Going Home

We got to come home today! I'm so excited to be in my own home with Glenn and our new little man! I am really looking forward to having a few days to get to know him before the girls get home. Although I break down in tears every time I talk to them. I really miss having them here. I miss hearing them play together...and argue with each other! I actually miss seeing toys all over the living room and hearing a movie playing in the background. I miss giving baths and doing hair. I miss seeing Zoe dressed as Cinderella, or in her "blue" as she calls it.

I wonder how long these feelings will last once they get back home!

Mom says the girls are doing really well and she only has to deal with a couple of meltdowns a day. It's nice to know that the girls can survive with out me, but it also makes me sad to know they don't need me.

Here are a few shots we got in the hospital...

Taking a moment to breath in all his sweet baby smells and thank my Heavenly Father for this most precious gift! This pregnancy has been the hardest and longest. I was ready to be done the moment I found out I was pregnant. I had been having so much pain for almost a year prior to the pregnancy and I knew what was ahead of me as far as pregnancy related pain. I have shed so many tears and said so many prayers during the last 9 months. I have been so worried that there would be some side effects from all the medications and anesthetics from the surgery. So far all is well and our little angel baby is safe in my arms.

I have waited so long to hold you. I never want to let you go!

Hospital Rundown...Kind Of

I tried to keep some notes through out the day, but of course got a little distracted and missed a few things. Here is how our day went, for the most part, on Monday.

*Arrived at the hospital just before 8:30am. Dr. was still in surgery doing a c-section. We waited for a while then finally got to the Labor and Delivery room just before 9:00am.

*Mean nurses (2) tried to get my IV in. Three sticks between the two of them and they still couldn't get it. They called in the anesthesiologist. She poked me two more times before getting it right. I HATE IV'S!! They got the antibiotic and pitosin drip started. Shortly after that was done my contractions started. Fun times! Pitosin only kicks them up a FEW notches.

*Dr. Evans came in at about 10:30am to check me. 3cm, 70% effaced. She then broke my water.
*By 11:00am I was contracting regularly and looking forward to the epidural!

*I lost track of my times at this point because I was in pain and just wanted the epidural. Or so I thought. There were two anesthesiologists that came in to get the epidural going. Turns out they were the same two that helped during my gallbladder surgery. I liked them a lot better that day! It seemed to take quite a while to get the epidural right. By the time they were done I was totally tear soaked, embarrassed and about ready to walk out the door. He was having a difficult time finding just the right spot in my spine. He kept brushing the nerves on my left side which hurt like crazy and made me jump. Not good when someone has a needle in your spine! At last they were successful and just in the nick of time. My contractions were increasing in intensity and I was getting worn out.

*The super nice nurse (Stephanie) that took care of us all day kept coming in to check on me. She was very attentive and supportive and would chat with us when she had the time. EVERY time she came into our room the phone at the desk would ring. It was pretty funny actually. She would give me reports on my progress every time she checked me. She tried to help me go quicker by "working" the cervix and letting me know that she could feel the baby's head. He was getting lower so her plan was working.

*She called the Dr. when I got to about 8cm because she "didn't trust me". She thought I would go super fast after that point. She was right.

*Dr. Evans arrived a bit before 4:00pm and started getting everything ready.

*4:08pm - Baby arrived!! I pushed through about 4 or 5 contractions and he was here. Sweet relief!!

*The epidural did it's job and then some. I couldn't move my legs for quite some time afterward. After a few hours they tried to get me up to use the restroom and my left leg was still very numb. Glenn had to hang on for dear life while trying to get me around. That is a very strange feeling and it made me so grateful for my healthy body. I am so glad I don't have to experience any kind of paralysis or other major problems.

We are so grateful our little man has arrived and we get to hold him in our arms. I would much rather hold them in my arms than in my tummy!

Welcome to the world our sweet angel baby!
Wyatt Tomlinson
December 28, 2009
4:08 PM
6 pounds 15 ounces
20 1/4 inches

Nervous

Glenn and I will be leaving Mom and Dad's today to go home. Maggie and Zoe will be staying with Mom and Dad for the week. I'm going to be induced on Monday and Mom thought it may be easier for her to keep them at her house rather than coming up to our house. I thought she was right, although I am very nervous about the girls. I think Maggie will be alright. She loves having sleep overs and she always has a good time at Grandma's. Zoe on the other hand is a different story. She is still very attached to me and has never spent more than a few hours away from me. I hope all goes well and Grandma is prepared to wipe away a few tears and give a few extra cuddles!!

Have lots of fun girls and we will see you in a week! Your baby brother will be waiting to meet you!!

Like many families we have a few Christmas traditions. On Christmas Eve we read the story of Christ's birth. Usually we read the story from Luke 2, however this year we watched the Church's production of the story. I believe it is called the Nativity. It was very well done and I think for the kids it helped them to understand it a little bit better. Of course I'm a visual learner so maybe it just helped me!

After the story we sing a few Christmas carol's and then open one gift. It's always a surprise as to what that gift contains! That's right, it's always pajamas! I love pajamas. Especially cute little kid pajamas. We made an attempt to get all the grand kids that were present in their pj's and looking at the camera. Kinley wanted nothing to do with it! She finally busted away from all the other kids trying to hold her down and she was a happy camper again.

Maggie and Camille spent some time making pictures for Santa and his reindeer as well as cookies. I love that Maggie still has her innocence and still believes in the magic of Christmas. I know we only have a short time left before she leaves that all behind. For now I will just hold onto the memories of my sweet little girls making their Christmas lists and drawing pictures for Santa. I will remember the look in their eyes as they sit on Santa's lap and express their wishes to him. I will continue to help them understand the true meaning of Christmas and what it really celebrates, so when they do out grow Santa they will know that it is about the birth of our Savior and the life he lived and the gospel he brought to the world. Gifts are nice, but love, family and service to others are what matter the most!
Christmas morning Maggie & Zoe woke up to a letter from Santa in their stocking. He told them that he got a little confused. He thought we were going to be in Wyoming so when he got to our house and couldn't find us he wasn't sure what happened. Then when he got to Grandma's house he found us there. He had left a gift under our tree in Wyoming and some treats in their stockings, but he also left some things for them at Grandma's. Santa's pretty amazing! Thanks for taking care of our girls Santa!

We had such a fun day! After opening gifts we hurried and got the house ready for our Brown family party. We had a brunch that included a lot of our traditional Christmas treats. Mom put it all together and it was so good. We had Grandma Brown's Christmas casserole, fondue, fruits, breads, cheese ball, crackers and of course frappe.

Our Newest Nephew

Well I don't know the technical term, but my Nephew and his wife just had a baby boy.
Would that be my Great Nephew?

Now I feel really old!!

Welcome to the world and to our family sweet baby Hunter!!

The girls and I got to stay a few extra days after our family party so I got the opportunity to go to the hospital and meet Hunter. What a cutie! Congratulations Trent and Rachel!

Seeing the Lights

Mom and Dad took us to see the lights at the Spanish Fork park. They were really cool, but of course not really photographable. So here are the girls trying to keep their eyes open through the camera's flash. Camille was having a hard time!

Sadie, Camille & Maggie

Camille & Maggie
Kinley didn't even try to keep her eyes open! I love this picture!!

Zoe being coy

We had so much fun. The lights were awesome. The kids loved seeing all the animated ones. Thanks Mom and Dad for entertaining us and letting us hang out with you for a few days!

Reindeer Fun

I was lucky enough to capture on film two of the newest and craziest reindeer...

Maggie - the "I'm way too involved in my movie" reindeer

AND...

Zoe - the "nakey cowgirl reindeer"

I'm not sure Rudolph would want to join in these reindeer games!

Blackburn Family Party

We were not planning on going down to Provo for the family party, but I felt alright about it so we packed up and headed down.

I didn't get a single picture, but that doesn't mean we didn't have fun.

Since Uncle Steve works at the Institute we have an "in" and get to use the building. It's awesome. They have a game room with ping pong tables, pool tables, foosball tables and air hockey. We had lots of food and fun white elephant gift exchange. Before we did our white elephants Steve had arranged for a couple of students to perform for us. We had a young man show us how he does voice over work. He played a clip from Aladdin and did all the voices and sounds for everyone. It was pretty amazing. Then we got to watch another young man do yo-yo tricks. He was very good. All the kids were totally amazed and sat quietly during his show. After the yo-yo man we got to hear some pretty music played on harps. It was a great night of family, laughs and entertainment!

The hit of the party is always the frappe. Maggie remembered it from last year and was so excited to have it again. She even asked Grandma for the recipe so we could make it at home. YUM!

Meeting Santa

The girls were so excited for our ward Christmas party. They knew Santa was going to be there and they just couldn't wait to see him. On our drive down the hill to our building Zoe said "I love Santa!" I wasn't convinced and figured we would just see what happened once we got there.

I almost missed her on his lap. She was the first one in the room and jumped up on his lap like he was her best friend. It was too cute and I'm glad I was able to snap a couple of pictures.When he asked her what she wanted she said, "candy". She's pretty easy to please. Luckily for her Santa came prepared!

Maggie was next in line and she was just as excited as Zoe to be able to tell him what she wanted. She is catching on that the Santa's we see in the mall and such are just the big man's helpers and not the real deal, but she still wants to get her wish list heard.

She didn't want anyone else to hear what she was telling him so she had to whisper it in his ear...

She got so embarrassed when Santa jokingly spilled the beans that she asked for a boyfriend...

This is as close to a Christmas card as we are going to get this year...

We hope everyone has a great Christmas and a fabulous new year!

Primary Talk

Today was Maggie's first primary talk. I'm not sure how we managed to get away from doing this before now, but she did a great job.

"My Family is blessed when we remember Jesus Christ"

I don't know that it's acceptable to take pictures during primary, but we did it anyway. Crazy blogger Mom has to have her photographic evidence of ALL events!

Pajama Day, Polar Express & Loco Lizard

Maggie was so excited about pajama day. All the first grade classes got to wear pajamas, take pillows and blankets to school and watch "The Polar Express". This is her class right before they went into another class room to watch the movie. They were all very excited and noisy. At some point they got to have hot chocolate as well. What could be better on a cold and yucky day? I wanted to get a few pictures of them during the movie, but Maggie's teacher kind of booted us out of the room. Her teacher last year was always very happy to see us and let us stay as long as we wanted. This year her teacher is a little less inviting. I always feel like I'm in trouble when I see her. I feel like I'm not allowed to be at the school. It seems kind of weird to me, but whatever!

The Loco Lizard
We had to make a run into Park City after Maggie got home on Friday. We still haven't closed our old bank account that doesn't have a branch here so we get to make runs to Park City every now and then. Since we were there we decided to celebrate my birthday a few days early and have a nice dinner at the Loco Lizard Mexican restaurant. This particular lizard was very interested in Zoe's chicken!

All full and ready to go home...

This was how Maggie occupied her time before our food arrived...

She made it for Santa and "sind" (signed) it the Tomlinsons.

While Maggie was getting ready for school this morning I realized that I hadn't even checked her homework folder last night. Luckily for us it is pajama day for the first graders so she was already dressed and had plenty of time to do her homework before school. In her folder she had a reindeer made from her foot and hand prints. It was really cute and Zoe loved it. I decided that Zoe and I would have a little craft time this morning and make some of our own. AND since today is Glenn's day off he got to participate when he got home from taking Maggie.
Zoe was so proud of our completed projects. She had so much fun. She decided where they all got hung as well. Good choice!

Now we just need our little man to get here so we can make one for him too!!

A Trip to the Dentist

Tuesday the girls got to take a trip to the dentist. They both did really well. I was surprised at how excited Zoe was to get in the chair and get checked out.

So, once again I uploaded all the pictures in the wrong order. I'm just special that way.

Dr. Lester was awesome and the girls felt really comfortable with him and his staff.

There was a TV up on the ceiling that they could watch during their checkup. The gadget around Zoe's neck are the headphones so she could hear it. Maggie wanted to watch it too.

The hygienist let the girls be in charge of the suction tube. They loved it. I thought Zoe would freak out a bit, but she was a pro and sucked out her spit like she had done it all her life.

When they were all done we got the news that Zoe had very pretty teeth. She just needs to brush a little bit longer to help get all the plaque off. Maggie on the other had has two cavities. One in a baby tooth and the other in a permanent tooth. The baby one is pretty bad and will actually have to be capped. Sounds silly to cap a baby tooth, but it is to help protect the teeth around it from getting cavities.

They were both so good they each got a new princess toothbrush and their own floss. Maggie had such a good time she keeps asking if they get to go back. Crazy kid!!

The latest shot of our little man!