November

It is December 5th and I am just writing this post titled "November." The reason is because November was a tough month. Steve had to have a surgery on the 14th to remove a tumor from his pituitary gland in his head. We were prepared to handle the surgery and his recovery, and then, the night before the surgery, Otter hurt his back again. We knew it was bad. Otter was scared and in a lot of pain, and from going through it before, we knew the paralysis he had in his right hind leg would be permanent without another major surgery. It was a lot to cope with all at once. Fortunately, after three and half days in the hospital, Steve was able to come home so that the four of us could spend one last night and morning together before having to say goodbye to Otter.

Through all the hard times and sadness, we were surrounded by an incredible outpouring of love and support from family and friends. Nici and Ryan stayed close while Steve was in the hospital and kept Otter comfortable in loving arms during his last days. 

One of the only places Otter could get comfortable during his final days was snuggled in Ryan's arms in his favorite spot on the couch.

Ryan stayed up most of night for three nights with Otter.

Nana and Papa Williams were here for visits with the patient (Steve) in the hospital and to help around the house. And, Jamie even flew in from San Francisco to provide Kate with the best babysitting possible on the day of Steve's surgery. She sent me plenty of picture updates throughout the day:

During their shopping spree on Montana Ave

Still smiling at bedtime.

Jamie also got the biggest laughter to date out of Kate. (Trust me, this video is worth viewing on a computer. It will always be one of my favorites.)

The weekend following Steve's surgery, Aunt Kirstin flew down from Seattle for another special visit. It was a super windy weekend in Santa Monica, so we spent most of our time at home lounging in our pjs. We also chatted; enjoyed a delicious dinner of Thai food; and the girls walked for coffee and smoothies; did a little shopping on Montana; and got our nails done.

Kate: "I'd like to smile for this picture, but this string on Aunt Kirstin's sweater is just too delicious."

It was a really nice distraction having Kirstin here.

Even more love came from my moms group that insisted on sending us meals, Pepperdine colleagues and friends who also sent meals and flowers, and cards and messages from other friends.

From Jamie

From the NewsWaves crew at Pepperdine.

Once we had all of Steve's follow-up appointments at UCLA Medical Center and everything looked good, we decided that a drive and get-away to San Diego was the best option for Thanksgiving. We needed to get out of the house. We loaded up the car as early as possible on Thanksgiving morning and headed to Nana and Papa's in La Jolla. We left later than we had planned because Kate was up a lot the night before. We found out why once we got to Nana and Papa's place and Steve felt something sharp in Kate's mouth. She got her first tooth! It is just now really visible, but we still can't get her mouth open wide enough for a picture of it. It is her front bottom left tooth. 

Baby's first Thanksgiving!

Posing with Nana before our meal.

First Thanksgiving with my girl.

All tuckered out and ready for bed, that was until we got her back to our hotel room and into her new travel crib! 

Not much sleep for anyone!

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we visited Rocco and Brooke and their kiddos at their newly remodeled home in Solana Beach.

The guys with the little lady.

It was a warm Thanksgiving.
Temps in the high 80s and lots of sun in San Diego.

On our drive home on Saturday, we stopped off in Newport for an incredible meal of sliders and fries prepared by the Andrews boys.

Scott's first blog appearance.

Kevin wasn't feeling well, but Em couldn't stay away once she heard that Baby Kate was in town.

Throughout everything, Kate hasn't slowed down one bit. She has been busy mastering new skills
and keeping us on our toes as she pops up on hers:

When this happened, I went running for the camera. I really thought she might crawl right then and there.

What do you think? We now predict we'll have a crawler by Christmas. Nana and Papa got down low to show her how it's done:

She amazes everyone with her high butt lifts.

She also has learned how to go from a crawling position to sitting up on her own:

We had plenty of witnesses when she did it for the first time at Rocco and Brooke's house.

Despite everything, we sure do have a lot to be thankful for: health, love, and our happy girl.

Now we are ready for a new month and to celebrate our first Christmas with Kate!