Meredith is nearly a year old and we finally did it! What, you may ask? Well, Chad and I had our first official "date night" this past Friday, to celebrate our recent birthdays. Sure, we've gone on "dates" before since she was born, but it was usually while our parents were in town to visit and we would sneak away to a quick movie after she was already in bed.
My friend, Theresa, has a baby that is right around Meredith's age and when talking one day, we thought it would be nice if we could switch sitting for each others kids, so we could each have a date night. It's a neat idea and I would love to do it larger scale one day, with several couples set-up in the scheduling ring. Basically, we sit for each others kids (right now, every other month, so that one of us has a date night each month) and there is no cost involved, since we are swapping services. Kind of nice when you don't have family in town and you're on a budget! Also, we think it is so important that we connect and get out of the house by ourselves occasionally. Of course, I love spending time with Meredith and really don't like leaving her with other people, but it's such an important part of our marriage to make these commitments.
Chad and I went to Olive Garden (one of my favorite places!) and then bowling. I couldn't even remember the last time we bowled - it was nice, but boy was my wrist sore the next day! One of the gifts we request of our parents each Christmas are restaurant gift cards. Eating out at sit-down restaurants can be a budget-breaker and something I normally see as a frivolous expense, so we enjoy having these gift cards. I have so much stuff around the house, that I really don't need or want home decor items, etc. for gifts, but would rather remember a nice meal/experience out instead!
Not a lot of new stuff going on with Meredith, other than she is walking
really well and gets back up every time she falls. Plus, she likes to try to climb the stairs anytime she thinks we're not looking. And, she is getting her fourth tooth up top and has learned to grind her teeth - argh, like nails on a chalkboard! Oh, and she loves to pick up our shoes and walk around the rooms with them. Ok....so, maybe there is a lot of new stuff going on with her! Here are some photos from the week:
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| I got Daddy's shoe! |
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| Yay! |
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| I'm strong! |
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| I love the stairs! |
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| My first birthday as a Mom! |
