The Growing Caldwell Family

Sarah Graves is really using phrases more!  Last night she ran in the den and jumped on a chair shouting, "shark get me!"  I took the opportunity to rush over to her pretending to be a shark that was gobbling her up and giggles ensued!  I know we pointed out sharks at the aquarium, but I'm not sure where she learned that sharks are predators.  I love seeing her imagination. Last night, I sneezed and she responded with, "bless you, baba."  This morning she sneezed in the car with Pops and he didn't respond.  She told him, "Pops, bless you, Sarah."  She knew that she wanted someone to say it to her.  On Sunday I told her that we needed to get dressed for church and she looked at me and said, "No Baba, fish" meaning that she wanted to go back to the aquarium rather than church.  Once I affirmed that we were going to church and we would go to the aquarium another day she said, "play toys."  That's her church, playing with to

Sarah Graves was delighted to see Lovie, Pops, and Aunt Nay over the weekend!  We had dinner with them Saturday night and she was in heaven.  Sunday they all came back by the house and Nay brought SG a surprise, a Hello Kitty balloon. We sing a Hello song at music and she has started singing it around the house.  The song goes Hello Sarah Graves, so glad to see you and she sings, "Hello Sarah, see you."  She sings it with everyone's name including her doll, Kate, and her friends at school!  It really is so cute!

I came across this product called Toe Blooms today and they just struck me as strange and probably not that comfy for a baby.  I love baby feet, especially those thick, pudgy ones with squishy toes!  I still kiss on SG's toes and she giggles.  These are meant to be a cute way to adorn your young baby's feet, but those straps just look like they wouldn't be comfy and those sweet feet don't need a lot of decoration.   I'd love to meet someone whose baby had them just to know if they were comfortable.  Who knows?  Maybe if I have another girl I will have a pair of these to match her every bow, you never know!

Pops came this weekend and put the final touches on the playset!  Sarah Graves was thrilled to be able to help him and she looks at it and says, "Sarah made this!"  She had a great time playing outside.  It was cold on Saturday, but she remembered that she had some Elmo gloves and insisted on going to get them!  Sunday the weather was a lot warmer and more comfortable for playing outside.  It was fun both days. She has decided this is her new favorite way to swing, superman style! Originally we weren't sure how old she would be when she could use something like a climbing wall, but as she demonstrated for us, she is ready now! I didn't get any pictures of her sliding, but she is really funny with it.  She likes to slide head first on her tummy, but she doesn't like face planting in the dirt at the end, as she did a few times.  She got smart; she  took her jacket off, would climb up with it, send it down the slide, and use it as a safe landing when she came do

I know they say every pregnancy is different, but I didn't anticipate quite how different the second time might be.  I try to focus on how grateful I am to be pregnant and that it really is a gift, but I have to say that on a daily basis I just don't feel good.  The last week or two I have started having back pain.  At first, I thought I slept in a funny position or something, but I quickly realized it wasn't going away.  Then, I went for a walk with a co-worker and by the time I was done I could hardly move without feeling sharp pain.  The pain is really low and not where I would normally expect to feel back pain.  I am definitely showing, but not so big that my balance would be thrown off or my posture impacted.  So, I did what I usually do, I went to the internet to see what I could find.  After doing some reading on a few sites I made the self-diagnosis of posterior pelvic pain .  The sacroiliac joint in the pelvis becomes loose when the ligaments and muscles stretch

Saturday morning, Aunt Nay came with us to music!  Sarah Graves is completely taken with Aunt Nay and asks for her at least once a day and many days it feels non-stop.  Anytime she sees Lucy run to the front door, she runs too shouting, "NAY NAY!"  So, it was a treat for her to come to music with us and then get some breakfast.   Who can go to Chick-Fil-A and not want to play!  She loves to climb up in the slide and she is pretty good at it now  For a long time I had to go up with her and maneuver through the climbing aparatus, but she does it on her own now.  It's a good thing too because I'm not sure I will fit in there in the next few months! This is probably the best full-body shot I am going to get of her in her cute Mardi Gras shirt that Lovie made for her.  It's a little girl wearing a mask up on a float and it is sooo cute!

Your growing baby now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces ( about the size of an apple ). She's busy moving amniotic fluid through her nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in her lungs begin to develop. Her legs are growing longer than her arms now, and she can move all of her joints and limbs. Although her eyelids are still fused shut , she can sense light. If you shine a flashlight at your tummy, for instance, she's likely to move away from the beam. There's not much for your baby to taste at this point, but she is forming taste buds. Finally, if you have an ultrasound this week, you may be able to find out whether your baby's a boy or a girl! (Don't be too disappointed if it remains a mystery, though. Nailing down your baby's sex depends on the clarity of the picture and on your baby's position. He or she may be modestly curled up or turned in such a way as to "hide the good

We had an eventful afternoon today.  Friday, Lovie noticed a raised place on SG's leg kind of at her groin and told me about it.  When I saw it on Saturday it was visible to the eye and felt like a firm bean.  I was a bit alarmed about it, so I called the pediatrician today and they wanted to see her.  The doctor looked at it and said it is a swollen lymph gland and that she has some slightly swollen ones on the other leg.  She felt as though this is SG's body fighting an infection and is okay as it is.  If it gets red, feverish, or swells to be about twice the size it is now, we need to come back for an antibiotic.  I hate making the trip to the pediatrician for nothing, but I am always relieved to hear it is nothing! Because Lovie had already brought SG home with me, Aaron stayed really late at work getting caught up and that gave me and SG an evening together.  After dinner, we went into the garage to ride on her Barbie ATV and then she discovered her favorite thing to do,

Sunday was a dreary, cold day and we decided to ignore all the things we probably should do and go to the aquarium.  We hadn't been in a several months and I thought SG might enjoy it differently than she had in the past.  She was really focused!  She would excitedly point to fish and would sometimes tell us what color fish she saw.  She has an Elmo book with a part about the aquarium and we have looked at it a lot lately, so we talked about jellyfish, rays, and seahorses like in her Elmo book.  We brought the stroller and this backpack with a tether that my Mom got her.  She needs the stroller for the parts with lots of walking, but it's hard to really appreciate the sights when you are strapped in a stroller.  The tether worked well to give her some freedom, but for us not to lose her.  Daddy's shoulders worked well to give her a better vantage!

This week was the start of the second trimester and I am getting more and more excited! I feel much more at ease knowing what kind of birth experience I want and have been putting energy (what little I've had) into thinking about how to prepare us as a family for a new baby. I had a horrible cold last week and I felt exhausted all week. I mean, in bed by 8 kind of exhausted. I started feeling better over the weekend and have felt some more energy this week. I feel sleepy in the afternoons, but it isn't that all day fatigue sort of feeling. I haven't felt any movement yet, but I can't wait. I am losing the look of eating too many doughnuts and developing a definite bump! It seems to be true that you do start showing more quickly the second time. I'm still in that weird wardrobe transition where regular clothes don't fit well and maternity are a little big. Sweatpants seem just about perfect right now! My appetite is pretty good and my sensitivity t

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts maki

This is Sarah Graves' valentine that we gave out to a few friends.  I got the idea for it from Pinterest.  It was a little challenging to get her to pose with her fist in the air, but it looks pretty cute all put together!  Here's a regular picture of my funny valentine!

This morning I went for what should have been a standard check-up.  I was expecting to hear the baby's heartbeat and basically be on my way.  That's not quite how this visit went, but rest assured all is fine.  They started with the usual checking urine, blood pressure, and weight; all of which were fine.  Then came my favorite part, listening for the heartbeat.  The midwife I saw was new to me, but she seemed nice and she patiently moved the doppler device around looking for the heartbeat.  With each passing moment I became a little more anxious.  Then, she suggested that she bring in the very basic ultrasound machine that they keep in the office.  She quickly found the baby with the ultrasound, but couldn't get a good read on the heartbeat.  My anxiety began to heighten at this point and I started really wishing that Aaron was there with me because hearing the heartbeat is one of the few ways to check in on him/her at this point.  She tried very nicely to assure me that

Saturday was my birthday!  We had a busy day, but it was fun.  We had breakfast before music and I requested doughnuts.  We went to music class and one of SG's buddies shares my birthday!  After music we headed to the chiropractor to have SG adjusted.  Our chiropractor is located right by SG's favorite restaurant, so we took advantage and stopped in for lunch.  Without us saying a word about where we were headed, when we pulled in the parking lot, she shouted out, "Popeye's!"  After lunch we headed home to drop SG off with Pops the babysitter extraordinaire and Aaron and I headed to a parenting class.  Mom and Jeanne' met up with us later so that we could go for what has to be some of the best pizza and listen to the music!  I love to watch SG dance in her highchair.  After pizza, we headed home for cheesecake and presents!   Aunt Nay was very wise and anticipated that SG might be upset if she didn't get to open any presents.  Nay found her a few Valen

Sarah Graves went for her two-year check-up.  She weighs 27 pounds and 6 ounces (58th percentile), she's 34 inches tall (60th percentile), and her head circumference is 18 and 3/4 inches (33rd percentile).  She was the sweetest girl there and listened so well.  She did everything they asked her to and never complained, even when she got a shot.  She really is a rockstar!  The only thing she didn't want to do is let me take a picture of her wearing the most adorable little paper exam gown.  It looked so cute on her and she wouldn't leave it on long enough for me to take a picture! Overall, she is doing great.  They did a hearing test and her left ear passed with flying colors, but the machine could not get a reading on her right ear.  They tried several times and decided they think she has some wax build up in her ear causing the machine to not be able to get a read.  They decided they will re-test her at 2 and a half.  I am pretty confident that she hears fine, so we'l

My belly has definitely started to pop out! Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingertips, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head — which makes up just a third of her body size now. If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Your baby is almost 3 inches long ( the size of a medium shrimp ) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Dear Sarah Graves, I can't believe that this is the twenty-fourth time I have sat down to write you a letter like this.  I still get teary-eyed thinking about all the things you do that amaze me and make me so proud of you.  You are a sweet and spunky little girl.  You are crazy in love with Elmo.  You want to wear Elmo on your clothes, watch him on TV, look at him on the iPad, use any kind of utensil or dish with Elmo on it, and eat any food with Elmo or his face on the package!  You know the other Sesame Street characters, but Elmo is your love.  Your next passion is your baby, Kate.  Kate came with a backpack and lots of accessories and you love them!  We are frequently looking for Kate's bear or bottle and you become upset if she isn't with you in the car or your crib.  I must say that you are pretty good at remembering where many of her little pieces might be left.  Of course, you are still passionate about your paci and your lovie and blankie.  You would like to have

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder. Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long ( about the size of a lime ) and weighs half an ounce.

Sarah Graves received a sweet dress for her birthday made by Ms. Margaret.  It is the prettiest shade of deep purple with some really beautiful embroidery.  Maybe not the most ladylike pose, but I couldn't resist the cute smile she was giving!

I don't like to complain about being pregnant, but I have to say that I am exhausted.  I feel like I am dragging through most of the day and can't wait to sit on the couch to watch TV or just go to bed.  The fact that I feel a little dizzy when I start moving too quick is just insult to injury.  Right now it's score 1 for baby Caldwell and 0 for momma.  I am hopeful that in the next couple of weeks I will start to feel more energetic.  I have an incredibly acute sense of smell right now that is really just annoying.  Some of the biggest offenders are the smell of coffee and people who get omelets made with peppers and onions for breakfast at work.  Riding in the elevator with people who have either of these items is almost more than I can stand.  Perfumes are also a big turn off, so I haven't worn any for several weeks now.  I am hoping that this starts to fade soon.  I don't seem to have any major food aversions of cravings.  Food isn't all that exciting righ