Tuesday was such a roller coaster. We got up at 3:45 AM and arrived at the hospital at 5:15 Am. By 5:20 AM we were in a room and getting prepped. Within an hour the nurses had Jennifer hooked up to everything and was administering those magical meds that induce labor. From that point on it was just sit…wait…sit…wait…pace the floor…wait…sit back down…and wait. Sometime around 10:00 AM Jennifer officially began what they call “active labor”. Please don’t ask me to clarify these things. All I know is that she wasn’t pushing yet but she was still in labor. Around 11:00 Am we were told that she would probably begin pushing between 3:00 – 4:00 PM. They checked her again around 12:15 PM and apparently Ava had decided to do things her way. The medical staff rushed in and the push began. The next hour seemed like seconds! I cannot even describe the anxiety and fear I had as I watched Ava enter this world. As she began to enter she was so purple. The doctor quickly realized that the umbilical cord was wrapped around her little neck twice. She, the doctor obviously, quickly unwrapped it and began to pull with force that I thought was going to break her sweet little neck.  Thank God for doctors and thank God for Him, God. Ava was delivered in perfect health and more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.

We are now at home and attempting to get acclimated to what life is going to be like with our newborn baby girl, Ava, and our 3 1/2 year old super hero, Maddox. There is no doubt that nights will contain less sleep and the days will contain less sitting down…and will without a doubt contain more crying and more of the feeling of being pulled in many directions. BUT, there is also no doubt whatsoever that life couldn’t be any better. We are blessed with two of the most beautiful children ever and are so thankful that we get to share our lives with them. With that said, the Goins Fam journey now continues with a fourth member, Ava.

So much has happened over the past year and we will definitely catch you up. But before we relive some of our favorite memories from this past year we should get to what’s HUGE right now. That would be the arrival of our little girl, Ava Camille Goins. Word is she will make an official appearance any day now. Keep an eye out for the pics that introduce Ava to the world!

Truthfully though, it’s a blast. Watching Maddox explore, try things he’s never tried, running faster, jumping higher…it’s proof once again that time is short and it’s important that we shut down everything else for a little while to spend some time together. Besides, if we hadn’t, we would not have learned about one of Maddox’s fear. You will actually see it in one of the pics below.

On one of the playgrounds in our neighborhood there is a small bridge. It’s probably about 6 ft. off the ground and 10 ft. long. Well, Maddox chose not to walk across the bridge. In fact, he crawled…and he could care less that there were several other kids around going through it like it was nothing. Maddox, slowly and cautiously crawled about half-way across, then turned around and crawled the other half backwards. Don’t worry though, we as concerned parents are going to help him with his fears and plan to take him on a ropes course in a couple of weeks. We are confident that strapping him to a harness and lifting him up 60+ ft. and then going down a zip line will help him overcome his fear of heights. I’m kidding…unless he says yes!

One moment we will never forget was the bond created between a dolphin and Maddox. As we were feeding and petting the dolphins, one particular dolphin swam at an incredible speed and LEAPED out of the water right in front of Maddox and Jennifer. Maddox let out a high pitched squeal that caught everyone’s attention and all of the dolphins froze in their place (not really, but kind of). The scream was so high pitched that I was afraid someone was going to ask if my daughter was okay. Needless to say, he’s not a huge fan of dolphins at the moment.

All I have to say is, what a smile! Our little man infects us with happiness.

By the way, isn’t that smile one of the most captivating things you’ve ever seen? Combine it with the laugh and you’ve got two parents who ooze and gush with pride.

We had almost all of the family together. Once we got to the Easter egg hunt Maddox and I put our game faces on. I tried to coach him up and let him know that this was not the time to be nice and let other kids get all of the eggs. This was the time to go all out and show the other kids that he was a force to be reckoned with. It didn’t work.

He did exactly what he did last year. He casually walked from egg to egg (if someone didn’t beat him there), picked up the egg and inspected it, then gently placed it in his basket. He looked good doing it though.

Good times…definitely good times.

What most people may not know is that the parents of a tricycle owner typically get more of a workout than the actual tricycle owner when riding. You see, Maddox’s philosophy is…sit on the tricycle…hold the handlebars…and tell mommy and daddy “…this way…faster…no that way…” Regardless, our little man is the coolest cat on the block and makes the tricycle look even awesomer (no, it’s not a word but it should be).

Mommy is looking pretty good herself!