Baby William came to visit :)

Oh yeah, his parents came to visit too!

Blake & Britt were driving through, and I have to tell you - I LOVE being at the south end of MN! It is for reasons like this...we get to see MN visitors first :) Josh and I have been wanting to get out to Chicago, but with this unpredictable weather, we just couldn't chance it. And every long weekend was indeed a snow storm.

Lucky for us, Blake, Britt & William were coming to MN and they stopped to visit the McRae family :)

William is SO HANDSOME! Josh and I forgot how small a 3 month old baby is! He was so sweet and delicate! It was fun to listen to his sweet sounds, kick his little legs, and smile constantly :) He is one happy baby with two AMAZING parents :)

I don't know what Callie was thinking of him, but she definitely wanted to be all up in his face!

We wish you guys lived closer, but we are coming to Chicago this summer and CAN'T WAIT!

Callie is WALKING!

If you guessed February as your "Callie will start walking date" - you were correct! If you guessed February, leave a comment below so I can know who guessed what date (even if you guessed incorrectly, it'd be fun to see your guesses!).

I came home from work today and she was taking a few more solid steps, but then the light bulb went on and she was walking ALL over the living room :) With several tumbles of course, but SO exciting for her :)

She also loves her rocking chair, so I had a fun video going of her dancing in the chair (tilted the wrong way - sorry), but then she decided it was time to read books :) This video has quickly become one of my favorites :) Enjoy!

10 1/2 months - and growing so fast!

I apologize for it taking me awhile to blog! I have been keeping very busy. Callie and I go to every home basketball game, which are usually Tuesday or Friday nights. If the away game is close, we go to those too! Callie and I go watch daddy coach at 4:45 PM. Then we all eat dinner together (if it's a home game, I feed Callie before we leave...then she eats a snack with us) during the JV game - 6 PM, and then we watch the varsity game at 7:30 PM. We usually get home anytime after 9:00 PM. I know it's late, but we are trying to instill the love of basketball at an early age :)

On January 21st, we brought Callie back into the Dr.'s office. When we were there, I openly admitted to her Dr. that we were probably wasting her time and that I was over reacting for bringing her in, but something just wasn't right. After weighing Callie and finding out that she was still 20 lbs. (has been 20 lbs. for 2 months now), the Dr. told us that Callie had a double ear infection, and that one of them was REALLY bad :( Our poor girl. I wish I had the ability to know what was bothering her, when it was hurting, and that I could fix it. I hate seeing her in pain.

It has been more than 10 days since her appointment, and I think she is finally starting to feel better. If you have been keeping track, that is 3 ear infections in her left ear in like 4 months. The Dr. said when she has 6 ear infections in one ear in one year (tricky sentence!) that is something we will have to worry about - I think that would be when they consider tubes :(

Callie has been doing A LOT of walking around. She pushes her toys around the living room, and she is starting to take some independent steps! We had a snow day today and have a 2-hour late start tomorrow (which is why I'm taking the time to blog), so being able to spend MORE time with her has been amazing for both Josh and I :) Today we were able to watch start walking, catch herself from falling and continue to hold herself up-all while trying to take more and more steps!

She is an eating machine! She is 100% eating anything and everything that we eat (except for the few foods she can't have yet: peanut butter, eggs, honey, etc..). She LOVES Jell-O. I always have some made and ready for her to eat :) When she was eating baby food, I saved all of the plastic "Gerber" containers. Now I just reuse them for her Jell-O (great for small portion size) and all of her other foods! She isn't too messy of an eater-which is very nice :)

She goes to bed very nicely for us! We give her a bottle, read her books, sometimes I sing to her if she's restless, and then lay her in her crib with her blankie, puppy & dolly!

Josh and I are also working on some projects :) He is building a shelf to house all of his components for the TV downstairs! I'm proud of him for working on this by himself :) So far, I think it looks really nice!

As for me, I am finally painting "Callie's Corner"! For the longest time, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do, but now I know :) I'm not telling how I'm painting it all, but I will tell you this: there is magnetic paint and chalkboard paint involved :) SWEET! I'm also getting ready for Callie's FIRST Birthday Party :) It's crazy to think that my baby girl is almost 1! Her party is going to be spectacular...at least I think so :)

Below Shutterfly post

Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know that the Shutterfly post (below) is something I did to receive some freebies :)

Shutterfly had a promotion going (already ended, sorry) - for anyone with a blog...if they post a card that they had made through Shutterfly, you receive a $25.00 gift card to Shutterfly!

GUESS WHAT - I RECEIVED IT :) Yeah - I love giveaways!

Callie Lynae McRae

Andante Dots Pink Baby Announcements

Turn your favorite photo into a birth announcement.

View the entire collection of cards.

Callie Videos

Here are some videos I captured tonight of Callie! I apologize for the angle. I'm not sure how to turn the videos, so you'll just have to watch them from a different angle!

Here is Callie eating Mac & Cheese. Typically, we feed her foods that are messy, but we decided to just have her go to town :) She has a fork in one hand and shovels it in with another! Notice at one point she actually puts it on the handle and puts the handle in her mouth :)

After dinner every night, if Callie was a good eater, we give her two cookies. They are the "Gerber" cookies - so they aren't "real" cookies...but she LOVES them! She gets really excited when she sees the bag too :)

Callie started doing this crazy dance of excitement on her knees! I'm so glad I captured it on video! She also started giving HIGH FIVES tonight :) I worked with her for literally 1 minute, and she was doing it the rest of the night. Sometimes she really gives you a nice hard high five!!

Here is another video of Callie giving high fives and moving about the living room!

I'm not 100%, but I swear Callie took one small step towards me tonight! I was on the phone with my sister, Colleen, and all of a sudden - she was coming at me! She fell of course, but you have to start somewhere :)

Hope you enjoyed a Callie evening!

New Years Resolutions

In the past, I have not been a HUGE fan of New Years Resolutions, because lets be honest - they are just a way for people to set goals, but very quickly give up on them. I know I have done this, and I feel confident saying "people", because I have seen SEVERAL people set a goal, and then not follow through on it. Hey - I'm just sayin!

My past goals have been silly! My favorite being "Don't mess with perfection!" I reuse this one quite often.

This year is different! Since I'm a mom now, I decided to really go after it, but I'm setting goals that aren't unrealistic (losing a ton of weight, working out 5 times a week, eating only healthy foods, limiting my Facebook stalking hours-yeah right!).

Before I share my goals with you - I figured I would list those of my family :)

First on the list, we have Kix! He has 4 goals for the year!

1. To not meow so much. I know these people are going to feed me in the evening...and only feed me once...I do not need to bother them the entire time they are home!

2. I can run away from her, I can "hit" her, but I will NOT bite the Golden Child!

3. I will TRY not to take too much of my mom's pillow at night...we each have our own!

4. I will try to branch out at table scraps. I typically beg for the meat, but if Callie is going to drop anything, I will open my mind to trying new things!

Next we move down to Callie :) She really has 3 goals for the year!

1. I am going to learn how to walk within the next couple of months!

2. I am going to learn how to talk this year...it's going to be incredible...stay tuned!

3. I am going to CONTINUE to be cute and adorable :) Hey - I like my mom's resolution - "Don't Mess with Perfection!"

Since Josh never updates the blog, I thought I would put his New Years Resolution/goals for the year down for him :) I am (almost) 100% sure this is exactly what he would put down if he were here!

1. Continue to be an amazing father and husband!

2. Spoil my beautifully talented and amazing wife!

3. Try to post an update - from my perspective - on the blog every 5-6 weeks!

4. Continue to try new foods. I know I'm a picky eater, but my wife is an unbelievable cook, so I am going to continue trying new foods...and I'm going to eat broccoli, because it is SO GOOD!

5. Do a better job at working out. I'm not going to be unrealistic here...I really need to do a better job at working out :)

And last, but definitely not least...Here are my New Years Resolutions!

1. Continue to be an amazing mother and wife (Josh tells me I could win the modesty award daily!)

2. I do not want to say that I'm going to become a "workout-aholic" or lose weight, because I am actually pretty happy with my weight...but I do need to do a better job of taking the time to work out. I did an awesome job this summer. I was running everyday and I got myself up to 8 miles easy...but the next day it felt like someone took a sledge hammer to my knees. My bones were literally sticking out of my body-not really, but it sure felt like it. I've done P90X, and that kills my knees (I might have the worlds worst knees...no matter how much training and conditioning I do, they will forever be bad and hurt)...While Josh does P90X downstairs, I am doing Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred (for starters). Not to lose weight, but to work out and tone! Plus it's 20 min. a day...I can handle that :)

3. I have been doing a GREAT job at using coupons! I go online to a few websites: coupons.com, smartsource.com, retailmenot.com...I cut coupons out of the newspaper (when I remember to pick up a Sunday paper...Dad, can you hook me up with Sunday papers delivered to our house in Austin by any chance?), and I wait for good deals. I have even resorted to buying store brand! I have found that it tastes the EXACT same-well, for most things! I have been using my reusable shopping bags and everything! But for some dumb reason, I can't seem to save like the crazies you read about in papers and online (having a $150.00 grocery bill and only paying $25.00). So my goal this year is to have ONE bill show a grand total savings of more than $50.00!! Kohls does not count, because you save everyday at Kohls! I'm talking the Hy-Vee down here in Austin...I will do this!

4. I am going to continue playing with crafts :) Josh bought me a nice sewing desk so I can have my own corner and place to do my crafts! YEAH! Maybe I'll build up the energy to sew him this blanket he's been wanting! We'll see :)

5. Drink more water!

I think those are good enough "goals" for now! I also think they are realistic! The coupon one is my biggest beast...I'm kind of becoming obsessive about it! I'm all about saving an extra buck!

Here are some brand name items we have found work just as well!

Up & Up trash bags (Target)

Up & Up formula (for Callie)...it's like $10.00 cheaper, and since we had to do the switch, we mine as well save!
Up & Up Contact Solution - $5.00 cheaper...and it does the SAME THING!!!

Up & Up laundry detergent - replacing "Dreft". I developed an allergy to detergent, so both Callie and I get to use the expensive stuff! Although I may look into making my own detergent! I'll keep you posted on that venture :)

Almost all HyVee brands for foods: baking, spices, salad items, breads, medicines, juices, milk, etc...

I REFUSE to switch over on certain items (Josh probably thinks I'm crazy!)

Crest Toothpaste with baking soda...I have to use it! All other toothpastes do not do justice! My dentist recently told me I had perfect teeth, so I'm sticking to this kind!

Charmin Toilet Paper...it's soft, does the job, and my old cat's name was Charmin (RIP Charmin!)

Produce & most meat! I have found that some of the meats taste better after you freeze them anyway! I think it is all psychological, but it works!

Also, some papers have coupons for FREE items - like breads and produce. Stock up on the coupons and go get them! I have gotten a lot of bread from Kwik Trip because it's free. HELLO - JUST FREEZE IT!!! It's still good! The bananas on the other hand...yeah you need to eat those! They don't taste as good frozen!

So there you have it :) The McRae's New Years Resolutions!!!! And some added info :)