I Blame the Monkey

We finally gave in and said "yes" to what we both wanted- starting our little family. Let me explain that "gave in" part. We are logical and thoughtful planners. Rico doesn't even like to stop off to pick something up at the store on the way home from a day out because it wasn't a part of "the plan". We like to analyze our options, weigh pro's and con's, and then move forward. My students love to hear about my 72 day menu plan (with laminated grocery lists), or Rico and I's "Quarterly Financial Meeting" where I make him take me out for Happy Hour like a client while he presents his options for our financial decisions complete with a page protected portfolio filled with excel spreadsheets, charts, and graphs of our finances. Don't knock the idea, I get a week night date with my husband AND I only have to think hard about money once every few months or so.

I think you get it. We like stability. We like planning. We like routine. Our song is "Our Love is Comfortable"... I mean, come on.
So, when we made the very logical decision to adapt the 5 year plan and wait another year, it made logical sense. The problem is, it didn't make any other kind of sense.

I blame the monkey.
Yes, the monkey. There we were, celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary and the completion of my Masters on a beach in Mexico. There HE was, a man with a monkey who trolled the beach getting tourists to take pictures with his monkey. There I was, a woman turned little girl who wanted to take a picture with this monkey more than almost anything else. It was our first day, and I still hadn't gone into vacation mode yet, so logic told me not to do it. As soon as he walked past us, I regretted it. I looked at Rico and told him, "If that monkey comes back- I AM GETTING TO HOLD IT".
A few days passed, no monkey. Then, toward the end of our trip, with vacation mode now clearly in play, and a morning of sipping cocktails that just seemed to magically keep arriving, we saw him coming our way.
So, there was this.

and, by COMPLETE surprise, there was THIS

Then, the photographer with the man and the monkey asked us to do a photo shoot. Again, vacation mode activated, and high on the adrenaline of a monkey kiss I was NOT prepared for, we agreed. So, there were about 50 cheese-tastic photos taken like these:

About an hour later, Rico even got a Henna tattoo of a Powercat on his arm.

Clearly, we were not in our normal minds. We were the perfect tourist suckers. We knew it, we embraced it.

As we went back to our loungers, laughing at ourselves for being so foolish in front of a whole beach of people, we relaxed even more. About an hour later, out of nowhere, Rico whispered "I want to have a baby".
Me, after my heart stopping, shutting my book without marking the page, and sitting up quickly, "Wait, what?"
Rico, "I DO"
Me, "But remember all of our logical reasons not to?"
Rico, "I know, but it doesn't mean I don't want one"

I then threw a BIG fit about how it wasn't fair to tease me like that- to make me think that we were altering a life plan when he was really just trying to tell me that he wished we could.  We went back and forth on this for a while- finally ending with the clarity that we both wanted to start our family, but that logical Kansas City Rico and Allison were clearly better decision makers than crazy monkey kissing, photo shoot taking, tattoo getting Playa Del Carmen Rico and Allison. But...it was out there now.

The ACTUAL spot where we had this conversation

Back at home, we returned to life as normal. I babysat my adorable niece, we went golfing (correction: Rico went golfing and I follow him around chatting), we worked out, I went to summer curriculum writing meetings, and I took care of all the appointments that I can't schedule during the school year.

All my appointments started this way:
Nurse or assistant: "Are you taking any medication?"
Me: "Just prenatals"
Nurse with a BIG smile: "Are you pregnant?"
Me: "Nope"
Nurse with a smaller grin and fighting an urge to wink: "Oh, are you trying?"
Me: after a little piece of my heart breaks and I think back to the monkey day, "No, not trying"
Nurse: "Are you SURE you aren't pregnant? I don't want to do certain tests if you could be." (one even offered to give me a pregnancy test)
Me: "Oh, I'm sure. I can show you my ovulation date if you want"
Nurse, clearly thinking, "Why does she know her ovulation date if she isn't trying?" but just looking at me for more information
Me: "We are just planners. I've been taking prenatals for over a year just to be safe. No plans to try for another year."

Have this conversation once, and it is a little sad. Have this conversation at your eye check-up, dental cleaning, AND doctor's appointments 4 days in a row (ahhhh...the joys of marathon check-up week) and that little piece of sad turns into a big, empty, nagging hole.

So, I went home and texted my lovely husband that I thought we needed to resume our conversation from the beach. He knew exactly what I meant, without me saying another word. We decided to re-create the scene by going to our pool.

It overlooks a lake, not an ocean. The ground is cement, not sand. It is full of kids splashing and screaming, not adults sipping and canoodling. So, it wasn't a perfect re-creation, but it felt like a conversation you don't just have on the couch.
We didn't say a word about it until we had been there about an hour. We were enjoying the perks of being "adults" during adult swim (meaning going down the slide over and over and over while the kids looked on with jealousy). After we'd worn out the slide, we were playing in the deep end. It was a pretty standard pool playing session: I make him do Dirty Dancing style lifts with me, he tries to sneak underwater head-butts to my stomach (which he calls "Shark Attacks") that make me laugh uncontrollably, we pull each other around for "tours of the pool", and finally we tire out and just hold hands while squeezing them together to make farting noises. Yes, we are 27 year old "adults". That's when Rico said it. Out of nowhere.

Rico: "Well, I think this might answer our question."
Me: "We need to let ourselves have a baby so we have an excuse to act even more like little kids?"
Rico: "Let's do it, let's have a baby."
Me: "Did we just make a major life decision in a pool while making farting noises?"
Rico: "I think we did"
Me: "That just happened"
Rico: "Holy crap, we are going to be parents."
Then a little PDA...g-rated, no worries.

To be clear, we are NOT having a child just to have something to play with... I could give you all the mushy reasons in the world for why we truly want to start our family, but I'm sure you know all those reasons, you FEEL all those reasons, I don't have to explain all those reasons- I couldn't if I wanted to.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon getting excited. It was surreal. We said yes, even though logic said the timing could be better. We now live on the edge. I blame the monkey.
Thank you monkey.