Maternity Photo Shoot

My maternity photo shoot was today!  I have been meaning to take maternity pics, but with baby showers and school starting I never had time to book anything.  Luckily, Andie told me about Jasmine Balderaz having $40 mini sessions this weekend!  Perfect!  We are actually free this weekend so I was excited to get out and take pictures of my big belly before Charlie comes!  Thanks to Jasmine for the awesome pics!
Here are the finished photos:

Back to School

Tadaa!  Finished Product!

I can't believe it's already time to go back to school! The summer flew by SO fast!  Especially since I've been counting down the days to Charlie's due date.  Today my nieces came to help me decorate my classroom.   It's been a long day since I had to get up extra early this morning to go to the new Superintendent's convocation.  I had to be at school at 6:30am.  Being prego, I knew there was no way I could decorate my room alone this year, so I got special help from Victoria, Alexandrea, Angelina, Alyssa, Brynn, and even Cayden.  :)  Michelle and Cory helped alot too!
I've been at school for a couple of weeks now.  I worked the Freshman camp and registration to make a little extra money for that month that I won't have a paycheck during Maternity leave.  So I am used to getting up early and going to school and climbing those steps up to the second floor.  It actually hasn't been too bad.  Even fun!   But Monday.... the kids come!  And I just found out that I'm teaching another class I wasn't prepared for... along with World Geography and US History I'm teaching Economics and Government too!  I've never had three preps before.  Last year was my first time to have two preps so I guess I just keep building on!  I know I can do it, I just don't want to stress out too much this late in my pregnancy.  It's hard enough being huge, having swollen feet, and having to pee every 30 minutes.  I am so lucky that I have a supportive family to help me through all this!  Thanks so much to my neices for today and especially to my husband for always supporting me in everything I do!  Cory not only physically helped me with my room, but he is keeping me mentally sane as well.  With him behind me, I am ready for Monday!  and ready for the new school year!  :)

Pooch Hotel

My cousin Vanessa just started working at the new Pooch Hotel!  Today is their grand opening and they are giving away free treats and "Spawdicures" so we are making a family trip over to Richardson to see Vanessa there!
Mom picked me and Sno up and brought Mitzi and Andie met us there with Baby Bevo. When we got there it was so neat!  They have the super cute doggy hotel rooms right when you walk in.  There were SO many dog treats, goodie bags, and even yummy people food!  After we got our treats, Vanessa gave us a tour of the facility, which was huge and super nice!
Sno didn't really get along with the other dogs though.  I wanted to take her into the indoor dog park, but she was barking and growling at every other dog she saw.  She only wanted to be around her cousins Mitzi and Bevo.  Any other dog made her upset.  I know she's a good girl, but I don't know why she's been hating on other dogs.  One of the employees there said its because she's especially overprotective now because of the baby.  Like she knows that she has an extra person to protect when she's with me.  Interesting to think about. I really can't wait to see what she's like when Charlie is actually here.
Sno got her "Spawdicure" and had super cute pink toe nails.  I haven't painted her nails since she was spayed as a puppy.  She did really good for the nail lady, though!  I was surprised.  I am going to paint her nails more often!

Family trip to the Circus!

Tonight we had a wonderful night at the Barnum and Bailey Circus with all of our neices (and nephew)! Shannon and the Waggoner girls along with Michelle and the Countryman kids asked us to join them at the circus!  Dr. Bryan met us their after work!
Victoria and Alexandrea came along in our car as we caravaned out to the Fort Worth Convention Center.  We got there just in time to get to our seats and see the very beginning!
It was so fun to be at the circus again and see it through a child's eyes.  It was so cute to see Cayden's face in awe when he saw fire, and tigers, and the really strong man!  I can't wait to take my little girl to the circus just so I can watch her face in amazement!
Speaking of Charlie, she was kicking up a storm during the show.  Bryan bought us popcorn and cotton candy and being the pregnant girl that I am I decided to mix the two together and created a kettle corn kind of flavor in my mouth!  I couldn't get enough!  Victoria and I felt so guilty eating all that junk but it was SO good!  Therefore, with all that sugar, she was jumping up and down inside my tummy!  I love her so much!  We had so much fun with the kids, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much more fun it will be with our little girl!  Next month! :)

Charlie's 2nd Baby Shower

Charlize Angelica had her second baby shower today given by her Grandma Carla, Aunt Andie, Great Grandma Corina and her Great Aunts Sesa, Kee, Angie, and Tanya!  Grandma Carla's house was decorated so beautifully with pink everywhere!  I do have to hand it to Aunt Andie for being so crafty!  Who knew she could flawlessly recreate all of those Pintrest ideas just for Charlie.  She really does love her!

Aunt Kiki came over and chauffeured Charlize and I to our shower.  As soon as we walked in I saw the beautiful dresser/changing table that "The Greats" got for Charlie from the Princess collection!  :)  Gorgeous!  They used this to put the party favors on which were also pretty crafty!  :)

I walked in and saw all of the other beautiful decorations and beautiful people who came to shower Charlize with gifts!  

We had a wonderful time eating the gourmet sandwiches and the awesome Yogurt bar!  And then on to the games!  First we played the candy game where everyone guessed which candy went with which baby item.  We also played the game where people had to guess how big my belly was with ribbons.  Most people guessed way too big!  What's funny is Wilson, got really close and he measured his ribbon around his own belly before comparing it to mine!  haha!  Wilson is as round as his pregnant sister!  Then we played this hilarious game where people had to guess which features of mine and Cory's that I would want Charlie to have!  Basically the winners guessed that I wanted her to look like me and act like Cory!  haha!   

Finally it was time for gifts!  There were so many gifts, it took over an hour to open them all by myself.  I feel so blessed that Charlie has so many people that love her!  Afterward, like every other party at the Rivero house, the baby shower turned into a dance party with club lights and fog that my dad was so proud of!  So funny!  Charlie already loves to dance like her Aunt Andie!  haha!

It really was surreal to have my own baby shower at my parents house!   Every baby shower we've had there has been for my Aunts or someone older, so it feels really weird that it is now time for my baby shower.  Looking at all of Charlie's gifts made me realize that she is coming so soon!  I can't believe it!

  

Charlie's First Baby Shower

Today was Charlie's first Baby Shower hosted by Zaza and her aunties Shannon, Katie, and Michelle!  Her cousins also helped out alot!  Victoria, Alexandrea, Angelina, Alysa, Brynn, and especially Bella were so excited to through a tea party for their newest baby cousin!  Annabella actually thought that Charlie would be making an appearance at the shower and she was a little disappointed that she would have to wait another 7 weeks!  LoL!  The shower was so pretty! I have been staying away from Zaza's house on purpose so that I could be surprised when I walked in and I was! It was a tea party theme so everything was pink, pretty, and fancy. The centerpieces were different vintage tea pots with flowers in them. I especially loved the kids table centerpiece since it was a giant Disney Princess tea pot! (My fave!) I was so excited to have so many guests from the Countryman side of our family.  I've grown up loving my big family and I'm so glad that I married into another big family.  Charlize will always have two big families that care about her!  :)  First, we sat down to eat at our little tea party.  We had chicken and mushroom crepes and "dutch babies"! 

The tea was a strawberry tea and was very tasty!  After we ate, we played games of course.  The first game was a baby good tasting game.  We passed around baby food and had to guess the exact flavor of each one.  I was not good at this game, especially since I am so picky.  But I tried all ten of the flavors except one... which I smelled and just labeled "Gross!"  That one happened to be turkey and gravy, which if it were real food I would have actually liked, but the baby food version is just nasty.  I don't know how babies eat that stuff.  Even Andie had a throw up face when she tasted it. Then I knew it wasn't good because she eats everything. The rest were pretty bad except for the bananas and the applesauce. Those were pretty good!

The next game was the bottle drinking game.  Andie, Heather, Rita, Daretha, and I had to race to see who could finish their bottle of apple juice first!  Rita cheated and opened up her bottle by unscrewing the top so she got first place, but it was pretty close between the rest of us for a while.  Finally, Andie and I were close but she came out with the win!  The third game was a guessing game with candy bars and a play on words.  It was fun trying to guess which candy bar had to do with the right baby term.  After games it was time to open gifts!  Charlie got tons of cute little outfits!  I can't wait to dress her up like my own little baby doll!

Overall, it was a great time with great family and friends.  I am so thankful for all the gifts and grateful that Charlize has such wonderful people in her life who love her already!