Introducing…

Luther Wayne Steward. He was born at 5:33 AM on November 8. He is our biggest baby at 8 oz and 20.5 inches long.

I’m so excited about his name. As many of you know, the word I picked for 2008 is “FREE.” I’ve tried to focus my year on discovering what exactly it means to become FREE, in every sense of the word. It has, you could say, been our family’s mantra for 2008. When Tony and I were deciding on a name for this little guy we came across “eLEUTHERia” which is the Greek word for Freedom. We decided to take the name “Luther” from that. Also, of course there is great strength and history in the names Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. who both fought for freedom in different ways. So you could say we are naming this little guy “freedom.”

Wayne is a family name. We like to choose our middle names this way as family and heritage are so important to us.

Can’t tell you how happy we are to have this little one join us. My family came to pick Luther and I up today from the hospital, and we are getting settled in at home. Feels SOOOO good to be all cozy at home.

I’ve put a BUNCH of photos up on Flickr if you want to see more of the little guy. Check them out here. Thanks for all the encouraging emails, Facebook messages, texts, phone calls, visits, gifts, meals, etc. We feel thoroughly loved on and oh so blessed.