The day before the day daddy was born

All things considered, today was a very good day. 

Work has been busy and daddy has been working late, but today he didn't look at his blackberry once. Our dear friend Katherine is still in the hospital, fighting to regain basic motor skills and cognitive functions, but the doctors decided to day to hold off on a brain shunt to give her body one more shot at draining fluid from her brain naturally. She is nothing short of a miracle right now. The temperature hit 100 today in Pasadena, but it was only 80 in Santa Monica at the beach where we spent our afternoon. And mommy decided to give daddy his birthday present early. And who doesn't love surprise presents?

Mommy, Daddy and Little Man started the day by heading up to UCLA Medical to spend some time visiting with Jay and his family, bring them some lunch, and let Parker have some quality fun time with his little buddy, James.  James and Parker spent the morning climbing all over each other in the waiting room lobby. They are both about the same size now, which means James can really hold his own with Little Man.

It was a nice morning just spending time together and talking with Jay, his sister and mom, and a few church friends. Katherine still continues to fight the long fight, with her family of angels carrying her along.

We left the hospital around 1pm and headed to Santa Monica for some beach time. The weather was amazing and even the water is beginning to warm up a bit. Little Man has no problem getting messy in the sand, even sampling a handful now and again. As much as Parker loves water, it's amazing how much waves freak him out. And after a few toes dipped in the cold Pacific he had had enough. We packed it in and headed home.

After getting home, mommy took daddy to pick out his birthday present. We hit REI and picked out a brand new baby hiking backpack for daddy. Parker even gave it a test drive in the store! Hopefully, tomorrow we will give it a real spin!

Tonight, I watched as mommy got Little Man ready for bed, fed him and put him to sleep. I would have to say the best birthday present of all is being able to celebrate it, for the first time, with a family of my own.

All things considered, today was a god day.