Isaac in the fridge... a daily occurrance in the Mauney home

Isaac loves playing in the fridge! I don't exactly leave it open all day for his entertainment, but I do leave it open for a few minutes when I'm working in the kitchen so that he can have some fun with the salad dressings. Here are a few cute pictures we took recently while he was hard at work:

"Hmmmm, will I have Balsamic vinagrette, Caesar, or Ranch with my yogurt melts?" (check out that adorable belly!)



Yes, that is his Daddy's wallet. I guess to him it makes sense to "put your money where your mouth is!"

Isaac sees snow!

Although we only had a dusting of snow on Tuesday, Isaac was amazed by our deck covered in a white stuff he'd never seen before. Here he is, looking at snow for the first time in his life:



Sadly, there wasn't enough snow to keep Steven home and I wasn't up to getting out in the snow/grass with Isaac, so we just enjoyed it from inside. Not sure if I consider this his first snow. I think you need at least an inch to be in the runnings for that important event. Hopefully next time we'll have enough to put plastic baggies on our feet, like Nathan did, and traipse through the snow! It may be another three years, but I'm ready!!!

Isaac is 14 months old!

Isaac turned 14 months old yesterday!

Here are some stats and thoughts about this growing boy:

*He's wearing 18 month clothing (we even have one pair of 2T pants that he's able to fit in.)

*He's in a size 4 diaper.

*He's wearing size 5 shoes.

*He's a learner and an investigator. He is a student of everything he encounters, and it's amazing to watch his eyes when they land on something he's never seen before.

*He loves to eat and eats A LOT. We feed him table food (almost everything we eat, except, of course, peanut butter!) I am also still nursing him three times each day for his milk needs. His favorite foods right now are navel oranges, mandarin oranges, hummus, strawberries, Kashi cheese crackers, and chicken (especially Chick-Fil-A nuggets! He takes after his Daddy!) He's not quite as passionate about tomatoes as he used to be, and he definitely doesn't like broccoli or green peas. When we go out to eat, quesadillas are usually a hit, along with cheeseburgers and guacamole.

*He is starting to be quite vocal around strangers. He babbles to most everyone we meet, and he flashes his flirtatious smile as well. His favorite words are: hallelujah, ball, juice, baba (banana), dada.

*He loves playing games with us, and is becoming quite a ham. He loves to be tickled, to play hide-n-seek, and to be chased. He has recently started screaming with a high pitched scream when we play hide-n-seek with him. He gets SO excited, and this must be his way of exhibiting that excitement.

*He loves to dance. We have some music from the Uganda Jesus Village that has awesome African sounds and is very upbeat. Every time we play this music, Isaac starts dancing in place. It's adorable. He loves any kind of music and gets excited when I go to the CD player to turn it on! Of course, Isaac also still loves playing the keyboard with Steven and calls the keyboard itself "da-doe". Since we purchased a Motif for Steven to begin recording, Isaac has seemed a little more interested in playing with all the knobs and switches than actually plaing the keys.

*He loves cords. Of any kind. All shapes and sizes. Plugged in or not. Wrapped up or not. Neatly organized in a box or not. He is a cable/cord lovin' boy. At church, he loves to climb up on the stage to "cord heaven". He could stay there all during the service if we let him... ;)

*He is sleeping through the night (finally!!!) I haven't shared much about this before, but it took Isaac about 10 months to begin sleeping "through the night" (8PM - 4AM). Slowly, though, over the past four months, he has slept longer and longer at a time. He has been consistently sleeping from 7:30PM - 7:00 AM for about three weeks now. We are so thankful for this! I definitely didn't think it would take this long for him to be able to sleep through the night, but the process of waiting it out has been a growing experience for Steven and me, and we learned many, many lessons through it. I won't go into those here, but I will rejoice that it seems that consistent rest for the Mauney family has returned (at least for the present moment...) Isaac also still naps twice a day: in the morning and in the early afternoon.

Isaac is a JOY, and we look forward to what this next month holds for him!

Here are a few pictures from yesterday when he discovered another something new - my scarf (thanks Aunt Susan!)




Precious!

Fresh apple juice!

Today, Isaac and I made apple juice! A few years ago, I inherited a Champion juicer from my mom (thanks Momma!!), but I haven't really used it all that much. I knew that the right time would come, and I believe that time is now! With all my interest in natural living and eating healthfully, it only makes sense to add fresh fruit and veggie juice to our diet. I had some apples that I got for a good deal at Aldi last week, so I decided to use those for my first juicing experiment. I believe it turned out well! I've got enough juice for about three adult servings or a weeks worth of Isaac-sized servings (I always dilute his juice). The apples were the Gala variety, and to minimize discoloration of the juice, I added 1/4 of a fresh lemon while I was juicing.


I moved Isaac's high chair into our kitchen so that he could experience the moment with me, but I think he enjoyed eating his bananas quite a bit more than watching me act like Rachel Ray. Anyway, he seemed to like the end result of my experiment!

The juice is delicious, and I have some pulp left over that will give me a nice challenge tomorrow. Maybe some apple sweet bread or something like that... Any ideas?


Yum!

Daddy's hat is so much fun!

Isaac has recently become fascinated with hats, especially Steven's ball cap. However, when we try to get him to wear it (so adorable!!), he quickly takes it off. We were able to snap a few pictures of him wearing it for a few brief seconds earlier this week...

In a Ranch mood today...

One of Isaac's favorite things to do is grab the salad dressings when the refrigerator is open. He then runs around the house shaking the bottles. It's so cute!

I love my crock pot!

One of my favorite ways to cook dinner is by using my crock pot. I can cook healthy, homemade food without standing over the stove for half an hour. As you know from my post about preparing dry good mixes, I'm all about convenient ways to have healthy, natural food for my family. On days when I use my crock pot, I usually prepare the meal in the morning or around lunch time, and then I can forget about it for the rest of the day!

Today, I am making chicken and noodles in the crock pot.



My recipe is this:

Place in crock pot:
1-2 carrots, chopped
1-2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (I make my own whenever I buy a rotisserie chicken, and I freeze it in 3 cup servings)
2-3 teaspoons chicken bullion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken (I use chicken breasts; you can put them in whole or chopped)
1 cup bowtie noodles

Cook on low 6-8 hours OR cook on high 4 hours. This is one of those recipes that I have experimented with over time, so that's why the measurements aren't exact. Some days I feel like putting a little more of one ingredient or a little less of another... It usually always turns out great!

I can't wait to have this yummy meal on what is supposed to be a very cold night!

Lord, this weekend would be a perfect time for a snowfall! ;)

Fun with blocks!

Today while I was fixing dinner, Isaac started doing something new...stacking his blocks! He's been playing with these blocks for a few weeks (thanks to Pawpaw!), but I've never seen him stack them this way on his own.

Look at this sweet boy!

Isaac's shirt says "In the beginning, God created ME...and said it was good." We agree.

Makeup brushes are so much fun!

Isaac has been watching me put on my makeup for 13 months now. I guess he thought it was about time to give it a try for himself!

“Kindness is like snow - it beautifies everything it covers”
Anonymous

Isaac would rather take the long way...

Yesterday afternoon, Isaac and I went to the YMCA for a workout (well, I went for a workout, and Isaac went to play). When we got there, we could hardly find a place to park, so we took the first available spot which was quite a distance from the building. I bundled Isaac up in his jacket, and we got out of the car and into the very strong wind. We were about halfway to the building when a the security guard drove by on his golf cart. In the summer, this nice gentleman would give us rides around the parking lot each time we came, and I figured this time would be no different. I was excited because the golf cart had a plastic cover over it to protect the passengers from wind and rain, and I thought we might get some relief for the second half of our hike to the building. Well, I was completely wrong. The gentleman did indeed offer us a ride, but when Isaac saw the golf cart he started wailing with terror! I knew he'd taken rides in it before, but apparently he didn't remember that. His face showed that he was frightened and had no desire to ride in the golf cart. So I declined the man's offer for a ride, and we started back on our journey to get inside. Isaac seemed pleased with me, and I was glad for that!

It seems that our little man is now at the "No, let's not do that! I'm scared!!!" stage.

It's okay Isaac; there are plenty more years to enjoy the fun of a golf cart!

No shirt for Isaac!

Isaac can take his shirt off now!!! A few days ago, we noticed that Isaac wasn't napping in his crib during naptime. Instead, he was talking and playing. I went in after a few minutes to encourage him to go to sleep and found that he didn't have a shirt on! I called out to Steven, "Honey, did you put a shirt on him when you changed him before his nap??" Steven said, "Of course I did! What's up?" I told him that Isaac didn't have a shirt on, and then I saw it lying on the floor! Steven ran in the room and we both just laughed! Our little boy had learned to undress himself!

Also, he has started "helping" us put his shoes and socks on. When it's time to put his shoes on, he sits down and puts his legs up in the air. It's so cute!

A quick movie review...

Over the past week, Steven and I have been able to go out on three dates, thanks to my parents. On two of them, we decided to visit the AMC movie theatre. The two movies we saw were Seven Pounds and Valkerie. We enjoyed them both very much, so I thought I'd share a few thoughts about them for my readers.

Seven Pounds was a great story of a man who, through a tragic event, learns what it means to give without strings attached. On our way home from this movie, Steven and I talked nonstop about the enormity of how giving selflessly can have an incredibly far-reaching impact. And then we thought about the sacrifice of Jesus. By giving his life, dying in place of sinful mankind, we can each be set free from an eternity in hell. When we die, because of Jesus' sacrifice, we have the promise of a glorious life forever in heaven with the Creator of the universe. Powerful. Seven Pounds is an intense movie, and I can bet that it will make you think. And think. And ponder. And realize the blessing of life and the power of self-sacrifice.

Valkerie was based on a true story of a group of men who stood against the Hitler regime. This movie was very inspiring for us on several levels. First, we learned about something that most folks probably don't know happened during Hitler's reign. Since the effort "failed", these men haven't been hailed as great history-makers. However, the effort itself showed incredible bravery and, again, willingness to sacrifice their image, careers, even lives for the benefit of others. Therefore, I am so glad this story is being told to the masses through film. Second, this movie shows that one person can make a difference in this world, and it encouraged a boldness in me to stand for what I know is true and not back down. Who knows what my "Valkerie moment" might be? Or yours?

Thanks Mom and Dad for making it possible for Steven and me to see these and to have "couple time". This is so very important for our marriage, and we are blessed to have such awesome people to spend time with Isaac while we're out. We love you both!

Birds on my feeder!

They came! I've had two birdfeeders outside our front window for a while now, and today I've seen a family of chickadees and a titmouse come to dine. What a peaceful moment ~ watching these beauties feast on seeds right outside my window.

A chickadee:


A tufted titmouse:



“Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”
Dale Carnegie

Happy New Year!

So, 2008 is gone...


But who knows what 2009 holds...


All kidding aside, we are super-excited about this year! There are so many things to look forward to in 2009 which include:

* Growing: Isaac growing into a little boy - sad as it is to see his infant days end, it is so exciting to watch him grow!
* Stepping Out: Steven will be starting to professionally record the songs that the Lord has given him. We're excited to learn about that process and eventually see his songs ministering to others.
* Helping: I will be taking on some new ventures in the way of volunteering in the community. I'm keeping those details under wraps for the time being, but I hope to be able to share more in the near future. In the meantime, please pray for me to be sensitive to God's leading as I step into uncharted waters in obedience to Him.

Lord, may you be glorified in 2009! May our comings and goings honor and magnify You alone.