Birthday Boy Sneak Peak

In true Perreca fashion, we will celebrate Alden turning 4 all week!! But here is a sneak peak at the birthday boy!!

Dragon Boat Race

Last year we discovered a neat little gem- the Dragon Boat Festival! The kids were excited this year- to get their face painted and to watch the boats. We headed out early since the high was going to be in the triple digits....

Addie watching the Asian dancers while showing off her freshly painted face!

Alden got a dragon- how appropriate!

And of course, the races!! It was amazing to see so many people rowing in unison- and it was amazing at how many clubs and businesses have rowing teams!

Radom Fun Moments

These have no common theme other than they are reflections of the fun of summer!

Addie loves to do hair recently- and thankfully Alden is a good sport!

Friends came over to play- and they decided to play school

Love that Alden is a lefty!!

Alden has discovered a love of baseball- and he's pretty good, too!

What summer is complete without lunch at Sam's!!

The Big Hair Cut

During the summer, I usually just buzz Alden's hair- but during the school year, I prefer for him to have the traditional haircut. With his birthday just around the corner, and a coupon for a free haircut, I decided to get his hair cut now!

Before: He insisted on NeNe (blanket) and Baby (little blue bear) being in the pictures. He adores these 2....

Look at all that hair!! I buzzed it about 4 weeks ago- his hair is like Al's, it grows crazy fast!

All done! He was a little miffed that the salon did not have lollypops...

I love how short it is and the little spike in the front! He won't usually let me do it, but when the stylist suggested it, he happily agreed!

Love my little man! I still can't believe he's about to turn FOUR!!

Playing with the new camera

The kids were extra cute this evening- so I popped out the new camera, snapped pictures, and then had some fun editing them....

Alden is totally into Super Heroes- wearing Daddy's hat and MingMing's cape....

The fireman superhero who can also install cabinets!

Addie showcasing her ability to self-medicate while keeping her purse on her shoulder

Proud Mommy

I wish Alden was in focus- this just captures their personalities!!

My sweeties!

Best Buds

Recovering...

After all that I had read, I was rather concerned about Addie's recovery- but she has amazed me! It was absolutely wonderful that MarMar and PopPop were around for the entire weekend- this helped ease Alden's worry about his sister.

Building balsa airplanes!

On Saturday she got up and insisted on being dressed in her dance leotard, dance skirt, socks and ballet shoes- and don't forget the new, sparkly headband from MarMar. She also asked for a Chick-fil-a chocolate milkshake! In case you were wondering, they make them with breakfast! I was just thrilled to see her up and about, talking, eating, and smiling!

And then she crashed- she would have spurts of energy and then totally pass out and sleep for an hour or so- MarMar's lap- in front of the TV- was one of her favorite spots....

PopPop shared his amazing Lego building skills- he built a large assortment of animals and vehicles.

Alden also was busy with Playdoh- he loves the stuff and will play with it for hours on end. Here he has a dessert he made- I love the attention to detail

A man hard at work...

Tuesday this is how she looked- just about back to her old self! Her breath still smells like a dead dog and she gets tired out pretty easily, but she is smiling, playing with her brother (he was elated when she asked if he wanted to play in her room!), and starting to eat real food!

Thank all of you who prayed for her- and for her family- her recovery is a testament to prayers lifted up that she would heal quickly and not have her mother's pain tolerance, but rather, her father's. She is an amazing little girl who God continues to bless!! Her entire family is looking forward to the school year ahead which will hopefully NOT include any more Strep!

Tonsil-Free!

This year Addie has had Strep Throat more than I wish to admit- and once we actually got an appointment with an ENT, he agreed that her tonsils were huge and needed to come out- and her adenoids were also a mess and could go as well. Fantastic!! We had to wait a bit for the actual procedure since the Dr was going on a missions trip to Africa- good reason so we didn't complain.

The morning dawned hot and humid- perfect weather for staying inside! We had to wake her up at 6:30am and she was happy as a clam!

Ready to go! She brought Becca Baby as she also needed her tonsils and adenoids removed- she was a bit concerned as to how the Dr was going to open Becca Baby's mouth, but I assured her that the Dr could find a way...

She is starting to get a bit concerned here- we are meeting with the anesthesiologist.

We spent time with her Princess Hidden Object book- great gift, "Santa"!! About 15min before surgery, they brought her a medication to help her "relax"- the results were so hilarious, I was crying I was laughing so hard!

Goofy girl! She just lulled her head from side to side, slurred her speech and kept laughing and pointing at the blank, white wall... No more fear!!

Daddy taking a turn holding her- she can get pretty heavy when she has no muscle control! Here she is toast!

Waking-up was not pleasant- she kept wanting to rub her eyes but her left hand had the IV in it so she couldn't bend it. She also kept trying to tell me something, but I couldn't understand her. Later, at home, she told me she was upset since she didn't want to do it again. She thought that the Dr had forgotten to take out her tonsils and adenoids! In her mind, the last thing she remembered was being in that little room with Mommy and Daddy, and the next moment, she was opening her eyes and she was STILL in that room with Mommy and Daddy! Clearly the Dr had forgotten her.... Poor thing- it took some convincing that her tonsils and adenoids were indeed gone and that she had gone into the operating room- I had taken her so I KNEW she had gone!!

Ready to go home! She had a full bag of IV fluid in her, a container of apple juice a good bit of pink slushie! She was very thankful to have her big, strong Daddy to carry her!

Sleeping- she slept most of the ride home

Once home, she was all about using Mommy's special cup and the special water bottle she got from the ENT- she downed 2 of these glasses of chocolate milk plus she ate 4 bowls of chocolate pudding! No dehydration here!

We aren't out of the woods, we know that, but so far, she's been a real trouper- we are super proud of her!!

Side Note- Alden is not in these pictures because his grandparents came from NY to take care of him. He had a day filled with Speech Therapy, Chick-fil-a, Barnes and Noble, rides in the Food Court, and lots of special time with his MarMar and PopPop- pics to come of that! Even with all the special attention, he kept picking out things for his sister, asking about her, and generally worrying and missing her- what a sweet brother!!