The McRae Family: 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 :)