REORIENTING

The addition of two kids has certainly rocked our world. Going from two to four has made us reexamine many aspects of the way we do things. We go out to eat slightly less. I definitely think harder about what errands I am running and with whom.  I have yet to take all kids to the grocery store by myself.

It's changed other things as well. Time for John and I has shrunken. We have to fight to be on the same team and to like each other in the midst of all that is demanded of us.  Stress is pushing in on all sides, and we have to push back from the same direction before we cave in.

Enter extra date nights. These are already proving critical to success.

Last night we hired a sweet, brave sitter and spent our evening together. And let me just say, it was delightful. As we drove away from our home, I felt like I could breathe.  We ate at a great local Mexican restaurant, Local Lime.

We were going to go see a movie, but nothing looked wildly appealing, so we spent time driving with the windows down out in the country enjoying this strange and wonderful July coolness. I actually wore a sweater at dinner. Someone should pinch me.

We rounded out the night by going back to Local Lime for dessert, cause you can never go wrong with Key Lime Tart and Tres Leches cake.  We spent some of our time together planning for the week. The past couple of weeks we had missed our Sunday conversation, which was much to our detriment.  What I have figured out with four kids is that without a plan, things will almost always go badly.  Things do not go well by accident.  It requires forethought and planning - at least for us, and so we are reorienting to this.  We are making it a priority to get time together.  We are talking through what each will bring before it has been brought.  I know we will get it wrong again, but it was nice to start this week feeling like my head was a teeny teeny teeny bit out of the water.

Thank God for a cooler July than we could ever hope for, a wonderful husband who wants to make our marriage a priority and precious sitters who, even though they dealt with a lot of crying, offer to come back again.  We can also thank God that we have amazing friends who knew we had had a hard week and gave us an incredible bounty of date night gift cards.  What a blessing!  We are always getting far more than we deserve, and I am eternally grateful.