The McRae Family: Callie is 4 months old...

After Callie was baptized, she had an extremely busy month!

She attended her very first MN Twins game and was able to meet MN Twins Mascot, TC Bear :) He tried to walk away with her...as long as he brought her into the dugout I was okay :) Hehe!!

Callie had an amazing first experience up at the lakes :) She was able to hang out with both of her Great Grandparents, her Grandma Lynn, her Great Aunts and Uncles, AND some second & third cousins :) She loved swimming in the lake!

On July 8th, we picked up Callie's 3 month photos from Walmart. We decided that we didn't want to spend as much money, so we figured we'd save some by going there....WRONG! Turns out you spend a ton of money wherever you go. After doing the math, Josh and I realized that we would SAVE money in the long run if we just purchased our OWN camera :)

So we did. We are now owners of the new Sony Nex-3. We are having so much fun with it and Callie has been a great model for us! We also had a great storm go through Austin, so we were able to capture some shots from the aftermath :)

Callie is holding her head up completely on her own now. We receive these mini books every month from the city of Austin (Public Health), and they have different activities you can do with your baby each month. One for the 4th month (we're starting a bit early) is to pull your child up from their arms and see if they can hold their own head up. We tried it with Callie, and she was holding her head up on her own. YEAH :)

She is drinking 5 ounces of milk each feeding now and sleeping 12-13 hours straight! She takes 3-4 hour naps everyday!!! She prefers to nap on us...she likes to cuddle :) Hey I don't blame her - cuddling is amazing!

Josh and I played in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament (Gus Macker) with my sister Colleen and her boyfriend Herold last weekend. It was the very first time we left Callie over night away from us. She stayed at my parents house for the two nights we were gone. I know how much my mom and dad love her, and I know how amazing they are with kids (they've had 6 grandkids stay at their house many times without my sisters around...I know they can handle it), but it was so hard to leave her over night. I didn't get to give her a goodnight kiss and hug. I didn't get to read her her story and say her prayers with her. I know she was totally spoiled though. Ususally Josh and I lay her in her crib at night when she's still a little bit awake, and we have her put herself to sleep (this is a great life skill we have taught her at an early age!)-and my mom and dad held her till she fell asleep! We also give her cold milk...my mom heated up every bottle! Lucky girl getting spoiled by her gramma and grampa :)

We ended up staying one more night at my mom's house because we were so tired from the weekend and we just wanted to relax! It was Sunday evening (early evening), and I needed my breast pump from the car. It had just started pouring outside, so I walked into the living room and said (probably in a whiny voice) to Josh, "Oh no, I forgot to get my pump from the car and I need it now." Josh - without any question, go up, put my dad's over sized army poncho on and walked out in the pouring rain! I would have gotten it myself. I think Josh just heard that annoyance in my voice and decided to just do it for me :) Thank you sweetie - you are amazing :)

Today, Callie is 4 months old. I can't believe it myself. 4 months ago, Josh and I were meeting Callie for the first time. It feels so long ago, yet it feels like it was just yesterday. I'm not quite sure how to explain that, but it's been the best four months of my life!

She also started making this crazy scream lately! The first time we heard it, we thought she was mad and about to cry-nope! Callie screams when she is over joyed! Turns out, I do the same thing :)

My sister Colleen has been working REALLY hard to get Callie to stick out her tongue, and just recently she has been doing it :) She copies people, so back in June, Colleen and Herold were working on getting her to stick her tongue out...

In July, Grandma Lynn had a fun time getting Callie to copy her faces in the mirror at Great Grandma Barsness's house!

I'm heading to Anaheim on Sunday, July 18 and staying until Wednesday, July 21. I am going to hate more than anything being away from Josh and Callie for so long. Grandpa Don & Sharon are coming down for a night in there, so that will be fun for Josh and Callie ! It will make the time go by fast at least!

I love my family more than anything! I have the most supportive and encouraging husband in the entire world! He loves Callie and I with all of his heart! He would do anything for us-and I for them :) I thank God every day for the amazing man I fell in love with and married, and for the most perfect daughter!!!