Videos from Thanksgiving

Here are the videos from Thanksgiving this year. I hope you enjoy!

Landon

What I want for Christmas:


Everyone goes bowling:


Trees by Mary Alice:


Unknown by Natalie:


Farewell:

Thanksgiving 2007

Kristin, Natalie, and I drove down to North Carolina for Thanksgiving this year. It was about an 8 1/2 hour drive, but it went quickly. We had a great time with my folks and my sister’s family. I think that Natalie learned a few things from her cousins Mary Alice and Charlie. Mostly how to play and get in trouble....I think she had the “getting in trouble” part down already though.

Natalie had a blast with Charlie. Every day we were there she would wake up and say “Charlie? Charlie??” She really like playing with her cousin Charlie. Now that we are back home, she still says “Charlie” when she sees his picture on the computer. I am curious to see how long she keeps saying his name.

The best story from the visit was with Mary Alice....

We were in the car driving back to the house from doing something, and Mary Alice was complaining about the rain, and how she didn’t like the rain because she couldn’t get outside and play. Kristin and I explained to her that the rain helps to feed all of the plants and trees, and that the trees create oxygen for humans to breath. I was getting a little scientific with her, thinking that it would be above her head and that she wouldn’t remember a word of it.

Okay...fast forward a day....

My sister Kay-Lynn is recording video of all the kids saying what they want from Santa this year, and Mary Alice starts singing a song that she made up about how she loves trees. As if she was a famous rock star, she starts telling a story before singing her song, to explain where the song came from. And what do you know, she explained how trees consume CO2 and make O2 for us to breathe...I was completely floored!! I am REALLY going to have to watch what I say in front of her!!

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving: http://gallery.mac.com/ljluttrell#100050

Landon

Grandma & Grandpa Van Hove & Mimi visit Philly

For the first week in our new home, Kristin’s parents and grandmother came to stay with us. We felt bad at first because the movers were a few days late and everyone showed up at the house at the same time. We wanted to be settled in a little bit, but as it turns out it was a huge blessing! We could all take turns playing with Natalie and keeping her out of trouble, while everyone else worked on unpacking boxes.

In one very short weekend, we were able to unpack the main living spaces, hang window treatments in the living room, dining room, master bedroom, and master bath. Don’t get me wrong, we still have plenty of work to do, but we could never have done what we did without them coming into town. THANK YOU GUYS!!

Here are some photos that we took during the weekend: http://gallery.mac.com/ljluttrell#100034

Landon

Packing Day!

Well, the day we have been dreading is finally here...it is packing day! As I type this entry, I am being serenaded by the sound of boxes being filled and the lovely sound of unrolling packing tape. We are on the verge of shutting down the computer, and I had to post one more time. Since I do all of my posting on our mac at home, I am not going to be able to update the blog until we get moved into Philadelphia. I guess that is one down-side to using this service and not blogspot.

It is always interesting packing up your stuff to move. You find so many things that you either forgot about or didn’t realize that you owned (which is a little scary). We are so blessed with material things, that we can’t even keep track of all of them! Packing is also a blessing, in that it forces you to get rid of things that you should have pitched years ago, but now have a good excuse to part with it. We have been doing that all weekend, and will continue to do it through the moving process.

The last thing I enjoy about packing day, is finding something, or seeing something that takes you back to a moment in time, or several moments in time. Let me share with you the funny one that happened just a few minutes ago...

We had someone come in and take down our crib...well, actually Dow did, and I wasn’t going to stop the guy they sent. After he was done, he took me in to show me how to put it back together, since it has been almost two years since I put it together. Halfway through his explanation, I saw something on the crib that I had never seen before, TEETH MARKS! I had to grab my camera and share it with everyone, because I never knew that she was chewing on her crib. It is only in one spot, the spot where she would stand in the crib and cry wanting us to come back and get her. I imagine she would stand there, and work herself into a real stink, and then take it out on the crib. As part of our parenting as Natalie has gotten older, we would let her “cry it out” for a little bit. Well, I guess the joke is on us a little bit. She, in her own little way, was hiding her little secret, the gnawed up crib rail!

Landon

Natalie gets a blackeye

While I was on the way home from work on Thursday, Natalie slipped off the couch and hit her head on the coffee table. She has hit her head on things before and got a few bumps and bruises, but nothing this close to her eyes. By the time that I got home, Kristin had already called our Pediatricians office and left a message. We were concerned that she could have fractured something close to her eye.

After waiting an hour to get a call back from the doctor’s office, they told us that if her eye was not swollen shut, she could make it until tomorrow, and then bring her into the office. So, the night progressed as normal...we had supper, and then bathtime, and then we watched one of Natalie’s shows. Natalie drank her milk and went to bed.

Halfway through watching a recorded episode of The Office, I was laughing a little too loud and woke Natalie up. I think that it was the part where Jim, Dwight, and Michael dressed up as warehouse workers and went to sabotage the nearby office...hilarious stuff. Anyways, I pause the show and get up to check on Natalie. When I go in there, her eye is about 2 millimeters away from being swollen shut. I think that she was sleeping on her bum eye, and it really focused the swelling.

Kristin and I got Natalie in the car and took her to the hospital. The above picture was taken on my Treo while in Texas Children’s Hospital in downtown Houston. By the time that I took the picture, the swelling in her eye had gone down, but we were already there, so we decided to stay.

Apparently we were not the only parents who had their kids at the ER. There was a 3 hour wait to be seen by a doctor! So, I went back to the car to get some cash for food (it was about midnight), and Natalie was following around the snack cart, pointing to a bag of chips, saying, “Peas, peas, peas.” There is just something about seeing your kid with a swollen eye follow around a snack cart...the chips could have been $10, and I might have bought her a bag to make her happy. It was hard to see her look like she went 12 rounds with Mike Tyson (minus the bloody ears of course).

So I go to the car, and when I am almost back to the hospital entrance, Kristin comes out with Natalie. I am puzzled, and before I could say anything, Kristin says, “well, I guess God was watching out for us.” Apparently, Natalie was running around the waiting room and almost ran into the an ER doctor passing through. Kristin caught her at just the last moment, but not before Natalie caught his attention. He asked if her eye was the only reason she was in the ER. Kristin said yes, and he asked if it was okay for him to look at her eye right there. What was Kristin going to say?!

The ER doctor felt around on Natalie face and determined that she did not have any type of fracture, and that she should go home.

We made it home around 1 in the morning, which is less than 2 hours from the time we left. I can’t say that I have ever been to and from the ER in that short amount of time.

Today Natalie’s eye continues to look painful, but she is as active as ever. I wish she could live in a pillow covered house for a few days, but we don’t have that many pillows. I guess this is all part of being a kid and being a parent, but it is still difficult at times.

Landon

Trick or Treat?

Tonight Kristin and I took Natalie to Independence Park in Pearland for a little “Trick or Treating.” All of the local businesses sponsor the party and setup all throughout the park. All the kids (and some adult kids) walk around the park going booth to booth getting candy. While the kiddos are getting candy, the businesses give the parents an ad, or coupon, or something to remember their business by. The businesses are a little confused with the adult kids in their costumes because they don’t know if they should give them candy or try and give them a flier...somewhat amusing for me.

Natalie of course had a blast, although our timing and planning wasn’t the greatest. Natalie refused to take a nap this afternoon and it was right before supper time, so halfway through we had a melt-down.

See exhibit A:

Before long, she back to her normal self...that is, after she figured out how to eat through the wrappers on her new candy. We didn’t know what she was doing until it was too late and she had half of a Nutter Butter on her face. I am guessing that the other half went into her stomach along with the wrapper surrounding it.

We had high expectations for the costume contest after the local paper took her picture and told us that they would put it in the paper. However, I was in charge of introducing her in the contest and totally botched her costume name...mom should have been the one with her, and dad should have been the “supportive parent taking pictures from the crowd.” Oh well, there is always next year!

Landon