We're home!

We came home from the hospital on Friday, November 23rd and have been getting settled in with Isaac for the past several days. Learning about what it means to be parents has been incredibly amazing, and we are trying to enjoy every moment of these precious first days. Isaac is learning to eat and eat well, which has been our primary focus since he was born.

He is an adorable blessing from God, and we are very thankful that he is a part of our family now!

Our Little One is Here!

On 11/21/2007 at 12:37 am, Isaac Ryan Mauney came into our world, measuring 8 pounds and 21 inches long. Mom, Dad, and Baby are all doing very well!

Steven Challenges Gravity!

Yesterday, Steven and I had some fun with our new Nikon D40 camera. We purchased it a couple months ago so we'd have a nice camera for taking pictures of our little one. However, Steven, being the wild man he is, decided to challenge gravity on his day off from work. I grabbed the camera, and here are a few pictures to show that he won that challenge!

(Notice in the first two pictures that Steven is jumping over our hospital bags - we're all ready!)

Have you met our cats?

We have two other members of our family that some of you have met - others haven't yet had the pleasure.

Oreo and Noel - our cats. Oreo is solid black and Noel is black and white. They are three and two years old, respectively. Recently, Oreo escaped from our house by accident and was gone for five days. The last time he escaped (in summer of 2006), Steven and I were very sad and worried the whole time. We didn't know if he would come back, but he did once we finally decided to trust that God's hand was keeping him safe and would bring him back. This time around, I believe God asked us, "Do you still trust me to take care of Oreo?" We said, "Yes, Lord, we do, and we won't worry about him. We'll wait for you to bring him home." About three days after he left, I received a prompting in my spirit that Oreo was under a deck. I then looked under our deck, but he wasn't there. I was curious as to why I had received that knowledge, but he was nowhere to be found on our property. The next evening, however, we saw him underneath our neighbor's deck (I hadn't thought to look there earlier; I had assumed that "under a deck" meant our deck)! It was very dark, and we didn't want to disturb the neighbors since it was 9:30 at night, so we decided that we'd wait until the next day to try and get him. The next day came and he was still under that deck! He was at the furthest point and we couldn't reach him, so Steven crawled under the deck, grabbed him, and handed him to me. Once we got him inside, it was obvious he was glad to be home. However, Noel was mad that her brother had left her, so she hissed at him for three days!

Ultimately, God showed us once again that he cares for His children and He is BIG enough to take care of our concerns, whatever they may be. We are very thankful for His protection of Oreo and his stretching of our faith. I believe this is just one of the lessons we must learn as parents and children of God in general - that everything we have belongs to Him and we must not cling too tightly to anything of this world.

"But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:20-21 (NASB)

What do you take for granted?

Baby Mauney is still cooking. I have been dilated for one centimeter for the past two weeks, and yesterday my doctor informed me that I am now dilated two centimeters! Woohoo! Progress! If we keep going at this rate, I might have the baby by New Year's. Just kidding! The due date is six days from now, and the doctor thinks that I'll go into labor between now and then. I happen to think so, too. Last week I had a relatively good amount of energy, and I was able to move around and clean the house, wash clothes, etc. This week, however, I have been drained for the most part. Monday I cleaned the house with the few ounces of strength I had left, but since Tuesday, I have been pretty exhausted. I'm thinking this is because my body is storing up the energy for the labor, delivery, and the first few months of being up around the clock. In spite of the exhaustion, I have managed to take a walk outside each day, which I am quite proud of.

What is funny is that I have this sore spot in my low back (from the pressure of the baby) and it makes me walk funny and sometimes get "stuck" where I can't move for a few seconds. My sister, Kati, came over last night to walk with me, and once I got good momentum, we were able to walk for about 30 minutes. However, when we stopped for a second, my sore back "locked up" and I couldn't go anywhere. It is amazing how much we take for granted - even being able to walk where you want to go when you want to go there.

"So we Your people and the sheep of Your pasture will give thanks to You forever; To all generations we will tell of Your praise."
Psalm 79:13 (NASB)

The Waiting Game

We are waiting for this wonderful little one to arrive, and we're enjoying every minute of it! It's so exciting to think that we're going to have a third person living in our house within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, we've tried to get as much rest as possible in addition to keeping our house clean and clothes washed so we'll be ready to leave for the hospital at any moment.

Today, Steven put together our baby's bouncer and swing. I told him that this is just the start of a lifetime of putting together baby stuff and kid's toys. He didn't seem to mind that. He just grinned and said, "Yep! It sure is!"

We are so thankful for this miracle in our lives! Every day we're reminded of the goodness and faithfulness of our God. I am starting to imagine how overwhelmed with gratefulness and joy we'll be when we first see and hold our little one. WOW!

The Mauney Family!

Hello friends and family!

We have created this blog to share information, news, and fun stuff about our family. As most of you know, we have been married for three years and are expecting our first baby very soon! His due date is November 21st, but he could arrive any day now!

We'll be posting more as we get used to this blogging thing and how it all works!