Look Back at 2011

Happy New Year!!



Before I write these and look back on the year I like to read the previous years that are saved here on the blog. I can't help but laugh at my predictions and am always shocked at how much I forget happens each year.

I was reading 2010's and Brode had a particularily busy year that year and was rarely healthy causing a lot of appointments and trips. As I was reading it, I thought to myself "What am I going to write about 2011? What possibly did we do?" I started looking back at pictures, my planner, and Brode's scrapbook - oh yeah, graduation, Walt Disney World, and a new career to name a few! I guess we did do some big things!

As I review our year in the blog world I also realize how many posts I completely forgot or only drafted. Did I really never show you pictures of Brode's halloween costume and completely skip our entire trip to Disney? Wow!

January 2011 - 2011 started slow. I finished an interim class (at least thats what my blog tells me I did? I don't even remember what class it was!) I got a short break before going back to school in February.

February 2011 - February 2011 started my last semester at UW-Oshkosh. The semester started well when I got a snow day on my birthday. That was wonderful seeing as how I was supposed to work the fitness center at 6am that morning! My 22nd birthday wasn't anything exciting beyond turning 22 on 2-2. Not an exciting age. My classes weren't too bad for the semester - a lot of hands on. I had my clinicals where I personal trained employees from the university, a facilities management class that we developed our own fitness center, and a few other practical classes. The other biggest change was my contract with Kimberly-Clark for 2 and 1/2 years ending. I was out on the job hunt.

March 2011 - March 8th was my date of hire at the YMCA, meaning my job hunt luckily only lasted a week. It was a bit tough adjusting to the new schedule as I always closed at 10pm, but it worked fine with school and Brode had great babysitters at home. We also went to Disney on Ice this month. Brode was a bit young for it, but he still had fun!

April 2011 - April was also fairly slow, outside of Matt's hockey games every weekend. We spent a lot of time at the Ice Arena cheering on the Ice Dogs until Matt broke his foot in one of the last games of the season. Requiring surgery, a plate, and a few screws he found himself on crutches for 8 weeks (oh joy!). April brought great news as I accepted my summer internship at none other but - Kimberly-Clark. Yes, I was out for a month.

May 2011 - May was huge! Best month of the year! I graduated from UW-Oshkosh with honors after making Dean's List my last two semesters. I actually have to say that I "fake graduated" as I walked in the ceremony but my actual date wasn't until August 28th. My parents and grandparents came and we celebrated with lunch afterwards. After one day of rest between finals and a plane flight we were off to Walt Disney World! My parents, Matt, Brode and I spent a week in Florida in 100 degree weather. It was all of our dreams come true to see Brode's face when he met Mickey, Handy Manny, and Tigger!

June 2011 - June was true summer vacation. I wasn't set to start my summer internship until after the 4th of July so I got a lot of down time this month between working at the Y. We made trips to the cottage, hung out with friends, and played outside. We had one trip (our first of the year!) to Milwaukee where we got great news that Brode only needs to see his head surgeon annually from now on. We also met with his evey doctor again and we started patching his eye every day.

July 2011 - July 2011 was highly consumed with my Kimberly-Clark Health Services internship. I started after the 4th of July at 40 hours a week (in addition to my closing Y shifts). I loved it to say the least. I was welcomed warmly, learned all I could learn and practiced everything I had gotten through school. My confidence went through the roof in what I had studied and I enjoyed going in every day. I got to work on events, taught classes, promoted the health center, and completed an application for a national award. Brode went to his first Brewer's game in July as well!

August 2011 - August was technically my official graduation date but I didn't even notice as it came and went after already going through graduation (they don't have a summer ceremony) and I still had 3 weeks of internship to complete. Little boy also was fully potty-trained!

September 2011 - September 2011 I finally finished my schooling as I completed my internship. It was hard to leave as I had such a great time, loved what I did all day, and loved all the people that I worked with. I could only hope to find a job with as great of a fit as the internship was. Because I was finally a graduate with a B.S. I could sit for my American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) certification giving me a huge advantage in the field. After a 4 hour exam I passed and earned the right to put HFS (Health Fitness Specialist) after my signature in the fitness world. The last weekend of my internship was also my biggest project, the Fox Cities Marathon. I assisted in planning during my internship but I also participated in the half marathon the same weekend! It was a great experience and I am hoping to run it soon! Brode turned 3 at the end of September and we celebrated with friends and family with a sports party at home! His most exciting present - his first pair of hockey skates that he has been dying for!

October 2011 - October put me out on the job hunt! Having a break was fun for all of 1 week, then I was bored and needing a job. I accepted a part-time job with Kimberly-Clark on a new project every other week to keep me busy while I hunted. Application after application came and went with nothing (the job market is miserable making the job hunt excruciating). It wasn't too long and I stumbled upon another opportunity at the Y in addition to my night shifts and after amazing referrals I was in for 2 interviews and a job offer all in a week. I accepted a job as a part-time wellness coordinator at a corporate fitness site that the Y manages. The weekend before I started my job a friend and I traveled to Atlanta to house and dog sit at her sisters. It was a nice 4 day weekend as the temps here were getting low and staying in the 80's down there. We shopped, ate, relaxed, and toured the city before flying back to reality. Brode also successfully participated in Halloween this year as a Firefighter ("fiderfider"). You may remember him refusing a costume last year.

November 2011 - November 2011 consisted of a lot of work between 3 jobs. Although it was stressful it reassured me on Thanksgiving how lucky Brode and I are to have everything we do including all the help we receive from family and friends who want to see our success. Brode also started another session of swimming lessons! He is doing great!

December 2011 - December continued with work and was a month of celebration with never ending Christmas' which you know all about from the last 4 posts!

2012 is looking to be a year of development as a I expand on my career and we complete Brode's health care concerns. We hope to throw fun in along the way and see where it takes us!

We hope everyone else had a wonderful 2011 and is looking foward to a blessed 2012!

Gifts Galore!

We all received great gifts for Christmas! I have to admit I was so preoccupied with picking gifts for Brode and imagining his face when he woke up that I really didn't think about what I wanted or make a list!

I got clothes (mainly workout clothes to wear at work/teaching classes), shoes, a new coat, a cake pop maker with mixes and chocolate melting pot, movies, ornaments (Brode picked out an Alex Ovechkin hockey ornament for me. Thanks Brode.), gift cards, and my biggest gift was a watch with a HR monitor, exercise log, calorie counter, distance counter, interval trainer, etc. It has everything I would ever use for working out myself as well as teaching classes and personal training.

Brode and I also got a gift together - a Mickey Mouse waffle maker! Definetaly need to try that out!

Now for Brode's, because of course he got way too many fun toys and made quite the haul.

He came home from Matt's family Christmas with a sled, a Pittsburgh Penguin blanket and pillow, clothes, books, activity books, a Cars snowglobe, monster trucks, remote control Lightning McQueen, and a lot of candy!

A couple of my favorite gifts that I got him were the LeapPad:

the hockey gloves he was BEGGING for:

A Kid Tough camera - it takes 2000 pictures, you can edit them, acts just like a digtial camera but it's made for kids, is durable and easy to hold!

From Grandma and Grandpa he got this cash register (proving to be his favorite):

Battery powered Francesco:

a Harley Davidson scooter:

clothes, games, and ornaments as well as the picture of this:

Brode got a big bed! So far we have the bed portion set up and he is adjusting. We aren't too sure that we'll be raising it into a loft anytime soon, but now that he saw the picture I don't know if he'll let us wait!

We can't forget Libby! She is enjoying her new stuffed toys and the bones were long gone at this point:

What a Christmas! We sure have a million things to keep us busy now!

Feverish Christmas

2011 was the Christmas of exhaustion! Every Christmas really does feel like that, but nothing too severe that a nap can't fix. This year on the other hand Brode officially boycotted and was completely exhausted.

Friday night (23rd) Brode went to Christmas with Matt's family at his aunt and uncles house then slept at Grandma Beth's where him and daddy woke up to have breakfast and open stockings at Grandma's. I worked Friday night and Saturday morning/afternoon so Brode came home to Grandma and Grandpa and they put him down for a nap. After a short nap and a bath we got dressed up at headed to Christmas Eve mass at church. Brode was still fairly tired and wasn't too excited about the whole thing but once we were in church and they started 45 minutes early because it was packed he was fine! After church we had dinner at home and got a few things ready for Christmas Day before heading to my grandpa and grandma's to celebrate with my mom's side of the family.

Christmas Eve is always a late night, but the kids still had fun. Brode likes hanging out with all the bigger kids but he didnt have the patience to sit and watch present opening. He got a huge truck with a trailer and 4-wheeler so he played with that and spent the rest of the time sneaking chese and sausage off the kitchen counter. One of my cousins got a tabletop pool table and it was of course the first toy out of the box. The girls and Brode watched the first round.

He was taking in every detail and trying to get the best angles to learn the game of pool. He also kept calling it "Fish pool" because he thought the ques were fishing poles. He got bored of waiting his turn and raided the candy dish a few times.

After all the kids played Brode got a turn to try and hit a few balls. We were quite entertained watching him try to hit!

By midnight he was checking out and we needed to get home. Brode went straight to bed and we got things ready for a fun Christmas morning!

I woke up around 8 wondering why Brode wasn't up and anxious to get started (He is usually in your face at 7 every morning). He slowly woke up at 8:30 and we started presents.

His patience didn't last long and he was checked out again. We kept thinking "oh no we overdid it, he is bored with them" but Brode just kept complaining more of a stomach ache, wanting to get dressed, and wanting to snuggle. Not good, he isn't a whiner and doesn't really say when he doesn't feel well. Turning down presents was the major sign. We quickly got through as much as we could and as soon as we moved on to breakfast Brode walked himself back upstairs and straight into bed for an hour. He got back up and played for another hour, but went back down for another 2 and 1/2 hours. At this point we all know he isn't himself and he is pretty sick.

Christmas Day we had my dad's family over. The family is rapidly growing so our house was busting at the seams with people and kids.

(This is the family room, I couldn't get the kitchen, small living room, and basement! We were pushing 50 people!)

Brode spent the day in the basement with a fever and watching a movie. After some tylenol he started to feel better but still refused to eat!

After all the people left we did a quick clean-up and headed over to my aunt and uncles (mom's side again) to do a round robin, have snacks, and watch the Packer game.

By Monday we were all ready to sit at home and do nothing but play! Of course Brode spent the day sleeping and laying on the couch watching movies so his new toys all stayed under the tree wrapped up. He slept in my bed until 5:00pm while we did some moving in his room for one of his new presents. Talk about exhaustion!

Of course we weren't finished so when he woke up people were immediately over to round robin at our house but he was pretty perky after a nap and finaly ate his first meal in 2 days!

Tuesday morning we were in the doctors office to figure out what was going on. Sure enough, strep throat! The kid was miserable and we were putting him through everything horrible he could imagine. He has had some antibiotics and starting to feel better but still sleeping a lot:

(Wednesday's nap time, didn't even want to make it to his bed!)

Follow up post will show all the wonderful things we got for Christmas!

I hope everyone else had an enjoyable Christmas! We certainly did even if there was no snow and we had a sick little boy.

Holiday Program

Last thursday Brode had his first Holiday Program at day care! The "upstairs kids" or the older kids (3,4,5) all put on a holiday program for parents. Grandma Beth and I went to the morning show and Grandpa and Grandma went to the afternoon show.

This year's theme was "Love, Peace, Hope and Joy". All the kids were dressed in pink, purple, white, and limegreen. They set up the stage in the gym with presents and Christmas lights. Brode's class started dressed as chefs preparing the holiday feast and singing a "Ha Ha Holiday" song with bells. Brode gets embarassed very easily so he stood at the end with his pan full of cookies in front of his face. Grandma and Grandpa said Brode was the little boy everyone would be talking about that night at home because he had his fingers up his nose during their show!

(That's him there on the end with the white hat, green apron, and cookie sheet in front of his face)

After his class the 4 year old class sang two songs, but they were pretty distracted and the boys began fighting and there were jingle bells flying everywhere. The 5 year olds finished with two fun songs. They all sang loudly and danced, putting on quite a good show!

When all the groups were done they did a finale together, singing a Peace on Earth song and signing the words as well. Brode was better through this one and actually sang and motioned quite a bit. It was fun to go and see all the kids and they were excited to see all of us in the crowd!

This past Tuesday the class also went to a local retirement community and sang and had a small Christmas party with them. His teachers gave Brode rave reviews saying he didn't have his hands by his face and he sang loudly. Brode was VERY proud of himself (I was VERY sad I missed it).

We will definetaly remember his first holiday program, and here is to many more to come!

(I didn't get a good picture of his class because I was tying to videotape at the same time. The videos are being stubborn but I'll get them loaded!)

Christmas Card

The Rivet family is not efficient in Christmas Card planning ever. We are usually scrambling for a picture and then we all get frustrated because the dog won't sit still, Brode is screaming and I'm pulling my hair out.

This year Brode's 3 year old portraits got pushed back from September to November and on that day I happened to wear green and he had red as an outfit change. Our photographer offered to snap a few of us together because we don't have any, with the possibility of using them for cards. She custom designs the cards to match our portrait so it work out perfectly.

They turned out great! I love this picture (not only because I have zero of Brode and I together) because of the great smiles and our eyes open - it's always a struggle to get it all to work together.

Wishing a Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

(If you live in our area and need a wonderful photographer for anything I highly recommend ours - let me know I'll get you her information!)

December Catch-Up

We have been trying to fit holiday festivities between everything we have going on when we can.

We started with decorating the whole house. Grandma took care of this when everyone (certain "helpers") were out of the house so we could work on the tree. We hit a bit of a damper with our "wonderful pre-lit christmas tree" so the set-up process took a week and a half. After grandma got all the lights on Brode and I put on the ornaments a few days later. The top of the tree looks great, the bottom is a bit... bunched. I may or may not have rearranged as he went the other direction, but his favorites are still right in front right where he wants them. Two in particular that he likes are a hockey snowman and a Tigger ornament from our friend Leah. (Tigger is hard to see because he is wrapped in green ribbon as a gift to Pooh)

Brode helped with Christmas cookies this year as well! We handled the decorating. He chose a star, a bell, and a tree. You could quite possibly get a good sugar rush from all the sprinkles!

St. Nick also paid a visit to our house. We had been talknig about Tinsel and Santa on Christmas so much he was quite confused to why there was stuff in his stocking, but he still loved it. He was much faster at unwrapping, hopefully this means Christmas morning won't take 4 hours again.

Brode got a robot that lights up and walks, a box of Starbursts (his absoloute favorite!), and Rudolph hot cocoa. I got a gift card to Archivers and candy. Brode was quite confused why Grandpa, Grandma, and Libby didn't get anything. He told Tinsel to tell Santa not to forget them on Christmas.

Besides Christmas activities we have been doing our normal work (a LOT) and day care schedules. Brode is in swimming lessons this session at the Y. He is doing great! My goal with this class was to get him more independent instead of me holding him and him jumping to me and since he has no interest in his lifejacket or swimmies it is going to have to be all his skill. He is finally to the age that they are no longer parent-child classes and he is on his own.

Here is Brode's class of 6 kids (he is right off Mr. Ryan's right shoulder). Matt has been bringing him to his last few classes because my work conflicts but he says he is still doing great and gets better about trying the skills they are taught.

He is already signed up for next session so hopefully we can keep moving forward and he'll be ready for the cottage and friend's pools this summer!

Thanksgiving, Tinsel, Skates, and Stories

Thanksgiving was great! Brode slept over at Daddy's on Wednesday night and they went to breakfast at Matt's moms that morning before coming home for a little nap. Brode slept until 2:30 before we headed off to my aunt and uncles for Thanksgiving dinner. We played games, Brode did puzzles with the other kids, and followed my cousin Scott around like a little lost puppy (Scott is his idol - he is 19).

"Tinsel", our elf on the shelf, is going well! He has been spotted a few places around the house. He showed up Friday morning after Thanksgiving on the counter with a little letter to Brode. The first 2 days were the best when we would be out shoppnig and Brode would do something wrong "Tinsel isn't going to be happy with me is he!" This could be a good month of good behavior.

Funny story about Tinsel - we have a window on the second story that is in the foyer. Brode was insisting Grandpa throw Tigger up to sit in the window (10 feet above his head) because he got a soccer ball stuck up there one time. While Brode was brushing teeth for bedtime Tigger magically got thrown up perfectly into the window. It took 2 seconds and Brode was fearful Tigger would never come down again (if you know his attachment to Tigger, it would be the end of the world). Grandpa suggested we ask Tinsel to fly up there and get him down while Brode got his pajamas on. Tinsel had been sitting on top of a clock on the wall that day so when Brode came back downstairs there was Tigger and Tinsel sitting together on the clock. To this day he still thanks Tinsel for flying up and getting Tigger down.

His favorite spot of Tinsel's was when he sat on the light over the kitchen table, hanging above our food. Brode laughed and laughed and kept asking how he got up there!

Brode also started walking around in his skates. Matt pointed out that it would be much easier for him to learn if he learns to walk on ground with them first, then walk across ice, and then skate. It took a bit of convincing the first night but he finally put them on and it wasn't long before he was wearing the helmet, skates, jersey and had a stick and puck. He walked laps around the couch, went back and forth, squatted up and down, and fell down and stood up. We're all anxious to get him to open ice now.

Nothing else has been too exciting except for a few little stories I want to remember about Brode. The kid outsmarts us like you'd never believe and some of the thnigs that come out of his mouth are priceless. He gets into a lot of "Grandpa is my best buddy, and mommy is my best buddy, and daddy is my best buddy, and Grandma is my best buddy, and Libby is my best buddy" and he'll go on and on through all the people he knows. Bedtime takes 45 minutes longer now because he knows how to work it. A few weeks ago Grandpa was alone with Brode and just after putting him to bed Brode yells down the stairs. "Grandpa I can't sleep, my pillow is wet!" so Grandpa asks how it possibly got wet and Brode replies "When you filled my fishtank with more water it splashed!" Now, it is true that grandpa added more water to the fishtank, but it is also true that the fishtank is 15 feet away on the other side of the room and not a dropped missed the tank. Not a chance Brode lay back down.

He remembers everything and doesn't miss a trick. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in his daycare class and watch him all day. I can only imagine!

Sorry it took so long again - the truth is I write them to remember, then never get around to uploading the pictures so I end up with 1,000 drafts saved. There are already 2 more after this scheduled to automatically go up to catch up on December and holiday festivities so watch for those the next few days.