6.10.12 Happy Birthday Marmi! Day 7 - 70 DOS

We had such a fun time in CS - probably the best bonding experience Eleanor has ever had with her grandparents as she got to spend so much time with them without us.  Grammie did a great job feeding E her favorites for dinner (pasta, avocado, and fruit) both nights and bathed and put her to bed without a fight!  THEN the biggest gift was definitely that Andy and I got to sleep until 10 both days!  Thank you Grammie and Grandpa!

We went to mass at St. Mary's at noon on Sunday and then headed to Dallas to celebrate Marmi's AND Grandpa's bdays!  Grandma is in town for a Dr. appt. so we had so much fun spending time with them this evening.  The girls and Pop Pop collaborated to put together a feast complete with bruschetta, Hot Spinach Dip, and mom's favorite "Boursin" cheese and crackers to start.  We then had a salad, grilled asapragus, baked potatoes, and STEAK cooked a perfect medium rare!  Good job Pop Pop!  This was also Eleanor's time to try and DEVOUR her steak!  It must have been because Grandma cut it for her!  She also enjoyed feeding it to "Baby Tina."

Eleanor helped Grandpa and Marmi open their presents and even helped sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candles.  Katie made Grandpa's favorite - yellow cake with chocolate frosting and pecans on top along with strawberry jello and bananas and she did an amazing job at it!  The icing on the cake was Eleanor and her grandmother and great grandfather all sticking to the Thomason/Aldon tradition and sticking their fingers in the cake.  What a fun night with family, we are so blessed!  Happy Birthday Marmi (June 10th) and Grandpa (June 4th)!

6.9.12 Sweet Home College Station (to Andy) Day 6 - 70 DOS

We met up with the sweet Place family and Eleanor had a blast with the boys!

The Witte's sweet little girl, Kailyn.  Love her!

The style of the new MSC

They have their own Apple store!  CS is really moving up in the world...now to get a Central Market and a Nordstrom and maybe I would think about living there...still wouldn't but at least I would think about it??

How cool is this - so you can completely fill your water bottle because you don't have to tilt it.  Promotes the recycling of water bottles but my germ-o-phobe self wants to know if it keeps germs from spreading...

Today was so nice - Andy and I got to sleep our hangovers/not going to bed until almost 4am off while Grammie and Grandpa woke up with Eleanor around 6 and played with her all morning.  We then took probably 3 hours (I kid you not) for everyone to get ready and out the door to take some Aggie pics and check out the MSC.  We got to meet up with the Witties and the Place's and E had a blast running around with her friends! It was also so fun showing Eleanor Aggieland.  Hopefully she will one day call it home for 4 years just as we did.

Just before we left E with Grammie and Grandpa again, Fr. Will came by to say hello.  What a trat it as to see him again!  We then headed to the "Brauhaus", a German restaurant that Brian and Erin chose for use to share their 5th Wedding Anniversary dinner with them.  Andy and I then split off and had such a fun time at the Corner Bar catching up with all his old HS friends.

We topped off the night sharing a piece of pesto chicken pizza and a piece of spinach, tomato, and feta pizza at our favorite late night Northgate pizza hangout - Antonio's!  We stopped by to hang out at Greg and Michaela's again and I of course fell asleep waiting on the guys to be ready to leave.  I am not cut out for this late night college biz anymore!

6.8.12 Aggieland Bound Day 5 - 70 DOS

Andy's golf tournament yesterday lasted until about 6pm so we decided to wait and come to CS today.  We woke up, packed and headed out getting in town just in time for Andy to enjoy his favorite fried chicken - Layne's, and for me to get a salad at good ol' Blue Baker.  Eleanor was so excited to go to "Grammie's House" and to see "Aggieland" and she told us quite  few times on the way down.  She was also wonderful in the car - slept and then was content coloring us pictures and reading herself books.  What a gem she is!  We then went over to Andy's HS friend, Brian's new house and headed to Northgate for the first round of reunion festivities.

We left Eleanor with Grammie and Grandpa and they took her to daily mass while we enjoyed HH at the Corner Bar.  Erin (Brian's wife) and I decided our diets would not allow for the delectable but high in calorie famous Reinberg Tostadas that were being made at Andy's parents' house and seeing as our husbands weren't the best at introducing us to all their friends, we peaced out and got dinner at Cafe Eccel - one of my favorites and must eats when in CS.  We decided Brian could have my share of tostadas and we enjoyed a couple cosmos, their amazing Napa plate to start and split a ceasar and their Chilean Sea Bass - MMMMMM!  To top it off, a strawberry tart to go which we enjoyed with our wine back at the Reinbergs - I am SURE it was nowhere near the calories we would have encountered if we ate tostadas right? 

 

As you can see...we were a little excited about the strawberry tart!

Cute HS friends - Andy and Brian

Afterwards, we headed to Greg and Michaela's house while the girls fought to hold our eyes open and the boys reverted back to their college days and played "waterfalls."   Oh how I don't miss that part of college...3:30am was when we arrived back at the Reinbergs complete with Gumby's pizza rolls in hand which is why I did not get to write this post yesterday...

What a Year - 2011/Christmas Card Letter

This, our third edition of the Reinberg Family Christmas card, leaves us feeling utterly blessed by an amazing 2011. We have so many things to celebrate and give thanks for this year. We thought last year was full of firsts and realize that only continued into this year as well. Our family also encountered some trials and hard times that still leave us feeling though, how blessed we are. We pray for those who have endured suffering and strife and are amazed at their strength and faith that God would pull them through.

"These are a few of our favorite things" from 2011:

January - We celebrated our first New Year as a family of three and enjoyed a wonderful celebration with our dear friends, the Vanicek and Jones Families. We decided it would be the first of many New Years Eve parties with kids included and Eleanor had a blast at her first NYE party with friends, Katie (2 days younger) and Garrett (2 months older). Eleanor also crawled for the first time on New Years day!

February - Eleanor got to experience her first real snow and a week of Mommy and Daddy held captive in our tiny apartment as school was cancelled due to icy roads. Andy enjoyed a week of playing old school Nintendo games and Lindsay of course couldn't sit still and organized the entire apartment from the Tupperware cabinet to the ribbon drawer while of course also enjoying a week of non-stop sweet baby girl! Don't worry - none of that organization lasted more than a month or so in our teeny little shoe box.

March - We enjoyed a celebration of Eleanor's first St. Patrick's day complete with a lake house spring cleaning, green beer, and a new family favorite - Lindsay's first attempt at creating Irish Potato Salad - Colcannon.

April - Eleanor's first steps were just in time for her first Easter. It was her Daddy's wish that she be able to Easter egg hunt and boy did it come true. She had so much fun picking up the eggs and putting them in her basket. We had a wonderful time celebrating our Lord's Passion, Death, and Resurrection with the Aldons and awaited only a few weeks until our sweet baby turned one!

May - Eleanor's first birthday will never be forgotten. Her day began with a party thrown by Lindsay's 4th graders complete with animal crackers and goldfish to share. After her first party, she ventured to Houston's with Mommy, Daddy, Marmi, and Aunt Mary for her birthday dinner. Houston's is a popular Reinberg hangout for all things celebration including where Andy and Lindsay went to celebrate pregnancy and finding out Eleanor was a girl so it was only appropriate that we celebrate her first birthday there. The night was capped with Lindsay and Eleanor covered in her first chocolate sundae. Andy's favorite part of May was spending hours and lots of words that shouldn't be repeated putting together our birthday girl's present - a brand new kitchen. What first birthday would be complete without a party? Eleanor enjoyed her pastel pink themed party, cake, and most of her family and friends who also dressed in pink (even her Daddy!). Her smash cake was so super cute and wonderful from tart bakery - Mommy and Aunt Jenna (also her godmother) made the cupcakes, cake balls, white chocolate dipped pretzels and strawberries and the hamburger lunch. There was even a pink drink that many of the mommies enjoyed - a copycat of Cheesecake Factory's spiked raspberry lemonade.

June - Andy and I, after much urging from our parents (on both sides) were blessed with the opportunity to attend a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend where we got to stay in a nice hotel and basically just focus on each other for a weekend. It was a nice break but we also missed being away from Eleanor for the first time! Our first family plane trip brought us to visit Andy's sweet grandparents, Grace and Gene Reinberg in Ft. Davis, Texas. Eleanor had a great time on the plane opening and closing the window and peering behind the seat incessantly saying, "hi" to the man passed out behind us. She wasn't ever phased that he never responded. She also gave us the first of, I fear, many scares as a parent. On this trip (in the middle of nowhere), she hit her head and passed out, and taught us a new trick of hers - she tends to hold her breath when she gets too worked up and makes herself pass out if we don't remind her to take a breath. This is what the EMTs who said she was fine when we rushed her to the local fire station (don't worry, an ER was over 30 min. away) told us and we later learned Andy's dad used to do the same thing as a child.

July - Another first - a trip across the country and Eleanor's first 20+ hours straight in the car to visit Lindsay's Family in Virginia, the Thomasons, Andy's first encounter with our Nation's Capital and any Civil War/Revolutionary battlefield he could get his hands on, a beautiful wedding of Lindsay's cousin, Jessica and her new hubs LJ, and visit to Lindsay's Dad's side of the family in Baltimore, Pop Pop's hometown, then to travel south along the coast to visit Lindsay's 95 year old Grandmother, Grandmary and Aunt and Uncle in Pinehurst, and introduce them to Eleanor for the first time, topped off with a few days by the beach in Florida on our way home. Eleanor was a champ on the trip and loved meeting all her family members along with the waves and sand at the beach. Andy and Lindsay celebrated their second wedding anniversary in pieces this month - one date was a day alone to road trip to Gettysburg, PA, their favorite battle of the Civil War (nerds), another was a date alone to tour the capital, and the third was a steak dinner cooked by Andy with in tow on the actual day - July 18th.

August - Andy and Lindsay BOTH had amazing opportunities come in late summer. Andy, a Varsity defensive football and Head Track Coaching position at Ranchview HS in Carrollton and Lindsay a 5th grade position at Town Center Elementary in Coppell. She has dreamed of working in Coppell since HS and not only was she granted the opportunity to work in Coppell but at (in her opinion) the best elementary school in the district gifted with amazing parents, innovative technology available to students, and a wonderful crop of students with a desire to learn like no other, and a 5 min. commute (as opposed to her 1hr+ to Richardson). Andy had been awaiting an opportunity to coach at a Varsity level and now to also earn the head track coach spot made him even more excited to take on high schoolers! Both miss their friends from their old schools but are so thankful for this new opportunity.

September -Varsity football consumed our lives this month and next. Eleanor loved going to the games and was a trooper staying awake until sometimes as late as 10pm so she could run on the field and see her Daddy at the end of the games. We also earned a whole new family at Ranchview - Lindsay with some wonderful wives to accompany her in the stands, and Andy with a most uplifting and positive coaching staff he could ever dream of. Eleanor also has made friends with the coach's kids.

October - Lindsay celebrated her 27th birthday and Andy never failed to make it special. He arranged for Aunt Mary to babysit on a weeknight and took L to Nordstrom to get her makeup done and some much needed new products seeing as she hadn't bought new in almost 2 years! He also treated her with some perfume and a dinner at none other than, Houstons. October brought a two month wave of viruses for Eleanor - poor baby just couldn't get well. One of those we could actually name being 5ths disease. Eleanor also enjoyed her second Halloween. She was a butterfly (butt-bye as she said) and though she still had a terrible rash from her 5ths disease (she was no longer contagious), she went to a couple houses, including Marmi and Pop Pop's and LOVED her first candy! Lindsay's Uncle David also suffered a heart attack and a couple of months in the hospital and though we missed having Marmi around, were so thankful she could be there with her brother to help. We were SO thankful for the friends and family who helped with Eleanor in Marmi's absence. We are so blessed!

November- Eleanor's sickness continued with high fevers and more we really don't even want to write about which kept us from traveling to College Station to see Andy's family for Thanksgiving. My family also decided not to got to the farm so we had a very last minute/impromptu Aldon family Thanksgiving at mom's house this year topped off with two versions of homemade stuffing I made and LOVED - I will never use a mix again! We also enjoyed our first ENTIRE WEEK off for Thanksgiving break - what a treat!

December - Eleanor finally began to feel better come December and we had a wonderful month preparing for our Lord's birth. A new tradition we began in the Reinberg house as we counted down the days of Advent was that Eleanor got to open a new Christmas book each day. She LOVED practicing unwrapping the gifts and looked forward to opening her new book every night before bed. Lindsay ran her first half marathon this December finishing in 2:08.?? and feeling great! She is either going to run another half and hope to better her time or do a full or maybe both in 2012. She couldn't have done it without the support of her husband and sister Mary (who watched Eleanor and stood on the sidelines cheering in the rain) as Andy ran the last 4 miles with Linds. Andy celebrated his 28th birthday with a 3rd annual trip to Billy Bobs - this time to see Jack Ingram. Andy's almost entire coaching staff game along with his parents for the first time and brother, Tim along with Lindsay's sisters Mary and Kel and Andy's best friend from HS, Greg and girlfriend Michaela. It was a fun weekend as always! Christmas was spent at home and Santa came for the first time to the Reinberg house. We enjoyed 5pm Children's Christmas Eve mass for the first time in a long time and said goodbye for probably a while to midnight mass. After mass we enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and agreed it was a new tradition - way easier than a Turkey and all the fixins. Eleanor put cookies and milk our for Santa and woke up in her own bed, so excited to see what he brought along with eat the rest of his cookies! We then traveled to the Aldon's for a day of fun and just can't reiterate enough the blessing of family.

We are so thankful for all those who are in our lives and pray that God Blesses you and yours this Christmas and in 2012. If we haven't seen you in a while, our door is always open - you might have to squeeze in Eleanor's room on an air mattress but are always welcome!

Love,
Andy, Lindsay, and Eleanor

Hurricane "Summer"

Yes this Hurricane's name is Summer, not Katrina. We have not stopped and I think the eye of the storm is approaching, hopefully before it is all over! I am almost more tired now than I was when it began but we have been so blessed to pack as many family members and sites to see in these weeks of no school as we possibly could and though it has been tiring, it has been so wonderful. I wish I could post my calendar on here but just to give you an idea, will list where we have been and who we have seen since school let out.


School was out June 3rd for me. That night, we left Eleanor with my parents and went on a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Retreat. We had been urged by both our parents to go and really enjoyed it as it definitely opened up a completely new way to communicate with each other. It was exhausting though as we were both already dead from the end of the school year only to not get much sleep on the weekend and then if you have ever been on a retreat know how refreshing yet exhausting they can be.


Andy went to school for his last day that Monday the 6th also being requested to interview at Carrollton Ranchview High School for a Varsity Football/Head Track Coach position. WOW, to have to close up school and then go to not just any interview but one that required him to write an essay on the spot and that was very strenuous ONLY to have to come home to a psycho nagging wife who needed his help packing because our flight left the next morning at 8am to see his grandparents! WOW what a champ and what a lot to cram into one day. He ended up getting the job and well that is a whole different post!


Tuesday the 7th, we flew to Midland/Odessa airport and then drove 2 hours to Ft. Davis to visit Andy's dad's parents and siblings. We had a wonderful time, returned on Friday June 10th (almost already halfway through the month of June and we haven't spent anytime at home ha).

The week we returned was booked with doctor and dentist appointments along with Andy spending lots of hours up at his new school getting to know his new coaching staff and working with his new football players. We were, however, able to fit in some fun with our friends, the Vaniceks! We also celebrated Andy's second Fathers Day that weekend and ended it with a huge Mexican feast of his request, homemade and fried tostadas and fajitas with my family in attendance as well.


The following week on Tuesday the 21st of June, Eleanor and I left for Houston to brave the wildfires on I45 (yes we saw smoke on the side of the rd. but apparently were in no danger as the highway was open) and visit our friends and Eleanor's godparents, the Wentrceks, and the Tantons. Andy spent the week moving his old classroom at Renner (so sad he is leaving Plano but excited for his new job) to our garage and painting the locker room of the new High School. We had a wonderful time there and then headed home only to have to rush to clean house because my inlaws were to arrive the next day! AH yes see what I mean, hurricane, it never stops!


We had so much fun with Andy's parents and brothers, Tim and Mark. We swam, ate lots of food, and even made it to Grapevine Mills to do some shopping and allow Mark and Eleanor to create their first "Build a Bears." The Reinbergs left in time for me to have two days to do laundry, straighten up the house so we would have something nice to come home to, and do last minute things like exchange our brand new camera that wasn't working oh and buy my first Iphone because my old faithful of a blackberry decided to drown in the deep abyss of the whirlpool at the nail salon oh and one more thing, PACK for the three week trip we were leaving for on the 1st of July!


WOW - as if I didn't think the day would ever come/I would be ready when it did, we loaded the suburban at mom and dads and finished around midnight late on the 30th of June. Just before we hit the sack to wake up in a few hours and make the LONG trek out East, Dad suggested just loading up and going. Boy were we happy we did that. Eleanor slept a lot of that night and we arrived in DC (our first stop on the journey East) a day early. The 22 hour trip went fairly well and we had so much fun celebrating Independence Day in our nation's capital and most importantly with our sweet family (mom's brother and fam) who we rarely see.


So vacation had commenced and you would think vacation=relaxation. Not quite. My dear husband brings out the love of history in me. Pair his desire to see every monument, battlefield, and historical site he reads about in his history book with the fact has has never been to the northeast and you have a pretty exhausting itenerary. We went to almost every monument in DC, a few Smithsonians, the Capital/White House, and a few battlefields. We had so much fun but were so wiped out!

After that, we enjoyed a weekend in Baltimore with my dad's family and LOVED attending the wedding of and meeting my cousin's new husband, LJ. Still, no relaxation as we scampered to each wedding event and social gathering while sleeping in a hotel room and poor Eleanor being dragged everywhere.


That brings me to now. We are at my Aunt Gay's house in Pinehurst, NC to visit her family and my 95 year old grandmother, Grandmary (dad's mom). Today, I did get to sleep in and though I haven't stopped since I woke up and went running with my sweet "1st cousin once removed" (i learned this to be the title since we have been here...she is my cousin's daughter), we are enjoying ourselves! Andy played golf with everyone on my aunt and uncle's course whose 17th hole is visible from their back porch - don't worry, we brought them beer when they arrived at the hole ha! Grandmary taught me how to make her famous Maryland crabcakes and we indulged in an awesome east coast pizza chain for dinner.


Tomorrow we head to the pottery stores and Andy and Dad are off to golf again. I hope to get some time to spend with Grandmary and catch up as I haven't done that in quite a while! We will pack the car again and commence into the dark night for another 12+ hour drive to Perdido Key, Florida, near Pensacola tomorrow night. We are ALL hoping for the relaxation we have been craving this vacation once we arrive. We have decided we are doing NOTHING but passing out on the beach...well and taking turns playing with Eleanor in the sand (let's hope she is not interested in eating it). I have so many books I brought to read and well it would be nice to sleep some too!


I will add some of the, don't worry, 1000+ pictures we have taken to the post and future posts I am sure once uploaded on my home comp. Until then, let's hope this "Hurricane Summer" blows over soon and we get a little bit of relaxation in before school starts because crazily enough, there are only a few weeks left before that happens YIKES!!!!

How Old Are You Eleanor?

Eleanor, you learned how to show us hold you were JUST in time for your first birthday! You had such a great party! Lots of your best friends were able to come though we did miss others as well! Here are some of the highlights from your birthday week!

Your birthday celebration began on the morning of May 18th - your first birthday! My students had been anxiously awaiting the 18th to arrive for at least a month. They made "signs" for you, paper chains, and even brought gifts for you to open! Osama bought you a dress as did Maria. Maria also got you socks and a stuffed bunny because "Mrs. Reinberg" told her you liked "bun buns". We had mini cupcakes, goldfish, and animal crackers (your favorite snacks). You ate the goldfish and animal crackers, my 4th graders ate those along with the cupcakes. We were saving your first "cake tasting" for your first bday party.

Your gift from Mommy and Daddy was your kitchen. Here is a picture of the mess Daddy got to encounter trying to put it together TWICE! The first kitchen had some issues so diapers.com overnighted another one just in time for you to have it your birthday weekend to play with!

After school, Mommy, Marmi, you, and Aunt Keekda met Daddy at Houston's. Houston's is a very special restaurant to our family. Marmi and Pop Pop frequented it when they were dating and first married. Daddy and Mommy ate there a lot including right after their first doctor appointment when they found out Mommy was pregnant with you. We also ate at Houston's the night we found out you were going to be out little GIRL! SO, we thought it only appropriate that we eat there on your first birthday! We also LOVE their chocolate sundae and since you were having a cake at your party, thought your first sundae could be your actual first birthday treat. We didn't have a candle but still sang to you and you DEVOURED your ice cream!

Your party was on May 21st at noon. Everyone started eating lunch and enjoying conversation as soon as they arrived. Your Mommy and godmother, Jenna, labored making the food while Daddy, Pop Pop, and godfather Wyatt worked collaboratively to grill some pretty amazing burgers! Everyone helped to hang up your decorations, Grammie and Grandpa showed up just in time before the party started and Grammie mixed Mommy's favorite "lemonade" recipe. She stole it from Cheesecake Factory's JW's Pink Lemonade. Well..didn't steal, the bartender told me so in case you are interested: 1oz. SKYY Citrus Vodka, 1/2 oz. Razzmatazz, cup full of ice, and fill the rest with lemonade. I used "Simply Lemonade" found in the refrigerated orange juice section of the grocery store. We even served some of your favorites for your friends, goldfish, black beans, animal crackers, strawberries, and peas.

After lunch, we sang Happy Birthday to you and you did a great job not getting overwhelmed with the 30 people singing to you! You loved it! Your cake was the cutest little smash cake and your guests enjoyed a dessert spread of vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese butter cream frosting, chocolate cake balls, chocolate covered strawberries, candy covered pretzels, and fruit kbobs!

Throughout the party, you and your friends enjoyed the "ball pit." Mommy initially bought a $30 ball pit from Target and then found the perfect pink blowup swimming pool for $10 at wal mart that worked even better! You and ALL your friends loved playing in it as well! Even your friend Reese who is only 6 months old!

You had so much fun opening presents and were ready for your afternoon nap just as your guests were leaving. We ended the day spending time with your "godfamily," Wyatt, Jenna, and Reese. You introduced Reese to swimming - her first time ever and with you in Marmi's pool!

You had such a wonderful birthday weekend and were so thankful to have so many of the people you love there to celebrate with you! For more pictures of Eleanor's first bday celebrations, see Facebook!

Christmas Blessings and a WONDERFUL 2 Week Break

Our Home this Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas visit with both our families! Our break began with Andy's 27th birthday on the 18th of December. His brothers, and best friend, Greg came up to celebrate and his cousin, Elizabeth, along with my sister and dad and our neighbors, Robbie and Cami, and David Jones, Andy's friend, along with Jake and Courtney, our friends from college/Andy's old roommate joined us at Billy Bob's for Reckless Kelly. It was a fun concert and we enjoyed listening to the good music! The pictures below are at dinner in Sundance square before dancing.

Andy's sheet cake with 27 candles on it - he got them ALL out in ONE blow!

At Billy Bobs...

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out with Andy's brothers and cousin.

Then we got serious and finished Christmas shopping/gift making (my family's tradition), baking, laundering, and cleaning before we could leave town. I also had to start and finish my defensive driving course ha! A lot to cram into only a few days but we did it! We finished mopping the floors/showering/packing and loading the car by 8:30 just in time to leave. With the car packed to the gills with Christmas presents, enough pre-made food to last Eleanor while we were gone and all of the "stuff" necessary for 4 days in college station we stopped by Which Which and Costco gas and headed for College Station.

We arrived around 11pm Wednesday night and Eleanor, rested from her 3 hour sleep, got to play for a few minutes with Grammie and Grandpa as they reunited after a few months of not seeing one another.

We put Eleanor to bed and enjoyed the conversation with Andy's parents for a few hours. This was the beginning of many late nights at the Reinberg household. I sit here exhausted and decided I need another week of vacation to get back into my routine and relax from my vacation...typical though.

Eleanor was up bright and early on Thursday morning and excited to play...Daddy ws not ready to wake up...

Thursday morning we got a special visit from The Wentrcek family. Eleanor hadn't seen her godparents in a month or so and it was so wonderful seeing sweet Reese Wentrcek!

She has grown so much since we saw her when she was born!

We enjoyed catching up, eating Layne's (Andy's FAVORITE fried chicken finger place only found in sweet home College Station) and the girls' first real time to interact and play on the floor. Well, Eleanor was kind of rude and more interested in her toys than talking to Reese but Reese was so sweet and just stared at E the whole time. Soon they will be playing together and will be the best of friends! :) We just love that sweet little bug and hate that we live so far from our dear friends! After they left we made a quick trip up to St. Mary's, where Grammie works, to let Eleanor meet her coworkers and also people Andy and I worked with when we worked at St. Mary's in college. We snuck into Grammies office for a few shots, this is my fave of Eleanor in Grammie's chair :)

Thursday night we went to Koppe Bridge, Andy's favorite burger place, and his childhood friend, Amber, joined us.

Andy's childhood friend, Amber, who also sat with Eleanor as she slept while we were at Midnight mass. Thanks Amber!

We were going to go to Santa's Wonderland but the line was over a mile long so decided to go home and play games/watch Christmas movies instead.

Friday morning (Christmas Eve) we woke up and 'Nell and I went to get pedicures. What a treat, we even picked out red for Christmas to don our toes (and my fingers). We just hung out the rest of the day wrapping presents and watching more Christmas flicks and then ate tostadas, another one of Andy's favorites he usually can only get in CS (I am not one to cook refried beans in bacon grease and then dolloping them on grease saturated fried tortillas so I leave that to his mom and dad ha! Maybe one day I will attempt to learn to make them. Anyway, tostadas were Andy's birthday request and we celebrated his birthday with his family on Christmas Eve.

We showered and put Eleanor down after putting cookies out for Santa. My only regret was that in the rush of getting ready for mass we forgot to read Eleanor "The Polar Express." My family's tradition is to read it before going to midnight mass/before Santa comes. We kind of also hesitated reading it because we thought Pop Pop might read it when we got home but it never happened. Oh well, Pop Pop will read it next Christmas when Eleanor is a little older and can understand.

Mass was beautiful, Fr. David's homily perfect and the music beautiful! We came home and Andy's family kept up with their tradition of eating tamales and shrimp cocktail before going to bed. I had a glass of wine trying to keep my eyes open ha! We put our stockings out and went to bed to so excited, almost as much as when I was little, to see what Santa had brought. We didn't go to bed until almost 4 that night AH! Not good when your 7 month old wakes up at 7.

Eleanor let us sleep in a little on Christmas morning and we awoke to her talking and clapping excited to see what Santa brought (or just in a good mood ha but we can assume what we want).

I fed her and then we went down the hall to wake up the rest of the family.

We had a wonderful time opening presents and for me watching others open what we gave them. That is my favorite part! Grammie loved her apron with "Grammie" monnogrammed up top and Eleanor's handprint and the date at the bottom. It is going to be somewhat of a "charm bracelet on an apron" as Eleanor and other grandkids to come will stamp their handprints each year at Christmas! It will be fun to see how much they grow and who all appears over the years! Eleanor got a little kitchen from Santa and a star stacker that lights up and makes music that she loves from Grammie and Grandpa.

Andy's and my favorite gifts were relics that Andy's mom had blessed and touched the relics of my saint, Maria Goretti, the veil of Mary, and Andy's touched Saints Andrew, Jude, Anthony, and all the apostles. An incredible gift we will always love. Andy's relic is a rosary and mine a gold cross on a necklace.

Eleanor also was given an "elf outfit" by Andy's parents and she ended up wearing it all day...it was quite hilarious!

Andy's dad smoked the most amazing smoked turkey I have ever tasted for Christmas dinner and we stuffed ourselves with that, all the usual sides, and wine of course. We loaded the car so we could leave first thing the next morning and enjoyed visiting with Amber and her mom, Linda and drinking wine/eating desserts along with playing a very boistrous and wild game of "Apples to Apples."

Our visit in College Station was super special being our family's first time to celebrate Chrsitmas with Andy's family AND Eleanor's first Christmas. We feel like we don't get to see his family enough so it was great getting to spend a few days with them and not have an agenda! We truly got to just relax and hang out which was much appreciated.

With it being my first Christmas away from my family you could only imagine my excitement to make it to Dallas to see them and spend time enjoying Christmas #2. We arrived right around noon on Sunday the 26th.

Eleanor all ready to open more presents, now at Marmi and Pop Pop's

Marmi and Pop Pop, Aunt MEA, and Aunt Keekda were ready with cinnamon rolls in the oven and coffee made. We started opening presents as E had just awoken from her road trip nap and was in good spirits. Eleanor got so many more fun gifts including a piano you can hook up to the TV...what will they think of next!? My Aunt also sent her this adorable little mailbox that she loves!

Dad got Tiger Woods golf from the kids and all of us got a Dance game for the Wii from Santa so we played on the Wii all day and enjoyed an amazing dinner ( as you call tell our break has been marked with delicious indulgent and not so healthy food) of Dad's famous London Broil and all the fixins. As you can see, Marmi got an apron as well with Eleanor's handprint.

We capped the night off with desserts and wine with the Walhoods for an impromptu Happy Birthday Jesus party without the cake...

The next morning Aunt Mea and I went shopping and spent the rest of the day preparing her and Dad for their long-awaited trip to visit Aunt Katie in "Nica." That night, Andy and I took the packed car home, unloaded it, and I unpacked and started laundry that still has not been finished and we are now two days out from school starting up again...

Tuesday, I had a hair cut appointment and after discussing with my sweet hair-cutter, Michelle, decided Eleanor needed her first hair cut. Andy brought her up and she was so good. You can see more about that in her haircut post. Afterward, Andy and I made some returns and ran by Marmi's to get the remainder of the Christmas presents that couldn't fit in the car the night before.

We then enjoyed a super fun day with Amanda, Annabelle, and Hallie.

Eleanor and Annabelle playing in her room before we went shopping. Hallie was napping and missed out :(

They came up for a few days and we were so excited to get to spend some time with them. Hallie napped at Granna's and Annabelle and Amanda, and we went to Buy Buy Baby and shopped with the girls and then went back to Granna's and got to play with Hallie for a bit (Eleanor had to get dropped at home for a nap). I miss my sweet bosom friend so it was such a treat to get to catch up and spend some time together and to see her sweet babies who are just growing way too fast! That night, Andy and I made a really yummy tortilla soup and margaritas and watched movies. We have so enjoyed this time to be together and not worry about work!

Wednesday Eleanor and I went downtown for a Dr. appt. and then met up with Heather, a friend from school, and her 10 mo. old son, Jace. We had so much fun with the kids interacting and of course did some shopping.

Eleanor insisted on me carrying her instead of being pushed in the stroller...we will need to break her of that preference! Wednesday afternoon we got to meet Casen Place, Andy's gradeschool friend, Clifton's third son.

He was so sweet and made me probably a little closer to being ready for another baby. We still would like to wait a little while longer but it was so funny watching Eleanor interact with him.

She was actually a little jealous when I was holding him which makes me wonder if she needs a sibling before she gets too old and used to being the only one! :) Until then, we will just enjoy all the babies our friends have! That night, The Vaniceks came over and ate Pot Roast and played 42 with us. The girls played and them went to bed, it is so fun that we can put them down and have time just the four of us to hang out! The girls are such good friends, we love how much time we get to spend with sweet Katie Jo!

Thursday was such a treat! Andy watched Eleanor while Mom, Kelsey, and I (the ones left behind while the other three of our family are in Nicaragua) spent the morning and early afternoon at the Spa at the Crescent. We got massages and then lounged around for a while in the spa, sauna, and steam room, took our time getting ready and then enjoyed a lunch at Breadwinners. What a fun day! I hadn't felt so relaxed in a LONG time! My massage therapist said I need to do this more often...maybe I can convince Andy of that ha though I wished he was able to enjoy the spoiling as well because I know his neck needs it just as much as mine! That night, mom treated us to a date night out. She came over so we could go see "True Grit" at Studio Movie Grill with a gift certificate Andy got from his students!

Friday morning we woke up and Andy headed to mom and dad's with Wes to commence the day of smoking the brisket for our NYE feast. Eleanor and I hung out at home getting random things done such as cleaning out/organizing the freezer, writing thank you notes, working on but still not finishing laundry, and straightening up the house/getting ready to head to mom's for NYE. More New Years Eve dets to come in the New Years post. We had such an amazing Christmas with family and friends and are gearing up to be motivated as we go back to school next week!