I realized so many things on this vacation. I really feel in love with my husband again. Like, full on my heart is so full LOVE. I never stopped loving him, but this trip allowed me to hit the refresh button all those feelings and admiration I had for him when we first got married. We shared great conversations. We enjoyed a week of meals with no interruptions. We watched movies from bed. We got room service and took naps. We enjoyed drinks and dancing. We held hands. Do you realize how BIG holding hands was to us?! If you are like us, those small signs of affection had disappeared months ago because who had an extra hand to extend when diaper bags, sippy cups, snacks, and cell phones were filling up the two we had. We shared so many laughs, so many smiles, and made so many memories. Just the two of us. I was really able to reflect on my actions over the last few months and realize that I was stretching myself to thin. I had let my husband slip off my priority list. Hell, he hadn't even made the grocery list when I think about it. Eight months ago we had excitedly discussed expanding our family after our tot was older than 2 or 3 years old. Skip to a month ago we exchanged two sentences about holding off on any family planning until we figured out this rut. Needless to say this cruise truly changed our marriage and allowed us to focus on our relationship as husband and wife, and how to appreciate each other again. Appreciation, a word we had long forgotten but both craved deeply.
We had a super long layover in Dallas before our last flight took us home. We ate a really great meal and talked about how we both felt this cruise really reconnected us and helped us get back to where our marriage needed to be. We discussed planning another trip in another 2 years and taking smaller weekend trips through out the year. We have only been married less than 3 years but I feel we really stumbled upon a key to keeping our marriage happy and full of love. We live our life in the fast lane. We are on the go, busy body people which means we don't spend a lot of our days doing nothing or having down time. For us those busy adventures make our life fun and memorable and really fits our personalities. However, putting the world on hold and devoting time to each other is something that we HAVE to make more time for. Until this trip I had not realized how important "dating" your spouse was. I was one of those moms who thought doing date nights on a regular basis or vacations without our kid would be to stressful. I really thought we would be depriving our child by not taking her with us everywhere and how could I leave her out?! I can now say and advise that you have no idea how much you need the time away until you try it. All things should be tried at least once and taking time away from your busy life or child is something worth trying!!
Lastly, I really feel I came home to a better behaved and happier kid. This can totally be a result of the awesome Grandma's in her life who watched her during that week but I strongly believe she was picking up on our stress and her parents being off balance. We have been home a week and she seems to listen to me better, follow directions faster, throw less fits, and is all around a happier kid. This more than anything has made me realize that her life is shaped by the vibe we put out and the atmosphere we create for her. I gotta give the kid more credit. She is smart and duh, of course she would pick up on unhappy parents!! We do not fight in front of her and the times we have we control our tones and such but I am certain now she could sense the tense relationship we had developed and was reacting to it.
And now photos from our awesome trip! We didn't take many because we had more fun enjoying our trip than capturing it.
Montego Bay, Jamaica on my Birthday |
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Formal Night |
Happy. Happy. Happy. |
Turning 30 on the beach with a yummy drink. Life. Is. Good. |
Loved this post, Meghan, and I'm so glad you and your husband reconnected! It's a lonely and ridiculously tough job to be a SAHM, and breaks are so, so needed. My husband and I decided that we really want to make an effort to do more date nights—she came with us on the cruise, but we left her in the nursery a decent amount of time so we could enjoy nights alone. What a great time we had!! Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing this :)
ReplyDeleteAww thank you Jessica! It was a very honest post and vulnerable for sure but I wanted to share because I was hoping others could relate. You just never know how much you need spouse time to keep things great until you invest in it. Live and learn. Glad you had a great cruise as well and time alone. I am looking foward to your post about your trip and how Julia did!!
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