Category: Parenting

Soleil for President

1 Comment


I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know who I’m voting for on election day…

Soleil. Yep. My 8 year old daughter will be getting my vote.
Her convictions, ideas and vision for our future are astounding. 

*Here are 5 reasons you also should vote for Soleil on election day*

1. Soleil will remove all cars and replace them with horses for future transportation.  Imagine a world with no more toxins or fuel prices to fuss over. This will save the planet, peeps.

2. Soleil will make sure all children, 5 and up, have iphones.  These iphones will have a feature called *pop outs*.  These *pop outs* will access anything you need. Need food? Need clothing? There’s an app err… a *pop out* for that. Imagine a world where everyone has an iphone with buttons that access and *pop out* anything we need… actually, I think we are well on our way of heading toward this reality. Soleil will make it happen.

3. Soleil sees a future where money is not needed… except to buy your iphone. This will be our only need for money – so that no one is greedy.  

4. Soleil will equip every house with an invention – a button.  You will push this button to set up parties or a place for gymnastics. She sees a future where everyone will be healthier by having parties and doing gymnastics. Sounds good to me. 

5. Soleil will ensure all bad people are exiled to space. This point speaks for itself.

Soleil for President, Everyone – Hip Hip Hooray!

Obviously I live in reality and Soleil is not a presidential candidate.  Just to clarify any confusion.  Although she does have some wonderful ideas, her name won’t appear on the ballot.  
We will have to make a *for real* decision for this upcoming election.  How will you decide? 

As a Christ follower, The Bible is my ultimate authority.In this “election season” I am reminded of Romans 13:1-14. 

 Yes, I will choose a *for real* candidate. But first, I choose to pray continually, trust wholeheartedly and live my life fully… so that~regardless of the election outcome~I know God is in control.

He’s got this.




the mom who yells in the morning

1 Comment
hey there…
i’m the mom who yells in the morning.
you know, the one who gets worked up from the second she wakes up if her kids get up one. second. too. early.
for the past three weeks, since school has started, this mom has had her fair share of yelling.
and so it goes.
you see…
soleil started the third grade and salem started kindergarten and selah started getting on my nerves.
soleil started dreading school. 
salem started moving at a turtle’s pace.
selah started waking up at 5:30am and turning all the lights on. 
and i became the mom who yells in the morning.
…
soleil has had a tough time starting off this school year.
she misses home. she cries before school. she stomps her feet. she refuses to get dressed. she declares she ‘will not go to school today’.
then mom starts yelling. 
get dressed! get it together! you’re gonna have to be home-schooled! we’re gonna be late! i’m gonna have to sign you in! 
…
salem has also had a tough time starting school. 
he doesn’t want to stop playing legos. he throws a fit before getting dressed. he finally gets ready at a turtle’s pace.
then mom starts yelling.
go ahead and throw your little fit! once you’re over it, let me know! hurry up! get your shoes on! we gotta go! 
…
selah has become the kid who wakes up at 5:30am in the morning. 
are you kidding me?!? so not cool.
she wakes up. she turns on the lights. she starts to play. she wakes up her siblings.
then mom starts yelling.
go back to bed! you can’t have the light on! shhh! stop crying! shut it! 
…
lunch packed. folders signed. shoelaces tied. backpacks zipped. 
they are finally ready to go out the door.
we drive to school.
goodbye kids! have a great day! sorry… mommy… just yelled at you two seconds ago about turning on lights and moving at turtle speed and not wanting to go to school because you miss me when you are there…
the van door closes on my last whisper of sorry…
…
between clenched teeth i express raw emotion. 
with a gulp of hot air i yell out orders.
with a flick of the light on too early, i spew.
with the hint of an unbalanced morning, i ignite a fire squad of words toward my children.
…
so why have i become the mom who yells in the morning?
because yelling is one thing i can do. 
this mom has had a tough time starting school. 
she misses her kids. she wishes they didn’t have to grow up. she wants to erase their 2.5, 6 and 8 year old problems.
but…
i can’t stop them from growing up.  i can’t experience life for them.  i can’t make all their decisions for them. i can’t erase all of their problems. i can’t control the ‘body clock’ of a 2.5 year old who wakes up and turns the light on. at way-too-early in the morning.
but i can yell.  i can yell. and for that single moment i feel better. i can feel like my yelling is helping to progress things along.
…
the mom who yells in the mornings quickly crumbles into shame.
regret grasps at her throat and chokes future lashes.
humanity reminds her tomorrow is a new day.
humility quiets her voice.
the kindness of God shows her forgiveness.
this forgiveness. this grace. this love… covers a multitude of sins.
and reminds me…
let go.
talk with them. help process their feelings. guide their decisions. listen well. be patient. continuously pray over them. don’t worry about being late. 
and…
i don’t have to be the mom who yells in the morning.

Birth Story ~ Salem

2 Comments
On September 2nd, 2006 our Bubs ~ Salem Charles Babcock was born.
This is his story. 

we found out we were pregnant in January 2006.  so excited is an understatement.
the pregnancy was going great. at 20 weeks, we found out Salem would be a boy. his due date was September 4th, and we couldn’t wait to meet our little man. 
life was grand with our sweet Soleil. we were pumped for her to have a little brother. P.A. was also pumped to [finally] be having a little boy. 

so the months went by and summer came.  june was a hot month and I was one hot mama. i had been through pregnancy before with soleil’s birth and was pretty much an expert. i began to think, ‘let’s just skip these last few months of ankles swelling, raging hormones and increasing crankiness’… 
and just have a baby. 
but it doesn’t work that way… still, there were some days i even managed to convince myself i would go into early labor.  i was in such a hurry to have him.  once i thought i really was in labor and we went to the hospital early, only to be sent home. finally, September rolled around on the calendar.  i was so anxious. on that Saturday, September 2nd, i woke up at 4am and couldn’t go back to sleep, so I read my Bible and wrote in my journal. 
labor had begun.
…
however, i had myself convinced it wasn’t labor. i didn’t want to go back to the hospital only to be sent home. so i talked myself out of it.  i muffled my way through contractions that day and we went on our merry way.  my mom had just come into town the week before. we went to run errands: Sam’s club, Marshalls, Kohls. and for lunch we ate mexican food [a big mistake] i would find out later. and as we were sitting at the mexican restaurant, i hesitantly began to believe i was really in labor. we started timing my contractions only because my mom made me. 
yes, did you realize that even at age 29 your mom can make you do something?  
it’s true. 
my mother knows best. thanks mom. 
otherwise, he might have been born under the table. 
playing with daddy’s hand at the restaurant while i’m in labor
 after lunch, we walked around the mall at Easton and went to Barnes and Noble where Soleil played with the “chu-chu” for a little while. i figured lots of walking and activity could only help progress this lil’ labor to move along, so i was all for never going back home. and procrastinating going to the hospital for as long as possible.  at Barnes and Noble, we timed my contractions, as they increased in strength and intensity, until *again* my mom made me strongly suggested we prepare to head to the hospital.  and she was right *again*. here we are waiting for our friend Stacy to pick up Soleil, before we went to the hospital. 

3 generations 🙂
the next few hours were a whirlwind of activity and waiting.  we arrived at the hospital around 7:30pm, and my friend Amy met us there.  i had my support posse in place, and found out i was dilated btwn a 3-4. things were moving along, but not really fast enough for me, so we took a little walk around the maternity ward.  that was fun until i threw up my mexican lunch from earlier all. over. the. carpet.
  “Clean up in the maternity hallway!”   
i continued laboring in the room and was barraged with a bunch of labor questions from one of the nurses.  she had impeccable timing *during* each contraction.  i had answered so many questions prior to labor and filled out a laundry load of paper work, so i didn’t understand why she was asking me again the same questions. i was growing irritable. i was waiting for her to ask me, “do you prefer Dr. Pepper or Coca Cola?” “Is your favorite color blue?”  etc… Adam & my mom fielded most of the questions and Amy made jokes to keep me distracted. jokes are one of her spiritual gifts. 

finally…
a few hours, a few strong contractions and a few pushes later at 11:27pm ~ 8 lbs 3 oz of awesomeness entered the world.

Big Sissy!
Our Bubs ~ now he’s a big six year old! Salem is an amazing boy full of energy, compassion, love and laughter.  we are so grateful to have him as our son.  he brings us joy every. single. day.
Birthday Boy~loves his homemade Super Mario characters from Soleil 🙂
Happy Birthday Bubs! We love you and are so excited to share your birth story today!

Bedtime Battles

1 Comment
This is Selah.

Sure. She’s cute enough…

This is Selah on drugs no sleep.

This is Selah sleeping. the ONE night she fell asleep without mommy holding her (or screaming/crying herself to sleep) in the last two months.

This is Selah sleeping with her sibs for a sleep over. in her own room. we were hoping the other two wee babs sleeping beside her would minimize the screaming.  it helped a little.
This is Selah sleeping at nap time. this is after she would not stay in her bed and go to sleep. so i put her in the pack-n-play. she screamed for over 30 minutes and finally passed out. she now knows how to climb out of the pack-n-play.  

This is Selah sleeping at bedtime. on the floor. in her room. in the living room. in the hallway. 
anywhere but her bed.

She is a stubborn child. 
so… the last two months have been slightly very difficult with Selah…
there have been many tears, screaming, yelling, and not sleeping… from me.
It all began when we got rid of her plug.

Nope. she doesn’t ask for her binky anymore.  She screams for me instead.

A few weeks ago, we had an exceptionally eventful day…  it all went down at nap time. she would not go to sleep. then she and her brother started playing together. i knew she had a stinky diaper and i was getting ready to change it when she took out all of the crayons and started dumping them all. over. the. kitchen. floor. so we mostly mommy began picking them up and in the meantime, she and her brother start play fighting. she is now lying on the floor of the kitchen. and so is her poop.

ugh. clean up on the kitchen floor. 

Before bedtime, I called Grammy (my mom) to chat while the kids were watching a cartoon. don’t worry. i’m not one of “those” moms who let their kids watch t.v. all day long. well, maybe somedays.  as soon as i got on the phone, Selah decided to begin “potty training”. she went into the bathroom, sat on the “big one” and said “pee pee”, got off the toilet, flushed the toilet and washed her hands. she did this four times in a row.  before she could waste water flushing the toilet for a fifth time, i locked the bathroom door to keep her out.  she screamed and cried.

I said, “Hold on, Mom” about 50 times to deal with selah’s potty antics during our conversation. then i had a bright idea. “Selah, do you want to put on underwear?”  She was so excited and ran into the living room to show her sibs her undies.

this was the result…

“Mom, Selah just took a sh*t on the floor, I gotta go.”  
Ugh. clean up on living room rug.
At bedtime, I nanny 911-d her.  i put her back in bed 20 times in a matter of 20 minutes, then P.A. came home from his meeting. it was impecable timing, let. me. tell. ya.
She heard the garage door go up, and became a ball of energy.  I sat at the edge of her bed and cried, until finally ~ she fell asleep.
Selah is stubborn. but Mom is creative. I will resort to lulling her to sleep with jogs in the stroller and “nap drives” – when we drive around – usually for about 10 minutes, until she falls asleep then I transfer her to her bed and she takes her nap. sound complicated? it is. but it’s worth it.
So, when the bedtime battles begin… I remind myself that in the end, Mom will Win.

Sure, there are days when i feel like i’m going to lose my mind… again. there are days i wish P.A. and I didn’t produce such stubborn children who fight sleep and poop on the floor. but we are not poop snobs.

There is peace amidst the poop.

When I am weak ~ like every single day of my life ~ God is strong.

I can’t do this anymore crossed my mind several times that day a few weeks ago, and still crosses my mind when the bedtime battles begin. some might think it’s no big deal, you’re just a mom. can’t you just take a nap the next day? your not the CEO of a large company, the head chef of a posh NYC restaurant or a General fighting in a war.

Nope. I’m not. But I AM the CEO of our household. The head CHEF of our kitchen. And a General in the spiritual war that wages around our family. 

As mom, often I set the spiritual temperature in our home.  Much of the time, the peace in our home depends on me.  I must be connected to the Peace-Giver, or the stress levels at home can sky rocket.

Stress levels and the stress triggers for human beings depends on who you are and your circumstances.  These past few months I have come to the end of myself several times. my “handling things well”. my “having it all together” went out the window.  but that’s okay. Regardless of our circumstances or who we are. Peace is Possible.


My job is to stay close to Him. Matthew 11:28-30.


How is the Spiritual Temperature in your home? What can you do to change it?

Addictions

Leave a comment

Confession…
…

I have an addiction…

…

to Cheez-Its.


Particularly the colby flavored Cheez-its.  last week i bought them and with a very small amount of help from the wee Babs – meaning it was mostly me eating them – i ate the entire box of colby cheez-its in less than 24 hours.  seriously.  this is a problem.  


it’s best i don’t have them in the house. at all.
…


then there’s Selah… 



recently she gave up her binky. plug. pacifier. whatever you want to call it…

actually, she was forced to give it up when we lost the last one she had.  you can read more about that here.

but now she has a new addiction.  it’s called driving me crazy.  


seriously.  i’m concerned about this addiction.  it’s been exactly one month since she stopped using her plug.  she asked for her binky every day and night for over three weeks.  she finally stopped asking for it a few days ago.  still she screams and cries every night before falling asleep.  she will not fall asleep without me or P.A. at the end of her bed.  we know it’s just a phase.  it won’t last forever. she won’t ask us to hold her at night time when she’s 22 years old.  it’s just a 2 year old “season” she is in.

the first week without her plug, i expected things to be tough.  however, i did not expect that the weeks to follow would be even rougher. but they were.  

she woke up screaming one night, complaining of pain in her ear. and it finally dawned on me that she had an ear infection.  i thought, oh that’s why she’s been so crazy lately.  when i took her to the doctor, i said “please tell me she has an ear infection!”  typically i don’t get overly excited about visiting the pediatrician.  do you?  but this day was different.  i was hopefully anticipating the doctor to tell me something was wrong with my child.  it would explain so much.

or so i thought…


everyday she is still finding ways to drive me crazy in creative ways.  she is over her ear infection.  she is over the binky.  but she is not over herself.  she wants control.  she is exceptionally strong willed and extremely stubborn…  and so. stinkin’. cute.

the one night she fell asleep on her own in the last month, we found her like this. hilarious. 




i don’t get the preoccupation she had with this blasted piece of plastic.  
i also don’t understand why she insists on watching Salem poop. 

i do understand our need as human beings to try and control things.  

Selah had control.  of her binky.  and now it’s gone. 


she tries to control other things in our home.  but in the end, mom wins. 




we have our hands full.  this child is somethin’ else.  
…
and all of this.  control.  addictions.  these are lessons we teach now to our almost 2.5 year old so that she is able to surrender her control issues to God as she grows up.

when i think about our wee babs becoming teen and adult babs, it freaks me out a little.  there are much more dangerous addictions they can attach to as they grow up.  as difficult as it might be, we can not control what they choose as adults.  But what we can do is teach, train, guide and pray. pray. pray.  
…
i can become so pissed about other addictions.  who really cares about a stupid silly ol’ addiction to cheez-it’s or a binky piece of plastic, when there are REAL addictions and REAL people who have them, who need flippin’ FREEDOM!  We need to PRAY for one another!


it’s our will against God’s.  it’s our humanity against spirit-led living.  it’s control verses surrender.


it all comes down to surrender.  


surrendering our plugs, our addictions, large or small, to God.  


He knows best.