Category: family

Birth Story ~ Soleil

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May 9th, 2004 ~ Soleil Elizabeth Babcock made her entrance into the world ~ via Beth Israel Hospital in NYC, NY
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on that Mother’s Day Sunday ~ 5:46pm ~ our lives forever changed
our first born, our boo-ba, our sunshine
***
and it all started on a British Bus
…
now get your minds out the gutter. Soleil wasn’t conceived on a double-decker British bus or anything, but our first desire to have a child was.

At the time, P.A. and I were living and working in NYC.  We lived in Battery Park City, served in ministry at a vibrant church in Midtown Manhattan, and had a healthy love/hate relationship with the Big Apple. 

In the fall of 2002, we went on the trip of our dreams to Europe.  We traveled by planes, trains and automobiles, exploring England, Germany, France and Switzerland.  We backpacked, traveled light and stayed at hostels, convents and budget hotels.  Our first stop was London and the first day there, we rode on one of the British double decker buses.  The same kind of tour buses we made fun of in NYC.
Yes, we were those tourists.


On the top level of the double-decker, as we were taking in the sights of London, like Buckingham Palace, etc… P.A. and I both looked forward and caught sight of this cute little boy with wavy red hair.  He looked back in our direction toward his parents behind us and flashed a smile.  We then looked at each other and started to tear up.
We knew.
…
At this time, we had been married for over 5 years and had no plans of having children anytime soon.  We didn’t even like kids. unless they were a good distance away from us.  we were never ‘baby people’.  “Ohhh, let me hold your baby.” or “Your baby is sooo cute!” or “babies are the best!” …
nope.
those words never came from our mouths.

Yet, in this moment. we. just. knew.
We spent the rest of our dream trip talking about our future with kids.
And now we have 3 wee babs…
and Salem, our 5 year old, has a toy British Bus and often asks, “When are we gonna go on a British Bus?”  To which we reply, “We want to go as soon as we can!”
…
So we procrastinated on actually having a baby.  since we are good at procrastinating, why mess up a good thing?
By God’s grace and mercy, I became pregnant with Soleil in August 2003, right away, after waiting procrastinating to “try” and get pregnant.
…
As soon as we found out I was pregnant, emotions were high and everyday was a new adventure of learning and questions like “what to eat?”, “what to wear?”, “how will I feel?” and “will I make it thru the day without throwing up?”  At this point, I was consumed with myself more than a normal human typically is, I’m guessing.

I was very sick for the first trimester. I couldn’t keep much food down.  I lost 10-15 lbs.  and I was excited about this.  I was enjoying being a “skinny pregnant chick”.

Fast forward to February 2004.  I was 6 months pregnant and we were taking our birthing classes at the hospital, given by a midwife.  During this time, I discovered that the c-section rate at our hospital was very high.  I started doing my homework, not procrastinating for once, and researching everything there is to know about pregnancy and birth at one of my favorite places to dwell for endless hours, prior to having kids… the Barnes and Noble cafe tables in Union Square.

After our birthing class and my personal research, I was empowered with enough information to become a doctor and deliver my own baby, so I decided to change doctors.  Although I tend to be a people pleaser and don’t like hurting anyone’s feelings, I didn’t have a committed relationship to my doctor, so I changed hospitals and found a midwifery group that I could marry into.
These ladies rocked!  

At this point, I also cared more about Soleil – who at the time was Hannah-Soleil – and was growing beautifully.  We were growing very anxious to meet her!  During the 20 week ultra sound, the technician said in her Russian accent “she has strong arm.”  During this ultra sound, we also found out she was going to be a she.  P.A. kept asking, “are you sure?” only to be met with a firm look and a stern answer, “Yes. I sure.” from the technician who, as I said before, was Russian and looked as though she could arm wrestle us with her pinky.  I kept nudging P.A. to believe her and just let it be… but he asked because he had to be sure.

In case you weren’t aware of this fact: 
Pregnant women can experience a range of emotions.  

When I was just a few weeks away from my due date, P.A. and I went to Quiznos for lunch, and as I waddled into the fine sandwich establishment, I suddenly felt like I was under a spotlight.  As we approached the counter to order, one of the workers making sandwiches whispered loud enough so that i could hear, “Man, she is mad pregnant!”  Really?!?  I wasn’t sure.  I thought I had just swallowed a whole basketball or watermelon or some other thing roughly that size… needless to say, I was like “dude, I can HEAR YOU!” and I stared him down until he couldn’t handle my fiery gaze any longer and he turned away.  I don’t think he will share his opinion on any pregnant women again after encountering moi.

After 9 months of swollen feet, maddening hunger, severe need to always be near a restroom (not always easy in NYC), and feeling like a manatee… Saturday, May 8th arrived.  This was a normal day, whatever that means for our lives. We had a youth leaders meeting an hour north of the city and drove up there to connect, encourage and pray with one another.  During the dinner and meeting, I visited the restroom a record number of times and had some painful infrequent contractions.  At the end of our time together all the leaders gathered around to pray for us, as we were about to journey into the unpredictable land of parenthood.
They prayed I would have the baby that night.

As we drove back to the city, I talked with my sister in law on the phone, reporting to her all of the details of my recent contractions and obsessive need to go pee, throughout the youth leaders meeting.  When we got home, I plopped myself on the couch and watched some show about “Celebrity Moms”.  At midnight, I managed to pry myself off of the couch to walk four feet into our bedroom and Whoosh!   My water broke.

I. was. in. shock.  

I didn’t really expect to go into labor so soon – my due date was still a week away.  But there was no doubt, labor had begun.  I called my midwife. went to the bathroom 30 more times, soaked thru several pairs of pants and after 6 hours of laboring at home, we headed to the hospital at 6am.

Nearly 12 hours later, after an intense natural labor and all of the fun things involved with that – which I will spare you the details on, since you have enough other details of her/our long story – Soleil was born compound presentation.  this means she had her hand on her cheek when she was delivered.  let me tell you, that was super fun.  especially given no meds… and the fact that she was a “big baby” weighing 8.9 lbs.

But I didn’t care about the pain, though P.A. nearly passed out.  She was healthy and in my arms.  As soon as we saw her, we new she was not a “Hannah-Soleil”, she was a pure ‘Soleil’ ~ We were ecstatic!  and she looked just like a female version of Adam.  we couldn’t get over it.  so we gave her the middle name Elizabeth, after the middle name of P.A.’s sister.

Here is P.A. with Soleil – 1.5 days old – leaving the hospital.  I almost peed my pants laughing when I saw her in those sunglasses.

Soleil ~ just born ~ 5:46pm, Mother’s Day Sunday, May 9th

So, this is Soleil’s birth story with a lot of important details leading up to her life story.  She just turned eight years old and is already changing the world and touching lives.  She has changed our lives forever with her grand entrance into the world and we look forward to the rest of her story… so far it is only halfwritten.

Happy 8th Birthday to our Sweet Soleil!

It’s my birthday and I’ll cry if I want to…

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Today (or yesterday, depending on how long it takes me to write / post this blog) was my birthday…

It is / was also Cinco de Mayo… but since I am not Mexican, my birthday being shared with the day of Mexico’s unlikely victory over the French at the battle of Puebla in 1862, doesn’t have that much significance… except that we had Mexican food for dinner.  But since I love eating mexican food, making mexican food, and smelling mexican food, this is a regular, at least bi-weekly occurrence. P.A. made our amazing mexican food for my birthday dinner and I contributed with a kick-ass handmade mango pico de gallo.  Yum.  And, you can check out some of our favorite recipes here.

btw, did you know that Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day?  Nope, that would be celebrated on September 16th.  Now you know.

So, on May 5th, 1977 I entered the world and it’s never been the same… well, at least for those who know me… 

If you know me, you know this is how I look 95% of the time…

well… maybe that’s an exaggeration, but if you know, me you know I like to make silly faces and I can be… dramatic.


If you know me, you know that my hubby (P.A.) is my best friend and his birthday was 6 days before mine!  And… it’s no coincidence that we celebrated at a Mexican restaurant.  Some of our awesome friends took us out for lunch, after church last Sunday to celebrate.

P.A. with his face covered in ice cream and the Kelly’s ~ our awesome friends who took us to eat to celebrate P.A.’s b-day, which was on April 29th.

                                                  Our awesome kids sporting the mexican hats!

P.A. and I prepping for our awesome pic together 🙂

If you know me, you know our wee Babs (Soleil, Salem, Selah) are super. duper. important to us.  Here they are in a little “photo shoot” from last fall.  They mean the world to us. I could go on and on about them, but if you know me, you know I will save that for another blog… 

If you know me, you know that I love to be silly and I think I am the funniest person. on. the. planet.  I boisterously laugh at myself and my own jokes, even if no one else “gets them” or thinks that they are funny.  I am thankful that most of the time, my family thinks I am as hilarious as I think I am.

If you know me, you know that friendship is important to me… 
Over the last 35 years, I have had the honor of meeting so many people from across the world.  I have had the privilege to call many of them friends… or at the very least, Facebook friends…  My life has been enriched by my amazing friends.  They are truly a gift from God.  I was blessed the other night when some of my friends took me out to dinner and coffee for my b-day.  Some of my friends live just down the road, some live on the east coast, some live on the west coast, some live in the north, some live in the south, and some live in flippin’ India.  Wherever they are, they know who they are... and I am thankful for them.
Here’s a pic of us camping with our friends the Zeuch’s – the ones that live in flippin’ India
If you know me, you know that even though it’s my birthday, I can cry if I want to.  Today I cried on my birthday.  I also cried on P.A.’s birthday.  Because even though they were great days, something was missing… our families. They are in Oklahoma and Oregon… and we miss them terribly, especially on our birthdays.
(Sorry, no pictures to show of me crying… don’t be disappointed.  I’m a sniffly, red-faced mess.) 

But truly, my hope is that even if you don’t know me… I mean really know me, like hang out with me, talk to me in person, or on the phone… you will still know that my most important relationship is with Jesus.  

My deepest hope and prayer ~ that goes against all of my human nature ~ is that I will be *known* because of Christ…which really means that I will be ~ Unknown.    

That HIS beauty will outshine my flesh.  That HIS mercy will overwhelm my insensitivity.  That HIS grace will subdue my unforgiveness.  That HIS presence will saturate my sinful soul. That HIS love will replace my anger.  That HIS glory will overcome my humanity and invade my entire life. 


And that HE will be evident in all that I do, think, say, or blog… 

How To Break A Habit

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This week as “Mom”… I was an Accountant, a Dentist, a Mood Changer and a Loser.
…

I have a habit of procrastinating the things I should be doing in exchange for pretty much anything else…

So this week, guess what I was doing on Tuesday, April 17th?  That’s right, you guessed it!  I was playing accountant and finishing up our taxes.  There’s nothing like waiting ’til the last minute to keep life interesting.

So, taxes are done and the good news is – we don’t owe as much this year as we have in previous years.  All the paying ahead and keeping track of our crap has paid off. Go Me!
…

Even though I have a habit of procrastinating some things, I did not procrastinate being a dentist this week.  Soleil’s loose tooth that was hanging on for dear life, finally started to show signs of letting go.  Now this tooth has had an attachment to our sweet Soleil for some time now.  It’s been lose for forever, and we were beginning to think she would never lose it.

But after school on Monday, she was eating a snack in the car and the tooth was finally ready to come out. And even though blood and saliva make my stomach church for the worst, I jumped right in at the opportunity to pull this tooth out, cause it was just barely hangin’ on by a bloody thread.

Thank God that tooth is gone.  Go Me.
…

Today I was a mood changer. Sometimes, I hit a slump and become a grump.  So today, I was in the worst mood this side of Columbus and I just couldn’t. move. on.  
I woke up feeling great.  We’d had a great day on Friday.  And I had big plans for this stay-at-home-yucky-weather-Saturday.  I was gonna get a “bunch of stuff done” around the house. But it never happened.  It was just one of “those days”… and as the clock ticked onward, I felt my mood quickly. spiraling. downward.
I prayed. I read my Bible. I was hanging out with the wee Babs and trying not to worry about the “stuff” I planned to accomplish. I talked about it with P.A…. and he’s really good at understanding my “emo” side and encouraging me thru it.  But it just wouldn’t. go. away…
Until around 6p.m., P.A. sweetly strongly suggested I would feel better if I worked out.  So, I walked on the treadmill and started praying. 2 miles and 100 sit-ups later, my mood completely changed.  The negative crap swirling around in my mind just lifted off of me and the rest of the evening was much better.
The habits of prayer and exercise are good habits, that I plan to sustain for a lifetime. Go Me.
… 

This week I was a loser.  I lost Selah’s plug (binky) and she was immediately forced into breaking a habit she’s had for 2 years and 3 1/2 months all of her life.

I never looked up “How to wean your child off the pacifier”… or “10 Tips on taking away your toddler’s binky”.  I just lost it.  Over the past 2 years and 3 1/2 months of her life, we have lost plugs or thrown them away because she got into a habit of chewing holes in some of them.  But this was her very last plug and we kept declaring, “After she’s two we’ll take away this plug once and for all…” And we kept procrastinating taking away this plug… because that’s what we do.  Procrastinate.

The first night was rough.  She cried for nearly an hour before finally falling asleep. At one point, P.A. offered to run to Target and buy another one, but we decided to deal with the tears. She woke up a few times that night and woke up at about 5a.m. the following morning.

I don’t do well with little sleep because I {heart} sleep. So, it’s been an interesting week with less sleep and no plug.  But every night and nap time has been a little easier.  And Selah has asked me to hold her as she’s falling asleep, which I don’t mind at all.  She has also started holding her bunny that says a prayer when you push on its tummy, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, that angels watch me thru the night, until I wake in morning light. Amen.” After about 30 times of pushing the bunny’s tummy, she falls asleep.

Salem did find the lost plug a few days ago, mixed in with his toys.  We threw it away before Selah saw it.  But she’s a creative little chick.  She did try and and use this toy she found at a friends house last night as a replacement.  However, it didn’t really work out…

So, the taxes are done, the tooth is gone, I’m in a better mood, the plug habit is officially kicked, and I am looking forward to the new roles I will play in the new adventures I am bound to have, this week as Mom.  Go Me.
…
Are there any habits you need to kick?  

My advice: Prayer. Exercise. Go Cold Turkey. Procrastination is for the Birds. 

March Madness

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The month of March can be a maddening month for us.  and it has absolutely nothing to do with the NCAA.  or basketball of any kind.  basketball bores me to tears.  I was randomly switching channels the other night, which is rare because if I have the remote it is because I am turning on PBS for the wee babs to watch cartoons.  but on this rare evening I was switching channels and stumbled upon a basketball game.  i watched it.  for a few seconds.  i started to tear up and cringe. i couldn’t take the squeak of the shoes.  sorry to offend any basketball lovers who read our blog.

So, back to our Babs March Madness…

There are several reasons the month of March can be maddening for our family – here are the top 5:

1. the weather
2. it seems like an extra long month because February is short, so we find ourselves pleading to just get it over with
3. extra hectic schedules
4. our taxes are due in a few weeks and i am not organized and my ducks are rarely in a row, so i am usually stressing to get our crap together at the last minute, and because PA is a Pastor, we always owe
5. i typically have a “I can’t take winter anymore!” meltdown in March

But this March has been strangely different…


1. we have had amazing weather.  we think this is happening due to global warming.  a few years ago we watched the Al Gore global warming movie “An Inconvenient Truth”. we were convinced global warming was the worst. thing. ever.  but since the weather in central Ohio has been so unseasonably amazing this March, we are cool with global warming.
2. February had an extra day this year, so… so far, March seems like it’s flying by
3. even though our schedules are just as hectic as they typically are, this March is also filled with a lot of fun stuff, like conferences and friends coming into town to visit and good weather. and since the weather has been so amazing we’ve been outside a lot, which puts our whole family in a way. better. mood.
4. i’ve spent so many months of March stressing about our taxes that i’ve finally learned i will never be organized enough to not stress at all, even if it’s just a little. and i’m okay with that. we always save to pay, so the owing money part is no longer a surprise to us, making March tax prep season a little easier to get thru each year.
5. it’s now March 19th.  we are over half way thru the month and i have not a had a March meltdown.  in previous March months, the meltdowns have been triggered by stress and winter dragging on and on.  one March, we had a huge winter storm and i didn’t leave my house for 5 days.  i almost went insane.  this year, thanks to global warming, the time outside has helped prevent any major meltdowns.

And so has God.  really, i can only give Him all the glory for protecting me from madness and insanity happening this March. Yes, He is ultimately in control of the weather and all that jazz, but it’s more than just a surface warm weather phenomena.  it’s not about global warming.  or hectic schedules.  or taxes that are due. this March has been strangely different.  God has changed my heart and i can see how He has been teaching me all along.  i am so thankful this March.  i am fully enjoying the present moments.    

i am because He Is.
God is greater than any March madness or meltdowns or hectic schedules or taxes we have to pay or global warming.

He transcends time and turns March madness into fully enjoying all of the March Moments.

These are the days…

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Ugh.  I’ve had writers block.

I didn’t think it could happen to me.  I always have something to say… or in this case… write.

but i got distracted – which is nothing new — but more on that later.

and then I got it – the writers block.

So… I’m back

with a whole new blogging purpose, I might add 😉

and I’m reflective… about smells… like bacon.  As I smelled the bacon I was cooking last Saturday morning, I had this whole blog planned out in my mind to write.  So I sat down for some time with God. and to eat my waffles and bacon.  I wrote a little in my journal.  I read my Bible.  But I never wrote the blog.

This week followed suite.  the half written ideas came, but no writing happened.

Then the song “These are the Days” by Natalie Merchant / 10000 Maniacs came to mind.  Remember that song?  It takes me back… to my college years. And the Soap Operas “Days of our Lives”…. and “One Life to Live”… in junior high, I used to watch”Days” avidly.  and so did my Grandma (the one who’s been married 65 years – the one I wrote about here). She and I would catch up on our “soaps” together after school sometimes… oh yes, we did.

So, these song and soap opera titles scanned across my mind and reminded me…  just do it.  


Just write…

—

what are you gonna do with the days you have?

the moments you have to love, grow, share, give… blog?

God is challenging me to Love more.  Grow more.  Share more.  Give more.

To love the one(s) in front of me.  P.A., the wee Babs, family, friends, peeps in our church… strangers God leads me to… 


So, I’m gonna continue writing about it… in this blog.


these are the days… day by day here’s what we do… here is our half written story…

Tonight we were playing guitar with the wee babs… it was such a blessing.


Soleil really wants to learn and so we’ve started teaching her a few chords.



They bless us constantly…day by day.  We are overwhelmed with love for them, and then we get overwhelmed by God’s great love for us.


So… the writers block is over… and our half written story continues.