Our Days with Daddy

Nan and Grandpa O'Connor have been here with us, first helping out with the big move, and then to be back-up for the baby's arrival. When Jim first got home, Nan and Grandpa took a vacation within a vacation and stayed at the Hale Koa Resort on Waikiki. We're so glad that that they were able to take a break from all their hard work and enjoy the sun and sand and surf!

The view from Nan and Grandpa's hotel room.

Grandpa has already headed back to California, but Nan's still here, camping out for the baby's eventual arrival!

Kathleen's little sister is apparently in no hurry to arrive. She's currently two days late, and it looks like it might be a few days more. She's made a little bit of progress, the doctor has assured us, but it's only a little bit. We're hoping that she'll decide to join us in the next few days, but the doctors will begin considering inducing her if she's still not around early next week. (Good thing, since that's nearing the end of our time with Daddy!) Since Kathleen arrived ten days early, we never really thought that we'd get to this point with her little sister. Shows what we know!

Although we're anxious to meet this new little girl (particularly before her Daddy heads back to Iraq), we've been thoroughly enjoying the time with Kathleen. She and her Daddy are getting along famously. It must have been all those videos and VTCs, because she seemed to know who he was right away. We are so grateful for that!

We've made a number of trips to the park, where Daddy has witnessed first-hand how much Kathleen loves the swing. On one occasion that was the only thing she wanted to do at the park! Since then, she's also displayed her climbing and sliding skills for him. Kathleen and Daddy like to head out to the park when Mama needs a bit of a break, which works out well for everybody. And when the running around at the park makes Kathleen too hot, we follow it up with some running through the sprinkler!

Kathleen seems to enjoy running through the sprinkler, but what she enjoys even more is being carried through the sprinkler! (Daddy's such a good sport! Mama's not having any of that!)

We went for one of our favorite easy outings -- a trip to the pet shop and then a stop for Jamba Juice. Kathleen ran all around the pet shop, pointing out and naming the different animals for Daddy (rabbits, birds, turtles, fish, dogs). Daddy also got to see how much Kathleen truly loves her "juice," recognizing the shop and running right in. Fortunately, a taste for Jamba Juice must run in our family, because it makes Mama and Daddy pretty happy, too.

This stuff is tasty!

No R&R in paradise would be complete without a few trips to the beach, so we've managed some of those, too!

Kathleen's a lot more interested in the beach now than she was when Daddy left. At that time, Kathleen wasn't too sure about the sand or the water. Now, she loves to dig in the sand, fill her little pail, build things, play in the nice little waves that wash up, and venture out into deeper water with Mommy or Daddy. The only thing that's slightly difficult about a trip to the beach is the car ride there. Kathleen seems to be afraid we'll change the destination on the way, because she checks with us about every 15 seconds to make sure we're still going "swimming" at the "beach!"

We're having a wonderful time together and we're treasuring every moment. We just wish we could make it last!

A Big Arrival (But Not a Baby!)

To our great delight, Daddy has arrived home for R&R! His flights were really, really long (could Hawaii be farther away?!), but he arrived safely and in great time. Kathleen and I got to go meet him at the gate at the airport, which was really exciting for us.

This is where the plane will be . . . eventually!

Because we were so excited, we were there plenty early and had lots of time to watch the planes and other airport busyness. We had a little snack, and we played with all the toys in the diaper bag, and Kathleen even tested out Daddy's lei. And just about the time we'd exhausted all our diversions, Daddy's plane arrived! Kathleen was laughing and I was crying, but we were all very, very happy. A sweet lady in the gate area offered to take our photo, saying it would be her honor. I'm grateful to her -- it's so nice to have a photo of all of us together again.

(3.9) Golbys Together Again!

The time we've had together has already been fantastic. Kathleen has adjusted to having Daddy home better than I could've hoped. As of my doctor's appointment Tuesday, our next little girl seems in no hurry to arrive. So, Kathleen's been enjoying having her Daddy's attention -- she pesters him to read to her, and to sit in her playhouse, and chase her around the yard. These next fifteen days are going to fly!

What a Busy Girl!

Kathleen has been one busy girl lately and that accounts for our not having blogged much... Please forgive us!

Nan and Grandpa arrived from San Francisco and immediately went to work. They helped move the last of the small things from the condo before the movers finished everything up Thursday. Then, with all our belongings in one place, Nan and Grandpa accomplished miracles getting us settled. Grandpa did lots of work that housing should have, but didn't -- he's been making our yard look lots prettier, raking leaves, and trimming dead plants and things like that. Together Nan and Grandpa also hung nearly all our pictures. Our house looks like we've lived here for a couple months, instead of a couple days!

And that's not all the work Kathleen's grandparents have been doing. Nan has supervised a lot of running through the sprinkler, and Grandpa was pressed into service reading stories.

Read it again, Grandpa!

Not only a good worker, Grandpa is also a good sport. He actually read "I'm A Big Sister" four times in a row!

Over the weekend Kathleen attended a birthday party for her friend, the Farmers' Son1, who turned three. The party was held at a sort of gym for little kids, where there was all sorts of equipment to climb and jump. Kathleen had SO much fun! At one point, the coordinator threw out scores of Koosh balls for the children to play with. Even after the other children tired of the balls, Kathleen worked hard at collecting them, clutching more than she could carry!

Doesn't anyone else realize how cool these are?

Even though it was Son1's birthday, we felt like we got the present with such a fun morning!

And finally, the move to a new house meant a new playhouse for Kathleen. We found the little house on Craigslist, and it was worth every discounted penny. Kathleen loves opening and closing the door, ringing the working doorbell, and (as you can see) lounging at the little table inside.

Come visit me anytime!

Not Exactly Settled . . . Yet

This place is great!
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

So, we're not exactly settled in the "new" house yet, but we've been spending a lot of time there -- in short doses. The other morning we needed to be there early so that housing could drop off a "loaner" washer and dryer. Kathleen made the trip in her pajamas, and then proceeded to spend the morning riding her trike around the empty house, munching on a bagel. I think that perhaps the furniture will be a disappointment to her...

But, barring any catastrophes (and no worries, the earthquakes, hurricane, and wildfire have NOT affected us at all, thank heavens!), the "new" house should have furniture tomorrow. Even if that's a disappointment to Kathleen, I'll be absolutely delighted to be living in one, rather than two homes!

What's Going on with those Golbys?

Here's what we Golby girls have been doing lately:

Growing . . . LOTS

Both Kathleen and I have been doing our fair share of growing lately. With less than three weeks until Baby #2's due date (can you tell we still haven't settled on a name?!), I am approaching gargantuan proportions, or at least it feels that way to me. Thankfully, the maternity clothes still fit, and thankfully we're living in Hawaii, where my revolving combination of skirts and tank tops and capris seem perfectly acceptable. Even better than that is never having to worry about shoes. All I ever wear are flip-flops (islanders call them slippers) and crocs. My feet have not seen the inside of uncomfortable shoes in months!

Kathleen's also a big fan of slippers. In fact, we got her first real pair at Walmart today.

Shoes, island-style

Kathleen's little feet are rather wide, which makes it hard to buy shoes for her. She normally wears the same pair of little white sandals to everything, so this new pair of "fun" shoes was a pretty big deal!

Kathleen's feet aren't the only thing growing. Sometimes it makes my head spin to think about how big she is -- and how much she's changed since we got to the island or since Jim left. She's talking up a storm lately. I have to laugh at myself (again) when I remember that I was worried that signing might delay her speech. Hah! I feel like Kathleen picks up new words every day, and begins using them almost at once. In addition to a slew of everyday words (please, thank you, car, jeep, camera, park, beach, swim, run, climb, juice, cereal, tv, ball, bike, tons and tons of animals), Kathleen has started picking up people's names and using them more consistently. It makes her such a little person! Tonight we sat together and ate pizza and sliced fresh fruit for dinner, and had our own little conversation. My baby is a little girl!

Goofing Around

Okay, to be fair, this one happens pretty much all the time. But with as busy as life has been lately, I think the goofing around has been pretty important. And now that Kathleen is bigger and more verbal, she's as much a part of the goofing around as I've ever been. This afternoon, for example, she saw the camera, picked it up, and handed it to me, saying, "Camera, camera!" So, we had an impromptu self-portrait-taking session. The photos aren't necessarily flattering, but they were fun.

We're just big hams.

We recently received a box from San Francisco from Nan and Grandpa. One of the things they sent us was a large, mechanical fish. Now, I had no idea such a thing existed, but apparently it does! The big clown fish is battery-operated, and when placed in water, it swims! Kathleen was thrilled to watch it swim with her in the bathtub tonight. We even called Nan and Grandpa so they could hear the squeals of delight.

Two great swimmers!

Talking about the Baby

Kathleen and I have been doing a lot of talking about the baby lately. We talk about the baby that's in mommy's tummy (she likes to pull up my shirt to check) and about how that baby's going to come live with us. We talk about how Kathleen will be a big sister, and we read the "I'm a Big Sister" book that we found at Costco a while back. I didn't have high hopes for it, but it is one of Kathleen's favorite books right now. We read it at least twice, and probably more like four times, a day. It is one of the few books that we actually read all the words in, so we're spending a fair amount of time on the subject of the baby and Kathleen's upcoming role as a big sister. I don't know that it will help, but it certainly doesn't seem like it can hurt.

We've also started pulling out more and more baby equipment, so we can talk even more about the baby that will live at Kathleen's house. The other day we pulled out the bouncer, and Kathleen was immediately fascinated by it. I thought that it would be a good place for Kathleen to practice with her baby doll, whom she calls, simply, "Baby." Kathleen seems to take great delight in caring for Baby; she feeds Baby bottles, wipes Baby's face with disposable wipes, and very sweetly covers Baby's face with blankets. Baby, along with her monkey George and the three incarnations of her puppy Aloha, now even sleeps in Kathleen's crib with her. (Shortly there will not be enough room for Kathleen!) However, Baby has yet to sit in the bouncer. Kathleen has made herself quite at home in it, instead.

Does anyone know where we'll put the actual baby?

Moving

So, here's what's been taking up the majority of our time and energy lately. We're moving! (We think it's important not to be too lazy or relaxed during the ninth month of pregnancy.) For a variety of reasons, a few weeks ago we put our beautiful, wonderful condominium on the market. We thought it would take a few months to find a buyer, and that during that time we could have a baby, readjust to life, and then adjust to the idea of selling our home. But instead we found ourselves under contract in only four days. Four days! Had we known that it would be that easy to sell our home, we probably wouldn't have sold it quite yet. . .

However, there will be some good things about our new abode. We're moving onto post, so when Jim comes home, he'll be very close to work. That means that (if we're lucky) we should be able to see him, even when he's working a lot. We could even walk to the battalion building, if we were feeling ambitious! The home is all on one level, so there won't be anymore stairs to climb with the girls and with groceries. And in addition to an extra bedroom, the house on post has a big screened-in lanai (that's a porch on the mainland) and a yard.

The view from the lanai

I think that Kathleen will love having a place to run and play (without worrying about the downstairs neighbors who work nights). And I'm really hoping that the novelty of the extra space and outdoor play will ease some of the tension that's sure to arise when we don't manage to get out of the house as much when the baby first arrives.

For now, we're still living in the condo and we're moving things over to the house gradually. We'll keep doing that over the next week. Well, I use that "we" loosely. Kathleen and I haven't moved much at all. Friends have done an amazing amount of work for us, and we have no doubt that Nan and Grandpa will do the same when they show up on Monday. We're so grateful for all the help. Movers come to move the "big stuff" next Thursday, and by then we should be all settled. Hopefully Baby Girl #2 won't show up anytime before then!

Daddy's Girl, Even From a Distance

Running to see Daddy on the VTC
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

Kathleen has always been her daddy's girl. Like many babies, she said Dada long before she started saying Mama. (Although, with as many times as she says "Mama" each day now I laugh to think I felt slighted when she wouldn't say my name first!) When Jim left for Iraq, she'd ask for him when she woke up in the morning, because she was used to him coming home for breakfast.

So, even though Daddy's been gone for six months now, Kathleen's still Daddy's girl. She gets ridiculously excited to watch him on the TV at home, reading stories. She points him out in every photograph we have. And when we drive on post (which has been a lot lately -- more on that another time) and pass Jim's battalion building, she always calls out, "Daddy! Daddy!" The battalion building is where we go to see Jim on the VTC, and a VTC is always a highlight for us. Kathleen literally runs into the building, through the hallway, and into the office where the VTC is held. Fortunately she's still a little short to effectively maneuver door handles, because, in her excitement, she'd barge right into somebody else's session! Although I'm prepared for a lot of shyness, I'm certainly praying that she'll have some of that same enthusiasm when we finally get to see him in person!

So Big and So Busy!

So Big!
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

Thankfully we've recovered the missing camera. My little helper had stashed it in the nightstand in the guest room, which (as you can probably imagine) isn't the most intuitive location for an item we rely on as much as our camera. I'm not sure exactly how I knew to look there, but I'm grateful I did. What would we do without a camera? Not much blogging -- you can tell!

The other afternoon Kathleen and I went to a nearby park. It's amazing to watch her cruise around so confidently, when it feels like just the other day she really couldn't do much there... She loves to climb. It's her new favorite verb, I think -- she calls it out in the midst of doing things she shouldn't, like climbing on my bed or the highchair or the kitchen drawers, "Climbing!" At least I know when she's up to no good! She still loves the slide and the swing, so generally she's pretty busy at the park.

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More Collecting
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

That day, though, the playground itself held Kathleen's attention for only a fraction of the usual time. After that she decided to explore the park itself, checking out the people playing basketball and tennis, meeting a variety of dogs, and testing out new walking paths. She also began her own little leaf collection, which she very proudly showed off for the camera.

I know I say it all the time, but I really can't believe how quickly Kathleen grows and changes. She's so big and so busy! We absolutely can't wait for Daddy to come home for R&R in few weeks. Even though he's seen her on the VTC and in photographs, we're excited for him to be able to see all the changes in person. And we're excited to be able to see him, of course!