Reifschneider Update

So hard to believe that it has been 3 years since I last posted anything to my blog!  I can honestly say that I think about writing often, so it really doesn’t seem like it has been that long, but as seems to be the norm the last few years, time has flown by.  I won’t be able to do a quick “summary” of all that has occurred over the last 36 months (that would take time that I just don’t have now), but I do need to back up to a little over a year ago to catch everyone up on how life is with the Reifschneider's.

First let me start by saying that I have always, since I can remember, wanted to be a mother.  However, before Larry and I got married, we had the “kids” talk, and he let me know, plain and simple, that he didn’t want to have any children.  Out of pure love, or just plain naivety, I thought that I would be able to live without children because I couldn’t imagine living my life without him.  As time went on, and the days turned into months, and the months turned into years, my desire for a child of my own became so great that I started feeling myself turn toward depression.  Every time I would find out someone was pregnant, be it a friend or even a celebrity, I would become so overwhelmed with emotion (usually not the happy kind at first), that I would hardly be able to handle it.  I’m not proud of it, but it’s true.  Jealousy was definitely rearing its ugly head with me.  As the years of marriage went from 3 to 4 to 5 to 6, I finally realized, after much prayer, that I needed to stop being depressed and focusing on the fact that I was going to be that lady that had a bunch of nieces and nephews (some blood related and some not) with no children of my own, and start being happy and focusing on the things that I did have – a great husband, family, my health, and the list goes on and on. 

No sooner did I decide that I was going to be “okay” with not ever having children when Larry gave me the news that we were not going to be not trying to get pregnant anymore.  Make sense?  We weren’t actively “trying”, as in I wasn’t constantly checking dates on the calendar, but we weren’t taking any preventative measures any longer.  I had about 5 months to get used to the fact that we weren’t preventing any pregnancies, and honestly, at that point, I didn’t even know if I could get pregnant since I was already 31 years old and my mother went through menopause at an extremely early age (29) and I started having pre-menopausal symptoms in my early twenties.

I will never, for as long as I live, forget the day I found out I was pregnant.  Shock doesn’t even seem like a precise enough word for how I felt.  I was sure that it wasn’t ever going to happen to me, and I honestly just took the test to say that I did, I was positive it was going to give a negative result. 

That was June of 2012 and the following 8 ½ months were wonderful.  Aside from about 3 weeks of nausea at the beginning and 6 weeks of “pregnancy carpal tunnel” at the end, I’d say that it was an almost symptom free pregnancy.  I’m not sure if it was simply because of how badly I wanted it and how long I had waited and prayed for it, but I can honestly say that I loved being pregnant and I miss it.  Crazy, I know.

March 8, 2013, Lucas Robert was born at 7:52 am weighing 7 lbs 3 oz and measuring 20 inches long.  Joy doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling.  Elation, bliss, and ecstasy seem like better words, but still are not enough either.  Not sure such a word exists.  At least not in my meager vocabulary.  Lucas is everything I ever dreamed of and prayed for.  He is the reason I do just about anything these days.  He has brought my life such purpose and I am so thankful for him and for this blessing God has bestowed upon us.

Larry has turned out to be an amazing father.  He works hard to provide for us and no matter how late he gets home from a hard day of killing bugs, he is always ready to play with his son and get some “Lucas time” in before bedtime.

I am extremely blessed in the fact, that although I am currently working 2 part time jobs (just decreased down from three), that I am able to take Lucas to work with me.  We haven’t had to pay for daycare or deal with the colds and illnesses that inevitably come with it, and for that we are extremely grateful.

Right now Lucas is 6 ½ months old and he seems to literally grow every time I blink.  He has developed quite the sense of humor already, and seems to laugh at legitimately humorous things.  He is wanting to talk so badly, and I swear he can say “Mama”, but his daddy insists that it is just his babbling.  I think he’s just jealous though!  Lucas loves his jumperoo and eating (just milk, he doesn’t quite like solids yet) and he squeals with delight when being swung up and down.

He’s not sleeping through the night yet, but I enjoy the extra mommy and son time we get in the wee hours, so I’m not in a hurry to make that happen too soon.  We’re anticipating he’s going to start sitting up, teething and crawling very soon and we are desperately looking for the slow-motion button! 

If you’re still here, thanks for reading this ridiculously long post.  This basically brings you up to date on our lives right now.  I’m going to try to post an update at least once a month.  I’d love to do a weekly update on what we’re doing like my friend does (you know who you are if you’re reading this), but I don’t think that is very realistic right now, so I’m just going to start with small goals.

A Christmas Letter

December 8, 2010

Dearest friends and family:

2010 couldn’t have come soon enough for us. Larry and I were desperate for a new year and a new beginning. We needed this year to be a good year, and God definitely provided.

In January, our sweet nephew, John Patrick, or Juan Patricio as I normally refer to him as, turned one year old. It is amazing to see how much he has grown this year as we are quickly approaching his second birthday in less than 2 months. He now calls me Titi (short for Tia Tina) and I love him more than I ever thought possible!

In February we celebrated my mother’s 50th birthday. Yes, Sieglinde is 50, and I know, she doesn’t look a day older than 35! We had many naysayers, but we were able to pull off a complete surprise thanks to the help of many people! She was so excited, and it was all she talked about for weeks!

In June we were gifted the most wonderful vacation! Larry’s boss (and his very close friend) gave us tickets and spending cash to party it up in San Fransisco for 6 days! Saying the trip was wonderful is a complete understatement. San Francisco was beautiful, we got to see our cousins, Josh and Justin, who live in Los Angeles, and we had the most amazing time imaginable! We are almost scared to go again for fear that the next trip cannot ever live up to our first visit!

Angel and I celebrated our 2-year “anniversary” in July. It’s hard to believe it has only been two and a half years since she and her 3 kids came into our lives. Angel, Erick, Mia and Mariah all have a special place in our hearts. We love them and are so happy that they are now a part of our family.

In August, our cousins Jesica and, her husband, Jeremy visited with their son Seth. It was such a joy to meet their new baby and we were so blessed to witness them having him dedicated at our church. We also got a chance to have some one on one time with Jesica and Jeremy while the grandparents watched the little one. We really had so much fun with them and can’t wait for them to come back!

I also turned 30 in August and had the most amazing almost-surprise party. Some might say that it’s because I “have to know everything” that I “ruined” the surprise, but I say that it is merely because I am observant and inquisitive and that I became the victim! I’m still not sure how it would have worked had I have actually been surprised, but it was a gorgeous party! Twilight Theme (complete with Team Edward and Team What’s-his-face t-shirts), cash bar, and about 100 friends and family – what more could I ask for? It was great!

Erika got married this September! That’s right, I said “married”! Tim is great and he is so good with my sister and the baby. They are expecting a little girl that is due March 8, 2011 and we are so excited to have another baby in the family! We pray for the best for Erika and Tim and we welcome him with open arms to our not-so-ordinary family.

In October we had the privilege of seeing our cousins Josh, Justin, Jesica and Jeremy again when we went to Los Angeles for Josh and Justin’s wedding. We had such an awesome trip and it was great to get to hang out with them. The wedding was in Palm Springs, California and it was gorgeous. Justin was an absolutely stunning bride! We wish Josh and Justin the absolute best and we couldn’t have asked for a better wife for him, we love her and are so very happy for the both of them! And by the way, we are loving the seeing-the-cousins-twice-a-year thing! Hopefully we can keep this up!

November was especially nice this year as we had our first Veteran’s Day sermon at church where our pastor honored Boofie with a special folding of the flag given to her at Papa’s funeral by an Honor Guard. Our cousin, Jacob, drove down from Oklahoma for the service and we were able to spend time with him over the weekend. We truly enjoyed hanging out with him, and we now have some pretty hilarious stories between the three of us.

This years’ Baxter-Byers-Booth-King-Morrison-Perez-Reifschneider-Simpson Thanksgiving was a hit as per usual. My mom, Amanda, Erika, John Patrick and Tim were all visiting our family in Germany and they were missed, but we did have Uncle Bill, Aunt Cindy, our cousin Alisha and her daughter, Elizabeth, join us from Oklahoma, so that was a very nice surprise!

We pray that you are all well and we truly thank God for putting you in our lives. As we reflect on the past couple of years, we know we couldn’t be where we are today without the amazing friends and family that God has blessed us with. We anticipate this new year with faith and excitement about what God has in store for us, and we wish you the blessing of hope and the peace of His love this Christmas and always!

                                                            All our love,

                                                            Larry (Trey) & Christina

Happy Birthday, Alexis!

I don’t even know where to start with this girl! To say that I adore her is a complete understatement. Three years ago today, our family’s lives were definitely changed when she was born!  She has the ability to make you laugh when you are really supposed to be mad, to turn the tables and make you console her when you were in fact reprimanding her, and she is really good at showing off her cuteness and pulling at your heart-strings!

Alexis is 19 months younger than Bianca, but that doesn’t keep her from doing just about everything her older sister does. On Bianca’s first day of Pre-School this past August, Alexis wouldn’t let us go until she was sure that I had a picture of her with Bianca’s backpack on and then when we got to Bianca’s classroom she sat in the seat right next to her sister and got right to work.  She definitely learns a lot from and looks up to her older sister.  So far so good, they play really well together and don't fight very often.  Hopefully that will be the case for many, many years to come, if not always.

She’s definitely learning the ropes from her older sister and is one of the smartest 3 year olds I know.  This is Alexis singing a song that Bianca learned in pre-school and that Alexis very quickly picked up.

 

When I take them out and people ask if the girls are my daughters or my neices, I sometimes think it's a little odd that I have cousins that are over 20 years younger than me.  But I've realized that the difference in having cousins that are close to your age and having cousins that could literally be one of your own kids is that I don’t love these girls like I love my other cousins, I love them as if they were my very own children. Obviously I know that one day I may have to admit that I love my own children just a tad bit more, but I honestly can’t begin to fathom that at this point.  My heart swells with joy and love every time I see them and I literally ache until I get to see them again.  Thank God we live so close!

Alexis, there is a special part of my heart that will ALWAYS be just for you. I so enjoy watching you grow up and am so very happy that I get to be a big part of your life. Your smile and laugh are infectious and I cannot wait for each moment I get to spend with you.  I love you so much more than I could ever express!!
 

Feliz Cumpleaños! Te quiero mucho!!

Bianca's First Day of School



My cousin, Bianca, just started Pre-School at Rylander Elementary last month, and there is absolutely NOTHING that could have stopped me from seeing her and taking pictures before her big day.  That morning I got up earlier than I ever thought possible, got ready for work and left to go see her off.  My aunt and I got both girls up and got them fed, dressed and hair done and we left to go take her to school.  The traffic was unbelievable (they live about 3 blocks from the school), so we parked at the neighborhood pool and walked the rest of the way.  We took pictures outside of the school and my aunt and uncle were gracious enough to let me join them walking her to class.  So, the three of us (along with Alexis) walked her to her class and helped her find her chair, and when we left her, who do you think was the one crying?  Bianca?  Nope.  Me.  I was so excited for her, but it really hit me how much she is growing up!  I'll definitely treasure these times that I have with her where she still wants me to sing to her and she calls me to come over and play.  She loves her class, loves her teachers, is learning more than I ever thought imaginable, and has so much fun every day.  And that was all that we were ever hoping for!



Surprise!...Almost.

Last month I turned 30. T-H-I-R-T-Y years old. Not much exciting to look forward to when you turn 30. I was so excited to turn 15 so that I could go to Drivers’ Ed, 16 so I could get my Drivers’ License, 18 so I could buy lottery tickets and vote, 21 so I could go to the casino (I wasn’t interested in drinking back then) and 25 so I could rent a car on my own. And what do I get when I turn 30? My manicurist guessing that I was turning 35 years old and an employee at the liquor store asking for a guy’s ID to be sure he was old enough to be in the store by himself and not even giving me a second glance! I’m going to have to start using Oil of Olay!

For my 30th, my sweet family decided to throw me a surprise party. They successfully decided on the location and theme and had many, many friends in on it…and then…I.found.out. I know what you’re thinking, but I swear that I didn’t mean to find out! I was the victim! I knew for weeks before I even mentioned anything to my sister, then she tried to lead me astray and I tried so hard to forget what I had seen and what I suspected, but I would randomly think about it (like while pumping gas) and I couldn’t let it go. Sure, the surprise would have been great, BUT like I told my mom and sister, finding out only meant that I got the opportunity to be excited about the party for weeks instead of only being excited during the party.

So, the BEST thing about the party was the theme – Twilight. My friend (who I won’t name in case she wants to keep her anonymity, but you all know who it is) and I are semi-Twilight fanatics. I say “semi” because most everyone knows that we love Twilight, and we know we are crazy, but it’s not like we’re losing our jobs or our marriages (as some people reportedly have) over our obsession. Yes, we have read all the books (some more than once) and we have seen the movies multiple times, and yes, we have conversations about the characters as if they are real people, but really, we’re not that crazy! So, the theme was great! My mom and Amanda had apples to represent Twilight, feathers with “blood” on them for New Moon, red ribbon in vases for Eclipse and hand painted chess boards with chess pieces for Breaking Dawn. VERY CLEVER!

There were Twilight posters all over the room and a life-size cut-out of Edward that even got taken out on the dance floor a couple of times (and not by me!). The room was gorgeous!

My dad made the food, which was delicious, and there was a cash bar (I had free drinks all night thanks to my sister!). My sister also did an amazing (and sometimes embarrassing) slideshow. Then there was music and dancing, an encore of the dance Amanda and Robbie did of Grease at my wedding and an impromptu comedic act when our friend, Jason, had his turn with the microphone.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that I spoiled the whole surprise party surprise, there was another surprise I managed to, again unintentionally, spoil. Larry had to leave early to help my dad with taking the food to the location and I wasn’t ready to go yet, so I called my friend, Lynette, to see if she could pick me up on her way. I frantically got dressed and to my surprise was ready right about the time she was supposed to pick me up. With nothing to do but wait, I headed to check Facebook out for the first time that day. What’s the first thing I see? A picture of our friends, Jeff & Berdie, wearing matching “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob” shirts! Obviously, Jeff doesn’t always go around sporting a Team Jacob shirt, and I knew they were both coming to the party, so it only took me a second to figure out that was another surprised I had ruined! If you ever read this Lynette…I LOVE the shirts! Thank you so much!

Even after ruining two surprises, I had a fabulous time! I saw friends that I don’t get to see very often and even had some party crashers!

I want to thank everyone who had any part with the party! Those that planned, decorated, cooked, set up, attended, helped clean up – each one of you made the night one that I will never forget! I love you all!

Christina

Happy REALLY Belated Birthday Robbie!!

Robbie, I started writing this post before your birthday, and just haven’t found the time to blog at all since then. Just wanted to let you know that I didn’t forget you and I love you very much! Sorry it’s so late!!

Many of you don’t know my brother, Robbie. Let me first say that God definitely had his hand in bringing him into our lives so long ago. 23 years ago, when Robbie was just 6 weeks old, Robbie’s mom, Tomi, saw a notice on the church bulletin about a woman who babysat kids in her home. After just one meeting with my mom, Tomi was convinced she had found the right person to watch her baby. From that point on, he was at our house from 6 am – 6 pm, Monday through Friday until he was ten years old.

He instantly became part of our family. My mom spoke to him in Spanish (sometimes Tomi would have to call and ask us what he was asking for), and he grew up calling my mom “Mami” and my dad “Papi”. My dad had always wanted a son, and with Robbie’s father not in the picture, he was able to step in and he and my brother have a great bond. I know now that this was all part of God’s amazing plan for my brother. As a little boy, Robbie even had an explanation for how he fit into our family and when people asked him where he was born, he would say “In Venezuela at HEB on Highway 6 next to the apples”.

With 4 older sisters (Amanda is 3 months older than him) and an older brother, Robbie sure did have a lot of people bossing him around when he was younger (he might argue that he STILL has a lot of people bossing him around), but he isn’t bitter about it. He has the most giving spirit of anyone I know. He is truly selfless. Growing up he would do anything asked of him, and that hasn’t changed a bit over the years.

Robbie is an actor. He has been “acting” ever since he learned to walk and talk and let me tell you, he is hilarious! I am not exaggerating when I tell you that he has made me laugh so hard that my stomach hurts over a message he left on our answering machine. He currently participates in plays in the San Antonio area, but I have no doubt that he WILL make it to Los Angeles or New York one day. 

Robbie & Amanda dancing to Grease at my birthday party

Robbie had the privilege (or some might say the misfortune) of being my other baby along with Amanda. He was always so sweet and would keep me company whenever I needed it. He’s the best person to sing a duet with in the car, the most awesome person to have a cleaning party with and the most amazing person to have pray with you.

Robbie, I am so proud of the man you have become. You have never used situations in your life as excuses, but have learned from them and grown into a strong yet compassionate man. I thank God that he has given me you as my brother, you are absolutely the perfect choice!

San Francisco!

Three weeks ago, we were gifted a last-minute trip to San Francisco. Let me first say, that we are so thankful for this tremendously generous gift we received and we absolutely love the people we received it from (who I will not name in case they would like to remain anonymous).

By last minute I mean, we found out on Wednesday that we would be leaving early Saturday morning for 5 nights and 6 days, and I didn’t even get the okay from my boss until Thursday afternoon. I am a last minute packer anyway, and with this vacation being booked with only two days notice, it actually justified my usual midnight run to Walmart the night before a flight and the all-night laundry and packing fiasco.

Without having slept at all, we left our house at 4:15 am and began our vacation with breakfast on our way to the airport. I just LOVE vacations! The fact that everything is low-cal or no-cal while you’re away is so freeing!

Two planes and 7 hours later, we made it to gorgeous, sunny and -- COLD San Francisco. When we were told to “bring a sweater”, we thought that meant it would get chilly in the evenings. Well, not for this native Houstonian. It was in the 60’s during the day and 50’s at night, and we quickly realized that we would NOT be laying out on the beach and getting a tan as we had thought. Sunny, beachy California dreams were consistently met with “not in San Francisco” when we talked to the locals. I guess we stereo-typed just as much as those who think everyone in Texas lives on a ranch with horses.

The first two days of our trip, we were able to hang out with our cousins Josh and Justin who graciously made the 6-hour drive from Los Angeles to spend some time with us. We had so much fun with them! It had been 10 months since we had seen them, and we really needed and enjoyed our J&J time! Fortunately for us, they had been to SF several times and showed us how to get around town and took us to several must see touristy spots.

Golden Gate Bridge

Us with Josh and Justin (cousins)

The Muir Woods

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Alcatraz

We took our time with everything and really enjoyed every second of our trip.  It had been a long time since we had had the opportunity to vacation like that and we relished every minute of it.  There were so many things we didn't get to see or do, but we decided we needed to leave something for next time! 

See more pics here

13 Years of Love

Larry and I started dating 13 years ago today.  The past 13 years have been nothing short of interesting to say the least.  There is never a dull moment in our lives it seems.  I thank God that I have had the opportunity to share these years with him and for the privilege of getting to spend the rest of my life with him.

This morning as I wrote the date down and realized its significance, I sent my sweet husband this text message:

"13 years ago today, I started my life with you.  I love you so much.  Thank you for being the best husband and very best friend I could ever want or need."

 

His response made my eyes swell with tears:

"Your beauty is exceeded only by your patience and constant optimism.  My life would be empty without the experience of our love, a dark canvas without the life of color.  May God bless us with seventy more scoons (years) together!"

To say that I love him, almost seems like I'm lying.  "Love" doesn't seem to be a strong enough word or do my feelings justice.  I looked up some synonyms of the word "love", and I think I will try to start using different words that I haven't said to him every day multiple times a day for the past 13 years.  Words that I'll only ever say to him and never another man.  Words that may better capture the depth of my sentiments for the man that still makes me the happiest girl in the world!

Babe, I adore you and think the world of you!

Happy Birthday, Erika!

My sister, Erika, was my very first best friend.  She and I are a little less than 2 years apart and to say that we did everything together is an understatement.    Since we were so close in age, Erika wanted to do everything I did.  My mom who always wanted to be fair, treated us like twins...if I got something, Erika did too, only usually in a different color.  She even dressed us alike. 

Let me just say that having her as a sister, there was NEVER a dull moment! 

If you've ever met my sister, you would probably never guess that she got off to a late start talking.  She wouldn't speak clearly and instead of talking, tried to get away with some kind of baby babble well into her second year.  My mom would ask her what she wanted, trying to get her to talk and Erika would respond with some incomprehensible gibberish and she would say, "Erika, I don't understand you".  Well, it never failed that I would jump in as the big sister and tell my mom exactly what she wanted.  I understood her and I did not realize that my mom was simply trying to get her to speak clearly.  To some extent, this even happens to this day.  I understand her more than most people and usually know how she is feeling or what she is thinking before she can even verbalize it.

Trying to pick a story or two from our childhood to put in this post has been difficult.   We have so many funny memories that we desperately need to get documented before we forget them (if we haven't already).  This is one of Erika's favorite stories, and I'm sure she is expecting I put it in here.  I've never written it down before, so we'll see if it is as funny when you read it as it is when you hear it.  In December of 1987, when I was 8 and Erika was 5 years old, I broke my elbow.  At this point, Erika and I had bunk beds and I normally slept on the top bunk.  However, since I required surgery and had 2 pins in my elbow, a soft cast, and could not bend my arm, my mom put me on the bottom and Erika on the top so that I wouldn't injure myself further trying to climb up and down the ladder.  In the middle of the night, I woke up having to go to the bathroom.  Several things hindered me from going on my own - I couldn't get up out of bed on my own without hurting my elbow and I couldn't pull my pajama pants down (or back up) by myself, so I called out for Erika to help me.  After calling her name three times, I got a groggy response and told her that I needed to go to the bathroom, she said okay, and the next thing I heard was a huge THUD!  When my mom ran into the room, Erika was still laying face down on the carpet trying to figure out what had just happened.  She had totally forgotten that she was on the top bunk and just stepped out as if she was on the bottom.  Fortunately, she was just fine, and now we have a hilarious story to tell our grandkids.

As with most siblings...we had a few years where we didn't get along quite as well as we did in our younger years.  She didn't much care for my advice and I didn't like that she wasn't accepting it and abiding by it.  BUT as we got older, we found a mutual admiration for each other.  I hope she realizes now that my "advice" was given purely out of love and not some sick need to be right all the time.  The last year and a half or so, during the last few months of her pregnancy, and since John Patrick was born, we have been closer than ever.  We love taking the baby and our little cousins, Bianca, 4, and Alexis, 2, to the park, Chuck E Cheese and Disney on Ice together.  It is rare that we go more than a day or two without atleast talking on the phone and we see each other atleast once a week.

Erika has turned out to be such a great mother!  I am so proud of her and John Patrick definitely loves his mommy!  She goes above and beyond to make sure that he has everything he needs, no matter the circumstances.

Erika, I am so proud of the mother and person you are.  Know that if you or John Patrick ever need anything at all, I am just a phone call away. 

I love you both so very much.

Happy Birthday!!!