Us BEFORE the kids... WHY?

My husband and I have this discussion often- as in probably once every week or two. I am so glad he feels the same way- of course he does, I married this man for a reason... I love my son (and unborn son) unconditionally. However, I strongly believe my husband and I and our relatipnship MUST come first. Why do I believe this?

My parents divorced when I was very little and I always wanted to give my children the blessing of having both their parents under the same roof for their entire lives. But most importantly- two parents who love, respect, trust, and cherish each other under that roof. I believe that the only way my husband and I are able to give our children what they deserve and need in life is to make sure we have the best relationship possible with each other. This means date nights, alone time, romance, you name it... it needs to be done and sometimes that means putting our needs in front of the children. No this does not mean we neglect our child... that's crazy. We simply just believe in making each other happy in order to make a loving home and family to raise our children in- end of story. Sounds pretty legit and aboslutely necessary in my opinion.

So parents out there- make it a point to have these moments with your significant others... Some things my husband and I do...
-We will turn off the TV and just talk to each other after Zane has gone to bed. We discuss plans for the weekend, what we want to get accomplished around the house, how our day went, and most importantly it gives us the time to bring up something that is bothering us- if there is something.

-Date night- sounds easy, right?? Not always when you have a kid, you work, and you're tired a lot of the time... Luckily, we have plenty of people to watch our son.. my in-laws, my parents, siblings, and I have a close aunt and uncle that love to watch him once in awhile. We do dinner and sometimes a movie after. If you don't have family or friends to watch your child, if they go to daycare, choose a teacher you like or maybe a neighbor. Care.com is a website online that has local sitters. I know this is scary, but I was found on there for a nanny job and it was fantastic.

-Dinner at the table- I can honestly say we do this at least 5  nights a week at my house.. so important to us. It sounds so simple but I bet most families don't do this. We don't eat in front of the TV. We bought a nice big dining room table for a reason! We cook together most of the time and then sit at the table to eat. We say our prayer and then enjoy a nice home-cooked meal with no TV. Of course our son is involved in this- but it's also nice for my husband and I.

-Involve each other in what your doing- I know I say Zach doesn't necessarily "love" my DIY projects- but that's not 100% true. Often times he helps me and we do a lot of projects together. Since we remodeled our whole home, we made every little decision together- and it was great! We bounce ideas off of each other and usually end up with a great plan for our home.

There are plenty of things to do with your husband/significant other. Just remember to make time for each other and dont just put 100% focus on the kids... If you do, you could loose what you have with the person you love.

And also, don't forget to do things for yourself! We all need some alone time now and then :) I hope there are lucky ladies out there like me and have husbands that will let you just take some time alone while he watches the kiddos- this is so nice!