RX String on UART not working

I am having some problems with UART communication with the RN-42 SM Bluetooth module. Currently, I am just using polling to get communication going. I have my source files below.

The problems is that I can send properly, however cannot receive. I have been able to receive PARTS of a response, but it seems that the Transmit, sends a command before I can receive the whole buffer.

Note also that I am trying to retrieve a string of values. So for example, if I send a '$$$', I get a 'CMD\r\n' in return. I am trying to retrieve the latter.

SOURCE FILE

DDRC |= 0xFF;
DDRD |= 0xFA;

initUART();
unsigned char pinRTS = 0;
unsigned char buffer[RXBUFSIZE] = {0};

UNSETCTS(PORTD);

while(1)
{
    PORTC ^= 0xFF;
    pinRTS = GETRTS(PIND);

    if(pinRTS == 0x00) { //Receiver is letting us send
        SETCTS(PORTD);
        transmitStr((unsigned char *)CMDMODE);  
        UNSETCTS(PORTD); 

        waitForRcv();
        rcvStr(buffer);

        SETCTS(PORTD);  
        transmitStr((unsigned char *)EXITCMD); 
        UNSETCTS(PORTD); 

        waitForRcv();
        rcvStr(buffer);        
    }             
}

HEADER BELOW

#include "serial.h"

void initUART() {   
    /* Set baud rate */
    UBRR0H = (unsigned char)(UBBRVAL >> 8);
    UBRR0L = (unsigned char)UBBRVAL;

    /* Enable receiver and transmitter */
    UCSR0B = (1<<RXEN0)|(1<<TXEN0);

    /* Set frame format: 8 data, 1 stop bit */
    UCSR0C = (3<<UCSZ00);

    /* Double the speed */
    UCSR0A |= (1 << U2X0);
}

void USART_TRANSMIT(unsigned char cmd) {
    /* Wait for empty transmit buffer */
    while ( !( UCSR0A & (1 << UDRE0)) );

    /* Put data into buffer, sends the data */
    UDR0 = cmd;
}

void transmitStr(unsigned char *cmd) {
    int i;
    for(i = 0; cmd[i] != '\0' ;i++) {
        USART_TRANSMIT(cmd[i]);
    }    
}

unsigned char USART_RECEIVE()
{
    /* Wait for data to be received */
    while ( !(UCSR0A & (1 << RXC0)) );

    /* Get and return received data from buffer */
    return UDR0;
}

void rcvStr(unsigned char *buffer) {
    int i = 0;
    while ( UCSR0A & (1 << RXC0) )  {
        buffer[i] = UDR0;
        i++;
    }   
    UCSR0A |= (1 << RXC0); 
}

void waitForRcv()
{
    while ( !((UCSR0A >> RXC0) & 0x01) );
}

Thanks for your help. 🙂