Dancin' the Christmas night away

Ho Ho Ho

Just a super quick post and I promise I will post more later... Here's Madison talking about Santa. Ahhh, I could eat her she is so stinkin' cute!

Learning her letters

Madison has been learning new things at light speed these days and my mom made her this adorable pillow to help her learn to spell her name. Each letter is attached with velcro so she can take them off and put them back on!

Madison's first sporting activity

So, we recently started taking Madison to swim lessons with our friends, Rachel and Anoop (Asha + Mira) and Tanya and Pete (Kalyna). Madison is totally in love with the water and has more moxie that mommy and daddy are ready for.  

Baby Ahlers #2

We found out back in August that we're expecting Baby Ahlers #2! We're thrilled are looking forward to our appointment in November where we find out if it's a boy or a girl. In the meantime, we've been talking to Madison about having a new brother or sister around. I don't quite think the concept has sunk in, but, minus a few sharing issues that I'm sure will pop up, Madison is going to be pretty good at this big sister gig.

Elmo's Song

We went out to Lake of the Woods on Saturday to do some location scouting for a photo shoot I was doing Sunday. To keep Madison enthusiastic about her modeling responsibilities, we were singing her some of her Elmo favorites... and then out of nowhere, Madison started singing along. So, she can sing too, who knew? :)

I am a terrible blogger

Life seems to be moving so quickly lately—I blink and another month has passed, and Madison has grown up more than I could imagine. She's talking in complete sentences now... occasionally. Her first sentence was "I seeeeeeeeee youuuuu!" which she says about a hundred times a day after "hiding" from you by simply turning her head, kind of ducking behind the couch or pulling a pillow over her eyes. She's also got please and thank you down, and can at least figure one of the words out for whatever it is she wants or needs. Mostly wants. :) But it's been such a joy to watch her grow into her own little person. She is a dare devil, a cuddler, a talker, and totally aware of what she wants. Seriously, I can't. stop. squeezing her.

Like I mentioned, we've been busy, busy, busy. Our great friends, Marc and Lauren (Ra Ra) got married. Madison had several birthday parties to go to (Evan, Asha + Mira, Liam, and Kalyna). We won the friend lottery and all ended up having babies around the same time, so now I have lots of friends with little kiddos, which is working out perfectly for Miss M. One of Madison's favorite teachers (Abbie) accepted a great opportunity in Nashville and we had to say good-bye. We also took a mini-vacay to Michigan for blueberry picking and hanging out on the beach. The garden is in full swing, so we've been canning peaches, beets, and pickles, and have frozen corn and a couple of other misc. garden wares. Adam has been working on our master bath and has been learning tons of useful man-skills along the way. He's hung trim, installed a toilet, patched drywall, and moved an outlet. I'm kinda impressed, and our bathroom is allllmmmoooossst done. Omie (Aunt Elmo) moved home a couple of weeks ago to take a management position at the I Hotel and Joe and Dylanger visited for 5 days. It went so fast I only got one picture (Dylanger brought Madison a matching America shirt :)). I promise to do better next time. We don't get to see those guys enough. Whew.

Madison has also started becoming really attached to things. She now has four named baby dolls— Baby Ra Ra, Baby Marc, Baby Night Night, and our newest addition, Baby Abbie. Are you starting to see the trend in her baby names? She chose them all, so you can really see she is connecting the dots. If you have a baby named after you, be honored, it means she loves you :)

Madison's first sprinkler experience

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My parents have a small strawberry patch in the garden and Madison found it for the first time. She was eating the strawberries as fast as I could pick them :)

Thanks to Bass Pro Shop for providing free entertainment on our trip home from Nebraska. Madison thought their HUGE fish tank was awesomeness (I secretly did too). 

To say Madison enjoyed hanging out with her cousins is an enormous understatement. She adored those girls. Here she is figuring out the concept of a tent for the first time. So much cuteness.

HI! to our family in Nebraska

Playing in the hose

Madison's thinks the garden hose is pretty cool stuff...

cuteness

Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery

For the last couple of years, Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery has been holding "breakfasts at the farm" for the couple of weeks leading up to the opening of the Farmer's Market. We've always meant to go... but never actually made it. Well, today we had our act together and got out there... early. It was a bit hectic, but breakfast was delicious, and Wes, the owner was super nice. I think Adam wants to grow up and be him ;). Honestly, I wouldn't mind that either, the lifestyle looks sooooo relaxing.

Anyway, a couple of our friends joined us and the girls thought the baby goats were the coooooooolest.

Easter egg hunting with friends

Since this was the first real Easter that Madison was old enough to get excited about it, we did a LOT of Easter egg hunts. We're so lucky to have so many great friends in the area to hang out with!

Easter Photo Shoot

Since I am always the one behind the camera, we have lots of adorable shots of Madison, but not many of us as a family. So, since Joe was in town, I wanted to take advantage of his sweet photog skillz and get a family photo. Madison was seriously overwhelmed by the day so far and all the people... so needless to say, the shoot went less than stellar. BUT, Joe still got some great shots. Thanks Joe!! I appreciate your patience!

Aunt Omie and Uncle Joe

We don't get to see these guys nearly enough. I think the last time they saw Madison she was about five months old. It was awesome to get to hang out with them both for a solid four days over the Easter break. And, Madison LOVED showing Aunt Omie and Uncle Joe all of her new skills.

 Madison showing Uncle Joe how dandelions work.

 Our attempt at a family picture. It was kind of a disaster.

 

Madison in all of her Easter cuteness. My mom found this adorable dress for her—I love it! (and her too of course)

 One of the ridiculously adorable outfits that Joe brought from Cali. Madison was jazzercising it up while getting kisses from Aunt Omie.

 Joe came to Madison's Easter party at daycare. Madison really got a kick out of him being there, and so did Miss Addy there in the background :)