The Growing Caldwell Family

Sarah Graves just loves Elmo!  Several of her birthday gifts were Elmo items.  She has just been thrilled to wear, eat out of, and watch Elmo as often as possible.   Grancy sent her some new rain boots and guess who is on them! Pops found her some Elmo pajamas and she couldn't be more thrilled that they have Elmo!  I am just glad to have another pair of Elmo pajamas to rotate. She received new DVDs from several people and that has been a huge thrill!  She asks to "watch Elmo" all the time!

Sarah Graves loves music and she has started to sing some.  Right now her favorites are "Happy Birthday" and a song from our new series in Music Together, "Trot Ole Joe."  Of course, she sings them with her own spin, but she has the right idea. Pardon my singing!  

Your baby, just over 1 1/2 inches long and about the size of a fig , is now almost fully formed. Her hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of her bones are beginning to harden. She's already busy kicking and stretching, and her tiny movements are so effortless they look like water ballet. These movements will become more frequent as her body grows and becomes more developed and functional. You won't feel your baby's acrobatics for another month or two — nor will you notice the hiccupping that may be happening now that her diaphragm is forming.

I pretty quickly suspected I was pregnant this time, so we knew pretty early on.  We wanted to wait a while to share the news with everyone, but by Christmas we just couldn't resist telling our parents and sisters.  On Christmas Eve we planned times to skype with Aaron's parents so they could watch Sarah Graves open her gifts and that seemed like the perfect time to share our news with them.  I made this sign for Sarah Graves to hold up and with only a little hesitation they caught on to the message. Christmas Eve my parents and Jeanne' came over and I wanted to tell them in a memorable way, too.  So, I got them in front of the tree for a picture and instead of say, cheese; I told them to say, we're pregnant!  Mom got it immediately and Dad and Jeanne' caught on pretty quick.     Their faces don't look as surprised as I might have imagined, but I think they were still processing what I said! As always, it's fun to share news about a new baby ...

 Grancy and Gramma came to celebrate SG's birthday!  She was happy to pose for a picture in front of this Sesame Street backdrop.   The birthday girl looking so cute!  Sarah Graves and her party guests in front of Sesame Street!  Not everyone is smiling, but everyone is looking, which was a major feat for Aunt Nay with 5 toddlers. We had a craft where the kids made Elmo faces.  Using the glue stick was a big thrill!  "Sarah do this" was said a lot.  She was very proud of her Elmo face.  I wanted a picture of the three of us, but probably should have waited until after she got her cake!  She was quite excited to "Eat Elmo!"  She ate her cake, her ice cream, and I don't know how many of the cake pops! She enjoyed being with Aunt Nay Nay.  She will do most anything for Nay Nay!  I decided not to post pictures of her with all of her gifts, but I had to show the newest addition to our home, our Bitty Baby named Kate. Kat...

Before her party started we had time for Jeanne' and I to get some pictures of her in her birthday outfit.  Mom made her a shirt with Elmo and the number two on it.  I made the tutu to match and she looked so cute! She loved playing with the balloons and was so excited for the party.  I don't think she really understood what a birthday is, but I know that she felt special and knew everyone was making a big deal about her!

I picked out our theme as Elmo and I purchased some designs from Etsy and that was the basis for our party.  I made this Happy Birthday banner and included some Elmo faces.   Jeanne' made Elmo cake pops and didn't they turn out cute!  Sarah Graves loves these!  We made the wrappers for water bottles to include some Elmo there.  Pinterest was the source for this Elmo vegetable tray.  I was surprised by how many of the kids enjoyed eating the red and orange peppers and the olives.  Have no fear, Sarah Graves was not one of them!  We did a variety of appetizers that included meatballs in a raspberry & chipotle sauce, pigs'n a blanket, chicken nuggets, mini baked brie, party pizzas, and apples with caramel dip.  I love appetizers for dinner! The crown jewel of the food was by far the Elmo cake.  Lovie did a fabulous job making this cake!  It is just the sort of cake that I remember her making for me when I was little. ...