13 Weeks Along - almost out of my first trimester :)

13 weeks pregnant - we are officially in our last week of our first trimester! It's weird to think that this could very possibly be the LAST time I am ever going to have a "first trimester" in my LIFE! Wow...kind of sad actually. Considering how much I enjoy being pregnant, and how easy it is for me to carry babies :)

I'm noticing it is harder for me to remember to take pictures, because technically, I'm supposed to update every Saturday - well, Saturdays are SUPER busy and I'm usually out doing something. Sunday's seem great, because I could take them right after church, when I am actually put together, look decent, etc... But then I get home, throw on some sweats, and lounge around all day - so this is what you get :) The last two photos have been in sweats - not that anyone cares, but I do! So I may start doing this on Monday's - we'll have to see :)

Regardless - here are some 13 week updates :)

Still not really showing - a tiny bump appears sometimes, but other times it goes away. I think the babies are just moving around so much that sometimes they make me have a tummy and others well, I just look fat :) You'll see what I mean :)

On Wednesday, Josh and I went in for our second ultra sound already :) Fast you wonder - well, that's what happens when you have multiples :) Our technition was really nice; however, because Austin Medical Center is now "Austin Mayo Health" they have new computers and new ultra sound equipment. She pre-warned us that she was going to be calling in help as she's still learning how to use the program.

Let me tell you, the first lady she called in - I will throw a FIT if she ever has to read one of our ultra sounds. She was a very crabby, unfriendly lady. I mean, you are looking at unborn children inside of someone's uterus, how could that make you unhappy!? Then they had to turn the monitor screen away from us so they could get correct measurements, and then she would ask us questions like, "Did you see that" - and I would respond very nicely by saying, "No, I can't see the screen!" What I really wanted to say was "listen here, turn that back so we can see it, because THESE ARE OUR CHILDREN...and quit being so snotty!

She took A TON of pictures of Baby A - and not too many of Baby B :( They have a new thing where they put the pictures on a disc rather than printing them. That was pretty neat, because I am able to get them on my computer faster (than having to scan them!)

Here are some pictures with details :)

Baby B is sitting Transverse - meaning he/she is laying on it's side. They had a hard time getting measurements because he/she is on its side. If you are looking at my body, Baby B's feet are by my belly button and it's head is towards my right side.

Baby B :)

Ah - they are so cute together :) Now remember, we are having "FRATERNAL TWINS" - meaning they have their own sacs. They could be identical, but the odds aren't as likely.

Baby A & Baby B together :)

Baby A is currently sitting in a Breech position - meaning feet down. This is super common so early on, because the babies are constantly turning and moving and doing back flips, etc... Again, when looking at my body, Baby A's feet are to the left of my belly button, but down. Baby A's head is obviously above! Remember, they are only about 3 inches long, so the measurement of them being "by my bellybutton" is probably incorrect as they are much lower; however, I figured it would be easier to understand with a "start point".

Baby A with his/her hands up by their face :)

Baby A

Baby A

She didn't label this picture, but from the looks of it, I think it is Baby A.

Baby A has a heart beat of 156 and Baby B has a heart beat of 152. This doesn't mean anything so early on, because, well, it is still so early on! I didn't have this many appointments with Callie so early on, so I don't have heartbeat measurements from her to compare. Urban legends say that heartbeats 150 and below are boys and 150 and above are girls. If I believe these, we're having two girls; however, my sister Heidi has 3 boys and they had high heart beats.

Only time will tell I guess :)

On Thursday, I had to go in during the school day for an appointment, because they needed to do a follow up right away. So I was BY MYSELF - Remember that as you read the following...

I was not seeing my normal Dr., because he was gone and they were booked out until the 12th. So I saw a different Dr. (I'll leave her name out). She came in, we talked, I asked some questions (not all, because I'd prefer to ask my Dr. whom I'm very comfortable with). Then I hopped up on the table to listen to the babies heartbeats :)

Well, she found Baby B's heartbeat RIGHT away (she said it was Baby B, but from what they said during our ultra sound, I think that was the other one - regardless - she found a heartbeat :)

Then she was moving it around, moving it around - starting pushing the Doppler into my stomach, moving frantically what FELT like 10 minutes (probably only 2 minutes). She then stopped, walked around the bed table and pushed a button. About 15 seconds later, a nurse came in. This Dr. said, "Can you please get me the ultra sound".

The WHAT!? Okay - what's going on!? Remember - I'm by myself!

She brings it in. Right away - she finds the first baby, moving around, and you can see the white flicker going a mile a minute :) Then she moves over and finds the other baby (not sure if it's Baby A or B). Just laying there...not doing anything. Again, another 10 minutes goes by (okay 30 seconds) and she finally says, "There it is, there's the heartbeat!" - Because this baby is laying on his/her side, she couldn't pick it up very well, but had to bring the ultra sound equipment in to find it.

WHEW! That was scary! But, all is good :) Babies are healthy, the placentas have attached beautifully inside and they are measuring right on schedule.

She did tell me that MOST twins are delivered around 36-38 weeks. So even though June 9th IS our due date - it looks like they will be coming in mid May :)

McDoubles Week 12

Well, I believe it is time I get these weekly McDouble updates rolling :) There have been so many changes with my body that I can't even begin to explain them all :) And talk about different pregnancies :) Yes - here they are :)

I have really enjoyed looking back at my blog posts from the time I was pregnant with Callie! There are some similarities with this pregnancy, and some obvious differences :) One being that we're having TWINS and not just one :)

With Callie, I didn't start showing until I was about 5 months pregnant (20 weeks), and honestly, I didn't know WHEN I would start showing with this pregnancy. My Dr. told me that my uterus is still tilled from the last pregnancy - basically, this means that I carry more "inward" for a long time and then "pop" out. Typically, if you have a tilted uterus with your first pregnancy, it stays outward so you start showing more quickly with your 2nd. Mine went back...She thought I would carry this way again had we had one child, but she knew I could pop at any moment with twins :) Her recommendation for me was to PULL OUT MY MATERNITY CLOTHES! So that night, I washed them all :) I just have to put them away :)

So here I am - 12 weeks pregnant and there's our bump :) Can you believe there are TWO babies in there :) I love it! I like to think that God knew Josh and I had done such a great job so far with Callie that he wanted to bless us with two more :)

Okay, so it's not THAT much, but it's enough so my favorite jeans no longer fit :( Actually on our way home from Thanksgiving, I had to ride home the whole way with my jeans undone, because they were TOO TIGHT! So I think I officially popped on Friday, November 25th :)

So here are some of the things that are similar with my pregnancies :)

NO MORNING SICKNESS! And BOOM goes the Dynamite :) I can't tell you how fortunate I am :) I know several women who have a hard time keeping anything down in their pregnancies, but I am VERY fortunate in the fact that I feel GREAT! I do get the random queasy moments, but they are far and few between.

Here are more differences (but are to be expected!!!!)

I'm so much more tired with this pregnancy. I sometimes find myself feeling guilty for being so exhausted. I hate being away from Callie during the day, but by time I get home from work, I am so tired that I need to sleep... Then I'm too tired to cook or too tired to clean. I'll play with Callie on the floor and BAM I'm asleep...it sucks being this exhausted. Here's the best way to explain how it feels for those of you who have never felt this way before...Picture a time when you were extremely hung over or sleep deprived. That tired feeling you feel ALL day and how it affects everything you can and cannot do (others call this MOTIVATION) - yeah...that's how I always feel!

I'm hungry ALL THE TIME! I haven't had any crazy cravings, but there have been a few times that I've HAD to have french fries and a chocolate malt. Today for example :) Callie woke up when I came home from McDonald's - she benefited from my craving :) But seriously, I have to eat every couple hours...probably because I have two babies taking everything...but still - it's crazy!

With Callie, the smell of meat made me nauseous in the first trimester. Not with this one. This one - whatever food I personally do not prepare...I think smells HORRIBLE and it makes me nauseous. Josh said the best way to avoid feeling that way is to just cook all of the meals myself :) Gee thanks sweetie :) Remember that feeling exhausted all the time!

It took us awhile for the thought of twins to really sink in, but it has and I am SO excited :) TWINS! We are doubly blessed :)

So many people have asked several of the following questions:

1. How are you feeling about this?
Seriously - is that a good question? I mean of COURSE we're excited! We're going to be an instant family of 5 :) We're going to have so much more love to give and we get to do it together :)

2. How have you been feeling?

Feeling great - just tired and more hungry - but there ARE two babies taking everything they can get from me!

3. Do twins run in your family?

No - they don't! Which is why were were so shocked. Not shocked - sad shocked, but shocked - WOW, how did this happen!?

4. (follow up to #3) How did this happen?

Well, we had sex two times that night? Seriously? We had no control over this. We didn't take fertility drugs, we just got doubly lucky :) If you want the honest answer - here it is...

The Dr.'s think that when I went off my birth control, I dropped two eggs (one being from my pill & one being natural)...and well, as any fertile mertil would have it...

5. Are you going to go back to work?

Of course I am. We can't afford to have one of us stay home...and live on one income. I know if we wanted to make it work that way - we could...but we're not going to do that. So yes, I am going to go back to work!

I have been doing a lot of reading about twin pregnancies, and I really hope I am one of the mom's who can avoid bed rest :) I will have so many more ultra sounds, but that's okay...to me, it means more pictures of our growing babies :) We'll be in the hospital a lot more as well, but that's also okay - more attention to make sure everything is going well :)

So stay tuned...tuned for more McDouble updates and pictures...and of course, my weekly growing belly :)

A Day in the Life of Callie (Thanksgiving Edition)

This Thanksgiving, we celebrated with my side of the family. My mom hosted Thanksgiving, as she does almost ever year, and does a FANTASTIC job :) This year there were 19 people in attendance :)

My mom showed Josh and I this picture she found of me when I was a little girl (probably a couple months older than Callie is now). For so long (okay, since Callie has had curls), I thought the curls came from Josh's side of the family (his mom's side)...I have been wrong all along. Both Josh and I looked at this picture and said, "Wow - Callie". My Grandma later chimed in claiming she remembers me with little "ringlets" - but they eventually grew out (probably at the age of 3)...

So here it is - look for yourself :)

Callie even shares my love of shoes :) hehe!

Thanksgiving morning began like any other morning :) A blessing to start another day :) Callie was waiting, all her "Kiki's" (blankies) in hand ready to for some attention :)

Being at Gramma & Grampa's house, routines change! Since the table was completely set with my mom's fine china, Callie was able to eat her breakfast in the living room while watching cartoons (we never let her eat food and watch tv at the same time). She loved it :)

Soon it was time to play and explore all of the things Gramma has hidden away :) Like my old bear that a friend gave me when I was in high school ;) Callie LOVED it...it was so big that it was hard for her to carry around :)

Time to get dressed and ready for the day :) I had two super cute outfits (that Sharon picked out for her!!!), but wasn't sure which to have her wear, so I had Callie pick based on the shoes she would need to wear WITH the dresses :) She chose her black dress shoes so she wore her super cute pink kitty dress :) She sure does love her daddy :) She clung to his side all day! Two words: Daddy's Girl :)

While Gramma was getting things ready for Thanksgiving, this hungry momma was sampling EVERYTHING :) Callie was enjoying it too! She wasn't a fan of the black olives, so she wanted to see if baby liked them :) Hehee!

Mommy, Daddy & Callie went to Walgreens to do some Thanksgiving couponing :) SCORE! Callie ended up getting a match box car, because that is all she wanted :) She's fascinated with cars...and we're okay with it :)

When we got back, it was time to prepare for everyone's arrival :) I love this picture of Callie - such a little ham :) I've been trying to get her to smile more in pictures...here's her "Show us your teeth" smile :) LOVE IT!

She really enjoyed putting puzzles together with "Gampa" - Grampa :) ...

Stealing chips from her Great Grandpa (my mom's dad)...

And snuggling up next to daddy :) Mommy got Callie a HUGE bowl of grapes, because there were just too many chips involved in this little girls snacking :)

You can't really see Callie here, but I am holding her! All the ladies were prepping the Thanksgiving meal :) Let me just say - Callie and I were the official samplers :)

AH! SNUGGLES WITH MOMMY :) :)

I seriously love this girl more than anything :) After we're done giving kisses, we break away saying, "Muah"!!! She's my girl :)

Thanksgiving meal time :) Uncle Bill, his girlfriend Mary, Cousin Steve & his better half, Rachel! Seriously Steve - I LOVE RACHEL :)

Huge gang at this table :) Cousin Michele & her husband Donnie - who some how snuck in with a Packer jersey... Josh & Callie, Cousin Bill, Grandma Schwartz, my dad, Grandpa Schwartz, Saresse(my cousin Bill's fiance), my mom, My Uncle Don & his girlfriend and her kids :)

Look at all that yummy food :)

On Tuesday, Callie was staying with my parents because we had conferences, Callie and my dad made ALL of the pumpkin pies :) Seriously the pictures my mom sent me are priceless - my dad is much more brave than I am :) But she loves pumpkin pie :)

Look at the length of her tongue :) Hehe

Here Daddy, this is your pie that I'm eating. How about you have one small bite :)

Callie was having so much fun playing with Dane! She liked his shoes and hat so much that she wore his shoes and wanted to wear her hat! No joke, she was asking me for her hat :) They were playing catch together :) What a kid!

After everyone had left, it was time for Miss Callie to head to bed! With lots of love and some stories, it was time for Callie to go to the Blankie Fair :)

Alyssa came over and we were preparing for our Black Friday Shopping! I took a couple pictures of my mom and dad...I wanted to capture the end of the evening and how exhausted she was! Thank you mom, you really can make the holiday's feel special :)

Alyssa and I scored big on some Black Friday deals :) I seriously look forward to this day...it's SO MUCH FUN to just get out and be apart of the chaos :)

Happy Thanksgiving from the McRae's!

Didn't see that one coming...

Josh and I had our first ultra sound appointment today with our OB-GYN. She is amazing and we love her :) Her son also plays basketball in Austin, so we know the family :)

We sat down, gave our usual information, had the "beginning of your pregnancy" talks, and even got to have a vaginal ultra sound! Too graphic for you - too bad :)

Right away she pulled our baby up! PERFECT! He/She looked so beautiful! She kept commenting on how healthy our baby was and the head was a beautiful size and everything :)

She printed our first picture!

It was a special moment again! We were able to see our 2nd child moving around inside of me! What a feeling :)

Then she started moving it around a little bit, looked at the nursing student and said, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?!" I immediately looked at the nursing student, looked at the Dr. and looked back at the screen. I then said, "What, what are you seeing?"

Oh yes, two babies :) That's right! The McRae's are having TWINS! Officially their name is going to be referred to as: McDouble!

Both of us had an initial reaction where we wanted to scream out swear words in shock and wonderment; however, we restrained ourselves. We pretty much just sat there staring at the screen saying, "Are you sure, are you sure?" Josh kept saying, "Oh my gosh oh my gosh".

They are BOTH extremely healthy and right on track! Here is a bit of information for you in case you are wondering :)

Our due date is June 9th; however, having multiples, they thought I would probably go early and have the twins in May sometime. She even talked about the possibility of having to go on BED REST :( Some mom's of two have to, so she wanted me to be reminded of that.

Both babies are healthy, moving around, and growing at a good pace!

We are measuring about 11-12 weeks (so they're big babies, but I'm not showing yet!).

They are NOT identical twins. Looking at the pictures, you can see a clear line separating the two babies. That simply means that there are two "sacks" that the babies are living in. If they were sharing the same sack, that would be more dangerous, because they would be sharing all of their nutrients - meaning one could be hogging the goods :) If they were in the same sack, they would also be identical twins. Because they have their own sacks, they are fraternal twins, meaning they might not look anything alike :) One could be a boy, one a girl or both the same gender :) Who knows!

When we had Callie, we were among the 4% of the population to have her on our due date!

We have no twins on either side of our family; therefore that makes us part of some smaller percentage. 3% of the population has twins, but that includes those that have twins in their families. I'm sure we're among a .25% on this one!

What is up with us and crazy odds :) Turns out Fertile Mertile met Super Sperm with these babies :)

I have no idea how Callie is going to react to this. It's going to be CRAZY and one heck of a roller coaster ride! Luckily we have an amazing support system to help us and love up on these babies :)

Twins - AH! TWINS! We are having TWINS!

The Revealing :)

I have several blog posts that I have been anxiously waiting to post :) One of them being the videos of how we told everyone :)

Turn your volume up, sit back, and enjoy the show :) I apologize that some of them were recorded sideways - I was trying to get the whole shot of Callie, but later realized that it made it difficult for viewing! If you know how to flip it, please let me know :)

First off - on Tuesday, October 4th, I woke up before Josh (very rare in our house) and rushed into the bathroom to pee on a stick (something that is really weird to be excited about!). I waited patiently (okay very impatiently) for the little hour glass to stop spinning in circles! It stopped: "PREGNANT" - I teared up, did a silent celebration dance by myself and thanked God for this beautiful gift! And then I hid the test in a crest toothpaste box that was in a drawer (saving the box because there's coupons inside!).

All day I was trying to hide this amazing secret :) It was until after school that it was time to tell Josh ;) I was actually going to wait until the next day, but our nights were all really full, so it HAD to be Tuesday :)

Here is it:

After I shut off the camera, Josh said - "Get over here" and gave me the biggest hug and kiss :) He was so excited to find out that we were going to have another baby! He told me later that when Callie FIRST came out, he was mad thinking, "This surprise is that you bought her Halloween costume without me!?!" Haha - tricked you Daddy!!

We kept this to ourselves for one entire month! We were going to wait until Thanksgiving to tell our families, but decided we were ready to tell everyone! We waited until Halloween weekend - and dressed Callie back up in her Bee costume to tell the grandparents :)

First stop - my mom and dad's house! I LOVE my mom's reaction! A typical Shellum girl reaction to anything :) I know exactly where both Callie and I get it from now! I was also SO excited that my dad was upstairs to see too! He had hip replacement surgery in September and is an absolute ROCK STAR for how well he is moving around :)

Second stop - Grandma Lynn's house! We were so happy that Larry was there to share the joy with all of us :) I love how Lynn was all ready for Callie to "practice" trick or treating (our way of preparing them to stay inside) - looks like we tricked you instead :) :)

Final stop - Grandpa Don & Sharon's house! We had Callie walking down the long hallway in their condo to share the news - she was so excited to run the length of the hall that she fell ;) Then she fell going in! I laugh looking back at this - it took awhile to see the sign, but watch Don's reaction as Sharon is holding it...he read it from standing up!!!

We called our sisters from the car. It was just too much traveling to drive around and tell everyone! First we talked to Heather who was almost in tears of excitement! Then Kayla who had one of my favorite reactions, "That's F**king Fantastic"!!!! I was shocked to have gotten a hold of Heidi :) Turns out we called their house when Tyler was getting ready for school - so he heard the phone! YEAH! She was also very excited - I'm working on getting here here now to meet McRae # 2 (still working on a creative name for this baby)...but if she comes, we're holding her hostage so she can hang out and hold baby all day long! Then we told Colleen - Callie was doing some blabbering to both Kayla & Colleen, so we told them we taught her Morris Code for "I'm going to be a big sister!"

We talked to our grandparents as well! My Grandma Schwartz made me chuckle - in a sweet old lady voice she said, 'Now that's a sneaky way of telling us!"

Hope you enjoyed the videos! I'm so happy we captured these moments on video to cherish forever! So far, # 2 is getting as much attention as Callie did - my personal goal is to make sure I do all of the same fun things :)

Now that the word is out...we need your help!

When we were pregnant with Callie, we referred to her as "McBaby" throughout my pregnancy.

For # 2 - we are NOT going to find out the gender of our baby - to us, it's not important! We'll be happy with whatever God has given us, and the only planning you need to do is clothing (which that will be fine)...so no worries (and this is coming from an OBSESSIVE planner)...

Here's where we need your help!

What should we refer to Baby # 2 as? McBaby is out. McDouble - no, because there's one in there...

I said "McBeeby" because we told everyone with Callie dressed up like a Bee!!

Thoughts?!?!

Time to share Thankfulness!

This November, I am going to be updating this blog daily - I will be adding all of the things I am thankful for each day! Some days may be the things that happen that day - others will be things in my life!

Stay tuned for each day :)

November 1 - I am thankful for my supportive and loving husband! Without him, I would be an obsessive, over reacting, clean freak! With him, I am more clam, loving and happy! Thank you Josh for being my ROCK! I am a happier person because you are apart of my life!

November 2 - I am thankful for our beautiful daughter! Every day she seems to amaze me! I'm thankful for her interest in books :) Tonight, she helped me read her bedtime story - she read ALMOST the whole thing (I begin the sentence and she finished it with the correct picture!) She is so loving and happy! She is full of spunk and has truly made our lives meaningful! She is such a blessing :)

November 3 - Today I am thankful for technology! My mom and I SKYPE often-today being one of those "often" moments, because she happens to be online the same times that we are! Callie LOVES to SKYPE with her & has started saying "SKYPE" - in her own terms :) Just another way to stay connected to my mom (I can't help it I have been a mommy's girl my whole life!) and Callie's Gramma.

November 4 - I am so thankful for great friends :) Along with that, I'm thankful for their children! To know that we have found amazing friends in Austin and are able to allow our children to spend time together means more to me than so many things! Also for the fact that these friends hold the man to my daughters heart! That's right - Casey - my daughter LOVES you!

November 5 - This may sound crazy, but I am SO THANKFUL for Walgreens tonight! They had a promotion going for 25 FREE 4X6 prints. I did a little photo editing, used 5 email accounts and received 125 FREE 4X6 pictures that we are going to stuff inside of our Christmas Quiz this year :) WHOA WHO! Now that is how you save around the holidays!

November 6 - Today I am thankful for my Faith! We have been doing a better job of going to church again :) I want Callie to grow up in this loving, spiritual environment. This morning; however, was not my finest parenting moment. I woke up and was seriously "too" tired to go to Church. I felt horrible. But tonight, when Callie and I started praying, I saw my precious Angel sitting in my lap, hands folded, eyes clothes, listening to every word I prayed. When I finished, I said, "Amen" and her sweet words repeated by saying her version of "Amen" (not sure how to type that)! I knew God had forgiven us for not being in this Sunday's Congregation.

November 7 - Today I am thankful for my job! I love what I do and I am so thankful for the job security that I have! I went to school to become a teacher, and that is what I'm doing - I followed my dreams and achieved my goals! Our day care provider was ill today, so I stayed home with Callie. It was so refreshing to know how honest I could be with my employers! My boss told me, "that sometimes this happens when we are parents, enjoy your day off with your daughter"! And that I did ;)

November 8 - Today I am SO thankful for our day care provider, Jessica! She is AMAZING! Callie was very crabby this morning (overly tired), but no matter what, she is always SO happy to see Jessica in the morning. It is the best feeling to know how happy your own daughter is parting from you everyday, but getting to spend it with her good pal, Jessica! We are more than thankful to have Jessica in our lives :) She is family to us!

November 9 - Today I am thankful for the community of Austin!!! Thank you for supporting our schools and voting YES to our referendum!!!!!!!

November 10 - Today I am thankful for GOOD DEALS! I scored 127 boxes of Kleenex (100 count) for $17.00 TOTAL! Yes, it's a lot of boxes, but this stuff DOES NOT go bad and you simply cannot beat that price :) Thank you to my friend who shared the good news with me :) I was able to pass it onto some friends :)

November 11 - Today is Veteran's Day, so first, I would like to thank my DAD! He is an amazing man who served our country for 31 years! I love you more everyday Dad!! My Grandpa who is 86 years old (I think I have his age correct) and still rocking it! My brother in law, Bruce, who is serving our country with his family in Okinawa, Japan! My sister, Heidi Bredlow, who served our country proudly and STILL serves as she supports her husband! My "brother" (Godmother's son) Nathan VanBogart, who is currently serving in Kuwait - Love you man :) And for all of those serving our country - THANK YOU! I am also SO VERY THANKFUL that God is watching over my daughter as she battles the flu :( Her poor tummy can't keep anything down, but He is helping her rest peacefully through the night (so far) so she can get better!

November 12 - Today I am thankful for my girl Shannon! We got together yesterday for the first time since the beginning of the summer. It was like we hadn't been apart! The moment we saw each other we started chit chatting and the moment we parted was the first time we stopped! I'm so thankful to have such good friends in my life!

November 13 - I'm so thankful for the blessings in my life! To be able to take one entire day, relax, take naps with my hubby, cuddle with my daughter, grocery shop with no financial worries (and lots of coupons), and spend time with my family. It's days like this that make me smile :)

November 14 - Today I am thankful for my husbands understanding in my ability to sleep anywhere at any moment! We were all playing in the living room, I made the mistake of laying down on the floor to play with Callie...just like that, I was out cold.

November 15 - Today I am thankful for my loving marriage :) 3 years ago today, I married my best friend! I think back to how "in love" I was on this day, and I can't believe that I love him more today than ever! Josh, you have made me the happiest woman! I love our conversations, our commitment to each other, our moments where we only understand each other, and the beautiful daughter we have made together! I can only imagine how amazing our second child will be! I love you with my whole heart!

November 16 - Today I am thankful for two things! First, my good friend Alyssa :) She is such a good friend with a heart of gold! Thank you for the surprise card in the mail - I loved it and it made my day :) Also, I'm thankful for today being the day that Callie turned 20 months! I can't believe my baby is 20 months old already! You'd think she was two by the way she's been acting! Still love her :)

November 17 - Today I am thankful for Kix, our cat! Every morning, we open the drapes to welcome a new day into our home! We then leave for work. Every afternoon when we come home from work, we close those drapes...meaning the ONLY time these drapes are open is when we aren't home! Thank you Kix for enjoying the sunshine while we work our tails off to support you :)

November 18 - Today I am thankful for the gifts God has provided us with! So often you hear, God wouldn't give you anything you can't handle...boy is that true :) The McRae's are SO blessed!!!

November 19 - Today I am thankful for our family and friends! Josh and I always knew how blessed we were with such amazing relationships :) Yesterday and today have been a whirl-wind of feelings :) We are so unbelievably excited for the birth of our TWINS; however, it is our family and friends that are going to help us get through this :) Thank you for your love and support :) Here I've been stressing how on earth Callie will still receive attention, and out of the woodwork she'll be more spoiled in June than she is now :) THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

November 20 - Today I am thankful for the love and laughter Callie brings into our lives! We go about our days like clockwork. We love spending every moment we can with Callie, but sometimes, I think we take that for granted. We drove up to my mom and dad's house to drop Callie off until Tuesday. Josh and I have conferences ALL day Monday & Tuesday, so we figured it would be best to have one of our parents watch her. It worked out best to have her at my parents for two days. When we got home tonight, I couldn't believe how empty our house felt. No giggles, no sassy meltdowns, no "Hi Mommy!" It's sad. I love her more than anything, but I miss her so much already! I feel like we're a boring couple without her - how on earth did we have fun before her?!

November 21 - Today I am thankful for technology! Because of technology, I am able to talk to my daughter on the phone when I am away from her (and miss her TERRIBLY), see pictures of her that my mom is emailing me throughout the day (because she knows how much I miss her), and receive constant updates on her day :) Man I miss my baby girl!

November 22 - Today I am thankful for my slow cooker :) Call me crazy, but after two long days, it's so nice to come home to a nice pot of cooked food :) YUMMY FRENCH DIPS for the McRae's tonight :) MMM...and sweet potato fries :)

November 23 -

November 24 (Happy Thanksgiving) -