had to wait with her while Aaron got the car so we could take her home ASAP. This was a really interesting learning experience for me. I think I'm really going to have to learn how to be flexible and open-minded. Kids don't always follow my agenda (if they ever do). I think I'm in for a big adjustment!

Second, I decided to dye my hair. Before you get upset that I polluted my body and my baby with chemicals, let me say that I did not make this decision lightly. My doctor's office said that you could not dye your hair during the first trimester and, fundamentally, I am against doing it at all during pregnancy. But then my doctor said that she did it while she was pregnant and she didn't seem to think it was a big deal. I did my own independent research on hair dyes and pregnancy and found very conflicting opinions and research. Everything from "It's no big deal! Go for it" to "absolutely never ever." In the end, it looks like research has been inconclusive. So, I did some research on natural dyes that worked and semi-natural dyes (like Aveda) and decided I would do Aveda, since they have very few chemicals in their hair dye. Then, I found the cosmetics database online which rates all kinds of skin, hair, and makeup products for potential toxins and I found out that Aveda was ranked 6 out of 10 (10 being the most toxic) and really wasn't that great after all. But, it was less toxic than most hair dye. So, considering this, and that I could save money by dyeing my hair at home, I found another hair dye rated the same as Aveda that I could do at home. And I used that. I wouldn't have done it at all, except my hair was three different colors from dyeing it blond last year.