We've Been Busy. . .

It seems like the older Patton gets, the busy things become. I used to think, "Oh, I'd be so happy when Patton becomes mobile because then I'd have more time to get things done since he can move around on his own." Ha! How ignorant I was! I didn't realize that the more mobile Patton is, the closer I have to watch him! He's SUPER fast and gets into cupboards, toilets, you name it, within the drop of a hat. He definitely keeps me on my toes, and I love it! Patton started walking just after his birthday, and now he's absolutely all over the place. I'm having issues with our camera right now, otherwise I'd post videos of him walking. But trust me, the boy is walking (and my house is proof of it! haha). Well, here's what we've been up to:

Playing in random boxes. Patton is absolutely obsessed with this box (thanks Nana). He loves to climb all over it and be pushed in it. Ah, the simple (and cheap) joys of life!

Eating strawberries! He is absolutely OBSESSED with strawberries! As you can see proof all over his face! He is so my kid!

Playing with his box! Told you it was his favorite!

Working on his GQ poses.

Nana gave him this barn for his birthday and he absolutely loves it! He loves to make all the animal sounds. It's really quite adorable!

Playing hide-and-seek with his barn. He loves this game!

Playing with his blocks!

And Legos.

Going to the Pasadena Children's Museum with his buddy Skylar and cousin Luke. I couldn't get a pic of Luke (the active boy!), but he's there too!

The boys all had a great time at the museum. They played in the outdoor water area, and then they had this really cool indoor area for the little ones. They had mats and slides for the kids to play in, while us mommies all chatted away. It was awesome!

Going to the beach! This time he actually played in the sand. He probably ate as much sand as he played with, but that's a one year old for ya!

Spitting at Mommy! Thanks kiddo! This will definitely be in your wedding video one day. Haha! Payback!

The boys we went to the beach with. It was such a nice, overcast day! We even saw dolphins swimming in the waves. How awesome!

Patton digging in the sand!

I'm really enjoying this time with Patton. We keep ourselves very busy and social, and I love it! I can't wait to see what other fun things we do!

Patton's Winter ONE-derland

Patton's birthday happened to be on a Saturday this year, so we were able to have his 1st birthday party on his actual birthday. Hurray! I can't believe my baby is already a year! When did this happen!?

Someone looks ready for their party!

The onesie that I made him.

So the theme was a winter ONE-derland, since his birthday is in the winter. So we had lots of various kinds of yummy cookies: Rolo & Payday cookies, gingerbread cookies, peanut butter chocolate cookies & snickerdoodles. I baked for 2 days straight! I also made snowmen out of powdered donuts!

Decorations above the food area. I hung clothes that Patton's worn in the past year. The outfit on the left is that one he came home from the hospital in. I swear that Patton was NEVER that tiny! He popped out the size that he is, I'm thoroughly convinced of it! :).

We also had chips, dip and guacamole! Yum!

The food on the left are penguins made out of olives, flavored cream cheese & carrots. I wish that I had taken a closer picture because they turned out REALLY cute! Thank you Pinterest! :)

More decorations!

We even had a make your own hot cocoa station & then we had different flavors of milk in the ice chest.

Decorations above the play area in our living room. The Patton pics are pictures from each month in the past 12 months, showing how he's changed from month to month. It turned out cute !

Matt & Em

The Kellys

The Casadys

Total we were expecting 37 people, including kids. My house is TINY! So we were pretty cramped, but we made it work! I need to work on getting us a bigger house before Patton's next party! Haha!

So after we ate some yummy goodness, Patton opened his gifts. This is Patton's awesome new cell phone so that he can leave Mommy's cell phone alone. . .one can only dream!

My adorable niece Remi.

Opening gifts! Patton got LOTS of clothes, which is exactly what he needed!

More proof that my home can actually fit that many people in it!

After opening gifts, we all sang to Patton and let him have at it with his cake. What's this stuff Momma?

Patton immediately grabbed his cake and flipped it over! Silly boy! So we turned it over and watched him as he carefully ate it! He didn't make a huge mess. . . he was just very cautious about what he was eating.

Everyone watching Patton eat his cake!

"Oh wait, is everyone looking at me?! Well then, I must smile and giggle and put on a show"-Patton. That's Patton's philosophy. Well, that was Patton's party. I wanted to make it a pretty short party, so as not to overwhelm Patton (or myself). Everyone had a good time, and more importantly, Patton had a good time. I can't believe he's already ONE! It really seems like just yesterday we were bringing him home from the hospital. I know that sounds cliche, but it's totally true. Time really does speed up when you have a little one! I can't wait to see what this next year will bring Patton! WE LOVE YOU!

I've Been Practicing. . .

Look who's been practicing!

Patton's not quite walking yet, but he's sure trying! He cruises along EVERYTHING (and gets into EVERYTHING, might I add). He's taken about 5 steps on his own, but that's about it! Every day he takes more and more steps on his own more confidently. I know it's just a matter of time before he's running all over our house!

I'm trying Mama!

Here I come!

Whatcha doing Mama? That's his favorite thing to do. . . see and do whatever it is I'm doing! He's getting so big!

Our boy and his fish

We knew that the weekend of Patton's birthday would be crazy, so we decided to head to the Long Beach Aquarium the weekend before his birthday. We made sure to get there extra early so that Patton could have ample time with his fishies.

Patton had a good time at the aquarium. I think he was more frustrated this time because he wanted to touch the fishies but couldn't understand why there was glass in his way. He still had fun though!

The cute lil sea lions. We saw real ones while we were on our cruise in Cabo, but we weren't able to get this close to them. It was pretty cool!

The sharks in the touch tank. We opted to not let Patton touch the sharks since I'm sure he'd try to climb in there with them. That boy loves water!

All the Nemos and Doras. You could hear all the kids around us screaming their names! Too funny!

More fishies

I loved this giant sea turtle. . . he's just so cute! We were only able to stay in the aquarium for a few hours. Patton REALLY wanted to crawl around the aquarium and was frustrated that we wouldn't let him. So we left a bit early. We saw all the things we wanted though. I was hoping to see another great white shark, but we'll have to go back to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for that one! Our next aquarium visit will probably be the Baltimore Aquarium when we visit my parents, but perhaps we'll go to the Sea Life Aquarium in San Diego next. I dunno, we'll see! :)