Oh HAPPY DAY!!!!

I am not sure which day was happier April 18th at 8:48 p.m. when Ryder Michael Vestal was born or 12:30 p.m. April 20th when he was adopted and became Ryder David Jensen. I was pretty happy both days but my total relief after the adoption papers were signed is indescribable. Congratulations to Jenny and Ryan for making a beautiful baby and congratulations to Heather and David who are the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy. All seven pounds eight ounces and 18 inches of him. I am sad to admit that he only had two thumbs. He got ripped off. I was hoping he would have three like his big sassy brother Sean.
This is Heather's first kiss of her great looking baby. I don't want to sound bias but this really is a remarkably great looking baby. He does do a strange this with his tongue though. I think maybe it's because Sean was tongue tied and couldn't move his that Ryder feels compelled to stick his out all the time. It's just because he can!

Here's my baby Sean biscuit holding his little biscuit brother. Sean was so confused when he saw him. I'm not sure he even knew what he was. When he figured out it was a baby he wanted to touch it's eyes.

Oh yeah! Carol loves delivering babies even if she wasn't really the nurse. I still pretended I was, I gave Ryder his first shot! And yes Stephanie this time I remembered to put the medicine in the syringe and I didn't poke him twice.

Ouchhhhhhhhh! That mean woman poked me with a needle.

Jenny did so great. She pushed that baby from -1 to out in two pushes. She made childbirth look easy.

It's so bright out here! But I think I'm going to like it.
Oops Steph came to the delivery. You know what that means? It means she'll be pregnant within a month.

Heather and I gave Ryder his first bath. He didn't like it too much but we enjoyed it.

Just a side note to this story: I have always wondered WHY Jenny and these kids came into my life and what my role is supposed to be. While the final chapter with Sean isn't written it is with Ryder. That gorgeous little baby will never go to bed hungry. He won't sleep on a crib with no sheets. He won't crawl around on a floor covered with cigarette butts and beer cans. He won't live on other peoples couches and in homeless shelters. He is going to grow up in a loving home with loving parents and I am so grateful to God and the Jensen's that Ryder is in the Jensen home. I've done some pretty cool things in my life but I think saving Ryder is something that I will always consider a miracle and will be so proud of. I am crying as I write this but I am thankful that I went into the ER in the middle of the night at the exact time Jenny walked in after being beaten. I'm grateful that I called Peter and we went and took those kids out of that apartment. So many things lead to this moment. If WFS hadn't sent Jenny to my CNA class I wouldn't have gotten involved. If we hadn't Ryder would be just one more neglected child living in squalor. But he's not he is a cherished baby. There are no words to describe how happy I am. It just defies the odds. Thank you God. If you feel like you haven't seen a miracle for awhile take a look cause it's a miracle!

And of course thank you to my wonderful husband who puts up with me and the babies I bring home. Without him it wouldn't have happened. On November 24,2007 I called him at 3 a.m. and said I'm bringing home some babies and his only question was how many? Not why, not are you crazy, just how many.