The Growing Caldwell Family

Like a lot of kids, Sarah Graves loves to get mail! For her birthday, Aunt Lex and Uncle Tim gave her a subscription to this awesome monthly craft kit!  Each month she gets a box that has all the stuff needed to do several crafts that are age appropriate for her. She was in heaven! She had so much fun going through and looking at all the supplies to make a snowman out of boxes and decorate a lantern.  I am a little relieved to know that we might get a break from all the Barbie!

We spent all of Super Bowl Sunday at Lovie and Pops' house. To celebrate the Superbowl Pops brought out his pizza maker and we made homemade pizzas! For these two, the fun was all in making the dough! Pops and Sarah Graves thought they might open a pizza shop! Maw Maw and Charlie together eating and playing. Aaron was a happy customer! There was also plenty of time for snuggling a sweet baby! Sarah Graves got tired and it made for a nice opportunity to get a picture of us mommas with our girls.

Last Sunday we celebrated Olivia's baptism, and Aaron and I finally became godparents! She is our first godchild and we are so excited to be part of her life in that special way. My sweet girl snuggled up for a picture with momma. Lovie and Pops admired this pretty baby wearing her special things for her baptism. Father Brian is the rector at our church and we were happy he could baptize Olivia. She was angel through the whole service! We had to get all the shots of the combinations of family members at the front of the church. Charlie wanted to drink a little from the font! Jeanne' planned the baptism to take place while the Maw Maws were visiting. Special to share this day with them. Olivia wore the same gown that Sarah Graves and Charlie wore, made by Maw Maw Bourgeois. Olivia had her own special bonnet and bib for her day. This baby had no problem getting a nap in while wearing the gown! She sleeps ...

We celebrated my birthday a little early with a family dinner that included Mom's delicious carrot cake! It was a laid back family dinner with lots of time to chat and play with the kids.

The Maw Maws stayed over a week and we had the chance to spend some nice down time with them. I love having them at the party, but I don't get to visit during that, so this was my chance to just be and enjoy family.  Charlie showed off his mad puzzle skills, sang songs, and in general was a crazy 2-year old. The kids were dying for Pops to bring out the hungry snake again! I need to video them playing this game together because the sheer joy and squeals that come from them is something I wish I could bottle. There was much time to admire my precious niece, Olivia. Already a month old and starting to be more alert. She melted my heart wearing an outfit that Sarah Graves wore and playing with toys that my two babies had. Mom, Jeanne', and I were nostalgic playing Trouble with Sarah Graves. Mom always liked playing games with us and we spent a lot of time playing this one. SG is still a little young, or maybe there were just so many distractions that she...

Sarah Graves had waited a long time for her birthday party and couldn't wait for her friends to arrive. One of their first attractions was the bounce house. We were so lucky to have cool, but pleasant weather in late January! Snow dough was another big attraction. The kids enjoyed standing around the table together working with it and talking to one another as i imagine they do at school. Cooper is a long time pal (all 2 years) of Charlie's and little brother to Sissy's church friend Allison. Sissy was all business decorating her cupcake! The Maw Maws were on hand to snuggle Livy and watch the party! The piñata was a big hit his year! SG was certain they should hit it with a stick to break it open rather than just pulling the ribbons like last year. I could see the appeal, so that's how we did it.  Kids patiently waited in line for their turn to take a few whacks at it and even Charlie was excited to get in on i...