Random Pics

The mohawk is back! Well with a little help...Caleb's hair is getting so long. He's also getting lots of new teeth and is starting to walk on his own.

August and I had a date night for his work holiday party. Here we are before heading out for the night. Perceptive does a great job at throwing these things...they are truly fun and entertaining. This year there was a musty smelling santa and an elf that rode around on a motorized cooler. Hopefully I'll have some more pictures soon!

Just a sweet boy playing with the Christmas lights.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This Thanksgiving we traveled to Lander, Wyoming to spend the holiday at my sister's house. Family traveled in from all over the state (well really just from 2 other cities) and we had a great time. The Bechtel's live outside of the city in this awesome log house.

Uncle Matt celebrated his birthday the week of Thanksgiving. It was great to be there with him. One of my favorite pics of him and Caleb:

Caleb and Sam had an awesome time playing together in said house. By the end of the trip, they were wrestling around and Sam was poking at Caleb's belly button. Enough said.

Right next door was a plot of land where two horses are kept...Ruby and Ruby's mom. Sam definitely knew who Ruby was. Caleb was shocked to be this close to a horse for the first time.

A few deer frequently make their way through the horses area, including one buck with a limp.

Here's a better picture of Caleb with sporting an awed expression as he checks out the horse.

Sam really took to a dog brush that week. Brush, brush, brush, he would say over and over. And he liked to brush everyone's hair...which was not only nice since it was a dog brush, but was even better after Uncle Steve actually brushed the horse with it. Sam thought it was awesome!

Enjoying the Thanksgiving feast!

A few pictures of everyone getting ready for dinner.

Uncle Steve carving the bird...Sam actually took this picture. He's very good with the camera at 18 months!

We had a great Thanksgiving and can't wait for Christmas!!

M I Z - Z O U

The weekend before Thanksgiving, August and I went back to Columbia with friends for the Mizzou/Iowa game. What a weekend. We had originally planned the trip as our annual tailgate and considered it a good excuse to really get to know my former roommate Sherie's new boyfriend (aka interrogate him - btw Daniel, thanks for putting up with us). To top things off, our dear friends Lauren and Ryan had just gotten engaged the day before the game, so all being in Columbia together was an awesome way to celebrate. Man I love Columbia!

Here is the gang. From left to right: Joe & Holly, Daniel & Sherie, Ryan & Lauren, August & me, Luke & Tim, and Kelly & Tim. We're so lucky to have such great friends...even though a couple of them are KU fans...

So we ate dinner at the Heidleberg downtown...this place is a staple to Columbia. Well when we were in college, I don't recall the tiger painted toilet there. They don't sell these at Home Depot.

Columbia at night. Perfect ending to a perfect day!

Caleb gets a shiner

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season! I have lots of posts to get caught up on, so to start things off, I wanted to share the big event of Caleb's first black eye. Was it his first fist-fight at day care or just the result of a misstep as he learns to walk? Actually he just hit his face on a shelf. But still, bumps and bruises are the signs of a mobile child. Each accident report from daycare signifies another step towards true toddlerhood.

In the 12th Month

Caleb has been growing by leaps and bounds lately. He's now standing up on his own, climbing all the way up flights of stairs, and the sweetest thing - waving goodbye. It's a nice big full wave...today he waved goodbye to his room as we were leaving it after a diaper change.

Always fun to stick a bowl on your head.

The Patterson's have the Christmas spirit! Today we bought a tree - one that we won't have to water or worry about as we travel for the holidays. I'm very excited for that...and very excited to get the house decorated and enjoy it for awhile. Caleb also liked the tree.

But he liked the box a little bit more.

August got this shot of Caleb just pooped out after long of day of playing. He's so sweet.

The Bechtels Come to Visit

The Bechtels came to visit us on Halloween weekend. It was great to have them in town and of course wonderful to get the boys together. Caleb watched closely as Sam independently walked around the house and he also watched closely as Sam ate his breakfast. Do you think Caleb gets the begging thing from Molly? It's a good thing Sam has his own dogs so he knew to just go ahead and feed Caleb.

On the move!

Sam thought it was hilarious...Caleb looked shocked!

After a day of playing...definitely needed a bath.

Although it looks like Sam came alone, he did bring his parents. We can't wait to invade the Bechtel's house when we go to Lander in two weeks for Thanksgiving! Maybe we'll come back with some pictures of Ellen and Steve.

Halloween

One year ago Caleb was a tiny little stinker...he was one week old and slept right through Halloween.

This year was a little different... Caleb was a skeleton first. We didn't spend a lot of time looking around for a costume...but found this one while out shopping for his birthday party supplies. It was a cute costume...we thought he looked super scary.

So our first official Halloween stop was a party at August's work. I picked Caleb up from daycare for the party and the daycare ladies had already put Caleb in his costume...and the velcro on the inside of the legs had already started to rip off and wouldn't stay shut. Sure the costume wasn't super high quality...but for the love. So, Caleb went to the Halloween party basically wearing a skeleton dress since it wouldn't stay shut.

Caleb also makes a very scary spider.

Caleb had also been invited to a birthday party for Avery (his fellow Mizzou friend) who turned 1 on Oct. 30th. So on Halloween we went to her birthday party. Caleb couldn't very well show up in a skeleton dress, so he went in this cute giraffe costume. Thanks to Jackson for letting us borrow it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOGIE!

Caleb turned 1 on October 25th. We had a nice birthday party with friends and family...and lots of icing. It was a great day...lots of reminiscing about the events that occurred one year ago. August and I mentioned to each other that day that it was so weird to say we have a 1-year-old and really so crazy how fast the year went. We're so lucky to have such a wonderful little guy.

So the new great love is balloons. Caleb is a big fan.

Static electricity is fun at any age...

Amost One Year!!

Caleb is so close to turning one year!! Just two weeks from tomorrow, I can't believe it. Where in the heck did that year go? In the past month he's turned into such a little boy. He's hilarious, doesn't mind having his teeth brushed, and hates getting his diaper changed. He's getting so independent, but still shows his love with a good snuggle or kiss. Enjoy the pictures!

Meal times always ends up being pretty funny at our house.

Caleb stuffing his face with bread.

The following pictures are pretty classic. I was out of town for work Monday and Tuesday so August caught this moment for me...thank goodness. Caleb was really enjoying his dinner, so much that he managed to get a bean stuck behind his ear. I was promised that the bean placement was truly authentic. It's like a little green bean pencil.

Caleb has mastered cruising around furniture and walking behind his push toy. He pretty much goes wherever he wants to, the craziest being when he follows you around the house. It's a pretty normal occurrence to be walking down the hallway and hear a loud clunking noise behind you - it's Caleb crawling behind you with a toy in each hand, just smack, smack, smacking his way along, trying to catch up.

Just a nice trip to the park with the boogie for some swinging.

And lastly, my Dad and Kate just got back from a trip to Europe where they bought Sam and Caleb the coolest wooden swords. Both of the boys love them and at the end of this month they may have a chance to duke it out when Sam comes to visit.