Prodigy? Ha! Ha!

I dressed Lizzie in a beautiful dress we received for her Aunt's wedding last December for church. I admit I was trying to get one more wearing of a dress that was getting a wee bit too short. To my surprise, many people commented on how gorgeous she looked...so, of course, I did a little photo shoot. She looks absolutely angelic. Looks can be deceiving, though. She can be a real stinker. We are constantly tripping over cups, shoes, tupperware, spoons that she's ripped from the dishwasher, or pieces of garbage. I had (notice the past tense) one box of quart-sized bags that she tore through in 10 seconds flat after I diverted her from the pots and pans. She was punishing me--on purpose! She is a woman on a mission! I swear, if I find one more stream of toilet paper dragged throughout the hallway, I'm going to break down! I can't wait until we get past this phase and move on to the helping mom clean up phase. :)

I also had the "privilege" of playing the piano with Lizzie climbing all over me during choir, primary, and my lessons for the boys this week. Needless to say, there were a lot of extra notes in those songs. Lizzie is quite the mover and shaker. She loves to play the piano, but adores the maracas!!! She's got a cute little bounce and head wiggle when she dances.

Lizzie's first birthday

My baby turned 1 year old!!! Lizzie is so much fun. She is running around everywhere, can go up AND DOWN stairs, teases, smiles, laughs, sings, cries, throws tantrums, and is beginning to talk. She loves food, books, balls, baby dolls, cell phones, Buzz (our dog), and especially her family. We are so thrilled to watch her learn and grow! Her birthday has caused us to reflect back on where we were 1 year ago. Wow! We are surely blessed. I am grateful for her birthday to forever be a reminder of what is important and what we have. Thanks for another year!

Funnin' in Wisconsin

Labor day weekend was a great getaway for us. We drove up to Madison, Wisconsin to be with my sister for the blessing of her baby, Maddox (Max) Joseph. My parents and brother's family also got to come. Wow! It's so fun being together in the Midwest for events like this. Since there were so many of us and such beautiful weather, we spent the weekend outside at the zoo, parks, the Taste of Madison, and miniature golfing. Being together is so much fun! Emma and Kaelene are so cute. It's so fun to see them enjoy each other. Here the were posing like princesses--can you tell?

The Madison zoo is great! It's free and it has some unique animals and a great park. All of the boys were in heaven sharing all the tidbits of animal trivia they know.

This is the Alleman clan minus my brother, Matt, and his wife, Becca. We sure missed you. We're looking pretty spiffy in our Sunday best!
This is Max--the purpose of our get together. What a cutie! It was sure fun to have such a great excuse to reunite. I can't wait for us to be able to see each other again!