This season of Marriage

EJ and I rarely go out for a date night.

 

We are plenty happy to put our little blessings to bed and watch a movie together at home.   One of the fantastic benefits of a consistent bedtime for children is time alone for Mom and Dad.

 

When I was growing up, I noticed that as a rule my folks went to bed at the same time.  Sure there were exceptions to that rule but for the most part they made it a priority.  I took note of this routine somewhere along the way and it has become a priority to us.  Something is lost when one spouse is spending the precious "no kid hours" watching TV while the other spouse is off to bed.  I'm not just talking about time for every married couples favorite activity.  Although that is a major benefit of the same bed time.  It is also the time when I am finally able to really talk.  No distractions.  I can share my heart with my man and hear what is going on with him.  That also seems to be the best opportunity for us to spend time in prayer together.  We don't have to wait for a traditional date night to connect in a real way.

 

We try to make the most out of our weekly schedule.  For example, as we prepare for baby E's birth, we go to the doctor a lot.  EJ has always attended those appointments with me.  (He never wanted me to go alone after the first time we heard the words, "I'm sorry but the baby has no heartbeat.")  His career allows him to make his own schedule and he carves out time for these appointments.  We make them into a quick mid day date.  We go to the appointment and then out to lunch.  I look forward to these little times together.  In his life, lunch with grown ups is a regular occurrence.  Not so much for me.  I even put on make up for those dates!

 

Every once in a while, we make a plan for a fancy "just us" date night.

 

We decided it was time to sneak in one of those before baby E's arrival.  We consulted with the grandparents and made reservations.

 

We got all dressed up.

(no small task for a woman who is 9 months pregnant)

 

The food was amazing.

 

My date was incredibly handsome. 

 

There will come a time when this kind of date night will be common.

 

A time when our babies are grown and it is just us again.

 

We both hope they don't grow up too fast.

 

We want to treasure our privileged role as Mommy and Daddy to our blessings.

 

For now, we will sneak in the occasional date night and view it as a special treat.

 

I am so glad we thought to have the waitress take our picture.

 

When I look at this, I am reminded of the two of us.

 

The two college sweethearts who fell in love and couldn't wait to get married.

 

The two imperfect people who have hurt each other, forgiven each other and grown deeper in love over the last 11 plus years of marriage than I ever thought possible.

Thank you God for the gift of marriage.

(I can't end this blog post without a big thank you to our folks.  Our children have grandparents who love them so much.  There would be no date nights or extra outings without the grandparents.  Thank you Papa, Grandma, Pop and Grammy.  We promise to do the same thing for our kids when they are in this season.  You are all a blessing!  Thank you for investing in our lives.)