elle fusch

22 months

2012-01-20T15:48:00.001-06:00

21 months

2012-01-07T14:16:00.001-06:00

20 months

2011-11-19T13:39:00.000-06:00

19 months

2011-10-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

18 months

2011-09-19T14:18:00.002-05:00

my how time flies!! happy 18 months to my baby!

she is doing perfect these days.

moving around like crazy, talking and GROWING.

she had a huge growth spurt per the doc at her recent appointment.

she grew 3 inches in three months and went from 30% in height to 75% which explains all her sleeping lately!

she is the joy of our lives and we are truly blessed by her!

recent mobile happenings...

2011-08-28T22:19:00.016-05:00

eleanor cuddling with her blankie. LOVE.

practicing the balance beam at little gym.

eleanor and lyla enjoying milk and mickey.

cat face.

caught eleanor playing in the dryer...with daddy's underwear.

yes it's around her neck because everything is a necklace to her.

lil pianists.

trying on a fedora. how do i look?

hanging with the nickell boys at the san diego zoo.

i need this pic framed...

rach, eleanor and eli.

my lil anthro model.

an unhappy lyla because we were taking pics of her and her mess.

cousins playing at the galleria.

jett, eleanor and deedee.

bathtime with jett!

17 months

2011-08-28T13:17:00.003-05:00

hangin with mark c!

2011-07-20T17:28:00.003-05:00

we had a little run in with mark cuban at northpark today.

we were hoping for mark to hold both eleanor and lyla on each hip but let's just say lyla was not a happy camper about being passed off to mc.

oh well...i suppose this pic will do!

thanks mark!

bubbles are funny

2011-07-19T17:48:00.000-05:00

16 months

2011-07-18T15:20:00.001-05:00

happy 16 months eleanor claire!

happy 4th of july!

2011-07-04T19:27:00.001-05:00

hope your day was wonderful!

15 months

2011-06-24T17:14:00.002-05:00

14 months

2011-05-18T13:39:00.004-05:00

happy 14 months ellie bellie!

all i can say is being a mommy gets better and better by the day!

what a precious angel she is to us!

aloha!

2011-05-04T09:03:00.002-05:00

this past valentine's day, blake, ryan and chris surprised me, danielle and lindsay with a trip to maui.

well it's finally here and i cannot wait to be laying in the sun, catching some rays and relaxing!!

three of four kiddos are coming too which will be a total blast!

i can't wait for eleanor to play in the water & sand & experience one of my favorite places on this planet.

i hope everyone has a fabulous week!

xoxo

jett has something to say...

2011-04-25T15:33:00.004-05:00

that's right!!!!
my beautiful sister, meredith and her husband patrick are expecting number two.
i couldn't be more excited for them!
they are due november 27 so it looks like we will be having a thanksgiving baby this year.

oh and then guess what...

lindsey and jeremy durrett are prego too!
here we go. round two!
i am seriously beyond thrilled for them.
they are due dec 3 which was lyla's original due date. crazy!

i cannot wait to meet these two precious babies.
i absolutely love being an aunt and it is an understatement to say that eleanor LOVES her cousins.
what fun it will be to have so many cousins her age to play with!

meredith & lindsey- you both will be in our prayers over these next nine months.
love you and your familes!
XOXO

happy easter!

2011-04-21T16:05:00.001-05:00

13 months

2011-04-17T16:53:00.000-05:00

happy 13 months sweet girl!

bluebonnets

2011-04-13T10:56:00.016-05:00

last weekend i met up with crystal and dan kulle and their three children as well as erin nickell, her three boys and brianna and matt (their aunt and uncle) to take some pics in the bluebonnets. what fun it was to capture such beautiful families. erin and crystal are true supermoms! it's amazing to watch them in action! i was able to get a lot more of the kulle fam since we started a bit earlier. shae was my little super model! once the nickells arrived, the kids were all about playing, hiking and finding sticks. benny wasn't too excited about pics but i still thought it was important to capture the true emotion of the day even so. i mean kids are still cute when they cry right?! these are just a few of my favorite pics below!

girl's trip!

2011-04-13T10:41:00.002-05:00

me, rach, amy and erin are headed to fredricksburg, texas for a girl's getaway tomorrow.

oh how i have been looking forward to this for so long and it's FINALLY here!

it is my first time leaving eleanor with blake for longer than a few hours (i just finished nursing 5 days ago). i know she will be in good hands and i can tell he is excited to have some special father/daughter time this weekend.

we have rented out a cottage near main street and have some fun things planned- shopping, eating, dining, wineries, hiking, etc but if you know of anything specific we should do, please let me know! i think we are all excited for different reasons and are looking forward to getting out of the city and relaxing for a few days.

have a happy wednesday and a great weekend!

Dance Your Shoes Off

2011-04-13T10:06:00.003-05:00

More than 2,000 members of Second Baptist Church in Houston (where my sister and her husband both work and are a part of this video) flooded Discovery Green to perform a choreographed dance to a praise song about the resurrection in hopes that video of the event will go viral on YouTube in the weeks leading up to Easter. What an inspirational and uplifting video!! Hope you enjoy!

birthday wishes

2011-04-10T09:26:00.004-05:00

kilkenny engagement

2011-04-05T16:15:00.008-05:00

i had the opportunity to snap some engagement pics for chris & alicia this past week. what a fun couple they are! check out just a few of the many pics that were taken! hope you enjoy!

thanks for letting me a part of such a special time in your lives!

it's that time again...

2011-03-29T19:32:00.003-05:00

we are headed to round top, texas (population 77) tomorrow for some antique shopping!

i look forward to this every spring and fall.

love searching for some new treasures!

oh and the weather should be perfect.

i hope everyone has a fabulous week!

E update

2011-03-24T10:34:00.002-05:00

we had eleanor's 12 month check up yesterday.
everything went well.
she weighed in at 18 pounds 12 ounces (15%) and is 29 1/4 inches long (50%).
she got four shots.
pour thing...the minute she lays on that awful paper, she knows whats coming next.

one thing we were excited about doing was turning eleanor's carseat forward after this appt.
well apparently the newest study (and what my doctor is going by as of two days ago) now wants parents to wait until the child is two years old.
we can switch her to her big girl carset but sorry eleanor- one more year staring at the back of a seat.
however the doc did say that at 18 months we would talk about it again.
depending on her height and whether her feet were touching the seat, we may be able to switch her then.
well shall see.

current E facts:
- finally crawling and almost walking.
- has her two bottom teeth and i am pretty sure the top two should be here any day.
- sleeping 7:30pm -7:45am.
- naps at 9:30am and 3:00pm for 1-2 hours.
-down to nursing only in the morning. this feeding will be dropped in a week or so (or whenever mommy can actually "let go").
- 3 sippy cups of whole milk throughout the day at 11:30 (after her morning nap), 2:45 (before afternoon nap) and 7:30 (bedtime).
- her favorite foods are tomatoes, blueberries and hummus.
- she is quite the talker...i feel like she learns a new word every day.
- she gets more obsessed with her cousins lyla and jett every day.
- she also gets super excited when she sees her uncle "keg" or craig, dada, buddy, grandma (susu and diana), both grandpas, lulu and aunt mere, Deeeee (danielle), bentley and travis. it is so fun to watch her recongnize more and more people!

happy thursday friends!

it worked for us!

2011-03-22T11:59:00.005-05:00

on feb. 1, 2011, blake and i decided to do something we both have NEVER done before.

are you ready for this.
we started a diet.
yes that's right. a diet.
not just any diet but the south beach diet.

my parents have been on the south beach diet for over a year.
my dad has lost well over 30 pounds and my mom 20.
they both look AMAZING!

i was tired of the 10 pounds of baby weight i still had to lose and i knew i couldn't do it alone.
somehow, someway i convinced blake to attempt the SB diet with me.
i just knew i couldn't do it without blake...especially since we cook/eat almost every meal together.
so we agreed that after we got back from our colorado trip in jan, we would begin SB.

and that we did.

i will say, the first two weeks (phase 1) which involves no carbs or sugars, was HARD.
the second week easier than the first but still a challange to say the least.

we are still on phase 2 today.
you stay on this phase until you reach your goal, whatever that may be.
in phase 2 you can bring whole wheat, fruit and some other foods back in to your diet.
the diet is super easy for the most part now since our body has adjusted.
we really don't have cravings for the things we used to.
it is safe to say it has been a lifestyle change for us.

blake has lost 18 pounds and i have lost 10 pounds.
yes i finally am back down to my pre-baby weight and i have a one year old! yay!

i have to say, i am completely impressed with blake and his devotion to this diet.
you would think that maybe once or twice you would cheat, and i am sure most do.
but NOT blake. there is no cheating on this diet.
it's all or nothing for him which i totally respect.

who knows how long we will be doing this.
today we both can agree we are happy with the results and the difference we feel in our body.

hooray for losing weight!! ;o)

eleanor turns ONE

2011-03-22T11:26:00.014-05:00

we had such a fun time celebrating eleanor's first birthday this past saturday.
between friends and family, baby bounce, the castle bounce house & all the yummy food, i would say eleanor was ONE happy girl!

below are a few pics (of over 600 that were taken).
check out the rest on facebook!

eleanor's invitation...the theme: PINK!

smashcake and dessert table. pink pink and more pink!

12 month birthday banner

seeing all her friends and family for the first time.

walking with mama.

parachute time.

loves it when we sing happy birthday to her. not a fan of cake. and i am ok with that.

blake trying to feed cake to eleanor. she wasn't having it.

it's baby bounce time!

family photo opp.

jett kissing on his cousin.

eleanor and lyla in the castle bounce house.

thanks to all our friends and family who helped with this party.

i was so happy with the turn out and have you all to thank.

we love you and had such a special time celebrating eleanor's first birthday!

happy st. patty's day to YOU!

2011-03-17T09:04:00.000-05:00

12 months

2011-03-16T20:08:00.002-05:00

happy happy birthday to our sweet angel!
it's hard to believe we have been parents for an entire year now.
what a fun and blessed year we have had. PURE JOY!

Eleanor stats to come after we go to her 12 month appt next week.

st. pattys

2011-03-14T15:28:00.004-05:00

this past saturday we hung out at the carreker's all day for their annual st. patty's day gathering.
of course we had a blast and as always, they were such great hosts.

we tried to snap some pics of a few of the kids while we could grab their attention.
we weren't really successful but it was a cute attempt.

thanks for another great party chris and lindsay!

this weeks faves

2011-03-11T10:32:00.002-06:00

these are this weeks (or i guess i should say last weeks) faves.

casey abrams and pia toscano.
i told you i would change my mind.

i must say, this season is a good one.

a talented group to say the least.

tonight though, it's all about the bachelor.

so far, she's my fave.

2011-03-03T10:12:00.002-06:00

not sure how i will feel in the weeks to come, but today i vote for haley reinhart.
oh how i love me some american idol!

picnic in the park

2011-02-19T11:12:00.017-06:00

yesterday linds and i took the girls to one of our favorite parks to have a picnic, play and snap some pics.

we couldn't have asked for a prettier day!

i hope you all enjoy this beautiful weekend!

11 months

2011-02-15T15:30:00.004-06:00

happy 11 months to my sweet baby girl!

E stats:

- as of today she weighs 18 lbs

- she is sleeping 12 hours at night, 7:30p-7:30a

- still napping at 9:30a and 3:00p for 1-2 hours each nap

- down to three nursings a day- 7:30a, 3:00p and 7:30p

- has recently been introduced to whole milk which she has after her morning nap & she seems to love.

- her second tooth is going to pop through any minute- gums are purple and swollen.

- she is moving around a lot more these days. looks like she will be going straight from sitting to walking and never crawl!

- she is quite the talker. she points at about anything she can see and says "that, that" until you tell her what it is.

- her favorite word is duddy which means buddy.

- her newest words that she has learned is thank you and baby.

- she loves to give high fives.

- she is getting more and more attached to her daddy each day. it is absolutely adorable!

what a blessing these last 11 months have been. i cannot believe we will be celebrating her 1 year birthday NEXT month. where did the time go!?

hugs and kisses

2011-02-14T10:32:00.001-06:00

diamonds are a girl's best friend

2011-02-11T10:54:00.006-06:00

as i was getting ready this morning, i felt something scratching me on my finger.
i look down and this is what i see...

O.M.G.
after feeling nauseous for a good 30 minutes thinking about the trillion places it could be and wondering what the heck i was going to tell blake, i found it on our downstairs changing table.

PRAISE.THE.LORD.

i am off to the diamond store.

i hope your friday had a better start than mine did!

her fave

2011-02-10T18:51:00.003-06:00

this is eleanor's current favorite toy to play and walk with...thanks aunt mere!

cuddle time

2011-02-10T18:48:00.001-06:00

such a sweet moment of E and B relaxing on blaker.

they love their daddy.

toothy

2011-02-09T13:16:00.001-06:00

here is a pic of eleanor's first tooth.

tooth number 2 is on it's way!

back just in time

2011-02-02T15:29:00.018-06:00

we are back from telluride and let me say it was a blast!
the weather was perfect and we had such a great time relaxing, snowboarding & eating with friends and family in a beautiful home.

i took tons of pic on my big camera but have yet to edit them so below are some pics i took on the iphone...again so thankful for that second camera!

in no particular order...

linds and i at the new sheridan in downtown tellruide.

my happy little snow bunny.

the girls hitting the slopes- linds, danielle, me

me and linds

my only snowboarder friend- good thing he's my husband.

ellie belly watching for the airplane

arriving in telluride- so excited!

view from our hot tub on the back porch.

blake, eleanor and susan

time to put on the snowsuit!

so sweet.
blake and ryan

riding on daddy's shoulders

playing in the snow

we made it back literally three hours before the storm hit dallas monday night. me, blake & eleanor drove back, stopping in santa fe, new mexico for the night. we stayed at a super cute hotel called las palomas- if you ever find yourself in santa fe, i definitely recommend it!

telluride here we come!

2011-01-22T10:37:00.002-06:00

we are off to stay in this gorgeous home in telluride, colorado for the next 9 days.

i am so excited to get away, relax and enjoy the mountains.

craig, the durretts and the longs will be joining us as well as susan and robbie (who are helping out with the kiddos so we can get out on the slopes!)

it will be eleanor's first time to fly.

her, lyla and bentley will be on the same flight together.

i apologize in advance to all those near us...it could get wild!

blake, ryan and craig are driving up to colorado as i write this.

we completely packed out our yukon with pack-n-plays, high chairs, luggage, toys ,etc.

hopefully this makes for a much easier flight!

i can't wait to take pics of eleanor in her first real snow!

have a wonderful week!

10 months

2011-01-19T13:37:00.002-06:00

it's pretty amazing that i will have a one year old in less than two months.

i just love seeing how she has changed over 10 months.

what a blessing these pictures will be 10, 15, 20 years from now!

eleanor has had a rough month to say the least.

from a double ear infection, the rash (which is still gone), her first tooth and an awful cold that she is just now getting over, she is finally back to her happy self and even more importantly back to sleeping 12 hours at night! thank the lord.

other Eleanor facts:

she weighs approx 16 1/2 pounds.

she naps at 9:30 and 2:30.

she nurses 4 times a day, around 7:30, 11:30, 3:00 and 7:00.

she eats three times a day and can put quite a bit down.

she loves turkey, green beans, hummus, cheese and pretty much anything i offer her.

she can say five words- mama, dada, buddy, lyla and jett (her cousins).

she loves music and clapping her hands.

she loves to point her finger.

her and lyla get super excited when they see eachother. it's pretty adorable.

coincidence?

2011-01-13T15:40:00.002-06:00

thanks for all the sweet texts, comments and calls concerning eleanor.
things are much better now.

on my previous post i explained about an odd rash that showed up on her face.
yesterday it came back a tiny bit (still after i nurse her) but NOTHING like tuesday.
for the most part she was acting herself.
until yesterday evening.
we were outside with her and in the bright light, guess what we noticed...

white spots & purple on her gums!
i mean seriously, is my 10 month old FINALLY getting a tooth?
literally a couple hours ago it broke through and you can actually feel it now.
poor thing. i guess this explains all the drooling she has been doing lately.

so now my next question...could the rash have been related to teething?
i have never heard of that and ironically i asked the doctor tuesday if A. she was teething and B. if it was possible that she could get a rash from teething and she said no to both.
hmmmmm...

well maybe the rash isn't related but what a strange coincidence.
i guess i will know if if they are related if it happens with the next tooth.

i am trying to capture a good pic of the tooth but because of her obssession with the iphone, she moves all over the place trying to take it from me so they all turn out blurry.
maybe i need to bust out the big camera for this...

picture coming soon!

to all the momma's out there...

2011-01-11T19:21:00.005-06:00

have you seen this before?

eleanor woke up this morning at 7:30 am like normal. she slept great.
i nursed her and once i was finished, i noticed a couple welts on her face.
they looked a lot like mosquito bites so i figured she got them during her sleep
(are there even mosquitos in january when it's 29 outside?!)

anyway, they faded within an hour or so and never seemed to even bother her.
we had breakfast, played and she went down at 10 am for her morning nap as usual.
she woke up at noon looking like this:

there were a bunch of the mosquito looking welts on her face.

her face was bright red.

they had spread to her head too.

again they didn't seem to bother. no itching although she was a bit fussy and clingy.

so i ended up taking her to the doctor.

by the time i got there the welts seemed to have merged together.

at that point it was just a couple GIANT welts on her face.

they pretty much said to keep an eye on it, that it was prob a food allergy or something normal and didn't seem too concerned.

they said i could give her benedryl if i felt necessary and that it should go away within a couple days. (exactly what i expected them to say...)

by the time i got home it was almost completely gone. so strange. i hadn't given her any meds yet.

so she went down for her second nap at 3:00 pm and woke up at 4:30 looking like this:

it had completely come back but was worse and in completely different spots on her face.

i also found it on her bottom, her shoulder and her foot...

i called the doc and they said to give her the benedryl, wash everything in her bed (since every time i got her out of the bed today, the rash appeared) and give her a cool bath.

check, check & check.

20 min after taking the benedryl, the welts were gone.

she was still fussy (she is never fussy and i literally mean that) and was so clingy.

all she wanted was to lay her head on my shoulders.

it actually was really sweet (i love it when she wants her momma) but seriously...what could this be?!

i really don't feel like it's a food allergy...she hasn't had anything different in that last few days.

there have been no changes in soaps, detergents, etc.

poor thing.

i hope she sleeps well and doesn't wake up with it in the morning but i would still love an explanation and right now i have no clue.

any ideas???

itty bitty baby

2011-01-08T15:53:00.006-06:00

i stumbled upon this photo today.

it truly amazes me how much eleanor has changed.

i cannot believe she is two months away from her first birthday!

9 months

2010-12-16T10:49:00.001-06:00

my how time flies!

i can't believe we have a 9 month old!

and it just keeps getting better and better...

eleanor facts:

she weighs 16 lb 4 oz. (20%)

she is 27 inches long. (45%)

she has been sleeping through the night for a little over a month now, 7:30pm to 7:30am... i truly thought this day would never come for us but oh how it did and it's AMAZING.

she is eating baby oatmeal, fruits and veggies for most meals but is transitioning to "big people" food.

she loves cheese, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, grilled chicken and green beans.

she is nursing 5 times a day.

she LOVES to babble and says dada to almost everyone and everything.

blake & i are convinced she has said Buuu Dee to buddy a couple times... ;o)

she still has no teeth & still isn't too interested in crawling which is completely ok with me considering we have done ZERO baby proofing.

she has a new face she makes...she squints her eyes and scrunches her nose with a giant smile...i really need to capture that in a picture because it is the cutest!

blake headed off to colorado with his brother and it was so sweet to see him say goodbye to eleanor. he even teared up (which he pretended was for me) but i know fully that it was because of our sweet girl. she definitely has him wrapped around her lil finger!

santa baby

2010-12-05T22:17:00.011-06:00

here are some fun moments with eleanor over the last few weeks taken on my iphone.
so thankful to have a decent camera on my phone for times when i don't have my 'big' camera with me!

eleanor enjoying a mum mum in daddy's lap.

my sleeping beauty after waking up from a nap.

trying to escape from the highchair. i suppose it's time to start using the straps.

grandma's scarf wrapped around her head on a cold night out in c-town.

kickin back in the grocery cart while momma shops.

enjoying a morning walk with rett carreker, bentley long & lyla durrett.

a little skeptical of santa's furry face...i would be too!

E news

2010-11-18T21:14:00.003-06:00

here is a run down on the latest & greatest with eleanor:

she is 8 months old now.

she sits up really well.

she is not interested in crawling yet.

she loves to sing along with the music on her exersaucer & toys.

her favorite word is "dadadada dadada".

she smiles every time she sees buddy enter the room, or move, or yawn, or scratch...apparently he is really funny.

she loves looking at family pictures. they make her laugh.

she still has zero teeth & i am definitely ok with that!

she is finally enjoying baby food much more these days and she shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want anymore.

she loves mum mums & also water especially from a glass or a water bottle.

she takes a morning nap & an afternoon nap.

she nurses 5 times during the day.

oh and MOST IMPORTANTLY...she started sleeping through the night 1 week ago, 7pm - 4:30am, nurses and goes back down until 7:30am. once my body adjusts, i will drop that last feeding. before that, she was waking up 2-3 times per night. to be honest, it was just easier to feed her & put her right back down so i never let her cry it out. somehow, it took me 8 months to come to that decision that i was ready to let her CIO. she did so for 1.5 hours, most of that in blake's arms and has slept 10 hours straight every since. i seriously thought this day would never come for me!

we are headed on a road trip next week to georgia for the holidays.

buddy & eleanor will be with us.

we are visiting my grandparents for a few days in woodville & cherry log & then will be in savannah for a few days.

we have so much to be thankful for this season! what a blessed year we have had!

happy thanksgiving to all!!

8 months

2010-11-18T21:06:00.002-06:00

miss eleanor had her first big cold this week.

she was a tough one getting to smile in this pic.

blake & i danced around, made every noise possible, sang, etc & all we got was a half smile with the eyebrows raised.

oh well...still a cutie!

7 months

2010-10-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

Viva Las Vegas

2010-10-24T16:39:00.009-05:00

a couple weeks ago we took our first trip AWAY from eleanor for two nights & joined the longs in Vegas for Danielle's 28th birthday.
it was definitely hard to leave Eleanor but i knew she was in good hands between my parents & blake's parents.
what an AMAZING time we had with the Longs.
the boys certainly took us by surprise more than once.
we had a limo waiting for us at the airport where we met the boys.
we then headed to our room at the Palazzo (the new tower at the Venetian).
of course our regular room that we thought we had was actually a 2,000 square foot suite on the 45th floor overlooking the strip.
it even had an eliptical in it.
we also enjoyed shopping, dinner at Olives at the Bellagio & front row seats to the Cirque De'Soleil show "Mystere".

the trip was such a blast...one i will never forget.
danielle, i hope you had as much fun i did.
parents- thanks for watching our sweet eleanor. i am so thanksful & glad she didn't go on another bottle strike while i was gone. i am also glad she likes to sleep longer at night for you both!
and boys- thanks for all your planning and fun surprises!

love you!

view from out dinner table at Olives.

ananya turns 1

2010-10-24T16:16:00.020-05:00

i had the priveledge to take some pictures for the wonderful Stockers, this time for their daughter Ananya.
she turned ONE on October 3rd & had a precious party to celebrate!
Ananya looked absolutely adorable & definitely enjoyed her smash cake!
it was so hard to choose from all the cute pics but here are some of my faves!

Take a look!

Thanks again Sheetal & Andrew for allowing me to be a part of Ananya's special day!

face paint rocks

2010-10-24T15:38:00.022-05:00

i had the priveledge to photograph a FUN five year olds birthday party.
it was full of bounce houses, slushies, face painting and more.
the face painter was absolutely amazing...these took her between 3-5 minutes each.
check out some of these fun faces!

arboretum

2010-10-23T19:14:00.014-05:00

me, eleanor, lindsey, lyla & susu ventured to the arboretum last week to see all the pumpkins.

the weather was absolutely perfect.

here are some of my favorite pics from the day!

i put this dress over her onsie that she was wearing but as you can tell, she was not a fan.

still such a cute pie even when she cries.

goooooooooooooo rangers!!!

2010-10-22T21:50:00.000-05:00

normal is awesome

2010-10-21T11:47:00.003-05:00

we got the results back for eleanor.
they all came back completely NORMAL!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! (it is a big deal when i whoop because i never whoop!)

she has nothing wrong with her at all.
absolutely NOTHING.

i think our doc will be surprised to here this...she seemed to think there was at least 50/50 chance that something may be wrong since eleanor is so young.

glad we proved her wrong!

thanks for all the prayers!!!

trying on our winter snowsuit

2010-10-20T20:25:00.001-05:00

...it's over!

2010-10-20T15:33:00.007-05:00

well we all survived and are back home!
eleanor did AMAZING & was so brave!
i have to admit- it was no where near as bad as we both thought.
my parents surprised us and showed up while we were still waiting so they were allowed to sit in on the entire procedure.
we started with the VCUG.
the doctors were super nice & distracted eleanor with toys & bubbles.
she barely cried at all- only until her bladder was REALLY full did she start to get uncomfortable.
then we had a sono done.
she fussed a bit during that only though because i think she was ready for her nap.
all in all, she did great.
we should find out the results in a couple days.

here is sweet eleanor in her hospital gown.
so cute & has NO idea what is about to happen!

mommy & daddy holding her down, singing & distracting her.

sono time. she was really intrigued with the doctor.

recovering with her grandpa & granma!

i will let you know results as soon as we hear!

please keep praying!

prayers please

2010-10-20T11:01:00.006-05:00

please keep eleanor in your prayers today.
we are headed to children's medical for a procedure at 12:30.
last month she had a bladdar infection which apparently is pretty unusual for a 6 month old.
today they want to do a sonogram & a VCUG on her & see if they can find out what caused it.
to the best of my knowledge, i know a VCUG involves a catheter and pumping her with a liquid dye to see if it refluxes back in her kidneys. hopefully it doesn't.
but if it does, then i think that means she has a kink in her tubes that she will eventually grow out of but until then will need to be on medicine.
this could be anywhere from months to a few years.
we are hoping that it was a random thing that just happened & that she doesn't have to be on meds for years to come.
also i know this shouldn't be a painful procedure but it will obviously be uncomfortable for a 7 month old to go through.
the doctors already told me i am the one that gets to "hold her down".
doesn't that sound fun.

i will keep you all posted.
thanks in advance for your prayers.
xoxo

i could eat her up

2010-10-19T22:09:00.004-05:00

i couldn't resist showing off this sweet picture.

and OH i have so much blogging to catch up on.

a long list sitting here next to me of things to share.

i hope to get to it all sometime tomorrow or thursday.

in the mean time, go rangers!

lovin this weather

2010-10-03T09:11:00.003-05:00

i hope everyone has enjoyed this amazing weather!
we sure have!

eleanor update:
she is doing much better now.
she was put on antibiotics for ten days to treat her bladdar infection.
we went back to the doctor on friday to have her checked again & the infection has cleared (praise the Lord!).
next week sometime we will be going to children's medical to have a sonogram done & a VCUG to double check & make sure everything is ok internally.
please keep eleanor in your prayers over the next couple weeks that everything looks normal.

in other news:
blake & i leave for vegas on tuesday with Ryan & Danielle to celebrate Danielle's 28th birthday.
we are so excited to finally go to vegas together & even more excited to hang out with the Longs on such a special occasion!

yes- eleanor will be staying behind.
the first night she will be with blake's mom (susu) & the second night she will be with my parents.
i have never left eleanor for more than three hours so this will be interesting but i know she will be in good hands.
OH & i have JUST enough milk saved up too...i have been working hard these last few weeks.
let's just hope she decides to not go on another bottle strike!

the results are in..

2010-09-21T15:17:00.003-05:00

eleanor update:

unfortunately eleanor continued to have a fever over the weekend off and on so monday morning i made her an appointment to see the pedi.
they checked her ears, eyes, throat, chest and all seemed normal.
since none of us were sure of what was going on (a fever was her only symptom), they decided to test her urine. they wanted to check to see if she possibly had a bladder infection or if she had strep. yes you can get strep down there.
they had to use a catheter.
on a 6 month old.
eleanor was not a happy camper.
i had to hold her head and hands and when it was all over with, blake held her & comforted her while i talked with the doctor.
then when she saw me across the room, she started crying again.
it truly broke my heart.

the doctors sent us home with antibiotics to get rid of the infection & said they would call us today with the results.
i just got off the phone with the doctor.
it is in fact a bladder infection.
not exactly the news we wanted to hear but i had a feeling.
we are supposed to continue giving her the meds for 10 days.
they will then retest her urine to see if things are better.
at that point, i am not sure what will happen.
there is potential for a lot more testing to see what caused the infection.
we are praying we do not have to take that road for eleanor's sake.
the good news is that if she didn't have a fever, you would never know she was sick.
therefore i don't think she is in any pain or discomfort.
she is her normal, happy self.
her last fever was this morning at 99.4 so we are hoping that was the last of them.

please keep eleanor in your prayers over the next ten days and pray that the infection clears and no more testing will be needed.

3 years

2010-09-21T12:46:00.003-05:00

happy 3 years to the love of my life!

takin it easy

2010-09-19T11:57:00.006-05:00

it's been 5 days now.
5 days of straight fever off and on ranging between 99-102 degrees.
eleanor is acting normal for the most part other than the fact that her head is HOT HOT.
i guess it's back to the doctor tomorrow.

prayers please!

sick baby

2010-09-17T16:32:00.001-05:00

SO...

eleanor may have not been teething but i definitely knew something was different.
she ended up having a fever a couple nights ago at 102.6.
the doctor thinks she was on her way to getting sick before her appt & her 6 month shots put her over the edge.
poor thing. let's just say the last few nights have not been fun...for anyone.
but last night was back to normal and no fever since 7 this morning.
she has been all smiles today. ;o)

yummy!

2010-09-17T14:47:00.005-05:00

eleanor trying rice cereal for the first time.
GIVE ME MORE mommy!

6 months

2010-09-16T17:38:00.007-05:00

happy 6 months to my baby girl!

what a true blessing she has been these last 6 months to me, blake and our families.

eleanor stats:

two days ago she had her 6 month check up.

she weighed 14 lbs 2 ounces (25%) and measured 26 1/4 inches long (75%).

she pretty much stayed right on track for what she has been measuring thus far.

she was a very brave girl during her shots- only cried for 10 seconds & then was fine.

...always so hard to watch!

OH and the doctor didn't see any evidence of teething although she said that doesn't necessarily mean one could not pop up tomorrow.

so much for all my theories that she was teething!

eleanor's new friend

2010-09-14T12:58:00.005-05:00

eleanor's favorite new toy- sophie the giraffe.

we are pretty sure she is teething these days...if not, something must be wrong!

everything goes in the mouth and everything gets sucked/gnawed on.

EVERYTHING. including her entire fist.

drool is everwhere.

poor baby. going down at night has been rough lately.

she even cried last night while i was feeding her. she has NEVER done that. it was like sucking hurt too much so it was better to just be hungry than finish eating.

considering she is overall a very content, calm, happy baby, these have got to be signs of teething. right?!

i guess we will confirm that today with her 6 month appointment.

winter park

2010-09-09T20:37:00.020-05:00

a couple weeks ago, me, blake, eleanor and buddy loaded up in the yukon (turtle top and all) and drove to winter park, colorado.
both eleanor and buddy did so great on the road trip!
we couldn't have asked for better weather during our visit.
we hiked, relaxed, picnicked, relaxed, ate, swam, relaxed...
such a fabulous time.
below are just a few pics from the trip.

eleanor and blake getting ready for the hike down to the lake. brrrr....

ADORABLE! oh how i love her!

this was buddy literally flying by blake and i as we were hiking down. it could have been bad...but he managed to stop after a few rolls down the steep hill.

the blue lake we were hiking down to. still snow from the winter.

momma and eleanor resting at the bottom.

and again at lunch.

tasting some belgium brews at the base of the mountain. blake was sampling.

yummy monte cristo and roast beef sandwich.

momma showing eleanor how to play pretty music...

daddy's turn.

buddy enjoying the park.

she loves her hands.

leaving winter park to go visit friends and family in denver.

uncle rick and nicole- so fun to finally visit them at their home!

visiting the youngs in denver. these four boys were the ushers in our wedding three years ago.

see you soon winter park!

balmorhea at the granada

2010-09-07T09:36:00.005-05:00

here are a few pics taken from my iphone from the balmorhea concert last week.

we had such a great time as always.

blake's mom came over to watch eleanor while we were out.

i was a bit on edge the entire night waiting for susu to call and say eleanor won't take the bottle but she ended up not waking up the entire time we were out.

i gave her the bottle the next day (the first bottle in over 3 months) and she took it all! then again this weekend.

yay eleanor!

bottle strike is over.

happy monday!

2010-09-07T09:33:00.001-05:00

eleanor and lyla playing together at the lake this past weekend.

balmorhea

2010-09-02T17:10:00.004-05:00

balmorhea is playing tonight at the granada theater.
they always put on a great show- if you aren't already busy tonight, you should totally come check them out!
they go on at 10pm but a couple bands will be playing before.
one of blake's besties (mike muller on the far left) is in the band & is AMAZING & is oh so talented.

we will be leaving eleanor with her grandma susu tonight.
this should be interesting considering she is JUST coming out of her bottle strike.
i am going to put her down and even do a dreamfeed before we head out but will leave a bottle just in case.

hope to see you at the granada!

bottle strike

2010-09-01T16:11:00.003-05:00

so my precious eleanor has been on a bottle strike for over three months now.
that's right.
no bottles.
only nursing. every three hours. nights too.
she took a dr. brown's bottle perfectly as a newborn and up to three months.
then for some reason, i stopped given them to her as often.
i guess since i always had her with me, it seemed easier to just nurse.
i really love nursing so it was never a bother.
i mean why go through pumping and then feeding her a bottle if you don't have to.
so months go by and plans get made.
plans that include no baby.
a trip to vegas in october with some friends was also on the table as well.
so the bottle strike begins.
this entire week i feel like i have tried it all.
cold milk, hot milk, hungry, not hungry, me trying, blake trying, other family trying all with my milk in a dr. brown's bottle.
she would either cry, play or chew on the nipple.
let's just say i was throwing away a lot of milk.
so a couple days ago i decide to go to babies r us & buy every type of bottle different than the one we are using.
i even read that i should try sippy cups without a straw and with a straw, so i bought those too.
at this point we had tried dr. browns and born free.
yesterday we tried a brand called breastflow- a bottle more shaped like the breast and flows more like the breast, hence the name. a bottle basically for babies that have a harder time transitioning from breast to bottle.
i only put an ounce in the bottle because i figured she wouldn't take it.
then blake laid her on the couch and handed her the bottle.
just when i was ready to give up- she brought it to her mouth and drank the entire bottle.
all by herself!
and then wanted more!
i couldn't believe it.
we even recorded it we were so excited.
of course it was only an ounce but there is some hope now.
we actually might be able to go out to dinner while the grandparents watch her or maybe even go to vegas!
i still have 4 other bottle types to try if she decides she wants to change it up on me again.
i will be sure to keep you posted on how she takes the bottle the next couple of days.

i have obviously learned a lesson the hard way- even if you want to exclusively nurse, give your baby a bottle a few times a week so this doesn't happen!

YAY eleanor!

sam & ben turn 1

2010-09-01T15:19:00.016-05:00

i recently took photos for a family whose twin boys were turning one.
here are some of my favorite pics from the birthday party.
it was a curious george theme & was absolutely adorable!

thanks Lisa for letting be a part of your special day!

5 months

2010-09-01T15:18:00.003-05:00

better late than never!

i am back...

2010-08-31T22:07:00.003-05:00

i have been a bad, bad blogger these last few months.
sorry to all my 38 followers out there. ;o)
no excuses though.
i am back.

see you tomorrow.

oklahoma visitors

2010-07-25T14:17:00.001-05:00

amy, anthony & eleanor.
thanks for coming to visit hilbers!

we miss you already!

lakehouse fun

2010-07-19T13:41:00.023-05:00

here are some fun pictures from a recent weekend out at the lake.
we had michelle & kent lawrence out along with their two AMAZING, well-behaved children, madison & preston.
it's always a blast having them out & pretty special since Kent married me and blake.
sarah smith also joined us which made for a fun weekend!
of course, the kids seemed to be most excited about surfing with "mr. blake".
it was all they talked about the entire weekend!

robbie & eleanor- so precious!
sarah & eleanor

lyla- the child that never stops smiling!

lyla sucking on eleanor's head. gotta soothe those gums somehow!

eleanor getting poked by lyla. for reason i love this pic!

buddy & his best friend.

eleanor & her famous "furrowing of the eyebrows"

such a sweet face!

madison & winston

bubble time!

beautiful landscaping after an afternoon shower.

momma & eleanor

blake & madison surfing- she's one happy girl!

preston & blake surfing- blake definitely got his work out here.

sarah & michelle

preston & his big smile.

michelle & kent

can't wait to have you all out again...always a great time!!

4 months

2010-07-17T12:53:00.002-05:00

here is my sweet baby girl at 4 months!

i can't believe how much she has changed this month.

she has so much personality now...it's truly a blast!

all went well at her 4 month check up.

she weighs a whopping 12.6 pounds now (25th %) and is 25 1/4 inches long (80th %).

this definitely explains why at 3 months she was finally able to fit into her 0-3 month clothing and now they are all too short however the 3-6 month clothing fits in length but not width.

i am pretty sure they don't make "tall' in baby clothes.

oh well.

eleanor tidbits:

she is still being swaddled although we are beginning to not swaddle for naps.

she eats every three hours and still wakes up twice a night to eat.

we are still soley nursing & probably won't start solids until 6 months.

she is not teething yet.

she is a spitter upper.

most days we are on a 7 am, 10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm feeding schedule.

she is a great napper, still taking 3 naps a day, anywhere from 45-min to 2 hours.

she is typically asleep by 730pm each night and wakes up at 7am.

she loves bathtime and hates getting out of the tub which is really the only time she ever cries.

she loves, loves her butterfly mobile above her crib & her blabla mobile above her changer.

she has slept in her crib from the beginning & always goes in awake.

she has the SWEETEST smile that will melt your heart.

Eleanor 3 months

2010-06-25T15:24:00.004-05:00

i can't believe eleanor is 3 months old already.
my how time has flown!!

i have to admit- she is the most precious little angel i could have ever asked for & i am truly blessed each day watching her grow.

birthday

2010-06-13T09:52:00.002-05:00

happy birthday to the sweetest dog we could have ever found!!

what a fun year it has been buddy bear!!

to see how we ended up with buddy, check out my blog posts labeled animals!

memorial day cuties

2010-06-03T19:19:00.005-05:00

Lyla Durrett, Bentley Long & Eleanor enjoying their first memorial day out by the lake!

Eleanor 2 months

2010-06-03T19:14:00.003-05:00

what a difference just one month makes!

she has changed so much, it's unbelievable.

Eleanor 1 month

2010-06-03T19:10:00.003-05:00

I have decided to take monthly pictures of this precious cutie so I can remember how fast she is growing!

The pics will be taken on her white rocker in her room with her birdie pillow each month.

Here is month 1...hope you enjoy the series!

2 month check up

2010-05-20T16:36:00.004-05:00

eleanor had her two month check up today.
this is her on the table right before she got her 3 shots. arg.
she weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces which is 25th percentile for weight &
she measured 22 1/2 inches long which is 50th percentile for height.
the doctor said she looked perfect.

we are so proud of our baby girl- she only screamed for 10 secs and then stopped.
poor thing.
it was so hard to watch but was over quickly.
since her shots though she has been so sweet, smiley and cuddly.
she has been going through a "i don't want to be in my carseat in the car" phase but after the shots, she rode peacefully in the car. so nice.
she went straight to bed for a nice long nap afterwards and is still asleep.

she slept 5 hours straight last night which was record setting.
i felt so rested when i fed her at 2:30 in the morning- i felt like i had the energy to clean the entire house!

she is so alert these days.
she is loving all her toys with lights and sounds.
she is also now enjoying books being read to her and can recognize mommy and daddy from across the room.

it is so fun watching her change each day!
a true miracle!

the thurman nest

2010-05-16T22:05:00.013-05:00

last week i took some pictures of my favorite nephew, jett, with his mommy & daddy.

i am pretty sure a child cannot have prettier eyes than jett elijah.

they were so fun to capture...check out the pics below!

love you guys!!

mother's day

2010-05-16T21:52:00.003-05:00

Lindsey & Lyla and me & Eleanor on our first mother's day!

play time

2010-05-16T21:24:00.013-05:00

here are a few pics i snapped of eleanor hanging out on her play mat.

she loves to lay on it after eating and smile/giggle at herself in the mirror.

so ADORABLE!

cousins playing

2010-05-13T21:48:00.004-05:00

cousins

2010-05-07T10:04:00.005-05:00

eleanor (almost 2 months) and her cousin lyla (almost 5 months) hanging out together at north park mall.
i love eleanor's half smile.
i look forward to the many memories these two will have together!

smiles

2010-05-05T18:50:00.002-05:00

i had to share this adorable pic of eleanor.

it seems like each day we get more and more smiles and giggles from her & it is absolutely the sweetest thing ever.

it's fascinating how much a baby changes in a matter of days.

she has more awake time now during the day which has been fun.

she actually is enjoying her play mat, rattles & other toys that entertain her.

her neck and legs are getting stronger and stronger as well.

she loves to stand up on our laps and push up as we lift her by her arms. so cute.

she officially is out of her 5-8 lb clothing (it's tight on her, YAY!) and now is fitting into her newborn clothes.

it's SUPER fun getting to play dress up with her now that i have clothing options!

last weekend i went to visit my sister & had the chance to weigh Eleanor.

she weighed a whopping 8 pounds 4 ounces at 6 weeks.

it's hard to believe that most of my friends babies were born at that weight or bigger!

Eleanor is still eating every three hours or so. sometimes sooner, sometimes later (at night).

i am up on average two times a night to feed...every night is different!

what has been pretty amazing is that i seem to have plenty of energy to get through the day. (that's called mommy endurance i hear).

i haven't really taken naps & i am still able to get all my work done, some from home & some from the office.

blake has been the best husband/father i could ask for.

he is such a huge help which has made this journey thus far pretty easy and so much better than i could ever have imagined.

happy wednesday!

xoxo

bath time

2010-04-16T22:08:00.004-05:00

can you tell she LOVED her big girl bath.

she passed out not 5 minutes into the bath.

i guess all that hot water reminded her of back home in the womb.

hi world!

2010-04-16T22:05:00.002-05:00

sleepy girl

2010-04-16T21:56:00.004-05:00

my sweet baby girl sleeping in her crib.
it's so hard not to just stare at her while she is sleeping.
she is just so adorable!!!

2010-04-16T21:43:00.006-05:00

we went to the arboretum easter weekend and this was probably my favorite pic of the day.
not the flowers, not any of the other family pics, this one.
how can you not love two daddy's pushing their daughters in strollers.

for those of you who don't know, that is jeremy, my brother in law on the left with lyla and blake and eleanor on the right.

so sweet!

delivery day

2010-04-15T12:30:00.008-05:00

i have been asked by almost everyone how delivery day went so i thought i would share my story via the blog. (what better way!)
i will admit, i had blake write down the details, times and events of the day so this should be fairly accurate.
as most of you know, i had my 38 week appointment (which was my last blog before the baby).
this was thursday the 11th.
i was 4 cm dilated and 75% effaced.
my doctor mentioned that because i was so far a long, i had the option of coming in on monday, the 15th, to be induced if i didn't have eleanor over the weekend with my original due date being march 20th.
she said she would not normally suggest this but because of my progress, she figured i would handle an induction pretty well.
she definitely said it wasn't necessary and thought maybe eleanor would even arrive over the weekend.
also, my doctor was going to be out of town beginning tuesday the 16th through the week so it would be my only chance of having her deliver my baby- which i really wanted.
after talking it over with blake and our families, we decided to go with the 15th due date for several different reasons.

how it all went down-
monday morning we arrived at presby at 8 am. (this happens to be the same hospital both blake & i were born in..how neat is that!)
we filled out the all necessary paper work and got settled in our delivery room.
before getting any meds, i was 4 cm 90% effaced.
by 9:15 am, i was given the pitocin.
at this point, i felt great.
still had normal contractions but nothing i couldn't handle.
9:30 am is officially when labor began.
it didn't take long to feel stronger contractions that were more regular than anything i felt before.
both families were in the room with us up until push time (including lyla & jett!) so this helped the time to go by pretty quickly.
by 11:40, i was 5 cm and around 1:15pm i got the epidural. (can we say AMAZING!)
from this moment on, i NEVER felt a single bit of pain. not one. it was great.
at 1:30 they broke my water and by 3:00 pm i was fully dilated and effaced.
when the doc came in to tell us, we thought she was going to say i was around a 7.
needless to say blake and i were shocked and both started crying realizing we were about to meet our baby girl.
by the time they actually prepared and set up the room for delivery, it was 4:00 pm.
PUSH TIME.
i always imagined a crew of medical staff in my delivery room running around while i pushed out a child.
however, for the first 30 minutes, it was just me, blake and our nurse. then my doc came in for the last 30 min.
the pushing part was indescribable, something i will never forget!
we chose to watch everything in a huge mirror.
to all mommies-to-be out there- if you have this option...DO IT!
before my doc came in the room, every time i would push, eleanor's heart rate would drop so i would have to turn onto my side and wait for it to go back up.
however once my doctor came in the room, things changed for the better and out came eleanor!
she was born at 5:02 pm.
my labor totaled to 7 1/2 hours.

delivering eleanor was the most amazing experience i have ever been through.
i have not one complaint about the hospital, labor & delivery or my recovery room stay.

so there you have it! i probably forgot something so feel free to ask me!

more pics of baby eleanor coming soon!

maternity pics

2010-04-13T09:30:00.018-05:00

I finally got my maternity pics back.
I had the wonderful Lauren Larson document my belly at 38 weeks.
She did a wonderful job!
I was hesitant to have these done but I think it will be great to have these to look back on!
We also had her come take some photos of Eleanor which we will have back in a couple weeks.
We can't wait to see them!

Eleanor's 2 week check up

2010-03-30T14:45:00.005-05:00

I know, I know...I have SO MUCH blogging to catch up on.
I am only a first time mommy AND still working ...
So give me time. Promise.

Here is an update on Eleanor.

She had her two week appointment.
When we left the hospital, she weighed 5 lbs 14 oz so our goal at this appointment was to have her back over her birth weight at 6 lbs 3 oz.
Well the appointment went great.
Eleanor weighed 6 lbs 7oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.
Growing well!
That is 60th% for height and 12th% for weight.
Since she got a good report, her doctor told us we could extend her feedings at night from 3 hours to every 4 hours. (YAY, more sleep for mommy!)
She has almost adjusted to the 4 hour schedule at night, with one 4 hour stretch and one 3 1/2 hour stretch.

We go back to the doctor for her 2 month appointment.
I will be anxious to see how much she has grown then.
She is already changing daily...it's crazy how fast it happens!
Her smile will just melt your heart too.

We have taken TONS of pictures so I hope to find some time to share them soon.

Eleanor Claire Fusch

2010-03-21T10:11:00.003-05:00

Eleanor Claire Fusch has finally arrived!
She is such a beautiful gift from God and the cutest bundle of joy EVER!

She was born March 15, 2010 at 5:02 pm.
She weighed in at 6 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

I have posted a bunch of pics on facebook for the time being and hope to be able to update my blog eventually with pics and how the L&D day went.

Thank you all for the prayers, texts, emails and support throughout this journey.
What an amazing experience it was!

xoxo

38 week appointment

2010-03-11T11:37:00.004-06:00

this morning we had our 38 week appointment.
our baby girl's heartbeat was 150 bpm.
i am still 75% effaced and almost 4cm dilated.
the baby is in perfect position so the doc is thinking any day now.
i am still having normal contractions however last night and today they have seemed to pick up.
as of the last couple of days, i feel like i am moving a little slower as well.
i guess that is normal though. ;o)

i am so excited because my sister is coming in town saturday until our baby girl decides to arrive.
it will be such a blast to have her, patrick and jett here during this time.
blake & i are so blessed to have so much love and support right now and we are truly thankful for all the thoughts and prayers over the last 9 months.
we are beyond thrilled to share our bundle of joy with you all!!

stayed tuned for baby fusch!

37 week appointment

2010-03-05T13:40:00.002-06:00

this morning we had our 37 week visit with the doctor.
everything looked great.
baby girl's heart beat was 150 bpm.
i am now 3cm dilated and still 75% effaced.
the doctor did say that she wouldn't be shocked if she came this week but that i also could just walk around at 3 cm until my due date...that's definitely not unheard of.
she also said that if i wasn't as comfortable as i claim to be, she would go ahead and think about inducing me at this point since i have progressed this far on my own.
but i have to say, i am still feeling pretty normal, sleeping great, able to work out and therefore have no reason to think about inducing yet.
we are so excited to meet her but know that when she is ready, she will come on her own!

on another note...i made a last minute decision to have maternity pics taken of me since i have done a POOR poor job of documenting myself.
i had them taken yesterday & can't wait to see how they turned out.
it will be 2-3 weeks until i get to see them but i will be sure to post them.

hope you all have a blessed weekend and enjoy this BEAUTIFUL weather!