For the Love of Waves: April 2012

Well, we're officially six weeks into parenthood. I love the elasticity of time. This has been the shortest and longest six weeks of my life. Ian and I are both sleep-deprived but are taking in every precious moment of Liv's rapid development. Her personality is fierce. She is strong and thoughtful; stubborn and sweet. I had no idea that such a little creature could display so much emotion. It's completely fascinating. She has gained weight quickly and is in the 87th percentile for height. Her big hands and feet and enormous wing-span have family members hopeful for a basketball star. My personal road to post-partum recovery was long and a little rocky. It took time and reflection to process my birth experience. I'm still slightly traumatized by it, but have found a positive place for it in my memory. Her birth truly was the greatest moment of my life and every time I stare down at her as she's feeding, I can't help but think I'm the luckiest person on the planet. She's perfect and for that, we're truly blessed.

So, on to the next chapter. We had convinced ourselves somewhere along the way, that going back to the Hamptons this summer would be the best thing to do, financially, for our growing family. Sometime before the baby came, we committed to our job at Sen again. And then the baby came. Total idiots! What were we thinking? The new addition proved to be far more time consuming and stressful than we had anticipated and going back to New York would have come way too soon. Last week, we regretfully declined our positions after reassessing our priorities. How quickly babies change things! Liv is officially calling the shots. While we'll miss the friends and money we made last summer, we'll have far more time to spend with our number one girl. After I got pregnant last year, Ian and I talked about how great it would be to raise Liv in Nicaragua without having to work our asses off to make ends meet. This is the conversation that we recently re-visited. We still have a decent amount of money saved and have made the decision to go back, as it was the original plan. We have a couple of opportunities for income and with the season beginning right around now, we decided we'd be crazy not to go back and give it a solid try. So, as soon as Liv has her first round of vaccines, we'll be on our way. Her passport came in the mail yesterday and our tickets are booked for the 25th of May. Mama can't wait to surf again and Daddy is stoked he'll be down there just in time for his big 3-0.