My sweet baby boy turned one (yes, 6 weeks ago, but that’s beside the point), and we were so excited to celebrate him!! Although this post is quite late, I wanted to get it up anyway :).
Due to the fact that the majority of our resources–time, energy, and money–for Elliott’s birthday were dedicated to his House Build, I committed to keeping the party itself SIMPLE. But that didn’t mean we couldn’t have some fun :).
We had Elliott’s Birthday Banner up the whole week preceding his birthday. Melisa and I designed and made this banner several months ago for Elliott out of the same material that my friend Amy made his quilt and wall hangings out of. We’ll add a new photo each year!
The Birthday Banner!
Let’s get this party started!
We went with a construction theme (of course). And with a few sheets of yellow cardstock, a Sharpie, our printer, some balloons, and some Spanish “Caution” tape, we had our decor.
THE DECOR
Construction signs everywhere!Some of our guests relaxing before lunch (American tacos, of course) is served.The party game…putting Elliott's photos in order from 1-11 months old!Brian designed the cupcake construction signs himself!Cupcakes galore
THE FIRST BITE OF BIRTHDAY CUPCAKE!
Lighting Elliott's cupcake…me and the baby bump 🙂Everyone's singing "Happy Birthday," and Elliott is LOVING it!!Trying to explain that he has to blow out the candle…"Mom, that's the silliest thing I've EVER heard!!""Seriously, Mom? No way! I'm feeling a bit candle shy today…""Helping him" blow it out before he grabs onto the flame…"Now what do I do? ""Oooh…I've never felt anything like THIS before…""Ehh…let me touch it with my right hand, too."When, after a few minutes of poking and prodding this strange sugar phenomenon, it was clear that Elliott had deemed this object inedible, Brian helped him out."Whoa. Now that was different.""Let me try that again. Is everyone still watching? Good.""Wow. That is REALLY something.""I'd better try one more bite."
Now, when Elliott really likes something that we’ve given him to eat, he either does one of two things: he smiles so big and waves at us, or, he wants to kiss us over and over again. As you may or may not know, Elliott’s kisses are VERY open-mouthed. So after about three bites, apparently he decided he liked it, and leaned in to give me kiss…
*Melt my heart*We BOTH had a chocolate mustache after that smooch!!
He kissed me two or three times in a row, and every time he did, all of the party guests (of course) went, “Awww….” I think he really liked that, so after every kiss, he broke out into joyous applause for himself. It was awesome.
So pleased with himself for kissing Mommy. 🙂My goodness, I love him!!!
Brian and I tried to take advantage of his smoozing with the camera to sneak in a family pic. Little did we know that Elliott had very much moved on already.
"Alright, alright…enough kissing and clapping. Lemme have another bite of that awesome goodness!"Finally got a family birthday picture in there :)."Mmmm. Now THAT was good. Talk about about satisfaction!"
THE GUESTS!
FamilyMost of our DTS familyMark, Korrin, and two of their boys–Noah (who apparently is camera shy) and Declan. Elliott looks up to these boys so much! We are grateful for these new friends who are on staff here for the next 2 years!Louie, Taylor, Micah, Declan, Hailey, Elliott, Noah (Hunter had already gone home to take a nap)Grandma & Grandpa Moberg with all the grandkids
You know, it wasn’t easy thinking about the fact that Elliott’s first birthday would be far, far away from the people whom we love most dearly and from the people who love our sweet baby boy so much. But I am so grateful for how the Lord came through and made Elliott’s birthday lacking nothing. Don’t get me wrong–I missed my family tremendously and all of my dear friends spread across the globe. But Elliott’s birthday was rich. Rich with friendship, with love, with giving to a family in need. We are so grateful that Brian’s family could come down for the weekend, and that our DTS class adores Elliott and were all so excited to celebrate him. We are so grateful that Elliott has new friends here–Noah, Declan, Louie, Hunter and Parker–and most of them could make it to his party! We are grateful.
Happy 1st Birthday, Elliott Brian!!! What a joy it is to celebrate your life!!!
Thank you to those of you who journeyed with us in Elliott’s House Build Project! Those of us who had the chance to be there to build all agreed that WE were the blessed ones…WE were the honored ones…WE were the privileged ones.
And for those of you who so generously GAVE and so powerfully PRAYED…we hope that these pictures will give you a glimpse into the fruit that came BECAUSE OF YOU…a glimpse into the honor that it was to get to know this family and give them a home…because if it weren’t for YOU, this could have never been possible…
Here’s a time-lapse video of the entire house being built in 90 seconds!
Here are a few still shots from throughout the day…
Elliott the birthday builder boy, ready to build!The Homes of Hope truck, rolling up to the job site!The neighborhoodSee this empty space between these two houses? It won't be empty for long…The wood for the houseBrian's brother Kevin cutting the wood to sizeOur nieces, Taylor and Hailey, painting the sidingGrandma Moberg painting sidingChrystal and Angela building the roof!Rayel painting trim with the girlsWorking so hard…Brian's sister Angela and sister-in-law Tabitha painting trim!Getting the very first wall up!"How do I use this, Dad?"Grandpa Moberg teaching Elliott how to use a hammer.Giezi and Angela carrying one of the trusses for the roof.Josh building the roof!Luis, Jonas, and Josh working on the roof!Malene getting to know Wendy and Isabel and a friend of theirs.Chrissy putting in the windowThe girls taking a break in the back of the pick-up truckBrian putting the door togetherTaylor making sure everyone's putting the trim in correctly on the inside of the house
When the outside and the inside of the house were both completed, several people in our group went on a grocery shopping trip to stock them up with yummy, healthy food!! The rest of us stayed back and built their new beds, table, and chairs and installed their brand new stove.
Elliott helping put the bedding togetherTheir new beds and bedding!Elliott helping me put together a chair for their new dining room table!Their new dining room table, chairs, table cloth & stove! (Dishes and place mats not pictured.)
After all of the furniture was assembled and everything was ready, we closed the door and gathered outside in a circle.
We passed the keys to the house from person to person, and each one shared how meaningful it was to help build the home.
We presented Teresa and her two granddaughters, Isabel and Wendy, with a bible, a plaque commemorating the house, and, of course, the keys! While they walked inside, we all ran to the van to get the bags of groceries…
Look at all that food!!Taylor knocked on the door…And we all carried in the bags of food, one by one, and gathered in Teresa's new home to pray for her family and bless them.
Would you not agree with me, that…
'TIS MORE BLESSED…TO GIVE……THAN TO RECEIVE.
God bless this home, and the hands that gave to make it happen.
As we worked, my mind flooded with all of the people who gave to make this possible. Because this whole project was about “WE.” There is no way that Brian and I could have done this alone. The two of us, in and of ourselves, don’t have the money or the manpower to pull something like this off. There are MANY who make up the “WE” that built this home, and we want to take a moment to acknowledge them…
First of all, I can’t write one more word without mentioning the McCabes. Kari McCabe is one of my best friends from elementary school–yes, that’s right, we’ve been dear friends for over 22 years!! Kari’s son, Quinn, is just 12 days younger than Elliott and they are true bosom buddies (but that’s for another blog post :)). Well, when Kari and her husband heard what we were doing for Elliott’s birthday, they decided to turn Quinn’s birthday into the same outward blessing. So they asked for all gifts/money that would have been given to Quinn be directed toward the house build. They even took up an offering at their church! Between the McCabes, their family and friends, and their church, they raised 1/3 of the money we needed to build the house!! We could have never done it without them, and Brian and I were continually overwhelmed at not only their generosity, but the way that they carried this burden with us. We are so grateful for the way they invested in this project with us!!
Next, Brian’s family! His entire family made the trek down here to build the home with us. They were all so eager to be here to celebrate Elliott in this unique way and to jump right in and get some dirt under their fingernails (and lots of paint all over their hands, ha!)! 🙂 We are so grateful that each one of them could be here.
Third, our newest friends, our DTS classmates. Ahh, how we love them. 🙂 They couldn’t have been more excited to jump in and build this house, and it was a tremendous joy to have them with us. They have all become so dear to us in the last three months!
And last, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST…to all the people who so generously GAVE towards this home. YOU were an ESSENTIAL part…
Jim & Jen A.Dan & Donelle B.Michael & Ana B.Mike & Diane B.Jim & Linda B.Jordan & Danielle B.Bryna B.Marcus B.Jason & Janna B.Jason & Callie B.Bruce & Paulette B.Chrissy C.Craig & Michelle C.Ray & Debbie C.Robert C.Mima E.Ron & Michelle F.Kay G.Eric & Margo H.Mark & Korrin J.Erika J.Tommy & Bonnie L.Jean L.John & Helen M.Jonathan & Jillian M.Guy & Sue M.Harry & Evie M.Kyle & Ali M.Trevor & Kari M.Paul & Lisa M.Ken & Kay M.Kristin M.Angela M.Ken & Marilyn M.Shane & Hilery M.Trent & Kelly N.Jeff & Barbie N.Beth N.Paul & Ashleigh O.Nycki P.Michael & Chris P.Dave & Claudia P.Alan P.Mary Michael P.River of Grace ChurchMichelle R.Rayel R.Yuri & Julianna R.Blair & Kappy S.Biddy S.Jeb & Eleanor S.Preston & Helen S.Adrienne W.Sara W.Keith & Nancy W.Rick & Susan W.Skip & Betty W.Bill & Becky W.THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU…for joining with us and blessing this family with A HOME!!! (The magnitude of that statement still gets me every time…this dear family now has a HOME!!!!) We pray that you would be blessed tremendously as you have given so generously. Thank you, dear friends!!!!
It’s funny…you wait for this day all year…it’s such a milestone…and I was convinced that balloons and streamers were going to be set off in the air all day long and that there would be dancing and singing in the streets from dawn until dusk, which is when the fireworks would take over and the celebrations would go long into the night… Elliott Brian Moberg is ONE!!!
But, surprisingly, the world did not celebrate his birthday quite like that. It was much more ordinary. But we did what we could to make the day as special as possible for our sweet little love, who has brought unspeakable joy and laughter to our lives in the last twelve months.
So, the day before our sweet baby boy turned one, he woke up with this awful, awful sickness. The world “cold” just doesn’t seem strong enough for what he’s been fighting the last 4 weeks. He gave “it” to both of us, and hence, the delay in this blog post–we have all been S-I-C-K in this household.
This is how Elliott woke up on March 20. Snotty, but at least he's smiling still at this point in the day!
But that isn’t going to stop me from devoting a post entirely to his actual birthDAY, and hopefully soon I can put together a quick post about the little birthday party we held for him after the House Build.
His birthday was on a Tuesday, so we had class. I stayed home with the birthday boy who was in no shape to go out that day while Brian went to class. I knew Elliott needed to rest, but how do you force a super active 1 year old to rest?? I even tried to put on a movie (his very first one!) and cuddle with him, but he would have nothing to do with sitting still. So we “calmly” played in his play room together while “The Lion King” kept us company in the background.
As you know, we devoted the majority of our finances and time towards the House Build for Elliott’s birthday. But we wanted to get him a few small gifts to remind him of the special day where we (along with our friends and family) gifted a family with a home in honor of his 1st birthday. So when Brian got home after lunch, we decided it was a good window for him to open his gifts.
(A little disclaimer: not only was Elliott super sick, but it was SUPER cold in our house that day. So we have him very tastefully bundled up in a onesie, socks, fleece footed moose jammies with this fleece Christmas jammy thing on top. What can I say? They were hand-me-downs and they came in VERY HANDY right about then!!)
First, he got to open a present from each set of his grandparents, which was very special. Then he found the gifts we had “hidden” on his play room shelves.
He found his presents all on his own!"You mean this is for ME?""I wonder what I should do with it?"Oohing and ahhing at his three presents from us: A set of Carhart overalls to wear for the house build, a tool puzzle to learn the names of all the different tools he'll need to build and, of course, a tool set so he can practice building!Learning how to hammer from the coolest builder Daddy on the planet.But honestly, this is what we spent most of his birthday doing. 🙁…which always led to this. Poor birthday buddy :(.Yep…time for a birthday nap!!
Happy birthday, baby boy! Here’s to hoping that next year you will not be sick on your birthday :).
