We are sure of it and claiming it! Maxton is going to be a great big brother. He already likes to lift up my shirt and say “babies” and kiss the belly. When we go to the growth check ultrasound he dances to the beat of their hearts, points to the screen and says “babies.”
His favorite Bible verse is Deuteronomy 32:14 (New Living Translation): “He fed them yogurt..” (Yogurt is his absolute favorite thing to eat. Watch him say it (among other things) in this video:
Here are some of his recent happenings, in his own words:
I touch, pull and grab everything and anything that looks interesting and is within my grasp.
If I can’t reach it, I will go get my step-stool (or find something else to climb on, like the VCR) so I can be a little taller.
I love to use the blender, but I’m still afraid of loud noises made by the vacuum cleaner, trash truck, buses, etc.
I stopped breastfeeding in January to give my mom a break before the twins arrive. No big deal. I enjoy my rice milk just the same.
I now sleep through the night in my crib, though I’m happy that Mama and Daddy haven’t moved me out of their room. I like to wake them up at 6:30 a.m., even on Sundays!
Reading, blowing bubbles, dancing, singing, pouring things in and out of buckets, playing with pots and pans, climbing stairs and eating yogurt make my day complete.
Even though I don’t talk the way you do, I have no trouble communicating and making it clear what I want.
I love to meet new people and shake hands. I get extra excited around little kids, whether I know them or not. It scares some of the anti-social ones.
I want to help with everything, cooking, laundry, deodorant application…. I watch Mama and Daddy’s every move and copy what they’re doing.
My Mama says I’m the sweetest thing she knows. I like to give hugs and kisses and snuggle with her and be held by Daddy.
Life’s about to change for Mr. Maxton, but we’re confident he’ll be strong and resilient and be the good natured little boy that he is.
Yes, we do. But we’re not telling until they’re etched in stone on the birth certificate.
Where are you registered?
We put items from all over the web on myregistry.com. If it asks you to sign in, just type nothanks@mcphaull.com.
Do twins run in your families?
Yes. Fraternal twins, like ours, are the only type of genetically influenced twins. And they are influenced only by the mother’s genes. Did you want to know all that?
How do you plan to lose the weight after pregnancy?
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Are y’all done having babies?
Only God knows. All I know is that I will need a nice long break from pregnancy after the twins. I want to be able to play with the kids and do more than just sit with my feet propped up blowing bubbles. This pregnancy is kickin’ my behind. I still have dreams of an international adoption. Also, the next car that would accomodate us would be a 15-passenger church-style van.
Speaking of cars, please get an SUV instead of a minivan.
We’re getting a minivan. We will now officially be “those people.” But it’s the sensible thing to do (Do you know gas is $2.45 and rising in Cali? Do you know SUVs cost more? Do you know the only SUVs that can accommodate 3 car seats and a big-mama stroller are the Suburban large ones?). We’ve done the research. We trust you’ll love us in spite of our uncoolness.
Are you having the babies at the birth center?
Unfortunately not. The same doctor who delivered Maxton will deliver the twins (if he’s out of town, all bets are off) and Tonya, my midwife, will be with us. Please pray that the doctor remembers that we’re having twins on the day of delivery. He seems to forget during our office visits.
So, besides healthy babies and a drug-free birth, what is your one wish for labor day?
Okay, so no one’s really ever asked me this question, but… I REALLY want a birth photographer.
Not sure how BIG this announcement is, since most of you probably already know…
We’re having … (drum roll, please) two GIRLS!
It’s very exciting and overwhelming (seems to be the theme of pregnancy/parenting).
Both of us have all nephews (Ben has 5 and I have 2), so these will be the first girls on either side of our family. The first grandaughters for both sets of grandparents. The first girl cousins and the first nieces. Are you seeing pink yet?
We found out about the girls at our March appointment, but we wanted to wait a while before telling everyone, giving us a chance to think up a fun way to share with our mothers. We sent them both packages with little 2 gift bags each containing a pair of pink socks. We got to watch Delina’s mom open her package and tear up on webcam (a 3-way Skype call with the Aparicios) and listened to Ben’s mom scream over the phone (while his dad took pics for us). It was a fun way to share and catch their excitement.
In His providence, God sent us friends who have twin girls (Maxton’s age). Rest assured that I’ve already started peppering her with questions and she’s already gifted us with our first bag of clothes!
In addition to the excitement about the impending arrival of the McPryce ladies, we’re thrilled to share that the twins are doing great. At Wednesday’s ultrasound they estimated that each twin weighs 2 lbs. 7 oz. already. Yes, I’m already carrying 5 lbs. of baby, plus 2 big fat placentas and amniotic fluid…and there are 91 days until my due date.
By all accounts, the babies are doing great! They’re growing strong and at our last visit to the perinatologist, on April 9th, they said the babies were 1 lb. each. I can feel them moving around and kicking. I can even see my belly moving now and then. Surprisingly, it doesn’t feel like 2 babies in there. They rarely kick at the same time. Here are pics of the babies at 17 wks. and 3 days.
Baby A.
Baby B.
We thought it’d be fun to do a baby pool to see which one of your guesses comes closest to the actual gender, birth day and weight of each baby. Check it out here. The winner… wins!
Here are some facts to help you in your predictions.
Maxton was born 4 wks before his due date
The twins are due Aug. 14
Maxton was 6 lbs. 10.5 oz.
There are no girls in this generation of McPhaull’s or Pryce’s.
On March 3rd, Ruth and Elwyn Pryce (Delina’s brother) welcomed their first baby, Andrew Amir. We’re so in love with him even though we haven’t gotten to meet him yet…all we get are pictures and Skype encounters, but we’re grateful for technology and being able to see him just hours after being born.
This is Maxton’s 7th boy-cousin. He has no girl cousins.
Okay, I haven’t blogged since November, so, here’s the mega update post… in pictures and captions. Enjoy! (Click on any photo to be taken to our flickr page with tons more).
We spent Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa in Costa Rica. We had an AWESOME time. Maxton was just learning how to walk on his own. He still didn’t like the beach… A few shots from Costa Rica:
We got looted by the monkeys.
On the way back from Costa Rica, we had a layover in Dallas so we got to hang out with family. Here are the inseparable cousins.
As we shared before, Maxton has been given a clean bill of health and we no longer have to take him for regular check-ups with the cardiologist. This is his last visit with Dr. Bar-Cohen (it was the same day as his first haircut…thank goodness! Why didn’t anyone tell me it was way past time to cut his hair!!!?)
I was really not pleased with the results of his first haircut. I figured that taking him to a kids haircut salon would make it easier…and there would be less crying and more distractions and toys (Maxton does not like to have anything done to his hair). But, um, let’s just say this stylist wasn’t well equipped to cut Maxton’s hair.
Delina cut his hair the next time and we were very pleased with the results, not to mention it was FREE…except for the soy yogurt (his favorite thing to eat) to keep him still and distracted.
Wait, I skipped something… Here’s Maxton at Jake’s birthday pool party with the other birth center babies.
They were all born about a week apart.
Everyday is an adventure for Maxton (and us). He’s always busy exploring, walking around with grocery bags, wanting to do everything Mommy and Daddy do, walking (now running), imitating sounds, reading books, throwing books,…. Here are a few shots of Maxton’s exploits.
Ben bought himself a juicer at the after-Christmas sales and Maxton loves to juice with him, drink the juice, and pretend he’s juicing all on his own (with his toy helicopter).
Beet juice mustache.
Oh wait, I forgot something else. We voted in November and enjoyed spending the entire day immersed in election day coverage and then inauguration day coverage. Maxton recognizes Obama’s face and voice (on the radio). You should hear him! He won’t stop saying “Omama” until you acknowledge that, “yes, that’s Obama, Maxton.”
On the TV, ABC and CNN on the wall.
We drove around until our odometer hit a milestone.
Maxton’s Christmas gift from the Pryce grandparents, Aparicio’s and Pryce’s (Elwyn + Ruth) was music classes at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music. He LOVED every minute… until the semester ended, but he still enjoys listening, dancing and singing to the CDs.
Speaking of Christmas, this is how we spent it. Sick and alone, but together. Ben’s family gathered in Maryland and Delina’s family gathered in Texas and we watched the festivities via Skype. Watching Samuel open gifts is my favorite part about Christmas.
We had several visitors, friends from our time in Berrien Springs, drop by!
First, Sarah and Marius Asaftei. Sarah and I run a blog for young (under 40) pastor’s wives.
Then the newlyweds, Marlene and Dalitso Nseula, spent the day with us.
Then Carolyn spent a week with us. It was such a refreshing visit. We had fun mixing teas at a tea bar.
Then Trevan Osborn spent a couple of days while he was in town for a conference.
We love our long-distance friends, but we also like to hang out and meet with those nearby, so (backtracking again) we, along with our neighbors hosted a shindig for the neighbors in our building. It was fun and we keep saying we need to do it again, or plan a movie night outside or SOMETHING, but we haven’t gotten around to it…
In January, we hung out and had breakfast with our neighbors and walked down to Colorado St. (about 1/2 a block from our apartment) to check out the Rose Parade. The crowds were crazy. We watched most of the parade on TV, but got to see the floats up close the next day.
In March, I went on my first overnight trip alone since Maxton was born (and probably the last for a really long time after the twins arrive). I went to Nashville to see Beth Moore (yes, again!) at the Ministers’ Wives Conference. It was an absolute blast and I got to meet some of the women that follow the Clutch blog. I only spent one night away and Ben was a trooper!
Maxton loves chatting with his cousins and aunts and uncles (in Texas and Maryland) and grandma and grandpa Pryce on Skype.
And last, but not least, if you’ve made it this far, check out our Maxton showing off in this video (there are 2 more in this series). There are more videos on our YouTube channel. Maxton LOVES to watch these… Enjoy and hope you get a good chuckle.
He’s gettin’ around!
Hurricane Maxton blows through at least once a day. He’s loving his new and increasingly efficient abilities to explore everything. His excitement and determination are fun to watch. We are all learning so much everyday. And we’re all pretty tired at the end of the day. Not tired enough to sleep through the night, mind you… but tired.
We had a great time at the Green Beans on the Green birthday party. Ben and I can’t believe it’s already been a year! Wow! Our little guy has been such fun and an enormous blessing.
His blessor, Mariangela, flew in from Texas for the celebration.
Maxton loved Maria… loved, loved, loved her. And she showered him with hugs and kisses all weekend. It was so fun to have her here and she was such a big help for the party. We kept it simple, but there were still enough glitches to turn me into mom-zilla a couple of times this weekend. Everything turned out and we have the pictures to prove it! The vegan, organic cupcakes were yummy as well.
We spent his birthday, today, recovering from the busy weekend. We watched Maxton pull himself up on the couch and scoot down. He’s Mr. Independence now that he’s crawling, so after our long nap, we headed to Target and Right Start for baby proofing gear.
Thank you all for praying us through to this moment. We’ll never get over it. We still stand in amazement of our miracle boy’s life and thank God for health and our 24-lb. hunk of blessing! We pray for wisdom daily to raise him up to be a man of God.
I will exalt you, my God and King,
and praise your name forever and ever.
I will praise you every day;
yes, I will praise you forever.
Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure his greatness.
Let each generation tell its children of your mighty acts;
let them proclaim your power.
I will meditate on your majestic, glorious splendor
and your wonderful miracles. Your awe-inspiring deeds will be on every tongue;
I will proclaim your greatness.
Everyone will share the story of your wonderful goodness;
they will sing with joy about your righteousness.
from Psalm 145 (NLT)
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