Been awhile...

Well it has sure been a while since an update, but I'm sure everyone was checking the caring bridge instead of this.

Brode is doing great after surgery, back to his normal, little boy self. Our week in Milwaukee was long, but good. The hospital was very nice so it wasn't completely awful sitting in the same room the whole time. We were each able to get time out of the hospital, and each had time alone with Brode.

Friday night Matt and I were given a break as my dad took us to the Brewer game and my mom sat with Brode at the hospital. The game was Matt's first Brewer game, and although we were at the very top and they lost it was still a good relief from the hospital!


I'm staying home with Brode this week, getting a few hours of work in when I can. We have lots of visitors and people that want to see him so I'm sure we'll be busy! Brode has gotten back on his schedule perfectly so hopefully we won't need to mess anything up.

Our Weekend

We stayed pretty busy this weekend and got a lot of fresh air. Saturday Brode had swimming lessons so Matt and I took him. He loves swimming, but unfortunetaly this saturday will be his last class for the summer because of surgery. We don't want to risk his incision getting infected from swimming!

The rest of the day we hung out at home. Alix came to Neenah from Minnesota and we visited and had lunch with her, then spent the rest of the day after nap time outside.

Sunday was pretty nice out so we played outside, then headed to the family reunion on the Rivet side. Brode got to meet a lot of people, and see people that haven't seen him since Christmas! They were shocked to see how big he was and how much of a little boy he has become.

This week we're sticking to a regular schedule and hopefully getting some things prepared for Milwaukee next week!

Brode's curiosity has been growing more and more lately, and today is grew a little too close to the dog dish. He has splashed in the water, but has never been near the food dish when it was full, except for this morning. A kernel happened to slip into his mouth and he got a good taste before grandma could fish it out. Unfortunetaly he doesn't know how to talk so he can't tell us how it truely tasted.

Neenah

Brode had a night to experience Neenah. Shattuck Park has music on Wednesday night so we packed up the baby and headed downtown because it was such a nice night! The hit thing for kids to do is play in the fountain, so of course we had to let Brode.

Update

Well we have been extremely busy so I've only have time for some short updates. The weekends have been packed with something since the beginning of June and work all week doesn't give us much free time. We had some concerns come up with Brode that we had to start going to a physical therapist and an eye doctor, on top of his usual doctor and Milwaukee appointments. There was an awful week that the poor little guy had a doctors appointment 4 days in a row!

Brode is starting to pull up on things now so it wont be long and he'll be daring to stand alone and before we know it... walking!

This 4th of July weekend was relaxing for the Rivets. We went up to the cottage and got some nice weather for the first time this week! Brode stayed overnight with my family, but I came home for the fireworks and to hang out with some girls! Brode had his first 2 boat rides at the cottage, but didn't like them very much because of his annoying life jacket.

Hopefully the next few weeks will calm down before our chaos starts again! Everyone have a great week!

9 Months

Brode was 9 months old on Friday!

He seems to be growing 5 inches a day and getting stronger as well as he starts to stand up on things and really crawls around now!

Dog Bowl

Brode has officially gotten into everything, including Libby's dish. She is not happy.

Weekend

There are a few videos of Brode crawling! He doesn't do a typical crawl, but it gets him moving as you can see!

We have had a great couple of weekends! This nice weather has been making them a lot more fun! This past weekend I went to LaCrosse to see everyone again and Brode and Matt hung out for Father's Day! Brode had a very eventful weekend with his second swimming lessons, walks, lots of crawling, and Father's Day brunch!

I went to LaCrosse with Mindy, Josslyn, Tiff, and Wes to visit Kelsey and Ryan and we all had a lot of fun! We were lucky to get an extremely sunny and hot day on Saturday so we could lay at the beach, play bags outside, and grill out! It's always great to see everyone and get back to that city! It was a very relaxing weekend.

Brode is going to be 9 months this weekend! I can't believe it! I think the change between 8 and 9 months has been the most drastic. He seems like such a little boy now. His check-up is on Thursday so we'll see how much weight he gained and how many more inches he grew! His toes hang off the end of his car seat!

Slow and Steady Wins The Race

We have a mover! Brode has slowly started crawling. He wasn't too into so it took him a while to learn. He much more prefered doing circles and scooting on his butt but he finally trusts himself on his knees. It isn't a typical crawl that he is attempting, more of a stance like a block start in track and tries to hop on the one knee on the ground. Regardless of how its done, he can slowly gets to where he wants to be! The huge downfall/negative, he is crawling around the living room where there are table legs and fireplace bricks so we need to take care of those.

Aside from crawling Brode also began pulling up on things. This means his crib mattress needs to go down and he is getting pretty daring on the tables,chairs and toys!

Lastly, Brode started swimming lessons today. Matt and Grandma Beth are taking him to the Y on Saturday mornings for Water Exploration! They just left so we'll see how it went in a couple hours! He is a splasher in the bathtub so I'm sure he will love it. Unfortunetaly I forgot to send my camera so hopefully after next weeks class I can get some pictures up!

Terror

Brode would like to start the day by telling you a story:

It has happened, Brode has an attitude and little terror ways about him. He loves to bite and pull hair, and especially loves laughing afterwards. His laugh is so contagious that it is very hard not to laugh with him.

Our week was pretty much the usual. It was my last week of a school! Now that I'm all finished our grades have been posted and I was very excited to see that I got a 3.75 and made the Dean's List! Brode had another week in day care without any trouble. Friday was so beautiful out that I went and got him early after my exam and we hung out for the afternoon. Saturday wasn't so nice but we had a house warming party at my cousins so we just hung out with everoyne and Brode spent some time with Daddy staying warm. Brode also got to sleep at Grandma Beth's again last night! She loves having him and he loves to play over there as well.

This week starts my full time job! I will be going into the office instead of working from home now, which could be good and bad, we'll see. The major downfalls are that Brode will need to stay in day care a little longer and I won't be able to get workouts in in the afteroon. I was too spoiled with my perfect schedule during the semester!

Have a good week!

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend now that the weather is getting so nice!

Friday Brode went to Daddy's to hang out and spend the night. A family friend of ours was having a birthday party so Brode got some good time with daddy alone and I got to go with my family there and hang out and sit by the bonfire. Brode learned a new word on Friday "dada", so he has moved on from his G's and everyone and everything is "dada". Perfect for Matt, not for me though!

Saturday Brode and I went rummaging with Grandma Beth. It was nice to get outside and he loved seeing new things! That afternoon gramps, gram, Brode and I went to my grandmas and ran a few errands. Brode was so well behaved and just looked around and was so content even though we were gone long through dinner time! He has now had a trip to all the manly stores (Fleet Farm, Home Depot, and Lowe's) and he loved them all! Saturday night I went out with my cousin and some of his friends. It was really fun, except for getting home really late and getting up really early!

Sunday Brode went to Matt's to play and go for a walk so I worked until noon, then my mom and I went to the outlet mall in Oshkosh and got lots of stuff! I needed some new clothes for work now that I'm going to go into the office and can't wear my pajamas like at the kitchen table.

We got out one of Brode's christmas toys that he is old enough for now, but he doesnt know what to think of it. Sometimes he gives it weird faces and whines and sometimes he loves it. He loves to cheat and stop the balls or steal them off the ramp as well.