Our PINK Caboose!

In the days leading up to the arrival of our Caboose, I got to have 3 2 hot chocolate dates with 3 2 of my favorite little men.  It was very sweet and did my heart good to get some one-on-one time with each of them. We sipped hot chocolate , ate donuts, talked, and sat together in the front seat of the car watching dancing Christmas lights synced to radio music!  I love taking time away to get to know Wyatt, Isaac and Micah as individuals!  I often see them as a collective group of boys and experience the 'bulk effect' of their personalities meshing together.  But they are still INDIVIDUALS and I have to remind myself of this many times a day!  The day before Baby Day it was Micah's turn for a mommy date but we ended up at the doctor's office in place of sipping chocolate and Christmas lights.  He had a pretty croupy cough when he woke up from his nap so we decided he'd better go see the doc in case an antibiotic would do him good.  Doctor said it was a virus but that he shouldn't visit the new baby in the hospital.  I was so sad Micah was sick because my prayer had been for ALL 5 of us to be at the hospital together to meet our Caboose.  But looking back on that day, I see the Lord's kindness even when things didn't go perfectly as I had  hoped....  I was sweetly distracted and heart-focused on taking care of Micah that there was no time for c-section anticipation fears to even creep into my mind!        

Poppy and Mimi came over bright and early on Thursday morning to watch the boys while we headed to the hospital to meet our newest member.  12-12-13 is a pretty special day to be born for a couple of reasons:  1) 12-12 is just a cool number and 2) it happened to be my dad's 65th birthday!  I'm not sure if we halved or doubled Poppy's celebration :)  but I thought it was pretty special for these two to get to be birthday buddies!

Here I am awaiting our 10:15 OR time!  It was the most amazing experience from the moment we arrived to St. Luke's Hospital.  A precious, middle-aged nurse named Becky took very good care of us (12-12-13 was also her daughter's 40th birthday)!  Becky treated us as if we were her very first delivery!  Not because she was inexperienced (she's been a nurse for 25 years!) but because she was SO VERY enthusiastic!  For someone who has done the same thing day in and day out for 25 years to still be able to authentically make you feel like the only one in the world having a baby is pretty rare.  The morning was happy, calm and I was filled with an overwhelming peace!  I was prepared and over the moon excited to meet our baby!  I was definitely anticipating a  BOY the morning of and I think Becky was too because of the baby's 'low and strong' heartbeat.  I was perfectly content with the idea of a 4th boy but a little unsettled by the thought of never having a girl.  Does that make any sense at all?  I know it resonates with a few of you momma's who have all boys or all girls.  I honestly had not thought much about this baby being a girl--just didn't want to let my heart go there!  I had prayed and I trusted completely that-boy or girl-THIS baby was the perfect fit for our family! 

Well, at 10:15am Becky wheeled me into the OR with no Dr. Heit to be found.  Apparently he got caught up in surgery at another hospital and was running a bit behind schedule.  I got some quality time in the OR with Becky, the baby nurse, surgical tech and the very funny duo anesthesiologist and nurse anesthetist.  The tone was light hearted and very peaceful until Dr. Heit arrived!  I have great confidence in him as a doctor and surgeon but he's not super warm and fuzzy, he's serious and detailed and a perfectionist from what I've heard from several nurses.  His presence changed the tone of the OR from being warm and light hearted to clinical.  Joe was brought in to be at my side behind the canopy curtain and surgery was underway! My heart was so grateful that Dr. Heit had arrived and it was his hands making that incision....

Dr. Heit agreed to let Joe make the announcement of the baby's gender.  I was eagerly awaiting his verbal que to have Joe peek over the curtain to see our new baby.  When the que was given I watched my husband FREEZE for what seemed like an eternity.....  finally he made out the words "It's a girl!" with a very composed voice and a great big smile!  Tears immediately streamed down my face as everyone in the operating room CHEERED!  I don't remember much from then on...  I was completely in awe of those 3 little words It's.A.Girl and so tickled PINK!  I was so humbled by the Lord's kindness in giving us a healthy baby GIRL!   

At first glance, I saw WYATT....something about her eyes and hair.

Joe made his first phone call to Wyatt at Kindergarten where he got to announce over the classroom intercom to Wyatt that he had a sister!

Little confusion on the scales....we're going with the first one in the OR of 7lbs 10oz but snapped a photo the second time she was on the scale in our room about 10mins later.

Ava Joy McCulley's stats:  10:56am, 7lbs 10oz, 19.5in

There's just something I LOVE about baby feet

 Pretty in PINK

Sweet Ava Joy preparing to meet her adoring big brothers and gift them with cupcake cookies!

Here they ARE!  Happiest moment of my life!  My completed family completely together!!!! 

I just couldn't follow the doctor's orders this time.  It broke my heart to think of Micah being left behind at home on this special day.  Cough, germs and all.....  This sweet sickie lathered up with germ juice and wore a mask (big brothers were sports to wear a mask too so Micah didn't have to be the only one) to come meet his new sister.  Wyatt and Micah were all along determined they were having a sister.  They never wavered....  "It's a sister" was always their reply when someone asked if they wanted a boy or a girl!  And Wyatt's first words to me "Mom, I told you it was gonna be a girl!" 

I love the seriousness in Wy's eyes.  This is exactly how he was when he came to the hospital to meet Micah, serious and completely attentive to the new baby.

These 2 approve!

 Protectors, for sure!  Wyatt asked us not to talk so loud because we might hurt Ava's ears and not to take so many pictures because we might hurt her eyes.  Watch out Ava Joy....  you might not ever get a date with these doting brothers watching over you.  Micah was under the weather a bit of a pouty pants because he didn't want to wear the mask SO he opted to not hold Miss Ava :(

The boys enjoyed their birthday treats from their new sister.

Birthday Buddies!  Poppy had a cough too so he sweetly offered to wear a mask.  Oh my, it's that time of year! 

Meeting Mimi!  My mom was super cute because she had bought MANY girl outfits/hats before Ava was born.  I had asked her not to show me because I wasn't letting my heart go there!  Everyone around seemed to be confident that God had a girl in store for our family.  My mom had bought so many girl things that my dad actually thought we knew the baby's gender and had just left him out of the loop.  Little did he know that my hospital bag was packed with all blue and ONE baby girl outfit that I broke down and bought 4 days before Ava arrived, just in case!

Sweet Ashtyn was SO excited to finally have a girl in the family!  Couple more years and we'll have a babysitter!!!!!!  She went and picked out the biggest foo foo bow she could find to give to Ava.  So cute!

Dax was also excited to meet "Ave Happy" even though he was rooting for a boy!

How did I forget to get a picture with the sweetest sister around?!  Sorry, Brianna!  Auntie B and Uncle Trent spoiled us with all kinds of fun goodies and lots of PINK for Ava's wardrobe.

Santa Clause came to meet Ava on Friday morning!

My cousin and his sweet fiance Katie came to meet Ava after their last final on Friday night! 

Here's the ONE and only GIRL outfit I bought prior to Ava's arrival.  Where's the PINK you ask?  Well, it's slim pickings when it comes to finding a onesie with the built in mittens (Wyatt still has a scar on his face from scratching himself in the hospital).  Pretty in purple too! :)

Nana's nest is now even with 3 boys and 3 girls.  Alexa said, "We won!" (meaning we got another girl on our side)

These 3 pretty girls came to meet miss Ava JOY.  Alexa was excited to share her middle name with her new cousin!  Ellie, the soccer star and Alexa, the princess will have much to teach Ava about being a well rounded kind of girl! :)   

The McCulley/Johnson clan.  Sorry we didn't get a picture of you, Papa!

Isaac wanted to hold Ava any chance he got!  So sweet!

I made Poppy take off his hospital mask so I could get a picture of these 2 BIRTHDAY BUDDIES together!

Poppy and Mimi came back to the hospital to keep Ava and I company while Joe went home with his parents to get them situated.  Poppy and Mimi got to experience a little calm of holding Ava after the storm of watching big brothers for 3 days!  They did it flawlessly and with much joy.  Thank you!   

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Really, could there be anything more precious?  I remember catching a little glimpse here of just how much our Heavenly Father is also our tender and LOVING Father....  He delights in us and rejoices over us exponentially more than this daddy who adores in his new baby girl!

Checking out of room 302!  No more room service?  I could seriously get used to this!  Sure gonna miss this place.....