Crucianize

Tag: Expat

  • Back to School 2022-2023

    Back to School 2022-2023

    Summer has come and gone so quickly, I thought I was going to accomplish more but life showed me that I shouldn’t make plans for the future.

    I meant to post this in early September when the school year had just started but we’re now heading into the fifth week of school and it’s almost October. I’ve been very behind on my blogging, but I’m here to share my update now.

    My daughter is two and a half years old and she could have gone to school this September if only she was potty trained, I said to myself that I was going to potty train her over the summer break but she’s just not ready. She won’t sit on the potty, she doesn’t really say when needs to pee or poop, and she doesn’t say that she has a dirty diaper. If I don’t smell it or change her frequently she would be fine to just sit in her dirty diaper all day.

    People told me that girls were easier to potty train than boys but I’m not seeing any truth in this, my son would at least sit on the potty my daughter just refuses, she will cry and scream if you even suggest it so I don’t.

    I bought her some underwear to wear but she goes through them so fast that I’m beginning to see that I need much more than 20.

    Slowly but surely we’ll get there so I’ll be trying not to stress too much about this.

    Other than potty training woes we didn’t really do much or go anywhere.

    The Village

    We’ve been to The Village before, several times in fact but not frequently so we took the kids there so they could run around in the play area and have some summer fun.

    After the children played we visited The Waffle Factory which is a restaurant that serves only waffles. I got waffles covered in white chocolate and Naveen got waffles and whipped cream. My husband had waffles covered in milk chocolate. Oyanie refused to eat any of the waffles and choose to drink all the lemon water instead. The waffles were a bit difficult to cut especially with the flimsy wooden fork and knife they gave us. Marvin was in the middle of cutting his waffle when his fork snapped. I joked and said he used all his muscles on it.

    The Aquarium

    Going to the aquarium has been a dream of mine since moving here and we finally got to go.

    We decided to go in the afternoon, the drive there probably took us half an hour and we spent two hours vising all that tanks and watching short movies, Naveen and Oyanie seemed to have really enjoyed themselves and Naveen made sure to tell me all about the fishes he saw and the sharks were one of his favorites to see.

    Naveen was really excited when he saw a Blue Tang, he told me he saw Dory but no Neemo, a couple of tanks over I spotted a clownfish swimming in and out of an anemone and pointed it out to him when he yelled out Mami look Neemo! it made me really happy that he could see these fish in person.

    Pool time

    Since we are not near to any beaches and were not planning of traveling to one this year we made do with going to my in-laws and enjoying their pool.

    Both of my children love the water and do not want to leave the pool anytime they get in it. Naveen definitely got a sun tan with all his sun exposure while swimming around with my husband’s cousins as well as their own cousins.

    Back to School

    Back to School for us was on September 1st. Naveen is in CM1 which is the French equivalent to 4th grade. Oyanie and I had to wake up early to take him to school, pick him up for lunch, drop him back after lunch, and pick him up after school.

    It was the worst experience of my life, there were so many people jammed in front of the gate all trying to force their way in to drop their children off. I felt very uneasy with people stepping over the stroller or standing right up against my back, someone even touched my butt and I hated every second I had to spend waiting in that crowd of bodies.

    The second day I decided I would leave the stroller home and we’d just walk until it was lunchtime Oyanie said her feet were “fatigués” which sounded like fatigee to my ears. I thought that if she was so tired I’ll just use the stroller next time but she refused so we walked again after school she was really tired and I got the stroller out which she did not like at all. Oyanie, when she doesn’t get a chance to nap, is a monster, she screamed, she cried, she threw things, I thought for sure she would sleep in the stroller but she did not and I don’t know how to include a nap into our busy schedule. If I let her nap after we drop Naveen off after lunch I’ll have to wake her up during her nap and she hates that just as much.

    I really hope I won’t have such a busy schedule next week because we both need her to have her afternoon nap.

    The 2nd week

    The 2nd week went by much more smoothly, we don’t use the stroller at all anymore but sometimes I wish we did, when Oyanie’s little legs get tired of walking or she stumbles and falls she wants me to pick her up and carry her on my hips and walk is a workout, when we finally reach home my whole body is sore, my shoulders ache, my back ache, my legs ache, I know she won’t go in the stroller even if I bring it though. I have also gotten used to not having to try to find space to push the stroller through.

    My baby absolutely loves picking up her brother at school, she gets to walk on her own, she points out all the airplanes she sees, they are her favorites, she gets really excited when she sees one in the sky and will scream with joy and point at it. She also likes stopping to smell the flowers and picks one every chance she gets, she almost always ends up dropping it before we reach the school when Naveen finally walks out the gate she runs up to him and hugs him saying “Vee-veen!”.

    I am unimportant from that point forward, she wants to hold her brother’s hand, run with him, follow him, play with him, she wants to do everything with him, unfortunately, Naveen is hitting pre-teen years which means he doesn’t always want to be with his baby sister. He will ignore her, not hold her hand or tell her to leave him alone and it breaks her heart. She cries so much when does that and then she finally remembers me and comes to me for comfort.

    I remember those days so well from my own youth, my sisters frequently pushed me to the side and made me feel unwanted, I had my brothers though and I made sure never to make them feel like I didn’t want them around. I can’t force Naveen to play with his sister though, he will be nine and I recognize and understand that he needs his personal space. Still, I also recognize that with only two children they are pretty much the only close family either one will have and Oyanie just wants to spend time with her brother. I have not yet figured out a way to navigate this turbulent sea. My mother never forced my siblings and me to play together but sometimes I wished she had, maybe it wouldn’t have taken us so long to finally get along.

  • Glossybox – J’ai tenté ma chance

    Glossybox – J’ai tenté ma chance

    J’ai vu Glossybox apparaître sur mes publicités Facebook ainsi que d’autres influenceurs passer en revue les boîtes et je n’avais jamais été tentée avant que la boîte MAC n’apparaisse. J’ai décidé que je devais l’essayer.

    J’ai opté pour l’abonnement d’un mois, j’ai donc reçu la boîte de janvier en même temps que la boîte MAC et comme j’ai acheté après le 14 du mois, j’ai pensé que je n’allais pas être facturée pour un mois supplémentaire, d’autant plus que je me suis désabonnée dès que j’ai reçu mes deux boîtes.

    Imaginez ma surprise lorsque j’ai reçu un courriel indiquant qu’ils m’avaient facturé pour le mois de février. Je n’avais pas d’abonnement actif, mais j’avais encore des informations de paiement sur le site et ils m’ont quand même facturé. Inutile de dire que je n’étais pas contente. J’ai immédiatement supprimé mes informations de paiement et j’ai dû aller sur Paypal pour supprimer Glossybox comme paiement récurrent, c’est très important à savoir si vous utilisez Paypal comme option de paiement.

    Je vais commencer par la boîte MAC qui est ce que je voulais en premier lieu.

    MAC Glossybox

    Dans la boîte MAC, j’ai reçu :

    • Rouge à Lèvres Liquide Powder Kiss
    • In Extreme Dimension 3D Black Lash Mascara
    • Mini Rouge À Lèvres Mat (Mehr)
    • Fard À Paupières
    • Pinceau Fard À Paupières 239S
    • Strobe Cream
    • Prep + Prime Fix +

    J’ai été très satisfaite de cette boîte, le rouge à lèvres liquide est un peu désordonné, il est plus épais qu’un gloss donc je dois faire très attention à la façon dont je l’applique sinon il va dépasser les lignes de mes lèvres. Le mascara allonge merveilleusement mes cils, mais je préfère les mascaras waterproof, d’autant plus que j’ai les yeux secs et que lorsque je sors et qu’il y a du vent, mes yeux ont tendance à larmoyer, ce qui entraîne des bavures. Le mini rouge à lèvres n’est pas très visible sur mon teint mais je le préfère pour un look plus naturel. La seule chose que je n’ai pas appréciée dans cette boîte est le fard à paupières, simplement parce qu’il ne ressort pas du tout sur mon teint.

    Boîte de janvier

    Voici la boîte que j’ai commandée avec ma boîte MAC, la Glossybox de janvier.

    Cette boîte contient :

    • Spa To You brosse nettoyante
    • Coco Pure Detox Coffee gommage du visage
    • Masque de nuit pour les lèvres
    • Eyeliner liquide
    • Masque fondant hydratant
    Glossybox Janvier

    Le gommage pour le visage contient des coquilles de noix, ce qui est un signal d’alarme pour moi. Je n’ai pas la peau sensible, mais je n’utilise pas non plus de gommage sur mon visage, en particulier ceux qui contiennent des ingrédients susceptibles de provoquer des abrasions.

    Je n’ai pas du tout utilisé le gommage pour le visage, je l’utilise comme gommage pour les pieds et je dois dire qu’il fonctionne à merveille, mes pieds sont si doux après.

    En ce qui concerne les autres produits, je les trouve corrects, j’adore la brosse nettoyante pour le visage, le masque à lèvres de nuit est un peu douteux pour moi parce qu’il est très collant et je n’aime pas la sensation de l’avoir sur mes lèvres quand je vais dormir. J’adore l’eyeliner liquide, j’avais l’intention d’en acheter un et j’en suis très contente. Je n’ai pas encore essayé le masque fondant hydratant parce que c’est un tout petit flacon et que mes cheveux sont plutôt épais. Au mieux, je peux mettre mes cheveux en quatre sections et l’essayer sur l’une d’elles, mais je préférerais pouvoir l’essayer sur toute ma tête.

    Boîte de février

    et maintenant ma boîte surprise de février…

    Cette boîte contient :

    • Masque pour les yeux Collagen Boosting
    • Original Skin Lotion tonique
    • Le Gel Nettoyant Visage Purifiant
    • Shampoing Revitalisant Reddition
    • Vernis à ongles Mayfair Lane
    Glossybox Février

    J’ai essayé tous les produits, à l’exception du shampooing car, une fois de plus, il est bien trop petit pour que je puisse l’essayer. J’ai apprécié la plupart des produits à l’exception du masque, qui ne m’a pas semblé relaxant ou apaisant et ma peau était un peu sèche après avoir retiré le masque. J’aime beaucoup le toner, il a un parfum agréable et j’ai eu l’impression qu’il éliminait les impuretés tout en hydratant. Le gel nettoyant est correct, rien de vraiment spécial à son sujet, il fait ce qu’il doit faire. Le vernis à ongles n’est pas vraiment ma couleur préférée mais il tient très bien après une semaine comme couleur d’ongle d’orteil.

  • Cadeau de Noël pour moi- E.L.F Cosmetics

    Ce Noël, j’ai décidé de m’acheter un cadeau de Noël de E.L.F Cosmetics car je suis membre de leur site depuis un certain temps et je n’ai jamais rien commandé lorsque je vivais en France. J’ai utilisé leurs produits à plusieurs reprises lorsque je vivais dans les îles Vierges américaines, ils ont été mon introduction au maquillage. Sur notre île, nous n’avions pas de magasins Sephora, ni d’autres dont je ne me souviens plus du nom. Je suis désolée, sans vouloir vous offenser, mais je n’ai jamais fait de shopping là-bas, ni même vu de magasin. Pour se procurer du maquillage sur l’île, nous achetions soit au K-mart, soit chez les vendeurs Avon et Mary Kane.

    Lorsque je suis arrivée en France, E.L.F avait son propre site français, mais je n’achetais pas vraiment de maquillage à ce moment-là. J’avais cette palette de Nocibé que mon mari m’avait achetée et ça me convenait. Mais ils ont fermé et je les ai oubliés jusqu’à ce que j’apprenne que l’on peut commander sur le site de l’UE.

    J’ai commencé à me rappeler pourquoi j’aimais le maquillage et pourquoi cette sensation d’utiliser mon visage comme une toile et de faire des expériences me manquait. J’ai recommencé à acheter du maquillage et j’ai réalisé que j’avais besoin de nouveaux pinceaux car j’utilise les mêmes pinceaux ELF depuis plus de cinq ans. Il y a environ trois ans, j’ai acheté un jeu de pinceaux sur Amazon et, pour la plupart, ils étaient corrects, mais ils ont commencé à se désagréger au fur et à mesure que je les utilisais et j’ai décidé que si ELF pouvait me durer toutes ces années sans qu’ils se désagrègent, autant en acheter un nouveau jeu.

    J’ai acheté le set de pinceaux Radiant qui comprend 18 pinceaux, ce set est considéré comme de qualité professionnelle ce qui est très important pour moi, je veux que mes pinceaux durent. Le set comprend les pinceaux suivants :

    • Pinceau Contouring
    • Pinceau Fond de Teint Lustrant
    • Pinceau visage impeccable
    • Brosse de mélange
    • Brosse à plis
    • Pinceau fard à paupières “C”
    • Pinceau Duo Sourcils
    • Petite brosse de précision
    • Pinceau Eyeliner biseauté
    • Pinceau pointillé
    • Pinceau Poudre
    • Pinceau fard à joues
    • Pinceau anti-cernes impeccable
    • Brosse éventail
    • Pinceau de surbrillance
    • Pinceau Teint
    • Brosse correctrice
    • Brosse Sac

    Ce n’est pas tout ce que j’ai acheté, j’ai aussi acheté un exfoliant pour les lèvres parce que j’en voulais un depuis très longtemps et j’ai décidé de l’acheter en même temps, mais ce n’est pas tout, j’ai eu un duo de primer et de plumper pour les lèvres plus le tampon démaquillant réutilisable Mint Melt cleansing cloud. Comme ma commande s’élevait à plus de 30 €, j’ai reçu deux cadeaux gratuits, le fard à paupières Liquid Glitter et le gloss Retro Paradise dream On.

    Je vous donne maintenant mon avis sur les produits que j’ai achetés. Les pinceaux ont une odeur bizarre, mais je suppose que c’est dû au type de matériau utilisé pour le sac à pinceaux. L’odeur est devenue moins perceptible au fur et à mesure que j’ai utilisé les brosses, je n’ai pas eu de perte de poils, aucune des têtes n’est tombée, elles semblent être des brosses de qualité et je suis très satisfaite de mon achat.

    L’exfoliant pour les lèvres, malheureusement, ne me convient pas, je le trouve trop mou et trop friable, il ne m’a pas rendu les lèvres plus douces et n’a même pas éliminé les peaux mortes, j’en suis vraiment déçue. Il sent cependant très bon.

    Le duo de primer et de plumper pour les lèvres m’a également déçu, le primer pour les lèvres fonctionne assez bien, je trouve que mes rouges à lèvres restent plus longtemps et mes lèvres sont plus douces après l’avoir utilisé, il a un parfum lourd de cannelle si vous n’êtes pas un fan de ce parfum, je l’éviterais. Le plumper n’a pas du tout repulpé les lèvres, il a un effet gras de couleur jaunâtre, il ne m’a pas donné de picotement et n’a pas eu d’effet sur mes lèvres. Honnêtement, c’était juste comme un baume à lèvres.

    Pour ce qui est de mes deux cadeaux, je n’ai pas encore essayé l’ombre à paupières liquide, donc je n’en ferai pas la critique, le gloss est correct, il n’a pas vraiment de teinte, c’est plutôt quelque chose que l’on ajoute par-dessus un rouge à lèvres. Il est assez collant et je ne suis pas sûre d’en être fan.

    En ce qui concerne le Mint Melt cleansing cloud, disons que je suis une adepte.

    Je n’étais pas sûre de savoir comment cela fonctionnerait réellement, un simple chiffon pelucheux est censé enlever tout mon maquillage avec juste de l’eau ?

    Mais c’est exactement ce qu’il a fait, je ne peux même pas l’expliquer, je l’ai mouillé avec de l’eau chaude et il a enlevé mon ombre à paupières, mon rouge à lèvres, mon fond de teint et mon primer sans aucun problème !

    Le nettoyage a été très facile, il a suffi de le mettre dans la machine à laver et de le laisser sécher à l’air libre avec le reste de mon linge.

    Au final, je donne à l’ensemble de cette commande un 8 étoiles sur 10, les pinceaux sont facilement un 10 à eux seuls, le gommage je donnerais 4 étoiles, le duo primer et plumper aurait été 7 étoiles, et le cleansing cloud je donne 8 étoiles.

    Rating: 8 out of 10.

  • Comment être en forme en famille

    Comment être en forme en famille

    Cela fait un moment que je n’ai pas écrit un article sur nos aventures en tant que famille, mais pour être honnête cela fait un moment que nous ne sommes pas actifs grâce à covid.

    J’ai récemment été sélectionnée comme ambassadrice d’Explore Terre de Jeux 2024, ce qui a encouragé ma famille à être plus active. Nous avons choisi des activités qui peuvent être appréciées par tous les membres de notre famille, y compris les plus jeunes !

    Pour notre première aventure, nous avons visité le lac de la Rosière, à Bourgoin-Jailleu. Les enfants ont pu faire de l’exercice en jouant sur le petit terrain de jeu suivi d’une promenade autour du lac.

    La petite a vraiment aimé cette activité, même si elle a eu des vertiges.

    Ce fut une aventure réussie !

    Pour notre prochaine aventure, nous nous sommes aventurés un peu plus loin et avons visité la Cascade de la Roche à Saint-Baudille-de-la-Tour. Nous avons marché pendant une heure, en admirant les paysages et en faisant bouger nos corps, nous avons vu la magnifique cascade et profité de l’air frais.

    (En tant que photographe de la famille, je ne suis pas toujours sur les photos mais j’en ai pris quelques-unes cette fois-ci).

    Je pense que nous allons vivre d’autres aventures tout en restant en forme.

  • Getting Ready for my OPI Rainbow Voxbox

    *Includes Affiliate links

    Hey guys!

    So it’s been almost three weeks since I posted about looking forward to September, usually, I would have had my OPI Rainbow Voxbox at least two days after receiving the You’re In! email but…Covid.

    The days were passing without a box and everyone was getting worried because Influenster doesn’t provide International tracking so the tracker never moved past this:

    This campaign is active in the US, UK, and France and it seems the US got their boxes but the UK and French boxes were nowhere to be seen. I sent a message asking if the boxes had been shipped yet since no one in the UK or France received their boxes and afterward I received this email:

    Basically, the email is saying they just learned that I hadn’t received my box yet and they were experiencing shipping delays and I should expect my Voxbox in one to two weeks.

    My nails are jacked and I said I would look for some falsies to do the campaign. I honestly didn’t know what brand to get so I searched Amazon France for one with the best reviews. I found these by a brand called Vixi.

    https://amzn.to/3774v4M

    This set includes 600 nails of 10 different sizes. My hands are small, size 2.5 ring! With all these different sizes I know I will find a good match (I hope so anyway).

    The set comes with a little tube of glue but I’m not overly fond of the glues that come with false nails, they have a habit of being very weak. My nails will pop off the very next day if I don’t continuously reapply glue.

    I decided to buy a pack of glue made especially for false nails.

    https://amzn.to/3x8t6ks

    The pack includes 5 bottles of glue and a nail file. The set of nails also comes with a nail file and I have a few of my own already. You can never have enough nail files.

    It’s been about 5 days since the email about the delays so now it’s just a waiting game. I’m guessing I’ll get it around the same time as the package from Le Lab.

    Maybe I should say “What’s up, October?” or maybe not. I might jinx it again.

  • The last of them

    Leen

    That’s what my grandfather would call me. Said in his Dominican (Dominica) accented English.

    I have so many wonderful memories of him and with him. I can still hear him calling my brother Andre Champagne or hear him playing the guitar with us children gathered round in that little house in Peter’s Rest.

    I can see his photography hanging on the walls of my parent’s home. It was through him that I developed a love of photography, I always hoped that I could someday be as good as he was, I haven’t used my camera in a very long time and that makes this so much worse to me.

    I remember the Werther’s candy he always had for us kids. I loved them and will always think of my Grandpa when I see them. They don’t taste the same but I’ll buy a pack the next time I see one and just pretend for a moment that it’s the same one you used to share.

    I remember that one year when you had so many Sonic the Hedgehog tops, my brothers and I would color on a piece of paper, cut it out to fit on top of the top, and watch the pretty patterns it would make as it spun in a circle.

    I remember the last time I saw you, 2015, my mother brought me and my son to see you before we left the island for France. You held onto us and prayed for our safe journey.

    I didn’t grow up knowing my great grandparents but I’ll be damned if my children don’t know about their great grandfather Norbert.

    My grandfather was my last living grandparent, he fought that cancer for 18 long months, every message from home I dreaded those words, I knew it was coming but still…

  • My Weekend in Annecy

    My Weekend in Annecy

    Annecy, a city found in the Haute-Savoie department of France. It’s located in the southeastern part of France, where Lake Annecy feeds into the Thiou River, this city has been on my bucket list for a few years.

    I especially wanted to see Lake Annecy, La Vieille Ville, Pont des Amours, and Palais de l’Ile.

    We left on Saturday around 12 pm, the drive took around 2hrs, the weather was not the best, it was overcast and pretty chilly, yes, chilly in June! We’ve been having temperatures in the 50s which are about 12° Celsius.

    As we were driving my son would get really excited seeing the clouds covering the mountains and driving through mist.

    The most exciting thing though was driving through the mountains! I don’t mean over the mountains either, we drive through tunnels that went through the belly of the mountains, twice, and each time it was crazy.

    Yeah, yeah, you might have don’t this before, probably many times, for us especially coming from an island without any mountains it was something really special to see and experience. I only wish I had taken a picture.

    We reached the hotel about 2:55 or so, it was raining a bit and my husband realized we had forgotten the baby carrier, so there we were sans stroller and carrier so my husband had to heft the bag with our stuff and the little miss.

    We hurried into the hotel and quickly got our room key, strangely enough, there was only one key so we either had to all go out at the same time or some go and others stay behind. It was an ok hotel from the little I saw on our way to the room, there was a game room where Naveen wanted to spend some time. The elevator ride was terrible, it was so jerky, and I got bad motion sickness.

    When we arrived at the room I noticed it was kind of small, there were two full-size beds, one fairly close to the door and the other closer to the opposite wall, Naveen was only too happy to have such a big bed all to himself. I think miss lady believed the other one was for her.

    We took a little rest, change Oyanie’s diaper and feed her then we were off!

    First, we stopped at Burger King so that the bigger people could eat then we visited the lake, the rain was still coming down because we were closer to the lake the wind was really strong and those two things made it pretty cold.

    Without the carrier, Oyanie ended up wrapped in her father’s coat, we tried to keep her as warm as possible while taking in the sights.

    The Pont des Amours wasn’t far from the lake, just had to keep walking and there we were, a little ways from the bridge I spotted a giant bow and arrow. I haven’t been able to find any information on it yet but I probably am not searching for the right terms.

    Pont des Amours
    Giant Bow and Arrow

    Naveen was only too happy to have space to run around and explore. He wanted to keep walking but it was still raining and Oyanie was getting tired. We decided to head back to the hotel.

    For dinner we had pizza from Domino’s, it’s been many years since I’ve had a pizza from there, I found the pizzas to be pretty small, we ordered two and had really tiny containers of ice cream and some kind of dessert with chocolate. I didn’t eat the chocolate dessert. The ice cream was enough for me.

    It was a bit difficult to get Oyanie to sleep and after trying and trying she finally went to sleep but I ended up not being able to fall asleep, I don’t know if I was too hot or if I was just too wired to sleep, whatever it was I ended up just laying there twisting and turning the whole night.

    My phone was charging in Marvin’s side of the bed and I didn’t want to wake anyone up trying to reach so I tried to wait patiently until everyone woke up. Thankfully Marvin woke up long enough to hand me my phone.

    Finally, everyone was up and it was time to check out of the hotel but first Oyanie got a bottle.

    I hadn’t noticed it before when we arrived but downstairs in the lobby, there’s a statue of a red cow.

    Everyone was hungry so we decided to go to the bakery, unfortunately, the bakery had a long line as they only allowed one customer in at a time, we were too hungry to wait in line so we took a walk looking for other places to eat.

    Every so often Marvin would stop to look at menus or Naveen would watch stalls with people selling toys.

    Finally, after walking for what seemed like forever, we went into French Coffee Shop, Marvin asked me what I wanted and I looked over the offerings. There were lots of muffins and some other things but what caught my attention was the cheesecake. I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it before but I love cheesecake, if I see it I will always want it, so when Marvin asked me again what I wanted without hesitation I said cheesecake.

    Now, things could have gone either good or bad because not everyone can make cheesecake.

    Thankfully, this was not the case, nope, this cheesecake was delicious, it was utterly divine like if anyone would have tried to ask me to taste some I’d stuff the whole thing in my mouth or lick it.

    I had to restrain myself from licking the cardboard but I sure did lick the spoon. Breakfast over with, we walked back to the car and began the drive to go home.

    Now, we’re home, I’m very tired so will probably end this here.

  • My Pregnancy Update: 16w5d

    Hey guys,

    I know I haven’t shared an update in a while so here it goes.

    I’m doing much better HGwise, I’m what you’d call medicated fluffy, I don’t have any nausea or vomiting unless I eat something that doesn’t agree with my belly or I miss a dose of medication. For about 10 weeks I’ve only vomited once after eating a banana that didn’t sit well. The only downside is I’m still suffering from a lack of energy. When I go out I have to sit or I feel like blacking out. If I can’t sit I stoop down until the feeling passes. It’s really unpleasant and makes going out difficult since I don’t go anywhere for the whole week.

    I’m now 16 weeks 5 days, on Tuesday I’ll be 17 weeks.

    I’m slowly getting there, my belly isn’t that big as yet but I’ve already started wearing maternity clothes.

    I’m experiencing round ligament pain and Braxton Hicks which is no fun, some heartburn, excessive drooling especially at night, I wake up multiple times to clean my face and shoulders. I sleep on my back and that doesn’t seem to help any.

    Even with all these complaints, I’m so grateful that my medication works and I’m not back to all-day nausea and vomiting because that’s no fun at all.

  • First ultrasound with baby O

    I recently went for my first ultrasound, no waiting for 12 weeks after all!

    I was measuring at 10 weeks 3 days which is about two days ahead of what my app Nurture calculated.

    They do things a little different here in France and have me another set of measurements which is considered theoretical 11 weeks 4 days. From what I understand they add a week or two from the last menstrual date because predicting when implantation occurred is just not possible unless you did IVF.

    So here is baby O at 10w3d.

    Naveen was present for the ultrasound so he got to see his little sibling playing in my belly, he was so excited to see it on the big screen and hear the heartbeat.

    I’m glad he was there to see if because he wasn’t really believing there was a baby, he kept asking if my belly got bigger.

    Healthwise I seem to be having some fluffy weeks with occasional nausea that ranges from not so bad to I can’t move. I notice that the worst nausea always occurs when I’m up and about too much. I tend to take a rest and feel a little better.

    I hope these weeks continue to be fluffy because I feel a little more human when I can function.

  • Identifying my curl patterns

    Welcome back!

    Today I’m going to talk about one of the most common topics of discussion in the Natural hair community, curl patterns.

    To be honest I’ve never given it much thought at all because I have more than one type of pattern of you go by the chart that seems to be everywhere.

    This chart right here:

    According to this chart, the front of my head is a mix of 2c and 3a, the middle is a mix of 3b and 3c, the very back of my head is 4a. Like I said before I have a lot of curl patterns.

    The curl patterns aren’t that important though, it’s the porosity of the hair or so I’ve been told.

    My hair is low porosity and coconut oil is supposed to be really good for this type of hair but I can’t use coconut anything or my hair will become very brittle and break horrendously.

    Having hair that dislikes Coconut with a passion is kind of difficult, to be honest because so many hair products geared towards Afro hair have it in it. There are so many highly favored cult favorites that I just can not use.

    I’ve begun to disregard all the suggestions that have been thrown my way because what works for one person’s hair doesn’t work for everyone, sometimes you just have to find what your hair loves.

    My hair loves Argan, Avocado, Rice water, and Jojoba. I know this because I’ve had favorable results with them.

    When I shaved my head back in 2017 I honestly didn’t know what kind of curl pattern to expect, when I was youngest my mother used the wrong products, and my true pattern was hidden.

    You probably can’t see it well but my hair was like a 2b and almost like a straw broom, to be honest, it’s like when I flat iron my hair and take braids out.

    I’m pretty sure that texture was because my mother used this grease on my hair.

    My hair doesn’t do well with grease at all, it is very heavy and what that does is that it drags my curls down until all you see is limp greasy strands and washing did nothing because as soon as we were done washing my hair with shampoos and conditioners that stripped my hair she would comb it with a fine-tooth comb and it was painful so painful that I’d run away and hide until my hair was pretty similar to a bird’s nest and then the real pain would come when she tried to de-tangle it while it was dry!

    All my life my mother said my hair wasn’t as good as my middle sister’s because I didn’t have curls like her but when she sees my hair now she can’t believe how similar my hair actually is.

    My hair is curly and coily but to maintain this it needs the proper care.

    I’ve developed my own routine and I baby my hair so that I can look at it and feel a sense of pride. My hair is just as good, my hair is my crown.