Christmas

Well the chaos is over and Christmas was great!Christmas Eve Brode and I went to church with my parents while Matthew went with his parents and grandma and had dinner with them. Brode did great in church, I was nervous because it is long for a baby boy as it is, but we had to get there pretty darn early to get a seat. He looked around at the lights and the people, listened to the music, then fell asleep for the entire mass. Afterwards we headed back here, had some delicious soup for dinner and watched the beginning of Its A Wonderful Life. We can't have a christmas without it! At 8 we went over to my mom's parents with that side of the family and did Christmas. We finally left at midnight because Brode wasn't taking the staying up late too well with lots of people around. Christmas morning we got up pretty early, my parents, Brode, Matt and I opened presents here and then had a nice breakfast together. Brode got lots of clothes and toys from grandma and grandpa and mom and dad. Although we all wanted open all of our things up we had to pack it under the tree and clean the house. My dad's family all came over here that afternoon and for dinner, then left around 6. We quickly packed up Brode and Matt and I headed over to his family's christmas at his aunt and uncles. Brode got a lot more things there, some cute outfits and some fun toys! He is going to need a new toybox after all of this. We came home earlier to get him in bed so we could get back to his schedule.

Friday the 26th Brode was three months old! We hung out here during the day and got back on schedule, while I worked from home. Then that night we had christmas with my moms side of the family, but more of an extension, with her aunts and uncles and cousins. Matt and Grandpa and Brode stayed home and had mens night.
Saturday wasn't so good for Brode, he woke up with a fever again, so back to the doctor we went. They wanted to check on him after being in the hospital they had to make sure it wasn't coming back. He just has a real bad cold and a fever so he has been pretty whiny and tired. Not himself at all! That night we went to my aunt and uncles and then they all came back here to see what everyone got and play some Wii. Brode had an early bedtime to try to get back to normal, and with this awful cold I had to go to bed early as well.

Hopefully we can just relax these next few days and get back to good health before the new year!

Getting Close!

Well Christmas is a few days away, and with having Christmas Day here we're usually cleaning. Wrong. The house is a disaster zone. We recently painted the living room, but this week is crunch time to get it all redecorated. The tables are coming tomorrow, along with the carpet being ripped out. Tuesday we're getting all new carpet and the new furniture is being delivered. We should just about have everything back to normal just in time for Christmas.

Brode has been doing well. He had a check up at the doctor and she said that he is doing great and doesn't hear any more of his sickness. We started letting him cry himself to sleep. It has been going very well. I enjoy it because it is more of a routine, and then I'm not sitting up until midnight every night waiting for him to fall asleep. It gives me a little break. We started having him to go bed around 9, and he has been sleeping until 5! I couldn't ask for anything more. It is great! It is hard to believe he is going to be three months old on Friday!

We sent out our first christmas card this year. We took a picture of Libby, Brode and I for all of our family and friends, then switched Matt and Libby and my dad ended up ordering some for us so we sent out a couple of our first official card!

Thats about all we have to update about right now. We're excitied for all of our festivites. We're sure to wear the little guy out because we've got a lot of christmas's to go to!

One Week

I can't believe Christmas Eve is a week away. All my wrapping and shopping is done so I have moved on to baking cookies and candies. It has become quite a challenge though because nap time is only so long and Brode insists on being spoiled when he is awake.

This week is pretty slow. The little guy is doing lots better but we still just need to stay inside and away from people so he can get back to 100%. Tomorrow is our first chance to get out. Brode needs to go back to the doctor to see how he is doing. Afterwards Matt and I havestuff to do so Brode is staying with Grandma. This weekend will also be slow but itwill be good to relax before the next crazy weeks to come!

Our new discovery this week is our feet as you can tell!

Sick Baby!

So this was going to be a fun weekend for all of us, but things changed quickly.

Friday Matt and I went shopping for Brode's christmas presents then hung out here with the little guy. Saturday morning I had to work, luckily it is from the kitchen table so when I found out Brode had a high temperature when he woke up I could watch him closely. It wasn't long and he was over 102 so we called and brought him in right away. After 2 xrays, an EKG, and drawing blood it was determined that he has pnuemonia so he got admitted into the pediatrics center at the hospital. This meant no making gingerbread hours with Grandma Beth. It is nice that they have beds that are cribs, but it looks like a giant cage which made the entire thing even scarier. To make it worse he got more blood drawn but they were having an extremely hard time finding veins so he got poked a lot. They then hooked him up to two different machines/monitors so he had wires all over. Adding to that they gave him an IV, but that was quite a challenge as well. Keeping an IV on a 2 and 1/2 month old is not easy so he had an entire arm plate along with it. Lastly they put a security band and hospital band on each of his ankles. It was pretty hard to even move the poor little guy.

After a lot of hydration and antibiotics to treat different things he started doing a lot better! He got two more blood drawing pricks this morning and 3 more xrays. Finally they decided he could go home. They thought it would be monday or tuesday but he was a fighter and got to come home.

So our weekend quickly came to an end after being cooped up, but we're beyond thankful that Brode is ok and back to normal! It is so hard watching him in that much pain, but it is so nice being able to comfort him and have him know who his mommy is.

This week we will be staying in making the holiday cookies and candies so Brode can get back to normal!

Snow!

Well, it's December and things are going to start getting crazy!

There is good new on the baby front! Brode is sleeping through the night! He started at going to bed at midnight every night and waking up about 7 or 8, that went on for a while, but he recently started going to bed at 11 and just this week it has become 10:00 and then he wakes up at 7, drinks a few ounces of a bottle and goes back to bed until 10! It is amazing!

He also just found his hands, and thinks they are the coolest things in the world. They started to catch his eye as he waved them past, but now he's got the Superman fist straight up in the air and just stares at them. He can also see a lot farther and watches everyone a lot more. We started putting him facing out in the carrier that you wear so that we can get stuff done and he just looks around. He starts to get heavy when he falls asleep but it is a good workout!

Last weekend just consisted of working, Wii, shopping, and visitors. Brode got to go to grandma Beths while my mom and i did some shopping, but he slept the whole time!

This week we're just finishing some shopping and wrapping since we're snowed in!

Christmas Time!

Thanksgiving was very enjoyable! Matt had Brode Wednesday so I got a nice full night of sleep, then he got some time with him in the morning. We each went with our families for this Thanksgiving. Brode hadn't napped all day so he was sleeping be 3 and slept the entire time until we got home at 10 when he decided it was time to be up until midnight like usual.

Friday night Matt and I got some time to oursevles while Brode went to Grandma Beths so we went out to dinner and rented a movie. It was nice just to relax. Saturday was Day One of decorating the Rivet household for Christmas! We got the lights and the tree up, but it took a lot longer because Brode wasn't too excited about it. He was very excited about the lights when we plugged them in. Grandma and Grandpa babysat while I went and hung out with Miss Kelsey at the hockey game and saw Neenah people.

Today is Day Two of decorating, but Brode is already tuckered out from all the excitement! I love getting all the christmas decoations out because it feels so warm and cozy and gets me more and more excited! The stockings are my favorite part, the entire Rivet side of the family all have the same ones from Grandma, so now we just need Brode's addition.

Thanksgiving

Brode is 2 months today! Yay! It seems like it's been so long, but yet so short and went so fast! He went to the doctor on Monday and he is now 11 pounds and grew another 2 inches! He also got his first shots. He screamed very loudly for a little bit and then was fine, he slept the whole day but when he woke up his legs were very sore so he was not happy at all. He is finally back to his usual self!

I am very excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow. I can't believe it's here already, and before you know it Christmas will be here! Tomorrow we'll probably be lazy in the morning and then my mother and I are going to pack up Brode and go out to my aunt and uncles for our Thanksgiving dinner with her side of the family. My dad never really celebrates with us and Matthew will be spending this holiday with his family because we'll get lots of both families at Chirstmas.

This weekend should be fun. I'm hopefully going to get a chance to see everyone that is home for Thanksgiving and we're putting up our Christmas tree and decorating! Matt has hockey games so he'll be able to hang out with Brode during the day so I can get some things done.

The baby just woke up and I still have things to get done! Happy Thanksgiving!

LaCrosse

Well this weekend was our trip to LaCrosse to see the girls! We've been waiting for a long time, I was dying. I couldn't wait all week, I was so excited! We left around noon on Friday, Brode slept the entire car ride until we got there at 3 and it was time for him to eat so he was hungry right away. It was so great to see everyone, and even get a chance for dinner alone with Matthew, to go out to see everyone, have a family dinner and play some games. We just hung out while some people stopped over to see Brode. He loved seeing all of his aunties. He was pretty well behaved, just not happy when he had to eat, and when he kept Tiff awake all night! I hope we can go back next semester but things are sure to get busy then so we'll see! It sure was entertaining.

This week is already Thanksgiving, and it should be pretty busy. Brode has a doctor tomorrow, he is getting all of his first shots. The rest of the days just have random appointments and things. We havent even figured out our plans for the holidays yet. It is a lot harder with two familes now! We'll see how it all goes.

Have a great week and a great Thanksgiving!

Weekend

This weekend was very enjoyable for everyone but Brode! I went with my parents down to Schaumburg and went to IKEA and lots of other stores to continue the redecorating of the entire house! We went down Friday afternoon and got some stuff done that night, had a our traditional Portillos dinner then headed back to the hotel so I could take advantage of sleeping through the night. Saturday we stopped at a lot of different stores and got a lot of walking in and made some good purchases. We got home around 9, just in time to pick up Brode and Libby because we missed them. I think they even missed each other, they've been getting along a lot more lately.

Brode stayed at Daddy's this weekend, but he had a hockey game both nights so while he was having fun playing Brode got to stay at Grandma Beths and hang out. She hasn't see him for a while so it was good time to spend with him. The only problem was that he was still sick with a little bit of a temperature and upset stomach so he was pretty fussy at times. Poor guy. Hopefully he gets better soon!

Today is just lazy day around the house. I got shelves and pictures for my room so I'm excited to hang those up today, then we're just watching movies and things. It is bath night for Brode so we'll get him all cuddled in, then he'll hopefully go to bed early!

It was a fun weekend, but next weekend should be even better in LaCrosse!

Sick baby boy

Brode is sick, very sick!

I thought he had just woken up on the wrong side of the crib yesterday, he was extremely fussy all day, so I started to catch on after a few hours of crying when we ruled out that he was hungry. Monday had been a very great day, he was happy as could be and hung out all day, but yesterday was the complete opposite. Finally at 10 last night he started throwing up, more than I thought was physically possible for the a little boy. He slept pretty well and ate well during the night so I started to think he was doing a little better. Sleeping in until 10 was amazing as well and he did great just hanging out for a while after. I ran errands for a while and he was fine, but once we got home he was a wreck. He hasn't been eating much today and started throwing up again. I finally got him to sleep for a little bit longer. Grandma and Daddy are both gone tonight so hopefully Grandpa will be willing to hang out, I have to admit I need a break. I feel so helpless when I know his stomach is bothering him and he doesnt stop crying.

Hopefully this won't last long, he is staying at Grandma Beth's and Daddy's this weekend and I wouldn't want him to give them a hard time!