26 Candles...Or a 2 candle and 6 matches...Whatever Works!

What a wonderful day it was! Yesterday I turned 26 and my dear sweet family did everything they could to make it such a special day. On the Sunday BEFORE my bday we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner with Mom, Dad, Kelsey, and her roommate Erica, now dubbed "Aunt E" to Eleanor. She has become a part of the family as her family lives in Scotland and well, that is a long way from Lubbock so she comes to visit the Aldons when she needs a little taste of home :)We had a nice dinner though I must say - what the heck CF, why would you change the recipe on your already WONDERFUL fish tacos!??!?! I was totally caught off guard when they brought out fish tacos in a completely different presentation and now with sour cream on top. NO thank you...I promptly ordered something different :) We did get the perfect table setup in a corner where I could feed E behind the "hooter hider" and she could sprawl out on the booth bench and kick and roll to her heart's content. We came home and while E and I were playing in her jungle, Andy (and Eleanor) gave me a little girl shoe charm for my bracelet from Eleanor. So sweet :) I guess they couldn't wait until my actual birthday :) Anyway, Andy and I indulged in our Adam's PB cup and Reeses/chocolate cake Cheesecake at home on the couch once we put Eleanor down. It was so nice to celebrate with everyone minus Katie and MEA. We missed you! :)



Monday was such a treat! I got to be a STAY AT HOME MOM for the day! It was such a delight getting to sleep in to 7:30...haha most of you would say that is early but it is 3 hours more sleep than waking up at 4 so I can't complain! After Eleanor ate, we went on a run in the beautiful weather and I guess the constant of my feet hitting the ground and the cool wind blowing through her stroller, she fell asleep! After the nap, she woke up and played in her exersaucer while I showered. After getting ready, she helped me bake Banana Bread for Aunt Keekda - Ellie's first real live baking experience. She LOVES to use the measuring spoons and she sat in her bumbo and just watched and banged all the utensils! After cooking though she decided she had had enough and either her tylenol ran out or her tooth just REALLY started hurting and she threw a fit. She was unconsolable until finally I fed her a bottle and as soon as I put her in the car seat to go have lunch with Mom and Keeks, she dozed off. So maybe tired/hungry as well.





After lunch, mom took Eleanor back home to put her down for a longer nap and Kortni and I GOT PEDICURES! Oh my poor feet have been starving for a pedicure. It has been probably 4 months since I have gotten one. It was WAY overdue! After the pedi, E was still sleeping so my wonderfully generous mother told me to go home and relax (I of course don't know the meaning of that word so time without E meant clean/laundry/organize to me) so I took the car to the car wash and got a few things done around the house before I was picked up to go to Andy's game. This was Eleanor's 2nd game to attend for her Daddy and once again she was his lucky penny - they played great AND won! What a wonderful day it was getting to experience just a little what it was like to be a stay-at-home mom and not worry about 4th graders ha!





TUESDAY I woke up to balloons on the floor and streamers all over the living room. Andy sure knows how to make me feel special! I got to leave for work a little late because it was a staff development day - no children! :) After my morning training I met mom and E at Houston's (one of my faves) for lunch. Eleanor's smile and spunk made my day even brighter as did the conversation and company of my dear sweet mom. She brought me Sprinkles cupcakes for later that evening and a cute outfit from my sisters. I arrived at school for the rest of my training and to a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of flowers from my favorite florist, Cebolla that Andy had sent. WOW what a surprise and he even rq'd that all of the flowers from my wedding bouquet be in the arrangement. A few of those flowers were out of season but what they came up with was awesome!





I worked until about 5 and then met Andy at the Galleria to look for some boots (his present to me as if everything else wasn't enough...). I decided to wait as not all of the winter boots are in at Nordy's but it was still such a treat to get to shop with him...that never happens! We walked around the mall and ended up leaving with some eye liner and babv spoons from William Sonoma. It was such a testament to how quickly our lives have moved in the last two years (we got engaged 2 years ago in Nov.) when it felt like just yesterday we were registering for our wedding at WS and now we are buying baby food spoons! We walked around the mall a bit then headed to Addison for sushi.





We loved living in Addison bc it was so close to so many good restaurants. We frequented Fish City for their cheap and amazing margaritas and so went there for a couple drinks and calamari. We should have known when we went next door to Blue Fish for sushi that we could have done two rolls instead of three since we had already eaten the calamari but we didn't think and left dinner completely stuffed!





We came home and met mom with Eleanor who was already asleep, thanks Mom for giving us a break! What a treat! The night was capped off with Andy serenading to me solo the Happy Birthday song as I blew out a random 2 candle we had and 6 matches (he improvised) on my yummy red velvet "Sprinkles" cupcake. WHAT a birthday! Now it is back to normalcy and grading papers, parent teacher conferences, and grocery shopping with only a few bucks left to last until the 21st ha! It was fun while it lasted :)

Formula and Other Things

My baby girl is getting her first exposure to formula today :( I am really sad about it bc I have worked so hard to pump and make sure she had enough but something happened with the traveling and everything last weekend and we came up short a few ounces for this week. I am trying not to stress about it bc she will still be getting predominantly breast milk but I just loved that with the exception of her shots and reflux meds that she was still pure and didnt have anything manufactured with names I can't pronounce put in her. I am not saying that I think formula is bad because I know some babies have to go on it but she is doing so well nursing and I just hate to do this bc no matter what breast milk is best for her and cheapest for us ha! The fact is though, that we are out of milk so I have no choice :( So I am sitting here pumping hoping that I will make enough and this formula supplementation will just be a temporary thing...I am not pumping as much as she eats though and she is starting to act like we starve her again which makes me think we need to up her to a 7 oz. bottle now...

So that is the latest in the Reinberg household...that and football, exhaustion and pining for a few days off (Thanksgiving) to breathe/ not think about disciplining children who aren't my own and teaching them the life lessons their parents should be/spend time with Eleanor, and making it :) I have Monday off (poor Andy has to work) and am going with the Vaniceks to take some pics at the Arboretum and let the girls (Katie and Eleanor) have their first encounter with pumpkins! SO FUN! :)

This post is probably gramatically incorrect due to my laziness and prob. sounds a little negative...sorry! I just wanted to make sure and remember the date on which my wonderful job kept me from being able to feed my daughter...LOVE IT!

On a more positive note...Kelsey AND MEA are coming into town this weekend for both the Baylor/TTU game and the A&M/Ark. game. I am so excited to get to see them both and for our family to hopefully spend some time together Sunday before they have to go home. I am also excited to meet Keekda's roommate - Erica, from Scotland! :) Eleanor is excited to see her aunts but misses Katie as we do as well. We love you Aunt Kitter!

Eleanor LOVES her Godparents!

We were so lucky to have the Wentrceks join us for Labor Day Weekend at the lake. Jenna and Mom and I (and Eleanor for some of the time) went to Canton and found the dresser for Baby W's nursery while the guys golfed and we spend a little time of the water as well. It was so great to see our dear friends and for Eleanor to get to spend some time with them! We are so thankful they came to visit!

Jenna is due Nov. 4th with their first, we can't wait to meet him/her AND know if it is a him/her and what his or her name will be! Eleanor especially can't wait to meet her new friend. She was already talking him/her as she say on Jenna's belly a few times while at the lake! She had such a special time talking to Jenna while we all say on the dock.

Eleanor's new "seat"



Eleanor LOVES her godfather and can't WAIT until he greets her first boyfriend at the door with a gun with her daddy like he promised! :)




Notice what his shirt says..."THE GODFATHER"


Thank you Wentrceks for making the trip up to visit! We love y'all!

Are You Ready for Some FOOTBALL!??!?

Supporting the Ags their first game weekend of the season, thank goodness they BTHO SFA!


Being married to a football coach brings lots of fun and excitng discussions/lessons in plays such as what options Andy's offense is running, how "deep" his recievers/running backs/safetys go on a certain play and well a lot more he has told me but I can't remember and will spare my readers and say no more since I have probably already butchered what little of football jargon I know/understand.

Football season also brings Friday nights of girl time with the Reinberg girls, and well all day Saturday as well while Daddy/Coach works as late as 3am Friday night and then works from about 8am - 4pm on Saturday. It also brings Monday and Tuesday nights of Middle School football games which Eleanor and I haven't ventured to yet seeing as the temp. hasn't dropped below 90 STILL yet. As if we couldn't get enough football, we then have college games all day Saturday on TV AND even listening to Dave South dictate how terribly the Aggies are playing on Andy's computer WHILE watching another game on the TV and seeing the Aggie score scroll across the bottom of the screen bc don't worry, we will never be good enough to be televised unless we are playing t.u. AS IF 4 days a week of football weren't enough, we have Sunday to watch the Cowboys (so far) lose as well.

Sunday waiting to go to 4:30 mass after the game was over (we couldn't go to our usual noon mass because the Cowboys were playing...Eleanor is her "Daddy's Litttle Cowboy" shirt and her "First Levis"

I grew up around lots of football. I learned to be resilient to the incessant screaming shot at our television set by my dad in the fall while watching the cowboys (or whatever team is playing that he has fantasy players playing on). At first, it was an adjustment. I was told my Dad made me cry as a child because his "c'mon ref" or "where's the flag!?" came as a shock at first to me but then I eventually got used to it. After a while, I became "interested" in football so that my Dad would include me in his weekend rituals of watch parties. I would ask him to explain certain things to me but basically just understood that the qb throws the ball and a touchdown is when they run to the end of the field and score. I also learned the hand signal given by the ref for that from "Touchdown Jesus" at ND.

It wasn't until college that I learned quite a bit more at Aggie football games. College games, unlike hs where girls socialize while the guys watch the game, seemed to have much more fan involvement and so I learned a little more! It wasn't until my soph. or jr. year that I finally learned that the "1st down" yellow line you see on the TV ISN'T in fact painted on the field and moves as the team advances...WOW I know pretty sad to admit. Luckily I now have a football coach for a husband to explain this exciting game even more in depth to his poor and uneducated wife.

They say girls pick men like their fathers to marry. While I would say that Andy and Dad can be different in some ways, I definitely didn't get away from a football worshiping man. Last year, we had so much fun going to mom and dad's to watch the Cowboys play each weekend and so far have enjoyed watching with them AND Eleanor. Dad is already getting Eleanor used to the yelling...

Eleanor's first In Season Cowboy's Game

TOUCHDOWN Cowboys!

SO this being Eleanor's first football season, we have fully immersed her. Marmi bought her some Cowboys outfits to wear on gameday and like last year and she loves her many Aggie outfits as well. She has her own "1st football" that the Easter bunny brought her last year and she loves to hold it during games. She also like to yell at the TV and tell the players what they are doing wrong - she already knows more than her mommy!

Eleanor's first football

Daddy and Eleanor watching the Ags BTHO LALafayette...YES her eyes are on the TV...yikes!


Football is definitely ingrained in our lives, we just can't get enough!

Eleanor is 4 Months Old!

I can't believe how the time is flying. Eleanor had her four month old shots and checkup today on her actual four month bday. These are some pictures from her 4 month old day mark, just before she got her shots :(. She is in the 50th percentile across the board (head/lenght/weight). She weight in at 13 lb. 5 oz. and is 25 in. long. Our nurse this time was nice and speedy so her shots were definitely not as traumatic as her 2 mo. shots. She has been pretty sleepy and really wanting mommy to hold her ALL day but how could I complain about my little angel wanting to snuggle all day? We have had so much fun just sitting and rocking and reading books.

Eleanor, I miss you so much when I am away at school. This month I have especially noticed Monday mornings, leaving Marmi's house with just an indescribable hurt in my heart. I know you are in the best hands you could be in with your sweet Marmi but still hate that I miss out on your smiles, giggles, and sweet kisses all day long. You grow so much every day and I am so afraid that the business of life will make me miss out on something! Here are a few things you have been up to lately that make me smile:

- I think it is just adorable that you love your feet so much. You take your toes to your mouth and literally suck on them! I can't believe how limber you are! You definitely didn't get that from your mommy!

- You JUST started...like literally a couple of days ago, to blow bubbles almost trying to say the "b" sound...Daddy thinks you are trying to say "ball" (his first word)

- I love how vocal you are! You love to sing and talk in your crib before I come to get you, in the car, and laying on the floor when we play with you.

- You are rolling over like crazy. You hardly ever stay on your back and you go straight to your tummy once we lay you down.

- You don't like your tummy too much though your head control is great and you hold your head up nice and high! You will play with toys while you are on your tummy but after a while you like to tell Mommy and Daddy to flip you back over.

- I love your bedtime routine. It is such a special time for us together. Lately, we have been reading 3 books, "I Love You, Goodnight" (a book you were given that Mommy especially likes because it is full of similes - getting you ready to be a good writer from the beginning and you like because it rhymes and is very "sing song"), "Buenas Noches a Todos" (a book Mommy bought trying to immerse you in the Spanish language though Mommy doesn't completely understand what she is reading you because it is in "Espanol Solomente," and "Como Me Siento/How do I feel?" You like to have your paci in and to have one of your "lovies - soft little blanket/animal" by your face and you are always hugging it. Mommy reads and you like to help turn the pages while holding onto your lovie which currently is you "bun bun" that the Glynns all got you. After we read your books, we pray the same prayers Daddy prayed when he was little (Mommy used to just pray the "Our Father" and liked to sing it when she was little) - "Now I Lay Me...," The Lord's Prayer, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and thankful prayers. Then, Mommy lays you in bed and usually, you fall right asleep. You are so good to your Mommy and Daddy

- I love going to mass with you. You usually eat right before and fall asleep in the car on the way there. When you wake up, you are so happy to sing and pray out loud during mass.

- Mommy and Daddy are so lucky that you are sleeping through the night. You go to bed between 8 and 9 and then get up around 6 when we wake you to bring you to Marmis but you always fall back asleep in the car and wake up between 7:30 and 9 for the day. You have been known to take a 2-4hr. long nap in the morning and then nap in the afternoon as well.

- You just recently have been grabbing for Mommy and Daddy's food/water glass/wine glass a lot! Usually you sit in one of our laps or in the bumbo during dinner and now it has been three occasions that you have shined your sweet face at me as if wanting a sip of my water and I have given in, put the glass close to your mouth, you have opened, waited for the water to hit your lips, and started slirping as if you were a 2 year old drinking from a big girl cup but no, you are a 4 month old!

We love you so much baby girl, looking forward to what month 5 has to bring!

What Happened to my BACKGROUND!?

Ok so something happened to my old bg...don't know what but searching for a new one isn't a priority over ironing, grading papers, lesson plans, and keeping the house clean so unfortunately I had to pick this boring one from blogger to tide us over...oh well at least it is pink...my signature color!

Sitting here with the hubs watching the Cowboys lose their first game of the season when we both should be in bed...another week ahhh...I hope my kids are good and I REALLY hope a certain kid takes his meds tomorrow if you know what I mean...I LOVE 4th grade! No I am enjoying it I just have what can be quite the challenging class some days...the PE coach summed it up when I picked my kids up from PE Friday and he had a laundry list of things they did wrong and directions they didn't follow when he said, "You just can't catch a break, can you?"

Ok so this wasn't supposed to be a real post bc if it was I would be talking about my sweet little Eleanor who btw is just the coolest and sweetest little person ever and not my little delinquents. Anyway, headed to bed, hopefully will fix this background and catch the blogging world up on the Reinberg beautiful mess soon!

Peace and goodnight! :) PS the cowboys just scored with 3 secs left and it looked like it was recalled bc idiot #71 choked a redskin...this is going to be a good season...

"Late" Night Post

Late night post! I was sitting in bed wishing Andy wouldn't have to work so late thinking back to my old "late night posts" when I would get up to pee and wish I was going into labor! I don't know why I keep trying to re-live Eleanor's birth in my head, I just guess I loved that time! It is so amazing though how each day with Ellie gets better and better. I find myself always saying "THIS is my favorite phase in her life," and then a few days later she will top it!

School has started and I am exhausted. I don't know which was more tiring....right now or being pregnant this time last year...good thing this won't be paired with throwing up at least once a day this year! Anyway, I am adjusting to teaching 4th grade...it is amazing how one year younger brings a completely different bunch of kids. They just seem and really ARE so young! More to come later but since I am posting...may as well put an updated pic of my sweet baby :)