Countryman Cousins slumber party

Last night we had our Countryman cousins spend the night before their trip to North Carolina.  I can't not tell you how happy my heart was when I saw Charlie cuddling with her cousins Brynn, Cayden, and Delaney as I snuck up on them in the dark.  This is exactly what I pictured when we made this room.  It's just so great to see Charlie having fun with her cousins (like a big girl) like I did when I was growing up.  Here's to many more cousin memories!

Let It Go!

Last night my mom, my sister and I took Charlie to see Frozen for the second time in the movie theater.  The first time we went was during the DFW ice storm in early December with Zaza and Papa and it happened to be her very first movie theater experience.  Since then she has learned the Frozen theme song "Let it Go" and it is her new favorite song.  We play the Youtube video of it for her every now and then and as soon as she hears it she is twirling around and dancing.  She even dances with her Princess Ana doll to the music.  Sometimes we will catch her singing the song when its not even playing.   She screams off the top of her lungs...  "Gooooooooo, Gooooooooo"  even though it sounds more like "Dough"!
I thought that since she really new the song this time, taking her to the movie for a second time would be a whole new experience and it was!  She watched the first part of the movie like it was a whole new movie.  She kept looking at my mom with a huge smile and pointing to the screen. It is so amazing seeing this world through the eyes of a child.  As soon as the "Let it Go" sequence started, she got up out of her seat and was dancing, twirling, and singing in the aisles of the theater!  It was SO worth seeing the movie for a second time in the theater!    I'm sure when it comes out on DVD we will be watching this one over and over again.  At the end of the movie the Demi Lavato version of the song came one and Charlie got up again to dance and twirl around.  It was the cutest thing EVER!
It was nice to see the movie both times with family since the movie is all about family love.  "Everyone's a bit of a fixer upper, we all need each other to round us out!"  This time I got to see it with my mom and my sister which was perfect because the true love that broke Ana's spell is the love for her sister.  The whole time Charlie was in my lap, Chelsie kept kicking her and I couldn't stop thinking of how much fun they are going to have together as sisters.

New Year! New Semester!

Today is the first day back to school in the New Year and the New Semester!  I just felt Chelsie kick while walking the halls.  I just realized that this was the first time I felt her kick at school.  I'm also alot bigger than I was two weeks ago when we left for Winter Break.  Today begins the second half of the school year, but also the second half of my pregnancy!  By the end of this semester my little Chelsie will be here!  I am going to be HUGE at the end of the school year.  I can't believe how fast time flies and how quickly pregnancies go, how quickly babies come, and how rapidly children grow.  My life will fly by ten times faster now that I will have TWO children. Here is to a great second semester of school and to the second half of my second pregnancy!  Its going to be great!

Happy New Year!

Charlie's New Years Outfit!

It's New Years Eve and also Papa's birthday!  Since Cory had to work today we spent the evening with the Countryman family to celebrate Kenny's real birthday.  When Kenny got off of work we met him at Chili's to celebrate his 61st birthday and the New Year!  Charlie was awake and talking during the hole dinner!  People even came up to her and said they were watching her talk the entire time and how cute they thought she was!  She talks SO much!  I can't imagine what she will be like when she's two speaking actual words!  :)
We had a wonderful dinner with Papa and when it was time to go we had to say good bye to Shane, Whitney and Liam since they will be going back to Utah tomorrow.  It was sad that we won't be seeing little Liam until his much bigger.  Hopefully sooner than later.

Kenny's Birthday Dinner

Mommy time!

After dinner we went home to ring in the New Year with Grandma Carla!  Charlie laughed as my mom and I sang the New Years song to her and counted down into 2013!  She was my new years kiss and I was very happy to have her here with me!  I was also grateful that my mom wanted to spend the New Year with me and Charlie.  We toasted with Cream Soda to 2013 and watched all the New Years Shows on TV with Charlize.
Cory called us right as the clock hit midnight to wish us a happy New Year from work AND he surprised us at 2am with a visit on his lunch break just to give us a New Years kiss!  He loves us so much so I know 2013 is going to be great even if he is away at Trooper Academy.  I know he will do whatever it takes to be with us as much as he can.
As always I like to take time on  New Years Eve to reflect back on the year we are leaving behind.  2012 was a great year for us!  At dinner Michelle shared her tradition of counting down 12 grapes for each of the 12 months of the year and thinking of something great that happened each month.
Here's what I reflected on:

2012 Year in Review


January: We found out we were expecting!

February: We celebrated my 27th birthday and got our first sonogram of our little baby peanut!

My New Years Kiss

March: We announced our pregnancy and I started wearing maternity pants!

April: Our first 3D sonogram, we started our family blog and we found out that we would be having a  baby GIRL!

May: Our "babymoon" trip to Hawaii with my band New Ground

June: School's out for summer, we registered for our baby showers, and Cory and I celebrated ten years of dating

July: We had the Countryman family move in with us and had a blast being roommates with Bryan Michelle Alyssa, Brynn, Cayden and Baby "D"

Daddy came hone and surprised us for another new years kiss!

August:  We had two amazing baby showers for Charlie given by the Countryman and Rivero families

September: Our nephew Liam was born, our sweet little Angel Charlize Angelica was born and we became Parents, Cory celebrated his 29th birthday with his daughter at his side.

October: Our trip to Sea World for Anabella's birthday, Cory goes to Austin and finds out he is going to be a State Trooper next year and Charlie's first Halloween.

November: Our first year anniversary, Cory finally got a truck and Charlie's first Thanksgiving

December: A month full of wonderful Christmas celebrations filled with lots of family time

We have had so many blessings in 2012 and we look forward to many more in 2013!

Happy New Year!

Kenny's Birthday Party

Today we are hosting Kenny's Birthday Party!  He turns 61 on New Years Eve but we are celebrating today so that he can have ALL his family here with him.  (Cory has to work on New Years Eve)  We are excited that Liam is coming over too so he can play with Charlie!
We had a great time with the family, ate some great food prepared by Zaza, and played fun games that Shannon always supplies!  We also got to open some of Charlie's presents that she didn't get to open on Christmas Day since we were so rushed!  It was good to have more fun family time during the holidays!

And May All Your Christmases be WHITE! :)

Cory has to work this Christmas and I was very afraid that because he was working we would not have a very good time.  I had to make sure to spend as much time with the rest of our family so that we would not have to miss him so much.  I know it is probably worse for him since he has to be in Jail on Christmas Eve and Christmas night and not get much sleep in between.  But we wanted to make the best of it and we did!  This Christmas was Charlie's first Christmas and turned out to be a very special Christmas!

On Christmas eve Charlie went to mass for the first time.  I dressed her up in her pretty little Christmas dress and she and I made our way to the University of Dallas Church of the Incarnation where I was baptized when I was Charlie's age in 1985.  I have so many memories of Christmas mass in that church and I wanted to share them with my Charlize. I have faint memories of sleeping though midnight mass as a baby and staring up at the beautiful lantern lights on the ceiling.  As I held Charlie during mass, singing Christmas songs, and watching her look up at those same lights I felt the spirit and got all teary eyed.  It was a great feeling to be back at church at Christmas mass with all my family including Charlize.  I only wish Cory could have been there to share it with us.

After mass we headed over to the Cuban family Christmas like always, but this time with Baby Charlize in the car!  We sang Christmas songs on the way to Rowlett like we do every year!  We had a blast with my Cuban cousins, eating Cuban food, and participating in the Cuban gift exchange.  Charlie got alot of presents from her Cuban Tias and Tios!  And we ended the night dancing just as Wito would do!  Charlie danced to the Conga, the Wobble, and some pit bull songs that she knew from the womb when I used to sing with her in my tummy!  :)  She was a very happy baby for all of the time that she wasn't sleeping through it.  We had a great time, but it was finally time for Santa to come so we had to make our way home.

We stayed the night at Grandma Carla's house since Cory was at work and not at home and Santa came to both our houses over night!  Cory woke us up with a Christmas kiss at 6 am on Christmas morning and Charlie made her way to the front of the traditional cousin club line to march in for presents!  We opened so many presents  as a family it seemed like a whirlwind of wrapping paper and Christmas bags.  Charlie got lots of clothes and a high chair from Grandma and Grandpa!  It was fun to be a part of my family's 30 year tradition of Cousin Club Christmas.  Cory and Charlie took a little nap while I snagged some Orange juice, but I knew we had a long day ahead of us so we had to make our way home.

Santa came to our house too!  When we got home there were presents under the tree to Charlie from Santa! And also Cory and my gifts to each other.  We had our own little family Christmas under our tree and had our special time with Charlie.  Charlie got lot of toys and a Jumpin Jivin bouncer.  Cory got me my Coach diaper bag and new pearl earrings! I gave him Lasik surgery which he had last Thursday and a shopping spree to buy his Trooper Academy stuff. We had a wonderful little Christmas between the three of us. 

Then Cory was off to bed with Charlie as they took another nap while I got ready for the Countryman Christmas at Bryan's house.  While I was getting ready it started to SNOW!  When we were driving to Bryan's with Meme and Pop and Victoria we could see huge snowflakes falling! We finally go there and got to meet Charlie's cousin Liam for the first time!  It was so great to finally meet him!  We caught up with Shane and Whitney and compared our little babies next to each other like we had been dreaming of since January when we first found out they were expecting too.  Countryman Christmas lunch and present exchange was also a whirlwind.  Especially since we had to rush through alot of it to get Cory to work on time.  But even though we had to rush, I was glad to get to be with both sides of the family today.  And even though he got very little sleep, Cory got to have a Christmas today, be with his family, meet his nephew, and spend time with his daughter on Christmas day.  

When Cory drove Charlie and I back to Grandma Carla's house there was SNOW everywhere!  It really was a White Christmas!  We had a beautiful peaceful ride back together and looking at the white hills of snow all around us.  As Cory dropped us off, I had a little breakdown.  I was so sad that he had to go back to work.  But not as sad for me as I was sad for him.  It seemed like he had just gotten off of work and now he had to go back and all he wanted to do was play with me and Charlie and Sno in the snow on Christmas Day.  But I know that he has to work and we both have to be strong.  Especially since we will have to miss each other so much next year while he's at Trooper Academy.  So I cherished the time that we did get to have with him that day and tried my best to make him feel the same.  

I played with Sno in the snow while Aunt Kee watched Charlie, but I soon found out that after giving birth I am way out of shape and I'm getting to old for running around in the snow with my little cousins!  Charlie and I had dinner with my mom's family and had a great time with the cousin club all night.  Everyone ended up spending the night at my mom's since it was dangerous to drive outside, so we had an extended Christmas that lasted until the morning of the 26th.  

This Christmas was very special indeed!  

May Your Days Be Merry and BRIGHT

Welcome to Prairie Lights

Today we continued in the holiday spirit!  We went to a Christmas party with Cory's work friends and to Prairie Lights with the Waggoners and the Krauses! It took us two hours to sit through traffic just to get there, since its the Saturday before Christmas, but it was worth it!  Even though Charlie slept most of the time, it was fun to take her though the lights and spend time with her Aunt Kiki and Uncle Greggy and cousin Victoria in the car and the rest of the Waggoners in the car in front of us making Christmas memories!

Cory's Favorite!

The end!

My New Mommy Haircut and Charlie's first craft

My new mommy hair!

Charlie and her first Craft

Today was the last day of school before Winter break and supposedly the "end of the world" according to the Mayan calendar!  Well the world didn't end and I had a wonderful day at school.  Charlie came to see me during the Booker T Angels program and all we did was party all day.
I also scheduled a major hair cut today!  Charlie has been pulling my hair like crazy and I have always planned to cut my long hair once I became a mom!  It's time for a mommy haircut!  Kristen came over and cut my hair, Andie's hair, and my moms hair, while Charlize and Cory played with Zaza and the Waggoner girls in the kitchen.
Cory has a tradition with his mom to make home made cinnamon rolls for Christmas.  He and his mom worked together to make some delicious cinnamon rolls this year!
She also brought Charlie's first craft!  Charlie made a Rice Crispy Treat gingerbread house with her Daddy and I.  It was fun to decorate with Charlie in my arms and delicious!  (I ate both of the houses!)
Overall today was a great day!  The start of a relaxing Christmas break spent with my little baby girl and lots of family!
...And a new look for a new me!  I already feel better about myself.  After the baby you kinda get down on yourself for being fatter than usual and not having enough time to look pretty.  Now I feel pretty again and finally feel like myself.  I'm Charlie's mommy!   :)

Thought this was HILARIOUS for today!  :)

On the Polar Express

Charlize on her way to the North Pole Express 

 Today we rode the North Pole Express in Grapevine, Texas!  It is a super cute little program that they put together to ride the old trains just like the Polar Express movie.  When you get to downtown grapevine there are carnival like food stands and activities for the kids.  Then when its almost time to board the train, they put on a show for you in this big tent.  Then you walk through a maze of Christmas trees to board the train.  The train is almost 100 years old.  On the train we sang Christmas Carols and got a visit from Santa!  Santa brought us all candy canes and a little keepsake bell to remind us to BELIEVE.  The train stops at the "north pole" and comes right back to downtown Grapevine.  Even though it was a short trip it was fun for the kids.  And we got a complimentary hot Chocolate with our ticket once we returned to downtown Grapevine.
Cory and I had fun carrying Charlie around in her little carrier!  Since there were no strollers or car seats aloud on the train, we had to find other means of carrying Charlie around.  What a perfect opportunity to test out Charlie's infant carrier.  Cory was excited to have her strapped to him.  He wanted to know what it was like to carry her around all the time like when I was pregnant with her.  He wouldn't let me try it until he had to go to the bathroom.  Once I put it on, I totally missed being pregnant!  It really did feel almost like it did when Charlie was in my tummy!  I loved carrying her around and having her that close to me at all times again!  But it was also good to be able to take her off and give her back to Cory and be me again.  We're NOT looking to have another one just yet!  ;)
We had a great time with all of Charlie's cousins and the whole family.  Maybe we will make this an annual tradition too!

Kiki's Tim Tam Slam Party and Charlie is 3 months today!

Charlie is 3 months today!  She is growing so fast!  We also had a party at Katie and Gregory's apartment.  A Tim Tam Slam Party!  :)  Katie and Greg showed us this interesting way of eating these fudge filled cookies with hot chocolate.  You bite off the ends and try to suck the hot chocolate through the cookie as the fugdge melts in your mouth.  It was pretty good!  We watched Elf too!  I love that movie!  When we got home we dressed Charlie in her 3 month outfit and shot her monthly photo shoot!  Now that we have a collection of three of these little photo shoots, its fun to look back at her pictures and see how she's grown.  I can't believe we are already "looking back" at her old pictures!  Happy 3 months Charlize!

Santa Clause is Coming To Town!

 Today was Charlie's first visit to see Santa Clause at the mall.  We  invited both of Charlie's grandparents to witness her first trip to see Santa and some of her cousins came along too.  Santa was at the Galleria today so that's where we went to visit him.  Charlie did pretty well with Santa!  She didn't cry at all but she had a hard time looking at the camera.  She kept looking at her cousins and putting her hands in her mouth so the best shot we got with her alone was looking at her cousins.  But once her cousins joined the picture she finally looked at the camera.
After Santa pictures, we roamed the mall looking for food and found Ghengis Grill!  One of my favorites!  My mom and dad joined us for dinnner.  Ghengis Grill is by the skating rink so we also go to see the giant Christmas tree at the mall.
After dinner we went with Zaza to pick out her Christmas tree.  I love the holiday season and doing all this Christmas stuff with Charlie has been great!  Especially since Cory won't be with us for very long on actual Christmas, its good to spend our family time doing Christmas stuff right now and every weekend before Christmas!  :)