Awed by the Island

We've finally recovered from our colds, and we've been enjoying life on our little island. It's hard to believe, but (because Jim had been gone, and then we'd been sick, and then we'd been traveling, and then we'd been sick again) Madeline hadn't ever been to the beach! We rectified that situation last Friday, driving to the North Shore and spending some time on a deserted bit of gorgeous shoreline. Winter isn't the best time for swimming on the North Shore, so we played in the sand and at the water's edge.

Kathleen and Daddy had a great time running around, and Madeline and I had a lovely quiet time, sitting on the sand and nursing. After we were all tuckered out, we hopped back into the Jeep and headed home. It was only after we were driving back that I realized: because I'd been holding Madeline and taking photos, we didn't have any photographs of her first visit to the beach!

I did the same thing this Tuesday, when we climbed Diamond Head with Jim's sister Margaret and her husband Craig, who are visiting from Illinois. I've got photos of Jim and photos of Kathleen, but Madeline and I are completely missing. I've really got to get better about that! Fortunately for us, Margaret is a much more responsible photographer, and chronicled our journey up and down -- even capturing our family all together, not only at the top, but on the way down:

Both girls did great on the trip up Diamond Head. Even though she's not crazy about the Baby Bjorn, Madeline played along and slept on the way up the mountain. She did howl for part of the trip down, but by then she was pretty hungry. Kathleen took the trip in a few different stages. She rode in the Baby Jogger until the path got really rocky, when she hopped out and walked along with us. (We stashed the folded up jogger on the side of the trail, and picked it up again on the way back down. It worked perfectly!) And when it got too steep or her little legs got too tired, Daddy carried her. By the time we reached the glorious view at the top, Kathleen was more than ready for a break and some water.

Even though all the tourists around us were complaining about the steep stairs (a set of 99 steps, and a set of 74 steps, and a bunch more random stairs), Kathleen loved them. Here's a snapshot of her and Daddy on the way down:

So, we've been all over the island, enjoying the beautiful weather and admiring the magnificence of the creation around us. There's so much to inspire here -- the lush, green mountains, the crashing surf, the sparkling rainbows, the watercolor sunset. I find myself constantly amazed that we're able to live in a place with such beauty. And when I take the time to think about the creation, I can't help but think about the Creator. This island is but a small reflection of His own beauty and His power...

For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hands are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hand formed the dry land. -- Psalm 95

Colds in California

Last week we flew to California and spent a week with Nan and Grandpa O'Connor. Kathleen was literally beside herself with excitement. We made the mistake of telling her about the trip two days in advance, and that night she was so worked up that she couldn't sleep. She stood in her crib yelling, "Plane! Nana! Gampa! Plane! Me! Carseat! Plane! Nana!" We endured a lot more of the same until we finally arrived at the airport (two days later, people!) and boarded a plane.

The girls did remarkably well on the flight. Madeline basically nursed and slept the entire time. She only cried for a few moments. Kathleen wasn't quite as quiet or quite as still, but she was really good, all things considered. She sat in her carseat because even though we could technically take her onboard as a lap child, that would never work in reality. She'd last maybe five minutes on a lap! Five hours is just a long time to try to confine a toddler -- or to entertain one, for that matter. Still, we all survived the flight there. (And the flight back was even better, as we had an extra seat and a little more room for Kathleen to move around.)

The bad news about the trip was that we all got sick. Kathleen came down with a cold virus the weekend before we left. She had a horrible, hacking cough, a runny nose, and one night of a bad fever. She then shared it with her sister the day before we left. Daddy started showing symptoms the day we flew. I caught it a few days after we arrived in San Francisco. Yuck! Because of our contagious, snotty state, we didn't get to do nearly as much visiting with friends and family as we'd have liked. We did manage to visit Uncle Kevin and Aunt Marie's new flat in the City and watch football and eat fantastic pizza. And we even snuck out (sans children for almost 2 hours!) to meet Uncle Kevin, Aunt Marie, Uncle Craig, and Aunt Caroline for a drink at the Marin Brewing Company one evening. But otherwise, we mostly kept to ourselves, since we wouldn't have wished the misery of the colds on our worst enemies.

Cold or no, Kathleen made the most of staying with Nan and Grandpa. They gave her all her favorite foods, and made sure to have a dvd of her favorite television show, and surprised her with all sorts of little treats. You can tell that life at the O'Connors' is tough for her:

I know that Madeline loved being with her grandparents (and meeting her grandpa!), too.

While we were hanging out with family, we also managed to visit graduate schools -- namely Stanford and Cal Berkeley. Those are two of the schools on Jim's application list for PhD programs, and we thought a visit would be good for some face-to-face meetings with professors for Jim, and for the girls and I to get a feel for both places.

We loved Stanford's Spanish-style architecture, manicured lawns, and wide-open feel. And Kathleen particularly loved the fountain!

Stanford has an exception reputation and many distinguished scholars, which had made it a front-runner in the Golby grad school rankings. But Berkeley surprised us! I'd only really ever thought of it as crazy, liberal "Beserk-ly," which is what Grandpa O'Connor is fond of calling the university and its little city. And while it certainly doesn't have the grand scope of Stanford, we loved the architecture and found many gorgeous little nooks while we explored the campus. Plus, and perhaps most compellingly, Berkeley had amazingly helpful faculty. They absolutely went out of their way to meet with Jim -- one even spent several hours with him, talking about the program and Jim's research interests. We also learned that the university isn't nearly as crazy as the longtime residents of Berkeley. According to one source, the College Republicans are the largest student group on campus. Who'd have guessed that?

We haven't come to any decisions about grad school, which is probably wise, since Jim hasn't finished the applications, much less been accepted. But we're encouraged that we'll be happy wherever we wind up, and we're confident that God is preparing a place for us. Maybe it'll be in California. We'll see!

Growing and Growing

So Smiley!
Originally uploaded by the golbys.

Madeline had her two-month doctor's appointment last week. We've known our smiley little girl wasn't all that little, really, but the check-up proved it. Madeline measured 23.5 inches long and weighed in at a whopping 11 pounds, 15 ounces. She's been doing a lot of growing!

Madeline charmed her way through the appointment. She smiled and cooed at the doctor, who pronounced her "fantastic." (Needless to say, we think pretty highly of the doctor!) She howled in indignation when she got her shots, but that's completely understandable, at least in my opinion. A little snuggling and a little Tylenol, and our girl was back to her sweet, smiley self.

We've been getting a lot of enjoyment out of Madeline's smiles these past few weeks. She's very responsive, so it's not difficult to coax a smile out of her. Her grin lights up her face. It's amazing to watch her sweet little personality emerge.

Madeline's doctor's appointment was a highlight for Kathleen. Kathleen chatted the entire drive to Tripler, reminding us that we were driving in the car to go see the doctor for "baby sister" and that the doctor would listen to baby sister's heart. She loved watching the doctor examine her sister -- it was like watching her favorite page in Richard Scarry's "Best First Word Book Ever" in real life! Hopefully Kathleen will be just as enthusiastic when it's her turn for shots in December!

No Tricks, Just Treats

We had a lot of fun this Halloween... we love any excuse for pumpkins, costumes, and candy. Regardless of any of the holiday's history, that's what we focus on, and that's what we enjoy. And boy, do we enjoy it!

In the afternoon, Daddy and Kathleen carved our pumpkin. Kathleen was particularly excited about this activity because she loves pumpkins. She has her own little pumpkin collection -- the big pumpkin for carving, two smaller pumpkins (for carrying around, I suppose), and four miniature pumpkins. And still, each time we cruise past the pumpkin display in the commissary, she cries out, "Pumpkin me!" I remind her that we already have seven spectacular pumpkins at home ("Gosh, Kathleen, I'm not even sure there are any pumpkins here that are as great as the ones we have at home."), and that generally satisfies her.

Anyway, back to the festivities. Kathleen took her pumpkin carving role very seriously and dug right in, scooping away with a spoon.

She helped sort out the seeds and very carefully sprinkled them with garlic salt before we popped them in the oven. Kathleen also made the important decisions about the jack o' lantern's face; he needed to be happy, and would have two eyes, no nose, and one tooth. She seemed to know what she was doing, because I think the pumpkin is pretty cute! (Of course, not as cute as the other two faces in the photo!)

After pumpkin-carving, we worked on trick-or-treating skills. Daddy ran through the whole scenario with Kathleen countless times: you say, "trick or treat," you hold up your pumpkin bucket, they give you candy, and you say, "thank you." Despite the thorough briefing, Kathleen had her own take on the tradition. The candy part made a lot of sense to her, but not much else. She didn't see the point of saying, "trick," so merely said, "treat." And why would she let someone put the candy in the bucket? She wanted it in her hand, so it could get to her mouth most quickly! Fortunately, she was willing to say thank you!

Later on in the evening, we got the girls dressed in their costumes. Kathleen dressed first, and debated the relative merits of her princess hat and a tiara.

The tiara won out over the hat... Unimpressed by the glue gun-weilding abilities that created the hat, Kathleen absolutely refused to wear it. The above photograph is literally the only one we managed to snap of her in the hat, which accounts for the less than ideal expression she's sporting! Not surprisingly, Madeline was a lot easier to dress.

Once we had everyone dressed, the weather foiled our trick-or-treating plans. It was pouring out, so we stayed home to greet those who did brave the weather. We hosted some friends for dinner, and they helped us "trick-or-treat" with Kathleen in our living room! That, combined with the candy, was more than enough excitement for our girls.

Our Halloween photo shoot wasn't as successful as we might have hoped (it was a challenge to work around the dueling nap schedule), but we did eventually manage to capture the princess and the pea together on film...