Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family. Here are a few of the pictures we took trying to get a good one for the Christmas card......it's a lot harder than you think to get a 2 1/2 year old to smile for the camera. Actually just look at the camera - we gave up on smiling.

It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of great pictures of Abby.

We hope that you have a very Merry Christmas and you experience and grow in the love of Jesus Christ this year. Abby is excited to make Jesus a birthday cake!

Santa Claus

We had "Breakfast with Santa" earlier this month. I thought Abby was going to do okay with visiting with Santa. That is until the boy in front of us starting crying. Then it was our turn, and Abby didn't want to have anything to do with that strange bearded man. Oh well - family photos with Santa are just as fun as individual photos.

We ask Abby what she wants for Christmas, and she tells us she wants a baby. It took a while, but we finally figured out that she wants a baby doll and not the baby in Mommy's tummy. We can definitely do that for Christmas!

It's a .....

.....GIRL! We found out in November that Abby will be getting a little sister. We are so very excited! I love that Abby will have a sister - I know that is such a special bond (one that I am very thankful to have) and am thrilled Abby will get to experience that. We also have her name picked out already - Madeline Faith Reinhard.

Happy Halloween

Abby dressed as Princess Fiona, Dan was Shrek, Tucker was Donkey, and Duncan was Puss 'n Boots. Abby and Dan went trick or treating and had lots of fun. Abby enjoyed her candy, of course. Abby picked out 5 pieces of candy she couldn't live without and left the rest for "The Great Pumpkin". He came to visit overnight taking the candy and leaving her a surprise (a puzzle and a book). I love "The Great Pumpkin"!

Dan, Dan, the Furniture Man

As some of you may or may not know, Dan makes furniture. He has made our bed, dining room table, coffee table, and an outside table and bench. Wow! Our latest addition to our home-made furniture family is our dresser. The picture doesn't do it justice - it is nearly 6 feet long. It is awesome! Dan is very talented, and I am very proud of him.

Happy Birthday!

State Fair of Texas!

Nanna, Hollie, Dan, Abby, and I went to visit Big Tex earlier in October. We saw animals, ate all sorts of fried foods, walked, walked some more, and saw lots of fun Texas stuff. Aside from it being in the 90's and there being thousands of pre-teen girls there to see a boy band, it was fun!

Fun Pics Around the House

Playing dress-up!

Playing in the backyard.

Making waffles with Daddy.

12 week sonogram

I had another sonogram done about 2 weeks ago. The sonographer switched over to the "3 dimensional" sonogram, and we got this really neat profile picture of Baby Reinhard.

Summer Fun with GG and Pawpaw

These are some pics from when Abby stayed with Pawpaw and GG while Dan and I moved Melissa down to Baton Rouge.....filling up her pool, sharing ice cream, and learning to eat a popsicle. Fun!

"The Devil's Drink"

Saturday morning, the family rode bikes to the donut store. We then had a breakfast picnic eating our donuts on a blanket in the park (we love the somewhat cooler weather!). I got a refrigerated Starbucks drink - the very sugary vanilla kind. Well, Abby saw it and asked for a "dink". After taking a sip, with her eyes big with excitement she asked, "that coffee?". She couldn't get enough. We asked her who she drinks coffee with.....her reply...."Nana". Who else? "GG and Pawpaw." Not being a fan of coffee, Dan calls it "the devil's drink". I, on the other hand, really enjoy a light tan colored coffee. It's kind of funny - I think she actually loves the taste of coffee. It's not the milky sugary-ness (sp?) of the drink, because she drinks it black with Nana. I think it's kind of sweet - to have that special caffeine bond with someone you love. Kids in middle school hang out at Starbucks these days....why not start at 2 years old? :)

Big Announcement

Well....the picture should say it all! Dan and I are expecting a wonderful gift from God on or about March 30th. We are so very happy - it feels like we have been trying forever, but we know HIS timing is perfect. When we were having the sonogram done, Dan was hoping the sonographer would find twins, but it looks like there's only one in there. I haven't been feeling great, but I've felt worse, so I'm thankful for that. So far, no nasty fits of rage that I was prone to when I was pregnant with Abby, so Dan's thankful for that. :) I've also taken this pregnancy opportunity to NOT eat like I'm never going to see food again. I'm hoping to not have to 30 pounds again after this one. Please pray for a safe and healthy pregnancy, delivery, and baby!

General Update

Our summer has come to an end, and school has started back for us. Our students come tomorrow. I'm sure Dan and I will both be completely exhausted next week! We are looking forward to having a great year, though.

Abby has started a new day care and is slowly adjusting. After just a few days there, she loves to sing her ABCs, the hokey pokey, and The Wheels on the Bus. So far, she has done fun things like painting, making play doh, playing outside, and playing in shaving cream. I can tell she is going to love it there and soak up so much knowledge.

Potty training has been going great! (Knock on wood). Abby has been doing a great job! She has an occasional accident at school, but that's to be expected. She must have really been ready - either that or she is a genius. I'm leaning toward genius.

Moving to Baton Rouge

No, not us. But, we helped my sister, Melissa, move there at the beginning of August. She will be getting her masters in Speech (public speaking, not speech therapy) at LSU. Geaux Tigers!

We spent some time with Melissa's friends (and ours) Kadee and Freddie. We got a chance to eat some gooooood seafood!!! I didn't realize how hard good seafood would be to find in Texas.

These are some views of and from the Mississippi River Bridge (not a good one if you're not a fan of bridges). It was a nice trip. It was really neat to see Melissa's next step in her life. I am very proud of her.

By Myself!

Well, the latest thing Abby likes to do by herself is take a shower. It's quite cute and quite easy for us. We can just sit on the edge and lather her up from there. I wonder how many other 2 year old shower by themselves?

I've been "tagged"

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!)4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog

Here are my 8 (that seems like so many) random facts:

1. I've never had braces. I've been blessed with very nice teeth. Thank you, Lord. I pray those genes are dominant.

2. Spiders give me the major heebie jeebies. However, we seem to have adopted one (a big one) as a pet. We have a "banana spider" on our balcony that we have decided not to kill since he seems to like eating pesky bugs. The pest guy told us it was a "banana spider" - after a search on wikipedia (which almost ended Spidey's life) - we discovered that there is a South American banana spider (extremely poisonous) and a North American one (helpful in eating bugs). Once we discovered we didn't have the South American spider, we decided not to kill him.

(I had to add the picture, so everyone else could get the heebies!)

3. I love pasta. I could eat it at every meal and be perfectly content.

4. I love my family - I believe I have the best husband and daughter ever!

5. Lately, I've been enjoying listening to books on tape/CD in my car. Nothing mind stimulating - medical mysteries.

6. I really like reality tv - some favorites are: Amazing Race, Top Chef, The Bachelor, most of the MTV ones, etc...

7. I tend to err on the lazy side - sometimes "good enough" is just what is needed. :)

8. I broke both pinkie toes this summer. The first (my left toe) was a nasty run-in with a phone book - the second (my right toe) was an unfortunate meeting with a lawn mower tire. I'm not sure if I have fragile toe bones or walk with a fierce verocity to my stride. Whatever the cause, I pray those genes are recessive. :)

I have no other friends that blog (other than you, Stephanie) that I could send this to. I guess I'll send it to Melissa and have it cross over to the myspace world.

Our Trip to the Hill Country

This past weekend we went to visit Dan's mom, Nanna, in Brady, TX. Abby had a wonderful time with her Nanna! She also loved all of Nanna's pets - Bandit the dog and Frankie the cat especially. Abby LOVED playing in the water at Nanna's house - she is a regular water baby!

We also met up with our friends, the Smiths, who have recently moved to San Marcos. We went to eat with them in Gruene, TX (pronounced Green - go figure) at the Gristmill. Abby enjoyed seeing her friend, Adeline again.

Goodbye, Reddy Reinhard

It's official.....the first Reinhard family pet has been laid to rest. Our beta fish, Reddy, terminated his life this morning by jumping out of his temporary bowl while his bowl was being cleaned. Dan found him on the kitchen floor - I'm glad it wasn't Abby who I can just hear saying, "Here's Reddy, Mommy" while coming to me with the dead fish in her hands. Now.....how to explain to a 2 year old that her fish died......

Do you need to go pee pee?

Since yesterday, that is what we've been saying about every 15 minutes. We've started potty training!! We went to Target and let her pick out some pairs - she chose Little Mermaid (as pictured in the photo), Disney princesses, and Curious George. Yes, Curious George is a bit curious, but I think she watches it at the sitter's so it was familiar to her.

Yesterday before the afternoon nap, we had been through 5 pair of panties. Today has gone great! She was dry up until nap time, then Dan had to clean a pair of poopy panties - he may not be thinking it's going so great.

So, we now travel with a potty in the back of our vehicles and 3 changes of clothes. Abby is doing a great job so far and we are very proud of her!

Abby's First Tennis Lesson

Abby had her first tennis lesson today (Dan is her coach!). It consisted mostly of chasing the balls and running around the court. Not a whole lot of racket skills yet, but I'm sure they're coming.

Abby's Fro

Abby's blond locks seem to get thicker and fuller by the day. After breakfast the other day, Dan ran his fingers through her hair and gave her a "fro"!

Girl's Trip

Hollie, Rachel, Jenny, Sarah, and I took our annual "girl's trip" at the end of June. We went to Rachel's ranch house in El Campo, Texas. We did all sorts of girlie things - including talking until all hours of the morning, playing with make-up, taking in the local cuisine, and playing dress-up in the local Wal-Mart. It was very relaxing and everyone had a nice time.