Happy Birthday, Dear Honey…

Tuesday was my sweetheart’s birthday. It was also little Alana’s 9 month birthday!

When Rich got home from work, he experimented a bit with a new lens he got in the mail. Alana was the subject, of course! He also had some fun with the post-processing, using some really cool texturing and I love the result! 

 

 

 

To celebrate Rich’s birthday, we took our sweet friend Dawn up on her offer to come babysit while we enjoyed dinner out. I fed Alana and put her down, and Rich and I headed downtown to try a new steakhouse we’d never been to. Rich brought his camera and set the timer to take the photo below. I love the photo, because it really captured the mood of the evening for us. We were both pretty tired, pretty low-key, and just enjoying each other’s company.

Special events are a bit different this year than they’ve ever been, with dates being fewer and farther between and most of our time spent at any given meal is focused on Alana. We almost find ourselves wondering what our lives consisted of before the baby and before the business! I feel that this is somewhat a redefining season for our marriage, and we are attempting to balance all of life’s new demands.

To be honest and fair, I don’t think we’re doing a great job. Don’t get me wrong; we love each other like crazy…it’s just that it looks a little different than it used to. But the point is, we want to learn from this season. We want to walk away with more wisdom, more patience, and more love and laughter. We want to love our little one with our whole hearts, but to make sure that we love God and each other first. We are doing Alana a huge disservice if we fail to love and prioritize each other…to work to make our marriage the best that it can be. We fail to live up to our vows if we let the stress and craziness (of the business and new parenthood) get the best of our appreciation and devotion to each other. 

And so, when I look at this photo, it inspires me to cherish my husband. It challenges me to strive for what we have. It encompasses the love that we have for each other, but it also spurs me on to rediscover love in this season of life as well.

And so, this concludes my musings on the evening.Thank you again to my mom for the awesome birthday shirt that Rich is wearing!

 

These are a few detail shots that Rich took while we were out. The food was delicious! 

 

 

Back at home, we chatted with Dawn, thanked her profusely, and after saying goodbye to her, we ate our dessert and Rich opened his birthday gifts.

All in all, I think Rich had a very enjoyable birthday. I just hope he knows how much I love him.