Too Many Emotions for One Week

Last week was a huge week at the Strobel Manor. Starting on Saturday we celebrated the 3rd birthday for Sticks. Tuesday was her actual birthday. Thursday Punk graduated from High School followed by a party at our house directly after. Friday was her 19th birthday and we went to the airport to drop her off for her trip to China. I think all we needed was for Peanut to have a major life event to make the week completely insane.

We decided a long time ago that we wouldn't be having huge birthday parties every year. Since Sticks had a rough year this year, we amended this rule to include unless you are in the hospital and had surgery or it's a major birthday, than you can have a party. She had been talking about a party for 4 months, so I got my party planning hat (aka pinterest) on and planned an insane Dora the Explorer party.


Punk's and Sticks's birthdays are 3 days (and 16 years) apart. We knew this was going to be a big year for Punk and then when she opted to go to China for 6 weeks, we knew it was going to be even bigger. Punk is my Step Daughter, so at her graduation her Mom and maternal grandparents were also there and came to the party at our house afterwards. It was a lot of stress putting all that together, along with juggling nap times and 2 small children. The day after graduation was her 19th birthday. I was a mess all day, sobbing intermittently. 6 weeks is a long time and with the mixture of her starting college when she gets home, I realized that after this trip our family was going to be different. The way we relate to her and her life will all be different. Don't get me wrong I don't think it's bad, it is just that our little family is all going to be new.

 Here's to evolving and not crying everyday for 6 weeks.

The Little Peanut is on the Move!

Our sweet little peanut has reached the major milestone, that I hate the most CRAWLING. I think of all this things that children do this is my least favorite (so far, I reserve the right to change in the future.) I clean my house, and yet when your child is crawling you realize how dirty your "clean" floors are. Babies find stuff you never knew existed in your home. I remember when Sticks was crawling I was so over it, luckily so was she and she only crawled for a maybe 2 months.

I realized this week that as much as I hate this crawling business, I really don't like it with a 3 year old around. Now I am picking up choking hazards and random papers for what seems like all day. It is surprisingly exhausting. I now have to vacuum and sweep everyday. 

It's funny to watch the crawling process, it starts out so uncoordinated. They flop around in a mixture of army crawling and what can only be described as some form of a beached whale thrust. In the last week she has got the rhythm down and is getting much better and much faster. Yesterday I was getting something for Sticks and I turned around and she was two rooms away. Here's to less free time. 

The Hidden Things

I am realizing that parenting is an ever evolving and changing job.  As your children learn and develop, so does your job. The most recent ability she has learned, other than "Tippy Toeping" (tippy toeing) and hopping, is hiding when she has broken the rules. I found her doing something she was not supposed to be doing and she heard me coming towards her and proceeded to hide. It was partly hilarious and partly disturbing. 

I was quickly reminded of the story of Adam and Eve in the garden (Genesis 3). They had just eaten the fruit and were hiding from God. As I watched my daughter hiding in the corner face down with her hands covering her eyes, in my plain sight, I thought how silly this all was. I saw and knew what she did full well. Plus with my remarkable gift of sight, I could clearly see her hiding. This must have been the way God felt as he watched them break his rules. He saw them do it and hide from him. Just as he did, I asked her what she had done and brought this "secret" to the light.

I thought about all the things we do everyday, that we believe is in secret. You know the things you don't necessarily post on Facebook or Twitter. The things that may be considered "grey" areas in your mind, even though they are not in the mind of God. We hide such things from him, thinking in our little minds, that if we do it in the dark no one will know. Maybe sometimes we don't get caught, or maybe sometimes we don't get punished even though we are caught. It doesn't change the fact we broke the rules or that someone is watching. There is no hidden sin. It is all seen before the eyes of a loving and kind God. 

"For God will bring every deed into judgement, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil."  Ecc 12:14 

The Mimic

I can't believe how quickly time goes. My little baby girl is now *gulp* 16 months old. I have discovered that I am so far really enjoying this toddler thing. She is now talking, even a few sentences, she laughs all the time, walks around and by new favorite thing she mimics us. It's like watching a small mirror image of yourself. She does things and I think where does she come up with these things. Later I realize that I did the same thing. It's so cute to watch her pick up the CD remote control and talk to her imaginary friends. She is chatting up a storm and laughing. She ends by saying "k bye". 

All this mimic behavior has really got me thinking about how my behaviors, even the ones I don't realize have an impact on her life. Sticks is an amazing child so full of promise, zeal and gumption. She is also empty in many ways just by being a baby and still learning. She fills in those voids by what she learns from her surroundings, (a.k.a. me, our family and friends). Seems daunting this task of raising a child and filling her with all the right influences and just the right amount of the bad ones to help her choose. Plus, making sure that I am living a life that is worthy to be immolated. These are the moments as the Strobelized Mommy that I could have never planned for. The feeling that people can't truly describe to you before the baby. The moments where you realize that you are really in charge of a life.

This Strobelized Mommy is praying that I will be a Godly woman that my daughter can follow as an example. I don't want to be politically correct or what our society has deemed that I should be. I want to follow the example of women like Ruth, Deborah and Miriam. I choose them any day over Gloria, Hillary or Rosie.

Finally! It's all about me!

So I had to get my gallbladder out. The doctor told me it was best to get it done while I was still young (as if I am approaching 90) and the sooner the better. I worked so hard on getting everything planned out for Sticks and the family while I would be recovering. I wrote out her daily menu and sleep schedule. I made a ton of baby food so no one would have to worry about what to feed her. I planned friends and family to come and sit with us after Daddy goes back to work, since I won't be able to pick her up for 1 week. As the surgery day came and I was overcome with the emotions. I couldn't believe how frightened I was. I didn't want to have anything happen to me, I couldn't imagine my sweet baby never knowing her Mom. So sad. Well, as you can tell the surgery went fine. I can home the same day and started recovering nicely at home.

The first few days I was really out of it. People were coming and going with food and I don't really have a clear memory of it all. All I knew is my husband was taking care of me and Sticks, and doing an excellent job. I had all my meals brought to me, along with snacks, drinks and medications. He got me movies to watch and anything else I wanted. It was amazing. Although I started noticing that Sticks wasn't missing me. She really was quite content hanging with Daddy. I was starting to feel so sad. She should at least be noticing that I am not around. I mean I don't really want her to be throwing herself down crying and refusing to eat, but something would have been nice.

The third day my Husband came down with a cold and he had his Mom come over to help him help us. Sticks was playing on the floor. I came in and sat down on the couch. She looks up at me, and says "Mama". Whoa! Then she pointed to me and said "Mama". Holy granola! This made up for all the dada nonsense. She really does love me. Who knew?!

She's a Dada Kind of Baby

I am beginning to realize parenting is all guts and no glory. You completely rearrange your whole life to accommodate this little ball of joy, and all you really want at the end of the day is for that little wonder to look up and say "Mama". Instead every day my precious angel looks up and says "Dada". This is very disheartening.

It all started a few weeks ago. Sticks started saying dada to everything. We assumed she didn't know what that meant and she was just making sounds, actually I should say I was hoping this was nonsense and not actual words. One morning I got up and picked her up from her crib while Daddy was in the shower. I changed her diaper and brought her back into my room and she exclaims "dada!", as she is looking around the room for him. I feed her and as I was finishing in walks Dada. She looks up and sees him. Her face lights up and she exclaims "Dada". He laid down on the bed, and she wiggles out of my arms and nestles up next to him and is chanting "dada, dada, dada". Nice! It's not like I have done anything great, only carried you in my tummy for 9 months. I gave birth to you, nursed you, sat up with you in the middle of the night, changed my whole life for you, but hey it's cool say "dada". It's not a big deal to me. Ok, so I jest, but only slightly. I worked with her for months saying mama with all smiles making it fun. Apparently it made no difference.

I do have to say in a world where Dad's a becoming less and less important and many babies do not have Daddies, I am so proud that my little girl gets to have a Dad. Plus, her Dad is awesome. I couldn't have picked a better dad for her anywhere in the world. I praise God who used all my bad decisions and made them to work for his glory. I get to sit here today with a family and a life I could have never obtained on my own. Want to know more about this visit www,lookup316.com or join us at Seabreeze Church www.seabreezechurch.com.

The Intentional Mommy, is a Sane Mommy

It seems as though the days of spur of the moment events and living without plans are gone and I don't know that they will be returning anytime soon. I am coming to realize that without a plan nothing will get accomplished because daily life and just getting through the day will suck up everyday.

Becoming an intentional Mommy I think is easy. I am a planner by nature, I enjoy an organized life with things filed neatly into nicely labeled filing cabinets. Becoming an intentional family is taking some work. This was best demonstrated on Valentine's Day. We had plans to go to a concert and then go out for dessert after wards. The day was a mess. Stick's nap schedule got all off and she was miserable. We had an appointment to get her pictures taken and big sis was home to help. The original plan of an 11:00 appointment was changed to 4:30 because of the sleeping nonsense. The pictures were amazingly cute. We stopped by to get Daddy a card from each of us and waited in the long procrastinators line to pay. By the time we got home from the mall, I still needed to make dinner, get Sticks ready for bed, feed and bathe her. I walk through the door and my adorable loving husband said, "let's go out to dinner for Valentine's day". I looked down at my t-shirt that still had peas on it from lunch time (not my peas, the baby's), I remembered my hair was in a ponytail and still had no make up on. All and all I was a wreck. Not to mention I had nothing ready for anyone else to eat & hadn't been grocery shopping so there were not a lot of options. The thought of going to a restaurant looking like I did and waiting for all those skinny 20 somethings with their high heels and cute dresses on, made me a little sick to my stomach. After the "no" that came out of my mouth and the look of horror on my face, we talked through the planning and communication. 

I have discovered that I need plans. I need to schedule meals, times with friends, family and most importantly time away from it all with the love of my life. Life quickly will run out of control if I live moment to moment. Being intentional is the only way I can run my life without it running me.