The Growing Caldwell Family

Charlie's favorite part of the party was probably the cookies.  We are pretty sure that is all he ate besides the cake and he ate about 8 of them!  You only turn two once! Some of our guests enjoyed playing dress up during the party.  This made for some fabulous photo opportunities!   Sarah Graves was a princess and a doctor all in one ensemble.  Don't you feel better when your doctor wears a tiara? Between the life size Mickey and his crazy Boo Boo Charlie didn't know what to think here!  Greg joined Sarah Graves in dressing up!  Charlie was excited about his cake and he knows how to blow on things, so with a little coaxing he knew how to blow out his candle!    This is baby Merida that we know from my work and our music class.   We were so excited to have family from out of town come for the party!  Boo Boo, GG, Maw Maw, and Pat all made the trip in for the party.  What a lucky boy to have his great grandmothers and his

This was the invitation for his party.  I love the invitation almost as much as I love that precious boy! I had the vision for the banner and Jeanne' used her cameo silhouette machine to make it!  I think it came out super-cute! Table decorations that Jeanne' and I made using die-cuts I bought at Michael's. He loves balloons, so we did several different big balloons.   I made my iced sugar cookies and kept it simple with the Mickey head design and the number 2 or the letter C on each.  I get lots of compliments on my iced sugar cookies and this is where I found the  recipe .   Charlie asked for cupcakes (yes, he is that verbal and that opinionated!), but I didn't want tons of red or black dye for frosting, so I found this idea and it was perfect.  Jeanne' was able to make the cupcake wrappers on her cameo and saved me a ton of time!   I love doing these signs for the food and it was a fun way to add interest to the food table.  I was

I can't believe that my precious baby is now two years old!  I am know I am partial, but I think he might be the most handsome two year old boy ever!   We celebrated him on his birth day with family and friends who love him and a lot of Mickey Mouse!     Thanks to Lovie for making his shirt!

Dear Charlie, You are a ball of energy with amazing ideas and the ability to make connections that surprise me.  I recently called you to come to the dinner table and you never looked up from what you were doing in your play kitchen and said, “I’m working; I’m working!”  I took that as a hint that you were occupied and not interested in eating our food!   Recently, you were having a tough day and had asked to nurse about six times in one hour, and I felt worn out.  So, I suggested that you didn't really need to nurse for a sixth time and that instead, I would play with you.  You loved having me play with just you and we began stacking blocks.  While you stacked them, I counted.  All of a sudden, I realized that you knew the next number before I even said it.  I was so amazed to realize that you could count to ten!   You are a consistent sleeper taking a nap in the afternoon for a couple of hours and going to bed in the evening and sleeping for ten to eleven ho

Dear Sarah Graves, I can't believe that we have made it to fifty-four months or four and a half years.  The time has passed in the blink of an eye.  You are a lively little girl full of ideas and interested in so many things.  Your toddlerhood is far behind you now, but I am really enjoying a lot of the maturity that you have now. wear a size 4 clothes, a size 10 shoes, you like the colors pink and green, and your favorite songs are "This Girl Is on Fire" and anything Frozen.  You have been taking swim lessons since the spring and are getting the hang of it.  You can keep yourself up in the water without a life jacket on and you are not afraid to go off the diving board. You are a talker.  Your teachers at school tell me how they talk to you like you are an adult and they are impressed by your vocabulary.  You like to talk to me and daddy a lot and use the cutest hand gestures and head tilts.  My favorite is when you think there is an injustice and become indignant abou

I am so excited and this just makes it feel more real!

The Silver Comet trail is a wonderful path that goes on for miles and is built for biking and walking.  Sarah Graves enjoys riding her bike there and it's an opportunity for us to get in some exercise.  Sunday evening we headed there to let the kids have some fun outside and although it was really humid, the shade made it pretty cool. This is serious work; riding her bike and watching out for other riders.  Sarah Graves took this picture of me and Aaron and did a pretty good job!

Sunday was a turning point for Charlie and he found some fun with Aunt Lex.  He hasn't been himself for weeks and finally, on Sunday some games really made him laugh.  Apparently, being carried around in a laundry basket while Alexis talks in a voice that reminds me of Chef on South Park made him laugh hysterically.  He did not want this game to end! Our attempt at a picture of all three of them was not super-successful.   She did get some laughing going for Charlie! I was so happy that Alexis got to see Sarah Graves process into church from Children's Chapel carrying in the cross and wearing the robe.  Sarah Graves just beams when she has a chance to do this!   After church we enjoyed a lovely brunch with Lovie and Pops.  We had more time for play-doh fun before it was time for us o take Aunt Lex back to the airport.   We had so much fun having her here with us.  It was good for my spirit and Sarah Graves loved it.  We are so thankful that she