Sarah Joy Tomlinson

(Guest post)

Sarah was born today, May 10, 2010 at 4:42pm. She weighed in at 8 lbs, 10 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. Everyone is doing well.

Crazy

We might be crazy, but we are dumping the internet... I know, we are LOCO!! This shouldn't be a permanent change, but it is for now. We have changed our phone number as well (email me if you need the new one since I don't really want to post it online). So this is a heads up that there probably won't be many new posts for awhile (like I was ever good at posting regularly before...), but I will still be checking email and other fun stuff at my leisure (just not four times a day). The library and I are going to become good friends! :)

I would like to leave some pictures with you in parting so that you don't forget about us... :) Enjoy!

GIRLS RULE!

Or at least they do now. Yup, it's a girl. We're overjoyed. The boys are going down!



This lovely picture is of the kiddos with their pink celebratory cupcakes. Although you might not believe me, they really ARE excited for a baby sister to join the family...

Merry Christmas!!

Here's our 2009 Tomlinson family Christmas letter! Procrastination has gotten the best of me and we'll have to settle for the online version. It sure is convenient! We'll get back to the "real deal" soon, I promise!

I won't bore you with all of my childrens endless achievements. (Isn't that what a blog is for anyway?) But I will try to remember how greatly we've been blessed this year.

Our greatest blessing is our family.

John still works for the Transportation Department, which he really enjoys. I can't articulate how grateful I am that John enjoys the work that he does. He's a hard-working husband and father and I am quite certain that our family would fall apart without him.



I am blessed to be able to stay at home with our two little ones, and I am plum-tuckered! (That's a common family phrase...) Every day is filled with smiles, joy, tears, frustration, tantrums, and chaos. (In no particular order.) I love being a mom, and I can't imagine what life without my munchkins would be like. I hope that we're ready for baby #3 coming in May! Are you every really ready?



D-man is my big boy! He is officially potty-trained!! That news might not make other Christmas letters, but it does ours! He mastered it a while ago, but we're still pretty stoked. He is a great big brother and loves Rachel to pieces. (I am actually afraid at times that we might find her in pieces...) He is still obsessed with all construction trucks-- the excavator being his favorite. He has told us that he would like to be a dentist when he grows up, or a teacher, or a doctor. Sounds good to me. He loves all Disney movies since enjoying Disneyland this past Fall with his grandparents in California. A day doesn't pass that D-land isn't mentioned. Danny is a smart kid that has limitless energy and countless questions. We love him!

Rachel is quite the little charmer! She knows how to smooth trouble over with those sparkling eyes and contagious smile. She follows D and does everything that he does (for better and worse). Rachie-bop loves to read with others or by herself. You can see her entertaining herself with stacks of books... That's my girl!! :) She's a complete nurturer. All of her dolls and stuffed animals receive special attention from this little mommy. Rachel is a sweetheart. She enters Nursery in church next week! Yup, she's eighteen months! She is such a joyful little girl and you can't help but smile when you're around her. I count my blessings every day that she is part of our family.



Our other blessings include our new home! We moved into a larger home at the end of Summer and we have loved stretching out a bit and letting the kids run free. In a time where many people have little, we are keenly aware of what a rich blessing it is to have a roof over our head, clothes to wear, and food to eat.

Lastly, but certainly not least, we are grateful for our knowledge and testimony of Jesus Christ, our Savior. It is Him that we are most mindful of and desiring to emulate this Christmas season. Life has been good this year, and we look forward to future adventures in 2010.

Merry Christmas to all!

Last but not least...

Note: I have posted what feels like 10,000 posts tonight. If you care, scroll down. It won't hurt my feelings at all if you don't.

Life is grand. I don't do much anymore, though. (Who am I kidding, when have I ever done much?) But I'm allowed to be a couch potato right now. I'm pregnant!

Baby #3 is coming next summer. John and I are thrilled.

Autumn is the best!

I love our new house. We have a huge tree in the backyard which sheds the most delightful leaves. They are big and crunchy and make lovely leaf stacks to jump in. The kids are hoping that we can keep them forever and ever. I love Fall!

Vacation!

Since I'm playing catch up, I will limit my commentary, but let me tell you-- vacation rocks!! We had a fabulous time in Southern California with John's family, and were so sad to be gone. Daniel was the most traumatized, but he recovers quickly when we show him pictures and tell him stories from our trip. He still is worried that, "Mima Sally misses me so much, huh?" Of course I tell him that she does. He then says, "I miss her lots and lots too..." Sweet boy. He loves his family.

Vacation had many highlights, but I'll just document the photographed ones... :) Beach, Disneyland, Trampoline, Angels game, oh my!

Beach

I knew that Daniel loved sand. He is Mr. Excavator, obsessed with ALL THINGS big and manly (that involve construction). He really took to it. Rachel wanted to but sand in her face kind of threw her off her game. We all recovered and had a great time.



It was Johnny's idea to bury the kids in sand... Daniel was a fan. Rachel, not so much.




We got four-day park hopper passes to Disneyland, my home away from home. When I was in High School I went to D-land 5 or 6 days a week. I couldn't get enough of that place. Still can't. I love to just sit on Main Street and watch people, or jump on the Mark Twain or Columbia and just daydream the cruise away. I couldn't wait to show the kids the Happiest Place on Earth. They loved it, although Daniel didn't like the "pirate ride" (Pirates of the Carribean) because they weren't very nice to each other. I was so proud of Daniel. We took him on everything we went on (with the exception of Tower of Terror and Splash). He's a stud! They were troopers for being so good. We had a blast.

Grandma Tomlinson was amazing as our official tour guide. The kids loved having Grandma there to share everything with. We even had John's brother, Gary, and his wife, Michelle, with their kids. So fun!

Daniel liked to play in the dirt while waiting in line. We should have taken some home with us.

Rachel loved to crawl in, around, and through the pole lines, smiling adoringly at other patrons.




Although Disneyland was great, the TRUE highlight might have been Grandma and Grandpa's trampoline. Oh, the simple pleasures of life. Look at these kids!! (And I include John in that sentiment.)






Finally, John was able to go to an Angels' playoff game against the Red Sox, which was a dream come true. As a So. Cal native, he grew up loving the Dodgers and Angels (I won't tell you which one he loves more), and went to thousands of games. But he had never been to a PLAYOFF game! When a ticket fell in his lap, he was elated. So elated in fact, that he chose to dress as a clown. Go Angels! (If you are wondering, that really IS an Angels hat, and John wasn't the only one dressed like such a goof ball...)




Angels won that game, but they couldn't get past the stupid pansy Yankees... Go Phillies!

Vacation was great. When can we go back??

Sprinklers and temples and Swine (in no particular order...)

I'm slow. I've never disputed that. The fact that I am posting about stuff that happened months before should be no surprise. I just dumped nearly 300 pictures to my computer, so I'm trying not to be too overwhelmed. Life is busy, as any of you avid bloggers can attest. I still have yet to figure out how to organize and prioritize... Until I do, enjoy the snippets!

SPRINKLERS!



I love wet and happy kids.



The family took a temple trip. It's one of D-mans favorite things to do. He loves to smell the beautiful flowers and play in the fountain. He was pretty excited to touch the temple this time. He is learning more and more how important and sacred temples are. I love the temple.




Can't you just feel the love between these two? It's a shame that you couldn't see Rachel's face-- I think that her eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets. Daniel sure loves his little sister!



Mr. Swiney struck poor little Rachel. She was out of it for a while, but is all better now. I hate having kids with fevers. I missed my little sunshine. Having the flu was annoying but what made matters worse was the fact that we were leaving for vacation four days later. Oh well! It wasn't anything that we could change, so we just finished recovering in So. Cal... Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for taking such great care of us!

Poor thing!