Pre-Baby Bucket List.
The Bitty Baby Countdown has officially begun.
Well I guess it began like 35 weeks ago... but now its getting REAL.
One of the things I had read about in all of my pregnancy research, (one perk of trying to have a baby for TWO YEARS is that you research a bit..) was a Baby Bucket List. Basically, a list of things that you would like to do before the baby comes. I thought that was a great idea, and so I hit up one of the FB moms groups that I'm a part of to get their ideas.
It was kind of funny because some of the ideas were like, "Take a nap" which is great in theory--but by the time the baby gets here, that nap wont mean diddly-squat.
Which got me to thinking--it would be so freaking cool if there were a bank for sleep. Like you could make a deposit when you had a little extra, and then make a withdraw when your kid is up all night, or if you have to study for finals...or maybe cause you drank that coffee after 6pm and you didn't realize you were apparently an old lady now...
....or whatever keeps you up at night.
But. Alas. No sleep banks.
So after taking advice, and conversing with my husband and then just thinking about what is important to us and what we enjoy; we came up with this--
1. Go out to eat at a nice restaurant.
Basically my guidelines for this one were just that it had to be restaurant you wouldn't take your kid to, and Daniel and I added that we wanted to go somewhere we had never been--which in Nashville, is not hard.
2. Have a Coffee Date
Coffee will continue after the baby comes, no doubt about that, but the "date" part for me just means sitting and having a chat. Not feeling rushed to get to the next thing. Ordering a drink and then just sitting and talking for as long as we want. No babies to tend to.
3. Overnight Stay
This is probably the most far-fetched one on our list. We are kind of broke at this point, considering all of the baby gear we have invested in lately, and I'm way too far along to travel any significant distance--bur I added it for wishful thinking, and because it was by far the most popular one suggested by other moms. If it doesn't work out, at least we were blessed enough to have had a "babymoon" in Gulf Shores, AL earlier this year!
4. Play Golf
Guess who added this one? I assured him, I am quite incapable of swinging a club with any accuracy at this point, but he said it counted if I rode along, so I added it to the list. I can't really argue that infants don't really belong on the golf course.
5. Go to a weeknight movie
Movies were another thing that was HIGHLY suggested. Daniel and I honestly go to movies a lot already, so I was hesitant to add this one--but I tacked "weeknight" on there because we're not so good at going out and doing anything after work, and I can only imagine that will be even more the case after Baby comes.
6. Create a project together
Some people suggested a cooking class or pottery or painting. I don't know if we will get that far, but I did think it would be fun to do something creative. For us that might just be playing "Just Dance" on the Wii.
7. Do something spontaneous
This one is intentionally vague. Spontaneity is hard when you have to call up a babysitter every time you want to go out, so I thought it would be fun to add this one to spur me to some adventure. I'm a planner by nature, and throw 8 months of pregnancy in there and I'm downright boring... time to spice it up.
8. Late-Night donut or ice cream run.
Another pretty highly suggested one. Anything that has "late-night" in it, should probably speak now or forever hold its peace. But yeah, we love our late-night treats in the McCurdy household.
9. Visit a museum
One of the mommy-friends suggested this and her reasoning was great. She said that while museums are great to experience with kids; going to one without them is entirely different. On your own you can go to exhibits YOU want to see and read every sign if you want to. I like that logic.
10. Nap Date.
Ok, no sleep banks, but I cannot remember the last time Daniel and I took a nap. I mean, we fall asleep on the couch a lot... but then we wake up guilty and go to bed. Not afternoon naps though. So I thought this might be a good one to add.
Some people do things that are just for mommy (like "Get a pedicure") and other lists I saw were really practical (like, "deep clean your bathrooms"). Those are awesome, but my goal was to make a list of things for Daniel and I to do together, since there is very little time left for just the two of us, and I am anticipating the first few weeks to be slightly less than romantic.
It has been really crazy for me to think about our dynamic changing so drastically. For so long, it has just been us. 10 years of us, in fact, and 5 years of marriage. That is a long time to establish a relationship with someone and it's weird and a little scary to think about it changing. At the same time though, there is truly something exciting about having a creature that is the combination of the two of us.
Sometimes I have these moments where I kind of forget that the baby is half-Daniel. I think all moms understand what I mean. I spend 24/7 with her, I feel her move, I eat for her, I take my vitamins for her, I got sick for her, and I sleep for her and sometimes it just feels like I have a friendly little parasite--and not this human person that God has made out of the two of us. It kind of just blows my mind.
Anyway, that's sort of beside the point, but bottom-line is that I want to make sure we are on really great terms before the baby gets here, so that we can continue on good terms after the baby comes. I think this bucket list will be another fun way to make that happen.
I'll check back with you and let you know how we did.
We're getting so close now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While I'm here, I wanted to ask--what are some good ideas for dates or just tricks and tips for concentrated time with your spouse for after baby? We're total noobs, and we will take all of the advice we can get! Thanks, friends!
Well I guess it began like 35 weeks ago... but now its getting REAL.
One of the things I had read about in all of my pregnancy research, (one perk of trying to have a baby for TWO YEARS is that you research a bit..) was a Baby Bucket List. Basically, a list of things that you would like to do before the baby comes. I thought that was a great idea, and so I hit up one of the FB moms groups that I'm a part of to get their ideas.It was kind of funny because some of the ideas were like, "Take a nap" which is great in theory--but by the time the baby gets here, that nap wont mean diddly-squat.
Which got me to thinking--it would be so freaking cool if there were a bank for sleep. Like you could make a deposit when you had a little extra, and then make a withdraw when your kid is up all night, or if you have to study for finals...or maybe cause you drank that coffee after 6pm and you didn't realize you were apparently an old lady now...
....or whatever keeps you up at night.
But. Alas. No sleep banks.
So after taking advice, and conversing with my husband and then just thinking about what is important to us and what we enjoy; we came up with this--
1. Go out to eat at a nice restaurant.
Basically my guidelines for this one were just that it had to be restaurant you wouldn't take your kid to, and Daniel and I added that we wanted to go somewhere we had never been--which in Nashville, is not hard.
2. Have a Coffee Date
Coffee will continue after the baby comes, no doubt about that, but the "date" part for me just means sitting and having a chat. Not feeling rushed to get to the next thing. Ordering a drink and then just sitting and talking for as long as we want. No babies to tend to.
3. Overnight StayThis is probably the most far-fetched one on our list. We are kind of broke at this point, considering all of the baby gear we have invested in lately, and I'm way too far along to travel any significant distance--bur I added it for wishful thinking, and because it was by far the most popular one suggested by other moms. If it doesn't work out, at least we were blessed enough to have had a "babymoon" in Gulf Shores, AL earlier this year!
4. Play Golf
Guess who added this one? I assured him, I am quite incapable of swinging a club with any accuracy at this point, but he said it counted if I rode along, so I added it to the list. I can't really argue that infants don't really belong on the golf course.
5. Go to a weeknight movie
Movies were another thing that was HIGHLY suggested. Daniel and I honestly go to movies a lot already, so I was hesitant to add this one--but I tacked "weeknight" on there because we're not so good at going out and doing anything after work, and I can only imagine that will be even more the case after Baby comes.
6. Create a project together
Some people suggested a cooking class or pottery or painting. I don't know if we will get that far, but I did think it would be fun to do something creative. For us that might just be playing "Just Dance" on the Wii.
7. Do something spontaneous
This one is intentionally vague. Spontaneity is hard when you have to call up a babysitter every time you want to go out, so I thought it would be fun to add this one to spur me to some adventure. I'm a planner by nature, and throw 8 months of pregnancy in there and I'm downright boring... time to spice it up.
8. Late-Night donut or ice cream run.
Another pretty highly suggested one. Anything that has "late-night" in it, should probably speak now or forever hold its peace. But yeah, we love our late-night treats in the McCurdy household.
9. Visit a museum
One of the mommy-friends suggested this and her reasoning was great. She said that while museums are great to experience with kids; going to one without them is entirely different. On your own you can go to exhibits YOU want to see and read every sign if you want to. I like that logic.
10. Nap Date.
Ok, no sleep banks, but I cannot remember the last time Daniel and I took a nap. I mean, we fall asleep on the couch a lot... but then we wake up guilty and go to bed. Not afternoon naps though. So I thought this might be a good one to add.
It has been really crazy for me to think about our dynamic changing so drastically. For so long, it has just been us. 10 years of us, in fact, and 5 years of marriage. That is a long time to establish a relationship with someone and it's weird and a little scary to think about it changing. At the same time though, there is truly something exciting about having a creature that is the combination of the two of us.
Sometimes I have these moments where I kind of forget that the baby is half-Daniel. I think all moms understand what I mean. I spend 24/7 with her, I feel her move, I eat for her, I take my vitamins for her, I got sick for her, and I sleep for her and sometimes it just feels like I have a friendly little parasite--and not this human person that God has made out of the two of us. It kind of just blows my mind.
Anyway, that's sort of beside the point, but bottom-line is that I want to make sure we are on really great terms before the baby gets here, so that we can continue on good terms after the baby comes. I think this bucket list will be another fun way to make that happen.
I'll check back with you and let you know how we did.
We're getting so close now.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While I'm here, I wanted to ask--what are some good ideas for dates or just tricks and tips for concentrated time with your spouse for after baby? We're total noobs, and we will take all of the advice we can get! Thanks, friends!
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