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