What's New with the Reinbergs

It has been a while since I have posted about our entire family - usually it is just about Eleanor. So not to spoil the Christmas Card, I wanted to update the bloggers on the family! :)

ANDY is having a blast coaching at his new school. While we both really miss the Renner/Plano West Family, we have embraced a new family at Ranchview. I have gotten to know a few of the wives and really enjoy having partners to sit next to at the games. Andy's team was pretty broken when the entire new coaching staff inherited them so the guys have a lot of work but never before have I met such a positive group of guys! They are doing great things with the boys and so far all I have heard from parent commentary in the stands has been positive. I even met the principal who also raved about the team and change in school spirit. I am so proud of Andy and pray for strength for him - he is pretty tired right now and also overwhelmed teaching 4 new subjects never taught before. He is doing great though! We are excited for a long weekend to just be together as a family!

ELEANOR is such a grown up little girl! I love her mannerisms and really am to the point now where I don't remember life without her! We love having her apart of our family, especially now that she expresses her opinions more than ever! She loves to play with her babies and pat them on the back/change/feed them. she has such great manners - always says please when she wants something and usually says thank you. She also can SAY (not just sign anymore) "I love you." She is having a hard time with the EARLY wake up time, especially considering she would wake up as late as 10am this past summer. When I wake her up around 6am, we have a routine of getting up a little earlier than we need to leave and my new favorite thing is to get her out of her crib, lay bun bun and lion on my chest and she curls up laying her head on my chest and putting her hands underneath her body as we rock in the chair. Her sweet little hands feel on the outside of my tummy like they did when she was inside tickling ready to come out! I LOVE when she snuggles with me and it is a great time for us both to just shut our eyes for a few minutes and wake up. Eleanor is such an amazing joy to us, I don't know what our lives would be like without her. She starts school on Thursday and will be going 5 days/week from 9am - 2pm. I hope she LOVES it!

LINDSAY (I) am LOVING my new school! I FINALLY got into a school in Coppell, Town Center Elementary, and it is literally 5 min. from our home and is without a doubt the most amazing school I have ever encountered! Every day I walk in and think to myself, "How to I deserve to be here?" I can't say enough positive things about it. I am enjoying being a teacher more than ever and am trying to get better about having enough energy to stay on top of chores and make sure we have healthy meals planned for dinner/lunches while also trying to find the best deals for Eleanor's fall wardrobe! I worked Divine Consign in Plano this past weekend and while it wore me out, I really enjoyed it and always love the "hunt" associated with that sale! I feel so much more "in my skin" when it comes to juggling the teacher/mom/wife job than I did last year. I don't know if it was the breastfeeding or postpardum EMOTIONS but when I reflect on last year, I was a mess at juggling everything. Though I by no means have mastered it, I feel so much more confident about the desire I have and hopefully am fulfilling to be the best wife/mother/teacher I can be!

God is so good in the way he has led our family to where we are now. My only desire right now is another little addition but after much discussion and deliberation, feel God is calling us to wait another year :( I sort of hope that isn't the fact and that He will surprise us - that is the beauty of NFP but so far, His desire seems to not be a 4th member of the Reinberg fam. We are at peace with His will and can't wait to see what He has in store for us next!

Eleanor and I continue to enjoy bonding while we miss Daddy at all his football events and love cheering him and his Ranchview Wolves on from the sideline (Eleanor calls every coach on the field dada...they look the same from the stands...and loves to say go wolves!).

We are SOO ready for this hot weather to roll on out and the cool fall to come quick! My personal favorite time of year is upon us...Pumpkin patches, cute costumes, turkey and family time (not to mention Aunt Katie is coming to visit!!!), awaiting patiently the birth of our savior, pictures with Santa and walking through the decorated malls, celebrating His birth (plus the two weeks off school is pretty awesome!)...not to mention three+ reasons to buy an adorable smocked dress!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

Snacks

So Eleanor has been venturing into the world of grown up snacks and pretty much loves anything we give to her. We try to feed her as healthy of food as possible and don't think she hasn't had goldfish or even a tortilla chip once or twice but here are a few of her favorites she has tried and

DEVOURED:
- green bean chips (baked/freeze dried green beans)
- pumpkin seeds (no I would have never given them to her but I was eating them and she insisted so I let her try and her brand new molars got the job done!)
- dried cranberries
- freeze fried peas

Her school has started giving her lots of animal crackers and vanilla wafers so I really need to start sending better options as I don't want her to become hooked on all that sugar! :)

Eleanor is 15 Months Old!

Sweet Eleanor Ann! You are becoming more and more a little girl every day! It is crazy to Mommy and Daddy how much of a sweet little person you are!

You have been talking up a storm and love to repeat anything mommy and daddy. Some of your new words this past month are:
- Aggie, Whoop
- Good Girl (you started saying it on your own when I would commend you...it is so cute, goo gol is how it sounds :) My favorite is when I lay you down in the bath to rinse your hair and always said good girl to keep you from freaking out, now every time I lay you back, you say incessantly till I sit you up "goo gol goo gol" haha! :)

You love to give Mommy and Daddy kisses and hugs. You also love giving high 5's!

Eleanor, here are a few things you have accomplished in this 15th month. You went to the nursery for the first time at church and while mommy and daddy were a little hesitant, you did so wonderfully and we SO enjoyed getting to understand what was being said in mass rather than trying to keep you quiet and happy. It is just too hard for a sweet girl of your age to sit still for an hour, it isn't fair to you! So soon though, we will be so excited to have you back with us learning more about Jesus in the mass!

You have more than 8 teeth now! FINALLY - it seemed like forever that you just had 8! Your molars are coming in and you aren't too happy about it. I wouldn't be either, they are huge and take forever to cut through, poor baby! You still enjoy frozen teething rings and tylenol to help alleviate the pain.

You still LOVE to read. SO often, Mommy or Daddy will leave the room only to come back to you reading to yourself and identifying all the pictures in your books! You are so smart! You are also learning so much from everything you see around you. You love to put your apron on and get to work in your kitchen AND you love to feed your baby her bottle and burp her. You know now WHEN you don't have bun bun and lion and you always ask for them. Used to, you only wanted them when you could see them. Now, you know when they are missing and you want them!

You are back with Marmi and what a different experience it has been for the both of you. You are so much more busy than you were when she started watching you at 3 months! She is loving it but I think you are both excited for you to have variant playtime once you start school soon! Mommy and Daddy REALLY miss seeing you during the day though! It is so hard not getting to see your sweet smiling face as much. Especially for Daddy who will come home so late 2 and 3 nights in a row and not get to see you :( It makes him so sad!

A new thing you have come to love is chips/crackers and dip! You DIE for tortilla chips and guac or salsa and can definitely handle eating chips on your own. You also love to dip carrots in hummus though you just lick the hummus off and dip it back in without eating the carrot!

Your foot grew so much this spring/summer. You started with a 3 and are now in a 5! You are wearing some 12 month clothes still but mostly have transitioned to 18 - 24 month! You are getting so big!

You love to play games with whoever will play - you hide behind the shower curtain while mommy is in the bathroom and whip around to reveal yourself and say "pee pie!" You also love to do patty cake still and can do and say it (in your own way) all by yourself!
- patty cake (say and can do the motions)
- count with mommy, I say one two and you fwee, I say four you say 5 and sometimes 6, I say seven you say eight and nine. You also repeat spanish words
- you know consequences more...eat the green beans and you can have pasta and you do it
- first spanking...you like to swat/hit at people when you are mad, wonder if it is because Marmi told you to hit something when it hurt you. You hit Daddy and he spanked you wouldn't stop
- you love to say pata for pasta and you love to eat it! You also love guac and you say guac and
- you LOVE duckys, we can't wait to take you to the trails in Coppell to see some when it cools down, until then, you love your ducky in your bath, you say dut-tee and you say ka ka for quack quack when we ask when he says (ther animals you know...cow, sheep, puppy, kitty and their sounds)

We love you sweet girl!

Waffle Maker Round 2

So I don't know if you remember my post about the Krups Waffle Maker from a few months ago but I vowed to return it and just this past weekend finally made it back to San Marcos and did in fact return it! I found another waffle iron comparable to the other in price and though it wasn't the cutest on the outside, is AMAZING! It makes the best waffles, we LOVE them. So anyway, once again, it never hurts to ask and see if someone will return something you weren't satisfied with!

The brand we now have and like is Chef's Choice and I believe this is the link.

Happy Anniversary - A Month Late!

Dearest Andrew Mark,
What a terrible wife I am for just now writing to you reflecting on our now 2 years of marriage, well two years and one month :)! With driving home from a three week vacation on our anniversary, the new job changes that hit us like a freight train (in a good way) and all the normal crazies life can bring, we didn't exactly get to stop and celebrate. I say that but at the same time, on vacation and then throughout the past month we have taken time to enjoy one another and make a toast to our two years. Some of those collaborative celebrations included:
- a date trip to Gettysburg, PA to tour the battlefield and immerse ourselves in our favorite time period in History without sweet Eleanor concluded by a super yummy dinner at the Dobbin House in historic Gettysburg, a house that was erected before and stood during the battle over 130 years ago!
- A bike and walking tour of DC alone and an AMAZING late lunch at our new favorite DC restaurant, Founding Farmers (we ate there twice while we were there)
- a steak dinner cooked to perfection by you and toasted in our special anniversary crystal wine glasses with one of our favorite pinot's once we got home!
- The night preceding the steak dinner was accompanied by mai tais from our favorite restaurant in Maui to remind us of our honeymoon

Babe, you continue to amaze me every day. I don't give you enough credit for the hard work you put forth for our family and the love and enthusiasm put into your job.

The dedication you have to our family is most shown into your unexplainable love you have for our daughter, Eleanor. It is AMAZING to watch you two together and I cherish the moments we have just the three of us. In fact, I told you just the other day when we had enjoyed a breakfast together at home and were lounging while Eleanor played that this was all I needed. It was such a joy to spend that time together, just us three :) Thank you for loving our sweet girl so much and for guiding her already in her faith and providing an example of a man of God and father to her.

Thank you for the best friend you are to me. You know me better than I know myself sometimes ha! Thank you for the supporter and positive re-inforcement you so often provide me. I love you so much and can't wait to see what God has to bring us to come!

LYSM,
Linds

Eleanor's Feast Day

Eleanor's first name is of course not biblical though we once heard that she could someday make her name a "saint's name" :) Anyway, we wanted her to have a biblical or saint's name somewhere in her name which was why we named her Eleanor ANN. We choose Ann after St. Ann, Jesus' grandmother, the Virgin Mary's mother. We also choose that name because St. Ann is the parish where we were married.

St. Ann's feast day was on Tuesday, July 26th. I knew I wanted to take her to mass on her feast day and wanted to start that tradition of her special feast day celebration and then when I realized our parish was going to have a mass to celebrate we decided to go to that. It was even more special that St. Ann Parish asked that we honor our grandparents that day (because St. Ann is Jesus' Grandma and our heavenly grandma) so we went with Eleanor's Marmi and Pop Pop and honored them and all our grandparents.

Eleanor made a special sign for her grandparents to tell them she is thankful for them on St. Ann's feast day as well. She didn't really understand what I meant when I asked her to hold it out though haha!

I also found a few cute ideas for celebrating the feast day after the fact on one of my favorite Catholic cooking blogs! http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2009/07/our-heavenly-grandmother.html and http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2009/07/our-heavenly-grandmother.html. Next year we can make her day even more special! :)