Date Nights

 I was the BEST babysitter.  I really was.  I would seriously play with the kids the entire time.  I would turn cleaning into a game and get them to pick up all their toys while I did the dishes.  The kids always requested me- I almost never had a kid cry when their parents left for more than a few minutes.  I would walk a teething baby for hours rather than put him down and make him cry.  I watched a baby a few months old while his single mom worked for something like $2/hour when I was 11 on a regular basis.  He was a very easy going baby- but still I was 11.  I would literally watch him the entire time.  I would set him down outside the bathroom door just in case.  I'd put him to sleep in his car seat and sit by him and read so I could listen to him breathing.  I loved babysitting- I was a couple of families regular babysitter- and I didn't date much so I did a lot of it.  I never had a job in high school but I did okay with just babysitting money- pretty hard earned babysitting money- most jobs I at least got minimum wage.

One of the hardest parts of transitioning from one kid to three has been getting some time to myself and some time as a couple.  You take it for granted before you have kids.  When the twins were nursing we hardly went anywhere.  It just seemed like too much to expect some teenager to watch 2 tiny babies and a toddler who hates people she doesn't know.  I really don't know any teenagers near us that well- certainly not well enough to leave them with my three small children.  And even if I did I think Matt would be too worried.  

Well since we don't have any nursing babies we are taking advantage of going on real dates at least once a month. Thanks mostly to my little sister Marti, who has taken over the role of the BEST babysitter.  I have no fear of Marti watching my kids.  She knows their routine as well as I do.  They love her and she's way more patient than I am most of the time.  We try not to over-use her because she has a life but once a month for a few hours she saves my sanity!  On top of all the other evening she just comes and hangs out with us.  No matter how many dinners (not even that great of dinners- we're talking Mickey Mouse pancakes) we feed her I don't think  we could ever make up for all the help she's given us since the twins have been born.

In January we went to the Cheesecake Factory with our good friends Kenny and Aprilynne- the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake was so good I had to send a picture to my sister Marti who was babysitting- don't worry we brought her some back.

In Febrarury Matt was in Alabama for Valentines Day for work so we did a date night at home before he left.  We fed the kids something delicious like chicken nuggets and stayed up and cooked steak, mashed potatoes, 

For our anniversary we saw Wicked!

It's been nice to do a few more dates this year!