The Moberg Family

Month: February 2013

  • Valentine’s Day, Part II

    Valentine’s Day, Part II

    “For God so loved the world, that he gave…”

    It’s impossible to separate my sacrificial love for my children from my husband’s sacrificial love for me. The two are inseparable, because although I know it would be possible to pour out my life for my children without him, I am also certain that it would be much, much, much more difficult. Oh, how beautiful is God’s design for a marriage team and for family!!

    John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, to lay one’s life down for his wife*.” (Um, I may have changed one of the words in that Scripture so it fit better with my blog post…….)

    Someone wise once said something along the lines of, “The person you marry will have faults; it’s inevitable. But know the quality it is that you cannot stand, and make sure the person you marry doesn’t have that fault…”

    For me, the quality that I don’t think I have the character to live with is selfishness. I’m actually not positive I knew that for certain before getting married or not, but perhaps, subconsciously, that was one of the many reasons I was wooed by Brian Moberg himself…he is simply the most selfless man I know.

    My husband gives. He gives without being asked, without complaint, without grumbling. He gives with joy. He pours out his life for his family all the time.

    (Ladies, find yourself a selfless man. It will make your entire world go round much. more. smoothly.)

    Last night as I was brushing my teeth (the place/time where most of my blogging inspiration occurs), all I could think about as Valentine’s Day approached was how grateful I am for the ways my husband gives all year long. Not roses or chocolate, but his very self.

    I’ve often heard it said that you don’t know how selfish you are until you get married. Then, you don’t know how selfish you are until you have kids. For some reason, that hasn’t been the pattern with us. So, either we are doing something very, very wrong, or…my husband leads our family in selflessness, and makes selflessness the standard, not the exception.

    I am convinced that the way a man leads his family will be clear by the atmosphere in the home. Brian leads our family by giving, and that manifests in our home as peace, joy, and security. As he serves, burdens are lifted off of my shoulders and I have greater peace. As he serves, I am blessed and filled with joy. As he serves, I know he loves me because “greater love has no one than this, that he lay his life down...” Peace, joy, and security. Three attributes of our home, thanks to my hubby.

    My love, thank you for so selflessly laying down your life every day for me and for our children. Thank you for serving us. Thank you for taking care of us so extraordinarily. Thank you for going above-and-beyond in service while I’m pregnant so that I can survive! Thank you for doing all the grocery shopping every week for the last year even though you hate it! Thank you for doing our laundry since the laundry machine is ALL the way down the stairs and outside! Thank you for always taking the garbage out and for keeping us stocked with paper towels and toilet paper! Thank you for doing the dishes so often! Thank you for getting me protein bars late at night when I’m starving! Thank you for snuggling with our sweet Elliott on those rare nights that he wakes up in the middle of the night and needs some comfort. Thank you for letting me take naps on the weekends! Thank you for making me laugh when I’m grumpy and thank you for pressing me to be the fullness of who God’s created me to be! Thank you for adoring me. Thank you for giving me the world’s most perfect children! Thank you for giving your very self so that I can give my very self to incubate and nourish our children.

    Brian Moberg, I have known no greater love outside of my Savior than this love that you lavish on me. Thank you for loving me sacrificially. Thank you for loving me so wholly. Thank you for pouring out your very life for me. Every. Single. Day. I love you to a depth I never knew possible. Happy Valentine’s Day, my sweet, sweet love!!!

     

    And, thank you for giving me this new pair of earrings!! 🙂

     

     

     

  • Valentine’s Day, Part I

    Valentine’s Day, Part I

    “For God so loved the world that he gave…”

    Love is about giving. Love is not just about giving things, but about giving your very self. Any mother could testify that this is the most difficult, yet the most rewarding, part of being a mama. We love so much, that we give…

    We give our body over for almost 2 years so our babes can grow into healthy, strong, thriving toddlers. We give our uteruses for those first 9 months for the sake of creating a safe haven for our little peanuts to grow within us and then we become a milk machine for the next 12 + months. We are the means by which they get nourishment for 9 months and once they are born, we are the means by which they are sustained. During pregnancy, we give up the space for our bladder to spread out, thus giving up the right to only pee a few times a day; instead we are slaves to the bathroom at all hours of the day and night. We give up our right to choose any food in the world that we want to eat, and instead we eat what the baby wants, trying hard to choose foods that keep the baby healthy. We give up our favorite jeans and replace them for elastic waists and belly bands. We give up our heels and (have someone else) lace up our tennies. For me, I give up the comfort of food going down my throat once and staying there. For me, I give up consecutive, deep sleep, only able to get 2 or 3 hours of light sleep in at a time because my body wakes me up to eat (or pee!). For me, I give up the right to use my favorite toothpaste because I have to use the baking soda kind to dilute the acid coating my teeth. For me, I give up the right of ever being more than a few feet away from a toilet, a trash can, or a vomit bag. For me, pregnancy is about loving so much that I give… And then my perfect, precious infant arrives in a bundle and, thankfully for me, the joy of giving during infancy far surpasses the joy of giving during pregnancy. As mothers, we give so much to our little darlings, especially in those first few days and months. We give at times that no one else will ever see or know. We give in ways that no one else will understand. We stumble out of bed to the tiny newborn cries and we can’t help but give a huge smile as our eyeballs peek out of the slits of our eyelids and see…see the perfect miracle looking back at us. Who is alive today because we gave. We give a little laugh (because what else can you do??) when our newborns spray poop all over EV.ER.Y.THING. at 2 in the morning. We give an extra kiss and an extra squeeze when we are overwhelmed with gratitude at our little loves. We give a little whisper in their ears, because we cannot help but repeat over and over and over again how much we love them, how much we cherish them, how much we adore them. We give our very selves, all day and all night long, so that our littles will grow up, bathed in love. We give our very selves, all day and all night long, so that our dear ones will be fed, and swaddled and rocked with love. We give our very selves, all day and all night long, so that our children will know, without a shadow of a doubt, that we love them so much that we give…we give our very selves that they might live, and live abundantly.

    On this Valentine’s Day, I couldn’t be more grateful for the honor it is and has been to give for my little ones. To be the one who gets to give so that they live. To be the one who gets to sacrifice so that they thrive. What an honor. What a joy. What a gift from God!!!!!

    My little Valentine
    My other little Valentine!

     

    To all the mamas out there who spend each day sacrificially loving your own children, and to all the mamas out there who spend each day sacrificially loving children like they are your own, happy Valentine’s day! The way you have poured out your very life to love these children is reaping an eternal impact that no one can ever take away. Take heart, the seeds of love you are planting are blossoming into beautiful fruit. Take heart, He sees you as you selflessly give.

  • Selah B, 3 months

    Selah B, 3 months

    Selah B turned 3 months old on January 8th…though she’s now closer to 5 months old (WHAT?!) I want to post her 3 and 4 month blogs. Because she is just.that.cute.

    Height: 25 inches

    Weight: 12 lbs, 12 oz

    Ahh, month 3, and life with our Selah B only continues to get more wonderful.

    This past month we moved into a different house, and Selah officially has her own bathroom! A wish that every girl dreams of… 🙂

    Selah has been sleeping in a bassinet in our room, which I love. I love listening to her breathing and knowing she’s just a couple feet away from me all night long. It was hard for me to move Elliott into his own room, and it was hard for me to make this leap with Selah, too. I know it’s best for everyone (like when Brian’s alarm clock goes off at 5 am, thus causing Selah to think that’s her awake time, too!) but it feels like she’s going off to college to my little beating mama’s heart.

    So, just past the 3 month mark, we decided to make the switch. Did I mention that this very own bathroom of hers also happens to be her bedroom…

    Besides needing to invest in a rug, it’s not bad for a bathroom bedroom, is it??!!

    We moved into a little 2 bedroom condo. The second bedroom is too small to fit two cribs in it, so we decided to put Selah in the second bathroom! Her crib fits perfectly in the shower. And my incredible husband removed the faucet and built in a changing table above the sink. Her room couldn’t be any more perfect :). (Her bedding and nursery apparel is still in the process of being made, so that’s why her bathroom is still a little bare!)

    Look at this changing table my husband built!!! Pretty impressive, eh?!

    Selah has had a few sleeps all the way through the night, but is still generally waking up once to eat. She’s lifting her shoulders high off the ground during tummy time, and has decided that the bumbo isn’t her favorite thing in the entire world. She has cut her nursing time down to six minutes (sniff, sniff) and would much rather look around than eat. Her favorite things to look at this month? Besides the hanging animals on her play mat (which she’s started to grab a hold of this month), she loves looking into the mirror and…most especially, looking at her big brother. She smiles so big when he is near!!

    Oh! And she giggled for the first time on her 3 month birthday. I was changing her into jammies (which just happened to be from Auntie Erika) and she just let out the biggest giggle while smiling at me!! Being Selah’s mom is the most incredible joy on the planet…

    Well, without further delay, here she is: my giggling, smiling, beautiful 3 month old!

    Just past the 2 month mark, in one of her cute Christmas outfits.
    All the babies born in 2012 at YWAM San Diego/Baja! All girls and one boy! Listen to these cute girlie names: Liel, Aviana, Madison, Natalia, Kindred and Selah! Selah is the youngest, all the way to the right.
    Post nap stretch!

     

    Precious.
    Our little burrito! This is the only way to roll when your house is 51 degrees! Try and guess how many layers she has on underneath that swaddle!!
    Lots of hoodies this month!
    Cuddle time with Daddy
    Senorita Claus, making a face
    Sweet lil’ smile.
    Ladies in red
    Oh my cuteness.

     

    Learning how to grab the lion…
    Oh, hi there!
    “Mom, let’s chat, shall we? I have a few things I’d like to discuss with you.”

     

    “Will you smile for me, Selah B??
    “No, Mama, but I’ll let you get a good shot of my long lashes!”

     

    Our very serious 3 month old 🙂

     

     

  • Where in the world…

    …is this Mexican Mama Blogger??

    Well, for those of you who have been beating down my door, shouting at me from your rooftops, emailing me daily wondering why I haven’t been blogging*…I want you to know that I’m right here.

    And I want you to know that my lack of blogging simply isn’t my fault. There are probably a lot of things that ARE my fault, but this isn’t one of them.

    Unfortunately, I was without a computer for almost four months.

    (Fact: No computer=very difficult to blog.)

    Fortunately, our insurance money for said stolen computer finally came through and we got me a computer at the end of January.

    (Fact: New computer=first step in being able to blog effectively.)

    Unfortunately, we didn’t have working internet.

    (Fact: No internet=very difficult to blog.)

    Fortunately, after a little money, a lot of time, and an untraceable amount of tears trying to get our internet working, our neighbor gave us the password to use hers.

    (Fact: Working internet=second step in being able to blog effectively.)

    Unfortunately, every computer and electronic device from here to Timbuktu works perfectly with our neighbor’s internet…except my brand new computer.

    (Fact: 5 months worth of computer and internet drama=one very defeated Mexican Mama blogger.)

    So, hello, world. Here I am. With internet that works V-E-R-Y sporadically and V-E-R-Y slowly waiting to thwart me once again, with about a dozen blogs written into word documents waiting to be copied and pasted into new posts, with hundreds of pictures of my beautiful children waiting to be revealed to the world, and with a cup of decaf, tepid Joe waiting to recharge me as I attempt to catch up.

    New blog posts…coming soon! 

    *Actually, no one’s even noticed that I haven’t been blogging except my 98 year old grandma** who lives to read my blog posts. After her health has showed a very steady decline since my last post 2 months ago, I realized I had better explain myself.

    **Actually, I don’t have a grandma. But I was hoping that Murphy*** would read that, feel sorry for me, change his little law and leave me alone.

    ***Actually, I’m trying to renounce my belief in Murphy’s Law because my husband tells me I’m ridiculous. But I’m telling him, “You can’t argue with the facts.” Well, here’s to you, Murphy, and all your little blog-thwarting tricks!!!