Good-bye MiMi

When Addie turned 3, we decided that she was a Big Girl and no longer needed her MiMim (pacifier). After 1 failed attempt at having her "buy" a baby doll with it (giving her MiMi's to Mommy and having Mommy hand over a baby doll), we decided to not try again until after our Christmas travels.

On the way home from the airport, we stopped at a Build-A-Bear, so Addie could pick out a new lovie to replace her beloved MiMi in. This way she could feel it but not get to it. I cannot take credit for the idea- it's from my friend Megan!

As you can see from the pictures, Addie wasn't too sure about the whole thing.... In the end, she left with a cute dog she named Kiley and whose left leg is surly going to be her favorite!


Getting 1 final suck before she puts her MiMi into Kiley.

And the MiMi goes in.

Watching her put the MiMi in the left foot.

NOT liking the machine that puts the fluff into Kiley

All smiles now that the loud noise is over. She chose a Santa dress for Kiley to wear.

The first night went surprisingly smoothly- I think she was just too exhausted from getting up at 5:30am and only have a 30 min nap on the plane. That was part of the reasoning behind getting the stuffed dog when we did! Still, I will continue to be optimistic that our MiMi days are behind us. Now I just need to tackle Alden's paci obsession....

Christmas in Kansas City

For Christmas, the kids and I headed to Kansas City to spend the holiday with my family. As per my other post, getting TO Kansas City was an adventure. Once there, we had a marvelous time!

My brother, Uncle Ian, was fantastic- his quirky sense of humor made him a favorite with the kids. My Dad's Donald Duck voice when his nose was touched, was an instant hit with the kids- and that's actually what Addie first told Al about her PopPop Old! Young was loving and compassionate as usual. Annie, my brother's fiancee, was super sweet and taught Addie how to wink. The cousins had a great time playing together- Anesu, who is 6 months younger then Alden, is the same size as him! Addie and Kuda enjoyed playing and eating together (the slide show will show you that!)

We spent many hours building with the old wooden blocks that I played with as a kid. My Dad is working as a Ski Patrol for a local Ski Resort, so we went skiing for an afternoon- and the conditions were perfect! The kids had fun playing with the designated Uncle/Grandma/Grandpa while I was free to ski! Marki, the cat, was always a hit when he showed his face- he was smart and stayed out of range most of the time. While there, we experienced temps from the teens to the mid-60's (yes, it was bizarre!). I was even able to squeeze in a visit with a family that I teach!

It was a wonderful trip- and thankfully I can report on a totally boring flight home! Delta might be rude, but they are punctual and didn't cancel any of my flights.

There were too many pictures to choose from, so enjoy this slide show!

Christmas at Home

Since our family was going 2 different directions for Christmas, we decided to celebrate our own Christmas a few days early. The kids had a blast opening gifts and then playing with their new toys.

All decked out and ready to start opening!!


Alden looking serious about opening his gifts.

Serious Addie...

Alden LOVES his new toy!

Addie showing off her new chef hat and apron- modeling Mommy's new rolling pin from Grandpa Garrett!

Christmas Eve Adventure

In true Lisa fashion, what should have been an uneventful trip to Kansas City was far from it....

Getting up and to the airport went smoothly- as smoothly as it can when you wake up at 5am and then wake-up kids at 5:50am....

There weren't any lines at BWI, so I decided to save a few bucks and check my suitcase inside. Al offered to park the car and help me- but I assured him that I could handle the suitcase, car seat, large duffel bag, stroller and 2 kids- all by myself. He drove off, on to NY to surprise his Grandparents and to celebrate with them.

I got in line to check my bag when I hear those words you never want to hear from the lady behind the United Airlines counter- "Flight 641 has been canceled. If you were on flight 641, please move to THIS line to get rebooked." We were on flight 641- it had just been canceled due to foul weather in Chicago. After standing in the super slow line- in which I changed the kids out of their pj's and into festive outfits, all while juggling my ridiculous amount of luggage- I got to the counter. There the lady cheerfully informed me that I could be rebooked for a flight at 8am Christmas Day. WHAT?!?

After a brief conversation, I let the lady know that 1)I lived 1.5 hrs away, 2)my husband had just dropped us off and would not be able to be reached for another 4-5 hrs & 3)I really didn't care HOW I got to KC, but I needed to get to KC TODAY. If I was going to have to wait until tomorrow, I would appreciate either hotel room, or even a rental car so I could drive to another airport that could get me to KC. When Addie heard the words "tomorrow" she burst into tears "I wanna see my PopPop Old for Merry Christmas!" This, I think, moved the lady- who then gave me a voucher for a taxi to National Airport, where she had rebooked me on a flight to Chicago at 1pm, then finally landing in KC at 7pm. Not what I wanted- I was originally to land at 1pm so I would have all day with my Dad and would be able to attend the Christmas Eve service. Seeing that all the other people around me were being only offered flights for the next day, I took it! I saw it as a gift from God!

We rode in a taxi to DC- Alden in the 1 car seat I had with me, Addie with a regular seat belt. Evidently seat belt laws don't apply to taxis.... We arrived at National Airport in record time, were greeted at the door by a United Agent, who whisked my suitcase away! I tried to show him my voucher that I had paid for my suitcase, but he just waved me off.... So much for paying ahead of time! After making our way to our gate, we enjoyed some chocolate icecream and then boarded our flight. The kids were happy and sweet during all of this- this I attribute to all the prayers that were being offered up for us at this time!!

On this leg of the journey, we had been given the bulkhead- which was fantastic with 2 small kids! Alden slept the entire way to Chicago, and Addie fell asleep for about 30 min. Even though Addie's name was on the ticket, I put Alden in the carseat in that seat- he needed to be restrained more then her!

Once in Chicago, we relaxed and had some fun- we had almost 4 hrs there! Addie had fun "petting" a large dinosaur there, we had a McDonald's picnic, walked on the walking sidewalks, watched lots of "hair pains" (airplanes), and had a nice time! During this entire time, the kids were angels- happy, playing, singing, etc.

When it was time to board the flight to KC, I couldn't locate on the boarding pass, which Boarding Zone we were on, so I asked flight attendant. You can imagine my shock when he told me that I didn't have a "Boarding Zone" because I was in 1st class. I had him repeat it once more as I wasn't sure I would ever hear those words again, "Ma'am, you're in first class." Evidently, when you are rebooked due to a canceled flight, United often tries to put you in 1st class!! I was SO excited!! There I was, with a car seat, sitting in 1st class, sipping my Diet Coke in a REAL class- not a plastic one!! Getting off the plane, I had 1 of the pilots and a flight attendant help me get all my stuff together and to my Dad who was waiting for us.

It was a smooth and enjoyable trip. Up to this point, United Airlines has totally impressed me with all that they did to help me. It wasn't the trip I envisioned when I booked it 2 months ago- but at least we ended up at my Dad's house and were able to spend a great day with family today!! I just hope and pray that the trip home will be more uneventful..... When I return home, I have some great pics of this eventful Christmas Eve that I'll post!!

A New York Christmas

Christmas has come a little early for the Perreca Household! Since Al is now working retail, we knew he wouldn't have a weekend off over Christmas. We decided to not wait to have Christmas with his family until mid-January, so last weekend, the kids and I took off for NY. We had a fantastic time celebrating with Poppy and Nonny (Great Grandparents), MarMar and PopPop (Grandma and Grandpa) as well as with Aunty Jen, Uncle Frank and Cousin Nate. Al surprised us by being at Jen and Franks- he had been able to get Saturday off! We had a great time and made many happy memories!!

Addie doing her "cute" pose by MarMar's tree

Alden LOVES his gift- it's great to climb on!

Addie and her mountain of gifts!


Alden loves the tissue paper!

Sitting on their new stool reading their new books

Addie is really into opening her stocking!

Alden isn't too sure about his stocking- good thing PopPop is there to coax him!

That cinnamon roll is as big as he is- and yes, he ate it all!! It is from PopPop Old!

Cousins!!

Addie's gifts from Nate

Alden making confetti

Decorating cookies

Nate "helping" decorate with Alden watching on

Addie and Nate watching "Cars"

Attempting at getting a Cousins in their Christmas PJ's picture.... Alden wouldn't sit still...

Advent Around Our House

Starting in seminary, Al and I established a tradition. On each Sunday of Advent, we would do a reading, just us, and then exchange a simple gift that we dutifully called a "Sleigh Gift" because I had a small wire sleigh that we could place them in. We have kept that tradition alive with the kids- they look forward to hearing Daddy read the Bible and then getting to open little gifts. We hope this will help instill in our children a love of the true meaning of Christmas!
Waiting for Daddy to start reading!


Alden being silly while he waits


Addie showing off her new Little Pony from a Happy Meal, while she waits for Daddy.

Busy, Busy, Alden

Alden is a busy boy these days. He LOVES to help- from handing me ornaments off the tree, to pulling toilet paper off the roll and putting it in the trashcan. I am diligently working to help him learn what goes in the trash- so now he picks up any trash he sees and proudly hands it to me saying "ash! ash!" This is great, unless he's running around in public- he found all kinds of "neat" things on the floor at BJ's while I was standing in line at the deli counter....

The icing on the cake came last week. I was preparing to run some errands- a Wal-Mart run, exchanging a movie at Blockbuster, and going to the post office. Since I still have yet to regain my mind after giving birth, I dutifully placed all the items needed for the said errands on the desk, next to the front door that we would be walking out of in a few min. I selfishly stopped in the kitchen to top-off my coffee, when I heard the shredder start shredding and a faint "ash! ash!" I leaped with strength and skill I did not know I possessed- and this is what I was able to salvage.

Just the top 1" of the DVD was shredded- good thing Blockbuster has a very gracious policy and didn't penalize us for it!

Alden, as you can tell, is hanging his head in shame. When I yanked the DVD out of the shredder, he gave me "Aren't you proud of me, Mommy?" look. He was rather crushed when I strongly told him "NO! NO! We do NOT shred DVD's!" I didn't even know he knew how to push IN the switch and then pull it to the side (it's still tricky for me to turn it on!).

We all learned our lesson- and just to be safe, the shredder is now unplugged unless Al needs it!