Loving the Clys!

Thursday night, Mike & I had our very first solo date night since our daughter's birth. I cannot tell you how much we needed it. Caring for a newborn is extremely taxing and very stressful. I wouldn't trade it for anything, but I doubt anyone would say it's not hard. Anyway, because Mike is at work all day long, and then we are both busy with the baby and getting dinner in the evening, we don't have a lot of time just to ourselves. Even before MJ was conceived, we discussed our desire to keep our relationship first in our family. We can't be good parents unless we are good partners first, and part of that is spending quality time together building and growing as a couple. So, when our friends Kristin & Andy Cly offered to babysit on Thursday night, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to reconnect.

We got the baby all ready to go. She had been fed, bathed, dressed in Memaw's "Sleeping Beauty" outfit, and actually fell asleep in the car on the way to the Clys' house. When we arrived, they were extremely surprised to see all the accoutrement MJ requires. Really, we only brought the basics: diaper bag, of course, as well as her car seat base (in case she needed a car ride), her stroller (by request; they wanted to take her and their dog for a neighborhood stroll), and her trusty swing. We dropped her off with a few short instructions, and off we went. Freedom! Okay, not complete freedom. We were both actually very sad for the first ten minutes, and spent them wondering whether or not she knew we'd left her or missed us. Would she behave, or show our friends her "special" side, resulting in her never again being invited over? Did she feel abandoned? Did she wonder if we would ever return? (We might be giving her cognitive abilities a little too much credit, but that's not the point.) Eventually, we were able to relax and enjoy the date.

We didn't really have anything in particular planned. We knew we were going to hit up the local Applebee's for the 2-for-$20 deal. Spinach and artichoke dip? Yes, please. We really just wanted to have a conversation that didn't center around the different shades and consistancies of poop or what volume of vomit is too much. It was nice to fall back into husband & wife roles and take off our daddy & mommy hats for a while. We relaxed, laughed, ate, and talked about things I can't even remember, but what I do remember is that I had such an incredible time. It only lasted about two hours, but I can't wait for our next one. I hope we get to do it often. After dinner, we swung by the local Starbucks for my favorite: a vanilla chai latte (a la Emily K., of course!), and then returned to reclaim our tiny angel.

Fortunately, MJ actually napped for most of her visit. She was a little fussy when we got to the Clys' house, but she'd reportedly only been crying for a little while. What a good girl! As soon as we got her into the car, she immediately fell asleep, and continued to sleep for a solid three hours. Not bad!

Apparently we were a little too relaxed. The next morning, I woke up at 9am (after what was admittedly a long night with my not-so-good sleeper) to find my husband still asleep next to me. I shook his shoulder and whispered, "are you not going to work today?" He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and stared at me. "What day is this?" Umm. "It's Friday?" Suddenly he bolted out of bed. "Crap! I completely thought it was Saturday!" Yikes. The next thing I knew, I blinked, and he was gone. He is an extremely fast dresser, and later said he'd gotten to work at 9:15, so clearly a fast driver too. Saturday? Goodness.

All in all, a successful date night. Thank you Kristin & Andy!!