New Mommy

New Mommy
Originally uploaded by andy white.

It pays to marry up. I'm no dummy. I knew a keeper when I saw one and I did all I could to keep her. Somehow, Angela agreed to keep me. She has been a continually growing blessing in my life.

For us, having Abby has been the best thing we've ever experienced. It has added ginormous depth to our marriage, and has given us a deeper understanding of the Father's love for us. Today, we took our first outing as a foursome.

Aaron slept through his first shopping trip. Since this was our first family outing (since having Aaron), Abby was sure to do a great job of keeping her eye out for him. We made a "run for the border" before shopping. Yeah, we know....strong move!

You might wanna make a run for my FLIKR FOTOS to see some more pix from our family outing!

Aaron's all smiles!

What do you do when you come home from the doc after he's told ya "your perfect"? You smile! Well, Aaron had his 1-week check-up and "perfection" was his assessment.

Today, we saw Aaron start to REALLY smile. Was he listening during his medical exam? Well, probably not. Most likely, his grins are from gas bubbles, but that's fine with us because his little smiles are cuter than a truckload of puppies. Don't believe me? I have plenty of new pix SO JUST CLICK HERE.

Abby continues to be a saint of a big sister. Today, she even helped with a diaper change. We're praying that she'll one day help Aaron with his homework, give him poignant dating advice and unlock deep spiritual truths. For now, we could not be more overwhelmed by the blessing of two perfectly created children.

In this time of blessing, we continue to ache and pray for the Steele family. Not a moment goes by where we don't wish Matt was with us. It does help to know we have such a close friend watching over our family. Thanks man.

Lastly, thanks SOOOOO much to Gramma Rachel for all her help this week. We love you! Ok, one more thing...new pix RIGHT HERE.

We are Family

Abby has been having a grand old time with her baby brother. Everyone always tells the nightmare stories of how having a second child turns your first little angel into a walking train wreck. So far, that has not been the case. Actually, Abby is adoring her little brother, Aaron Matthew, quite a bit. Whenever he cries, she assumes the tender, mothering voice and says, "Oh honey, oh honey, you'll be ok," and then proceeds to kiss him on the forehead.

Well, I've made a vow to TRY to keep stuffing pix HERE on my FLIKR page. Hopefully THESE PIX will give you a glimpse of our family life as of late.

Aaron is home!

We brought Aaron Matthew and Angela home yesterday. Abby is already a great big sister. She is talking to her little brother and comforting him whenever he gets a bit fussy. It's really pretty cute. Angela and I were stoked last night during dinner when his plugger (pacifier) popped out and Abby ran to stick it back in for him. We realized that we might have 3 parents and one baby! I've put some more pix of Aaron Matthew on my FLIKR page RIGHT HERE .

I'll try to keep the blog and the FLIKR page updated often. However, no guarentees. Last night, Aaron thought that 10pm-4am were the best hours to be awake! Seriously though, we count ourselves phenomenally blessed.

Aaron Matthew White

We humbly thank God for the healthy delivery of Aaron Matthew White.

8 lbs, 11 oz.
20 in.
11:45 pm.


Angela is doing well. She did a great job.

We're very tired and excited all at once. Abby gets to meet her new baby brother in the morning!

Induction Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day! We'll be going in to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. to induce this young lad. Any and all prayers are greatly appreciated. If you'd like to post your "pre-birth" guesses just head on over to Angela's Blog. I plan to post pictures and info on this blog tomorrow so stay tuned!

Joyful

Matt's memorial on Friday was beautiful. It was a time filled with weeping and laughing. Worship and reflection. Sorrow and joy. I'm quite certain that it was the most moving service of worship that I've ever been to. My soul has never ached so deeply, yet at the same time, I left feeling inspired. How is that possible? A loving husband and father gone at age 34?!?

Well, from the people that got up and shared about Matt's life. Reed, Douglas, Mundell, Steph. They all gave testimony to Matt's unending faith in His God, even when the trials were far beyond what most of us have faced in this world...Matt remained steadfast. He loved to serve others and he never stopped, even when he feel ill. He deeply shared God's love with his family, his friends, his church, and even the poorest of the poor at the Santa Barbara Rescue Mission. I feel so honored to have been Matt's friend....and inspired to carry on his legacy of hope, faith and love.

Matt and Steph often READ THIS to inspire them when times were really tough. Without hope, what do we have? I am thankful for this reminder. This joyful hope was most evident in Syd's dancing during the worship. I was about to fall apart while trying to play, and then I noticed the unabashed joy from Sydney in the front row. She was so overtaken by the music that she couldn't help but get her groove on. A 3 year old gave me a glimpse of joy and hope.

You can visit THIS NEW BLOG to share memories of Matt.

Transition

"I think I will be a wreck for a while." - Chris Mundell

I hear ya Chris. Letting go is very tough. I've been in a fog the past few days. The reality of what has happened is slowly sinking in. I'm constantly seeing Matt in my mind's slideshow. (or I'm actually looking at Greg Lawler's amazing slideshow of Matt photos which you can see HERE). What I'm finding, the deeper I dig, is a boatload of great memories with Matt. If only they could have continued for about 50 more years...

The good news is, I actually feel very close to Matt's spirit. I know where he is, and the joy he is experiencing. I wonder what he's up to?

We found out today that if Angela doesn't go into labor naturally by next Thursday, we'll probably induce first thing that morning. Transitions are happening so fast right now. Matt's memorial is Friday. I'm honored to be asked to play. We're praying the baby stays put until then...

I've heard so many people mentioning Matt's infectious laugh...here's an old photo of it in full effect.

Matt Steele

My friend's suffering is over now. I feel relieved in the midst of my sadness. He's probably listening to some really good music right now. I miss Matt and I'm glad he was my friend.

Somehow, today was a great day. It started with a phone call from Dan Hislop, breaking the news. He and his family we're planning to come over so he could record the last bit of his album. We decided to not cancel, so that we could be together. It was a good call. I called my Mom and had an amazing talk about Matt. Dawn and her family also came over to comfort us. Soon thereafter, Scott Anderson showed up for some hugs.

I was supposed to play guitar today at church. Should I still do it? I decided it was best to still play. Playing music soothes my soul, and was one of the things that Matt & I shared so closely. Plus, I knew I had something to offer a mourning body. Brad McCarter called me and said that he had been looking for something to do "to help" for two years....playing in today's service was finally something tangible we could do. I'm so glad that we did. It was an annoited time of reflection, mourning and hope.

We needed some more time to gather as friends, and thankfully, many friends were up for spending more time together. I'm going to need a lot more times like that with friends. There are many I still need to catch up with. I had comforting talks with my Dad and sister when I got home. Chris Mundell and Greg Lawler had amazing posts about Matt. Gabe and I caught up on the phone and shared sorrow and encouragments. Each of today's events were significant to me. I'm very thankful I had this day to process a tremendous loss. Angela will be going into labor any day now, but God knew we needed this day.