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!   

Alysa's Birthday

Baby Alysa and 7 yr old Alysa with matching teeth!  :)

Today was also Alysa's 7th birthday!  She had a great time all day long at the NRH2O Water Park with her cousins and after our child birth class we made our way over to Zaza's house to meet up with everybody and celebrate! 
Bryan catered in El Chico's enchiladas which were great!  And Alysa picked out a cookie cake (Cory's favorite) for her cake this year. 
Alysa got lots of birthday presents and it was so cute to watch her open all of them.  I think we all had a Hello Kitty theme when we bought her presents because she got lots of Hello Kitty stuff!  Sno even got her a Hello Kitty pillow and blanket from Avon that she just loved!  haha!
We have a few framed pictures up in our house from when Cory had his first apartment in San Marcos.  There are some old framed photos from around 2006 that we haven't changed out.  One of them is of Alysa when she was a baby.  I took it down and showed her while we were talking about her birthday and she pointed out that her teeth are the same now since she is missing her front teeth!  I thought that was funny so I took a picture of her now to compare!  Pretty cute!  I can't believe I took that picture six years ago!  Time really flys!
 Happy Birthday, Alysa!

More Baby Class!

Cory and me practicing CPR and giving Baby a bath! 

Today was our second Childbirth class with Irving Baylor.  Last week we focused on labor and delivery but today we focused on CPR, car seat safety, and infant care.  I learned SO much more today!  I can't imagine what people do without these classes.  I didn't think I was one of those dumb moms before, but after today I was like... how did I not know this stuff!  All is good... now I feel like I'm ready to be a super mom! 
Cory and I are now CPR certified for adults, children and infants and so is Grandma Carla!  Now we can all teach our other family members so that no matter where Charlie is someone will always be there to save her.  We also learned alot more about car seat safety.  I'm so glad we haven't bought our car seat yet because there is SO much that we learned about different car seats today.  Safety standards change every year so I'm glad we are updated on what is safe for baby Charlize.  One couple who's baby is due next week has to go back and get another car seat because something was wrong with theirs.  Now we know what we need so Cory can't wait to go shopping for Charlie's car seat. 
We went to Chili's for lunch with my mom and dad and discussed what we learned and how much things have changed since they've had their babies.  Chili's is Cory's favorite and Charlie liked it too!
The second part of class was all about infant care.  There are so many things that I did not know about tiny little babies.  I have been around my baby cousins and Cory's nieces and watched them grow from birth to preteens, but I've never really babysat them when they were infants so I really don't know this stuff!  We went through all the things that could go wrong in the first six weeks, what's normal and what's not, how to change tiny diapers, and how to give babies a sponge bath and get them dressed.  We had to hold our little baby dolls for the entire time.  Charlize got jealous when I was holding the baby doll and kicked her a few times!  And I was kinda sad to say goodbye to my baby doll at the end of class.  I can't wait to hold my real baby doll in my arms when she's born!
After all of this I feel ready to be the best mommy I can be to Charlie!  Only one more class left... breastfeeding!

Charlie's Cousin... Baby "D"

Baby "D" at 12 weeks

Today we got to see Charlie's cousin Baby "D" at a sonogram visit!  Bryan and Michelle's 4th baby is due next February and we are so happy to have another cousin for Charlize to play with!  They are going to wait this time on finding out weather it's a boy or a girl, but they know that the baby's name will start with a "D" since their other kids follow the ABC pattern.  So Baby "D" is what we'll call this baby until its birthday in February!  Since Bryan has his new dentist job he had to work today, so I went with Michelle to get her first sono of the baby.  We went to see my friend Patrick at El Centro so she could get the sono for free and we could make sure that Baby "D" and Michelle are healthy and ok.  Baby "D" waved as us and practiced its gymnastic skills in the womb!  We were both happy to know that everything is looking good!  I also got a chance to see Charlize one more time!  She looks so big compared to her cousin! 
Today is a big day for both Countryman families!  :)  The Countryman's are staying with us for the month and they move in tonight!  We are so exited to welcome them into our house!  They close on their old house today, but their new house isn't ready until the end of August, so in the mean time they are rooming with Cory and me!  We are happy to have kids around so we can know what to baby proof for Charlize and we are happy to have Bryan and Michelle around to hang out with at night.  It will be sad when they leave, but that means we'll be one month closer to Charlie being here!  It's all happening so fast!  Here's to an exciting month of August!  :)

 

Baby Charlize in 4D

This morning was our third visit to the doctor to get our 4D video of Charlie!  The other two times she was shy for the camera.  She had for hands and FEET in her face!  She really likes that happy baby yoga pose!  This time she was ready to show her face for mommy and daddy!  I ate a good breakfast with lots of sugar to make sure she was a little jumping bean for the sono. 
Since I am almost 32 weeks, this is our last chance to get a 4D video of Charlie because after that she will be too big and not have much room to move around as much. This time the sono technician said that he is the "master" and he would make sure that we got to take home a DVD today. He was right! The third time is a charm! Charlize showed her face and we got to see every little part of her body in 4D. We have a great shot of her fat little feet! 

The good news is she is perfectly healthy and as cute as can be. The whole time you could see her big lips through all of the blury images and all I wanted to do was kiss them already! I can't wait for her to show her face outside the womb!  Afterwards I watched the DVD at least three times as soon as we got home. I couldn't get enought of her! I took the DVD to Zaza's house to show her and all the Waggoner girls and also to my mom's to show them their newest little family member in 4D. It was amazing to see how technology has changed over the years where we are now able to see our baby's face before she is born. So amazing!

Childbirth Class with Cory!

Cory and Me practicing our breathing!

Today Cory and I went to Childbirth class provided by Irving Baylor.  We learned SO much today about what to expect on the day that Charlize decides to bless us with her presence!  From the beginning stages of labor, to breathing exercises, to natural births, inductions and c-sections,  to drugs and medications, to postpartum stuff we had NO clue about, we really did learn ALOT! 
I've read alot about the stages of labor and preparing for every time of labor that could possibly occur, but today I really got to go through the biological process of giving birth and actually practice having a contraction!  That's right!  And Cory did too!  We had to put a handful of ice into our hands for a total of 90 seconds which is the average duration of a contraction.  I had to coach Cory though the breathing exercises that we had learned to do.  It was nice to be on the other side and watch Cory have to go though the pain!  haha!  But really... it was hard to see him sitting there trying to get though the pain when I could do nothing but try my best to help him get through it.  At times I felt helpless, but we made it though the 2 minutes he had to sit there with ice in his hand!  My turn was even better!  I actually felt better going through it myself than to watch my love have to go though pain.  At first I couldn't stand it, but after I focused and went though the breathing techniques I managed to forget about the pain in my hand.  I actually felt confident that I could make it though real contractions.  At least til I get the drugs!  haha! 
It was also nice to meet other couples that are going through all the same things we are and see all the differences there are between our pregnancies and relationships.  We will meet up with them again next week to go over the second part of the class.  I hope to learn even more so I can really feel ready for baby Charlize!