Post Baby Date Nights

Having babies is a huge lifestyle change (duh), and as wonderful as every second of being a parent is, we would be lying if we said we didn't miss our weekly date nights or sleeping as late as we wanted to on a Saturday. Sleeping in, what's that??

While sleeping in may be a thing of the past, we have managed to create the new version of "date night", and it's been so good for us. I lay Preston down to sleep in the early evening, and as soon as I do, it's date night. This doesn't happen every night- Parker may have to work late, I may meet the girls for dinner, etc- but when it does happen, it ends up being some of our favorite hours of the week. 

We pick out some delicious meat for Parker to grill, I whip up a few sides, and we pour a glass of wine from our boxed wine (keeping it classy over here). We turn on some easy listening music and snack on an appetizer while we talk about our day and cook our meal. We don't get on our phones, and we don't turn the TV on. It is pure bliss!

The hardest part for Parker when we had baby Preston was giving up our independence, flexibility, and the loss of date night. That all just comes with the territory of having a newborn, but the minute we put our baby on a schedule and he went to bed early, Parker and I suddenly had something to look forward to. We got "us time" back. I've said a few times on this blog that Parker and I struggled a lot with coparenting in the beginning, and I want to go more in detail on that in another post because I think it's something a lot of new parents can relate to. I can see now that a lot of that struggling was just because we didn't have any time as a couple anymore. One of the best things we've done for our marriage is put our sweet baby to bed early and turn the evenings into intentional, couple time. 

Another reason we are savoring this time is because we know, like everything, this is a season, and we won't get these "date nights in" much longer. Once Preston starts eating table food consistently, we will eat dinner together as a family, and he will stay up a little later. That will be so much fun, but we aren't rushing it. For now, we are loving time alone just the two of us and savoring this short, sweet season we are in. 

Date night doesn't have to be a 5 star restaurant and a night on the town. If you're new parents, put that precious baby to bed, cook something fun together, pour a glass of wine, and voila... date night. :)

2015, So Far You've Been... Cold

So we are 6 days into the new year, and so far I think Parker and I would sum it up in one word... cold. Really the weather outside has been just fine. I mean it's winter, so I'm not talking beach weather, but it's been a bearable winter in our neck of the woods. What's been cold is our house! We arrived home from our Christmas vacation to find our heater had stopped working on Thursday evening. We bundled up but knew we could have someone come out the next day to fix it. The good news is someone did come out, but the bad news is he didn't have the part he needed, so he would be returning Monday with the part to fix it. We got to have a weekend with no heat. Cool, literally and figuratively. 
We were given a small space heater which helped keep the bedroom warm, but it was a rough few days with frozen fingers and toes! We tried to make the most of it though. Cold weather is snuggle weather, even if your own house is the source of the cold. Blankets covered the couch, and the pups thought that was the greatest thing ever. We even made a tent on the bed using a sun shade for the car. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Also, never grow up :)

Sometimes I can't handle the cuteness from these two sister pups. 

The highlight of our snuggly weekend in was smores over the fire... ahem... stovetop. Yes, we kept things very classy over here. Smores are the perfect cold weather treat, and the marshmallows roast quite well on the stovetop! You just may feel a little silly doing it. However, the deliciousness is worth it.

We are looking forward to warmer days... in the house anyway. Our heater was finally fixed yesterday, just in time for the 20s and 30s weather we are expecting this week!
What are your favorite indoor snow day activities? It technically didn't snow this past weekend, but it sure felt like it in the house!

Every Night Is Date Night When You're Married... *Slap

Marriage is one of those things that you can't fully prepare for until you are in the throws of it. I think it's probably similar to having a baby, though slightly less drastic. You can read and pray and prepare all you want, but there are aspects of marriage that I just wasn't briefed on until Parker and I were living together under one roof, completely sharing our lives. I remember being so ready to marry Parker. We would get to have every meal together and fall asleep on the couch to the latest rom com while eating chocolate (okay, so Parker and I may have had slightly different expectations on the idealistic marriage. He would probably skip the chick flick and sugar, but I digress). Marriage would be so fun. Every night is date night when you're married!

.... yeah, no.

Okay, so marriage IS fun. It's a blast in fact, but every night is most certainly not date night. Life is going to happen. Parker is going to have to study. I am going to have dinners with girlfriends. We are going to have people over. He is going to want to play video games, and I am going to relish an evening of reality television on the couch by myself. If every night were date night, we probably wouldn't appreciate it. Marriage is work, and you have to work in those date nights when and where you can.

 

The whole idea for this topic came from a text I received from a friend a couple of months ago. I can't remember the exact context, but he asked if Parker and I wanted to go out with a group that Friday night, and I told him we were doing a date night. His response was, naturally, "You're married. Every night is date night". I really can't fault him too much since I used to think the same thing. When you're married, you know this isn't the case, but when I was single, I certainly thought it was. When one of your friends gives you the friendly guilt trip of going on a date night instead of hanging out, you kind of want to slap them. Then you want to slap yourself for thinking about slapping a friend. Then you remember why you wanted to slap them in the first place, and you want to slap them again. It's a vicious cycle. 

The thing is, our marriage is not an episode of The Bachelor. We don't go on helicopter rides over one of the seven wonders of the world one night and then ride horses on the beach the next. That's cute, but that's not reality. The reality is that every night is not date night. Honestly, I am glad it isn't. It's hard to appreciate something that's handed to you on a silver platter whenever you want it. Date nights are special because they don't happen every night. Parker and I still get so excited to dress up on a Friday night and go on a date. We still get excited when both of our Tuesday nights are perfectly clear, allowing us to do dinner and a movie on the couch. Life is going to get in the way sometimes, but it sure does make those date nights you do get to experience sweet!

The Circus Came To Town

Some friends invited us to go to the circus this weekend, and who doesn't love going to the circus?! I hadn't been in at least 15 years, and Parker had never been! Needless to say, we added another drop to the experience bucket this weekend. I was interested to see how much fun we would have. I absolutely loved the circus as a kid, but I didn't know how entertaining it would be as an adult. It turns out, pretty entertaining. I don't care how old you are: a line of elephants holding each others' tails with their trunks has to be one of the most adorable things ever.

We started out our circus adventure with copious amounts of overpriced junk food because that seemed like the natural thing to do. When at the circus, eat like a 5 year old, right? Let's go with it. Not pictured: the salted pretzel and giant churro that followed. If you need me, I'll be at the gym.

There were some really neat acts, but being the animal lovers that we are, those were our favorite. I know we see dogs all the time, but it's not every day I see a poodle, so I really enjoyed the poodle act. Those pups have some serious ups! The camels were cute too, and they inspired Jenny's 2014 Halloween costume. We think she'll be the cutest camel! I doubt she shares in that sentiment. 

I loved the acrobatic acts as well because it's just amazing what those people can do with their bodies. The guys with the jump ropes in the picture below were human monkeys and could do flips for days. They made it look so easy, which I think is impressive considering I can barely do a cart wheel. The guys in the yellow were super talented too. Not only could they do flips for days, but their balancing skills were off the charts. We loved these two acts.

Of course a man became a human cannonball at the end, and of course Parker had to immediately look up the science behind how that was done. I am one of those people that thinks the sky is blue because it's blue, so I took it for what it was and thought it was neat that a man shot out of a cannonball. In case you are wondering about how he actually did it, it has something to do with a bag. Yes, that's all I got out of the explanation Parker found. 

Last but not least, I bring you pictures that can make any case of the Mondays you may be experiencing just a little less prominent. These big guys need no introduction. I mean seriously...

Anyone else want a pet elephant after seeing that? Me too. All in all, it was a great night with fun people! And Parker can now say he has been to the circus...winning.

Have you ever been to the circus? Were you obsessed with the elephants too? It's an understandable obsession I think.

You Go Blue Wahoos

Yes, I was channeling "You go Glen CoCo" in the title of this post. Mean Girls anyone? Yesterday afternoon the realtor who is selling our house called me and offered us Blue Wahoo tickets for the baseball game that evening. She had season tickets but couldn't make it. Free tickets? Sure! We were planning on going to Buffalo Wild Wings anyway that night since we had a gift card we needed to use before we move to the land where restaurant chains are nonexistent, so we had a nice little impromptu date night for free.

I'm not the biggest baseball person, but I had so much fun! Parker loves baseball and of course had a blast. He bought a Blue Wahoos hat last year when we got down to Pensacola (we were trying to be good Pensacolians! Yeah, seriously doubt that's a word.), but that hat has been worn all of twice and he didn't want to wear it to last night's game. To make it feel like less of a waste of money, I wore the silly thing all night. It was about two sizes two large for my head, but oh well!

Parker bought us M&Ms for sustenance.  He knows how to keep this girl happy!

Our seats were really good! I think baseball is much more enjoyable if you are close enough to see everything, but that goes for any sport I guess. Regardless- great seats :)

The 8th inning was so. good. The Blue Wahoos got 8 runs in one inning, and everyone was going nuts! So exciting and fun to watch!

The Blue Wahoos won 10-2 against the Jacksonville Suns. It was a great game! Of note, there was a group of really funny Marines in front of us, and at one point two of them figured out they were dating the same girl. Soooo funny. I mean it was probably awkward for them, but as a spectator, hilarious. It was straight out of the movie This Means War. We also sat next to a recently retired Navy jet pilot who was the XO at NAS Pensacola and his wife. They couldn't have been nicer to us, and I loved loved loved talking to his wife. She gave me some great advice from one Navy wife to another, and I loved hearing her stories. Parker and I had an absolute blast on this surprise date night!