The Baby Bucket List

I have mentioned our Baby Bucket List in previous blog posts but I haven't really been specific about what it entailed. If you have asked yourself whether or not this pregnancy was planned... well that's silly. Of course it was. I'm not saying that my planning can go beyond the Almighty's plan for my life but given what I can control, yes this was planned. Not many people have asked me that question but I have other married friends  that are pregnant who say they get asked all the time. Don't do that. What if the answer is no? Are you prepared to deal the the awkward silence spawned from asking inappropriate questions?
Speaking of inappropriate questions/comments it is my goal to write a non passive aggressive blog post about all the silly silly, uncalled for, and even irritating things that people have already said to me. I haven't figured that out yet so it may be a while. Or maybe I'll just have to tell you in person. That seems less tacky.

Anyway,
Matt could have been happy having a baby earlier in our marriage. If you know Matt personally, doesn't he have "Good Dad" just written all over him? But since the first few months of our marriage I had been commuting from Midland to Lubbock and then OKC to Lubbock so all that travel wouldn't have been safe with me pregnant. Plus I would have lost my mind with how tired I have been if I would have been trying to take classes and TA and travel and all the other odds and ends of life. No way. People also tell you all the time "You have no idea how much a child will change your life." Well, I have a pretty good idea. It seems pretty common sense that things are going to be different if another human being entirely depends on you for their survival, plus development and day to day functions. That seems like a rather large task. My imagination is powerful enough to suppose that it's going to be a stressful, expensive, time-consuming endeavor. Given that knowledge, early in our marriage I made a list of things I wanted to do before having a baby so I didn't have feelings of resentment that I had "missed out" on anything.

Here's the list:
1) Go to Disney World as an adult without children.
2) Go to Napa
3) Go ice skiing one more time
4) Surf one more time
5) See Venice


And here's how we did it.

1) Go to Disney World as an adult without children.

I had a conference in L.A. where my classmate Wes and I were presenting a paper on drought conditions impacting water usage at colleges and universities. Well, you know what's close by? Disney Land. It's not Disney World and in my creating of this list I had imagined going with Matt, but he said it would count as long as we could strike it off the list. Wes is largely a kid a heart so we had a good time, even if we had to watch the Star Wars demonstration for too long. I also got to ride the tea cups which my mom wouldn't let me do when I was 7 because she got sick when we she was little and she was afraid it would do the same to me.

2) Go to Napa

I actually didn't accomplish this one and it's high on the priority list post-baby. Maybe next fall when they do the grape harvest. But, I did get a wine country experience when Matt and I did a weekend trip to Fredericksburg, TX.

We rented a cute cabin and toured several wineries. We had such a good time together and came back with enough wine that it felt like a successful wine trip. This trip is one of my favorite married memories.

3) Go Ice Skiing Once Last Time

When I was in high school I went skiing every year. I also went one time in college. I loved it. I don't do things that are too life threatening but on the stuff I do go on, I have to say I am pretty good. Especially for someone who goes once every several years. Well for Christmas last year I opened up a box and there was a nice warm coat. And under the coat was the itinerary for the ski trip we were going to go on Valentine's day weekend. I was STOKED. It had been something like 7 years since I had been skiing.

Matt had never been. It turned out that it wasn't for him. Poor guy. 

Right Before Matt Took Out Some Kids

Lonely Skier

But he was a good sport and was just fine drinking beer while I went down runs by myself. It's just not fair to torture someone into hurling themselves down a snow and ice covered mountain if they don't want to. Hopefully this little one will take to skiing well and we can go frequently. It's actually kind of irritating how good kids are at skiing.

















4) Surf One More Time

When I did Study Abroad in Costa Rica in 2007 I fell in love with surfing. It's really hard but man when you get up on the board there's nothing like it. I wanted to experience that at least one more time before we had kids.

In 2012 we decided to go to Costa Rica for our anniversary trip which was actually my birthday weekend. We tried to make Italy work but the flights were outrageous. I figured I could take Matt around to check things out (I had already been twice) and he could have his own little tour guide. We had an awesome trip and he loved the country. It wont take much convincing to get him to go back.

 I didn't get a surfing picture from that trip but this was the beach the day before in Tamarindo. Matt did a really good job for a first time surfer. I would say he was better than I was my first time. I loved that he was willing to try it with me knowing how much I loved it. 

And then I got lucky this past year and got to go again when we went to the Dominican Republic. Matt didn't go but my friend Nicole did. She was a natural! I did get up on my first try which may have set the bar a little too high for the rest of the day... There are lots of wipe out pictures from where this one comes from...

5) And Finally, see Venice. 

I have wanted to go to Venice since forever. I thought this was going to take YEARS to accomplish. However, we put our mind to it, made a call to the travel agent, and made it happen. We actually went on a cruise and saw several countries but got to spend a day in Venice. It was a wonderful day with Matt. Of course we had the Gondola ride. We drank wine and ate Pizza and had dinner on the canal. We walked all over the place and took in all the beauty. I would go back in a heartbeat. 

As far as I am concerned, we met the criteria of our Baby Bucket List. You might be wondering how we did it or if we have some huge amount of cash at our disposal. In reality, it's all been a matter of a large amount of planning. We include a trip in our annual budget planning because we want to make it a priority to make time for each other--even post baby. What better thing can you invest in than your marriage? 

We also do things like throw money in a jar throughout the year and periodically put it in the bank. The year's trip to the Dominican was largely paid for by money we had been putting away at will. Birthday money, random reimbursements, a few extra bucks here and there. It really adds up. 

When you make a list of accomplishments, make them a priority, and pursue your goals, there's really not much that you can't do. Except the miracle of having a baby itself. I give that all to God and take only about 1% of credit for the planning part.

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