Sweet little girl...

Rachel is such a doll. She started smiling a couple of weeks ago (but of course, she'll never smile for the camera) and I finally snapped a shot. Isn't she a cutie?? Note: five minutes after the picture was taken, Daniel accidentally threw a book at her face-- needless to say, the shot wouldn't have been nearly as pretty with the blue welt.

BTW, I realized that I haven't updated the blog on John's work situation. He got a job working for the State of Idaho, specifically the Idaho Transportation Department. Yeah! He's working in the Suspension unit (which John loves-- suspending licenses because of DUI's gives him quite the rush!) and is really enjoying the job. We're grateful to have a steady income once again. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

Rachel's Baby Blessing

Family and friends came over for Rachel's baby blessing on August 3, 2008. We were so grateful to have Mom and Dad Tomlinson drive up from Orange, CA, and Mom and Dad Martineau from Soda Springs, ID. Adam and Dana are just down the street so they were able to make it as well. In addition, we had Natalie Hurst, CBS 2 main anchor and previous co-worker of John's, and my old boss from Riverglen Junior High, Connie Buckley. John gave Rachel a very special blessing. It's always an emotional day for a mother. I am so grateful for John and his Priesthood authority to bless our family.


A shot of Rachel... I need to fix the lighting...

The Tomlinson family

The Martineau family

Natalie and our family

Twin Falls Open House

Twin Falls, Idaho, is about two hours from our home. A temple was just finished there a month or two ago and, as is customary with LDS temples, there was an Open House for anyone interested to enter and see what they're like inside. John and I thought that it would be neat to bring both sets of our parents (since they would both be in town for Rachel's baby blessing) to check it out. The temple was absolutely gorgeous. It is a "medium-sized" temple with really unique craftsmanship. Daniel LOVED it, and was perhaps a little bit more vocal than he should have been in some of the rooms. When he entered the Celestial Room he couldn't contain himself. Everyone was silent and then you could hear him say, "WOW". It was sweet. Even a small child can recognize the holiness of a House of God. I look forward to returning soon. (For those interested, Boise has a temple, so we are lucky enough to have one a couple of miles away-- but it's always fun to visit different temples.) Here are some pictures from the day!

Shoshone Falls

Just a couple miles away from the Twin Falls temple is Shoshone Falls, the "Niagra" of the west. It was breathtaking! Incredibly, Shoshone Falls is over 50 feet taller than Niagra! Daniel loved it and kept telling us that he wanted to "swim in the waterfall..." Needless to say, we kept our reigns a little tighter on him. The pictures don't do it justice.

Sibling bonding...

I am grateful that babies are so resilient because Rachel has been kicked, punched, slapped, head-butted, and squeezed by her darling big brother, Daniel. All incidents were out of love (for the most part), but Daniel just wants to love her to pieces! I can tell him "soft", "gentle", "not around your sister", "careful", "STOP IT!!!" until I'm blue in the face, to no avail... :) I love being a mama. Daniel really has been good with Rachel. He loves to give kisses and hugs and he makes sure to check on her every morning. It really is so sweet to see the two of them together. I can't wait until she's a little bit stronger (and more mobile) so that they can play together (and so that she can defend herself). Rachel is such a sweetheart. We love her smiles and coo's. I don't remember Daniel coo'ing nearly as much as she does. She is precious.

A moment for Rachel... and Rachel's presents!

Sorry for all of the posts at once. It seems that's the only way I can get this blog updated! I thought that I would take some time and post some pictures of Rachel. She has been such a fabulous little baby! She sleeps like a dream, is such a little cuddle-bug, is very tolerant of her big brothers love and attention, and adds such a sweet Spirit to our home. We love having her and are so grateful to have her in our family.







Daniel has loved opening up all of the presents that we've received for Rachel (THANK YOU EVERYONE!), but he thinks that they are all for him. He took a particular liking to this blanket that was made for us. It's a cat towel, and Daniel spends at least an hour or two a day being "Super Cat" extraordinaire... So fun!

Family visits

Having a new baby is great for obvious reasons, but we had forgotten about how great it is to have family come and visit! We had my mom with us for a week before and after Rachel was born and then John's mom came up when Rachel was two weeks old and stayed for a week. It was such a blessing to have both Mom's here to help out with the babe and Danny boy. He's still adjusting to this "baby sister" business and needs more attention than before (if that is at all possible?!?!) We thank both of them for coming to visit!

We also had John's oldest brother, Bob, and his family from Oregon swing by on their way to Utah. It was so fun to see them and Daniel loved having their dog, Toby, to hang out with. Thanks for coming, guys!

We are blessing little Rachel on August 3rd, so we are looking forward to having both sets of parents here for that, with whomever else might be able to join them... Family time is always great.

Soda Fun...

We decided to take a little trip to my parents home in Soda Springs, Idaho (about 4-5 hours away) since we have no job keeping us here in Meridian. It was a nice little break for us and Daniel had a blast with Pa and Mima's big house and yard. He also enjoyed their four-wheeler, their junk food, and their dog, Mo. He was in heaven! John and I enjoyed the slower lifestyle and just relaxed and enjoyed the cooler weather.

Finally some pictures of our little girl...

Mommy and baby are home now. YEAH! (This is Megan writing, by the way...) We wanted to go home last night, but Rachel had high bilirubin counts, so the docs wanted to keep her overnight. She is still a little jaundiced, but they let her come home today, and we'll have to test her at the hospital again tomorrow. Rachel is absolutely beautiful. She is fun to hold (what newborn isn't, right?) and she's very tolerant of all of the noise around her. Nights aren't so fun right now, but hopefully we'll be able to switch that up sooner than later. She has a cute little skin tag on her face (an eleventh finger is close to a mother, I suppose) that is definitely a Martineau trait. We see her pediatrician on Monday and we'll see what she wants to do with it. If they snip it off, am I suppose to scrap book it?? :) Just kidding!

Here's some fun pics of baby Rachel and the family. Thanks for all the well wishes and good thoughts... We'll keep you posted!

Rachel Brooke Tomlinson has arrived

We just wanted to let everyone know that baby Rachel Brooke Tomlinson was born today at 3:41 pm. She weighed in at 7 lbs 15.5 ounces and was 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great. I forgot the camera at the hospital so we'll have to put up pictures tomorrow. If you are interested you can go to this website and see a picture the hospital took. It is: http://saintalphonsus.netreturns.biz/Nursery and the password is 87305. She's a cutie. Everything went well. Megan had to push for a 1/2 hour and when she came out her cord was wrapped around her neck two times. But she went from a dark purple to a normal color as soon as the doctor unwrapped the cord. Rachel has big eyes and loves to stay awake. She didn't close her eyes for a few hours after being born. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers. Sorry we don't have more pictures right now, but I promise some tomorrow.