Callie's Big Debut

As you know, Callie has been in dance class for a few weeks now :)  Well, just today, she was able to perform in her FIRST EVER DANCE RECITAL!

It was in the Packer Gym at Austin High School - which is the big gym...lots of seating for LOTS of people!  There were 24 dances and we watched them all :)  Callie's group was the 3rd group to dance!

When we first arrived, I wasn't sure what to expect.  Some of the little 24-36 month old dancers in her class were running around and having a grand old time.  I asked Callie if she wanted to join in, but she had no interest in it at all.  She preferred to sit on the bleacher and take everything in.

Callie and her Gal Pal Ella!  They were all ready to go :) 

 Callie taking it all in :)

 She looks so scared here...

Mommy and Callie before the show - I was giving her some pep talk and preparing her for her big show :)  Yes that included bribery :)

I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if Callie was actually going to go out there and dance...she wanted to stick by me and not have anything to do with it.  I told myself that if she decided NOT to dance, that would be totally okay- I don't want to traumatize her at the age of 2!

I think it helped having some dancers go before their group...she was able to watch and take the dancing experience in :)

"Ladies and Gentleman, we would now like to introduce your 24-36 month toddler dancers dancing to 'You Are My Sunshine'..."  Okay Callie, it's time :)  I walked her out there, showed her the line she needed to stand on and we were off!  I walked away from her, leaving my baby girl standing there with her dance partners ALL BY HERSELF!

What a HUGE moment!

(It starts off a little blurry but clears up VERY quickly!)

And the song began, and Callie did a PHENOMENAL JOB!  She followed along with her teacher, Bizzy and did everything she was supposed to :)  I of course had tears of joy in my eyes - I was and am SO proud of her :)  There is nothing in this world that can take that moment away from me :)

The following pictures are from the show :)

Callie was also lucky to have some of her grandparents come down to cheer her on - which, let me tell you, she was SO excited :)  Gramma & Grampa Shellum came down and Grandma Lynn came down too :)  They were so proud of her as well!  Thank you so much, it meant so much to us having you there to cheer her on in her first ever performance :)

Callie was also able to see Kathleen dancing (her babysitter) and Alexis (our daycare's daughter) and let me tell you - Callie was super pumped to see both of them!

 Beautiful Miss Kathleen :)  Such a graceful dancer!

 Callie loves you :)

There's our Lexi!

Enjoy the pictures and the video of Callie's dance :)  Thank you mom for video taping this so Josh could capture some pictures :)  I did purchase the professional video that they had...Which of course Callie is not shown in the whole thing (they zoom in on all the dancers) and her group is on there for literally a minute and a half...but I paid the $20.00 because I am so proud of her :)

Enjoying the show with Daddy!

 Moving to Grampa

... And Gramma

 ...and Grandma - by this time she was dancing on every one's laps :)

 Thank you for coming to watch Miss Callie dance :)  

 Thank you for coming and watching Miss Callie Dance!!

Proud Mommy & Daddy :)

 Callie found Jessica - can you tell she LOVES Jessica!

And Alexis & Jet - whom she LOVES :) 

After the show we all headed down for some DELICIOUS Steve's Pizza :)  Such a fun day!!!  I'll always remember today!

YUMMY STEVE'S PIZZA!!!!

34 Weeks and not many to go :)

Wow - we are already to May!  I remember back in March when people would ask me how much longer we had to go and I would say (very dreadfully) "3 months..."  Now...when people ask me, I say 1 month or sooner :)

The most exciting news this week (besides our babies CONSTANTLY KICKING AND MOVING - I LOVE THIS FEELING) is that we DID order the Joovy Big Caboose Triple Sit & Stand Stroller.  Even though the measurements showed that it would not fit in our vehicle, we ordered it anyway!  I wanted to try it out and return it if it didn't work.  Well, it arrived on Saturday and guess what...JOSH, my AMAZING husband was able to get it to fit into our vehicle :)  YEAH!  I LOVE YOU SWEETIE!!  It even fits with the car seats!  Only MAJOR downfall is that the driver seats will have to be a little more far forward than planned...but ONLY when the stroller is in :)   WHOA WHO!

Our babies are about 4.75 pounds now - about the size of a cantaloupe!  They are measuring about 18 inches long and have extremely smooth skin right now!  Their lung development is really good (according to text) and if they were to be born right now, the chances of them having any significant health problems are very slim :)  So do you know what that means...

BRING ON THE LABOR!

My back has been hit and miss.  My chiropractor started adjusting my neck, so that has been helping a lot as well!  I go two times a week to see her and am going to start getting weekly massages :)  I'm also due for a pedicure...hey, mommy needs her pampering as well ;)

I do have 10 days of work left!  I decided to start my maternity leave early...to give myself some time!  My last day of work will be May 11th and I will be relaxing at home, by myself starting May 14th :)  WOW...it's really coming fast :)

My Best Friend Alyssa came down this weekend as well!  She has been dipping her hands into photography and realized that she really enjoys it!  You have to remember that we don't have any backdrops and she doesn't have the fancy flashes, but I love the photos she captured anyway :)

Alyssa & I - man are we perdy...no make up and I'm in my PJ's :)

 Kix diggs the nursery!  He likes walking around both cribs...Get that out of your system now Kix...you won't be allowed to do that once there are little ones in there :)

 Josh came up with this great idea to take pictures with all of the diapers we have.  I always thought it was a lot...turns out - not that much...

 I saved a TON of money using coupons though :)

 585 Newborn diapers and 514 Size 1 diapers...

 I'm in a diaper craze...

 Pretty much describes it :)

 Man it looks like a torpedo coming out of my stomach...

 :)

Two things I am really going to miss about being pregnant...
1. Kicking of the babies 

2. My nice nails...they never look this good otherwise - I'm a biter...

 I've become SUPER self conscious of my overly stretched out stomach lately, so we did not do a lot of tummy shots.  We did get some, because that is the point of maternity photos!

 My baby girl giving kisses to her siblings :)  Always two kisses!

 This picture makes me smile in so many ways :)

If you remember from our pregnancy with Callie, we had maternity photos done!  This is the photo that we had taken...Maternity Session from Callie's Pregnancy...with the letters spelling LOVE...Personally, I like this one better!  Callie's crooked V adds a little something :)

 We tried some frame photos :)

 I got down with my bad self...

 And then Alyssa asked if I would let Callie finger paint on my tummy...UM...YES :)

She went STRAIGHT for my belly button ;)

 Got paint in her hair...

 And then went to town!

 She had a BLAST!

 LOVE it - thank you sweetie for covering up my stretch marks!

 CHEESE!

 Our family photo :)  

 Relaxing in the nursery :)

 There is something about this picture that I really like!  We're not sure if we are going to leave the trunk in the nursery or not, but for now this is where it's at.  Wow...two babies :)

 She wanted to join me :)

Family photo - it's like they're here already...family of 5 :)

 My favorite man in the world :)  I love you Schmoopy - I wouldn't want to go through this cute, crazy chaos with anyone else but you :)

 One of my favorites :)  I LOVE YOU!!!!

And of course - some of the diapers in their place...ready to go :)

  I love you Alyssa, thank you for coming down!  I enjoyed spending the time with you the most - and eating overly buttered popcorn while watching movies :)

Who knows, the next post COULD be the arrival of our babies :)  Otherwise, you'll get a week 35 update next week :)