Angelina & Andie's Birthday Parties!

Today is Angelina's 9th birthday! We went over to Zaza's house to celebrate!  We had a great lunch and played soccer with the family!  We also got to Skype with baby Liam in Utah for the first time!   After Lina's party we made our way over to Andie's party where we watched the Cowboys game and celebrated her 26th birthday.  Charlie had a long day, but we were happy to get to spend equal time with both sides of the family!  :)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Charlie's first Halloween is finally here.  I've been looking forward to this day all year, since I knew it would be my baby's first holiday.
First, I went to school dressed as a jaguar.  BTW takes Halloween seriously.  Even the teachers dress up!  So I had to wear my costume to school even though my other half couldn't go with me.  I carried my phone all day to show everyone what made my costume cute... my baby cub!
After school we went straight to the hospital to visit Grandma! She enjoyed getting to see Charlize in her first Halloween costume!
Then we went to Angie's house to go Trick or Treating with Allie and Ava!  My friend Jessica brought Sophia too!  Jessica and Sophia were mommy panda and baby panda!  Super cute!
We had a great time trick or treating with our babies.
I was very happy that Cory got to spend Halloween with us too!  He lucked out and Halloween fell on one of his late Wednesdays so he didn't have to go in until 10pm!  I'm glad he got to be here for Charlie's first holiday!  Happy Halloween!

Super Trooper!

It's official!  Cory received his letter today from the Texas Department of Public Safety inviting him to Trooper Academy in January!  We have been waiting so long for Cory to finally get his dream job!  He's worked in law enforcement for so long, waiting for his chance to hit "the streets" as they say.  Today he finally got his ticket out of jail and on to the Texas highways!
I am very scared about him having to leave me and Charlie for 4 months of Trooper Academy in Austin, but its a sacrifice I'm willing to make for my husband and his dreams.  I am ready to be strong as I know that I have a wonderful support system here at home to get us through the first four months of 2013.  It will be totally worth it when I see him graduate the academy in his Trooper uniform and Texas Cowboy hat!
Congratulations Trooper Countryman!

Grandma Corina

Last Tuesday, while Cory and I were in Austin, my only Grandmother suffered a stroke.  I was shocked to hear that my superwoman grandmother was now paralyzed on her right side.  She is recovering well in rehab at Irving Baylor and is so lucky to have a big loving family to be around her at all times.  I feel so bad because with Charlie it is hard for me to make it up to the hospital as much as I want to.  But Charlie and I did make it up to the hospital to see her a couple of times!
I am very happy to see that she is making great strides in therapy.  She is doing so well for the kind of stroke that she had.  We are now able to have conversations with her and she still knows how to make us laugh. She is still the same Grandma! She brags to the nurses about her only Great Granddaughter who was born in the same hospital only six weeks ago!

Pumpkin Patch 2012

Today we met the Goff family at the Pumpkin Patch in Grapevine.  What a perfect day to dress Charlize up in her Halloween attire!Charlie looked so cute in her little pumpkin outfit!
Aunt Andie came over to help dress Charlize and help take pictures!
Nicole took some great photos of us!  Wyatt and Charlie looked so cute together!
This will be another Countryman family tradition!

Charlie Meets Great Great Aunt Ciria

My Great Aunt Ciria is the oldest living family memeber on my Cuban side of the family at 94 years old!  Because of her husband's condition she hasn't left her house in months.  We have to go see her.  Since she wasn't able to come to the hospital to see Charlie, we brought Charlie to come see her!
Ciria cried when she saw Charlie!  "I haven't seen one of these in a long time!  She is so beautiful!"
Since my Abuelita Angelica passed away before I was born, Ciria has been like a grandmother to my cousins and I.  For some reason, even though she's never done it before, Ciria had a strong feeling that she needed to talk to my sister and I about my grandmother.  She told us about their relationship as sisters and how close they were as friends.  And she cried because of the strong feeling that she had urging her to talk to us about our Grandmother that we never knew.  I felt my grandmothers presence as we were there talking of her.  It was a great feeling.  I know she is watching over her first Great Grandchild, Charlize Angelica.

Mommy's Doc Appointment

Today was my 6 weeks doctors appointment.  I took Charlie with me to see the Doctor who delivered her!  We dressed her in her hospital Tshirt that says "I made a splash with Dr. Wyatta Freeman" and her cute little skinny jeans that mom got for her!  All the nurses LOVED Charlie's skinny jeans!  It was the talk of the doctors office!

 I was very happy that Dr. Freeman got a chance to see Charlie again after delivery.  She let me know that I was healthy, cleared to exercise and ready to get back to work.  Now that I'm cleared, I go back to work on Monday and I am not looking forward to it.  I haven't left Charlize in six weeks and I don't know how I am going to do it on Monday morning.  I pray that I will be strong and make it through the day with out balling my eyes out.

Leaving the doctors office was bittersweet.  I have come full circle, finally ending the nine month journey that began in this office in January when I found out that I was pregnant.  

"I'm Glad You Came" Charlize Angelica

Austin Trip

Today we made a small family trip to Austin!  A couple of weeks ago, Cory got a call from the Texas Department of Public Safety to come down to Austin for his final medical, psychological, and vision tests to be a State Trooper!  This is step 7 of 8 of the application, so this is a great sign!  Since Charlize did so good on our way to Sea World, we decided to tag along with Daddy as he made his trip down to Austin!  Besides, this is my last week off so I might as well take another vacation while I can.  

Cory was busy with his testing, so Charlie and I made dates with my friends down in Austin.  Since alot of my friends live in Austin, they have been waiting to see her in person.  

First, we met with my childhood friends Caitlin and Katie at Chipotle.  We had a great time catching up since I haven't seen Caitlin since my wedding and Katie since her Wedding!  Katie is pregnant with her first baby girl!  We talked all about pregnancy and babies and tried to convince Caitlin that she needs to be next and have a girl too!

Then we met my college friend Krystal at Chick Fil A for shakes!  It was nice to catch up with Krystal since I haven't seen her since my wedding too!  

In the morning we met up with my childhood friend Kristen!  She came to have breakfast with us at our hotel since she works the night shift at the hospital.  

I am so glad that Charlie and I decided to come down to Austin with her daddy.  Not only did I get to meet up with my friends, but we got to be here for Cory.  Because of his heart condition he was very nervous about passing the medical test.  In fact, we had to wait to see a specialist at 4pm on the second day.  While we waited we took a walk at Austin's Town Lake.  I've always wanted to push my stroller down there on those bike trails!  I just wish I brought a jogger!  

Cory and I waited nervously at the cardio specialist's office, but finally he got clearance!  The doctor said he was ok to go through trooper academy!  I was so happy to be here for him!  Charlie and I got to comfort him when he was nervous and celebrate with him when he passed.  I can't imagine what it would be like if we didn't come along with him. It wouldn't be the same over the phone.  Now we will just patiently wait for his letter in the mail from DPS!  :)

Annabella's Birthday

Charlie's photo shoot with Aunt Kiki

This morning we woke up to meet the family in the lobby for breakfast.  We had a good sleep last night, even though Charlize slept all day at Sea World yesterday.  She must be growing.
After our free hotel breakfast this morning Katie and Greg came up to our room to play with Charlize.  She smiled so much for Aunt Kiki and her new iPhone 5!  These are some of the cutest pictures Charlize has taken so far! ....

We met the Waggoners at the Alamo for lunch downtown.  I gave the girls a quick history lesson at the Alamo and then we made our way down to the River Walk.  We watched Annabella open her birthday presents and then celebrated at the Rainforest Cafe on the River Walk!  It was great to watch Charlize with all of her cousins and so weird for Cory and I to finally be parents around all these kids.  We used to help watch everyone else's kids and now we are taking care of our own.  With our own stroller!  It was so cute to watch Cory and Bryan walking ahead of us pushing Charlize and Cayden in their strollers together.  It was a great feeling.  Welcome to parenthood.  We're officially in the club!

Charlize and her cousins on the River Walk

Sea World Trip with the Countryman Family

The Countryman Family went to Sea World this weekend to celebrate family and Annabella's 4th birthday!  This was Charlie's first trip out of town to San Antonio, Texas!

I was nervous for our first trip with a baby, but we pulled it off pretty well.  We drove down with Katie and Gregory in their truck and stopped only once at a Chick Fil A in San Marcos to feed and change Charlize.  She was such a good baby on the way down to SA.  Once we go there we met up with the Waggoners, Countrymans, Zaza and Papa.  We had a wonderful surprize that I can;'t talk about at the moment.  What happens at Sea World stays at Sea World!  I'm sure you will know about it in my later posts!
Charlie did great at Sea World.  She slept most of the time and woke up to eat and change her diaper.  Sea World is very family friendly!  They had nursing stations along with changing stations so it was very easy to take care of my little 5 week old.  In fact, I met another mother in the nursing room with a 5 week old girl that was born the day before Charlize!
I was very excited for Charlie to see Shamu at Sea World!  We are thinking of making this an annual trip since we've gone twice before with Cory's family.  Now we have our own family and are excited to start traditions.  I can't wait to bring Charlie back to Sea World when she's a big girl!

Sno's Birthday and Charlie's 1st Month!

Today, October 15th, is Sno's 5th birthday and also Charlize is 1 month old today!  A very special day!

I can't believe it's already been a month since Charlie was born!  Time really does fly when you're not getting any sleep!  haha!  But really I think it has flown by for everyone.  Its hard to believe that in only two weeks I will have to return to work and actually have to leave her side.  I'm really not looking forward to it.  I'm just so glad that I've had the opportunity to spend every moment of the last month with my baby girl.  She is such a blessing!

Sno's Birthday at Petsmart

We celebrated Sno's birthday by taking her on a trip to Petsmart to pick out her  favorite toys as birthday presents.  We usually have a big birthday dog party for Sno, but with the Wedding last year we just did a small thing, and the baby this year we had to keep it low key.  It was still fun for our little family though.  EVERY year without fail, we buy Sno's birthday presents and wrap them up in wrapping paper.  Since her 1st birthday in 2008 she's been opening her own gifts!  It's pretty hilarious!  So this year of course, after she picked out her toys from Petsmart, we wrapped them up and she unwrapped them after we sang happy birthday!  Charlie was unamused, but I'm sure as she gets older she'll LOVE the fact that Sno can open her own presents and love celebrating Sno's birthday!  When she's older Charlie will be so happy that after her birthday she has Sno's birthday to look forward to in exactly one month!