Eleanor is 14 Months

Eleanor is 14 Months Old today! It is crazy that this time last year we had a teeny two month old. Boy how she has grown in a year! It seems like she just continues to get taller and taller and heavier now that we are mentioning growth ha!

Eleanor’s biggest feat of her 14th month was the 23 hour trek across the country and subsequent 5+ hour stretches in between as we went from Texas to Virginia, DC, Baltimore, North Carolina, Florida, and back to Texas in only2 ½ weeks! She was a CHAMP! Considering that she sat in her car seat with very few breaks and stayed in complete strangers home for that extent of time and still retained her composure was amazing!

Some of my favorite things about you lately are:

You love HATS, you go into our closet where Daddy's hats are all hanging and point and incessantly say "hat" until we post you up to get one. You got a PINK Civil War Soldier's hat as a souveneir from Mommy and Daddy's trip to Gettysburg and you keep it in your oven (random) but you love it and sometimes want to switch it out with one of Daddy's hats so it can hang on the wall too!

You love your babies. You are such a good mommy to them, feeding and changing them, patting their backs and pushing them in your stroller. We know you aren't ready for the responsibility of taking care of a real baby though when you slam them on the floor...haven't mastered the handoff/handling period of your babies haha! It is really sweet now that you are used to feeding your babies that you will often try to feed us or your other stuffed animals.You are doing so great at communicating what you want. You do the "all done" sign in your own way when you are finished with something and pretty much automatically without prompting when you want something you walk up and say PEA which means please. Sometimes it is so quick we don't realize that is what you are doing but you know exactly how to ask for something and often probably get annoyed with your slow parents :).

You can identify pretty much all of your family from pictures. You can look at a picture of Mommy's family and say Marmi, Pop Pop, Teetah (Keekda), Maywe (Mary), and KT. You see a picture of Grandpa from Daddy's side and say PawPaw everytime you see him. Every morning when I get you out of bed (lately it has been around 9:30/10am!!), you ask where dada is and I say work and you repeat, "wowk". Then you usually say a lot of the other words you know, almost to remind me all that you know and then say milk and Barney...I have to remind you that you just work up and we will have them later when you are ready for your nap.

Eleanor, you have become a Barney FREAK! You know what the case looks like and will find it and bring it to me saying, "Ba PEES!" You are very deliberate with your Please but also very polite and appropriate with its usage!

We just LOVE the light you bring to our lives. Mommy and Daddy are developing such unique and special relationships with you and we feel so blessed that you love us so much! Thank you for being our daughter, we love you and are excited to see how you do in this 15th month of your life! It is back to school and we are a little worried about how you will do with your parents gone after having spent 2 months with us! We will see...

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!!!!

Houston Trip

Eleanor and I enjoyed another girl's trip to Houston (last one being for Reese's baby shower last fall). We had so much fun first staying with the Wentrceks (E's godparents) and then spending a day with the Tanton girls along with sandwiching those two days around a Wentrcek/Reinberg/Tanton trip to the Houston children's museum - what a hit, I wish we had one in Dallas - we would be there every week in the summer! With Andy at home working and the Daddys working during the day, we had some fun girl time! We are so thankful for such wonderful friends! Pictures to come some day...

We FINALLY have a Blog!

So after many months of reminders from friends to start a Reinberg blog, we are finally listening! So much has happened this first year of our marriage. We were married July 18th, 2009 in Dallas at our parish, St. Ann Catholic Church in Coppell, TX. It was the best day of our lives that will be remembered forever. It is hard to imagine the feeling of love we experienced having everyone, family and friends, all in town at the same time, all there to witness us celebrate the sacrament of marriage, and all gathered for a SUPER fun party afterwards.



After such a wonderful evening we woke up Sunday morning and spent the afternoon at the Aldon's eating a family favorite - Sweet Meats (the best bar-b-que ever tasted) and visiting with family and friends on their way out of town. That evening we went back to our apartment for the first time and ate cheese, crackers, and drank champagne while we unwrapped presents. The weekend couldn't get any better!



Monday morning we flew out to paradise and landed in Maui, arriving to our hotel just in time to see a Maui sunset. We enjoyed food, beautiful scenery, and much needed relaxation, just the two of us. If anyone needs restaurant suggestions in Maui, please ask as we found quite a few we LOVED and crave often. After being in Maui for 5 days we satisfied our thirst for History and went to Oahu to see Pearl Harbor. We enjoyed Pearl Harbor and seeing another part of Hawaii but decided Maui was our favorite place to visit! After 7 days in God's beautiful creation, we came home to an apartment needing some love and lots of work at school.



After a quick few days of unpacking and "merging" Lindsay's and Andy's things, Lindsay went straight to 12 hour days at school setting up her classroom and re-familiarizing herself with 5th grade Reading/Language Arts/Social Studies after being out of the education arena for 2 years.

At the same time, Andy went straight to the football field coaching 2 practices a day and preparing for what we seemingly revolve our fall around: FOOTBALL SEASON!



The 2 weeks of inservice, making a classroom cozy, and 2-a-days flew by quickly and our blissful beginning to marriage changed to school craziness. As if our lives hadn't changed enough, we got another BIG surprise a few weeks after the beginning of school. Just before leaving for a weekend at the lake Labor Day weekend, we took a certain test and were shocked by the plus signs consistently appearing on the 4 consecutive tests taken. Lindsay spent the weekend exhausted and nauseas unable to partake in the wonderful lake beverages while Andy had enough for the both of them celebrating in secret the new addition that would, in 9 months, make the 2 Reinbergs 3!



After getting a confirmation from the Dr., we told our families. A famous line from an old favorite, "We wanted to tell you when you were together, but you're never together." (Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias) summed up our revelation. Mom was in Houston with Grandma and Grandpa so we called her and told her in the parking lot of Anamias, an Aldon Mexican Restaurant Fave, just before joining Tom, Katie, Mary, and Kelsey for dinner and subsequently telling them. When we called Andy's parents, everyone was on speaker and Andy's dad was so excited he couldn't speak!



The status quo of nausea and once a day vomiting remained so until right about Thanksgiving - perfect timing! The holidays flew past and were marked with Andy giving Lindsay the newly revealed baby GIRL's name. I wonder if the Aldons will ever get a boy, poor Tom is still praying. 'Nell is finally getting another girl to add to the male dominant Reinberg family. Anyway, Andy and Eleanor Ann gave Lindsay a piece of Christmas china and revealed Andy's accpetance of the name Lindsay just loved. We wished we could have sent out Christmas cards but maybe this blog entry will suffice as an update!



Already being 4 months into 2010, it is hard to believe that our little "Ellie" will be here in 4 weeks or less! We can't wait to meet her and look forward to a hopefully relaxing summer enjoying our little princess. In the meantime we patiently wait to hold our little one, are moving to an apartment closer to "Marmi" (Lindsay's mom who will be watching Eleanor next year) and once again making it home. Andy is closing out another track season while Lindsay is counting down the days to maternity leave. We thank everyone for their constant prayers and support and can't wait to introduce Eleanor to all those we love.