He's Finally Here!

We can't tell you how happy we are to announce the birth of our son Carter Jesse! Carter (otherwise known as C.J.) was born at 11:25 pm on Friday, July 28th, 2006 in Orem, UT. He weighed 7 lbs. 9 oz. and measured 19 inches long. However, it wasn't until Sunday, just before noon, that we received the call telling us he had been born and that we needed to be at the hospital in the next 40 minutes. We were completely overwhelmed, running around trying to gather the things we needed to take with us to the hospital. I remember just shaking! I was so excited, but scared out of my mind at the same time. We had tried so hard not to get our hopes up, but at the same time we wanted to be prepared in case it did happen.

Well, to make a long story short, our angel birthmother signed the papers and after she had spent a little more time with the baby, we met our little boy for the first time at about 2:00 pm, when Jolene brought him to us (we are so grateful for Jolene in our lives)! He immediately struck us as the most beautiful baby we'd ever seen (of course!). What a peaceful little spirit! By the time everyone was discharged, all the papers were signed, and we'd been "educated" enough to take him home, we had spent about 2 hours becoming acquainted with our baby and had taken several dozen pictures already!!!

When we arrived at my mom's house, we surprised her when we walked in the door with the baby just minutes after she'd arrived home unaware of what was going on! How amazing was the feeling of suddenly having all your prayers anwered and all your dreams come true. We could hardly believe it was for real! Our hearts and prayers go out to sweet Jesse. As far as we are concerned, she is our hero, the most loving, unselfish woman we have ever known. She made us parents. You can't ever thank someone enough for that. There are no words that are adequate to even try to describe our love for Jesse. Above all, we hope that as Carter grows, he will know of the intense love so many have for him, especially his birthmother & her family.

More to come! Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers throughout everything leading to this point.