31-for-21: Haircut

Miss Elyse was kind and patient enough to let me cut off her long hair today.  She did great, and we were both pleased with the end result:) 

Miss Ariel wanted to be in the photo.  I have yet to cut her hair.

Cute little pony

***As an aside, I finished Amy Schumer's book, The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo, which did actually make me both laugh and cry (real tears!).  I would recommend it.  Then, I devoured Aspen Matis's, Girl in the Woods, (another girl book, hmm?) which is about a women who's raped on her second day of college, and then makes the bold decision to leave school and hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) alone.  The trail runs from the border of Mexico, along the pacific coast in the US (California, Oregon, Washington) all the way up North to Canada, over 2,600 miles.  She began her journey and story as a vulnerable woman, with no voice.  I wanted to take her by the shoulders and shake her; her inability to speak up for herself bothered me so much.  Men treat her like garbage, and she lets it happen.  But, along her path, she redeems herself, becomes strong, and her story will inspire you.  Now, I'm reading, Juniper, the girl who was born too soon.  This is the story of an unlikely couple, who both happen to be accomplished writers, whose lives finally coincide, and whom arrive at the conclusion they want to have the daughter they've both always dreamed of.  Through IVF, and a donor egg from a friend, they are finally able to celebrate the pregnancy they've long awaited, but then everything starts to fall apart.  I'm almost half way through the book; it's clear the baby comes too soon, but what's not clear yet is if this little baby girl is going to survive.  I'm not sure what kind of book it will be if she doesn't, or how long it will take for me to stop crying if I'm faced with her death.  I'm always fascinated by stories that take place in the NICU of different hospitals, as we spent 4 and a half weeks there when Elyse was born.  The only book I can think of, off the top of my head, where the story was about a child actually dying was an incredible book called, Rare Bird, a true and tragic memoir of loss and love written by the twelve year old boy's mother, Anna Whiston-Donaldson.  Her son, Jack, was swept away during a flash-flood.  I loved that book, for seeing the mother through the stages of her grief; but the pain she went through, I could internalized her every emotion, as a mother, and that book slayed me.  I cried for days!  Read it, but you've been forewarned.

I'm considering a few other books, but would love your suggestions for what to read next...as you may have guessed, I'm drawn to memoir...