We are very excited to share Caleb Alexander Maxwell arrived safely this morning, born to Elissa and Joseph. This lively little guy weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce and was Elissa’s fastest labor yet. Both Elissa and Caleb are doing great. Calia and Kyle are very excited about their brother and love him. Truly, babies are a miracle and gift from God!
Congratulations to Joseph and Elissa on their newest addition, Caleb Alexander. We love you all and are thrilled with your new blessing.
Trivia fact: two years ago, Anna Marie and Elissa had babies six days apart. Now, they’ve once again had babies close together, at one week apart (if Caleb had come just a few hours earlier, it would have been six days!).
Have you noticed his headful of dark hair? So very adorable.
Caleb Alexander Maxwell
“As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them …” (Psalm 127:4-5).
Simon Peter Maxwell made his grand entrance into this world at 8:48 p.m. on January 18th. He weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. Anna Marie and Christopher got to the hospital Saturday morning and were starting on the induction process by about noon. Steady progress through the afternoon with labor in full swing by about 5:00.
If Simon Peter had just been 3 hours and 13 minutes later, he would have been my first birthday nephew. It was such an amazing thing to see how well the labor and delivery went. In addition, what a blessing that Simon Peter doesn’t need any NICU time for being 3+ weeks early (and about 5 weeks early as Anna Marie generally goes 2 weeks late).
Anna Marie is doing great and is as radiant as ever. She already has some relief from her varicose veins!
Anna Marie, Simon Peter, and Christopher Maxwell
Baby Name Meaning
Simon: obedient, hearing (literally: “he has heard”) Peter: stone, rock Simon Peter: One whose strength comes from his close relationship with Christ. Scripture Verse: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust…” (Psalm 18:2)
What is the next step?
Now that Simon Peter is here, things can be better planned for Anna Marie’s treatment. One surgeon recommended about 4 weeks of healing before she undergoes surgery. They also have a consult with another surgeon on the 29th. Either way, there will be some time before the next step.
We are so very grateful for your prayers.
Love, Sarah for the rest
Christopher and Anna Marie Maxwell Family
“And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night” (Exodus 13:21).
Melanie and Baby are in the countdown! There is so much anticipation in their busy household–and really for everyone as we can’t wait to meet Baby! Melanie’s official due date is the 18th, but it’s not thought she’ll make it that far. One never knows, though. We’re grateful she’s past 37 weeks. Before 35 weeks, Baby automatically went to the NICU, and at 36, NICU attends the birth.
For those who are interested, here is Melanie’s track record of when her babies have been born.
Susannah, born at 33 weeks Abigail, born at 34 1/2 weeks Bethany, born at 38 weeks Christina, born on her due date Andrew, born at 35 weeks Benjamin, born at 38 weeks
With that in mind, let’s have some guesses on when this baby will be born!
We’d covet your prayers for both Melanie and Baby.
Love, Sarah
Melanie and I stopped at a cute little coffee shop after an appointment last Thursday.
“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13
Melanie and Baby are in the home stretch before delivery! We’re so grateful Melanie’s made it to 33 weeks, and Baby is staying put. Sadly, though, a week ago, Melanie developed a severe middle ear infection. It has been very painful and made it hard to function. The doctor said the ear infection was likely pregnancy exacerbated, and that on a scale of 1 to 10, hers rated a 9. Yikes! She’s doing much better but still has lingering discomfort.
Mary helped a lot, and Melanie’s schedule allowed Mary to have a plan and things to run smoothly.
We’re grateful to be close to family! Thank you for your prayers for Melanie and Baby! We’re excited about another blessing.
Love, Sarah
“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.” Psalm 139:13
Eight days after Axton was born, we decided spur of the moment to do his newborn session. I borrowed some props from Christopher and headed to John’s. Upon arrival, I literally Googled something about newborn baby photos natural light, had about two minutes to try to figure out what I wanted to start with, and set to work.
We started photos about 2:30 and ended two hours later. The day was pretty perfect for light, with a cloud cover quite a bit. Babies are so sweet to work with, and Axton did great. I’ll share through the post what I used for location and background.
I use a Nikon D800 and most of these pictures were with my Tamron f2.8 28-75mm lens. I took some with Nikon f1.4 50mm lens. I did not use a flash.
Oh, and John cranked the heat way up in the house, so it was pretty toasty warm: perfect for Axton and pretty warm for the rest of us.
Not quite a happy face yet, but we were just starting.
I began in the dining room, using pillows and a blanket for my background, and put him in a cute little sack. His bright eyes lent the perfect sparkle to the photos.
Next, we went to the nursery. The gray wall was an ideal backdrop. The south window let just enough light in through the curtains.
So I began experimenting. Doing some pictures with Baby and Mommy.
I used a chair or stool for height and worked to get some family pictures and stay with a clear focus in the tight space. Don’t you love how those teal greens worked together?
What a cute threesome!
Next, we needed some pictures of Daddy and Son.
I love those eyes: so trusting, looking to his daddy.
In the midst of that, I wanted a ring pose, and I tried a little different twist.
I originally wanted to try the black shirt so I could do the strong arm holding-baby-out photo. Although it didn’t turn out the way I had thought, the black shirt brought a dramatic look with the gray background, and I loved the result.
Next, we moved to the living room. As I set up for the basket photo, Dad and Mom went by on a walk, and John flagged them down and invited them in. It was great to have some company for the last part of our photo session.
For the black backdrop, I used two dining room chairs and clipped a black blanket on it. We swaddled Axton in the wrap, and then I put the gray blanket on the ground. We had a perfect amount of light coming in from the windows. For the family picture (see the last one), Dad and Mom held the blanket out because I needed the extra width to keep the background black.
An adorable package
Axton Maxwell
The John Maxwell Family
I hope you enjoyed a peek into the newborn baby session!
Love, Sarah
“By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother’s bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.” Psalm 71:6
The Maxwell family and ministry blog of Titus2.com.
