Ga-Ga for Gretchen and Juliette

Juliette Christine Lindsey

2008-11-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

Well we did it! Juliette Christine Lindsey arrived at 5:43 AM on Saturday the 22nd (her due date). Mike and I checked into the hospital at about 10 o'clock Friday night after I had been having contractions 5 min apart for an hour and a half. We are very thankful to our friends Mark and Lisa for helping. Lisa stayed at the house with Gretchen while Mark picked up my Mom from the airport.

I have to say laboring through the night was pretty tiresome! I elected to have an epidural since I was feeling worn out from a cold. The epidural block ended up being very light, so I ended up being able to feel all the "pressure" of child birth but no "pain." It was a beautiful labor and Juliette arrived alert, red, and very cheesy. She was 7lbs 13 oz and 20 1/2 inches long.

Gretchen and Grandma came in the next day to visit. Typically Gretchen is not shy with babies, but she was pretty tentative with Juliette. One of the Nurse's asked her what she thought about her new baby sister and she replied, "I don't know." Pretty funny stuff. She perked up the next day though and would only talk about going to see "baby Duwiette" until she got to the hospital where she didn't hesitate to shower her with kisses and loves.

Shiver Me Timbers

2008-10-31T17:30:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a little crazy this year. Gretchen and I met Mike at his work party at 6:30. It was nice to see his workspace and coworkers. Gretchen was very interested in Mike's microscope but I was able to distract her with cheese and cookies. Everyone thought she was adorable. Before we headed from the hospital Mike headed to the men's room to put his makeup on. I have to say he spent a lot of time in front of that mirror. This is how it turned out:

Mike had to go remove his makeup before Gretchen would go anywhere with him. I ended dropping Mike and Gretchen off on Belvedere St. She was so excited to go trick or treating with Daddy (formerly known as Prince Zuko;). This street is blocked off and all the residents go way out with decorations. I finally found a parking spot by the time Mike and Gretchen had finished, but at least I was able to snap some pics.

Finally at 8:30 we headed to Mark and Lisa's for a little party. It was probably a little to late for Gretchen, but she was really looking forward to it. We played some fun games and enjoyed time with a lot of friends.

Livin Large in San Francisco

2008-10-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

Finally, I'm posting. Today marks my one month left of pregnancy celebration! I am feeling so much bigger with this baby. Yesterday at dinner (Mike was still at work) Gretchen wanted to sit on my lap. So I let her but she kept sliding off. After a couple times she asked "what's happening?" I told her Mommy doesn't have a lap anymore, my belly is too big. She just pondered that for a little while and looked disappointed. Then she looked up at me with a smile and said, "Daddy still has a lap." Thank heaven for Daddy!
So I have a lot of things I think I need to post date and post. Check back to my blog to see what's been going on in San Francisco. We love you all!

Leaving Vermont

2008-07-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

I was both dreading and praying for June 20th to come. It was a sad day for me because it meant we were leaving behind so many great friends. My last week in Vermont was a rough one. Mike worked up until the 20th so the whole move was on my shoulders. Thankfully I have some great friends who helped carry the weight with me. Thanks to Jessica, Arian, Heather, Vanessa, and Angie I didn't collapse under the load. The movers arrived a full 2 hours late and loaded up the truck. I actually ended up making them wait for me in the end as I had packed my checkbook and needed to go to my 18 week ultrasound. It was sweet to have such a treat waiting for me after all the hard work! To all those who I haven't talked to or seen in person, we are pregnant! We are having a little girl. Her due date is November 22nd. I have been trying to post the ultrasound but have had no luck. We will miss beautiful Vermont, and we will really miss all the friends we have made during the past year.

Vermont Wildflower Farm

2008-06-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

It's been a very long time since my last post! As you can imagine and many of you know, I have been very busy since the last post. Mom, Dad and Lindsey left my house yesterday after a week long visit. It was great to visit with them. I don't have any pictures or video because I loaned my camera and video to Mom. Lindsey has promised to blog photos and the details of their time in Vermont. I am slowly tying ends for our move. So far I have two rooms packed and a moving company coming on the 20th. I have been searching diligently on Craigslist for a place. We are really down to the wire and I am getting really nervous! We are trying to stay under $2,000 for rent and I am having a hard time finding a 2 bedroom with laundry for that price. Never did I think I would be saying that. Anywhere else we would have been living in luxury for $2,000. Somehow it will come together but until then I am on pins and needles. Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts and if you have any solutions please let me know. Posted are some pictures of Gretchen and I on a playdate/preschool trip.

The Big News

2008-03-20T12:54:00.000-07:00

Well the day we have been waiting for has finally arrived! Match day was a great success for us. Mike matched into his first pick. Mike will start working as a resident in Pathology at UCSF in July! We both love San Fran and feel very excited. Mike hopes he can fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a surf bum, and I hope we can afford rent! We are sure we have a lot of great adventures ahead of us.

Mike and I both feel that "the match" closed the door on our great years in New Orleans. We thought we would most likely be heading back to New Orleans. We will miss our great friends and good times in "The Big Easy." We are planning to make the most of our last 3 months in Burlington. It will be hard to leave!

It's Mike's 30th!

2008-03-18T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well I have cleaned the house and wrapped the presents (and other random items). Now we are just waiting for the Birthday Boy to come home. Mike is turning the big 3o, and he's not so sure he wants to. We are hoping to go out to dinner tonight. It all depends on what time he comes home from work. This blog is to be continued.

We ended up having a great night. Mike got home about 6:30. We quickly sang, ate cake and opened presents. Gretchen was so excited about our little party. Mike loves opening a ton of things so I wrapped some sweet treats for him (Barq's and Cocoa Puffs.) When Mike opened the Cocoa Puffs Gretchen said "oh, oh can I hold it?" Then when he opened the Barq's she kept repeating "wow." She didn't really care that much about the book and shoes Mike got. After festivities we dropped Gretchen off at Arian and Justin's for Babysitting. (Thanks you two for a great night out!) We went to a great Italian Restaurant called, Trattoria Delia. It was a wonderful night!

The Luck of the Irish

2008-03-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

Well I think I love St. Patty's Day. We matched!!! Wow, I have never felt so relieved in my life. (Although touching my toes again after having Gretchen ranks a close 2nd.)

My Mom taught me that every St. Patty's day needs to start with a green breakfast. I really don't even know if Gretchen noticed her food was green! Can you believe the color on those eggs. I actually felt a little queasy while making them. Well I'm off to make some phone calls. Did I mention that we matched?

I miss Mike most on Sundays!

2008-03-16T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well I am beat. It was a marathon Sunday. Last Night I had it all figured out. My lesson for primary sharing time was complete. I was so excited about the Easter themed lesson. I was working like a pro in my kitchen cooking some Louisiana style red beans and rice. The food was for potluck Sunday. I even had outfit's picked out for Gretchen and me. My goal was to make it on time to Sacrament without leaving anything behind.
So I made it out the door with 20 minutes to make it to our seats. Just as I turn into the church, yes you guessed, red beans and rice all over my car. Well that just set the tone for the rest of my day. The kids appreciated my props but as soon as they were passed out it all fizzled. I will be filling in for the ward chorister for Easter Sunday. I had 2 practice runs with the choir, and found that I was in shut down mode! The song we are singing switches back and forth between 3/4 and 4/4. Let me say, everyone in that choir would be shocked to know I actually aced my conducting class in college.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I love it when Mike is home on Sunday. It's nice to have someone to pick you up after your falls. I also hope that all my bad luck was blown on today and we will finish Black Monday with no incident. (Black Monday is the day we find out if we matched or not.)

First Day of Preschool

2008-03-07T13:05:00.000-08:00

Gretchen had her first day of preschool. I just got together with a bunch of mothers and we are doing preschool round robin style. If anyone has great preschool ideas please forward them on. We had about 7 kids in all. We are meeting every Monday and Friday. Next Monday is my turn and I'm pretty nervous. I think for the most part "opening ceremonies" was successful although the kids were pretty rambunctious.

Parsley Lemon Salmon

2008-02-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp Minced garlic
1/4 tsp Black pepper, freshly ground
1 cup Fresh parsley, loosely packed
1 Tbs Olive oil
16 oz Salmon fillet, about 1/2 inch thick
1 Tbs Feta cheese, crumbled
2 Tbs Freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Minced fresh mint
1/4 cup Low sodium vegetable broth

Servings: about scaling
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes

For the rest of this recipe follow the link below. We really loved this and Gretchen really loved it too (this is saying a lot.) The house didn't even smell fishy after cooking it!

http://hannaford.adplexonline.com/alt/viewrecipe.aspx?deptid=359&recipeid=15121

Valentine

2008-02-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day

We Love You!
Kristin, Mike & Gretchen

Gretchen's not happy about turning 2.

2008-01-12T13:21:00.000-08:00

Poor Gretchen had a pretty miserable party. We were supposed to get together with another family who's little girl had just had her birthday, but we had to bag it. Gretchen hadn't been feeling well and they ended up thinking they might be coming down with strep. So our good friends Heather and Ben invited us over to have a little party. Poor Gretchen just wanted to be held the whole time and she hardly cracked a smile at the birthday presents or cake. Well there is always next year!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-26T12:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas was wonderful this year. We never in our wildest dreams thought Mike would have Christmas Eve and Day off. That just doesn’t happen as an intern. We felt very blessed. Once again we all made out like bandits. I’ll tell you Christmas as a Lindsey takes a lot of unwrapping! As a small girl I remember it all being over very quickly. Gretchen had so many presents she couldn’t stay on task and finish opening them all. She got some very cute clothes and books, puzzles, a nativity, a baby doll, pots and pans, blocks and a child’s set of tables and chairs. She was really cute with the table set. I think it was refreshing for her to have some furniture her size. I thought I’d post some pic’s of all of us sense you rarely see pictures of the parents. It was really great to have the child’s nativity. Christmas Eve we read the Nativity and helped Gretchen act it out with all the little characters. She kept on putting the lamb on top of the stable where the angel goes. I tried to show her that the Angel belongs up there but she wasn’t having it. It’s great to see her imagination at work.

Smells like Halloween

2007-10-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a blast this year. Mike was working the night shift for the month of Oct, so we starting knocking doors at 5:00. I think we were the only trick or treaters out that early. We got some great reactions and every door we went to people were great sports. So Mike got to trick or treat for a block and then headed to work. I decided to hook up with a friend and trick or treat at night. They turned out to be serious trick or treaters. Gretchen ended up with more candy then I ever gathered in my prime years of trick or treating! It all multiplied quickly because she quickly figured out how to pick up 5 candies with one hand. Then she started double fisting it. When I tried to get her to be polite and take one everyone would say, "Oh, let her have her fun." Apparently no one can resist a skunk.

I LOVE my family and friends!

2007-09-30T11:23:00.000-07:00

I was asked to talk to the young women about Katrina today in church. I don't think I've ever talked for such a length of time about our experiences. Needless to say I cried for most of the half hour. I just wanted my family (and friends) to know how much I appreciated your support (emotional, monetary and spiritually.) I just know that my family loves me. Mike and I felt overwhelmed with the support we were given. I which you could all experience what I did. So you could feel that kind of love and hope given to you by those you love. I really felt like I had no direction no home, well nothing! It was amazing to have to rely on the Lord and my family and see how quickly you came to our aid. I hope one day to act in such a way to show how much I love you. I treasure my family and faith beyond anything this life has to offer and that is the lesson Katrina had for me.

Allenholm Apples, apple, apple

2007-09-23T17:50:00.000-07:00

We'll we had a great time this last Saturday picking apples. We went to a beautiful orchard on South Hero Island. They have a free tractor ride that takes you out to the different apple trees. We picked Macintosh, Vermont gold and Gala apples. Gretchen just worked on eating her first whole apple for the length of the picking time. In the end we carried back 23 lbs of apples and 27.5 lbs of Gretchen. The final treat was enjoying maple ice cream and a beautiful sunset. On the way home Gretchen sang a chorus of apple, apple, apple.

Meatloaf Surprise

2007-09-17T22:00:00.000-07:00

Hooray, I did it. I have been having such a battle with Gretchen trying to get some veggies down her. A Lady at church suggested slipping in some veggies in meatloaf. I managed to stick a large carrot and about 2 large handfuls of broccoli. Guess what, she loved it. I am elated. You can see in this picture her sign for more and a large smile on her face. Sorry I didn't post a picture of the smile on my face!

Monkey Trap

2007-09-15T19:10:00.000-07:00

Oh Gretchen is so fun. Everyday she figures out a new way to enjoy her toys. Today after putting a star in the shape sorter she decided she wanted it back. Normally she would take the lid off but she just stuck her hand in instead. Sure enough Gretchen pulled out the star with lid still attached. I hurriedly took this picture. She wasn't to happy about her manacle and smartly removed it.

Just find a partner and do-si-do

2007-09-12T19:41:00.000-07:00

One of Gretchen's favorite books is Cowboy Baby. I found this Bandana Cowgirl dress and some boots on E-bay and ordered them. I was so excited when they came in the mail. To bad I didn't think about the dress having pearl snaps! I think she had the dress off 10 minutes after I put it on her. I don't know if we will dress her in this dress for church, I'm not sure everyone would appreciate my naked child!

2007-09-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

It's Sunday and the little one is fast asleep. It's a cold and rainy day in Vermont (68 at 1:58) I thought this was great weather for correspondence. Mike just started Neurosurgery this last week. We have been pleasantly surprised that he has gotten home before 6:30 everyday (except when on call.) He is enjoying the team and feels like he's not making any big blunders. However he does have call today and he also took call Friday. For those that don't know, "call" is when they stay over night and are left in charge of all the patients staying over or being submitted. Generally he is at work by 5:30 AM and stays the night, returning home sometime before noon the next day! It's hard to sleep alone, and whenever he is gone I stay up LATE! I don't know how Denise does it! So that is Mike's update. Gretchen and I have started a "play group." We will be inviting kids over every other Thursday. It was really loud and fun. Most of the time Gretchen just sat on my lap looking concerned that everyone was playing with her things. She did eventually play with the other kids, and I think it was good for her. Gretchen has a new fear, little babies. It seems like the crawling reminds her of dogs and she cries and runs to mommy when she sees a baby. I don't know what changed in her thought process, but I think it's pretty funny! Hope you have all enjoyed the weekend!

Per Request from Grandpa Wilson

2007-08-04T19:02:00.001-07:00

Harry Potter Mania

2007-08-04T18:08:00.000-07:00

Okay I have a confession to make! It has been so long since I have posted and mostly this is because the internet has been down. Two and a half weeks ago the internet was fixed. So the question is, why have I not been diligently blogging? I decided to listen and read to all the Harry Potter books before reading the last one. It took me all of my extra time and over a week and a half. I loved the last book and I felt it was a good ending for the series. I actually stayed up until 5:30 the night I started Deathly Hallows. I only got 3 hours of sleep and felt like I was going to faint as I worked the next day! I know it sounds ridiculous but Mike was actually on call and therefore gone for the night. I don't sleep well when he is gone anyway so why not take advantage of the time when Gretchen is down? Well there it is. I know many of you will sympathize and not hold my absence against me.

Happy Hikers

2007-07-02T14:01:00.000-07:00

Well I am very sorry that I have not posted for awhile. Our computer is on the fritz and we have not been able to access the internet for over a week. Thanks to all you who have commented in that time and I really do intend on posting at least every other day when we are back up. When you do make a comment it does not post right away because I have to authorize, fyi! Things have been great around here. Gretchen and I have been enjoying the great outdoors. This is something that seems to have been lacking a little in New Orleans. Saturday we hiked around Lake Champlain. Gretchen also picked up a pair of sunglasses for a buck! Isn’t she so cute she is obsessed with sunglasses.

bubble, poopey and nana

2007-06-24T15:46:00.000-07:00

Okay so we figured we'd post the info you are all dying to know. Gretchen is coming along. She is really working on talking. I tried to compile a list of words for you all (beginning with her latest). Here it goes: bubble, poopey, nana (banana), ya-hoo!, blueberry (okay maybe I'm the only one who knows she's saying it), cheese, nose, eyes, moo, ready, ball, please, baba (binky), doggie, kitty cat, that, here you go, thank you, night night, num num, bye bye, da da, ma ma.
She really loves to point out noses, eyes, ears, and mouth on everyone (including stuffed animals).
Okay and perhaps one of our favorites is that she now wears pigtails!

Our move to Vermont

2007-06-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Well we have been settled for about two weeks in Burlington, Vermont and decided it was time to start a blog. We have had a difficult time with the move. We are all a little home sick for New Orleans, especially Mike; although we have nothing to complain about (now). Initially we just couldn't find a place and had to stay at a Holiday Inn. That was very frustrating, but I am glad for the wait because we now have a great little place. Mike has about a 10 min. drive to the hospital and Gretchen and I have a sweet setup at home. The apartment itself is very spacious with lots of room to kick a ball or dance. We also have a full 2 acres of property to play on. We are living in a basement apartment and the landlord lives upstairs. They are a couple close to our age with a little boy who is 11 months. Gretchen and I took a hike with Cari and Jack (Landlady and son) just yesterday. It's great to have friends upstairs. The weather is beautiful and we are so happy with our situation!