Wow! What we have to look forward to...

Our family is looking forward to a wonderful and quite busy spring!

Here are some things we're looking forward to over the next few months:

*My college friend Kimberly's wedding ~ Steven and I are looking forward to sharing and rejoicing in this special day with Kimberly and Michael!

*Resurrection Weekend ~ We're looking forward to celebrating this special time with a family lunch and a dinner with our church family!

*A visit to the Lazy 5 Ranch! Our church is having a family day there, and we can't wait to see Isaac's response to all the animals!

*Our friends Brittany and Jack are getting married, and Steven will be providing the music. We're looking forward to lots of fun with old friends and family during this time!

*Kati's graduation!!! My little sis is graduating from UNCC with a Bachelor's degree in Communication Studies with a minor in Japanese! We are so excited for her and plan to scream at the top of our lungs when she walks across that stage!

*Our family vacation! This was originally scheduled for August, but when we learned I was pregnant, we decided to reschedule it. (I don't really like the combo of 8 months pregnant and hot NC beach humidity...) We will be vacationing in Ocean Isle Beach again this year and are super-excited about this trip!

*Kati and Ray's shower! Part of the preparation for their wedding will include their shower(s), and I can't wait!!!

*Kati and Ray's wedding!!! Woohoo! My little sis is getting hitched!!! And I'm the matron of honor!!! (and 6 months pregnant - how much more matronly can you get!) This is going to be a wonderful time of celebrating Kati and Ray's new life together. YAY!

***Rest. After all that, it'll just be the end of June, and we'll need a good rest. We're planning to take it easy for the summer in preparation for the new baby (and also to ensure that we get the nursery in good working order before I'm too tired to help in the prep work!)

Steven and I would like to take a short vacation together for our "Babymoon #2"... so we will be planning that for sometime in the summer. Any ideas for places to go or stay would be much appreciated! (Of course my dream would be some nice weekend package at the Grove Park Inn and Spa, but that's probably going to have to stay a dream!!)

Here's to a spring full of fun with friends and family!

Fun with the pans!

Once Isaac learned how to get into the drawer below our stove, he has made a game of taking all my pans out and playing on and in them. This will entertain him for quite some time!

Here's proof:



Look at this laugh!!

A milestone for the carseat...forward facing!

We finally turned Isaac's carseat to the "facing forward" position, and he seems to like it!

Obviously he doesn't have a problem falling asleep this way either!

Isaac's words!

Thanks to our friend Lori and her wonderful and inspiring blog ideas (thanks Lori!!), I have decided to add a list of Isaac's words on our blog. This will help us keep track of them because it's easy to forget what all he has learned.

The lexicon is on the right sidebar of our blog.

Enjoy!

(And remember to check out Lori's photography website here if you're in the market for a photographer!)

Pregnancy Update: 11 weeks!

I am now 11 weeks along!

This week, some of the nausea has subsided (thank you Lord!) and I have had spurts of some energy (as opposed to none whatsoever over the past month!!).

My main pregnancy symptoms continue to be nausea, aversions, an intense gag reflex, and exhaustion. Other than that, I'm totally normal! :)

I am still not back into the routine of cooking dinners too often, due to the smells of food preparation, but I did find some healthy frozen dinners at Trader Joe's recently, and they have helped us to have some easy options for dinner. God bless my husband - he has been such a wonderful support to me during this time. He's very flexible and always willing to pick up a pizza when needed!

I started "showing" during my pregnancy with Isaac when I was about 10 weeks along. This time around, I like to say I was already showing before I even took the pregnancy test (hehehe), but seriously, I've started to have a more pronounced baby pooch just during the past week. Therefore, I have already started wearing maternity clothes. They are so comfortable - in my opinion, why not take advantage of every moment to wear them that you can?! And, thanks to my wonderful Momma, I have some new very cute outfits!!! Momma, you know I love them and am SO thankful for your thoughtfulness in pampering me this way! :) Hopefully my readers will be lucky enough to see me stylin' and profilin' in my hot mama clothes! *Big smile*

More to come! Thank you all for your continued prayers for this little miracle!

Another milestone... drinking from a straw!

This past Friday, Isaac successfully learned to drink from a straw by himself! His Granny (my mom) worked hard with him during lunch and dinner to teach him this important skill. Now he's a pro!

Isaac and a spoon!

Last week, I decided to try letting Isaac eat with a spoon by himself. I gave him a spoon and his yogurt container, and here are pictures of the results:

Isaac feeds Oreo!

For the first time ever, Isaac tried to feed Oreo some of his lunch! And Oreo didn't object to that!

Pregnancy Update: 10 weeks!

I am now 10 weeks along in my pregnancy with Baby #2.

A little history - I found out about this pregnancy when I was about 5 weeks along. Within a day of finding out, I began to have extreme nausea. I thought maybe it was just psychological because I now knew I was pregnant... BUT NO! It wasn't just in my head... I've been nauseous almost every day since then. Thankfully I haven't been vomiting, but it's the kind of nausea that makes you want to avoid the kitchen altogether, due to an extreme sensitivity to many food smells and aversions to foods that were on my top-ten list a month ago!

With Isaac, I was nauseous, but not nearly to the extent I am now. And with Isaac, when I was sick, I could just ignore mealtimes if needed. Now that I have a little one to feed FIVE times a day, I've just had to push through the nausea and get him fed as efficiently as possible. Sadly, I haven't cooked a decent dinner for the past month. However, Steven and Isaac seem to be doing just fine, so I'm not too worried. :)

I've also been extremely tired for the past month. I try to sleep whenever Isaac sleeps, and my awesome husband lets me sleep as much as I need on the weekends. Thank you Steven!

Aside from the nausea and fatigue, I have been experiencing an uncontrollable excitement about another little Mauney joining our family! Even though I've been pregnant once before, the thought of a new life inside me is just as thrilling and awe-inspiring this time around.

We had our first ultrasound last week, and our little one was wiggling around and even seemed to wave at us!

Here is a picture of a baby at the same gestational age as ours (found here):



Please keep this little one in your prayers!

Such a good helper!

The boy loves to mop!

Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes...

Where are your toes, Isaac?


Where are your shoulders? (we're working on this one...)


Where is your mouth?


Where is your nose?


Where are your ears?


Can you put your arms up?



Just some of the fun Steven and Isaac had this past weekend while I was sleeping in!

First try: spaghetti!

Last week, we served Isaac his first spaghetti. He loved it, and the pictures prove it! :)

Coming soon...another blessing!

Steven, Isaac and I want to officially share the news that we are expecting another blessing in our home, come October!


Our little tiny one is due on his/her Daddy's birthday, which is October 11th.

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..."
Psalm 127:3-5a

Sportin' the toboggan!

Here's Isaac in his Daddy's old toboggan. So cute!

Isaac's new trick!

This past weekend Steven got some video of Isaac doing a new climbing trick in our den. Check out the part where he takes a hard fall - instead of crying, he gets right back up and climbs again. Also, be sure to check out his soccer skills at the end of the video. :)

Enjoy!

Our little man is 15 months old!

Isaac was 15 months old on February 21st!

Our little man continues to grow steadily. His weight is about 23.75 pounds, and his height is 32 inches. He had a great visit with his doctor last week. She was glad to see that he is growing well and also being so talkative!

Isaac is indeed a talker! He says lots of words now, including ball, block, book, Mama, Dada, truck, ba-ba (distinctly when he's referring to bananas), hallelujah, juice, shoe, Oreo, Noel, dog, bird, Desitin (sounds more like "desiduh")... and he even tries to say other words that are still a little hard for him to pronounce, such as "medicine" - he says "sib-i-son". It's so cute to hear him try to say new words!

He has also really begun to pick up some sign language that we've taught him. His current sign vocabulary includes "more", "all done", "eat", "sleep" and "please". He can also clap and put his arms up when we ask him.

Recently, we've begun working with him on identifying parts of his body. So far, he has mastered pointing to his head, ears, nose, and mouth. A big helper in teaching him these things has been the Your Baby Can Read system. My parents gave it to Isaac for Christmas, and we've really enjoyed watching the videos and using the books and flashcards.

Speaking of books - Isaac has recently started to love having books read to him. This has not been something Isaac's enjoyed much in the past. I think he enjoys reading more now because he is able to identify some of his favorite things in the books, such as dogs or birds. If he sees one of these on the page, he gets very excited and says the word several times!

He is a great helper - cleaning up his toys (with Steven and me) after playtime, taking dishes out of the dishwasher (and handing them to us), and following basic instructions (like "go get your shoes from the basket, and bring them to me")

Isaac is also very mobile these days; he is so confident in his walking that he runs around now. He also loves to dance. When we put his music on (or most any music, for that matter), he starts to do a dance in place and then he will begin to clap and twirl around. Many nights before bed, the three of us meet in the den and dance around the room. Isaac loves it so much! I'm usually in the kitchen cleaning up when Isaac and Steven put the music on. Then I hear "Maaaa-ma!!!" This continues until I come in and start dancing with my boys. What fun! (and some very special memories we're making!)

Isaac's favorite foods include: Cheerios, yogurt, bananas, tomatoes, chicken, strawberries, green beans, cheese... and he likes most every other food. He is a good eater and does very well when we eat in restaurants. We keep Gerber yogurt melts in his bag to give him after he's had his main course. That way, he can get some additional nutrition and the adults can finish their meal! We also bring some toys that are "restaurant only" toys, so he can entertain himself while the conversation continues. It's a pleasure to take him to lunch or dinner with us, and since we love eating out, we enjoy this as often as we can (making sure not to break the bank!!!)

We love this little man! What a pleasure he is in our lives!

Isaac's First Snow! (finally!!!)

Last night, our area got about six inches of snow! We were SO excited because our family loves snow!!! (Well, Steven and I do... today was Isaac's first opportunity to experience that love...) Isaac enjoyed playing in the snow this morning and he also enjoyed his first sledding experience! We had a great time!

Here are some pictures from our time in the snow:

Isaac isn't too sure what to think at first...


Isaac and Steven watch the neighborhood kids sled down the hill in front of our house:


The hill in front of our house, taken from across the street. Our mailbox is the one on the left side of the photo:


Isaac walks on snow for the first time!





Steven pulls Isaac on a sled (thanks Gramps!!)


Isaac and his whole snow outfit (Thanks Kalpana and Dylan for the jacket!!!)



What a fun day!