Last night, for the first time since Gabriel was born (which is almost four months in case you're counting), Aaron and I got to go on a baby free date. There are no emoticons to express my delight!!!
Listen, we love our kid, he's the light of our lives and a joy and yadda yadda yadda, but we love each other, and have missed just being an us. So we packed him up, dropped him off at Aunty Jennifer's house, and headed out, dressed to the nines(which was in and of itself lovely, mom duds have come a long way, but I have missed dressing up). Can I just say, whoever thought up that long strappy convertible dress thing is a genius. I love mine.
We went out to an upscale Mexican restaurant and had incredible food. Incredible. I've been there a couple times but Aaron never had. We both LOVED what we got (which is good because a lot of times I get order envy) and the best part was the fresh table side guac. When the "guac girl" came over with her stone mortar and pestle and created a SYMPHONY of avocado, lime, cilantro, tomato, and so on and so on, it made me decide right then and there to find me a stone mortar and pestle ($21 - I can afford that!!). Then we went to Mariano's. Mock if you must! I don't care!! Jennifer said to me "You're totally a grown up, you went to a grocery store on your date night!" but the truth is I'm weird and probably would have done that no matter what my age, even if it wasn't a grocery store as awesome as Mariano's! I don't have time to discuss their awesomeness, but lets just say, it was well worth spending some of our precious free moments in their walls (and not just because of the incredible cupcakes we bought!!). And our last stop was Capannari's for some cake batter ice cream for us and Jennifer (as a thank you for her mad babysitting skills). All in all it was the perfect "first" date!
Adjusting to parenthood isn't easy, and anyone who says it is easy is either lying or didn't have any kind of life before baby. Aaron and I aren't/weren't that way. We both love Gabriel with all our hearts, but we weren't planning on a baby right now (if at all) and certainly didn't feel we'd had enough couple time...we'd only been married lie 10 months when we found out we were pregnant, our first anniversary dinner was tricky for me since literally everything I looked at made me sick. I have missed having my husband all to myself, going out for a fancy dinner, or even just having an uninterupted conversation with ANYONE. I miss the daily interaction with the outside world that being a stay at home mom can hinder, and I really, REALLY miss being able to have the freedom to be flexible and spontaneous.
I realize that these are things that all (or most) new parents miss, and I know that being parents opens up whole new experiences that I will miss when they're gone (every time I cuddle with Gabe I pray he'll still let me hug him when he's a surly teenager). And I don't need a lecture or anyone's judgement for being honest about the things I miss from my pre-baby life. I love my son, I love my life, I am so thankful for where I am and the amazing blessings the Lord has given me. And last night, for a few hours, I got to exclusively enjoy one of those blessings.
My husband makes my knees week. <3
