Hair thru the years: Long and short and back again. Alternate title: Fat and thin and back again

I did mention that I was having a hair crisis, something I expected to be over by this stage of my life. I thought I would have settled down into a nice, stick-with-you-through-the-years kind of style. My acne is finally gone, but the hair problems continue. I know why this is happening, because it always happens this way: I go too long without a haircut, and my hair gets uncontrollably long and I want to do something drastic, like cut myself some bangs (and by myself I mean literally, with my own hands). Self-control has won out the day so far, but I only have to hold out until next Friday. For some reason it seems SO far away. 

In an attempt to decide on a new haircut, I thought I should look at some hair history. This only takes us back to when my digital camera joined the family. I have some terrible hair pictures pre-marriage. There are no new haircuts under the sun, at least that's what I'm realizing when I walk down memory lane. But wait- there's  a twist (no pun intended): the older I get the more texture and wave I have, so I'm not limited to the cuts that only work for straight hair. But I'm getting ahead of myself- let's go back to the beginning.  It was almost as fun to see how Warren and I have both changed in appearance over the years!

Wedded bliss- the girl he fell in love with. Long blonde hair. I had grown it out for the wedding, and I was still coloring it at this point. I do miss that really blonde hair!

Six months later- newly pregnant and thinking I could be Meg Ryan. (Before you judge me, remember this was over 7 years ago!)I have come to terms with the fact that I do not have her face or cute, lanky walk.

First anniversary- trying to grow out all those layers. My husband equates the short bob with the 35 lbs (more to love!) I gained during that pregnancy, so we won't see that haircut again. Of course, he loves me no matter what I weigh- I've put him to the test- but he doesn't have that many preferences so I will steer clear of the bob.

A year later, things were looking more like the old me. Check out how much weight the man has lost. A career change made all the difference in the world!

Nine months later, baby #2 was here, and my sister got a great haircut and cute bangs, so I followed her lead. I needed a change, but this was not it.

Tired mommy. Bangs aren't a terrible option for me,  but I needed to push them to the side.

Until they grew out to a reasonable length. No short bangs. Please remind me if I'm ever tempted to do that again.

But 9 months later I was pregnant again, and the bangs were tucked in a bobby pin. It's very practical. Like me.

At this point I was just so tired I didn't care about my hair.

Baby #3 arrives. Baby # 1 turns 3 years old. This was my profile picture for a while. I'm saying, "Heeyyyy, let's see how long I can wait before I get another haircut!" It's hard to get out when you have three kids, barely three and under. And we were moving to a new town. Packing our whole house in two weeks. No time for a haircut.

But I did eventually find a salon in a my town. I hadn't colored my hair for over a year by now. And this was later- my frustrated "I want to get rid of these layers" hair picture.

You may remember this one. I was blogging more often at this point. The cut was good, but my hair was getting wavy by now, and it was hard to keep it straight. Did I mention I want great hair, but I want to spend no more than 2 minutes on it??

Ick. And so I let it grow again. Looking at the pictures makes me realize my hair grows super fast. No wonder I've had a hard time with shorter cuts. Maybe I need to find a cheaper salon, and commit to more frequent haircuts. Which would mean going more than twice a year. (Which is an improvement over my yearly cuts!)

A little wave, and I'm learning how to work with it. Such cute little bunny teeth on that girl!

Longer wavy hair to go with my fuller figure, which I didn't know would go away with thyroid meds. I didn't want to cut it because I was worried a heavier me with short hair would be a bad combo.

So, here we are today. This has been an informative (if not very self-focused) exercise, but it is fun to go back and look at all the pictures. I feel like my hair has been the same most of my life, but apparently that is not the case. I'm not known for being daring, so I don't expect anything drastic next Friday. But I do need a mid-pregnancy, early-thirties pick-me-up haircut. Any suggestions? I'm thinking about a longer shab but not exactly like those pictures. I would just look messy.  But it would work with the 2-minutes I am willing to spend on my hair.

And me now, not quite halfway through a pregnancy. Not wearing my hair wavy because it's too long. So I dry and curl it to keep it from frizzing. Looks a little like the first picture (minus the blonde).