Ten Pounds of Adventurousness

It's early on Saturday morning here in Madison and it is funny to me that I am awake. Saturday is supposed to be a day for sleeping in, but Nate woke me up by putting our sweet little baby next to me on the bed after giving her a fresh diaper. Normally, I would feed Louisa and go right back to sleep, but while she was eating I realized that I wanted to eat too, so - once she was asleep again - I went downstairs and had some strawberries doused in heavy whipping cream. I like getting a jump start on the extra calories I need each day. Seriously, I know saying that I would like to gain weight after having a baby makes some women angry, but its true...I would like to gain 10 pounds. My strategy so far has included switching to whole milk, eating calorie dense foods like trail mix, and having dessert as often as I can. Not sure if it's working...we keep meaning to buy a scale.

But anyway, my intent for this post was to write about something other than Louisa. Not that we don't love her dearly and that she doesn't require all of my attention, but I think it will be important for Nate and I to stay connected to the things we loved pre-baby too. I have learned quickly that this is much easier for Nate than for me. I'm working through being okay with that. It has something to do with Louisa's love for and absolute dependency on my high-quality liquid gold, I think. Which by the way, is going great, other than the fact that sometimes I wish Nate could spin some gold too and share it with Little Lou. "Ah, but he can!" you might be saying. Well, of course not the spinning part, but the sharing part. So yes, we are going to introduce a bottle ASAP and give her one a few times each week so that she is ready when I go back to work in about 6 weeks.

Okay - I'm not doing too well NOT writing about Louisa or things related. My intent for this post was to work through my feelings after reading our early blog entries about our last weeks in DC and our time in Uganda. How adventurous we sound! It made me miss those care-free days of climbing Mount Elgon, dreaming about living in Denver or Nate going to grad school, and sharing a bottle of Oregon pinot noir for our first anniversary. Not that I want to turn back the clock, but life is different now that we have a house, dog and baby. Different only in the sense that from here on out it will be more difficult to do "big" things. But this morning I am reminded that we may need to work a bit harder to be adventurous now, but it's super important to me, so I (we) will do my (our) best. Adventure #1 (we'll start small): go to one of the best farmers' markets in the country for the first time this year. Maybe even buy some local berries to make ice cream with. I could go now, but I think I'll go back to sleep and go with my family when they wake up.

So in summary, my long term goal: gain 10 pounds of adventurousness. Nate should be fine with the weight he's carrying - beer brewing, another season of high level ultimate frisbee and amazing wood working in our basement. Although I think I could let him eat dessert with me once in a while :)

Love to all...thanks for reading.