Date Night

Owen and I finally had our first official family "date" night last night, and it was awesome. Before I had even found out that I was pregnant back in July 2008, Bryan and I talked about how we always wanted to have one night a week where we just sat down as a family and did something fun together. It was really important to both Bryan and I to have that special time together, to forget about the chaos of the world and to just be there as a family. So, on March 4th, 2010 I started the tradition with my son.

Owen and I headed off to Blockbuster with his blankie and rubber duckie in tow around 4pm. I was not quite sure how he would take it since I didn't bring the stroller and he would have to be carried throughout the entire store, but he actually really loved it. He just scanned all of the movie cases with me and pointed at the ones that he thought we should bring home with us. After weeding through all of the ones that were too inappropriate for an 11-month old to watch, we finally agreed on Ice Age. Which ended up being a very good choice.

After the pizza arrived and our pajamas were on, we settled down on the couch with our blankies and sippy cups (his filled with water and mine filled with cherry coke). We nearly devoured an entire medium thin crust pizza together. I am not entirely sure yet if I should be embarrassed or proud. Then, to my surprise, Owen climbed up on my lab and cuddled with me for the rest of the movie.

It was so nice to just have those two hours with my son. No worries, no heartache, no stress... just some sippy cups, blankies, and pizza. I know that every week Owen and I have our little "date" I will be thinking about Bryan and wishing he was there with us, laughing and stuffing his face full of food. But, spending the time with Owen is something that I will look forward to every second of every day. It is something that will keep me going...if not for me but for Bryan, because that is how he wanted to raise our son. Someday, when Owen is a teenager and would rather be out with his friends than hanging out with his crazy mom, I will just remind him about our great family nights together. I will always be able to tell him about our first date....how we were snuggled up on grandma and grandpas couch, watching a pixar film, covered in crumbs.